The RPG Duelling League
Social Forums => General Chat => Topic started by: Grefter on December 31, 2016, 10:08:31 PM
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Bravely Second - I capped out Chompcraft.
Sad that I don't have Patissier yet, but I have more jobs I want higher stuff of than I can get anyway.
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The High Committee has met again and is ready to award the Best Post of WGAYP 2016.
After Fenrir won for 2015 (http://www.rpgdl.com/forums/index.php?topic=6750.msg181659#msg181659), we have a new champion this year. Congratulations to AndrewRogue, for a post we'd like to call Creativity:
The magical power is apparently related to one's ability to express their inner creativity (novel enough idea!) which is our excuse for why these popstars are the ones who are saving the world...
I get what you mean, but man. Man.
In just a few brief words, Andrew lays bare his tattered psyche, exposing the crack in his soul from this terrible realization. Now there is no denying it: people think that singers ad-lib the lyrics from their own heart, that actors improv their lines in movies, that books & video games are documentaries of awesome characters merely transmitted by the so-called 'writer' or 'author'. What he always knew intellectually he now knows viscerally, deep down, that his vocation will never earn the public acknowledgement that is every man's desire. And he decided to share that with the DL. Hauntingly beautiful, 10/10.
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Reminders.
<3 NotMiki
(And Gref so he's not jealous)
I think I played Baroque more than Dark Souls. The game made me crazy.
I completed the whole baroque database.
Sting games (except Baroque) are funny because they have a ton of insane mechanics interfering with each other all the time and they're all kinda relevant. (except in Riviera because Riviera is piss easy)
FFT is kinda like that, but you soon figure out that you don't really need to give a fuck about stuff like Brave/Faith and zodiac signs, while Sting games throw in your face all the time (because of the ridiculous UI) that everything in this game matters.
I played Rondo of Swords for a short while but I wasn't ready for a Sting game at the time. I know Sting didn't make the game, but, here, let me just try adding a bunch of text with 10 different fonts on a random Rondo of Swords screenshot, and it instantly becomes a Sting game.
(http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2015/19/1430941088-rondo-of-sting.png)
and something pointed out in response that tickled me
Fenrir can you make one for SaGa? Make sure to add lots of indecipherable icons that might be giving the player information!
(I unabashedly love these stupidly unintuitive RPGs, it is basically some kind of Stockholm addiction I think)
(http://www.gameranx.com/img/13-Sep/darksouls2stats.jpg)
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Bravely Second - Knight vs Ninja was a way more fun scenario than I expected. Sides with Heinkel even though I guess I normally would go with Kikyo, but eh wasn't that far off and I wanted to not spend an FF5 clone not leaning on Two Hands for half the game.
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Europa Universalis 4- Playing as Hungary. It's a fun way to kill a long weekend, that's for sure.
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FFD Black Mage SCC:
Oh man. I am already up to the Matoya chapter. Time flies.
Bio, Drain and Hi Potions + Autobattle MT Fira against randoms carried me through everything so far quite easily. Some really good temps, too. The robot was particularly OP with speed, high damage physicals and the full white mage skillset. (sometimes)
Drain is not as good as it looks at first, but it's just a really fun option to use. It deals about half the damage of Bio, and heals about 400 HP compared to 500 HP healed from hi-potions.
But it has a long ass charge time that you might not notice at first.
The cave of magic-resisting enemies might have looked dificult at first glance, but there's like one pot that fully heals HP / MP in the second room, and one save point right before the boss and end of the cave in the fourth room or so? So there are plenty options to heal up in between battles.
The boss Hecatoncheires was undead (Drain immunity) and resisted elemental magic but, uh, I have Bio and Hi-Potions. Bye lol.
Black mages in a SCC don't quite kill bosses as
easily as in FF5 but they probably have a way easier time against
randoms due to save points everywhere + huge MP pools. I dunno, I'd have to try it in FF5.
The game has its fair share of flaws compared to FF5, though it's certainly pleasant enough to play. At times it feels a little too streamlined and predictable.
Short example: The airship dungeon had a lot of shortcuts, Souls-style, including one obviously final shortcut that links the beginning of the dungeon to the end. I had a choice: either go back to the beginning to save, or just continue on and face the boss. Obviously, the first option was better. But I thought to myself "Fuck it, it's FFD, I'm sure they've put a save point right before the boss, even if it makes the shortcuts gimmick entirely pointless" and indeed there was a savepoint.
When it's not streamlined though, it's awful (See: the sidequests I had to go through to get friendly with the rebels in the casino city)
I like how there are two teams with separate jobs, but the separate jobs are given too slowly. Obviously this doesn't matter in a black mage SCC. It would have been super cool to have two teams with entirely different jobs from the start instead.
Also, what the hell is up with all these plot battles.
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Man I remember Hecatoncheir being a monster on a normal file, Bio clearly too strong.
I'm pretty sure Black Mage SCC in FF5 absolutely annihilates randoms; running out of MP is not going to be an issue (I've certainly had Fiesta runs where !Black/!Red was my only real offence, and that was without four elemental rods for +50% damage). I think they have some problems against Archeoaevis and the Seal Guardians (who both have phases/parts with full element blocking) but that's about it? And they can get around that if they grind for Flame Rings in World 1 so they can heal themselves.
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He almost exclusively used ST physicals and the black mages were in the back row. The new storebought hi potions trivialized him more than Bio, the team wasn't in any danger at any point. Even a thief SCC probably wouldn't have that much problem. The SCC challenge puts restorative items in the spotlight, that's probably why you didn't rely on them and had a difficult time.
New update:
Odin sounds midly threatening, but is not. Zantetsuken reduces everybody to single digit HP + kills a few people. But it has a super long recharge time, so there's enough time to resurect Matoya if needed + use her Cure dance. Odin's other attacks are weak, so by this point nobody is in danger until the next Zantetsuken.
Asmodai 2 was actually pretty difficult, since he steals some of Matoya's valuable time by forcing her to use Third Eye when he's invisible. And you can't have him stay invisible for long, or he spams Darkness (MT dark damage + debuffs?) The fucker got me once after using his cloaking a few turns in a row. When he doesn't though, everything is easy.
I think -ga spells and Magic Font (passive that boosts magic damage by 1.5x awarded for mastering vlack mage) are right around the corner, the game will probably become really really easy again for like 5 hours
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Elf's description is correct re: FF5 Black Mage SCC. You can also just run from any battles that are problems. There are only a couple of problem fights, and they are generally early on. Necrophobia is an annoying fight, but not too bad and certainly skippable.
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FF5 Black Mage and Summoner SCCs have less MP issues than a more balanced team, since you have four pools of MP to work with and about 3 more AoE spammers than the game was balanced around.
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Fenrir: I used Hi-Potions plenty, I've long since overcome item aversion in RPGs. But yeah I guess row probably does matter a lot because I found his triple physicals added up a lot even so, especially since he'll mix in MT damage+curse (argh) and Quake.
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Picked up a game called Hard West for a couple bucks on sale. It's like a Cowboy XCOM so that's both cool AND good.
Mechanically it adds a few interesting wrinkles to the XCOM/Wasteland 2 formula: weapons tend to do damage depending on whether you're in full, partial or no cover, and you get a buffer for when you fuck up (luck) that depletes when you play badly and fills up when you do well (namely, by killing enemies). Not that far into the story yet but there's a few interesting decisions so far, such as how much risk you want to take when prospecting for gold or whether you want to aid a fugitive.
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Maybe I should try black mage SCC in FF5, it sounds ridiculous
But the phone port of the game is so ugly
Anyway I spoke too soon, Vata annihilates my team. The spell / potion upgrades still haven't happened yet. His Mt Gulg had been rrally difficult too, bird randoms eating through all my potions. I'll go back to the village to refill potions, this should also be enough to have everybody master BM. If that's not enough I'm in trouble. Might have to use those few x-potions / elixirs.
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Final Fantasy XV:
Figured I'd give this a try after it was on sale during Christmas. Just two hours in. It's... strange.
* The game is super in-media-res. We don't really get introduced to Our Heroes much at all, we're just immediately chillin' with 'em. And promptly doing level 1 D&D adventurer quests as well. Questionable choice IMO; FF4/FF6/FF12 open with a military raid, FF7 opens with terrorism, FF9 opens with kidnapping a princess, FF10 has a monster attack a sports game. FF8 opens a bit slow, perhaps, but has one of the best opening videos of all time that sets you up for Squall vs. Seifer. Instead, it's like FF12 opened with being introduced to hunts & guilds and told to do Rogue Tomato ASAP. The flash-forward dream sequence didn't do it for me, whatever the hell it was.
* The name of your capital city is Insomnia? Seriously? Look I get it, it was probably called that in Japan, but that's where a little localization comes in. "Insomnio" if you must. SO3 switched "Aqualand" or whatever into "Aquaria", you can do it too.
* I don't like the seeming setting, at least of the initial areas, with Southern twang, diners, joy rides, & Cindy doing her best Daisy Duke impression. I dunno, '50s roadster culture ain't my favorite setting, give me high fantasy or dystopian sci-fi.
* This game is so troll... or else it bugged out, not sure which. I go explore the Beoulve Mines nearby just for fun, and it's filled with Level 7 Goblins who aren't much of a threat. However, it doesn't seem possible to save anywhere? Or else the game got twitchy and wouldn't believe that I wasn't in combat, not sure. So it's a one-way trip down. On the way, a super-badass samurai apparation showed up and dealt like 4000 damage to my poor 550 max HP and knocks me into a pit. Okay, guess that's some sorta Gilgamesh / Siegfried deal they're warning me about for later? Fine. I clear out some more goblins, collect some nice treasure, go back to the elevator, and... a mysterious invisible wall won't let me in. The hell? Is this a glitch or what? Okay fine, only way out is farther in. I get to the "party talks about the boss" section and there's a popup about resting, but I don't see or can't find the rest/save area and immediately fall into the monsters instead. Most of htem are L7 GOblins, but hey, it's the samurai apparition again. This time, when he deals his OMG, OMG super damage to me, it's game over on the spot. Was there a trick here?! What is going on? Meanwhile my whole dungeon progress was lost.
Yeah, after that I turned the game off.
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Final Fantasy XV:
Figured I'd give this a try after it was on sale during Christmas. Just two hours in. It's... strange.
* The game is super in-media-res. We don't really get introduced to Our Heroes much at all, we're just immediately chillin' with 'em. And promptly doing level 1 D&D adventurer quests as well. Questionable choice IMO; FF4/FF6/FF12 open with a military raid, FF7 opens with terrorism, FF9 opens with kidnapping a princess, FF10 has a monster attack a sports game. FF8 opens a bit slow, perhaps, but has one of the best opening videos of all time that sets you up for Squall vs. Seifer. Instead, it's like FF12 opened with being introduced to hunts & guilds and told to do Rogue Tomato ASAP. The flash-forward dream sequence didn't do it for me, whatever the hell it was.
* The name of your capital city is Insomnia? Seriously? Look I get it, it was probably called that in Japan, but that's where a little localization comes in. "Insomnio" if you must. SO3 switched "Aqualand" or whatever into "Aquaria", you can do it too.
* I don't like the seeming setting, at least of the initial areas, with Southern twang, diners, joy rides, & Cindy doing her best Daisy Duke impression. I dunno, '50s roadster culture ain't my favorite setting, give me high fantasy or dystopian sci-fi.
* This game is so troll... or else it bugged out, not sure which. I go explore the Beoulve Mines nearby just for fun, and it's filled with Level 7 Goblins who aren't much of a threat. However, it doesn't seem possible to save anywhere? Or else the game got twitchy and wouldn't believe that I wasn't in combat, not sure. So it's a one-way trip down. On the way, a super-badass samurai apparation showed up and dealt like 4000 damage to my poor 550 max HP and knocks me into a pit. Okay, guess that's some sorta Gilgamesh / Siegfried deal they're warning me about for later? Fine. I clear out some more goblins, collect some nice treasure, go back to the elevator, and... a mysterious invisible wall won't let me in. The hell? Is this a glitch or what? Okay fine, only way out is farther in. I get to the "party talks about the boss" section and there's a popup about resting, but I don't see or can't find the rest/save area and immediately fall into the monsters instead. Most of htem are L7 GOblins, but hey, it's the samurai apparition again. This time, when he deals his OMG, OMG super damage to me, it's game over on the spot. Was there a trick here?! What is going on? Meanwhile my whole dungeon progress was lost.
Yeah, after that I turned the game off.
Somehow I played this game for 64 hours and never discovered that area.
Based on what you are saying, I suggest trading the game in if possible. It's not going to get much better if you aren't liking the setting and vibe early on (the best part of the game by far).
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Is the dungeon names Firelink Shrine, the samurai practically naked and your copy of FFXV actually Dark Souls 3?
Fenrir, I legit like the mobile port of FF5. The tikinjbg is a bit sloppy, but all the job sprites have more character and the map sprites don't all have Liefeld feet like the originals. Also 8 way run, sprint toggle and auto save all are much appreciated modern quality of life changes.
Bravely Second - I got Patissier finally. I don't have room for one. I am a garbage person. Maybe I revert to one Mage? Yea had been rolling deep on Wizard, but Spirit magic really isn't keeping up.
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I try to purchase all my games digitally, so there isn't any trading of this one happening.
The mines are right nearby the motel that the party goes to in "The Errand Prince" (har har). There's a hunt to go get goblins there, too.
Checking the Internet, the video I saw for this had Level Awesome characters coming back here then brute-forcing the boss. That sounds suspicious to me - the fact that all the regular enemies are clearly balanced for a low-level team - but if there's some "trick" I don't know what it is.
Grefter: Nah, this is definitely FF15. I just skipped the area and got Cornet to the next dungeon + song, but I dunno, the bosses here seem pretty rough too. Maybe I should ask Tal for advice.
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My main protips (warning: they make the game a joke):
- Use greatswords. For me they outdamaged all other weapons throughout the entire game and made short work of most enemies.
- have Ignis learn ReGroup (in Teamwork I think) ASAP. It heals everyone and you're invincible while special attacks are in use.
- If a battle seems difficult, just hold square until you can Parry and do that while your allies chip away. Noctis is invincible vs. most attacks while phasing.
- As long as you have Potions and Phoenix Downs, you can probably avoid getting any game overs as long as the enemies you fight are at your level or close. You're invincible while using them and have plenty of time to do so before the game over screen arrives.
- Get AP+ abilities for driving and chocobo riding. You'll be doing those a lot and they pay off quickly.
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The very first treasure drop was a greatsword that had like 200 attack power vs. 70 on anything else and explodes everything immediately, so yeah, I noticed that. I'm not sure why it didn't let me Phoenix Down - it certainly let me do it when I *first* got owned. Maybe I was too far away from my party? I basically warped on in to the fight and would have been a zillion miles away from them. Just one hit, ded.
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Game too hard. Ask tallychu for advice.
lol fighting randoms
Unless it is an MMO
you should sell everything on the auction house below karket price oh look someone calmly Literallychu just bought it all and reposted it for profit what a horrible person they must be wink
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It's cool, I found the relevant FF15 video he uploaded (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVCaeDkvWo8).
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All I see is a promising Laggy Approved TM strat involving some status abuse and cleave damage and then Tallychu buffing up for a bunch of turns to do the same damage and using items i.e. Literally admitting defeat and that he is a traitor by level grinding and wasting items he might need later.
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The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: Finished the game. I think I've realised that I actually prefer 2D Zelda over the 3D games. A Link to the Past has much faster pacing than any of the 3D Zelda games, the dungeon treasures are actually useful outside of their one dungeon and the bosses aren't based around waiting. I can't wait till I can access my A Link Between Worlds copy and see how it compares to this game.
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Final Fantasy XV:
Figured I'd give this a try after it was on sale during Christmas. Just two hours in. It's... strange.
* I don't like the seeming setting, at least of the initial areas, with Southern twang, diners, joy rides, & Cindy doing her best Daisy Duke impression. I dunno, '50s roadster culture ain't my favorite setting, give me high fantasy or dystopian sci-fi.
