Alastor

For like the 5th time I'm on my Soul Calibur 3 bullshit and for what feels like over a year since starting it I finally beat Arcade Mode with every character and dump all my gold from doing it to buy 'Create a Character' stuff for the 'Chronicles of the Sword' mode. This is a mode where you can use pre sets or make your own fighters for use in a mix of the fighting game and a strategy game, I've been really looking forward to this and it hasn't disappointed me yet, once more a Soul Calibur game delivers a fantastic single player experience.

Ninja Gaiden Black 2
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Baldur's Gate 3
Shadow Hearts
Atelier Sophie: the Alchemist of the Mysterious Book

Gunstar Heroes
So playing a bit of Rapid Reload (good game similar to this imo) I decided I wanted to also play this again. I still think the final stage or two can drag a bit, both the non boss rush stage where you running through endless waves of bad guys and the SHMUP part which is fine until it starts to overstay it's welcome a bit, but this is still a Treasure game through and through and just a complete blast to play. The weapon combo system is fun (I used Lightning and Chaser ) is probably the main feature(?) stops the run and gun from feeling like it's ever getting stale, the bosses are all really cool and I super appreciate that you can just throw them like you can any other random enemy in this game. Speaking of bosses, Seven Force is still one of the all time great gaming boss fights imo.

Well I'm a few chapters in to Xenoblade X: Definitive Edition and I can say they did an amazing job making a great game even better, although if you didn't like the core of the original for whatever reason (Like I used to, I was a masssive X hater for years) it won't convince you, probably.

Some of the Quality of Life they've added AFAIK now is:

• Party switching from a menu, in the WiiU game every single time you reshuffled your team the characters would need to be re-recruited from their original spots on the map, considering so many side quests in this game restrict team setups this was very annoying and now it's not even a thing.

• Party members get EXP outside of you main party, there really is now no reason not to play around with different setups.

• You can change the time of day whenever and not need to go to a specific area to adjust it, so any time sensitive missions are a simple matter to do.

• You can fucking track materials you need to build gear on the map now, no more googling and hoping the internet also had someone looking foir the same thing you were.

• Improved UI which is nice but mainly for a mechanic later on that was so obtuse to figure out for most people there were video guides on it, now there's a colour coded on screen guide that I hope makes it a bit more simpler to understand. Also a big one is that the text should be easy to read on any screen now, I believe the WiiU version was one of those games with super small text size and now that should be fixed.

There's also changes I wouldn't say are QOL but are still good, although I had my doubts about one at first. You now have a stock of like 6 or 8 'Quick Cooldowns' to use per battle regardless of whether your attacks have come off cooldown or not, this is good for early game speeding up of fights as you spam attacks but also now you don't need to helplessly watch the enemy set you up for a Topple and your combo isn't ready yet.

I'm falling in love with the game all over again, I love running around the map looking for probe sites and resources, I love the aesthetics on New LA's segmented districts feeling like every mech anime I've ever watched, I love the divisive OST mix of JPOP and Hip Pop. I love that it stands out in the series for having a unique take on series combat, exploration and the way the narrative is so sidequest heavy. I dunno' if it'd top my series ranking anymore after my replays of 2 and play of 3, but I'm glad it got another shot to show it's not just the black sheep of the series now.

Koudelka is nowhere near as bad as I've been told, it's not great but I'm not hating it so far. This is the Code Veronica reputation all over again.

Battle system is slow, but I've survived Xenosaga 2 so ive seen worse. Fix the combat and you have a survival horror type RPG, whatever I just think it's neat.

How on earth am I going to find time for Atelier Yumia when Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition is coming out? One of the cruelest (almost, by a day) simultaneous releases for me in a while. As much as I like Atelier games, Xenoblade is a GOTY tier game IMO and one that is finally getting a better shot at catching on with more players. If anyone has played a Xenoblade game before, be prepared for much less of a focus on an epic narrative (although there IS a story and I wouldn't say it's an after thought exactly but still) and more on a collection of sidequests as you explore the best open world RPG world. You make your own character if that's any indication of how the story works…