The GWJ JRPG Club Version 2.5 HD Remaster: Announcing our Q2 2024 Game!

Ys VIII is also $20 on the Switch right now.

Octopath and Xenoblade are also currently on sale on the eShop (at least in AU - 50% and 40% off).

FWIW I played the Octopath demo last night on Switch, and found the olde wurlde text insufferable, so I doubt I'll be picking that one up.

Final day of voting! This will be a very tight race.

Alright, time to get my vote in.

1. Monster Hunter Stories
2. Ys VIII: Mimosa of Dana
3. Xenoblade Chronicles
4. FFV

Oh, I forgot to submit my ranked votes!

1. Xenoblade Chronicles
2. Octopath Traveler
3. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
4. Monster Hunter Stories

I'm resisting the urge to compile the results myself, the suspense is killing me... Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but still, looking at the votes, I have no idea what game will win...

bobbywatson wrote:

I'm resisting the urge to compile the results myself, the suspense is killing me... Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but still, looking at the votes, I have no idea what game will win...

This does look to be one of the closer run votes we've had.
Great looking list of games this month and I'm very excited to find out what we will be digging into next.

RESULTS INCOMING!

This is definitely one of the closer votes we've had. It's surprised me, and, in the words of Luke Skywalker:

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/1U9HgJn.jpg)

ROUND ONE:

The number in parenthesis indicates second-place votes, which will become a very necessary tiebreaker.

Total votes: 16
Needed for Majority: 8

Monster Hunter Stories - 4 (2)
Xenoblade Chronicles - 4 (1)
Final Fantasy V - 3 (4)
Octopath Traveler - 3 (4)
--
Ys VIII - 2 (2)

With the fewest first-place votes, Ys VIII is eliminated from consideration. It also had the least broad base of support: only 7 total votes, as opposed to 9 votes each for FF V and Monster Hunter Stories, and 10 votes each for Xenoblade Chronicles and Octopath Traveler. On to Round Two!

ROUND TWO:

The number in parenthesis indicates second-place votes, which will become a very necessary tiebreaker.

Total votes: 16
Needed for Majority: 8

Monster Hunter Stories - 5 (2)
Final Fantasy V - 4 (4)
Xenoblade Chronicles - 4 (2)
--
Octopath Traveler - 3 (5)

Here's the first surprise, for me: Octopath Traveler knocked out in the second round! It was tied for the broadest base of support, but ultimately couldn't overcome the greater demand for its competitors. This race was incredibly tight, so every vote mattered: and here, specifically, it mattered that Sundown didn't rank Octopath at all, and brokenclavicle put Octopath behind Xenoblade.

Round Three incoming!

ROUND THREE:

The number in parenthesis indicates second-place votes, which will become a very necessary tiebreaker.

Total votes: 15 - Darkhaund's ballot has dropped out
Needed for Majority: 8

Monster Hunter Stories - 5 (4)
Final Fantasy V - 5 (3)
--
Xenoblade Chronicles - 5 (1)

For the second time, a game with the broadest base of support was knocked out! Xenoblade had one more vote overall, but couldn't compete with people's demand for FF V and MHS.

Wow, shocked. I thought there was a chance I'd be taking a break this month (assuming an Octopath Traveller win).

THE FINAL ROUND: Only two games remain!

The number in parenthesis indicates second-place votes.

Total votes: 11 - We've lost ballots from Malkroth, merphle, Darkhaund, ComfortZone, and Aristophan
Needed for Majority: 6

WINNER: Monster Hunter Stories - 6 (3)
Final Fantasy V - 5 (4)

Monster Hunter Stories has narrowly edged out all competition, to stand as our champion for the quarter ahead!

BUT WAIT -- the shocking twist: After tallying up the results of this competition, and starting to look at purchasing options, I realized: the 3DS is a dead system. Importantly, the eShop is closed, but stores like Gamestop and Best Buy primarily seem to sell digital download codes -- those won't work. Amazon doesn't sell this, except used at prohibitive prices ($70 is the lowest I can find, and it climbs from there). EStarland, a used game store with an enormous supply, and a big online business (they're near me; I highly recommend them) doesn't have copies.