* This game is so troll... or else it bugged out, not sure which. I go explore the Beoulve Mines nearby just for fun, and it's filled with Level 7 Goblins who aren't much of a threat. However, it doesn't seem possible to save anywhere? Or else the game got twitchy and wouldn't believe that I wasn't in combat, not sure. So it's a one-way trip down. On the way, a super-badass samurai apparation showed up and dealt like 4000 damage to my poor 550 max HP and knocks me into a pit. Okay, guess that's some sorta Gilgamesh / Siegfried deal they're warning me about for later? Fine. I clear out some more goblins, collect some nice treasure, go back to the elevator, and... a mysterious invisible wall won't let me in. The hell? Is this a glitch or what? Okay fine, only way out is farther in. I get to the "party talks about the boss" section and there's a popup about resting, but I don't see or can't find the rest/save area and immediately fall into the monsters instead. Most of htem are L7 GOblins, but hey, it's the samurai apparition again. This time, when he deals his OMG, OMG super damage to me, it's game over on the spot. Was there a trick here?! What is going on? Meanwhile my whole dungeon progress was lost.
Yeah, after that I turned the game off.
Entering the mine pops up a quest with a recommended level of 45. Of course the problem is you won't actually look at it until after you get fucked by super ghost Auron. A bunch of optional dungeons all have a level req of 40+.
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Someone gave me a Google play gift card for Christmas.
I guess I'll buy dimensions with it and waste the rest of it on rk dollar pulls.
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Bloodborne: oh my god you guys this gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame
(thoughts later when I finish it. one thing I can say now though: Father G is waaaaaaay too hard for that point in the game. also forests are scawy. caves too.)
(seriously there's no point in having a lrn2play boss if he's gonna be harder than like half the game)
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I maintain the Bloodborne is one of the best game ever made that is a flaming heap of shit to play. Like actually trash garbage.
Bravely Second - huh so you can do a pretty effective full screen close up to do serial killer stuff on a 3DS with textures that low and low poly models. One more point for cell shading.
Also did I mention that it is great that all the members of the Imperial Army are muppets? Because it is.
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Grefter why do you care about the feet of like 10x10 pixel sprites
You are dead to me for praising mobile FF5's aesthetics
Will still probably buy the game
FFD black mage SCC: Vata died so easily after getting Magic Font, I didn't expect it. Drain doing 750 damage. OM NOM NOM NOM.
I probably could have beaten him without Magic Font by rushing him, but eh. It's not like I grinded like a madman.
Now I have -ga spells, everything burns again.
This game's plot is so anime that once the party starts being on par with the Four Generals of the Empire, and stops dying in plot battles against them anymore, the game introduces the Four New Better Generals of the Empire so you can die in plot battles again
The next chapter begins with Alba throwing fireballs around inside a ship just to kill some rats
This is so dumb
Divinity Original Sin: Apparently this is the best WRPG in the last few years. It sure is a WRPG so far. Enhanced console edition is clunky to control. I mean, it's the best they could have done to adapt the PC version and I have to applaud their efforts, but it definitely feels like it was made for mouse + keyboard.
I'm playing on tactician mode with two women, one an inquisitor and one a wanderer.
Tactician mode is hard. First battle a dude summoned a cloud of poison, my inquisitor fired in the middle and everything exploded. Holy shit. My wanderer's spider summon helps a ton just by tanking hits.
I like how you can define both of the character's personality. Both of my characters are selfish jerks, of course, but in different ways!
This may be too much of a WRPG for me not to be a bit bored by it. Let's see:
1) I have to heal about 10-15 times after every battle to fully heal, waiting for the countdown each time
2) Oh god damn it not ORCS
3) The goal of the game is to investigate a murder, but I just murdered two guards and nobody gives a shit.
XCOM 2: This game definitely solves the biggest issue with XCOM 1, which almost ruined the game (encouraging stalling tactics) It's... still definitely too bloated to be as good as Invisible Inc, but probably worth a playthrough.
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Divinity is a game that I wish was all combat. The battles are fun but everything in between it is so trite that I can't bring myself to play it unless I'm playing co-op and making someone else do all of that for me.
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I maintain the Bloodborne is one of the best game ever made that is a flaming heap of shit to play. Like actually trash garbage.
Oh I'm rather enjoying the gameplay. I've never been shy about trading hits, and the health-restoration mechanic really changes up combat decisionmaking after three samey Souls games. I imagine PVP is a flaming pile, but when is it not?
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I maintain the Bloodborne is one of the best game ever made that is a flaming heap of shit to play. Like actually trash garbage.
I've actually come to conclude that it has the most fun gameplay in the series--so long as we're sticking to discussion purely about the physics and not about the many little polish oversights (no direct warping between lamps, resources not refilling on rest at a lamp, being out of vials after death actually being a possible thing).
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It trades some polish issues for others. Easy, reversible weapon mods are a huge step up. Functionally no weapon durability (outside PVP I guess?) is also a big deal. But yeah, the functionality of Hunter's Dream vs. bonfires means you can't just sit down, figure out how many souls you need to top off a level, then gank a dude or two to even it out. Which is a minor annoyance. I would say that the extra step needed for fast travel is less important than a couple of bosses who are just too far away from checkpoints even with shortcuts.
Speaking of, the beauty of the level design in these games, winding you around, opening up shortcuts, seeing past and future areas in the distance, above or below, never ceases to amaze me. Tucking an entire area into physical space between two other ones you visit first without drawing much attention to it is a staggering artistic accomplishment.
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Speaking of WPRGs, has anyone in the DL played Tyranny?
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Speaking of WPRGs, has anyone in the DL played Tyranny?
Duh. It's fucking great. Have you ever wanted to play a "follow the letter of the law" simulator? Or you can just be Judge Dredd. It's up to you. Player agency is a beautiful thing.
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Sun: I may be the Pokémon League Champion, but fuck if I can get anywhere in Battle Tree or Battle Royal. Spent the last couple of days making some super pokes with 4+ 31 IVs, and still best I can do is a 5 win streak. This is some bullshit.
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Bloodborne: oh my god this gaaaaaaaaaaaaame
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Despite being pretty blown away by how good the polish in DS3 was, I ultimately did have to conclude that Bloodborne is the best entry in the series on the combat while retaining the features they're known for (excellent, fluid level design and being fucking gorgeous.) Also has the best boss fights by a fair margin, and that tends to be a big deal to me.
Father G for hardest boss though, srsly, I have to agree there. He's still like twice the number of resets I had on anything else in the entire game.
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Despite being pretty blown away by how good the polish in DS3 was, I ultimately did have to conclude that Bloodborne is the best entry in the series on the combat while retaining the features they're known for (excellent, fluid level design and being fucking gorgeous.) Also has the best boss fights by a fair margin, and that tends to be a big deal to me.
Father G for hardest boss though, srsly, I have to agree there. He's still like twice the number of resets I had on anything else in the entire game.
Father G definitely stomped me around a lot, but Ludwig took the cake for me. That fight took me nearly a week.
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Father G is waaaaaaay too hard for that point in the game.
Lol get good at parrying, he's actually pretty easy. I had more of a hard time with Vicar Emilia than him for sure.
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*shrug* I have sunk hours and hours into Bloodborne at this point and at no time at all did the controls ever feel good in my hands. That completely kills any potential for a Souls style game.
You came out of your win with Poppa G a lot more bewildered than you did with Amelia though Zenny.
Bravely Second - I didn't document my choice for whether to introduce co-ed schooling to the female dominated Florem or not. The actual arguments put forward by the Co-Ed side are skeevy and gross, but still are ultimately right, though I also kinda respect the option being there for women to isolate themselves. But yeah I just think Monk is trash and figured sure Valkyrie lets go.
Currently chasing whether or not to let a pop star do a modern cover of a song someone's grandfather wrote. I don't think I am happy with IP law working that far back. Need to see what pirate man has to say (and I am siding with pirate man because I want to use Patissier)
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Father G is waaaaaaay too hard for that point in the game.
Lol get good at parrying, he's actually pretty easy. I had more of a hard time with Vicar Emilia than him for sure.
lol get good at backing off and healing or something? Iunno, I beat that boss in one try, and as far as I understand it, I did it fairly early. Father G definitely took more on the order of 20 tries.
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s'okay, zenny can't deal that he is garbage at most things so he needs to rub it in wherever his dick will accommodate
I don't think there's anyone who didn't wipe a fair amount at Father G on their first playthrough. Boss difficulty does tend to be a case by case thing for most people.
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I beat Pops G on my first try without having any idea beforehand what was on the other side of that gate.
But I was so terrified afterward that I had to stop playing for the night just so the nervous tremors would stop.
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*reads up on FF15
The goblin & samurai dungeon is perfectly back track-able.
I mean, that's what I did after the samurai stabbed me in the belly.
And then I came back completely detroying the samurai after being prepared.
I think I have mentioned this before, but Posion is a wonderful thing. Especially if you want to kill monsters that's 20+ level higher than you.
Magic truly is your best friend in this game.
Brute force? Completely not necessary.
No I mean, you don't talk about brute force until you get that bow Phantom Sword in this dungeon.
Oh, you need to unlock the phantom sword in the story first before you can pick it up.
And this is how you brute force:
After entering aftergame, tweak the mag to 2000+
Equip the bow Phantom Sword.
Have Ignis use his Round Assault command.
I walked over the after game bosses by doing that sans a couple gimmicky one.
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s'okay, zenny can't deal that he is garbage at most things so he needs to rub it in wherever his dick will accommodate
I don't think there's anyone who didn't wipe a fair amount at Father G on their first playthrough. Boss difficulty does tend to be a case by case thing for most people.
I have a theory that everyone who reflexively dodges backward wipes to Father G. Maybe everyone who reflexively dodges to the side wipes to Amelia?
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That's possible. I died plenty to Amelia and only beat her during my first playthrough with help.
Boss difficulty, kinda swingy sometimes depending on the player.
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Sometimes. Literally all the times. Souls bosses find your weakness.
also lol dodging not forward to the left after DS2 says the person in the DL who is literally the worst at the games
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That's possible. I died plenty to Amelia and only beat her during my first playthrough with help.
Boss difficulty, kinda swingy sometimes depending on the player.
THE CHAMP.
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Pokesun: Right after I complained about Battle Royal being too hard, I zoomed right through it and beat Master Rank. Now my character can throw pokeballs behind her back because she's a fucking Idol.
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My brother called me and was like, "Let's play Diablo III." So, playing Diablo III: a thing that I am now doing.
I load up the chargen screen and the default option is shoulderpads. Just shoulderpads with maybe a dude buried under them somewhere. Never change, Blizzard. I ignore all the properly clothed classes and roll a monk, because if you give me the option of punching the shit out of everything then fuck you, I'm gonna punch the shit out of everything.
I found some shields but am ignoring them in favor of dual-wielding knives. You guys, I don't need to block, I've got backflips.
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Some games I finished playing in 2016 but didn't get around to writing up in the previous thread:
PONCHO - played through
The central conceit of this game is that you can jump back and forth between layers. That is, say you might have a background layer and a foreground layer, and there's a wall in the middle of the foreground layer, you might just to the background layer and walk past it, then return to the foreground layer. Which is a fine enough thing to base a game around.
Except the people making the game don't seem to have really had anything in mind to put around it?
In each level, you have an exit to reach, which is sometimes blocked off by locked doors which require keys. (And sometimes the doors aren't actually blocking the exit.) Some keys can be collected in the wilderness (it's not clear whether there are enough for every door), and some keys can be purchased from a shady fellow (it feels like there are more available there than there are doors in the game). To purchase keys you need gems, which are strewn about the place. This is the only use for them. Keys essentially go up in price as you buy them and I'm not sure if you can actually get enough gems to buy all of them.
Early on, you pick up a skill to do a ground-pound style manoeuvre, so you get the impression that you're going to have an ever-expanding skillset. But this is actually essentially the only skill in the game. There's another one somewhere I didn't find, but apparently all it's used for is repairing NPC characters for an achievement. Incidentally, there are no enemies and the only use for the ground-pound skill is to open secret passages.
To complain about something different, the final level is a dramatic step up in difficulty from the preceding levels, and is very aggravating. There are two different endings but I have no desire to replay the final level to see the other one.
Zenge - played through
Slide pieces on rails around and use various abilities on them in order to form them into a particular pattern without them getting in the way of each other.
It's short enough and doesn't get complicated enough to overstay its welcome, although it was getting close to verging on the latter.
Dragon Quest VII: Fragments Of The Forgotten Past - played through
Most of the time, it was pretty enjoyable.
I had started losing interest during the final sections of the game, however, so it could have done with being a bit shorter. I was going to say that maybe everything related to Orgodemir masquerading as the Almighty could've been cut but that would've led to the loss of Villa Priores among other things, so probably not the best solution.
Game does suffer from the seemingly general DQ issue of ignoring dangling plot points, assuming I didn't miss anything. How did the Roamers get tricked into living for the sake of freeing Orgodemir? What's the point in saving Dan D. Lion if the city is still going to die anyway? Game never really does anything with what it sets up for the pirate captain's wife - I mean, I'm pretty sure she appears at one point in the present but she doesn't say anything there. I would've at least expected to have been able to talk to her in Scoober's area or something. In some cases the issues are more tolerable due to the vignettisode style the game is in, such as the dropping of the story of the siblings and the guard captain in past Alltrades, but not every case.
I went through a few traveller's tablets but ultimately that system is a pain to deal with. Never bothered creating any of my own.
Got to the bottom of the (first?) postgame dungeon, but didn't have any interest in fighting the boss there. Golf clap for how in lieu of fighting it you're forced to be teleported somewhere outside the dungeon.
Epistory - Typing Chronicles - played through
Ultimately it gets more complicated and frantic than I'd prefer at times, but it's still fairly good. Story isn't great though.
I feel like it could probably have had more varied level endings than monster gauntlets, although I don't have any ideas for that offhand.
Fortix 2 - played through
Not a lot to say about it, apparently it's somewhat based on a game called Qix which I haven't played.
It's mostly pleasant when I'm not overestimating how far I can walk before something catches up to me or hits me, which is more often than ideal.
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Diablo III: I'm a monk but I'm presently using The Zweihander. Yes, The Zweihander, dudes knew what they were on about.
Excuse plot gonna be excuse plot, but for a while I had some pretty credible Lenneth cosplay going, so that's alright.
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Final Fantasy 13 - Cleared Chapter 11 on the secondary role challenge. Pretty much every boss fight has been nightmarishly difficult and I die a lot otherwise. I've fought far more and gained far more CP than is normal, but a lot of that gets wasted on the secondary roles' high costs, so I'm still somewhat underlevelled, and certainly underskilled, though it does feel by now that I very much have a full, true party, just a weak one.
Lightning: Dodgetanks as sentinel, which remains neat. She also has SAB for Deprotect/Deshell/Imperil/Poison (this has been useful against only one enemy so far, the barrier-spamming Vetala who is much tougher than normal since I only have one Ravager), and SYN for the offensive buffs and the En- spells. Having Lightning tends to enable my highest damage potential since En- spells Commando double damage against a weakness, Imperil can make a weakness exist if one isn't there yet, and Deprotect/Deshell raise it by 89%.
Fang: Fang is near essential much of the time and obviously the MVP. She's the only Ravager (and fortunately is good at it), and her SYN setup is great, as Protecta/Shellra can provide great protection for only a short time, just as Bravera/Faithra do for offence. At the end of chapter 11 she even picked up Haste, being my only PC with that. Lots of great buffs, the difficulty is figuring out which ones to use due to their short duration. She also has MED but isn't very good at it and just has Cure.
Snow: He has declined in importance relatively since he no longer has a unique claim to Protect/Shell, but sometimes keeping one of those on a long time is worth it. He also has the defensive SAB spells (finally got Slow, yay), Pain/Fog are nice for certainly lower-durability randoms so I can ignore them while my Commando beats down other threats. He's a decent enough Medic due to fast casting times and Cura (MT, but often better than Cure). Still, losing any of Lightning/Fang/COM is a notable hit to my offence so he only comes out when Protect/Shell or his specific spells would be really useful, for the most part.
