If it helps you narrow things down, the main considerations are:
Form Factor:
Which games you want to play:
If you can answer some of those questions, your options become a lot clearer.
Let me know if I can help!
And now, I’m going to go try Suikoden on my Retroid Pocket 4.
-Ted
I’ve narrowed it down to the Retroid Pocket 5 that just came out and the Odin 2 Pro which has a faster chip and can render PS2 games with ease but doesn’t have as nice a screen and costs $100 more.
Not sure if anyone is into hero shooters, but I’ve been playing the shit out of Marvel Rivals lately.
I’m shit at those co-op games, but that one does look good.
I’m in the middle of Cyberpunk 2077. A friend of mine has been telling me to get it for years now and I finally followed through. It’s a lot better than I expected. I don’t like FPS games nor GTA style games in general, but the depth and detail of the characters and world is great. The Keanu usage is also top-notch.
You should give edge runners a peep on Netflix. Solid anime that will give you some nice backstory of one of the legends of Night City.
I went with a net runner build on my first playthrough.
Oh, I know all about it. Such a great tie in. I watched it standalone because I love Studio Trigger.
I’m playing what a friend described back to me as a samurai. A lot of katana slicing, and then sniper and AR guns for ranged stuff, my “bows” as he said. Haha.
I recently got a non-lethal katana, which still seems to be pretty lethal in most cases. I’ve been getting yelled at by fixers for retiring cyberpsychos that they wanted subdued but alive. I think I’m gonna have to play the game a few times to see what different outcomes are possible.
Four Cyberpunk builds and a few months later I picked up “Clair Obscur Expedition 33” which is a Japanese-style RPG (party of 3, turn based).
Lately I’ve been bored with JRPGs. I played Metaphor: Refantasio but found the only meaningful mechanic was MP preservation. It wasn’t bad, but it did make me feel like I didn’t need to play a JRPG again.
I also tried the FF7 remake and hated it. Somehow too action RPG and not enough at the same time.
Yet against all odds, I think Expedition 33 is great. The characters are good, the story is interesting, the world is gorgeous and most importantly the battle mechanics are great. Rather than force you to eat enemy attacks like a traditional JRPG, you can dodge and parry every attack. Dodge timing is more forgiving than parrying, but parries yield huge counter hits that can turn the tide of battle. Get your timings down and you can no-hit the whole game.
The game feels like a real labor of love, with all kinds of cool details, silly jokes, and even a town full of sentient paintbrushes who love to fight.
Yeah! I heard it is that good!
Let’s goooooo
My reply to a friend, when asked about Elden Ring Nightreign shortly after it released:
Last week they added “enhanced” bosses that are even more difficult than the ones that I was complaining about.
And I should also add:
The game is amazing, but it may be over a dozen hours before you beat the first boss. 
I want to like Death Stranding so bad because I’m a big Hideo Kojima fan, but for some reason, it doesn’t click with me
I feel like the first game took a while for me to really enjoy. I remember that getting Ziplines from South Knot City, some 8-10 hours into the game is where it shifted for me, since it changed from being just a hiking game into an infrastructure design game. Climbing mountains and getting people on the grid felt important because then I could build my zip line network out.
Now I love it all. Part 2 so far (5 ish hours in) has yet to let me build much—I just got my first vehicle—so it’s pretty slow.
Amazing looking though. The animation on the puppet character breaks my brain. It moves at 12fps or less, but the physics are still at 60. Very cool.
I recently picked up Expedition 33 during the Steam sale and I’m really enjoying it so far. The story is incredible, and the turn-based combat with dodge/parry mechanics has been keeping me on the edge of my seat. However, I haven’t quite gotten the hang of parrying yet.
Although I’ve never played any Souls or Souls-like games, I’ve sunk a good amount of hours into Sifu, so I’d like to think I have decent reflexes for parrying once I learn the monsters’ moves. The parry window seems to happen before the attack lands, unlike the timing I’m used to in other games, which is usually close to or on impact.
I even tried watching a few videos, and the common tip is to turn the music down and listen for the wind-up sound cue. That’s a bummer because I really like the music.
I’ve made it to Act 2 mostly by dodging, but I’m definitely starting to feel the power creep. Granted, I haven’t really optimized my builds and have been winging it. It also seems like the “First Strike” passive might be broken. I was hoping it would override my fastest character’s turn order so Maelle could take advantage of the Marks Verso skills it creates.
I am… so old.
Hahahahaha. I don’t want to spoil anything, but it’s only a small fraction of the sort of crazy things you can do with pictos. Call me when you start using the “dies at turn start” picto.
It’s the game of the year. Hands down. As much as I might enjoy Death Stranding 2 and Nightreign, there is no way a game better that Expedition 33 drops this year.
I’ve nearly platinum’d the game (long story involving an old key, which I will eventually get), and while I could parry some enemies sometimes, for the most part I worked around my limited parry skills. You can definitely still beat the game if you are crap at parrying.
Also, the way to set up First Strike turn order is to kick everyone out of the party after they have first strike equipped and then add them back in the order you want them to play.
I really enjoyed Expedition 33 as well.
It’s great to see that a French game can resonate with so many people around the world !
Here’s a little tip for blocking attacks : the timing is easier to pick up from the sound cues, it’s actually simpler than relying on visual signals, which can often be hard to read.
Call me when you start using the “dies at turn start” picto.
Havn’t come across that one yet lol
Also, the way to set up First Strike turn order is to kick everyone out of the party after they have first strike equipped and then add them back in the order you want them to play.
My parry training involved defeating every Nevron in the Forgotten Battlefield using only parries.
