Community MetaSteam | September 2024 - The emperor protects, BOY!

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TrishaKit

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I remember buying those early neptunia games just to support those early japanese niche PC port releases. I never even played any of those freaking games. Fun times.
For what its worth, among the mainline entries, the only really worthwhile one is Megadimension Neptunia VII
Re;Birth 1-3 are very repetitive and mid and full of fluff
 

Dragon1893

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[Citation needed]
Yeah, child Alloy looks incredibly weird, I was really taken aback by it back when the game launched. Facial animation needs upgrading across the board. Water too.
But yeah, they're just milking they're biggest IPs for all their worth.
The Horizon games were huge so this is easy money and helps fill the gaps in their release schedule.
 

KingKrouch

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It saddens me to read this because I think there was a period where Idea Factory was heading into a good direction, but it's absolutely true. Both Idea Factory and Nippon Ichi (the japanese side) have been very bad in "adapting" both to current trends, but also to their fanbase needs and wants. It's especially obvious when you compare them to other "Niche JRPG" developers who instead not only put more effort in giving fans what they want, but are also slowly escaping the "niche" like Gust or Falcom. At this point it has gone beyond "self-inflicted wound" and it almost feels like intentional sabotaging
There was something in that interview that also mentioned that they're more concerned about an average batting score between a bunch of smaller games, rather than putting a lot of effort into a single good game or two, and that allows them to refine what works and to focus on that. On the surface, it doesn't sound bad (variety is a good thing), but we are talking about a company that's already known for penny pinching. I'd argue that hasn't quite been working out for them. Neptunia is only as "big" as it is because it rode off constant discounts/sales much in the same way that Horizon Zero Dawn has, and with how the only Japanese games that are on Xbox being the big ones with western appeal that sold out long ago, I don't see Xbox being that successful for them either. For a long time, they weren't even doing anything outside of Neptunia, and now that the past few games sold worse, they're now milking their other IPs to death.

IF/CH specifically says that they rely on word of mouth for their marketing, but I've seen my fair share of people who are completely disillusioned at this point, and the word of mouth has been that they haven't cared about quality for a few years at this point. Doesn't help that Japanese games as a whole for the past five years has felt like a extension of everything bad the western AAA space has been doing, just less explicit.

At least Chinese and Korean games actually listen to feedback (the good kind, not the kind from social media bots looking to stir outrage) and don't ship broken at launch. It's depressing.

EDIT: BTW, the new Madou Monogatari game that they got Sega's blessings doesn't even include the main Puyo Puyo cast. They literally marketed this game with having returning characters from that series (With Sega's permission).
 
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ezodagrom

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The loss of popularity for Idea Factory PC versions, their PC ports quality were always kinda lacking, and some of their releases in the late 2010s were especially bad, plus they would give their games relatively big discounts just a few short months after release, which I guess resulted in PC players just waiting for those discounts instead of buying at launch. :/
Just poor decisions all around.

As IF PC versions got less and less popular, their PC releases started to come later (which further reduced their popularity), and, while IF got worse and worse at handling their PC versions, at the same time more and more bigger JRPGs started to release on PC.
 
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KingKrouch

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meanwhile:

They realized they have no leg to stand on regarding copyright and IP infringement so now they're desperately trying to claim patents were infringed instead?

This is basically the same thing as companies filing patents for their Intellectual properties so they can at least make the names or the brand not go into public domain.

The last relevant Pokemon game I've ever seen people play and talk about was Black and White, and I was in middle school when that released.
 

Madventure

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Nov 17, 2018
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meanwhile:


Some of these patents granted to nintendo are complete bullshit lmao

They like "invented" for all intents and purposes flying mounts 19 days ago or were granted the patent for variation of them, I'm half inclined to think they just filed a bunch of these fucking things specifcally to go after companies and go "Oh look you're using one of our patented mechanics!"

A ton of them are very much on the literal verge patent troll patents if not so
 

KingKrouch

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Dec 14, 2021
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Some of these patents granted to nintendo are complete bullshit lmao
Nintendo can literally just copy Banjo & Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, repackage it with Zelda branding, patent a load of mechanics, and then sell that with glowing praise.

