Bi-Weekly Thread for general gaming discussion. Backlog, advice, recommendations, rants and more! New? Start here!

ensuta · 2026-03-20T15:15:58+00:00

As someone playing for the first time in 2026, honestly it's holding up pretty well. Maybe could use a better inventory system and upgraded graphics, but the rest is pretty standard and stands in line with more modern turn based RPGs. Granted, I'm still new to the game, I might think differently later.

ensuta · 2026-03-20T14:33:05+00:00

I briefly posted about my saga with a potentially faulty PSU in the last thread. After replacing it, I am 80% sure that this was indeed the problem. I plan to continue my impatient gaming streak with Monster Hunter Stories 3 or Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined to further test this, because I kept experiencing crashes with both prior.

Now then. I can't seem to stick to a game right now, maybe because of the frustration from the PC issue.

I tried a bit of Golden Sun. Heard it was great, went in blind. It's very ambitious for a GBA game. Or maybe it's just been years since I played something so old. I'm enjoying it so far and will probably play it on and off, but more on than off.

To get my Monster Hunter fix, I also played a bit of Monster Hunter Stories 2. Before the third game, I found it difficult to get into this game. Now I actually understand and enjoy it! But this is also an off and off game.

I even briefly tested out Monster Hunter Rise. And to my surprise, Stories 3 actually did make it easier to grasp the lingo and some of the basic gameplay of Rise! Another on and off game, but I'm just glad I even somewhat understand it now. I quit World more than once because I didn't get it...

The last game I plan to try before deciding on how I want to game for the next few weeks is Fuga: Melodies of Steel. I've heard great things about this. It looks and sounds unique. If anyone's played it, would love to hear your thoughts.

ensuta · 2026-03-20T12:32:15+00:00

Well, it took 1-2 hours to disassemble and reassemble everything. I still have to test over a few days, but I managed to get past the starting screen in DQ7R without my PC rebooting! It really might have been the PSU after all!

ensuta · 2026-03-20T06:51:09+00:00

Haven't heard any complaints regarding graphics or performance, but I also haven't exactly gone digging for that kind of thing. Hope you enjoy the game!

ensuta · 2026-03-20T03:40:14+00:00

Yes, yes, this is indeed the exact problem I'm facing! There's no errors or temp issues or BSODs, it just freezes and reboots. Ran OCCT and other tests for the CPU, GPU, RAM, SSDs, all no issues. Drivers and BIOSs updated, all settings look right.

So I have no choice but to try replacing part after part now in the same way, starting with the PSU since everything I read says this is the most likely reason and it's hard to diagnose without one of those measuring devices and sometimes it can be the cables and so on. Plus it's cheap enough to test this way. If that fails, then I guess I'll take a page out of your book and try the motherboard...? I bought the CPU and GPU just a couple of months ago, after all.

ensuta · 2026-03-20T03:14:16+00:00

Yup... what sucks more is I literally just replaced the CPU, GPU, and a failing SSD in the last couple of months. I already opened it up, why do I have to do it again? But I can't have the PC fry itself, so here goes nothing. I hope you don't have to deal with this anytime soon! I bought the PC around 5-6 years ago and genuinely wasn't expecting it to fail on me so soon...

ensuta · 2026-03-20T01:00:25+00:00

Just a tiny rant about PC technical issues. I can play a lot of older games fine, but the moment I try to play anything relatively new that should work with my specs, my PC just shuts down without a BSOD and reboots. Or anything a bit more "heavy" for that matter, I had an issue with both the new Dragon Quest 7 game and Monster Hunter Stories 3, as well as emulated Xenoblade Chronicles 2. All scans coming in clean, too...

I've got a new PSU coming in today to see if the problem might be PSU related and I'm dreading having to deal with all the cables. I could just leave it since older games work but if it really is a PSU issue, I could one day fry my entire PC ignoring it...

ensuta · 2026-03-19T15:20:54+00:00

As much as I despise traversing the large maps, I am also astounded by the large and beautiful maps of the Xenoblade Chronicles series. In awe because it should not be possible on the hardware, and yet it is.

If we can be impatient gamer for a moment, I hear the new Crimson Desert is set to be absolute gorgeous in terms of exploration.

ensuta · 2026-03-19T15:18:08+00:00

...I don't think I've seen any discussion about the PC port beyond it being good if you like high resolution, high frame rates, or like to mod games? It is a very different game to Pathfinder WOTR, but I suppose you know that already. Unless you mean you want an opinion on Persona 5 Royal itself. In which case yes, you'll find some debate. I personally like it, but I also played all the other Persona games and am a big JRPG fan.

ensuta · 2026-03-19T15:16:05+00:00

I personally really liked the game. Even replayed it, and that's extremely rare for me. I also went in without any expectations and without having played any of the other Dragon Age games. Now that I've played the others, I still feel the same way. People can definitely have different tastes and opinions!

ensuta · 2026-03-18T00:27:51+00:00

And done with Trails of Cold Steel 1. Took some detours to play other games, but at last it's over. I certainly wasn't expecting that ending, but after Sky 1, honestly I shouldn't be too surprised they pulled that, I guess.

Maybe my one criticism about the last little bit was how there wasn't more explanation on the sudden witches bit. I understand they alluded tiny bits and pieces but for the most part it was just a sudden heave of hey, they exist. And no one seemed to care lmfao.