Hope: Commando. Nothing else really matters. He has SAB but honestly this has been useful in exactly one battle (but essential then).
Vanille: Commando. Her Magic isn't as high as Hope's but she has access to the Bar- spells if I need them, and sometimes those are really useful.
Sazh: Hasn't seen use in a while, but now that I have the final maingame crystarium he has access to Curasa, and will pick that up shortly. Besides that he has Lightning's SAB skills and some trashy SEN ability, so he'll probably be Curasa or bust... but that may well be essential in some later fights; we'll see.
Boss notes:
Hecatoncheir: Terrifying obviously, like the other post-C4 eidolons I had to use shrouds. I unlocked Vanille's SEN just for this fight and did a lot of time with SEN/RAV and spamming Potions off the Doctor's Code, did COM/RAV when I felt I could.
Dahaka: Used a party of Fang/Snow/Hope, controlled Snow. He has a powerful ITD attack which dispels and I need to keep my leader in top shape. He always uses it on whoever has the lowest HP so it very often kills someone. Aside from that he periodically uses massively powerful MT magic attacks, which also cause Imperil (ARGH). Shell is essential, and Esuna should also be used immediately (this is why I control Snow) since there's no item-healing for it, otherwise his spells will wreck. Lightning's less useful than the norm because Dahaka will shift his elemental defences making the only En-spells I have at this point (thunder and fire) a potential liability, so I'm forced into a slower fight due to no Deprotect/Deshell (Fang's Ravager is much more useful, and anyway she has Faithra). Periodically Dahaka will buff himself with Haste/Faith, dispelling these is ESSENTIAL so Hope switches to SAB every time I see that. Since he hits hard in general I need loads of healing, but fortunately I have two Medics and Doctor's Code potions. Finally later in the fight he starts using Diluvial Plague which inflicts loads of status everywhere, so I make sure to keep Veil up with Fang. Protect/Shell/Faithra/Esuna can heal off whatever relevant status sneaks through. He also starts using an Aeroga which has a base damage of ~2700 MT, which is nutty! Never mind if Deshell, Faith, or Imperil is active; I only have somewhere around 2500 HP so this illustrates how much keeping control of the buff situation matters.
Barthandelus: I have some hopes he will be easier, but no, he's terrifying too. His things is firing LASERS constantly, this laser damage seems low but it adds up. He'll also use MT Daze/Poison/Curse, which are more frustrating than they are game-changing but make it harder to keep control of the fight (Veil is essential again). After 3 minutes pass he'll mix in two nasty moves periodically, in alternation with each other (while still doing his normal moves otherwise): Thanatosian Laughter which is big MT non-typed damage and Apoptosis which heals all his debuffs and removes all my buffs, unless Lightning gets lucky and dodges since it is evadable at least! Anyway I settle on Lightning/Fang/Hope for this one, controlling Fang to get out Faithra and Veil. I experiment with Protect/Shell a bunch (including with Snow) but later in the fight Apoptosis makes maintaining those too much of a pain. Deshell is absolutely worth it, though; I actually really need the offence here (my most successful run with Snow was probably headed towards Doom before I finally screwed up and died). Anyway it's again mostly a matter of applying the right buffs/debuffs after Apoptosis, then trying to squeeze in damage while healing a bunch, with Lightning usually staying in Sentinel to attract the lasers (which mercifully are evadable; only the status spells are not).
I have also now beaten all the missions up to #28 (some of the tougher ones, like 27, I saved until after Bart), so I'm probably going to head to Cocoon now.
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Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag: Just started this up. Seems like it could be neat, but definitely need to get use to how the game works, prioritizes things, etc. One thing I already don't like is any sort of stalking scenarios, since following people slowly just isn't fun to me. Hopefully the game doesn't overuse this feature (I no doubt expect it to return because they wouldn't have focused on it the way they did early if it was a one time thing.)
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FF15:
Been playing this slowly, half in Japanese as well. We're coming up on the final few chapters and the plot is picking up its melodrama levels, but honestly it's all good fun.
Lunafreya is a waste of the idea of a good heroine. I just needed to complain about that. Like, even in a game that is explicitly about bromance, she has a solid role in the plot apart from all of that and really could have been a good character. The actual plot surrounding her is pretty competent - she's a public figure with some cool powers and a strong sense of duty and strong possibly complex feelings for our main character.
But even after watching the Kingsglaive movie where she gets plenty of time to be on screen and do stuff I still have no fucking clue who this mannequin of a human being is.
It stands out a lot when compared to just how well I know our four main guys plus the handful of temps and even a bunch of the shopkeepers and quest-givers.
Lunafreya is a disappointment and failure as a character who had the potential to actually be one of the best FF heroines.
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Bloodborne: this
town'sgame's finished!
Game was amazing. Thoughts later.
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FF15:
Been playing this slowly, half in Japanese as well. We're coming up on the final few chapters and the plot is picking up its melodrama levels, but honestly it's all good fun.
Lunafreya is a waste of the idea of a good heroine. I just needed to complain about that. Like, even in a game that is explicitly about bromance, she has a solid role in the plot apart from all of that and really could have been a good character. The actual plot surrounding her is pretty competent - she's a public figure with some cool powers and a strong sense of duty and strong possibly complex feelings for our main character.
But even after watching the Kingsglaive movie where she gets plenty of time to be on screen and do stuff I still have no fucking clue who this mannequin of a human being is.
It stands out a lot when compared to just how well I know our four main guys plus the handful of temps and even a bunch of the shopkeepers and quest-givers.
Lunafreya is a disappointment and failure as a character who had the potential to actually be one of the best FF heroines.
Just saying I absolutely agree with you on everything you said about Lunafreya. It's a character who really could have gotten the point across that Non-combatants can be strong in their own right, since it's not about how much ass you can kick, but your ability to stand up threats, and they definitely suggest Luna is totally capable of that, but then...decide to do absolutely nothing with it.
NOTE: Don't know what Chapter you're on, but if you haven't gotten through the Altissia stuff, don't read the spoiler stuff. Given your comments, I assume you did.
Watching Gamexplain's podcast about FF15, where most of them were overall positive about the game, they all agree that Luna's death is completely wasted due to her utter lack of presense, and Noctis' reaction is hard to really feel for because we never see the two of them together before that point. It also would have been very easy to fix this. Simply put, all you need to do is give us one scene in Altissia where Luna and Noctis meet up and just kind of go on a date or something, as a pre-wedding meet up, to let us explore their relationship, and show just how close they are, how much they feel for one another, etc. such that when the big event occurs, we've had THAT much to feel for them and it actually has an impact.
But as it stands, Luna is basically a Damsel in Distress without actually being in trouble, and seeing a she was by far the most promoted female in the game, this is a really bad thing. I was totally fine with what I was hearing about with Luna (and constantly on the "Stella fanboys, SHUT UP" side), Kingsglaive as you said showed promise...but they completely botched her in game. To FF15's credit with females, Iris is shockingly competent for a 15 year old girl, and Aranea's clearly bad ass enough to hold her own against the entire team single handedly and was NOT given a "STRONG INDEPENDENT WOMAN DON'T NEED NO MAN!!!" personality (actually, she came off as a REAL PERSON, in many respects, not a trope, which considering her limited screen-time is impressive), and they even made the lead politician of Altissia female, and the way she conducts herself demonstrated she was competent and strong (she's clearly controlling the conversation with Noctis, Noctis is mostly just trying to not give a bad impression), but when it comes to Luna, they completely failed, and when the game is already getting the ire for being so Pro-Male, the last thing they could afford is their designated Female Lead to be so...well...absent...
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PokeSun: Filling out my pokedex. Fuck Eeveelutions.
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FFD Black mage SCC: Just beat Gehenna.
X potions are in, they cost a leg and a half but I have a ton of money selling all useless equipment gotten from dungeons.
New spells include:
Quake: Here is an MT earth spell. Also: here are floating enemies, as far as the eye can see
Comet: Rules
Meteor: Rules more
Once the two teams are reunited, I got to pick which 5 characters I can use out of 8. 4 can use Meteor. 4 cannot. This wasn't a very difficult choice!
The 5th character I chose was Sol, because he was the fastest and had the highest HP of the loser team; meant he was the best item boy.
Randoms haven't changed much. They go like this: 1) Withstand one round of enemy attacks, charging badass spells 2) Black mage retalation, fight over 3) Heal with potions afterwards
Meteor is very MP taxing, but opportunities to save and refill MP are everywhere so I never really run into trouble. FFD is nice about that!
Bosses are starting to become very difficult. They die very fast to black mage spells (Around 8-12 castings / boss overall?), but we die very fast too. We only have two options in battle: Meteor (a real commitment, considering their charge time) and X Potions (but we can never afford to stall for long)
Once a character is down, he's down for the rest of the fight; I cannot possibly afford to spend three turns using one phoenix potion and two x potions. No fucking way.
This has led to insanely intense amazing fights lately, especially Leviathan, Elder, Cocytus, and Imperio+Gehenna. That last fight was a ridiculously close win, with only Sol alive at 500 / 3500 HP throwing one last Comet. (Sol can't cast Meteor, remember)
All temps have been used exclusively for healing, including the ninja.
Yes I used the ninja only for his healing pills because his damage was too low.
Honestly I'm a bit worried about the upcoming chapters, since bosses will likely continue to ramp up in difficulty, while we'll only get more max HP and slightly more damage.
At least I've been hoarding all these elixirs. If all else fails I hope there's an easy way to farm them.
My new idea for a FFD challenge is the "Ruin Your Savefile Lol" challenge. Here are the rules:
- You can only spend JP on whichever jobs has the lowest JP
- No temps (temps are too good)
This means having access to a lot of jobs but they're all garbage!
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Bravely Second - I have neglected some updates I think. Last thing was do I side with giving money to charities or literally Objectivist Randian Dream. Going with I will pick the things I regret the most would have made me get Dark Knight though so fuck that noise.
Going to go invade the sky castle and save the princess.
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Diablo III: I'm a monk but I'm presently using The Zweihander. Yes, The Zweihander, dudes knew what they were on about.
Excuse plot gonna be excuse plot, but for a while I had some pretty credible Lenneth cosplay going, so that's alright.
I've been playing d3 a lot recently. Let's link up. What's system are you playing on? PS4 I hope.
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Yep, PS4.
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Fenrir: Your FFD challenge is pretty fun to read about. It'd be cool to see how other SSCs for this game would go.
Your lolrun idea I am skeptical of. How do you determine where to put the first Job Points to make that interesting?
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Roll the dice I guess if what you are after is Nuzlocke style challenge. I also think picking which job would be the. Ore interesting part of the strategy to it if you leave it up to the player though.
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No the idea is that all jobs have basically the same jp
Let's say your five classes are
Fighter 5
Monk 5
WM 5
BM 5
Thief 4
You get 3 JP
You have to upgrade Thief first, put one point is some job of your choice, then one point in a different job of your choice
So at endgame all your characters have 8 JP in every job and your save is ruined because no one has mastered anything and all your jobs give garbage stat bonuses
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FFD SCCs aren't too workable unless you do the basic classes, I think.
BM is probably the most fun
Summoner would be really really easy
WM would be easy but most boring
Monk, RM have potential as interesting challenges IMO
Warrior sounds fun in a brainless way
Thief would be absolute hell
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Hmmm you could do a double class challenge. Like one base job and one advanced job from each team. Or try it Fiesta style.
You roll one base job that everyone gets to use. And then one job for each pair of chapters. Could be hilarious if one team gets all their advanced jobs while the other is stuck SCCing it.
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You could make FFD job system into FF13!
Get out.
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Eh, FF13's job divisions and assignment are one of the few things about that game that I don't have a problem with. And rarely see any complaints about iirc. At least I didn't independently come up with an element system that perfectly copied SaGa's or anything. ;)
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Yep, PS4.
Send me your handle.
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Fire Emblem Fates - Completed Birthright Lunatic. Not that hard overall, until Chapter 23 onwards. 23 (Camilla), 24 (Hans), 25 (Iago), and 27 (human Garon) were all nasty maps, especially Iago.
It was a bloodbath. Kaden, Azura, Kaze (via plot), Oboro, Takumi, and Asugi were deaths I accepted in earlier chapters, then in the run of actually challenging chapters I was forced to accept the deaths of Yukimura, Kiragi, Hisame, and Scarlet (OHKOed by a sorcerer). Then in C25 I had two deaths of massive hax: first Hinata was struck by a 30% hit / 3% crit (not THAT low but still surprising; whatever Hinata sucked) and then Ryoma who was doubling and killing Iago; he first failed to activate a crit (~25% chance) or Astra (~15% chance), then got hit (~20% chance) and killed by a Vengeance proc (~24% chance) which of course only happened because I botched the quick mental math and thought Ryoma would survive. Oh well. No Ryoma made Garon's map tougher, certainly. Final boss I one-turned easily; kill the general with a couple PCs then three more dealt with him.
MVP overall was Ryoma probably because Ryoma, but Hinoka was more or less right there as a great tank with no bad stats; later in the game (when flight stops being useful) I switched her to Spearmaster where the better bulk/crit evade/power was nice; she was essential for just surviving though she had to choose different weapons rather than having a near-perfect one like Raijinto. Also very notable were Saizo (good overall stats + shuriken are nice), Hana (dodgy cannon), and Reina (went for a Replicate build late which works well, since her + clone can murder two enemies on the player phase nicely; Surefire Yumi is really nice for fixing up her only offensive weakness). Corrin (+spd, -luck, had Sniper/Hero skills too) was also very solid individually; I married Takumi because I am a twisted individual.
Good fun. The endgame was absolutely worth it; it doesn't have the great map design that some Conquest maps but there are still some neat map design aspects iike Camilla's fireballs and the Entrap staff madness, along with a decent array of powerful enemies to deal with, and in significant numbers. As is often the case with Fates at its best, it definitely brought out the advantages of both attack stance and pairup. The midgame was still way too easy considering it's Lunatic, but oh well.
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Yep, PS4.
Send me your handle.
Pretty sure we're already friends on PSN (look for the Flonne avatar). In fact, yesterday I got ambushed by a monster titled "Killer of [Scar's PSN ID]." That was weird.
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FFD Black Mage SCC: :(
Every boss until the final was easy. But Elgo is finally getting his revenge from me stealing his shoes way back then. I cannot beat him.
First form is easy enough, as he only has ST damage.
Second form is too fast, has too many multitarget attacks, including Ultima. It's not very easy to recover from Ultima.
I can beat normal Elgo but this burns through like all my elixirs, which are very much needed for Chaos Elgo.
I have searched for ways to farm elixirs. Guides say that Tot Aevis drop them. I have looked at places where Tot Aevis is supposed to be and have only found Toteibis, a color swap. Maybe Tot Aevis got replaced after Chapter 6. I do not want to load an earlier save to look at this.
Good old fashioned grinding is getting me nowhere. +32 HP per level!! Almost no other stat boost!
At least I've beaten Bahamut with nothing but Meteors, X Potions, and DEFEND, so that's something
I think I'm done.
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Super Smash Bros for Wii U: Playing this game with ThatMasterLemon. We're trying to unlock some of the characters and complete the events. We've only got Duck Hunt left to unlock.
Metal Gear Solid: Beaten Grey Wolf. Boy is the combat barebones in this game. Grey Wolf in particular reminds me of most 3D Zelda fights, in that most of your opponents are based around waiting for openings.
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Yep, PS4.
Send me your handle.
Pretty sure we're already friends on PSN (look for the Flonne avatar). In fact, yesterday I got ambushed by a monster titled "Killer of [Scar's PSN ID]." That was weird.
Oh ok. Yeah. Hate that guy!
Do you have a hardcore character by chance?
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No, I'm not running hardcore.
I am presently running on hard difficulty, although I'm not sure how much of a boost that is (I started on normal and ramped it up after a couple days). I haven't died yet and only came close to death once (I'd been fiddling with equip options and learned the hard way that the + symbol means regen and that regen really does matter in this game). That is the only time I've manually healed in the entire game thus far.
I've fiddled with different skill loadouts, but the optimal monk setup I keep coming back to has generally seemed pretty consistent:
R1: attack up mantra zzzzzz.