Actually, Rare has more of a case against them than Nintendo has a case against the Palworld devs.
 
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Eila

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For what its worth, among the mainline entries, the only really worthwhile one is Megadimension Neptunia VII
Re;Birth 1-3 are very repetitive and mid and full of fluff
Yeah, I did play a couple hours of Rebirth 1, just to check it out, and from what I recall the gameplay was really mediocre. You have to care about the characters in those games, which I really didn't, at least in that short time.
 

KingKrouch

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Dec 14, 2021
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Yeah, I did play a couple hours of Rebirth 1, just to check it out, and from what I recall the gameplay was really mediocre. You have to care about the characters in those games, which I really didn't, at least in that short time.
Honestly, I feel like Sisters vs Sisters went in the right direction by moving the series to a quasi-Tales combat system with MMO-esque move timers. That is the one definite area that I felt like was a step forward for the series.

The free movement turn-based combat system attempted in the earlier Neptunia games (and Mugen Souls) only really works in Death end re;Quest, because you can actually angle your attacks, and get bonuses for treating enemies like they're billiards. Plus the hazards in the battle maps adds some much needed variety. When you can grind to an absurd level after multiple NG+ runs, you can do crazy knockbacks on enemies and have them impact each other, even when the others are from a distance away.
 

dex3108

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Dec 20, 2018
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I think that I am done with game purchases this year. I will probably buy some games on Steam sales to fill up some missing spots in my collections but that's it. Only thing that I would get day 1 is RDR Remaster on Steam if R* decides to release it this year.

I have Stalker 2, AC Shadows and Indiana Jones sitting in my library waiting for release, I have Starfield to play and I will get new expansion because it is included in my Premium edition, DD2 is patched enough so I can continue playing that too. There is also Star Wars Outlaws that I started and Plucky Squire. I will try to finish Nobody Wants to Die Over the weekend to remove at least one game from that lost of started but not yet finished games XD

So I really don't see reason to buy anything else. Maybe I will decide to gift myself new 3D printer for Christmas instead XD
 

ezodagrom

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The last relevant Pokemon game I've ever seen people play and talk about was Black and White, and I was in middle school when that released.
As bad as the newest games are from a technical point of view, each of them had record breaking launch sales for the series, so saying that the last relevant pokemon games were black and white is just not true.
 
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Jav

Question everything, learn nothing
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IF games were ok but I tried playing Neptunia Re Birth 1 again and I couldn't get past a couple of hours. I think their early success was because the Neptunia games had a niche audience and came out in a time were Steam users were absolutely starving for Japanese games (remember those days?) so they came out with little to no competition in a market that it was positioned to grow a lot for those kind of games and while not a super huge brand, they were above the "obscure indie game" tier.

Now with the absolute flood of great quality games from the same genre, both classics and new, coupled with IF's strategy of always making its games on the tightest possible budget and churning them out has proved to give diminishing returns.
 
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Le Pertti

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I was reflecting on what some GOTY games could be in my top 5 this year, even though I have played lots of older massive games, Im suprised just how many new games I enjoyed this year already. Still have a bunch that I still need to play. Also surprisingly many indie games that I feel I need to have on my list.
 

Mivey

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I'm sure they do, but will anyone really buy a remaster of a still new game?
it's the logical illogical outcome when you are faced with the wish to make money and you are also incredibly risk averse and want the safest possible bet. Horizon sold big, but it's an old PS4 title, so let's pretty it up and sell it again on PlayStation 5.
 

Mivey

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That's absolutely not true. There's some all time greats there, like Muramasa or Dungeon Travellers 2.
Just checking the Wikipedia page for that, and yeah, I can see where Volvo is coming from

I think unless you are very Vita-pilled, there is not much that is caught in Steam's ban list of much value. I was scared they might not release Chaos;Head, but thankfully they caved to the pressure and it's there. beyond that it's kinda hard to care, though
 
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Arc

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I grabbed Dragon Quest Monsters on Steam. I rented the Switch version last year but the performance was so bad that I decided to just wait for the PC version. It runs at 1080p/60 FPS on low settings in docked mode on Deck so I'm pretty happy with that.

