Been mixing it up, and playing an unhealthy amount of games.
In Heroes of Might and Magic IV, I am progressing smoothly through the campaign. I will reiterate that this feels almost like a regular rpg when it comes to combat. Other than in the tougher fights, I use heroes to clean up the maps. Still ugly as sin, and still has a good soundtrack. I think I'm at the fourth campaign.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. I got this via Amazon, since I have a lot of store balance. This is a truly mixed bag. I already knew what they had done to the characters from playing Remake, but I thought, might as well keep going. The combat is (jrpg) fun. Boss encounters are cool, and over the top. The graphics look mostly good, as long as you don't try to zoom in and study everything close up. The soundtrack is solid, even if I always prefer original tunes in games. I haven't been bothered by the minigames. I have tried all of the ones available up to Costa Del Sol. The ones I dislike, I just do what is required, and move on. Surprisingly, I have taken a liking to Queen's Blood. At first, I didn't get it, but once it clicked, it's a fun little card game. The way most characters are portrayed are worse in Rebirth, compared to the original. This is especially true for Aerith. Cloud, and Barret are okay. The changes to story offer no improvement. Not that the original offered masterful storytelling. Exploration is another mixed bag. There is more to explore, and areas are bigger. I like the cities that I have visited, but the wilderness is just open world tropes of go to this tower to reveal activities, and said activities get repetitive after a few times. There is a combat simulator that has some extra encounters, which has had some interesting fights. Generally speaking, it's a solid jrpg, but they should have believed more in their ability to create more interesting things instead of open world shenanigans. (It's not true open world, since you jump to different locations through the story, but the loop is there.)
Romancing SaGa 3 Remaster. Probably my favorite game in the series. I beat it very early in the year, but I was already close to the end. Beautiful pixel graphics, top tier soundtrack, and fun boss fights. Sparking techs never gets old for me. First, I beat the weaker form of the final boss, and then I did a run where I beat the stronger version. That was helluva fight, but not actually the most difficult one. There are one or two others that offer a greater challenge.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure. Played some more with my brother, we played this and another game for maybe seven hours. Not a masterpiece by any stretch, but a fairly fun platformer, which is good played with another person.
Streets of Rage 4. Played some more with my brother, we played this and another game for maybe seven hours. Not a masterpiece by any stretch, but a fairly fun beat 'em up, which is good played with another person.
The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav. Typical Daedalic adventure game, with beautiful backgrounds, and I assume a sad ending.
Prince of Qin. I have wanted to try this for some time. My first thought while controlling my character is how slow he moves, even with running mode on. I like how the game looks, with nice pixel graphics. Soundtrack does its job, and voice acting is a bit funny, to be honest. I haven't the slightest clue how to build my characters, so I am pumping up all skills that lets me do more melee damage, and tank as much as possible. Combat feels like Diablo fare, only you get companions. I got the first one, but saved after that.
I also dabbled with the first Solasta expansion. Very early on. I picked a warlock, monk, barbarian, and a sorcerer. Not sure how viable this is, but we'll roll like this.