R2: is the bell drop with stun attached, because it's spammable and too, too good. Neither roundhouse kick nor charge seem anywhere near as reliable at shutting down mobs.
Square: AoE stun pretty much always.
Triangle: this is usually the dash, because faster dungeon movement + sometimes you actually do need to escape a mob. Occasionally sub in "No, You're Already Dead" instead, though.
Circle: always always the "fly all over the screen and murderize everything" move. This is an instant-win button against everything but a few plot bosses.
Regular attack I do mix up plenty, though--the warp, the AoE, and the hundred-hand-slap all have distinct uses.
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Final Fantasy XV: Yay, I completed this! It was actually fun. And the ending wasn't as awful as everyone had led me to believe. Noctis's voice actor is also good enough to sell all the emotions of every scene he's in even when in the back of my mind I'm screaming "What the hell is ANYONE'S motivation in scene?! Why is anything on screen happening?" - so I managed to enjoy the whole final act, even if I barely understood it. There's something to be said for good presentation, so I think the game ends up as a solid 8/10 due to the story problems not hurting it as much as I thought it would. The game's other good points have been talked about pretty comprehensively, so I'll just say "HELL YEAH THE CAR FLIES~"
So...
Nintendo Switch event revealed that there is a Fire Emblem Dynasty Warriors game in production. How has the DL not exploded over this?
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You aren't in chat enough.
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I played Overcooked with my girlfriend
Best couch co-op game guys. So good.
Dragon Quest (ios): Uuuuh I like this?
This looks like absolute shit but I find it fairly likeable now. Oh boy, when you get older you start liking DQ more.
I like the slow pace. I like how rare chests are. I like the open ended nature, dipping my toe into one dungeon and leaving. I like finding magic keys and using them. I like the new, ridiculous dialogue. I like how the remake asks you to be observant but doesn't ask you to read a faq. I like the new map. Best of all I like that I don't get to hear the Dragon Quest shitty music.
I went through it in one afternoon
Dragon Quest 2 (ios): This is very much a continuation of the first one. I heard this port is really easy (DQ1 was too) so I'm going without the first prince you get.
This leads to some weird dark shit like carrying a coffin around, and watching shopkeepers gleefuly put items in them and acknowledge it in dialogue.
I remember the quest to find the first prince drove me insane the first time (both of the princes keep missing each other) but I find it very charming now!
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So...
Nintendo Switch event revealed that there is a Fire Emblem Dynasty Warriors game in production. How has the DL not exploded over this?
I have been uncontrollably Kermit Flailing for the last 48 hours. Even in my sleep.
It is very uncomfortable.
Please send help.
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Final Fantasy 13 - Beat Chapter 12! Game clock now a little past 70 hours (for reference: my file where I beat 100% of the missions, i.e. did the full aftergame outside the Super Turtles, was only 64), HP generally hovering in the high 3000's. Lots of bosses to talk about!
Behemoth King: Lightning/Fang/Hope. I've beaten these before in three-way fights and pre-emptives, but the forced one in Cocoon offers no such opportunities and is a right bastard. The strategy is to NOT buff offence during the first stage, but I do use SAB to give him an elemental weakness, which in turn is to get the AI to have Lightning cast Enfire on Hope. I also try to use RAV as much as possible to get his chain gauge up prior to the transformation when he heals himself to full HP and all status. But I also balance that with staying healed and getting everyone in Protectra/Shellra. Once he transforms, switch to OFFENCE OFFENCE OFFENCE, hope to land Imperil/Deshell fast, Faithra on Hope, etc, and hope to blitz the hell out of him since I can't stand against him forever whatever healing/Sentinel use/buffing I can pull off.
Proudclad 1: After he recovers from Stagger he will use a brutal counterattack which you can certainly tank on a normal file but for my party it was a bit much. So the second time I fight him I take care to kill him with my first stagger, which just means not raising his chain too fast. Not much to say about the fight otherwise, Protect keeps his offence under control easily enough.
Adamanchelid: argggghhhhh nooooo save me from the wee turtle. The first few times I just get wrecked, no amount of quick buffing or sentinel use lets me survive the first few turns; he just does too much MT damage too fast with his repeated stomping for 1000 followed by an 1800-damage Quake. Turtles shouldn't be fast! Thus I resolve to exploit his vulnerabilities to slow and daze to remedy this. The basic strategy is to use Snow (for those)/Fang/Hope. Fang uses Protectra to try to just SURVIVE while Snow fires those off. Once Daze lands (and Hope is dead, since he always dies during this phase), switch to a double MED paradigm, heal up a bunch, buff a bunch, then revive Hope and begin the assault with buffs and Slow already in place. Snow continues to mainly use SAB to try to keep landing Daze, and reapply Slow whenever that wears out.
There is also no shortage of brutal randoms, especially in the second half of the chapter.
-Proto Behemoths are another behemoth type and hence jerks. Same basic strategy to kill them ASAP after they transform applies, though they also buff themselves with Brave... well worth dispelling! The second time Hope's SAB is useful. -Juggernauts and Tyrants, two of the strongest mechanical enemies from Pulse, return; both deal brutal damage and require Vanille's Barfire to stand against for long. Juggernauts also have crazy durability and half damage at base, so using Sazh/Lightning for Deshell is very valuable (Lightning also provides En- spells for more offence, while Sazh in the later stages of the chapter has Curasa); debuffing them is extremely useful in general because they use Steam Clean to heal status which takes up a LOT of their time.
-Humbabas... well, in case I wasn't sick of Behemoths yet, this is the most badass one yet. Way too much durability to blitz, but they have an Aeroga that does almost 3000 damage! I do eventually manage to beat one with a lot of Protectra/Shellra/Daze/Slow action but there's one fight against two which is just crazy. No thanks.
-Venusaur Vernal Harvester is Aster Protoflorian on steroids; he barrier shifts VERY often which is a problem given my strategy to try to keep up with him with Bar- spells, and hits like a truck; he has a magical seed missile and an AoE spin attack which both easily hit upwards of 2500 damage, hard to buff effectively to stop both especially with how fast he acts. He has no status immunities but I'm unable to get the good ones to land in time since you really need both Pain AND Fog. I probably could have beaten him but I don't, except for when he's in multiway fights where spoiler alert I kill him first.
And then one last boss...
Proudclad 2: He alternates constantly between an offence-oriented ground form which spams big AoE physical damage (a bit over 1000 at base) at high speed with a weaker sky form (which is harder to stagger/launch, neither of which is too relevant for me). Every time he switches his chain gauge resets, and with one RAV who is also on buffing duty staggering him is a huge pain (though prevents him from switching form if you do it, so in the first stage of the fight I do occasionally try). Not too bad, but at around half HP he heals to full and sets Deprotect/Deshell/Haste/Brave/Vigilance on himself. This makes his offence on the ground fast and brutal and to make matters worse, once per form shift on the ground he'll mix in Oneiric Maelstrom, which can do upwards of 4000 base. Be buffed or die. He's immune to SAB and has no elemental or type affinities so no need for shenanigans.
My strategy is to use Fang/Sazh/Vanille (Hope would have worked just as well, Vanille just happened to be in the party after Juggernaut fights). Sazh stays in MED literally 100% of the time though in hindsight I should have unlocked SEN for him, while Vanille largely stays in COM except to switch to SEN for when Oneiric Maelstrom is used. Fang handles buff management duty, keeping everyone in Haste, Protectra (absolutely crucial, I don't think I could have won this with just Protect), and Faithra in Vanille's case. I don't use many potions here; double MED works when I need more healing and anyway I need Fang to have as much physical res as possible to ensure she survives. In fact, I synth a Champion's Belt (Phys -30% when max, requires a 220k gil Adamantite) for her to make that more possible. (Sazh gets phys-25%, Vanille gets MAG+250.) Fight takes 20 minutes due to only rarely having a second PC on offence (Ravager Fang of course), but (a) less than 23 so I don't have to face Doom, and (b) since Rosch is just some dude he's actually a rare major boss who DOESN'T cast Doom.
And that takes us to the final dungeon! I'm sure it will be easy.
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero - Started this up. This definitely has less of a Metroidvania feel and more of a Mega Man feel with the way stages are designed; I'm not sure what I think about that so far. Giga Mermaid was pretty tough, especially for an earlygame Shantae boss.
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Final Fantasy XV: Yay, I completed this! It was actually fun. And the ending wasn't as awful as everyone had led me to believe. Noctis's voice actor is also good enough to sell all the emotions of every scene he's in even when in the back of my mind I'm screaming "What the hell is ANYONE'S motivation in scene?! Why is anything on screen happening?" - so I managed to enjoy the whole final act, even if I barely understood it. There's something to be said for good presentation, so I think the game ends up as a solid 8/10 due to the story problems not hurting it as much as I thought it would. The game's other good points have been talked about pretty comprehensively, so I'll just say "HELL YEAH THE CAR FLIES~"
The ending sucks because it's just general incomprehensible Nomura stuff that doesn't really explain anything, but it's not stand out in any particular way. It's not offensive like XS3 for example, nor does it feel like the developers were trying to ULTRA JESUSIFY THE PROTAGONIST TO PROVE THEY ARE BETTER THAN SUPER MEGA GOD like a certain other game in the franchise. It's just...kind of bad. The big reason it gets so much flak, though, is let's be real, it's Final Fantasy. Being the franchise is it's, suddenly everything about the game gets magnified in response. Good becomes "BEST THING EVER 11/10" while bad becomes "WORST GAME EVER DO NOT BUY!!!" That's really what was happening there.
In terms of spectacle though yeah it's fine, so all of it is ok if you turn your brain off and enjoy the "Matrix Revolution Done Right" final boss fight.
Also further emphasizes that Tabata can't write a story without killing off all his main characters for some bizarre reason. Granted, Crisis Core, it was kind of unavoidable and had to be done but what's Type-0's excuse?
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Metal Gear Solid: Beaten Psycho Mantis and about to fight Sniper Wolf. If I was playing MGS 13 or so years ago and I didn't use the internet that much, I probably would've loved the Psycho Mantis fight. Too bad pretty much everyone is aware of the strategy now.
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The best part of that fight if you were playing it new was just that Psycho Mantis would comment on other Konami games you had save files for. "I can read your mind...you like Suikoden!"
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The best part of something was anything to do with Suikoden.
Stay on brand.
Diablo 3 - So at some point this game got really good and I ignored it. Been playing Adventure mode with my brothers and sunk some time solo tonight. Running rifts and bounties in Torment 5. Then see a guildmate that started yesterday is running stuff twice my level. Okay!.
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The best part of that fight if you were playing it new was just that Psycho Mantis would comment on other Konami games you had save files for. "I can read your mind...you like Suikoden!"
If I still had my Castlevania: Symphony of the Night save, Psycho Mantis probably would've mentioned it.
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Yep. There was another big one he'd call out on too, but I forget what it was.
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Vandal Hearts.
And Policenauts and Snatcher if you somehow had access to them.
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So... that Fire Emblem direct, eh?
FE2 remake? Looks kinda awesome. Also I'm down for more FE amiibos!
New mainline FE game in 2018 announced? Good to know!
FE Warriors?! I didn't know I wanted this but now I realize that I want every series I love to get it's own Warriors spinoff...
FE Mobile? Seems like it's a good time to quit RK and EXVIUS! Will this be the app that finally drags Elfboy into the future? Only time will tell! I hope it's a better game than Valkyrie Profile mobile is...
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Project Diva: Future Tone: Much rhythm, much game.
Titanfall 2: I never talked much about this, but the game was rad as fuck, as was the multiplayer. PC playerbase is dwindling to the best players though, and the game is way too fast for me to succeed against good players.
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Bravely Second - Got wrecked by the prettyboy boss a couple of times. Game is pretty tough on Hard Mode. God, why do these characters talk about food so much?
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Because Croissants and Rice are staple foods.
I am up to chapter 5 but there is less to talk about without picking jobs. Game is really good and I like how deeply it is but is really internally consistent.
This game is Andy.
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Fire Emblem Fates
It is finished. Well... no, not the game, but whatever. I have recruited all the kids and filled out quite a number of the supports between them. As a result, I have now spent more time on Chapter 26 as far as the save file is concerned than the entire rest of the game. This is a bit of a lie due to using the game as a music player occasionally which counts against your time, along with far more lottery farming and the like than I should really have bothered with, but yeah. (~60 hours going into C26, now at ~130 hours, still on C26.)
It's completely insane, since I'd surely have stopped had it been clowning around post-game, but it feels like C26 is the best time to recruit kids, so time to spend time totally filling the roster with a bunch of characters I don't need and probably won't use. And it'd be a shame to waste all that XP, so run the gold map for some Eternal Seals, and now I need to see some supports, which means grinding because there's no way there's enough time to build them organically with like 3 missions left.
As a fun fact, you'd think that the final Paralogue would be EZ due to being radically overlevel and having L30 Corrin or whatever. Well, not really, it was actually the hardest Paralogue, though part of this was me playing sloppy! I put in a lot of recently recruited kids who were "only" L16 or the like, and I saved Percy's Paralogue for last, because holy crap I don't care about Percy at all. And... well, Percy's Paralogue plays with Conquest AI, so it won't needlessly charge Ignatius for 0 damage. And on Lunatic has enemies packing tons of Seal Defense, Luna, Lunge, Savage Blow, etc. type nasty skills to bust past defenses anyway. And tons of Dragonslayers, Hammers, Beast Killers, etc. to make things more exciting! Also all the Wyvern Riders charge you. Fun. Yeah I actually just didn't even attempt to play this "right" after I realized I screwed up and accepted a Casual bloodbath, with one dude getting to kill both Corrin AND Kana with his Dragonslayer, and 3.5 survivors limping off the field afterward (3.5 since Midori had a clone). I wasn't THAT much in danger of losing because a paired Ignatius with no real enemy mages is still devilishly hard to kill, but still!
Maybe I'll actually advance the plot soon. Or maybe not. We'll see.
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The best part of that fight if you were playing it new was just that Psycho Mantis would comment on other Konami games you had save files for. "I can read your mind...you like Suikoden!"
If I still had my Castlevania: Symphony of the Night save, Psycho Mantis probably would've mentioned it.
I just did the fight against Psycho Mantis myself. Because I had a SOTN save for a playthrough on YouTube, he ended up stating that I "liked Castlevania". The best part is that he's absolutely right.
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Project Diva: Future Tone: Much rhythm, much game.
I feel like I'm the bad guy at the end of a bad action movie/RPG and I've gotten the power I sought but it's TOO MUCH POWER and now I am melting. I've played like a quarter of the catalog. Maybe.
Bravely Second - Got wrecked by the prettyboy boss a couple of times. Game is pretty tough on Hard Mode. God, why do these characters talk about food so much?
Bravely Second is a F/SN sequel now?
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Not enough mollusks.
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Bravely Second - Got wrecked by the prettyboy boss a couple of times. Game is pretty tough on Hard Mode. God, why do these characters talk about food so much?
Bravely Second is a F/SN sequel now?
(http://www.rpgdl.com/wiki/images/9/90/Sakura_fsn.png)
What's that, Tiz-chan? You want burgers? But I made all this ramen already! There's too much of it!
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Metal Gear Solid: Got past the communications tower chase. It's not so hard once you pick up the stun grenades at the start of chase. An issue I have noticed throughout the last couple of hours with the game is that a heavy amount of backtracking is required in order to progress. You have to backtrack to get a sniper rifle to fight Sniper Wolf and you also have to return to where you fought her after the torture sequence.
Super Smash Bros for Wii U: Unlocked all the characters and all stadiums, outside of DLC anyway. Me and ThatMasterLemon are now working towards completing the rest of the events.
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Smash talk: Who's your main? If you say Fox, you get kicked out of the forums.
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My favorites are Jigglypuff and Zelda. Sadly, I don't like playing either of them in Smash 4 and have not yet settled on a main in it.
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Jiggs and Zelda I believe are unanimously considered the weakest characters in the game. So yeah, you got screwed that both of your favorites are terrible in Smash 4.
