Dynaman looks low ranked but I can agree with some comments, these polls might be a bit skewed with new younger viewers and some of the old material not getting enough attention. Looks like a decent list though.
Here's my scratch notes and ones I picked out for now, though not listed are all the 90's ones and I might just go through them in order. lol
1. Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger - 9.029 (2011)
2. Mirai Sentai Timeranger - 9.000 (2000) - Time Force
Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger (2018)
Avataro Sentai Donbrothers (2023) - Same writer as Jetman
Choujinki Metalder (1987) - Saint Seiya composer Seiji Yokoyama
"Jetman's writer goes on to do a lot of 2000's KR series like Agito, Ryuki, Faiz and Kiva, and they're even darker and edgier (too edgy for some people)."
Kamen Rider Kuuga (2000) seems good
I finished it already haha. Slam dunk 9/10 for me. Even some of the filler-ish episodes were hilarious and fun, like the evil ramen cup monster, the vending machine, tomatoes. But so much of this I couldn't believe coming off Power Rangers. The black ranger Gai being some kind of gambling antihero (probably my favorite character), the love triangle between him and Ryo with Kaori, actually some nasty hilarious gore at times. The villains were such a damn highlight too, always in the mix and constantly fighting the Jetman or themselves. Amazing designs too. Rei and Radiguet dealing with their fading humanity. Guess Keita Amemiya was the director which blew me away too, wonder if he had a hand in some of the monster designs. Music was amazing. Couldn't believe some of the ending lol, still not sure how I feel about it, but it was ballsy and will leave a mark. Thought this was way better than Kamen Rider Black honestly.
I'm burning through Kyuranger, (2017) since it's space themed. But I'm zoning out to it now. On paper ~9 main rangers (I'll always call them that lol) sounded kind of cool, but yeah it's overkill. Still on the fence if I'll like the modern ones are not. What else is new? lol. I'll hold off on Gokaiger for now. That said, I read the Jetman writer came back for Avataro Sentai Donbrothers (2022) and it sounds good.
Zyuranger was next up for the 90's and the MMPR curiosity was always going to get to me lol. It's... okay like I've heard. Freaking bizarre that Dragon Quest influenced it somewhat. Maybe a 7/10. Ups and downs. I can see how some joke about all the kid actors in this one, then I think back to Jetman and can't picture kids at all, unless they "died" getting evaporated from tentacles and stuff lmao... but yeah the rest of the 90's ones interest me a lot. Man I've got like 10 picked out now. Even skimmed some Ultraman and some of the Metal toku stuff (Saint Seiya composer on some like Choujinki Metalder entices me). The flood gates are unleashed now. lol
I sampled ep1 of Kamen Rider Kuuga. Seems like another weirder/darker one that was experimental as the comeback series after its hiatus. And the Jetman writer did some KR, so maybe I'll focus on those. There's so much variety here, might be one that really speaks to me. But I think I'll love a lot of the 80-90's sentai. Dairanger sounds amazing, so I'm excited for that one after Zyu. It's cool that Timeranger and Time Force for PR are always ranked among the best. Time Force was my favorite PR next to In Space (Megaranger). SPD (Dekaranger) was really good action/setting wise, so maybe the sentai will level that up even more. The PR cast/villains didn't have an A tier character for me outside of Doggie Cruger/Shadow Ranger.
Speaking of Saint Seiya? lol. I really believe that's probably my #1 anime OST. Perfection.
Yeah I heard about that with Gokaiger, but saw some accounts of people saying it's fine to check out on its own. Not sure. Others I'm interested in are Dekaranger, Timeranger, and KT said Dairanger has some unhinged shit in it. Like Tomino stuff with people jumping off buildings and such lol.
Yeah the gritty edge to KRB was cool. Probably would have loved a movie rather than 50 episodes of that MOTW stuff though. KRW was definitely a lot "nicer" and goofier in ways. Compared to PW, the action was a lot more visceral and cool though. I really dug the weird dual suit and the various forms he had. I hear good things about OOO and Kouga too I think around that same era. But I'm probably good on KR for awhile and want to watch a sentai or two next for now.