Just checking the Wikipedia page for that, and yeah, I can see where Volvo is coming from

I think unless you are very Vita-pilled, there is not much that is caught in Steam's ban list of much value. I was scared they might not release Chaos;Head, but thankfully they caved to the pressure and it's there. beyond that it's kinda hard to care, though
Oh hey that isn't too ba-

And then I scrolled down.
 
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STHX

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I think unless you are very Vita-pilled, there is not much that is caught in Steam's ban list of much value. I was scared they might not release Chaos;Head, but thankfully they caved to the pressure and it's there. beyond that it's kinda hard to care, though
I'm always on 2 sides when talking about Steam banned games
So far there hasn't been a single banned game that I truly cared for, and some of those that interested me ended up releasing on Gog so I just got them there, so I don't see any reason to champion for those banned games
But what if one day one of the games I really want gets banned on Steam, and the game never comes out on Gog or anywhere else? What if a company banked a lot on the Steam release and that ban completely screwed them?
Valve is absolutely inconsistent in this regard and it's obvious by seeing how many games manage to get on Steam despite having very "controversial" elements that got other games banned. Like people pointed out Dungeon Travelers 2 and 2-2 that got banned, but at the same time Dungeon Traveler 1 got on Steam no issue and that one is just as bad (and it doesn't have any sort of uncensoring patch, this is straight from the game downloaded from the Steam servers). Then what even is that causes a non-porn game (these are console titles) to be banned?

There is no consistency, and there is no way to appeal. If the decision to release a game on Steam is fully dependent on a specific employer who reviews it instead of a defined set of rules then this is nothing more than a lottery. For all we know Fate/Stay Night could have been banned as it fits many "flags" that got other games banned (underage characters in school uniforms, violence and gore, sexualized elements) but it didn't happen because Aniplex is big and Valve wouldn't screw them over, but this also opens another can of worms since it means if you're a big enough partner you can do whatever you want without punishment
 

Mivey

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Sep 20, 2018
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I'm always on 2 sides when talking about Steam banned games
So far there hasn't been a single banned game that I truly cared for, and some of those that interested me ended up releasing on Gog so I just got them there, so I don't see any reason to champion for those banned games
But what if one day one of the games I really want gets banned on Steam, and the game never comes out on Gog or anywhere else? What if a company banked a lot on the Steam release and that ban completely screwed them?
Valve is absolutely inconsistent in this regard and it's obvious by seeing how many games manage to get on Steam despite having very "controversial" elements that got other games banned. Like people pointed out Dungeon Travelers 2 and 2-2 that got banned, but at the same time Dungeon Traveler 1 got on Steam no issue and that one is just as bad (and it doesn't have any sort of uncensoring patch, this is straight from the game downloaded from the Steam servers). Then what even is that causes a non-porn game (these are console titles) to be banned?

There is no consistency, and there is no way to appeal. If the decision to release a game on Steam is fully dependent on a specific employer who reviews it instead of a defined set of rules then this is nothing more than a lottery. For all we know Fate/Stay Night could have been banned as it fits many "flags" that got other games banned (underage characters in school uniforms, violence and gore, sexualized elements) but it didn't happen because Aniplex is big and Valve wouldn't screw them over, but this also opens another can of worms since it means if you're a big enough partner you can do whatever you want without punishment
the inconsistency is kinda bullshit, and I think Valve should just be more open about this entire process. Given their attitude, it's silly they are not just keeping track of these decisions publicly.
 

ZKenir

Setting the Seas Ablaze
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Now i'm in a dungeon at 15FPS.
There's nothing in the dungeon. Just walls and a little bit of light, me, and the 2 side characters.

Just did a benchmark to confirm that my PC is performing as it should, so it's definitely game/config related.
Switch and PC versions all rolled into one!
 