My all-time best main since 64 is Pikachu, but in Smash 4 I've been trying to learn Corrin, Cloud, Greninja, and Shulk. Because I have no shame in showing favoritism to JRPGs. Cloud is the easiest. Shulk is the most cerebral. Greninja is fast and frantic fun, but kinda unrewarding despite how much fun it is to jump around with him. Corrin is probably the character who suits my playstyle the best though I'm still having trouble getting used to her combos and optimizing her movement patterns.
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Naw man according to the most recent SSB4 tier list Zelda is only fourth worst, which is actually an improvement over Brawl Zelda! (Although usual caveat that tier lists are designed for a style of play that may not be how us filthy casuals actually play. I still enjoy playing Jigglypuff just fine.)
I play more Palutena, Bowser, and Rosalina than anyone else; the first two are shamelessly favourite picks (combined with Bowser not sucking for the first time ever) but honestly are both very fun in their own way; Ros just has a unique and fun fighting style, vaguely like Ice Climbers but now attached to a character I actually care about who isn't from a shit game. I also frequently use Lucina, Mega Man, and Cloud.
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Europa Universalis 4- Playing as the Ottomans on Ironman mode. In the early 1600s, in pretty good shape. Definitely a ton of fun once you get adjusted to the usual Paradox learning curve.
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In terms of Sm4sh, my mains are Shulk, Zero Suit Samus, Lucario and Robin. I'm into all four of these characters' fighting style and in the case of the first three, I have a pet like for the games/series they are featured in (Xenoblade, Metroid and Pokemon). I also tried to get into Palutena, but I didn't have that much success with her to be honest.
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Yeah, I've been fiddling around with EU4, for all that CK2 is still demanding more attention from me.
Also, playing Civ6. Currently on an Egypt game where I want to win via science, but am starting to get worried I may start veering towards a culture win. Which would be a shame, since I do kinda want to get the easy achievements out of the way.
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Dragon Quest Heroes - Finally got back to progressing this. I had forgot how great King Captain K is. Then there was an emotional cutscene with a child Healslime. Game of the year every year. Edit - forgot to say, the healslime is best buds with Yangus.
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Smash talk? Ike player, checking in. Ike > Mii Brawler > Charizard for my top three. I also play a bunch of Wii Fit Trainer, Lucina, Lucario and some Link. Pac Man is also good times but I don't PLAY pac man so much as I just jump around dropping hydrants on people. Also to note, I only play 4-8 big melee battles, I don't care for 1v1 in smash at all.
For other games, got Fate//Extella recently and have been slowly plinking away at that. Good game, though I wish you could pick who your sub hero was in story mode for switch purposes. Beat Saber path, about halfway through Caster path. Poked at a few of the side stories. It feels like by the end of it all it'll have my same complaints about Sengoku Basara 3(it's all just the same stages against the same officers with the same gimmicks but with a different PC, over and over and over) but more style and with enemies that fight back more, so I'll probably not get tired of it as quickly as I did SB3.
Also been playing Binding of Isaac: Antibirth. A fan expansion that is strictly better in every way to the official expansions. The new zones are especially great, I like the option for higher risk/higher reward stuff in games like this.
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Shantae: Half-Genie Hero
Beat this. Got the good ending (not terribly hard to get). Final time was about 9 hours, which is halfway between my times on the other two Shantae games I've played.
Uncle Mimic keeps doing things which are incredibly sketchy and the series just keeps blowing it off and acting like he's a Good Guy. This time he built what would become the final boss for very nebulous reasons. When the inevitable reveal that the UOM is the main villain of the series comes in Shantae 8, let it be known that I called it.
This game is basically like Risky's Revenge (same transformations plus a few more) but better ine every way? It doesn't have RR's sluggishness, it's much prettier with better music, better humour, etc. Overall not as good as Pirate's Curse though; I think the pirate powers just make for a smoother gameplay experience (especially the Metroidvania aspects), and some other things I'll get to later.
The stage design is much more Mega Man (X) compared to both RR and Pirate's Curse: large, linear, multipart levels with checkpoints, but which you can return to to find various goodies, sometimes using other goodies you got previously to unlock them. There are vanishing blocks, spikes, and other platform trappings I associate with MM. Heck, the game even has a "slide down avoiding barrels and other threats" sequence which is such an obvious callback to MM8's "jump jump slide slide" that they apparently named the achievement for perfecting that area after it. (Too bad the Wii U version doesn't have those.)
Bosses are great. Even the relatively easier ones are a lot of fun. I liked how Giga Mermaid incorporated platforming elements, how the Dual Barons had that nasty dual threat thing going which I liked about PoR's best two boss fights, and how the final boss made me pull out animal forms for mobility purposes.
One minor oddity is that the game's checkpoint system saves your health when you get to that checkpoint. So if you get to a boss low on health you'll get wrecked a lot if you don't use items. (I got to Giga Mermaid with 3 health and eventually had to resort to using an item at the start of the fight.)
Speaking of items, they remain as crazy overpowered as ever and are essentially a soft difficulty slider; you can probably avoid dying ever if you stock up on them. Even more overpowered is your reward for collecting all the treasure keys, which yields you an accessory which causes all MP costs to go to zero. There is a non-charge healing spell. You literally can't lose with this combo. I liked the healing spell otherwise (it's very expensive) but obviously this is silly game-breaking. Once I figured that out I didn't use it either. The final boss battle was nasty as is often the case for Shantae but a bit less of a crazy spike up than the less two, so I didn't have to resort to item cheese.
Writing isn't as sharp as Pirate's Curse sadly. PC's story fit together surprisingly well; characters and story elements introduced early would end up relevant to later parts of the quest. This game feels a bit more patched together by comparison, and isn't as humourous overall (though absolutely still has its share of funny moments, such as every time Squid Baron is on-screen). The game feels a bit stale because it only has one notable new character and she despite a pretty big setup ends up quite minor, oh well.
The game also does feel rather light on content, sadly. There are lots of upgrades but in some cases the game lacks things to use them on, or they'll only be used once. The game has a similar number of "levels" as Pirate's Curse but they aren't as sprawling/Metroidvania-y, and while not precisely small, they aren't as big as PC's (which had two major parts, typically; one indoors and one outdoors). I also think the less explory stage design is inherently a bit worse unless you are really really good at it, and Shantae is only good rather than great. While I'm no fan of game bloat, I definitely think this game would be better served with about 25-50% more content or so, so you would have more time to put its tools to use.
That said it was still a lot of fun, and I'm basically guaranteed to pick up any DLC it sends my way. The music is great, thoroughly enjoyable platformer overall for what it was. Probably a 7/10.
Final Fantasy 13
I beat all the B rank missions except the ones which are obviously misclassified (Raktavija and Gigantaur, lolno), as well as the "A" rank fights against a Juggernaut and Tyrant, two enemies I've already beaten as randoms. I did this basically as a way to level up more for Chapter 13, because uh it is nasty. Every fight there is a struggle so far. I may detail more later.
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I like Roy a lot in sm4sh.
Also, I have my copy of Berseria waiting for me at home.
Looking forward to that!
In other news I platinum'd D3. There's still soooooooo many challenges I've yet to collect. So that's something I can now crawl towards.
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Fire Emblem Fates: Slaughtering scouted enemies to make characters feel better about each other
I think I'm about done. The only supports I haven't seen are for characters I don't particularly give a fig about. As the fruits of my labor, a rough ranking of FE Fates kidz by amusingness / interestingness in their supports & dialogue. (Very roughly ranked best-to-worst left to right as well.)
Great!
These characters were usually better than most of the adult cast, and would have schticks that have a little bit of dimensionality & flex to them, and usually multiple personality traits. You can tell they're good because they manage to get good reactions out of even really boring partners; like, Dwyer-Kiragi is great. (Also act shocked that the Awakening cast shows up here.)
* Dwyer, Caeldori, Rhajat, Mitama, Asugi
Dwyer is a great case study in how to take a meh character and make them awesome. Take Jakob, who is kinda boringly perfect, and make someone equally perfect - but lazy and sleepy, violently inappropriate traits for a servant. Hilarity ensues.
Caeldori is interestingly perfect because everybody knows and acknowledges this, which makes it awkward.
Rhajat is so over the top on her schtick that it's great. Plus, they keep you off balance by having her actually be quite nice and friendly by surprise to random people someimes (She & Mitama hit it off instantly). They smartly refocus her more on the 999% goth side than the obsessive Corrin-stalker side as well.
Mitama & Asugi are just consistently funny.
Decent
They did their thing and I liked said thing and it mostly worked.
* Hisame, Ignatius, Nina, Selkie, Sophie, Forrest
Hisame is a logical result of his father, bounces off interestingly with other characters (Caeldori he has a good conversation between two non-zany types where they disagree on how to honor their father; ), and has hobbies (pickles! shogi!).
Ignatius is a big coward who FIGHTS FOR HIS FRIENDS. Eek a bug. Funny and a little heartwarming.
Nina is very, very silly, but it mostly works. I liked her going to a play with Shiro and rewriting it to include more yaoi. The Robin Hood aspect was a bit of a miss, but whatever.
Selkie is very one-dimensional but usually amusing anyway.
Sophie: Avel does something crazy, hijinks ensue, repeat. I'll take it.
Forrest: It'd be easy to mess up the "Trap" crossdresser character, but Fates shockingly enough did an okay job with it and found some solid genuine humor.
Meh
They did their thing but I was less of a fan of said quirk, or they dropped the ball with the quirk they had.
* Shigure, Ophelia, Siegbert, Midori, Shiro
Ophelia & Midori could have been cool, but it doesn't really pan out. Heck, they even have a support that starts promising then fizzles out, just like them. (Starts with Agent Scully Midori ragging on mystic Ophelia's prophecy nonsense, okay, cool, chemist-science vs. loopy magic rocks girl. Then it goes straight boring.)
Shigure is a singer. Okay.
Siegbert & Shiro are straights for crazier characters to bounce off of. Siegbert is at least quiet and studious which I like, while Shiro's more of a jock. But Hisame shows that straight characters can be done just fine and be interesting, while these two just kinda exist.
Boo hiss
I did not like these characters.
* Velouria, Soleil
Velouria thinks trash is treasure and is salty about when others get confused, we get it, that joke is maybe funny twice not twenty times.
Soleil stinks of fanservice bait so hard it corrupts everything about her. hur dur hot girl-on-girl action and she likes to take her clothes off in public. The localization did not save the character nearly as much as I thought they would, the fact that she inexplicably isn't a lesbian or something makes non-Forrest S supports hard to take seriously. And hell, she comes off as way too ludicrously horndog even ignoring sexuality, even for "playboy" type characters you can't write ALL their dialog as constantly lusting for action.
Little kid tier
These characters are hard to rate, as they uncomfortably ram into the wackiness of the kid scenarios harder than most, since these kids are like 9-11. Even if portrayed perfectly accurately, there's only so far you can go with earnest youngster who should definitely NOT BE ANYWHERE NEAR DANGER. Kiragi is also super-boring, aside from being a kid! Percy has a schtick but I don't really like it. Only Kana makes this work, just pretend they aren't actually deployed into danger ever.
* Kana, Percy, Kiragi
In short: Birthrightpremacy, their only boring kids are Kiragi & Shiro & maybe some shared kids. Forrest/Nina/Ignatius are cool but only go so far. (I'd say the reverse for the adults, where the CQ characters are usually more interesting/funnier, but BR makes up with the kids.)
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Metal Gear Solid: Finished disc 1. At the end of both Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid's first discs, a female character dies. One of them is irritating and clingy. The other one is Sniper Wolf.
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Decided to return to this game to complete the remaining missions. I'm really enjoying the support missions that the game provides you after completing the main story as they are allowing me to quickly build up affinity with weaker characters (Phog and Frye I'm looking at you) so I can complete the quests centred around them.
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Pokémon Duel: I got Mewtwo in my first booster, so apparently I won the game? Not too far into it, but so far it seems like strategy only goes so far, then it devolves into whoever gets a stupidly lucky roll first.
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Define 'Pokémon Duel'
BS2 - Beat all the worlds sins so I am become the best Yokai. I regret doign this immediately because now I have a job I want to be levelling even though it looks like -ja spells actually kinda suck. I should just stop getting JP and run Mastered jobs and finish the game. I was planning to do the aftergame, but "UUUUGH THIS GAME IS GOOD BUT I AM SO FUCKING OVER IT" kicked in half way through the Sins fights. That sucks because it is right before the final dungeon.
Seriously you guys though this game is great. You should all be adding me as Friend and playing it so my super powerful space ship the USS Fenrir can help you shoot down Cthulhu monsters from outerspace that are actually all the negative emotions of two lovers seperated, like seriously this game is a fucking N'Sync song turned into the highest concept high fantasy story ever.
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Define 'Pokémon Duel'
http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2017/01/25/what-on-earth-is-pokemon-duel-and-why-do-i-hate-it-so-much/#3461e67a7ad1
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I don't know if anybody in the DL is into Yakuza. They're not really amazing gameplay wise but the stories are basically dumb as hell manly soap operas and the side missions are great.
https://twitter.com/LennyReviews/status/821224344089149440
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Kazuma Kiryu is the hero we deserve.
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Overwatch: The new capture the flag mode is surprisingly good. It was really rough the first couple of days, with a lot of draws. But now that people are getting better at it, it's turned out to be quite enjoyable. I usually defend our flag solo as Symmetra so we can do a 5-man push on offense.
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DMC4: Don't understand how a mechanical device works -> shoot the controls to make it work. Sounds right. I'm playing on normal out of stubbornness even though I'm goddamn terrible at these games.
I don't understand how Gloria doesn't dislocate her hips every single step she takes.
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FF15: Did some Chocobo Festival Stuff. It got me an easy Sky Gemstone so upgradable Chain Saw, yay!
Then found another Royal Arms Dungeon. This is probably one of the worst handled dungeons in the game. Tight Corridors are fine, BUT DON'T SHOVE HUGE WAVES OF BOMBS IN THEM. You just watch your HP disappear out of nowhere because "...?", I don't know what they were thinking.
Gets worse when you reach near the bottom, and you have to fight a Red Giant with Flans. Ok, that's not so bad. Then you have to fight 2. That's a bit excessive but ok...
...then 3 and a giant Snake woman...and that set up happens twice These are GIANT ENEMIES that completely screw with the camera, in a relatively small area, they have massive amounts of HP, defense, etc. A single Red Giant can take forever to kill, but 3 of them w/ a 4th enemy on the same tier who can use lots of status moves? What the hell were they thinking? That's not a fight where Skill matters, that's just a giant middle finger.
My reward for doing all this?
...a Chain Saw Great Sword. Well I guess it wasn't all bad.
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Metal Gear Solid: About to fight Liquid Snake. I didn't actually have that many problems with the key temperature quest which everyone complains about. Going up and down Metal Gear Rex constantly was annoying though. Also, the second fight with Raven is the best boss in the game. If only because the focus is more towards stealth than combat.
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Final Fantasy 13 - Secondary roles challenge beaten!
Final dungeon was just nasty more or less throughout; there were no real gimme fights. Dagonites I really wanted a sentinel for... but their knockdown attack hits a line so even that's not perfect, and Veil is important too. Sacrifices are more Veil and just staying on top of debuffs; Fog is great on them if it lands. There are a couple fights against ~6 of these lower-tier enemies total and they were insanely tough; I beat one of them after a bunch of tries because it was kinda in the way.
Motorcycles are the real threat, though, Plasma Cannon is MT 4000+ damage which is a a OHKO if not buffed and still terrifying if I am. By itself I can deal with them but when they start getting competent support or appearing in pairs? Yeesh. Staggering works well (since Plasma Cannon becomes easily interrupted then) but I can't do it fast enough outside pre-emptives. My only real recourse for them in such circumstances is to try to get Pain or Daze to land but this isn't easy and spending time trying to do it and having it fail invites a wipe.
Megrim Thrashers are also powerful (huge ST damage) but can be controlled alone well enough. With support they're... yeah. I eventually figure out how to dodge that fight. <_< Sanctum Templars are scary but not too bad, they'll use Dispel but not so quickly buffs aren't useful, and Fog/Barthunder both cut down their offence considerably. There's a Tyrant pallette-swap called Immortal. I do not beat him.