Kamen Rider Black - 7/10. Finally finished this a few weeks ago after a like 10 year hiatus. Love the music, vibes, the practical effects, but I couldn't describe these characters to save my life.
Kamen Rider W - 8/10. Just finished this. The villains I felt were really boring, but some revelations later on turned that around a little. Wasn't totally in love with the two MC's or goofy sidechick girl. The side KR guy who came in later was pretty awesome though. Much easier to get through than Black, but still zoned out at times and if this is the peak of KR at a 8/10 for me, I don't know.
Garo - 8/10. Felt like watching a Reisdent Evil 1 show with all the dark/night scenes in buildings and stuff lol. The CGI will make your eyes bleed, but I liked everything else enough to keep going.
Garo: Makai Senki - 9/10. This one was banging on all cylinders to me. Recurring cast, everything leveled up, and this was like a live action Vampire Hunter D meets Devil May Cry series. Videogamey in all the right ways.
GARO: The One Who Shines in the Darkness - New cast. Gave it a 7.5 I guess. I can't remember much, but I don't remember it being bad.
Now I'm reluctant to keep going with Garo since it's gotten massive and ratings tend to pretty low too. Hard to even gauge how involved Keita Amemiya is at this point as well. I've seen the Iria movies. I do think maybe anything he touches, gets a possible +1 to me. Love his designs at least. So maybe picking out stuff he maybe had a hand in KR/sentai wise would be good.
Now you'll laugh but I'm burning through Power Rangers. KT's seen a lot too so I'm talking to him about it. Overall it's been a worthwhile project and pretty fun, even with these being 90% new material to me since I quit watching as a kid after Mighty Morphin. In Space and Time Force (Timeranger) are my two 9/10's now. 8/10 for Lost Galaxy, Lightspeed Rescue, SPD. Now RPM seems like the last best one to watch.
I think I'm going to watch Goukaiger soon for sentai. Seems like a fan favorite. I'll be curious if somehow this formula works better for me than KR. I think I just have to get back to my bread and butter and what I loved about mecha anime initially, grimdark/sci-fi serious stuff. I don't think Goukaiger fits that bill and this is all child friendly stuff in the end, but yeah I'll maybe have to research more and pick out all the "darker" shows lol. I think it was worthwhile going from KR Black to W, so I'll maybe jump around the various eras to get a different taste of things.
KT says all the other American adapted stuff isn't worth it. VR Troopers maybe being the best option after PW. But yeah maybe some of the other stuff in Japan would work better for me. Me liking Power Rangers feels like a stooge saying they prefer Robotech lmao. But I do think it being live action is a different kind of vibe here with the changes and all.
tl;dr, despite my love of old school mecha anime, the jury is still out on this lol. I was really hoping to like KRW more than I did. But the curiosity still gets me, maybe there's a 9/10 in there somewhere for my tastes.
Yeah haha. Drove me nuts though, was one of those rare moments where I get to a final boss and was seriously unsure if I could roll credits myself. Got it eventually though. I thought Ys II was a huge step up with the fireball attack, really cool game. Dawn was a little bloated and the pacing got weird later on, but it was such a charming game overall. Loved it. I couldn't stomach much of Ys IV SNES, lol.
Yeah it took me a lot of adjusting when I jumped back in. I had two characters and liked my second one more, Int/Dex/Katanas. But turned out it wasn't DLC ready, since I had gone to DLC+3 or something. So I tried with my slow ass Str/Greatsword first character and it was awful. I then realized I could quickly look up how to get the lift medallions, fight Mohg, etc to get to the DLC quickly on my second character. That went better. Now I'll never know if it was harder or not on DLC+3. Since the Scadutree stuff scaled things separately from the main game... who knows. There was one new katana that seemed like the new "anime sword", it was pretty cool lol. So I used that a fair bit, but that was about it for any new DLC item stuff. The new big pots and stuff too I guess. Think I got a nice 40 hours out of it. The fire and ice caverns were really cool. The second to last area (green lush area) was mesmerizing. But I still think some of the base game has it beat in level design/atmosphere. I might enjoy the DLC more another time around when I replay the whole thing altogether. I didn't want to commit that 100+ hours to that idea now though. lol
Agreed the AC6 music could have been better. Some boss themes stuck with me. But yeah, more drum & bass techno fun with the old AC's.
