One level in to Pragmata and yup, this will be all I play for quite a while
Looks and plays amazingly well. Most impresive though is the story and voice acting. Like how the fuck is this a Capcom title??? Those are always bloody AWFUL aspects of their games. This one is SUCH AN IMPROVEMENT. Amaze, amaze, amaze
There’s also been praise thrown around about the level design being better than Capcom’s usual design.
Playing Pragmata and I am at the last area, the game is very impressive on all fronts and a much more polished and varied experience that I would’ve thought. Gameplay also has a lot of depth and every new addition to Hugh’s arsenal is meaningful and has a purpose, the team put a lot of love and passion into this game and it shows. BTW the challenges are so freakin’ good, such a clever way to include a more in depth tutorial in the game and actually make it fun and not boring AF. Can’t wait to see the conclusion of the story!
Level design is very good level in Pragmata but Capcom has being great on designing interesting levels in the vast majority of their recent games too. The RE engine Resident Evil games have better level design than 99.9% of the AAA games out there and also Dragon’s Dogma 2’s world/level design is amazing and doesn’t get enough credit.
Jesse (Sik and Nick too) is much more kind and polite than I would’ve been in similar situations…that’s for sure. Thankfully the chat in the podcasts is always very chill and assholes are the exception.
Vampire Crawlers is proving to be the best Xbox Play Anywhere game. The autosave works in the middle of a turn. It’s fantastic for cloud gaming. I can actually hop in during a commute, play even just some cards during an encounter, suddenly stop playing (because I had to get off at my stop or whatever), and the game is saved for wherever I pick it back up (my handheld or console). It’s great. Doesn’t help my addiction though… (it’s a game I can sneak during work and put away at a moments notice; that’s really dangerous 
).
So I tried this b/c I was a huge VS fan. But I don’t understand it. I’m just playing cards in battles. I don’t understand the strategy. You have any beginner tips to help me understand the gameplay loop?
The best mindset is that of it being a mix of a dungeon crawler, rogue like card game, and Vampire Survivors. It’s surprisingly really intuitive to vampire survivors. The best thing that helped me out getting started was just remembering what fused with what to evolve (like you still have the same whip + black heart (max heart increase) fuse for the blood whip (or whatever it’s called)). It’s all the same and in the early parts of the game those evolved weapons are really powerful. Other than that it’s just doing the mana cost combos and extending that as long as possible. As you get later in the game you’ll be abusing card draws, mana gains, and crawler abilities to get super huge endless combos and BIG damage. For me I did hit a roadblock and have to start seriously farming gold to use for permanent power up upgrades. Early game just follow the numbers (combo) and when you level up try to go for cards that you know evolve together.
Finally wrapped these up and not sure what to play next. I got a pretty big backlog of jrpgs I’m trying to get through. I can’t decide between DQ1+2, Persona 3, Metaphor, FF16, or the Lunar and Grandia collections.
Finished the Story mode (on normal) in Invincible VS. Too bad it’s so short. There’s some real inklings of personality there and a lot of interesting places they could take the story. Anyway, Now to let that purchase waste away in my library because I’m terrible at fighting games. I literally just dropped like $70 for the deluxe edition just to support an IP I like, the studio, and Xbox Play Anywhere; I am the problem .
My vote is on Metaphor as it’s Atlas newest game and it’s more forgiving with the time management.
Finished Pragmata yesterday and my god what a game…it blew all my expectations out of the water and then some. The ending was great and the game managed to keep things interesting and fresh until the end gameplay wise with enough new weapons/nodes and enemy variety. I still have to complete the last training/challenge and then proceed to complete Unknown Signal and Lunatic.
Pragmata is up there along with Hi-Fi Rush and Psychonauts 2 as the long lost (but modernized) gen 6 games that feel so out of place in the best way possible in today’s AA/AAA market, all 3 amazing games that were so fun to play and experience but with also wholesome characters and stories that made me smile. Capcom took the risk with this weird concept on paper and made something truly special, hopefully the game continues to sell decently because it deserves even more success and sales.