I rotate my team around a bunch, with Snow (for Pain/Fog/Slow/Daze) and Lightning (for SEN) seeing some playtime, but my most common team is Fang/Sazh/Vanille.
Bosses:
Bandersnatch and Jabberwocky: Honestly these guys are easier than most of the randoms! You have to be awake during them because they do have some damage but not much to say. The one with more HP is strangely more vulnerable, Deprotect/Deshell are really great as always. I don't have much to say here.
Wladisaus: (around 8 resets?) On the other hand this guy is a nightmare. He uses an attack called Mounting Contempt, which does somewhere north of 5000 damage. So far, so bad, but hey, we have buffs, and it does take a while to charge. Unfortunately, every subsequent time he uses it, the attack gets BETTER, as it charges faster each time, and from the second use onwards it's paired with an attack which can dispel, Deprotect, and/or Deshell before use (the move always hits the lower defence). If you're under Deprotect/Deshell, get dunked on. The solution is to have your player-controlled Synergist ready to IMMEDIATELY apply Protect(ra)/Shell(ra) if the status lands. Besides that, Veil helps, Sazh's healing helps, Deprotect helps, the usual. He will mix in relatively fast and decently powerful physicals, so of course keeping defensive buffs up is a good idea, Veil too.
Tiamat Eliminator: Certainly easier. Tiamat is fairly interesting, but her damage isn't too hot (she uses ice attacks mostly, lol I am so clever guys). Basically she switches between two forms. The flying form is immune to all Saboteur stuff like Proudclad (including Dispel, and she does buff herself midway through this stage) and rains down mostly ice attacks which can cause slow or imperil (making them stronger). Esuna for Imperil is nice! The ground form is vulnerable to SAB, but instead all but immunes SYN, since her attacks come fast and furious and add dispel. The ground form is more dangerous because it generally does more damage, but switching between them resets her chain gauge. So yeah I do actually beat this on the first try though it isn't totally trivial.
Before Tiamat there are random encounter Wladisalauses, one of which has support. lolnope
Barthandelus 3: (around 5 resets?) The big problem here is Ultima, which does random, non-typed damage... sometimes not too much, but it can do up to 4200. Which is extremely painful for me (my HP is around 5000). He's good at keeping HP down through other means too: Thanatosian Laughter this time is a powerful MT gravity attack (~87% CHP), and like Bart 2 he constantly peppers you with LASERS. So sooner or later Ultima rolls high at a bad time and I am dead.
Ultimately I decide to swap Fang for Snow. There are two reasons for this: one, Slow is actually better than Haste when applicable, and he's vulnerable to it. Spacing out those Ultimas and Laughters more is huge. The other is that this is a long fight, and keeping Protect/Shell up on everyone all the time is incredibly valuable, so the longer-term versions of the buffs prove their worth. No, they don't stop the big attacks, but they cut down on laser damage which adds up hugely. Sazh is a must for Curasa. I experiment without Vanille but no COM is unacceptable here; my winning run takes 16 minutes which is kinda close to the Doom limit already. Otherwise strategy is simple enough, Sazh heals or debuffs, Snow buffs and slows (and heals if neither is needed), Vanille brings the hurting, and I switch to two Sentinels for every Ultima or Laughter. This is a simple fight but not easy at all, certainly the endgame boss against whom low HP hurts the most, as we'll see. (Wladislaus' post-debuff damage is murder at almost any level.)
Orphan 1: The big surprise is that this is the easiest boss of the final chain. I have a plan lined up for this one: screw Commandos, use Lightning/Sazh/Fang for poison, healing, and haste. Very clever of me. However you don't get a chance to switch between the fights unless you die and I... don't. What starts out as a scouting run to feel out his AI specifics turns into a win. Some of it is that I get a little lucky (despite my lack of Death blocker [that was also a planned setup change], ID is only rarely used and never hits) but some of that is that, while not optimised, I do have a lot of the tools to control him.
With Snow/Vanille I can bring out the buff parade: Protect/Shell, Veil, Brave on Vanille, etc. The first three are what matter. This largely controls his offence; nothing he does can hit harder than around 3000 damage, and only two rarely-used moves actually break 1000. The bigger issue is this: all debuffs must perish! Orphan can land most of 'em. In order: Daze gets removed by an item, Deprotect/Deshell by Snow recasting the opposite buff, Poison by an item (or Esuna, in all cases), Pain/Fog if necessary. Veil makes him land less of these and it's usually not too hard to recover. The first four are really crucial because they make it possible for Merciless Judgement to kill, a 99% gravity move, or Dies Irae, which has a base damage of over 4000 (but is only used rarely and only at low HP).
Besides that, offence is just a nice bonus here, because Orphan can be poisoned! So Sazh can do that, when he isn't on Esuna duty. (He can also be hit by Slow, so Snow's other perk is definitely still active.) Poison him three times and you win, pretty much. I do still run offence since Vanille doesn't have much else to do besides the odd SEN switch for a big attack and Veil buffing when that's needed, and hey it helps some especially with Deprotect active, but yeah poison is definitely the real workhorse of this fight. The fight takes around 9 minutes.
Orphan 2: (about ~15 resets) Okay so let's talk about this one. After one reset where it's obvious a Fang-less party has zero chance, I go back to Fang/Sazh/Vanille.
Totally unlike the first form, Orphan 2 gives you just 7 minutes to win (Bart 3 and most other major bosses give you 23, Orphan 1 gives you 33). He is invincible until you stagger him (and is immune to poison, sadly), and has a high stagger point. But here's the real problem: about once every minute, he will use Temporal Hollow, which resets his chain gauge, and removes any debuffs from him and buffs from you... pretty much resetting the battle! Except any damage you took stays and any buffs/debuffs favouring him stay. Grah. So basically you get six shots to stagger him. Once you do, you have to do as much damage as possible fast, because when the stagger ends it's back to invincibility for him, this time with a pile of buffs.
On his own turns he'll use one of three attacks. One is a short-range magical blast which damages and slows. Slow sucks! The good news is that, if you don't try to use physicals on him, you won't close in to close range, and you'll be immune. One key strategy is to Librascope him immediately so that my PCs realise that physicals are useless (the AI seems to prefer magic if neither does damage... possibly this fight is the reason?). The other two attacks are still a problem though. One is a full-MT physical. It does some modest damage; who cares. The problem is that it launches everyone in the air for a long time, which, combined with the get-up animation, loses you a lot of valuable time, meaning Temporal Hollow comes sooner. If he uses this a lot there's... not much you can do, try again next cycle loser. It says everything about how bad Curse is that it doesn't stop this from launching. (Using physical attacks against a cursed Orphan DOES make you immune to launching, but uhhh see the comments about the slow move; this is not worth it.) He also has an attack which inflicts Pain and Fog. Wastes time, use the appropriate item and keep blasting. Finally, there's Kaleidoscopic Ray, which exists strictly to keep the player "honest": it ALWAYS targets the leader and does up to 4800 damage. Ow! So yeah, you can't neglect healing. Protect+Shell can reduce this, but... well.
The problem is that you gotta stagger him fast. Every buff you cast has to be weighed against the time spent casting it. Obviously Haste is worthwhile (Orphan 2 can be slowed but it's hard to land and doesn't affect Temporal Hollow so it's much less valuable). For a while I use Protect/Shell but eventually I settle on not. Kaleidoscopic Ray can be tanked anyway, especially with the maxed Imperial Armlet to reduce its damage. But, even after hammering out all the details of my strategy, it's not enough. The game is balanced around you having multiple Ravagers here (though Tri-Disaster is ill-advised, as his launch attack stops your chain-gaining), and I don't. The best I can do is RAV/SAB/COM with my team. And that's... sometimes enough! I'll paradigm shift every two turns to get the free ATB recharge, sometimes throwing in Sazh Medic to get in some healing. But even if I do everything perfectly (which includes not dying to Kaleidoscopic Ray of course), I have to hope his AI is very friendly, and I barely stagger him on time. What's worse, I don't one-round him on a stagger. And I'm never able to successfully stagger him twice before the counter runs out (or Kaleidoscopic Ray is fatal).
So eventually, I hit on what I hope is a Laggy- and Grefter-approved strat. Okay, see, Fang is my only Ravager. The class that adds the second most chain is... Saboteur. So RAV/SAB/SAB works, right? Well... without COM, I can't do good damage to close the deal. So no, one of Vanille or Hope must stay. Vanille doesn't have SAB under my challenge, while Hope does, but all he has is the junky MT spells which are bad at adding chain on top of their other problems. Except, except, except! Hope has Dispel.
And thus it was that I manually spammed Dispel like crazy against a boss who had no buffs in place, allowing me to stagger him quickly enough. As usual I set up Haste first (fortunately the AI obliges), but after that it's the paradigm shift madness to get in all the SAB/SAB/RAV I can. Hope/Sazh/Fang. I actually hadn't used Hope for the entirety of Chapter 13 since Vanille had largely outpaced him; I burned through his 600k CP to just get him ALL THE MAGIC POSSIBLE. With the extra time right before the stagger I set Fang to cast offensive buffs and with Sazh having landed all of Imperil/Deprotect/Deshell, the blitz was on, and this time I even actually killed him in the first stagger.
Achievement unlocked: Superstar. Apparently this is for 5-starring the final boss which I'd never done before, but I'll take it as a reward for beating this challenge.
:)
I'll probably post more about final thoughts on the PCs and stuff later, but this post is already long enough, so not now.
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My girl doesn't want me playing Berseria when she isn't home.
Soooooooo
I impulse bought Yakuza 0. Let the soap opera commence!
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My girl doesn't want me playing Berseria when she isn't home.
Soooooooo
I impulse bought Yakuza 0. Let the soap opera commence!
Bought Yakuza 0 the other day as well, played the first 2 chapters so far and now dicking around Tokyo. Good times. Combat is kinda clunky, but you can smash a dude's face into a urinal or chuck a dude out a window, so who cares? A+++++++++ chuck a dude out a window/10
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Metal Gear Solid: Beaten Liquid Snake, the final boss of the game. Overall, the game was pretty decent. Obviously the visuals haven't aged well and the combat needs a lot of fine tuning, but the stealth sections were fun and the story was fairly enjoyable with some interesting characters. Believe it or not; Solid Snake was actually one of the weaker characters in my eyes, mainly because most of his dialogue was parroting what his superiors or his adversary would state for the convenience of the player.
Pokemon Moon: Completed the Alola Dex and I have transfered all of my final stage Pokemon and legendaries from Y/Alpha Sapphire. Time to take on the Battle Tree.
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"Metal Gear?!"
Freezer Raven was definitely the best fight in the game just because it actually gave you ample opportunity to unload all that esoteric weaponry you'd been accumulating the whole time (mines, C4, sniping all very good options there).
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MGS: I dunno, Snake always comes off as pretty cool to me, mostly because in a scenario with a lot of madmen, he gets to play it straight then shoot them. This is often times an appealing archetype to have.
As a totally random comment, something I always liked about MGS1 was how the final fight with Metal Gear REX was a new dramatic showdown, but it still incorporated the fundamental mechanic of the game: stealth. It really did feel like an unstoppable force if you take it head-on, but if you sneak around and hit its weak point, you just might have a chance. It was also just one, and its main purpose was launching nukes, so it makes sense that it only has so much close-range defense on it. MGS2 felt like it needed to top that fight or something and has Raiden fight eleventy zillion Metal Gear RAYs, which are *meant* for close-in combat, and it's unbelievable / way lamer / no stealth.
Final Elf 13: Wait, Orphan 2 is that badass if you don't have a 2 Ravager setup? So weird, since they're so amazingly bad in a normal playthrough.
<Hope> They're invincible! Let me dispel that.
<Lightning> Hope, it's not a buff. That isn't going to do anything.
<Hope> Exactly, it's so powerful it doesn't even appear in the UI. Didn't seem to work the first time, so gotta keep trying.
<Lightning> This is the stupidest idea ever.
40 seconds later
<Lightning> ... well I'll be damned, he was right.
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Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, 3DS version
Finished! Sorry Tide, I'm trying to sneak in random short games while I can because CS + CS2 is gonna be such a huge undertaking. 8 hours on the clock, all Heart Squids / Cacklebats, although admittedly some mild map/FAQ checking for the last few, because screw getting the bad ending. I liked it! This is definitely a charming game that is zany in the right kind of way (felt like a Monkey Island game), and I liked the exploration.
There are a few nitpicks but most aren't too bad. Like many Metroidvanias, of the 20 puzzles you encounter, 5 will seem totally obvious to you and 5 will utterly befuddle you, but which ones are which changes between people. Yes, the actual combat is trivialized by items if you want, but eh, that's fine IMO, do a no-items run if you want to prove your worth, this kind of problem isn't too new. And some of the platforming segments were decently challenging to get past but with trivial penalties if you failed (final Tower, Run Run Rottytops), which is okay. The bigger one was that the game gives no indication on if it auto-saves you into the start of some of the special locked-in scenes, so I can easily see being frustrated and stuck there if you were running out of battery and unsure if you were going to lose all your progress. (Like, I liked Run Run Rottytops, but it's long enough that I'd have been enraged had I lost my progress. And the very final room does have some BS RNG on the last gravestones.)
If I had to complain about two things, they'd be this:
A) There's a lot of enemies / scenes where blasting through at full speed will ram you into an enemy. Thus, the "correct" thing to do is show patience, let the enemy appear, then wait it out or kill them or stop short for the puzzle to be in a known state. Laaaaaaaaaaame. Make it so you can blast through at full speed if you time your jumps and evasion right, usually, IMO.
B) The pyramid stealth section. #1, you lose a crapload of time from being detected. #2, yes, there's a way to open up your cell once you have access to the main central room, but it's "Guarded." Except by guards that don't actually arrest you if they see you. This isn't hinted to the player at all, so I of course avoided them like the plague. And then of course one part of said stealth section seemed utterly impossible, except, surprise! There is a new mechanic for this room that enables Shantae to hide in plain sight. They don't let you notice or practice this when there are no guards around, though, so I of course got caught 5 times trying to frantically figure out what I was possibly doing wrong, before YouTubing it and being enraged. It's not so bad on a replay I'm sure, but there's multiple instances of "not explaining The Rules to the player" properly before letting you have at it.
I'm definitely up for Half Genie Hero now (sounds like Risky's Revenge is skippable, from reviews of others), but it seems like it's waiting on some DLC + other features, so maybe I'll wait a tad. (Also, apparently a Vita version but no 3DS version. Weird.)
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I don't really agree that Orphan 2 is bad, let alone amazingly so; when I was doing research on bosses I found no shortage of "how do I beat Orphan 2" threads. You may not be aware of how narrow the margin was when you staggered him; it's a lot like an eidolon fight in that going too far in any direction gets you punished and while it's possible to find the right balance on the first try you shouldn't be surprised if not everyone does. Certainly it was the only one of the final battle chain that gave me trouble on my first playthrough (though I can see having more trouble with Orphan 1; they're different. From the stat topic discussion I recall that you fought Orphan 1 without a SAB, which makes me wince just to think of it).
Actually, Bart 3 being competent is what really surprised me. That fight I steamrolled in both my normal runs (Ultima isn't nearly as scary when your HP is 7000 instead of 5000) and I... actually kinda forgot it existed when I reached the end of the game; I was doing mental prep for both Orphan fights, and not it.
That said your dramatic take on the fight amused me.
Also, glad you enjoyed Pirate's Curse! General nod to most of your comments. I didn't personally have the trouble with the stealth section you did but I can 100% see how that could happen. Half-Genie Hero is less Metroidvania, as you're probably aware, but certainly worth checking out anyway.
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My girl doesn't want me playing Berseria when she isn't home.
Soooooooo
I impulse bought Yakuza 0. Let the soap opera commence!
Bought Yakuza 0 the other day as well, played the first 2 chapters so far and now dicking around Tokyo. Good times. Combat is kinda clunky, but you can smash a dude's face into a urinal or chuck a dude out a window, so who cares? A+++++++++ chuck a dude out a window/10
Homeboy could take a beating!