Ohhhhh, hear it from me, the Nioh 2 DLC was pretty doable and nothing too crazy. I never did Nioh 1's DLC, nor did I even finish that games post-game content. Once they started throwing two bosses at me in some tiny rooms... I was done. lmao, I usually 100% these games, but I drew the line with Nioh 1's insanity.
Radahn eat your heart out, lmfao. I had to go into the games config and turn the refresh rate way down. Still took forever though. Thank goodness the final bosses after that were more doable.
Since my last posts here, I beat Ys 1-6, Oath, Origin, all after VIII haha. Safe to say I've had my redemption year with Ys. I'm excited for the rest, but needed a break finally and know the newer ones are a bit longer. I'm still thinking about Ys Dawn's OST, good lord. Majestic!
My ranks:
S: Ys VIII
A: Ys II, IV (Dawn), VI/Oath/Origin
B: Ys I, Ys III
C: Ys V
After that been retro gaming a bit again myself, some quick Genesis games.
I beat the ER DLC myself. I took on Messmer pre-patches and hated that SOB the most. Commander Gaius was a nuisance too. I can see how the final boss will be the hardest for many and it's up there, absolutely insane. But I got it after a few nights, didn't seem as crazy as some other final bosses to me in a way.
After that I replayed Sekiro. I still like it more than Bloodborne personally. Crazy how much this game stuck with me too after like 5 years since it released, I picked up the mechanics really quickly again and got most of the bosses on a few tries max. Wish there was more. I think ER is my #2 after Demon's Souls now, but I honestly had more fun replaying Sekiro than the ER DLC haha. I also think I had more fun playing Armored Core 6. Did you hit that one up? Loved it. Think I'm kind of ready for "new" stuff for From. But I'll be excited for Elden Ring 2 down the road.
I'm thinking Code Vein or FF Stranger in Paradise for my next Souls-like fix.
How'd you beat Nioh 2 in a week? haha... I sunk 121 hours into that and all the DLC's combined. That was gaming crack to me. Honestly I would put it above some FromSoftware stuff perhaps. With so many dense weapon mechanics, I think it'll be easy to replay someday with some different builds. I rocked the Odachis/Kusarigamas for this playthrough. Maybe I'll finally rock dual swords next time. In Nioh 1 I did vanilla swords and axes. I'd like to get Nioh 1 on PC for a replay, but I don't know if it's worth it when Nioh 2 felt like Nioh 1 but better and more haha. And the demon move stuff was a nice addition. Still, I think Nioh 1 had some really good levels and atmosphere in spots. But a lot of BS design for sure. That stupid giant water boss...
Haha, think that's what I've heard with Ys3 SNES being bad, so yeah I played the worst one...
Ys5 being so weird is a bummer. I must have tried that one out at some point too, because I love all the overhead ARPG's like that on the SNES. Even some oddballs like Brain Lord or Alcahest. Then I love all the Quintet stuff. But I'm never seeing people rate Ys5 too highly... that's insane it was that long, lol. That's crazy for an SNES game. And that one had no other port or remake? 4 on the PCE-CD looks pretty cool on the other hand and not too long. I did hear the series had some major staff changes off and on, like why Ys3 was such a departure gameplay wise. But yeah it still seems like a fan favorite that turned out well.
Yeah I want to say I liked everything about Ys6 back on the PS2 outside of the platforming (kind of like Alundra lol, never got far into that one either). But I'm excited to hit up 6 on PC again someday. I own the remakes of 1-2, then 6, Origin, and Oath all on PC haha, with everything else now wishlisted. Nice to have another big series I want to dig more into now.
