Timothy Monbleau

Technically most Ys games are good starting points, but X’s early place in the timeline makes it especially so (you’ll only get references to Adol’s adventure on a sky island where he made friends with a wall crusher and a doctor). Been playing this on Steam Deck and can confirm it’s great there!

Also, playing on the New Game+ Infinity mode, I’ve really gotten to appreciate that when Adol used Ignis Cracker, it sounds like he’s screaming “Eat this cracker” which is easily one of the top battle cries of all time.

Here's Why You Should Make Action-RPG Ys X: Nordics Your First Ys Game - Kotaku Falcom’s latest action-RPG might be your perfect fit, even if this series has never grabbed you before

I don’t want to undersell the new stuff. There’s much more postgame meat to chew on, and Öland Island is big (and adds excellent new music to the OST). But for the most part, my quasi-review from the original release still applies here:

kotaku.com/ys-x-nordics...

A screenshot of Ys X: Proud Nordics. Adol is riding a Mana Line into the new Öland Island.

Still wrapping up Ys X: Proud Nordics, but I can say that Ys X remains a fantastic Action RPG. Proud Nordics generally improves upon it, but it mostly adds more stuff (which could have been DLC). Not an essential upgrade, but great if you haven’t played it or finished the game needing more. #blutoid

I’d normally wag my finger at all these unlocalized recommendations in this thread for someone less seasoned with video games. But after seeing the first games she chose to play were 初音ミク -Project DIVA- and モンハン日記 ぽかぽかアイルー村, I say go nuts fam.

I feel this. I’m not gonna pretend I didn’t play Valhalla Knights way more than I originally thought I would.

Oh that’s awesome! Knew about the Legends/Dash ports but didn’t know they made any notable tweaks, would have loved those back in the day if they had English releases.

Genuinely such a great library. I got mine around 2011 and it was still my favorite system for a solid 2 years. I liked it so much it made me believe in the Vita (RIP).

A screenshot of Tactics Ogre for sale. The seller has listed it as “Tactical ogres psp.”

I’m sorry I meant Tactical Ogres, my mistake.

All this talk about kids playing Roblox and my girlfriend’s 16 year old sister is telling us she just got a PSP and wants to know what games she should play. The children yearn for Tactics Ogre and Metal Gear Ac!d. #blutoid

I was never born to be a freelancer. Everything I pitch is like “Please let me write about this RPG, my thesis is unexplainable but the people will resonate with the boundless sorrow inside me.”

Also, Another Eden Begins has serious sleeper potential. It basically invented the formula that the Octopath Gacha followed, it was always a Chrono game with the serial numbers shaved off and with live service shoehorned in. Take off that last part and I’m excited to finally give it an earnest try.

Been pretty sick so couldn’t do live Direct reactions, but I can’t believe Kyoto Xanadu is (kind of) a sidescroller. This is a Faxanadu sequel and you can’t tell me otherwise.

The funniest part about this statement is that it implies that new video game critics are getting hired.

YouTube video by Falcom Music Channel Ys Seven OST - Vacant Interference

The fact that it has one of the best boss themes ever recorded in the history of video games certainly helped cement it as an all-time classic for me.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U-u...

I know a lot of these mechanics are divisive nowadays. At the time though, it really felt like this relatively overlooked series was hitting you with encounters that were way ahead of the mainstream. I would have never predicted Seven's systems would become so common, but I'm not surprised either.

I've thought about this a lot for the past ~15 years. I described Ys Seven on Destructoid in the early 2010s as fast-paced Secret of Mana since that was my best frame of reference then. A decade later, I do one battle in Final Fantasy XVI and go "I can't believe Square Enix is making Ys now."

What a way to find out Nintendo reads my skeets.

Unrelated, just throwing this out there for no particular reason, I'm definitely still sad Nintendo hasn't created a Switch 2 remake of Dragalia Lost a la Octopath Traveler 0. Just really tears me up inside.

Well then.

#blutoid

🎊Happy birthday to a quality guy 🎊

If you're grabbing PS+ Extra, Sword of the Sea, Blue Prince, Demon's Souls, and Ghost of Tsushima are easy places to start (Bloodborne's on there too). My First Gran Turismo is basically a Gran Turismo 7 demo, so you can see if that's your thing too.

It turns out that Nidhogg is weak to getting shot.

"To put an end to this video game discourse, I've asked an AI-generated Roger Ebert for his opinion."

Hello. I just want to say that trans and non-binary people deserve infinite love at a time when the scant few rights they had are being so cruelly torn away.

I am so blessed to have trans and non-binary friends, colleagues, neighbours and relatives, who inspire me every day.

Love to you all.

A screenshot from Dragon Quest I HD-2D Remake. The hero stands beside Princess Gwaelin as they talk to Robbin’ ‘Ood. The text from him says “And who, might I ask, is this fair maiden who stand with beside thee?”

A screenshot from Dragon Quest I HD-2D Remake. The hero and Princess Gwaelin are in a house with several fairies. The text from Gwaelin reads 9And bring us together thou first. I think thee from the bottom of my heart, milady.

Questions for people who have played Dragon Quest I HD-2D Remake.

1: Did you keep Gwaelin with you for the second half of the game?
2: If not, did you realize that you could?

And to answer your question, yes I have now beaten this game twice.

A screenshot from Dragon Quest I HD-2D Remake. The hero stands beside Princess Gwaelin as they talk to Robbin’ ‘Ood. The text from him says “And who, might I ask, is this fair maiden who stand with beside thee?”

A screenshot from Dragon Quest I HD-2D Remake. The hero and Princess Gwaelin are in a house with several fairies. The text from Gwaelin reads 9And bring us together thou first. I think thee from the bottom of my heart, milady.

Questions for people who have played Dragon Quest I HD-2D Remake.

1: Did you keep Gwaelin with you for the second half of the game?
2: If not, did you realize that you could?

And to answer your question, yes I have now beaten this game twice.

This week's issue features links to @solfleet.bsky.social, @marioprime.bsky.social, @jmariye.bsky.social, @timmonbleau.bsky.social, @mads.haus, @darylbaxter.com and others ⤵️

Dragon Quest I&II HD-2D Remake Changed How I Look At The Series This remake is a new RPG purposefully masquerading as a pair of 40-year-old games

“We can’t give in to fear. If we run, then what happened to us will happen to others. The world won’t be safe. So we have to be strong. And we have to keep going.”

Beautiful work, @timmonbleau.bsky.social 💖

kotaku.com/dragon-quest...

It means the world to me to see this piece so warmly received this past day. The last few weeks have been beyond hard for me, and so much of this was driven by my own struggle to find the strength to keep my chin up. I feel that weight lifting seeing these feelings resonate, thank you all.