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FF15: Did some Chocobo Festival Stuff. It got me an easy Sky Gemstone so upgradable Chain Saw, yay!
Then found another Royal Arms Dungeon. This is probably one of the worst handled dungeons in the game. Tight Corridors are fine, BUT DON'T SHOVE HUGE WAVES OF BOMBS IN THEM. You just watch your HP disappear out of nowhere because "...?", I don't know what they were thinking.
Gets worse when you reach near the bottom, and you have to fight a Red Giant with Flans. Ok, that's not so bad. Then you have to fight 2. That's a bit excessive but ok...
...then 3 and a giant Snake woman...and that set up happens twice These are GIANT ENEMIES that completely screw with the camera, in a relatively small area, they have massive amounts of HP, defense, etc. A single Red Giant can take forever to kill, but 3 of them w/ a 4th enemy on the same tier who can use lots of status moves? What the hell were they thinking? That's not a fight where Skill matters, that's just a giant middle finger.
My reward for doing all this?
...a Chain Saw Great Sword. Well I guess it wasn't all bad.
This absolutely does not sound right.
You are in the aftergame right?
Why aren't you curb stomping that place?
I walk in with a lv.60 party. and since this is after game, I have a cumlative of 120+ triple ga spella nd 60+ quadra ga spell.
Corridor with bomb? I magic them and they die painfully.
Giants? Clean all the lesser grunts with magic as usual. Then I unleash Phantom Sword+Phantom link which means one giant dies immediately and other big grunts in low health.
Toss another magic or two. Done.
Each fight takes less than 5 minutes each.
Yes, there is no skill in these fights. You just spam and win.
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Bravely Second - I finished this. It is really good and I am kind of stunned more if the DL hasn't played it. It is more Bravely Default with all the job system goodness of FFV repackaged but frankly done better (5 support slots from the start, more interesting jobs and interactions. Builds can still really centralise off you go for optimal builds but if you go for any kind of breadth of class choice all your character will slot together differently). The plot is tighter and treads less water and pacing in general is just way better. I think the plot is overall better with more fun characters. It is also cheeses and ridiculous as all fuck but I love that. Really good game, highly recommend.
Fire Emblem Fates - I was like 4 maps from the end of Revelation, so I bashed that out instead of grinding out supports. This was good because there was an option to play the game the way I wanted to with the level of engagement with it I wanted. Easily the best FE game I have played and they got rid of weapon durability.
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Fire Emblem Heroes: I got two Camillas in my first pull, so apparently I won the game? Not far into the game yet, but the production values are high.
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Having spent the morning playing with rerolling and odds, yeah pretty much Cap. 1 x 5 orb pull and 3 x 4x orb pull got me 0 5* characters. 2 of them is pretty good.
Yet another Gacha game that doesn't just let people pick a 5* starter and roll a random pack of trash, promoting people smashing their servers and wasting time. I don't understand.
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I actually ended up rerolling also (Camilla is 4-star base, although the ones I pulled were 5s). Then I learned I shouldn't have done that. Now I am in connection error hell.
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"Metal Gear?!"
Freezer Raven was definitely the best fight in the game just because it actually gave you ample opportunity to unload all that esoteric weaponry you'd been accumulating the whole time (mines, C4, sniping all very good options there).
I'm with you there. I didn't actually discover you could collect Claymores until the room before Raven believe it or not. Speaking of my lack of skills with MGS, I ended up getting the bad ending. Go ahead, laugh.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds: Decided to get started on this now I've replayed ALttP. I've finished the Eastern Palace, asides from a couple of rupees I can get through merging with walls. It seems as though the Zelda developers have finally realised that rehashing the sluggish OoT formula isn't a good idea. Ideas such as renting items and merging with walls sound small, but they add so much more than the wolf from Twilight Princess and the motion controls in Skyward Sword.
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Camilla is 4-star base, although the ones I pulled were 5s).
Game is trash garbage and might stay deleted when I get home instead of doing more rerolling then. So many great characters defined as scrubs. Get out.
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Fire Emblem Fates
I actually finished this before Shantae, but eh, it's been said, and mentioned it in chat. Revelation final was not impressive. GRANTED, to be sure, the spawning reinforcements makes it better than Dragon/Formotiis/Ashera of the "not really a Fire Emblem", but still, he pretty much sucked and was an HP sponge. Even worse, the style on the fight sucked. Both the other paths have a dramatic "get inspired" moment where Corrin gets pumped up from a near-death experience and Azura releases the full power of her dragonstone. They just kinda skip that and say "whoa big dragon."
Also. Hidden Truths DLC makes out Anankos for a bit of a plotter, while other plot points make him out for more of a feral berserker. For all my complaints about Conquest plot, style points is not one of them; here's the intro video for the CQ final:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9d0vFCmgK4
That is NOT healthy nor sane. This shit is on.
The final in Revelation is just kinda there and earns 0 style points. He's big but somehow wussy, with a mere non-moving range 3 attacks (BR final moves, CQ final has both map attacks, range 1-4, and an offensive pair-up of doom). Maybe a bit of a whiner, in the "I am unstoppable nooo how I can be losing" sense. I could think of nothing more insulting than letting Takumi kill him. (He's good anyway since normally his high damage + crit factory is just ludicrous overkill, so hey, rare HP sponge to make it matter.)
Gameplay-wise, I took the 10 royals + 3 Awakening characters (kids were all too overlevel). Laslow finally fulfilled his long-destined purpose, to press the "Rally" button and avoid combat like the plague. Also. So Garon went crazy because he drank a ludicrous amount of dragon blood. But... the 3 Awakening characters all got dragon blood too, from the same dragon? Same with Corrin? And just how much dragon power did Garon have, anyway? Alas, I thought this was gonna be the route where you could save him or something. Also, WTF at Lillith being completely MIA in this path. And they don't really clean up a whole lot about the Rainbow Sage plot, although maybe I'm okay with that considering that Yulyana plot was a tad obnoxious in BD, and they're similar characters. The one thing I will give Revelation credit for was laying out explicitly that being the Dragon of Wisdom = mind control powers along with being associated with water somehow, hence stuff like the "dark water" in CQ Final that spawns Invaders.
Also, the murder mystery in the back half of the game was stupid. Just sayin'.
Yeah, to be sure, I enjoyed Revelation, but they had their B-Team on it, or were rushed, or put all the ideas that got rejected but someone wanted to stick in anyway in it. Oh well. Still good times.
Trails of Cold Steel
Trista police blotter: A young blonde girl was found dead at the outskirts of the Thors Military Academy. Identification papers on her included an obviously false name, so it's probable she was some nameless drifter merely dressed up as a student. While her body was covered with slash marks consistent with sword wounds, authorities concluded that maybe those were just old injuries, and that death was likely accidental anyway. Case closed.
(Also, whoa. We went from "there is exactly one computer in Liberl as of a year ago" to "Btw Crossbell invented the Internet?" Fast times.)
(Also also. The game made a big deal of the ARCUS, and makes a big deal about choosing to pick to be in Class 7, but doesn't really connect these two thoughts. Um. If I get accepted to West Point, and get told on my first day "hey here's a new cutting edge ludicrously expensive battle helicopter specifically customized for you!", this is, like, the ultimate early Christmas gift for budding military types. You're going to accept immediately just so you can keep the damn thing which isn't even publicly released yet. MAYBE Alisa R or Jusis might be jaded enough to pass it up, but come on.)
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Rev final is a bit of a straightforward HP/damage sponge but the multiple parts and reinforcements make it somewhat interesting, which is an improvement over many FE finals. It is certainly better than the Birthright final which I was able to one-round on Lunatic with half of my main team dead including Ryoma. Agreed that Conquest's is good, of course.
Didn't like the style much either; agreed with comments there. Both Birthright and Revelation kinda had me shrugging at the final battle conflict. I actually felt it more acutely with BR but that's because the Xander/Elise stuff is the emotional climax and punching Garon in the face afterwards feels boring and formulaic. To be clear, I'm not saying that Anankos has a better style setup than Garon, and I don't want to give him credit for, essentially, the Rev Gunter plot being <<< the BR Xander/Elise plot.
Also can I hate on Garon's appearance in Rev? Man there were opportunities here. He could have had a moment of badassitude where he throws off Anankos' mind control. He could have had a tearful reunion with his children. OR if you're really dead set on keeping him as pure villain even in this path (a mistake IMO given the backstory) you could at least do some epic battle with him super-charged by Anankos; this guy is supposed to pretty much be the strongest mortal in Fates. But the writers once again ruin what potential his character had and make his role as bland as possible, in this case a throwaway sacrifice to LOOK HOW EVIL ANANKOS IS.
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I was going to comment specifically on how shitty that part was, but like, I have had a game of FE Fates in some variation going since DL Con so I really don't have any emotion left to put into its plot.
I did generally like the DLCs though.
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My girl doesn't want me playing Berseria when she isn't home.
Soooooooo
I impulse bought Yakuza 0. Let the soap opera commence!
Bought Yakuza 0 the other day as well, played the first 2 chapters so far and now dicking around Tokyo. Good times. Combat is kinda clunky, but you can smash a dude's face into a urinal or chuck a dude out a window, so who cares? A+++++++++ chuck a dude out a window/10
IT BEGINS!
Get back at me when you get the chicken.
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My girl doesn't want me playing Berseria when she isn't home.
Soooooooo
I impulse bought Yakuza 0. Let the soap opera commence!
Bought Yakuza 0 the other day as well, played the first 2 chapters so far and now dicking around Tokyo. Good times. Combat is kinda clunky, but you can smash a dude's face into a urinal or chuck a dude out a window, so who cares? A+++++++++ chuck a dude out a window/10
IT BEGINS!
Get back at me when you get the chicken.
PS - one of the best parts of the game is that both main characters take everything really seriously so when they do minigames like playing video games or disco dancing, they pose dramatically like it's a fucking robot gundam anime.
Behold:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eifRW6GQI8c
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Grand Blue Fantasy -
At long last I acquired Class 4 jobs.
Screw The Order Grande, screw her so hard!
Just how in the world Tal think that the Grande grind was not annoy. The Creed and the proof grind was way easier.
Anyway, now that I have the Sage job, Celeste Manga solo no longer takes forever now.
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Final Fantasy VII: I decided to replay this game for the sake of it being 20th anniversary (and the remake could also be considered as an excuse to play it). I've gotten up to Sector 5, the parts where I'm escorting Aerith home after being ambushed in the church. I'm replaying this one through the Steam version, meaning the translation isn't quite as bad here. One thing that doesn't seem to fixed is that line Cloud has to Barret during the fight with the Guard Scorpion, then again is that even an error? Depending on the tone how you say "attack while the tail is up", you could be issuing it as a warning.
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It is correct, the sentence continues on to the next message where they close it with a full stop.
Obviously it is terrible at acting as a warning though.
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Played some of the Odin Sphere remake. Thoughts:
1. it is super pretty and you would never guess it started life as a PS2 game. they've done a superb job with the graphics.
2. just having played Gwyn's first-and-a-half chapter, the increased movesets and abilities are a joy. she gets a couple new midair attacks on base and a boatload of special moves (which you still access from a menu, but it's a quick "tap L1 and select" dealie and not very obtrusive)
3. still wicked easy. I started on normal and it's a joke. not sure if it'll remain so, but wow.
4. inventory management still kinda sucks, but the items themselves and growing seeds and the like still kinda rules.
5. did I mention it is super pretty because holy shit you guys
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Mighty No. 9
Beaten all the Mighty Number stages. It's... decent? A bit frustrating in that it should obviously be better than it is. Boss designs are a lot of fun, stage design is uneven but overall I'm happy. Lots of checkpoints, but lives are still a thing which makes you care; turns out I still enjoy this way of doing things. The dash which gives you limitless horizontal movement but no ability to move up makes for an interesting platforming paradigm, and stat absorptions are pretty interesting.
The load times are facepalm-worthy (though apparently they're particularly bad on the Wii U version, which I am playing), and there's sometimes lag which also sucks. Game isn't much aesthetically either, and changing between weapons once you have a lot of them is incredibly clunky (like I'd straight-up take MM1's implementation over this, which is bad because this is a place where MM has made a lot of progress!). I do appreciate that the robot masters all definitely have their own (sometimes rather memorable) personalities, similar to MMPU. The robot who thinks he is an entire TV news team is my favourite. "Breaking news: boss attacks Beck!"
Cryo > Pyro > Avi > Dyna > Mic > Bat > Brand > Shade for how much difficulty each boss posed; I didn't bother with weakness hits. I will save that for the boss rush if it has one.
Also the most unbelievable thing about this robot sci-fi game: the two Japanese dudes are obese and all the Americans are really skinny.
Tonfa Fantasy 7
Just posting to note I am playing this, through Kalm now. I'll post actual updates in the TF7 thread though.
Final Fantasy 13
As mentioned earlier, secondary role challenge is done, took somewhere over 80 hours because yeah I ended up with way more CP (= getting into way more fights) than on a normal playthrough and then fights of course do tend to take longer on average. Anyway, final thoughts on the PCs:
Lightning: She's certainly the best Sentinel in this, and in fact has definite merits as a sentinel even compared to primaries (biggest weakness is Fringeward coming way too late; I didn't get it). As long as the attacks she is drawing can be dodged she often ends up taking very, very little, and a surprisingly high number of attacks are evadable; PCish magic attacks are the biggest exception (but enemy-only magical damage such as LASERZ usually can be dodged). She's a good Synergist too, since she's the only one who gets En- spells (double your COM damage against a weakness), and also gets Brave/Faith/Protect/Shell (the latter two take a while), and a good Saboteur, getting the Vanille set. I have mostly positive things to say about her but later on she wasn't in the party as much because there are other sources of buffs, and Sazh eclipses her and has the same Saboteur build. But she was a mainstay for much of the middle parts of the challenge.
Snow: Is a similar Synergist to Lightning (though he gets Brave/Faith late instead) but lacks the En- spells. He gets Haste but it's really late. As a medic his fast casting speed is nice, but his Curasa is really backended and since I wanted other things. His unique thing is his Saboteur line, which has the Fang set of spells (Slow, Daze, Pain, Fog). Pain/Fog are occasionally really, really useful against key enemies who are vulnerable, Slow/Daze are generically terrific against things vulnerable. Snow has a lot of cool stuff, just a lot of it takes a while to get to. His main issue is that very little of his set helps offence (nothing at all until he gets Brave/Faith late) and FF13 often rewards more offence, but if I wanted to dig in, chances are Snow would have a spot on the team.
Sazh: Sazh is light Lightning; their Saboteur progression is near identical (Sazh improves late with Dispel and then Pain/Fog instead of Deprotega/Deshellga, though I don't get Pain/Fog in time). He also has Sentinel, though he's worse at it. Honestly, there's little reason to use Sazh over Lightning for much of the challenge, since her SEN (once she gets it) is often more useful than his MED. But... this changes late, because Sazh gets Curasa, which is extremely powerful at healing, especially late when your HP is over 4000. It just makes a ridiculous difference for keeping up with enemy offence. After getting that, Sazh went from my least-used PC to possibly my most-used, certainly in any fights that couldn't be ended quickly.
Fang: Okay Fang may well be the most-used still, I dunno. Her Synergist is extremely good, but different: she gets a very powerful set of buffs (Veil, the -ra spells for offence and defence, Haste) but they mostly have short durations, so the more you want to use the more you have to spend a LOT of time reapplying them. Sometimes it's worth it, though. Always interesting decisions about which to use for sure. Aside from that she's the only Ravager which often means amazing things for long-term offence, and is a shitty Medic, though early on the differences between the Medics aren't as potent. Still, Haste/-ra buffs/Ravager gave her a spot on the team most of the time.
Vanille: The last two PCs were ultimately similar. Commando! Commandos mean way more damage and you often don't want to go without one (though there were times when I did). But neither PC's other secondary roles are that great. Vanille's are the better, for sure. She gets the Bar- spells on Synergist, which are sitationally great, as well as Veil, and late there's Protectra but I didn't get too much out of this. She also has a kinda tolerable Sentinel since Mediguard exists without too much investment. But usually she spent most of her time in Commando. She has less magic than Hope so for a while she felt like th eweaker choice for this, but then she gets Adrenaline which tilts things her way at high HP.