I even tried playing Yakuza 5 on top of these two, lol. I ended up dropping that one. Love the Yakuza series but I could just tell I have better ones to play, Y5 isn't the standout favorite or anything. But yeah I generally don't play two long games back to back like this.
I have a rocky history with Y's. This is the first one that won me over. I don't like the bump combat of the first two. I think I played a little of Ys3 SNES or something. Ys 6 I had on PS2, but the platforming was annoying, I hear that's better on PC. And I only played like an hour of Origin and Oath. But now that I love 8, I want to give them all another shot now. You have a favorite version of 3? The PCE-CD OST is so damn good, seems like the one I should check out. I'm excited for all the modern games the most though, I think those will go smoothly with me. But yeah I'll give the whole series a second chance. I have no issues with 8 being the longest though haha. It's nice that the rest of them never look too long. But yeah, Ys8 basically feels like an ARPG Xenoblade, I love all those games. The sense of exploration and so much is similar here in an awesome way. I like using Dana and Laxia the most.
This is another reason why... the Y's OST's are just insane haha. Love it.
Man you ain't seen nothing yet even in the Kingdom manga I'm sure then. Had no issues with S1, though I know many hate the CGI it had to endure. S2 was a big step up with one backstory arc that's still a standout moment in the whole thing. But good lord, S3 material and on... it feels like the DBZ effect where the Z transition/next step is monumentally better than anything before.
I'm still playing SMT Strange Journey, lmao. It's still good, but yeah it's not gaming crack to me like SMT4. It was probably silly to play two long turn based JRPG's back to back either way. I'm playing Y's 8 now as well and holy frick this game is amazing. One of those times where you feel like something just gives you LIFE. lol, such a joyous game that does everything right. I don't know if it beats SMT4 for me this year, but it's up there.
Kingdom has become the next best "big" thing I'm loving since JoJo. And I rarely even think about reading manga for my tastes but I might be tempted here. The art looks amazing and like you said, more violent. From S3 and on it's been in the hands of a new staff and leveled up monumentally. I'm almost afraid to ask where you're at in the manga due to spoilers haha, but it looks like where I'm at in the anime is maybe a big further at this point. For me this series has been an unstoppable incline. I think a 10/10 season is possible soon.
The music is damn good and makes it so addicting too. It's a weird case though, Sawano is credited all over yet I think this is a time when he maybe did like one song and that's it. I'm confident 90% of the music is this guy who must be a protege of Sawano's team/studio, yet I think this guy is better. It doesn't have Sawano's weird knack for songs being super quiet them BAM LOUD in the same track up and down, all the vocal stuff, lmao. Don't get wrong, AoT had some okay tracks, and I think he peaked with Xenoblade X. It's an interesting style. But This Kohta guy is just more straightforward and better for it. Most of the music is bombastic epic stuff fitting the action and stuff, but then suddenly it'll sound like Suikoden/JRPG's in the quieter moments. The production across the board has been stellar from S3 and on to me and it got more bloody finally too, but still looks tame. A few panels I've seen looked like Berserk level in the manga haha.
Even having seen a good bit of historical war/drama Asians shows over the last decade, Kingdom is still continually impressing me with everything it does. Feels like we finally have the anime/manga Suikoden right here.
I did see SJ was technically the 5th main SMT or something. Persona made them pivot a bit for what we got with SMT4? Thankfully wasn't for the worst, I'm really loving it 10 hours in now. But yeah could maybe see some of the extra anime influence rubbing off compared to SMT3 lol.
I did beat the two DDS's actually now as well. I kind of missed recruiting demons but since they were spinoff titles, no shame in experimenting. The skill system was pretty cool in the end and I really had to rethink my SMT ways with only having three characters in battle. I definitely think four is the best though. Playing all the DQ in recent years has cemented that a bit more for me haha. The Hindu sci-fi influences on DDS's story and world was pretty crazy. I'm not sure if it landed in the end, kind of hated how endless the final dungeon was in DDS2... but yeah haha. They were pretty awesome all around. 8/10's for me, where I could maybe give SMT3 a 10.
