Cyberpunk 2077. Well, I didn't hate it but it sure wasn't what was advertised. However, after all the patches and current-gen upgrades, it's actually quite a good game right there. Plus, I actually learned to play the game properly,

Yeah, you’re right. Drawing is just one skills, and players don’t really have to use it. The only thing I tend to use it for is getting GFs, so I usually only have one character with a draw command.

As for the game, there is a lot I like about it. I think what really attracts me to it is the characters and the science fiction story around time traveling minds. I also love a lot of the side features that exists around the game—like Selphie’s blog that she kept regarding her experiences. Overall, it’s one of the biggest feeling RPGs prior to the rise of open world RPGs. Bigger feeling than FF7, and up there with games like Xenogears and Suikoden.

Magic can be gained multiple ways. Drawing is basically the Steal command, except it works on magic. Refinement is crafting, and is one of the first examples (if not the first example) of a robust crafting system—at least in a major game. Refining items into magic is much faster and doesn’t require repetitive grinding. Another interesting way is to Card enemies and then refine their cards into various items and magics… which is most effective to do in a grindy way, but it’s less monotonous than drawing. You can also play card games for cards, some rules allow for taking the user’s entire hand.

The junction element is like a job class and equipment system. Magic is like equipment: you equip magic to up stats, acquire resistance/absorption, or status effects. GF’s are like the job classes, you can equip one or several to characters and acquire AP to learn unique skills that you can equip to shape your character. Also, later in the game, you can use scrolls and such to customize your GFs.

I suppose the game can be a little overwhelming for FF fans at the time, used to very basic mechanics. At the time, FF8 was probably the most complex and sandboxy RPG around when it came to mechanics. But that has changed in the last 25 years. Particularly with the rise of sandbox games like dwarf fortress where crafting and non-standard equipment systems are normal things. RPGs in general are more complex today than they were: and more modern RPGs, like Witcher 3 and Xenoblade, have elements similar to those introduced in FF8.

So, basically the first time I played the game I had some preconceived ideas about the game and developed some negative biases. Once I broke those, I discovered one of my favourite games of all time.

I took me quite a while to warm up to the idiosyncrasies of the Souls series. I'm still not a diehard fan but Bloodborne is one of my favorite games.

This game:

As a Hitman fan I was buttmad that they changed the formula, I wanted it to be Blood Money 2.

When I first played League of Legends it was just a way to play and associate with my friends digitally. The game was free to play and a potato could run it so there was not many obstacles for anyone who wanted to join in. My view of the game was not great. I thought it was boring, felt broken and it was not a genre of games i generally enjoy. But it was free and I had a good time joking with my friends about how awful it was.

After some years with less and less hang outs with my friends. I revisited the game by myself and found that I really enjoyed it and even more so some of the spin offs mainly Teamfight Tactics that now is one of my favorite games ever. The standard map is still in my opinion a bore fest to play, but the more casual just for fun game modes like All random All mid still gave me a great time.

Now I think a lot of things are great with LoL. The music is fantastic, the Lore is fun, the costumes varied and the alternative game modes are a blast.

Most recently, TWD Saints and Sinners PSVR2. Dunno if the game played a sick joke on me for killing tutorial guy over and over (he said he would remember) yet my first play attempt almost made me delete the game.

First the VR tutorial is very bare bones boring, nothing like RE8's excellent and even scary 'tutorial' section. Then it shows you in quick succession where everything is stored on your body which you instantly forget again :/ Also no way to bring up a diagram or any help in game where to find the journal, so lots of random groping trying to get the damn journal out to get to the map and objectives. Also if you don't store weapons correctly they fall on the ground. Since you place the axe behind you it's easy to miss and lose your valuable starter equipment.

That combined with the seemingly broken state I started in resulting in no resources to be found. Playing it for the first time I thought it was normal, but soon my weapons broke and I had no resources to make new. Result, death, try to retrieve backpack with ever dwindling max stamina and health (dunno why exactly, had just 2 logs in it and a bottle lol) and set it to story mode going back to camp. Day 3 I go back to the first area for the quest I got on Day 2, quest gone, quest giver gone, area now populated by tons of people with guns that turn hostile as soon as I get close. I try to go for the main objective, retrieve microphone, get into the house climbing up a rain pipe, manage to take out an armed guy in the room and get his weapon. Yet since my stamina and health bar are now so small I can only move at a snail's pace, it doesn't take long to get taken out by all the others walking around the house. Game over, can't recover without any resources.


But I tried again starting on story mode, and this time there are so many resources around my backpack is full one minute after leaving the boat lol. I figured out where the journal actually is (upper right arm) and keep the axe in the backpack so I can grab the journal instead of ending up with the axe half the time. Story mode also depletes stamina much slower so you can actually move at a decent pace instead of crawling along. The side quest worked this time, got more used to retrieving and storing weapons without dropping them or fumbling for 20 seconds while under attack. Trick is not to look, since if you look to where the gun/knife are supposed to be, the game interprets it as you turning, turning the relevant item slots away from you, DOH!

Anyway, ill thought out VR 'immersion' stuff figured out, I'm now enjoying the game play loop. Scavenging materials, upgrading tools, exploring, sneaking around, infiltrating. It is a lot of fun. Bit gruesome, stabbing people in the face is the most efficient way to kill them, or hold them while putting a gun to their head to shoot them in point blank range. Murder simulator taken to a new level lol.

Yakuza series. After I try Y. Zero, I liked it so much like GTA :)

Genshin Impact. I played the first 10 hours to give it a chance, and just chuckled at what a "cheap BotW clone" it was. But then they added a cute character (Eula), and I thought I'd just try to pull for that character and decided to play it again.

I've now put in probably 400+ hours and it's my most played free-to-play game. And I wholeheartedly accept I was wrong about it, and how far its come is actually impressive enough that other games began copying its core ideas and gacha system. That, and the music is pretty much THE highest quality videogame music out there. I'm pretty sure the composer(s) are given nearly unlimited budgets at this point lol

To imagine, it's only halfway through its content roadmap, too...

This is a tough one, as it usually goes the other way. Here are a few random ones that I can think of at the moment:
- Steamworld Heist is the first one that comes to mind. Played it for about an hour and just felt slow and bland, but once getting through the earlier stages and unlocking more things, I got super addicted to it.
- Ring Fit Adventure was a really slow burn for me (pun intended). Thought the concept was weird and cumbersome at first. But I really started to enjoy it the deeper I delved into it - and man can it kick your ass and make you sweat.
- Far Cry 4, just felt like a less interesting FC3 rehash at first but I revisited it recently after several years and it's become a lot more fun and interesting as you expand and unlock more. The environments are awesome and the/visuals are actually quite impressive for a 2014 game.

Metroid II- Someone, I believe my aunt, bought me the game when I was like 6 because it had a cool looking spaceman on it. Was way too hard for me. Got back into it in high school, and loved it.

Kirby's Dream Land 3- After Superstar, this felt like a big step down, and I really didn't dig the art style. But later I came to appreciate it for what it was. Kind of wish Nintendo would make another game with the animal friends.