Aside from that, I’m pretty glad that demos that carry over save data have more or less become an expectation for RPGs nowadays.

Because I used to try out demos a lot, but it was a real momentum killer when I’d have to repeat like an hour or more of content back in the day in the final game.

RENA OR CLAUDE PLAYTHROUGH?!

But, I probably won’t make a new media thread for a bit since I don’t exactly want it to start with ep 6 of Higurashi. But we'll see.

I didn’t play too many 2025 games I felt too strongly about? Since I simply didn’t play many 2025 games.

...Largely because I’ve been hyperfixated on deeply unreasonably long games. (But I strongly suspect I’ll be done with them early this year and my 2026 media list will be way more interesting)

I THINK THE OFF-STEAM PATH IS THE MOST LIKELY (IF IT DOESN'T GET DELISTED RIGHT AWAY). BUT ALSO, I TRULY CAN'T IMAGINE THE LEVEL OF WORK THEY'D NEED TO DO ON A PER GAME BASIS.

LIKE, THE "STREAMER" SETTINGS I SAW FOR THAT GAME WOULD DEFINITELY NOT BE ENOUGH. AND I HEAR OTHER GAMES ARE WAY WORSE.

I played Sengoku Rance a few years ago, & even if the game itself is secretly good, it is just totally impossible to recommend to 99.9% of people due to its big yikes eroge nature. I played it on "streamer" mode & it was still...huge yikes

I genuinely can't imagine how those games stay on Steam.

AND NOW YOU KNOW WHY THE RECEPTION IS MIXED! (WHICH IS TOTALLY FINE)

-BUT, SICKOS LIKE ME LOVE IT (ALSO THE PROGRESSION IS WEIRD BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH THE VEHICLES/UPGRADES WILDLY VARY HOW THE GAME "FEELS")

DOABLE, BUT.... AT WHAT COST? FORTUNE'S WEAVE?!

(ALTHOUGH, I WILL SOMEWHAT CONFIDENTLY SAY YOU WON'T REACH HORIZON. THAT'D BE CLOSE TO 1 TRAILS GAME A MONTH. AND NEWER TRAILS GAMES ARE REAL LONG.)

THANKS FOR POSTING THIS! SNAGGED SOME…. INTERESTING GAMING MERCH THAT I PROBABLY DON’T NEED.

(I COULDN’T BRING MYSELF TO GET ACTUAL GAMES BECAUSE I CAN TELL THERE IS LIKE A 50% ONLINE UPSELL COMPARED TO THEIR ACTUAL STORES. BUT STILL PRETTY EXCELLENT FOR IMPORT STUFF IN GENERAL)

SHE WAS TRULY FAR AHEAD OF HER TIME.

I WOULD BE VERY IMPRESSED IF YOU FINISHED ALL THE COLD STEEL GAMES BY THE END OF NEXT YEAR, TBH.

I THINK XCX AND, HONESTLY, FIRE EMBLEM THREE HOUSES ARE THE MAIN THINGS I’M TAPPING MY FOOT AND HOPING THEY’LL DO SOMETHING SWITCH 2 RELATED.

BUT XCX SEEMED ESPECIALLY WEIRD AFTER PEOPLE DATA MINED THE 60 FPS STUFF AND... JUST ABSOLUTELY NOTHING CAME OF IT.

I'M STILL KINDA SURPRISED HOW DEEP YOU GOT INTO XCX. MOST PEOPLE DON'T EVEN GET FAR ENOUGH TO UNLOCK SKELLS!

(I STILL HAVEN'T PLAYED IT MYSELF BECAUSE I KEPT THINKING THEY'LL DO A SWITCH 2 PATCH.... AND THEN NOTHING HAPPENED!?)

For one, I’m secretly a big fan of context specific (and easily missable) party member dialogue. And P2 actually has quite a bit of it. Be it the many in-game shops, or multiple rooms within dungeons, your party members generally have unique things to say during each point in the story.

#P2IS

Now, I’ve survived RPGs with higher random encounter rates, but P2’s biggest problem is how slow the animations are for a not deep combat system. I’m hitting 3X speed on an emulator & it’s still a slog.

“Oh boy, I bet barrel hates this game.” And, no. P2 still feels unique even within SMT.

#P2IS

So, Innocent Sin has a PRETTY SLOW start. Still more compelling than anything in P1 stuff (aside from Snow Queen) *barrel is a certified P1 hater.*

Basically, lots of (seemingly) disparate gameplay mechanics and story themes upfront. Also, VERY high random encounter rate.

#P2IS

BASICALLY, YEAH.

I THINK THE ONLY EXCEPTION TO THIS IS... I THINK MELODY OF MEMORY? WHICH I BELIEVE IS TECHNICALLY A SEQUEL TO 3? (I NEVER PLAYED IT. AND DON'T REALLY PLAN TO)