The Playstation Vita Catch-All

The patch is already live! More music goodness for me ear holes.

SuperDave wrote:

Not to stamp on everyone's parade, but I couldn't get into P3P because at the end of the day it was a JRPG, and paced like a JRPG. The concept was interesting, but it still fell into tropes that turned me away from the game even after putting something like 6-7 hours into it.

I agree, with regards to Persona 3 and 4. But there are some JRPGs that buck that trend.

To play the curated levels in Sound Shapes on the go, you need both the patch, and to download them via Community. It took me only a few minutes to do this as it's very easy to find in the menu, and the packs are probably around 1MB each.

Blind_Evil wrote:
SuperDave wrote:

Not to stamp on everyone's parade, but I couldn't get into P3P because at the end of the day it was a JRPG, and paced like a JRPG. The concept was interesting, but it still fell into tropes that turned me away from the game even after putting something like 6-7 hours into it.

I agree, with regards to Persona 3 and 4. But there are some JRPGs that buck that trend.

It took some time for me to get into P3P, honestly, and it was the first JRPG I'd really played so I can't speak to how good it is compared to others. I can say that I put it down for quite some time (maybe 10 hours in), and when I returned to it something clicked and I was hooked. I really do not want to know how many hours I ended up putting into it. I can tell you this though: I thought the ending was amazing, and it was totally worth the ride. Overall, I've gotten the impression that P3/P4 do a lot of things that separate them from falling into typical JRPG tropes, most significantly the subject matter.

I think that if you took a poll, you'd find that SuperDave and Blind_Evil are in the minority wrt both games. That said, I really do want to check out The Last Story sometime - does anyone know how well it runs in Dolphin?

SuperDave wrote:

Not to stamp on everyone's parade, but I couldn't get into P3P because at the end of the day it was a JRPG, and paced like a JRPG. The concept was interesting, but it still fell into tropes that turned me away from the game even after putting something like 6-7 hours into it.

No, I'm with you. I can understand why people praise it so much because it's clearly doing something different with the storytelling. But it still includes exaggerated characters providing needlessly obtuse dialogue and grinding dungeons that go on forever and all the other things that made me tired of the format to begin with.

Looks like a price drop and Soul Sacrifice really moved Vitas in Japan. Last weeks numbers:

PSV - 63,581
3DS - 61,008
PS3 - 19,567
PSP - 18,023
WIU - 9,454
WII - 1,363
360 - 768

Soul Sacrifice sold 114,446 units.

So does anyone have some good Lumines pointers or tips? I played my first game this afternoon and understand the basics but got a feeling there's something I need to improve on.

I think just play more, you'll start to get a feel for each song as well as how to rapidly identify which blocks fit where. I felt like I was flailing about until I'd played about 10 times, then it clicked and got into the flow.

kuddles wrote:
SuperDave wrote:

Not to stamp on everyone's parade, but I couldn't get into P3P because at the end of the day it was a JRPG, and paced like a JRPG. The concept was interesting, but it still fell into tropes that turned me away from the game even after putting something like 6-7 hours into it.

No, I'm with you. I can understand why people praise it so much because it's clearly doing something different with the storytelling. But it still includes exaggerated characters providing needlessly obtuse dialogue and grinding dungeons that go on forever and all the other things that made me tired of the format to begin with.

I keep flip flopping on the game. I think I expelled most of my JRPG love in my twenties, so returning to the formula has lost a lot of it's appeal to me personally. Although, I really did enjoy Lost Odyssey - but I was more compelled to dive deeper into the story and characters, and less inclined to dive into the mechanics of the combat system.

However, I've still managed to play about 15-20 hours or so of P3P. It is definitely a VERY slow burn for me, but I've found that the characters do start to get a bit more interesting. The biggest hurdle for me is stepping into the shoes of a kid in school, trying to be popular and what not. I can see the appeal to the 'younger folk, but for me, it's hard to relate to some of the whole popularity/school thing with any kind of enjoyment.

And the dungeon grinding? I know it changes a bit the further you go up, but it's just the same so far. I find the combat to be OK, and I really do like the whole Pokemon aspect of finding new Personas and combining them. That is the hook that is keeping me going.

I think the problem is that I love the exploration factor in RPGs, and there's almost none (so far). Another level up in the dungeon, oh look, the walls have slightly changed! Here's some more static map locations where I move my cursor around clicking on people to talk to them, instead of allowing me to fully walk around and explore them (I realize the other Personas let you - why not this one?)

