OldBoy

I don’t play many rpgs, so don’t know. Borderlands not really. I guess only AC: Odyssey is one, right? That’s the only one I spent much time with thus far. I guess Outriders but not sure what that’s considered.

RichC2

It gets going a lot faster than Odyssey did. I'm really enjoying this.

OldBoy

Might have to give Outriders a break. Though that will be hard.

OldBoy

Why do so many more reviewers play and review using PS4 and not XO? Like for this, there are 4 XONE reviews compared to 69 for PS4? Do most just like PS better, always runs solid on PS vs. Xbox? And wouldn't they review on the newest generation? What ever works on new gen will certainly work on last gen, just maybe not as fast. I dunno.

Adam Tyner

That could just be what Square Enix made available to review. AFAIK, there are no PS5/Xbox Series X enhancements (or even PS4 Pro/XB1X enhancements). No HDR, not even 4K.

OldBoy

But still runs 60FPS, right? That’s pretty good.

Obi-Wanma

JRPG fans also tend to prefer PlayStation Consoles, as there's just so much more of them on PlayStation than there is on Xbox. Automata was initially a PlayStation exclusive, as were many Square RPG's.

OldBoy

But why prefer PS console over Xbox? What’s better about it, the games? Better controller?

Obi-Wanma

I mean people have their reasons, but yeah, for people who are into RPGs, and specifically Japanese RPG's there are so many more games on PlayStation than there are on Xbox, mainly because in Japan Sony dominates Xbox.

I can't speak for the discrepancy in review scores, but for me personally, I like Sony's exclusives much better than Microsoft's. A lot of people do, which is why Microsoft has been gobbling up Studios like Bethesda, to play catch up in that department.

Adam Tyner

Momentum from previous gens, familiarity, personal preference...I wouldn’t read too much into it. This is a strange gen so far, and it’s the first one where I don’t have a go-to console. Typically, I have one console I get all my multi-platform titles on, and the other winds up being just for exclusives. Last gen, it started off with the PS4 being my go-to, but my allegiance shifted to the Xbox One X halfway through.

Neither of the new consoles have settled into that role for me yet. DualSense has the potential to sway me if used well, and for some stupid reason, I like the fact that PS5 games have packaging that sets itself apart from the previous-gen. I prefer the Xbox ecosystem overall, the controller isn’t as fancy but also feels better in my hands, and I like having Atmos as an option for audio. Then there’s discussion about exclusives, GamePass, yadda yadda. I’ve been paying a lot more attention to reviews, message boards. and Digital Foundry-style comparisons to inform decisions.

But regardless, we don’t know that this particular choice was up to reviewers. Personally, I didn’t even know there was an Xbox version until after I’d already preordered the PS4 edition, and I was happy enough to stick with that since the box would look good next to my PS4 copy of Automata.

Adam Tyner

Despite what I kept reading beforehand, it looks like the Xbox One X / Xbox Series X does have significant advantages: 1440p (vs. 1080p on the PS4 Pro / PS5) with a 4K UI and better texture quality / filtering. It also supports Auto HDR on the Series X.

Best Buy still hasn’t bothered to actually ship my order (stuck at Label Created since Thursday), so I can’t speak firsthand. But yeah, this is further proof that I need to stop preordering games.

RichC2

Man, and here I was pissed my GreenManGaming pre-order didn't unlock until noon on Friday (which is when Steam enabled it).

(I only pre-ordered because of the 20% offer)

Dan

I see what you mean about the first parts of the game being a bit of a slog, especially if you're doing all the side quests. Can't remember how many times I've run between Seaside and my village now

RichC2

Legitimately the most generic RPG quests I've ever seen

At least the villages look cool.

Dan

Yeah, The Aerie in particular is a quite a sight to behold. I hated the music in that section at first, but it has grown on me

Regarding getting all the endings...
Do you have to just get all the weapons (and quests) or do you actually have to level them all up, like the Y ending in Automata?

RichC2

I think it's just getting all of the weapons.

RichC2

...not a single one of the required swords in part 1 comes from a sidequest. Normally I wouldn't care but sooo much time between cities.

I've somehow put in 11 hours in so far, it isn't slow or boring but man did they go generic with the rpg tropes for the beginning. The Resident Evil camera angles are a nice touch.

Dan

I'm 15 hours in now. All side quests for the first part/act/half/whatever are now done. So much back and forth...
I've also bought all the weapons I can so far, and the only two remaining in this half are picked up during the main story.

I like that they joked (at least once) about fast travel. Bastards. Though I did ride a boar around for a bit.

Dan

Finished the first half. Didn't expect two big battles to be against


But it was a good time. So now my protagonist is


And I can start collecting the rest of the weapons and finishing quests. I'm totally digging this game. The only thing I kind of hate is when you have to fight enemies in the fixed-position-camera hallways. It really throws me off, and you can't even dodge; you can only do so when the camera is controllable. Ugh.

RichC2

Yeah that fixed camera can be a little annoying at times, but it's pretty rare in the grand scheme. I went back to an earlier save to finish up some things in Facade. I'm now back at the beginning of the second half, I hate the armored Shades but otherwise stuff is already getting a bit more crazy.

I actually wound up really liking the generic RPG adventure of the first half

OldBoy

The IGN review I saw said game was like 35-40 with 3 endings and unlocking 3 others or whatever and if play only once, really only getting half the story or something. I just don’t want total repetition playing through again which sounds like it is, but still I’m sure even one ending would be 20 hours in normal players times, but for me, probably half a year at minimum. Better get to finishing Outriders before taking on this one...

RichC2

It isn't wrong. The re-playthroughs in this one are about 5 hours but unlike Automata, you actually are replaying the same stuff with just enough tweaks to keep your attention. (It was way more different in Automata). At least for endings B and C/D.

Ending A takes 15 to 20 hours and is a pretty sufficient ending though ending B is a far more complete finale.

It took me about 35 hours to get through Ending E (I never game this much but have been nursing an injury all week). Too much repeating of the same sections this time around for the extra endings, but the gameplay never got old (minus one long battle). I didn't do many side quests in Part 2 but did almost all of them in Part 1.

E was totally worth it though. And now I know what a "speed run" actually feels like.

Dan

I can tell I'm very close to finishing up the second half of Ending A.
The worst side quest is the pink seeds one. I hate farming.
My first attempt yielded not a single hybrid, despite doing it just like the guides suggest. Ah well.
I have the music in this game ingrained in my brain now.

RichC2

Hah yeah, this game got a lot right, some of those side quests and a few other things were a little less successful and bordered tedious. I may go back and finish more of them now.

OldBoy

So, overall you guys like huh? Anything equate it to, that I might have played before? Not a big rpg guy of any kind though been playing action ones of late. Action rpgs I guess like AC: Odyssey and Outriders...