Did you play the Devil Summoner's? I'll give them a look someday and I love ARPG's usually. But I think I'm focused on all the turn based SMT stuff first.
Well you may appreciate that the Ideon music is pretty different from DQ. It's an interesting part of this rewatch now that I've played tons of DQ's. Can hear his signature style in some spots. But yeah this is a lot more bombastic and space adventure. Soooo good. Makes me wish he did more music like this actually.
Is the beginning of SJ just slow as molasses? I was taken aback by all the story, tutorials, going in and out of the initial ice cave dungeon that I'm still in. Pretty different compared to the PS2 games haha... but yeah the combat and dungeon crawling sounds amazing. I'll give it another look.
Sad to hear about SMT5. I had a hunch the outdoor dessert setting looked kind of boring for a dungeon crawling series. I'll push that one back and hit up all the others on my 3DS first. lol
I'm still not that interested in Persona. But the original two looking darker and more like SMT's still interest me. Did you play those? I did fall off both SMT1-2 though, the gameplay was kind of just too basic I think. SMT3 spoiled me and with all the demon personalities and skills they have.
100% agreed the Netflix release format really made JoJo 6 a wet noodle at release. It was like an event over the years even with some local friends of mine when the others were coming out. Ah well. Now I'm kind of happy part 7 is a soft reboot, I'm ready for new stuff.
I keep good tabs on the retro throwbacks but I'm surprised I haven't seen these before. I'll wishlist them.
All Comments (62) Comments
https://old.reddit.com/r/supersentai/comments/e0egkv/rsupersentais_season_rankings_1_results/
Dynaman looks low ranked but I can agree with some comments, these polls might be a bit skewed with new younger viewers and some of the old material not getting enough attention. Looks like a decent list though.
Here's my scratch notes and ones I picked out for now, though not listed are all the 90's ones and I might just go through them in order. lol
I'm burning through Kyuranger, (2017) since it's space themed. But I'm zoning out to it now. On paper ~9 main rangers (I'll always call them that lol) sounded kind of cool, but yeah it's overkill. Still on the fence if I'll like the modern ones are not. What else is new? lol. I'll hold off on Gokaiger for now. That said, I read the Jetman writer came back for Avataro Sentai Donbrothers (2022) and it sounds good.
Zyuranger was next up for the 90's and the MMPR curiosity was always going to get to me lol. It's... okay like I've heard. Freaking bizarre that Dragon Quest influenced it somewhat. Maybe a 7/10. Ups and downs. I can see how some joke about all the kid actors in this one, then I think back to Jetman and can't picture kids at all, unless they "died" getting evaporated from tentacles and stuff lmao... but yeah the rest of the 90's ones interest me a lot. Man I've got like 10 picked out now. Even skimmed some Ultraman and some of the Metal toku stuff (Saint Seiya composer on some like Choujinki Metalder entices me). The flood gates are unleashed now. lol
I sampled ep1 of Kamen Rider Kuuga. Seems like another weirder/darker one that was experimental as the comeback series after its hiatus. And the Jetman writer did some KR, so maybe I'll focus on those. There's so much variety here, might be one that really speaks to me. But I think I'll love a lot of the 80-90's sentai. Dairanger sounds amazing, so I'm excited for that one after Zyu. It's cool that Timeranger and Time Force for PR are always ranked among the best. Time Force was my favorite PR next to In Space (Megaranger). SPD (Dekaranger) was really good action/setting wise, so maybe the sentai will level that up even more. The PR cast/villains didn't have an A tier character for me outside of Doggie Cruger/Shadow Ranger.
Speaking of Saint Seiya? lol. I really believe that's probably my #1 anime OST. Perfection.
Might make you laugh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8TUyPzym8U
No complaints here, that's the exact style I want more of haha.