I haven't given up, but I tend to play for a few hours, get into it a little more, then drop it out of dungeon boredom. For now it's an OK way to pass a couple hours when I feel like taking a break from my other games, so I'm really hoping it throws in a bigger hook to catch me - really flip up the story Arc or mechanics, maybe some new environments?

Swat wrote:
kuddles wrote:
SuperDave wrote:

Not to stamp on everyone's parade, but I couldn't get into P3P because at the end of the day it was a JRPG, and paced like a JRPG. The concept was interesting, but it still fell into tropes that turned me away from the game even after putting something like 6-7 hours into it.

No, I'm with you. I can understand why people praise it so much because it's clearly doing something different with the storytelling. But it still includes exaggerated characters providing needlessly obtuse dialogue and grinding dungeons that go on forever and all the other things that made me tired of the format to begin with.

I keep flip flopping on the game. I think I expelled most of my JRPG love in my twenties, so returning to the formula has lost a lot of it's appeal to me personally. Although, I really did enjoy Lost Odyssey - but I was more compelled to dive deeper into the story and characters, and less inclined to dive into the mechanics of the combat system.

However, I've still managed to play about 15-20 hours or so of P3P. It is definitely a VERY slow burn for me, but I've found that the characters do start to get a bit more interesting. The biggest hurdle for me is stepping into the shoes of a kid in school, trying to be popular and what not. I can see the appeal to the 'younger folk, but for me, it's hard to relate to some of the whole popularity/school thing with any kind of enjoyment.

And the dungeon grinding? I know it changes a bit the further you go up, but it's just the same so far. I find the combat to be OK, and I really do like the whole Pokemon aspect of finding new Personas and combining them. That is the hook that is keeping me going.

I think the problem is that I love the exploration factor in RPGs, and there's almost none (so far). Another level up in the dungeon, oh look, the walls have slightly changed! Here's some more static map locations where I move my cursor around clicking on people to talk to them, instead of allowing me to fully walk around and explore them (I realize the other Personas let you - why not this one?)

I haven't given up, but I tend to play for a few hours, get into it a little more, then drop it out of dungeon boredom. For now it's an OK way to pass a couple hours when I feel like taking a break from my other games, so I'm really hoping it throws in a bigger hook to catch me - really flip up the story Arc or mechanics, maybe some new environments?

P3P is a remake of P3 on the Playstation 2. The original let you walk around outside of dungeons - it was one of the compromises they made for the handheld. P4 Golden maintains the original design, allowing you to wander around locations in town. I agree that I like that more than the static screens.

As far as your experience, you could be describing my own time with the game. I put it down at some point out of boredom, and decided to give it another shot to get ready for P4G. The further I got into the game, the better it got. I found the dungeon runs to be the least interesting part of the game. The story opens up and gets crazy, and I loved being able to direct the narrative through the social link choices I was making. In fact, by the end of the game the social links were my main focus for playing. I would spend time in the dungeon, pushing up levels until I got to an key level, then I'd run the same levels again. I'd do as many traversals as I could before getting sick, then spend the rest of the game week pursuing my links. I think that it was this focus that ended up making the end so amazing when I finished.

I'm enjoying Super Stardust Delta much more than I expected. The game feels much more intense as a handheld and has the control and responsiveness that touch - based mobile game ls just can't match. I'm looking at you Super Hexagon.

I just noticed that Atelier Totori Plus: The Adventurer of Arland was added to the store yesterday. Anyone have any experience with the franchise?

Yeah, I bought the PS3 version and it's been sitting on my shelf for almost 6 months :).

I may pick up a used copy and if I like it I'll return it and get the Vita version and if I don't I'll return it for my money back. Hey look Gamestop can still serve a purpose, physical demos.

interstate78 wrote:

Here's a few first impressions

WRC 3
Worth importing (UK vers.) good graphics (even in car view!), tight controls. (31$ shipped from Zavvi)

I didn't know where to look for this, thank you sir.

Hmm, I'll check out Hardboiled. I can always use more Metroidvania games.

EDIT: Oh, you meant Rocketbirds, I thought Hardboiled was something separate. It is on sale for + members, I think I can throw $6 their way. Looks stylishly awesome.

interstate78 wrote:

NUN ATTACK

Can you say General Chaos?

You had me at General Chaos. *bought*

Here's a few first impressions

WRC 3
Worth importing (UK vers.) good graphics (even in car view!), tight controls. (31$ shipped from Zavvi)

ROCKETBIRDS: HARDBOILED CHICKEN
I am tremendously enjoying this game. It's a metroid-vania platformer. It reminds me of Blackthorne so much. Great graphics. Jaw-dropping at times. I think it's on sale right now too!

