What are you playing right now?

[RamenJunkie]

Lately I've been playing...

American Truck Simulator - It's pretty relaxing just cruising around the southwest US pulling trailers. I kind of wish there was a "free drive" option that was also devoid of cops and damage.

Overwatch - Recently purchased over the week of sales. Its fun. I wish I could get myself to branch out from the same 3-4 heroes.

Shadow Complex Remastered - Recently in a Humble Bundle. I had no idea what this game was but it was recommended to be good. I was really surprised to discover it's a Metroidvania game, only set in a modern spy sort of world.

[Jordan]

I've been totally addicted to Seinarukana. It's a strategic RPG (note: not a "tactics" game). However, I've also seen it described [fairly] as a cross between an RPG and a visual novel. The text in this game is voluminous. The game itself follows a lot of visual novel tropes.

On the other hand, the gameplay is quite good. The RPG elements are not just shoehorned in; it feels like the game does have a decent amount of depth in most respects (save for the building system). Characters are divided into classes and can be formed into 1-3 unit squadrons. They take up roles such as attacking, defending or supporting their units. The game can be quite challenging. It is not one of those RPGs that allows you to "grind." You have a very limited resource pool of experience and have to use it wisely. Clearing maps faster also gives bonus rewards, incentivizing strategy over mindless leveling.

The game is a sequel to Eien no Aselia, a game which I also enjoyed. However, I felt that Eien no Aselia had some serious issues with the gameplay. I thought the character and class variety was lacking in Eien no Aselia. I also did not like how the positions of characters carried over from one mission to another, requiring the player to experience extensive trial and error. Seinarukana fixes both problems.

The game does have some localization issues and technical problems, but I've enjoyed it a lot so far. It's really one of those hidden gems.

[Claytone]

Lately I've been playing...

Pokémon Moon - Surprisingly, I still haven't beaten this. I love it, but I've just had my attention diverted in all different directions lately. Really love the new things they tried with this entry, but I've got my criticisms too. Overall, though, Pokémon remains a joy.

Street Fighter V - Started playing with a buddy who actually knows how to play (he's Gold rank online, so quite legitimately good), and I am loving this game. Only played SF casually before, but this is a delightful game to really get into. Next stop for me is Super Bronze.

Mighty No. 9 - I backed this game, and I have about as a bad a taste in my mouth about it as anyone that did (exacerbated by the fact that my physical reward was never fulfilled). Nevertheless, I figured I may as well play it. It's actually a decent game with some good ideas, but it's so hard to get past how horribly it was managed. I think if I'd never backed it, I'd consider it a fine game. But it's hard to fully endorse a game created by a group of people that didn't fulfill their basic promise to me. :\

[Jordan]

-Seinarukana

-Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero

-Rance 5D and Rance VI in about 1.5 weeks.

[Jordan]

I finished Rance 5D and Shantae Half Genie Hero. I'm currently blazing through Rance VI.

Rance 5D is honestly fairly mediocre as a game.

Rance VI, on the other hand, is phenomenal. It's pretty much everything I want out of Rance.

[Kong Wen]

Rance VI, on the other hand, is phenomenal. It's pretty much everything I want out of Rance.

Which is?

[Jordan]

Tons of hours of playtime.

Fun gameplay.

Interesting and diverse characters.

A really good plot.

Sengoku Rance is a bit better gameplay wise, but Rance VI is pretty good.

[Kong Wen]

Tons of hours of playtime.

Fun gameplay.

Interesting and diverse characters.

A really good plot.

Sengoku Rance is a bit better gameplay wise, but Rance VI is pretty good.

Which one of those elements was Rance 5D missing out on?

[Jordan]

Tons of hours of playtime.

Fun gameplay.

Interesting and diverse characters.

A really good plot.

Sengoku Rance is a bit better gameplay wise, but Rance VI is pretty good.

Which one of those elements was Rance 5D missing out on?

tl;dr: Literally all of the above.

Rance 5D was really meant as a side game, even in Japan. When it retailed in Japan it was sold for about $25.00 (iirc ~2800 yen).

5D is deliberately very short. I beat it in a couple of days. Rance VI has dozens of hours of content. It's a full length RPG. So already, that's a huge difference.

Rance 5D is also half gambling. You're largely reliant on dice rolls and pachinko rolls to advance through the game. You don't have any control over battles once they start. You just watch the dice roll and the numbers fly. Rance 5D is really not much of an RPG at all. It's more like an adventure game crossed with pachinko.
By contrast, Rance VI is basically like Etrian Odyssey or any other "DRPG" which involves going into dungeons and managing your party well to overcome them.

Rance 5D did have good characters, but it's a short game so there were also only about 5-6 party members throughout. The contrast with Rance VI is again notable. Rance VI has ~20 or so party members.

Rance 5D was funny as Rance always is, but it was a filler plot so it wasn't anything spectacular. The entire game is just about Rance and co. escaping from a messed up dimension. There is no real villain and aside from the heroine Rizna, nothing in Rance 5D is integral to the overall lore of the Rance universe. Rance VI is very lore heavy by contrast. Even the introduction to the game lays out a lot of the history of the game universe:

https://youtu.be/bkLOKOORm5U?t=13

In fact, I actually think the intro movie might be a bit too overwhelming. Compare it to 5D's, which has a much lighter tone befitting of a lighter game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrnQ5NkWhsc (warning: might have nudity. NOT work safe)

Ironically I think Rance 5D's opening movie is much better, but you get the immediate sense from watching both of them side by side that one game takes itself very seriously while the other is goofy. For whatever reason, the intro movie to Rance 5D also reveals that Alicesoft went through development hell while making the game.

[The Shoemaker]

Been playing a bit over the last few weeks, especially now that I'm on Christmas break!

Pokemon Sun: Beat the game and completed the regional Pokedex! Wasn't too difficult actually, took me about 80 hours to beat the game at which point I was already at 75% with my dex. Then I started searching for the few I missed, offered some trades online and bam, Pokedex completed 20 hours later. There was some Post game story as well so that took up the bulk of the time. Really enjoyed this one.

Journey: Nice little afternoon experience. Got it as a free PS+ game a few months back. The seamless multiplayer experience is really cool, didn't realize until the end that I was playing with real people and not CPU!

The Last of Us: Another one I got a couple months ago and finally had the opportunity to play it over the last few days. Awesome game, takes what works in the Uncharted formula and makes what feels like a more engaging game. The crafting system is the meat of the game, as it gives you a reason to look in every nook and cranny for supplies, offers lots of combat options, and adds to the sense of survival. This system is really what sets the game apart from Uncharted, and makes the game feel like less of a walk through a hallway. This was a good one, glad I got it when it was $15.