Yeah the gritty edge to KRB was cool. Probably would have loved a movie rather than 50 episodes of that MOTW stuff though. KRW was definitely a lot "nicer" and goofier in ways. Compared to PW, the action was a lot more visceral and cool though. I really dug the weird dual suit and the various forms he had. I hear good things about OOO and Kouga too I think around that same era. But I'm probably good on KR for awhile and want to watch a sentai or two next for now.
Kamen Rider Black - 7/10. Finally finished this a few weeks ago after a like 10 year hiatus. Love the music, vibes, the practical effects, but I couldn't describe these characters to save my life.
Kamen Rider W - 8/10. Just finished this. The villains I felt were really boring, but some revelations later on turned that around a little. Wasn't totally in love with the two MC's or goofy sidechick girl. The side KR guy who came in later was pretty awesome though. Much easier to get through than Black, but still zoned out at times and if this is the peak of KR at a 8/10 for me, I don't know.
Garo - 8/10. Felt like watching a Reisdent Evil 1 show with all the dark/night scenes in buildings and stuff lol. The CGI will make your eyes bleed, but I liked everything else enough to keep going.
Garo: Makai Senki - 9/10. This one was banging on all cylinders to me. Recurring cast, everything leveled up, and this was like a live action Vampire Hunter D meets Devil May Cry series. Videogamey in all the right ways.
GARO: The One Who Shines in the Darkness - New cast. Gave it a 7.5 I guess. I can't remember much, but I don't remember it being bad.
Now I'm reluctant to keep going with Garo since it's gotten massive and ratings tend to pretty low too. Hard to even gauge how involved Keita Amemiya is at this point as well. I've seen the Iria movies. I do think maybe anything he touches, gets a possible +1 to me. Love his designs at least. So maybe picking out stuff he maybe had a hand in KR/sentai wise would be good.
Now you'll laugh but I'm burning through Power Rangers. KT's seen a lot too so I'm talking to him about it. Overall it's been a worthwhile project and pretty fun, even with these being 90% new material to me since I quit watching as a kid after Mighty Morphin. In Space and Time Force (Timeranger) are my two 9/10's now. 8/10 for Lost Galaxy, Lightspeed Rescue, SPD. Now RPM seems like the last best one to watch.
I think I'm going to watch Goukaiger soon for sentai. Seems like a fan favorite. I'll be curious if somehow this formula works better for me than KR. I think I just have to get back to my bread and butter and what I loved about mecha anime initially, grimdark/sci-fi serious stuff. I don't think Goukaiger fits that bill and this is all child friendly stuff in the end, but yeah I'll maybe have to research more and pick out all the "darker" shows lol. I think it was worthwhile going from KR Black to W, so I'll maybe jump around the various eras to get a different taste of things.
KT says all the other American adapted stuff isn't worth it. VR Troopers maybe being the best option after PW. But yeah maybe some of the other stuff in Japan would work better for me. Me liking Power Rangers feels like a stooge saying they prefer Robotech lmao. But I do think it being live action is a different kind of vibe here with the changes and all.
tl;dr, despite my love of old school mecha anime, the jury is still out on this lol. I was really hoping to like KRW more than I did. But the curiosity still gets me, maybe there's a 9/10 in there somewhere for my tastes.
Yeah it took me a lot of adjusting when I jumped back in. I had two characters and liked my second one more, Int/Dex/Katanas. But turned out it wasn't DLC ready, since I had gone to DLC+3 or something. So I tried with my slow ass Str/Greatsword first character and it was awful. I then realized I could quickly look up how to get the lift medallions, fight Mohg, etc to get to the DLC quickly on my second character. That went better. Now I'll never know if it was harder or not on DLC+3. Since the Scadutree stuff scaled things separately from the main game... who knows. There was one new katana that seemed like the new "anime sword", it was pretty cool lol. So I used that a fair bit, but that was about it for any new DLC item stuff. The new big pots and stuff too I guess. Think I got a nice 40 hours out of it. The fire and ice caverns were really cool. The second to last area (green lush area) was mesmerizing. But I still think some of the base game has it beat in level design/atmosphere. I might enjoy the DLC more another time around when I replay the whole thing altogether. I didn't want to commit that 100+ hours to that idea now though. lol
Agreed the AC6 music could have been better. Some boss themes stuck with me. But yeah, more drum & bass techno fun with the old AC's.