URBAN TRIAL FREESTYLE
a great Trials HD-like game. The menus are a bit obtuse but the core gameplay is there. Get it and try to beat my scores. (PSN title. 10 or 15$ if I recall)

NUN ATTACK
Can you say General Chaos? How cool is that!? It's a touch only action strategy game in which you control a bunch of nuns (RPG archetypes of tank, range, healer, fighter) out to get a nun turned diabolical. You upgrade their weapons and learn new spells (miracles) and try to get 3 bullets (stars) in every level. It's 2.99$ for pete's sake. Can't go wrong with that

DualPicks wrote:
interstate78 wrote:

NUN ATTACK

Can you say General Chaos?

You had me at General Chaos. *bought*

Let me know how you like it. I found it really cool though the lack of an in-game tips/tutorial meant I had to learn everything by myself though I noticed there IS a picture slideshow that serves as a tutorial on the main screen I think.

I've found that a combination of tank / fighter is the most effective early on in the game. Olga's massive endurance and taunt skill always saves the day

interstate78 wrote:
DualPicks wrote:
interstate78 wrote:

NUN ATTACK

Can you say General Chaos?

You had me at General Chaos. *bought*

Let me know how you like it. I found it really cool though the lack of an in-game tips/tutorial meant I had to learn everything by myself though I noticed there IS a picture slideshow that serves as a tutorial on the main screen I think.

I've found that a combination of tank / fighter is the most effective early on in the game. Olga's massive endurance and taunt skill always saves the day

I'm really digging it so far based on the first 6 or so levels I've played. I wished that the touch controls were more precise when the nuns are close but otherwise, I'm having fun.

I wished that the touch controls were more precise when the nuns are close

Now there's a sentence that I thought that I'd never read.

Is Rocketbirds better on PC or Vita?

RolandofGilead wrote:

Is Rocketbirds better on PC or Vita?

This is the Vita thread so I'll say this: on the Vita the screen is so beautiful that the graphics really pop out and of course you have that whole integrated joysticks & buttons thing.

EverythingsTentative wrote:

Telltale's The Walking Dead is coming to Vita. I hope it's cross buy.

How about that. In that setting I might be more tempted to play through them.

That would be sweet since the first 2 episodes were already free from Plus.

interstate78 wrote:
RolandofGilead wrote:

Is Rocketbirds better on PC or Vita?

This is the Vita thread so I'll say this: on the Vita the screen is so beautiful that the graphics really pop out and of course you have that whole integrated joysticks & buttons thing.

True, true, but I also have Sine Mora, the Rayman Origins demo, and Wipeout on Vita and the Vita screen is also tiny (for what devs try to put on it) and seems to leave small details to my imagination. Interesting is that I do own Rayman Origins on Steam, so maybe I can compare more directly at some time.
I use the DS3 tool from MotionInJoy to use my PS3 controller.

DualPicks wrote:
interstate78 wrote:
DualPicks wrote:
interstate78 wrote:

NUN ATTACK

Can you say General Chaos?

You had me at General Chaos. *bought*

Let me know how you like it. I found it really cool though the lack of an in-game tips/tutorial meant I had to learn everything by myself though I noticed there IS a picture slideshow that serves as a tutorial on the main screen I think.

I've found that a combination of tank / fighter is the most effective early on in the game. Olga's massive endurance and taunt skill always saves the day

I'm really digging it so far based on the first 6 or so levels I've played. I wished that the touch controls were more precise when the nuns are close but otherwise, I'm having fun.

Big time +1. It can be rough to tap the right nun if they're clustered, but it's a pretty forgiving game so it's not a problem. This is one of the most creative and fun games I've played in a while, you seriously can't go wrong with this one for $3.

Turns out WRC3 is now available on North American PSN

Still glad I imported it since I'm sorely lacking space on my 32gb

I can't wait for the Future, where 128gb cards will exist.

'til then I have to cope with the present. damnit

I'm 50% through Nun Attack, and have reached the inevitable choice games like this face you with - Do I keep the upgraded gun I've poured a bunch of money into, or use the shiny NEW gun I just got and start upgrading it?

My main party thus far has been the first 3 Nuns. The healer is useful but a bit redundant when I can just taunt all enemies with Olga, and use the sharpshooter and dual-wielder to burn them all down. Still highly enjoyable, and highly recommended. Also it's on Android and iPad/iPhone, so there's no excuse to not play this game.