Good Frame Trap! It was great to hear more from Brad. Sifting through the subjects:
- I'm one of those mysterious people Ben spoke of on panel and
barely like Final Fantasy XV. But that didn't take away from the discussion on the panel. It was a nice chat about some of the interpersonal touches that feed into the brotherhood theme, one of the better parts about the game. I'm not surprised that Kyle is taking to the game well, and it made for a light-hearted discussion.
- The salt over Crash Bandicoot 1 is great and well-warranted. As someone playing the Trilogy right now, I can certainly empathize with some of the points on the panel about turtle hitboxes and the bridge Bonus level fall. I haven't played 3 in a while, but I'm looking forward to getting around to it eventually (currently Platinumed Crash 1 and have moved on to beat 2 normally). Like Ben said, persevering through the bullshit did feel fulfilling in a weird way. Of course breaking boxes, spinning enemies and the "chunky" sounds of picking up Wumpa Fruit still feels good.
- I loved the "Summer Game" question. For me, I'd say
Digimon World 2, which I grew up with. Same reasons as Kyle brought up Digimon World 1, it's grindy with one of the worst monster progression systems out there. That allows me to have a mission to get stronger Digimon, take down tournaments and dungeon crawl from morning to evening. I also got around to
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne on a vacation once and that was also a great "Oh, I've never gotten around to this. I have time for it now" game.
- On the subject of remasters, I agree with Kyle and Brad. If a great remaster comes out for a great game, there's a reason for it. I don't get upset with myself for playing a remaster over a new game or vice versa. As Ben said, with some much longer games, it does become more of an active choice. Speaking of re-releases, I didn't get DQ8 for 3DS for similar reasons. I really like the original, but the game takes long enough that I don't feel the need to prioritize it over other games. On the other hand, I completed KH 1.5 and 2.5 last year, taking hours upon hours that could have been put towards other games. I simply had to make the choice and be okay with the time I put down. It'll really depend on preferences, priorities, so on.
- Autosaves + Manual Saves. This is the way to go almost every damn time. I will also echo Ben and agree that most games need Horizon: Zero Dawn's Quick Save system. You have a chosen file, you press one button and Boom. Back in the game. In fact, you don't even leave the game. Of course, that comes with soft respawn points and hard save slots when you need them. I save very often, so seeing the PS4's UI (or any other system's) too often tugs at me a bit.
I can see why Ben was uncertain about the temperature of the show, but I really liked it. It was good to hear much more from Brad, in particular. I will still champion 3-Man Frame Trap format. Making my favorite EZA show even better!