Ohhhhh, hear it from me, the Nioh 2 DLC was pretty doable and nothing too crazy. I never did Nioh 1's DLC, nor did I even finish that games post-game content. Once they started throwing two bosses at me in some tiny rooms... I was done. lmao, I usually 100% these games, but I drew the line with Nioh 1's insanity.
My ranks:
S: Ys VIII
A: Ys II, IV (Dawn), VI/Oath/Origin
B: Ys I, Ys III
C: Ys V
After that been retro gaming a bit again myself, some quick Genesis games.
I beat the ER DLC myself. I took on Messmer pre-patches and hated that SOB the most. Commander Gaius was a nuisance too. I can see how the final boss will be the hardest for many and it's up there, absolutely insane. But I got it after a few nights, didn't seem as crazy as some other final bosses to me in a way.
After that I replayed Sekiro. I still like it more than Bloodborne personally. Crazy how much this game stuck with me too after like 5 years since it released, I picked up the mechanics really quickly again and got most of the bosses on a few tries max. Wish there was more. I think ER is my #2 after Demon's Souls now, but I honestly had more fun replaying Sekiro than the ER DLC haha. I also think I had more fun playing Armored Core 6. Did you hit that one up? Loved it. Think I'm kind of ready for "new" stuff for From. But I'll be excited for Elden Ring 2 down the road.
I'm thinking Code Vein or FF Stranger in Paradise for my next Souls-like fix.
How'd you beat Nioh 2 in a week? haha... I sunk 121 hours into that and all the DLC's combined. That was gaming crack to me. Honestly I would put it above some FromSoftware stuff perhaps. With so many dense weapon mechanics, I think it'll be easy to replay someday with some different builds. I rocked the Odachis/Kusarigamas for this playthrough. Maybe I'll finally rock dual swords next time. In Nioh 1 I did vanilla swords and axes. I'd like to get Nioh 1 on PC for a replay, but I don't know if it's worth it when Nioh 2 felt like Nioh 1 but better and more haha. And the demon move stuff was a nice addition. Still, I think Nioh 1 had some really good levels and atmosphere in spots. But a lot of BS design for sure. That stupid giant water boss...
Ys5 being so weird is a bummer. I must have tried that one out at some point too, because I love all the overhead ARPG's like that on the SNES. Even some oddballs like Brain Lord or Alcahest. Then I love all the Quintet stuff. But I'm never seeing people rate Ys5 too highly... that's insane it was that long, lol. That's crazy for an SNES game. And that one had no other port or remake? 4 on the PCE-CD looks pretty cool on the other hand and not too long. I did hear the series had some major staff changes off and on, like why Ys3 was such a departure gameplay wise. But yeah it still seems like a fan favorite that turned out well.
Yeah I want to say I liked everything about Ys6 back on the PS2 outside of the platforming (kind of like Alundra lol, never got far into that one either). But I'm excited to hit up 6 on PC again someday. I own the remakes of 1-2, then 6, Origin, and Oath all on PC haha, with everything else now wishlisted. Nice to have another big series I want to dig more into now.
I have a rocky history with Y's. This is the first one that won me over. I don't like the bump combat of the first two. I think I played a little of Ys3 SNES or something. Ys 6 I had on PS2, but the platforming was annoying, I hear that's better on PC. And I only played like an hour of Origin and Oath. But now that I love 8, I want to give them all another shot now. You have a favorite version of 3? The PCE-CD OST is so damn good, seems like the one I should check out. I'm excited for all the modern games the most though, I think those will go smoothly with me. But yeah I'll give the whole series a second chance. I have no issues with 8 being the longest though haha. It's nice that the rest of them never look too long. But yeah, Ys8 basically feels like an ARPG Xenoblade, I love all those games. The sense of exploration and so much is similar here in an awesome way. I like using Dana and Laxia the most.