Some of you may already own MHS. Some of you probably don't. But our club is small, with only 9 people committed to playing this game, and I bet that some of us (like me) just assumed that whatever game we picked would be available. So, here's my ask: over the next day or so, let me know if (1) you have the game, or (2) you are able to find a copy of the game at a price you would be willing to pay. If not enough people would play, I'm going to strike MHS from everyone's list and re-run the ranked choice voting. All of the other games are playable on multiple platforms, so we shouldn't have this problem again.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

Wow, shocked. I thought there was a chance I'd be taking a break this month (assuming an Octopath Traveller win).

I had assumed an Octopath win too. In fact, it was slated to win before the two final ballots came in.

I have MHS and would be happy to play it. I grabbed it on the eshop on sale earlier this year.

I WILL TRY do find that game... damnit lol damn you alll!!! lol

As much as I would love to see Monster Hunter Stories get kicked out and the vote reran, I feel the need to point of MHS is also available on iOS and Android if you feel like playing on your mobile device. I don't own it on 3DS and will not be playing it on a mobile device, but want the people who really wanted to play this game know their options.

Actually, I think the 3DS eShop is still alive and kicking. I was able to get on it, and I see Monster Hunter Stories as being 100% purchasable at this moment for the low, low price of... CAD50 (so, probably USD40).

The DSi shop is long dead, but the 3DS lives on... for now anyway.

The game is also available on iOS, I believe.

Yeah, when I got it it was 50% off, so $20.

$40.... meh... I think I will pass!!!

Such exciting drama! The twists and turns, and now a potential controversy over game availability. The JRPG Club is kicking butt for intrigue and thrills! I will get my team of people checking about Monster Hunter Stories availability for me.

I own it, bought it for $20 when it looked like it would win a few rounds back!

Yeah... im not paying $40 for this

Hmm, interesting. I might have misread that news when I checked this morning, or maybe the site was misinformed. Thanks for the correction, I’ll try getting on the 3DS shop.

Darkhaund wrote:

Yeah... im not paying $40 for this

I thought I had this already but it’s apparently Generations that I have. $40 is a bit much for me at the moment, and it’s more on Amazon. I’m inclined to wait for a sale.

I just downloaded the demo from the 3DS shop to give it a try and see if it is a game that will be good enough to make me play on my 3DS for long enough to complete it. In the US I am seeing it for $40 on the eShop or $20 on the Android Play store. Although I feel like I recall someone saying the iOS/Android version does not support using a controller and you have to use the touch screen controls. I may be wrong about that though.

I'm down for whatever's best for the club.

I already own MH:Stories so I'm good in that regard.

I'm also happy to play the winner of a sans-Stories recount.

Given the following aspects of MH:Stories, could this be a feasible circumstance for running it as a gaiden thread, a la 2019 Q3?

- scarcity of physical copies
- high digital price
- notable downsides to the mobile version (from what I've read):
--- frequent license checks, effectively meaning no offline play
--- no controller support
--- stuttering audio on certain devices
- a somewhat stark contrast to what I believe would be the winner of a recount

I checked on my 3DS, and the Eshop is still alive and kicking. Just like Malkroth (& others found): $40 on Eshop, $20 on iOS, so the game still is available. False alarm, everyone! I must have been confused about what I was reading.

I thought about a gaiden thread, too. I'm sympathetic to the idea, but ultimately not inclined to do it. It worked fine the last time but I'm still kind of nervous that picking 2 games will lead to a small number of people playing one game, so we'd lose the social aspect. Plus, among the people who didn't vote for MHS, there's not a general consensus, alternate game: some people liked Octopath, some Xenoblade, and some FF V. That, again, leads me to think our player base will be fragmented. And Octopath and Xenoblade are both very long, so I'd want to give them both chances to be the "main" game in a future quarter. There would be lots to discuss!

So, we'll still stick with Monster Hunter Stories -- it is the winner, gained a lot of support, and should be really fun to play!

I actually had downloaded the demo, too, and it must have happened a while ago because I haven't touched my 3DS in months. I'm seeing articles that say that all demo progress carries over into the main game. That's really nice, I always enjoy when the developers do that. Given that, I may start with the demo too!

You had me nervous there for a minute, 'cause there's a bunch of 3DS games I want to buy but haven't yet, and I will need to do that before the eShop closes

I will buy the game in the next week, and will start playing probably next weekend. I will be away from home, so that should be a good opportunity to get started.

This all sounds good to me!

For what it's worth, I plopped over ten hours into the demo, so there's lots to do.