Besides playing more Pragmata I will resume my Memories in Orbit playthrough, I will start Replaced and check out some of the shmups and Metal Slug games that I got in the latest sales.
You can lock on to enemies with pressing down the LS. 
I’m having some serious focus issues on games lately. Feels like I’m rotating around 10+ games at any given time. I’m hitting my rewards 8 pack naturally without a problem.
Terra tech Legion - just started this. super cool concept. will take some time getting used to driving a vehicle for this type of game. Can’t wait to play more.
DRGS - after putting this down after hitting a wall, I picked it back up and have made a little more progress then hit another wall. I’m super stuck at gate 4. I’ve prob tried it 20 times and can’t complete that dive. May put this down again and focus more on TTL.
Mio - really getting tired of backtracking to boss fights. I’m pretty close to switching on the easy mode b/c I really like this game and don’t want to drop it.
Sim racing - about every year or two I hook up my logitec 920 for some driving fun then realize it is too active of an activity when all I really want to do after work is be lazy on the couch. So been playing forza motorsport, dirt rally 2.0, and EA WRC. And the same results. I only have the energy to sim drive on weekends. don’t have the energy for it after work.
Vampire crawlers - tried this but don’t think it is for me. I can’t find the fun doing card battles. I didn’t like balatro either, so thinking card games aren’t for me.
And all of the above will get dropped in two weeks when FH6 comes out. I used to be a one game at a time gamer. Gamepass can really change a person…
Seriously? I played over 20 hours and didn’t even know that. Of course, most games have it locked to the RS/R3 button as LS/L3 is usually set to sprinting.
I’ll have to remember this when I go back to play through the Unknown Signal trials. Thanks.
I started Vampire Crawler today and man, I couldn’t put down the controller!
The mad men, they had me hooked with VS and they did it again!
It’s a stupidly fun game, imo, once we get going with card combos, arcana and free combo extenders. It just kicks in my need to figure out what I’m doing.
Currently playing Vampire Crawlers!
Just finished the third level in the Library, I definitely felt like I was in danger of dying. But getting a second arcana and some timely draws really pulled me through. If there’s no 4th level, I will try for the bridge.
Also playing Starfield!
My full blown addiction to it is back, as my new character has clocked in 3 more days worth of time. I have yet to do any if the Terran Armada content, currently I running around trying to do more Constellation missions. Which relate to finding specific features on a planet or moon, or fully surveying one.
Also returned to TESO!
I haven’t been back for too long, but I did do a dungeon and I’m in the process if relearning my rotatio. Still remember it, but outside of practice I’m still panic pressing buttons. Good thing we get a lot if heals to exploit.
Lastly have been playing Kiln!
The game didn’t click with me right away, but I have gotten a couple of more games in and I’m really enjoying my time with it.
Been nothing but Pragmata this week. Had the coolest boss fight against a giant robot. Cleared a few red carded/dangerous rooms. And am currently progressing through an area called The Terra Dome.
I’m staying away from Mouse PI and Replaced. Not because they’re not great, but because my condition is not conducive to remembering multiple controller layouts. AND because Pragmata is just so fucking fantastic 
Aaaannnddd, just as I say that I encountered the nastiest bug where I was in the Terra Dome, collected tons of resources, couldn’t for the life of me advance back to the safe room to level up and save my progress. I exited to the title screen, went back in and it was all fuckin GONE
Hopefully THAT shit doesn’t happen again, when I go back and get all that back
Just started Motorslice!
The game itself is a platformer with some light combat, I say light because most of the fights are short, as the chainsaw just kills all the enemies I have fought in a single hit. There is a deflect mechanic that activates when we attack at the same time as an enemy.
That parry mechanic can become a reflect on ranged attacks, if we attack twice.
For the most part I’m enjoying my time with the game, as the platforming feels closer to Mirrors Edge than something lime Mario but not as in depth.
Never did find a way to avoid that bug in Pragmata. It was on the dome area and 3 fucking times I had to resort to backing out and losing progress. That said, I got much further along and this is EASILY my GOTY so far
And there’s even an alt armor that looks a lot like my favorite armor in Dead Space 