This is another reason why... the Y's OST's are just insane haha. Love it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD4r8ufspg0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8pFzQ1lyF8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuVRnUvdmz4
heh
Man you ain't seen nothing yet even in the Kingdom manga I'm sure then. Had no issues with S1, though I know many hate the CGI it had to endure. S2 was a big step up with one backstory arc that's still a standout moment in the whole thing. But good lord, S3 material and on... it feels like the DBZ effect where the Z transition/next step is monumentally better than anything before.
I'm still playing SMT Strange Journey, lmao. It's still good, but yeah it's not gaming crack to me like SMT4. It was probably silly to play two long turn based JRPG's back to back either way. I'm playing Y's 8 now as well and holy frick this game is amazing. One of those times where you feel like something just gives you LIFE. lol, such a joyous game that does everything right. I don't know if it beats SMT4 for me this year, but it's up there.
The music is damn good and makes it so addicting too. It's a weird case though, Sawano is credited all over yet I think this is a time when he maybe did like one song and that's it. I'm confident 90% of the music is this guy who must be a protege of Sawano's team/studio, yet I think this guy is better. It doesn't have Sawano's weird knack for songs being super quiet them BAM LOUD in the same track up and down, all the vocal stuff, lmao. Don't get wrong, AoT had some okay tracks, and I think he peaked with Xenoblade X. It's an interesting style. But This Kohta guy is just more straightforward and better for it. Most of the music is bombastic epic stuff fitting the action and stuff, but then suddenly it'll sound like Suikoden/JRPG's in the quieter moments. The production across the board has been stellar from S3 and on to me and it got more bloody finally too, but still looks tame. A few panels I've seen looked like Berserk level in the manga haha.
Some war favorites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7dffX7rWro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc8gm7gv5f0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faINmoIDf5Q
S5's OP/ED were freaking good too.
Even having seen a good bit of historical war/drama Asians shows over the last decade, Kingdom is still continually impressing me with everything it does. Feels like we finally have the anime/manga Suikoden right here.
I did beat the two DDS's actually now as well. I kind of missed recruiting demons but since they were spinoff titles, no shame in experimenting. The skill system was pretty cool in the end and I really had to rethink my SMT ways with only having three characters in battle. I definitely think four is the best though. Playing all the DQ in recent years has cemented that a bit more for me haha. The Hindu sci-fi influences on DDS's story and world was pretty crazy. I'm not sure if it landed in the end, kind of hated how endless the final dungeon was in DDS2... but yeah haha. They were pretty awesome all around. 8/10's for me, where I could maybe give SMT3 a 10.
Did you play the Devil Summoner's? I'll give them a look someday and I love ARPG's usually. But I think I'm focused on all the turn based SMT stuff first.
Is the beginning of SJ just slow as molasses? I was taken aback by all the story, tutorials, going in and out of the initial ice cave dungeon that I'm still in. Pretty different compared to the PS2 games haha... but yeah the combat and dungeon crawling sounds amazing. I'll give it another look.
Sad to hear about SMT5. I had a hunch the outdoor dessert setting looked kind of boring for a dungeon crawling series. I'll push that one back and hit up all the others on my 3DS first. lol
I'm still not that interested in Persona. But the original two looking darker and more like SMT's still interest me. Did you play those? I did fall off both SMT1-2 though, the gameplay was kind of just too basic I think. SMT3 spoiled me and with all the demon personalities and skills they have.
100% agreed the Netflix release format really made JoJo 6 a wet noodle at release. It was like an event over the years even with some local friends of mine when the others were coming out. Ah well. Now I'm kind of happy part 7 is a soft reboot, I'm ready for new stuff.
I keep good tabs on the retro throwbacks but I'm surprised I haven't seen these before. I'll wishlist them.