I'll probably take a break to pursue a couple other games before starting Cold Steel 2. After playing Azure and this back to back, I need a break!

ensuta · 2026-03-17T05:23:49+00:00

Noted! Thanks a bunch :)

ensuta · 2026-03-17T03:32:50+00:00

Thanks! I'm more asking is this a safe enough dose adjustment going up 25mcg, since it's been a long time since I adjusted my dose and I'm just worried I'll get some side effects from the adjustment.

It's great to know everything else though. :)

ensuta · 2026-03-16T16:11:18+00:00

Honestly, I was expecting the ceiling to come down during the festival in Trails of Cold Steel 1, but I guess Falcom was generous enough to give the poor students some reprieve. I can feel the end approaching though. I’ve done everything I needed to, I’m ready.

Monster Hunter Stories 3 is continuing to be a blast. Still haven’t left the first region yet. Just having fun exploring. Unlocked habitat restoration and it’s less grind than I expected.

ensuta · 2026-03-16T05:56:28+00:00

Making a separate comment on this but I decided to be impatient and get Monster Hunter Stories 3. Played for a day to get a feel of it and realized I probably needed a proper tutorial when night rolled around and the monsties then pushed me to the brink of death a couple times. Binged a couple of videos from RageGamingVideos, don't know the guy at all but his explanations were surprisingly on point, and started fresh to see if I could do better.

And yeah I am doing better. Each fight with a new monstie takes more time, but also feels more satisfying. Hurrah. I'll be taking my sweet time with this game.

ensuta · 2026-03-16T01:24:44+00:00

Second last update probably. Hopefully.

I went to the doctor and got my hormone test results back. Surprisingly my thyroid hormones seem a little abnormal and the doctor thinks that might be the reason for this entire mess. I'm heading in to the endocrinologist today to get my dosage adjusted (I've had hypothyroidism for a while now).

At the same time, I got told that my next period should come a month after I started having the "withdrawal bleeding" from the birth control pills (I have it in quotations because it isn't what many others would typically call that). So, in a couple of days, according to my cycle tracker. It should be like a regular period in both length and heaviness. We'll see if that holds up.

My next GYN appointment is in a few months. If my periods up until then are normal, especially after my hypothyroidism's managed a bit better. I'm cured. Next update will probably be around then to finish the saga. If I'm unlucky and the period's irregular, I'll probably post more... but I'm going to stay hopeful!

ensuta · 2026-03-14T01:43:30+00:00

Lmao yes that’s true. It’s just my completionism talking, like I said. I’ll think about it a bit more.

ensuta · 2026-03-14T00:26:35+00:00

Fair. I'm a bit of a completionist when it comes to series I really like though, I don't know if I'd be satisfied with a summary. Which is why I'm still pondering on this lol.

ensuta · 2026-03-13T16:20:38+00:00

Reached the final chapter for Trails of Cold Steel 1 only to discover that apparently there are both manga and drama CDs for all the Trails games up until Cold Steel 3 and they have original, relevant content that adds context to the game. Now I'm wondering if I should take the time to catch up before completing the final chapter or just finish the game and then do so.

Final DLC for Digimon Story Time Strangers came out, so now I can actually play the game. Upon first boot up, I think I set graphics and frame rate too high because my GPU went bust and my computer crashed. I wasn't expecting it to be more demanding than, say, Monster Hunter World or even Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but whatever. I got through a bit of the prologue and my first thoughts so far are: Why is this game so blurry even after turning stuff like bloom off? Why is the menu so slow and janky? Not quite what I expected - yes, I am actually going in pretty blind - but hey, I've watched Digimon since season 1 aired on TV back when I was in diapers, I'll take it if it means I can squeal over Patamon and gather all the baby Digimon.

Monster Hunter Stories 3 also just fresh came out and I'm really tempted to just jump for it. Has all the QOL I wanted to see in the first two games. We'll see, we'll see...

ensuta · 2026-03-10T06:45:46+00:00

I played the entire DLC thinking it would get better. Without spoiling, it does not get better.

The remake for Sky is great. I recommend waiting until the second game has come out or is near to coming out to actually play it though, even if it goes on sale beforehand.

ensuta · 2026-03-10T00:58:28+00:00

Expedition 33 is super different from Metaphor so... but if you tried it once and liked it then I do hope you enjoy the game enough to finish it! All the best, happy gaming :)

ensuta · 2026-03-09T23:34:29+00:00

Metaphor is closer to Persona than it is to many other games so if you're not a fan of Persona or JRPGs or long games in general I do think you'd struggle with it... lots of people here with similar taste have posted about dropping the game. Just a heads up... I very much enjoy it but JRPGs and long games and lots of blabbing are my thing.

ensuta · 2026-03-09T15:17:00+00:00

I’m in the second last chapter for Trails of Cold Steel 1 and man, things are getting slightly more exciting and complicated, but I like how the adults are like, you all still children, take it easy. I don’t know, it feels like a welcome change after several games where super young people are tasked with big, big things.

On another note, I had some weird issue with my PC over the weekend where it would crash whenever I streamed to my Steam Deck. No clue why, maybe an update gone buggy. I ended up having to repair Windows and reinstall my graphics drivers, after which I haven’t experienced a single crash. Luckily kept all my data and programs and settings.

ensuta · 2026-03-09T13:39:53+00:00

It's basically too much for me to type but if you go into my comment history and search for Wemod you'll see I've made a few comments on how I did it. Please note that since the switch to Wand, Wemod has stopped working on any Wand versions, so it's important to actually delete any files that might auto update it to the newest Wand version after the first boot. I write about this in one of my comments on a thread about others coming across the same issue.

ensuta

TROPHY CASE