KingKrouch

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Dec 14, 2021
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As bad as the newest games are from a technical point of view, each of them had record breaking launch sales for the series, so saying that the last relevant pokemon games were black and white is just not true.
Sure they sold well, but people stopped talking about them after a few days. Outside of Elden Ring, ToTK, and a few other games, current big game launches aren't really events anymore, and one could say the same for modern Pokémon.

Outside of a small group of people on Twitter, and a larger group dunking on the games for being rushed, I didn't see much of a discussion around the Switch games.
 

ezodagrom

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Sure they sold well, but people stopped talking about them after a few days. Outside of Elden Ring, ToTK, and a few other games, current big game launches aren't really events anymore, and one could say the same for modern Pokémon.

Outside of a small group of people on Twitter, and a larger group dunking on the games for being rushed, I didn't see much of a discussion around the Switch games.
Sold well is an understatement, by the end of 2023, Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet were in the top 3 best selling Pokémon games when it comes to total sales (26.1m and 24.3m respectively), surpassed only by the original Red/Green/Blue (31.3m).
 

Mivey

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Going back to the Palworld thing, people are theorizing that Nintendo are trying to sue the developers over a patent they didn't file until last month. If they win this, they have a very bad precedence they're setting.

Not an expert in patent law, and certainly not on how patent law is executed in Japanese courts, but generally speaking, if you can show that your product used something before a later patent was granted, it's pretty much null and void in court. I can't see Japan not following this principle, as it would completely upend any kind of normal business sense, beyond gaming. Imagine if in any industry you could suddenly patent common industrial techniques and start patent trolling everyone left and right. No sane country would ever accept this.
 

ezodagrom

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TrishaKit

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Dungeon Travelers 2 and Dungeon Travelers 2-2 being barred release from Valve were definitely the ones that hurt me the most. They're really fun really hard DRPGs! Plus to this day there's no way to purchase the games on PC outside of Johren, and Johren doesn't let you install games more than 3 times. After that, you have to buy the game again to continue to use it due to their really sketchy and annoying DRM. Why is it that I can play it on Vita but not on Steam?

I however, will be pretty upset about Tokyo Clanpool as well if this turns out to be true. I like my Compile Heart slop! Plus I'm worried that this will mean there's no hope to ever see games like Seven Pirates H or Moero Crystal H make it to PC. This sorta thing affects future decision making on what ports are viable.

EDIT:
Regarding Valve and consistency...
 
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KingKrouch

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Dungeon Travelers 2 and Dungeon Travelers 2-2 being barred release from Valve were definitely the ones that hurt me the most. They're really fun really hard DRPGs! Plus to this day there's no way to purchase the games on PC outside of Johren, and Johren doesn't let you install games more than 3 times. After that, you have to buy the game again to continue to use it due to their really sketchy and annoying DRM. Why is it that I can play it on Vita but not on Steam?

I however, will be pretty upset about Tokyo Clanpool as well if this turns out to be true. I like my Compile Heart slop! Plus I'm worried that this will mean there's no hope to ever see games like Seven Pirates H or Moero Crystal H make it to PC. This sorta thing affects future decision making on what ports are viable.

EDIT:
Regarding Valve and consistency...
It's crazy how they'll ban games with ESRB ratings that you could buy at GameStop, Amazon, PlayAsia, Walmart, or any other retail store, hell even stuff on the App Store or Google Play Store. Can say the same for Sony's content policies, they are nothing more than a PR protection.

It would be a different story if they were AO rated games with explicit content. And yet MasterCard and VISA don't throw a stink over retailers. They almost exclusively target digital game storefronts, eBay, and stuff like Patreon/Fantia/Fanbox.

If other regions (namely the UK, Germany, and Australia) are an issue, then just enforce a sales ban from those regions. Hell, even restricting those games to be bought using your Steam Wallet or something Tether (a cryptocurrency based on USD currency and rates) as a payment option could be an option. If the games that were sold just fine before in the USA were actually "illegal", that would open them up to lawsuits, and yet nothing ever happened.

Either it's a payment processor issue, or Valve's employee structure being set up in a way where your approval ultimately depends on who's working in that department that day.
 
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