Hope: See Vanille. Hope's non-Commando secondary roles are mostly useless... but in his defence a lot of value can be found in the gap between mostly useless and entirely useless. Hope's Sentinel is rather trashy; it's similar to Lightning but his base HP is lower and it takes five tiers of the crystarium to actually get Elude, which is essential (Lightning gets it in three). I didn't make this investment. His Saboteur includes the MT spells which are trash... and Dispel. Dispel is only rarely useful but when it is (Dahaka is the biggest) it is great. So that's something. Hope/Vanille basically play the same role and which I choose is often based on which one's non-damage actually can find some use. I never use both, even though two Commandos would sometimes be tempting for damage, because the skillset is just too narrow; more offence can always be achieved with Commando/Fang/(Sazh or Lightning).
Teams I definitely got use out of at some point:
Fang/Lightning/Hope
Fang/Lightning/Vanille
Fang/Snow/Hope
Fang/Snow/Vanille
Snow/Lightning/Vanille
Fang/Sazh/Vanille
Fang/Sazh/Hope
Snow/Sazh/Vanille
Lightning/Sazh/Vanille
Fang/Lightning/Snow
Probably more. That is definitely one of the cool things about this challenge, the team variety. I really do wish you could save paradigm sets between teams, though; it's a significant oversight and would not have cost much memory space. It seems like the type of thing 13-2 might have fixed, except that 13-2 got rid of the idea of different teams. :(
Well, that was a lot of fun! Although next time I play this game I will definitely do something less stressful. <_<
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There's 2 issues with the "Attack while the tail is up!" thing.
1. It has an explanation point, suggesting it's the end the statement.
2. ATB system, people see that and with full gauges, attack immediately, without letting the game finish.
So the exclamation point is misleading, and the way the ATB is structured, very easy to just "OK I"LL ATTACK NOW!" And unlike the prior 3 (Mist Dragon, Wing Raptor and Whelk), it's not a blatantly defensive stance. Also the way FF7 is structured in ATB, easier to have full gauges and just go all out(which is the mistake many have from my understanding) between statements. FF4 and FF5, you tend to not have that opportunity, and the warning is more obvious, while FF6 tells you before the fight actually begins.
So it's not wrong, just poorly presented. An "If you" at the beginning or "..." instead of an "!"may have avoided some problems, even cutting off the line at a different time.
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"Don't attack while the tail is up!"
"It'll counter with its laser!"
It literally just needs ONE word to be added to fix the issue.
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Final Fantasy VII: Like ThatMasterLemon, I'm replaying FF7. Like ThatMasterLemon, I'm escorting Aerith home. Like ThatMasterLemon, I can't wait for Sephiroth to kill her.
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Well, that answers my question. I'm guessing they forgot to put in the "Don't" when Cloud made that statement. The greater mystery is why wasn't it fixed in the PC version? Were they unable to alter the text which appears during battles?
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I think battle text is placed differently than the rest of the script, as it's part of the battle script and not the game script.
Really though, the PC version probably wouldn't have caught that anyway, since most of the re-translation was just grammatical/spell check errors. "This guy are sick" would probably be caught by a grammar check, for example, since it has a pronounce/verb conflict, or "beacause" because it's just spelled wrong. Something like "Attack while the tail is up! It'll counter attack with lasers!" has absolutely nothing wrong from a mechanical standpoint; it's spelled properly and grammatically it makes sense, so a quick run down of correcting typoes wouldn't catch that.
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PC version is probably a joke. In the original release I would just put it down to, in Japanese it is one text box probably. In a raw translation on a page it read okay as is (to the level that FF7 localization was done). 0 cares given after that.
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Grande Blue Fantasy-
Done upgrading the Baha Dagger thanks to consecutive successful run of Baha HL dark pot raid.
I can go back to grind for Grande mats now.
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Ff12: my god will this lighthouse ever end? I'm playing on izjs with fast forward and refuse to believe anyone had the patience for this without it.
Bravely second: it's great once you accept the memes. Catmancer <3
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The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds: At Lorule Field (I hate the name too). This is slowly becoming my favourite Zelda game. The wall gimmick sounds cheap, but it adds a lot of depth to the puzzles in the dungeons. I've just finished the Octoball Derby minigame right now. A lot of players find it frustrating, but I was able to finish in my first couple of tries.
Speaking of minigames, Hyrule Hotfoot can die slowly and painfully.
Final Fantasy VII: Climbed the "shiny golden wire of hope" to Shinra HQ. An aspect I've noticed when replaying the game is that Cloud never really says "not interested" outside of dialogue options. The only time when Cloud actually says "not interested" is when he remembers his mother telling him that he should settle down with a girlfriend. Clearly the expanded universe was what tried to turn it into a catchphrase.
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Ff12: my god will this lighthouse ever end? I'm playing on izjs with fast forward and refuse to believe anyone had the patience for this without it.
My recollection is at least a solid two hours for the Pharos. I did kind of like the aesthetics of the place, but nothing was saving the game from dungeon-crawl overkill by that point.
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Ff12: my god will this lighthouse ever end? I'm playing on izjs with fast forward and refuse to believe anyone had the patience for this without it.
I enjoyed it just fine...
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I did too, but I was probably overleveled for it. Since FF12 has so much out-of-depth extra stuff available, you can definitely hit the push and pull of 'wipe to single enemy multiple times' and 'Icameheretocastberserkandchewgum'
Relatedly: I am not big into mods, but if the internaitonal addition still has some of the extremely dumb FAQ-bait design things - walling critical spells and gear behind performing arbitrary tasks X times, and of course the most perplexingly bad decision in the history of obscure loot - I'd be all for correcting those mistakes.
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I did too, but I was probably overleveled for it. Since FF12 has so much out-of-depth extra stuff available, you can definitely hit the push and pull of 'wipe to single enemy multiple times' and 'Icameheretocastberserkandchewgum'
Relatedly: I am not big into mods, but if the internaitonal addition still has some of the extremely dumb FAQ-bait design things - walling critical spells and gear behind performing arbitrary tasks X times, and of course the most perplexingly bad decision in the history of obscure loot - I'd be all for correcting those mistakes.
I'm not sure about all these things, but I do know I have yet to find Haste, Disable, Esunaga, and a number of other spells. (Don't tell me where they are) One of the more irritating discoveries I made was that choosing whom to give Espers to actually mattered. (I didn't notice until endgame) I have not gone out of my way to find any hidden areas or quests; I've just done hunts when I fall behind in levels. There are also a number of technicks I have never seen, but probably would have been useful (the debuff ones in particular)
With that said, I very much prefer this version of the game to the original (I tried to play it three times, and made it ~15 hours once). I hate it when games give me multiple characters and big skill trees with no guidance for every single one, so the restricted License Boards helped me get into the game a lot more than in my previous attempts at playing the base game. It's a little weird they didn't make this optional like in FFX International, though.
I will be honest, apart from the length I would say the previous (Crystal) dungeon was far worse than Pharos. A big source of my frustration is just that the game has been so lengthy and every single area is huge. I would have been quite satisfied if the game had ended at Draklar Labs with just a final confrontation with the big bads after that. While I have a better opinion of the game than I used to, I would still say it's in the bottom 5 of the series for me, and tedium is a big part of this.
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I was gonna say. The Crystal dungeon is the worst in the game as far as I'm concerned. I'm basically done with nearly featureless mazes. Fun fact: you only scratched the surface! There's actually a whole depths area of the Crystal in the aftergame. screw that. Pharos is long but would be a fine dungeon if it didn't come after, like, 15 hours of solid dungeon crawling.
FF12: A great 30 hour game trapped in a 60 hour game. (I'm not holding the aftergame & exploratory stuff against it, that would be fine since it's optional for people who really love the combat, but either don't have all the dungeons in the last third of the game so underwritten, or just port some of those dungeons into the aftergame too.)
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FF7 talk: Also, re the FF7 talk from Lemon/DirtyBrit: Surprised at the Aeris hate. I was one of those eye-rollers at the time being all "big deal, drama in video games, she's not THAT super special, getoverit", but dang if she hasn't aged well in comparison to the competition lately. There's *way* too much anime bullshit in yon average video game relationship these days (well, the kind in JRPGs at least) that generally subscribes to two people who get forced together and have nervous conversations and slowly work their way up to maybe talk about their Feelings. To be sure, this is actually fine, but not as the only thing. Aeris comes off more as actual people might - looking for a date on the rebound and basically asking straight up, but not implying that she's massively fallen head over heels in love at first sight. You know, maybe more an exploratory relationship here, we'll see where it goes, if Cloud is even interested, which he doesn't have to be. This is anathema to the above kind of relationship, where by the time a couple can admit they might be a couple and ask one or the other out, it's only for a declaration of eternal everlasting love. Additionally, while technically Advent Children ruins this, she doesn't immediately pop back up as a ghost or whatever, and they don't kill her 2 seconds from the end, so you have some time to stew on the death.
Also, super super belated response to Elf on FF13: Yeah, if Orphan 2 was a boss in Chapter 4 or the like and scaled appropriately, I can see people getting walled by it. It is a bit of a puzzle boss. However, it is a puzzle that you should have solved many many times already: stagger this dude, and attack while its defenses are down! That is ~80% of bosses in the game. It is a locked door but you should have already constructed the key for it. If you simply have Relentless Assault - 2x RAV + COM - and spam auto combos, I wouldn't be surprised if that wins the fight. I still think it's crazy weird people apparently lost to it in non-challenge runs.
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Relatedly: I am not big into mods, but if the internaitonal addition still has some of the extremely dumb FAQ-bait design things - walling critical spells and gear behind performing arbitrary tasks X times, and of course the most perplexingly bad decision in the history of obscure loot - I'd be all for correcting those mistakes.
All of that is gone in IZJS, by the way.
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Trails of Cold Steel
Dear diary. After a rough day of getting knocked unconscious twice, then breaking up a fracas in the market over permits, I was recruited to be a shopkeep briefly. There, I sold wine & cheese, and cabbage. After we were finished, I was complimented, but then I went back to inspect the goods at the market I'd just sold from. There was no wine for sale, nor cheese, nor cabbage. What... what was I doing? Did those customers actually get any wine, cheese, or, cabbage? Am I going crazy? Am I still concussed from my injury either? Was this a really strange walking dream? I'm not sure anymore.
(Combat report: You know those action games where when you first run into a random enemy, they kick your ass, but by the third or fourth time you're good? CS Hard recreates that feeling, albeit cheating slightly thanks to bigger numbers helping that out. I got wrecked by Poms at the Old Schoolhouse, installed by law at all Trails boarding schools, before getting better at 'em. Schoolhouse boss was terrible, though. Practical Exam was mostly annoying - the boss has a spell that one-shots Elliot, and you get a BPAP bonus if nobody dies. It's slow-charging, so Elliot can just wander outside the damage area if he has an intervening turn, but if he doesn't, welp. Exciting times doing that fight four times until I got lucky. For Celdic randoms, I wonder if I'm in stay-at-inn-after-every-battle hell at first after I ram into, unknowingly, about the most badass possible enemy formation - 4 dragon flys, an Acerbic Tomato, and maybe something crappy. The dragon flies have horrible, evil, 400-500 point area damage smashes into my whole party that also poison me when I start out with 900-1200 HP, and the Tomatoes can confuse you, like, say, Laura. Yeah, if you get ambushed you are likely dead without seeing a single turn. Even after a retry where I noticed hey, Larua has an S-Craft, it was still a tough fight. Nice job selling the fact that Laura is more experienced without just amping her level like crazy, though. Later encounters were more reasonable, and I eventually didn't need the S-Craft crutch - gaining that extra level on Rean & Elliot, plus slapping an HP 1 quartz on Elliot, did magic for my survivability. Gaining a level also moved Alisa from "nearly one-shotting Dragonflies" to "actually one-shotting Dragonflies" with Heatwave, and that was hugely helpful too. Dinosaur got wrecked, and the lamp replacement skipped the battle for whatever odd reason.)
(Story report: Alisa continues to fail. Rean happens to be a practitioner of the ultimate Japanese swordstyle here in !Germany, sure, whatever dude. Wonder if it's the same as Anelace/Cassius. The students are doing blatantly bracer tasks and I haven't seen a bracer guild around, which is a little weird, as Sky definitely said Bracers are pretty much everywhere. Absolutely nobody has talked about the Chancellor yet, and even said that only the Emperor was the ultimate authority if they wanted to pick a fight with Duke Albarea. wut, surely the Chancellor could handle it too.)
(Rant report: Is there literally any point in buying Elliot staff upgrades? His attack scales off ATS I presume, but the equipment solely buffs Str, sooooo unless you get the U-Material upgraded version, not seeing the point. Also he was SPECIFICALLY INSTRUCTED to go test his fancy new orbal staff, so throwing it in the garbage to buy a replacement would obviously be silly. ah video game logic.)
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Honestly, I thought Pharos was fine in FF12. Long, sure, but it is functionally the final dungeon (The REAL final dungeon barely qualifies as a dungeon, so...), and it works for a final crawl.
The Crystal is annoying though, yes, because let's remove your BASIC NAVIGATION TOOL!!! You really need an FAQ just to navigate the damn thing.
FE Birthright: I'm going to assume you're not really suppose to fight Xander but get past him, but I killed him anyway. Basically, Chapter 12 is completed. I can only assume that maybe a strategy of like "bee-line to exit by shoving Corrin on a flying unit" would have been faster but no EXPs.
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(Rant report: Is there literally any point in buying Elliot staff upgrades? His attack scales off ATS I presume, but the equipment solely buffs Str, sooooo unless you get the U-Material upgraded version, not seeing the point. Also he was SPECIFICALLY INSTRUCTED to go test his fancy new orbal staff, so throwing it in the garbage to buy a replacement would obviously be silly. ah video game logic.)
I could swear his regular weapon attack scales off Str, not Int. Otherwise, Elliot and Emma would've been doing far and away the highest regular attack damage in CS2 for me.
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Relatedly: I am not big into mods, but if the internaitonal addition still has some of the extremely dumb FAQ-bait design things - walling critical spells and gear behind performing arbitrary tasks X times, and of course the most perplexingly bad decision in the history of obscure loot - I'd be all for correcting those mistakes.
All of that is gone in IZJS, by the way.
Shut up and take my money
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(Story report: Alisa continues to fail. Rean happens to be a practitioner of the ultimate Japanese swordstyle here in !Germany, sure, whatever dude. Wonder if it's the same as Anelace/Cassius. The students are doing blatantly bracer tasks and I haven't seen a bracer guild around, which is a little weird, as Sky definitely said Bracers are pretty much everywhere. Absolutely nobody has talked about the Chancellor yet, and even said that only the Emperor was the ultimate authority if they wanted to pick a fight with Duke Albarea. wut, surely the Chancellor could handle it too.)
The Bracer Guild thing is a story point to say the least.
And yeah, Eight Leaves is the sword school Cassius and Anelace belong to. The Sky games left it as hachiyou ittou-ryuu as I recall, which makes it easier to miss, but yeah, anyone in Trails using an obviously Japanese blade is doing that as a rule.
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Trails of Cold Steel
This morning, everybody else was being reasonable. And by "reasonable" I mean "cowards." We have a train to catch tonight, sure, but how hard can investigating a robbery be? A few hours at most to track it down. Instructor Sara has given us the freedom to pursue our own initiatives, so it's on. Luckily, my natural leadership skills easily convince the others. The fact that we're armed with state-of-the-art ARCUSes so that we can pretty much wreck random civilian robbers should it come to blows probably helps steady my compatriot's courage. And if they actually can fight back, hey, Laura, we'll be riiiiight behind you.
Of course, while Laura... uh, we... wreck the thieves well enough, there has to be an unpleasant surprise out to make me sleep in the dirt. Repeatedly. Mostly just me, although Laura once too. I guess this was on me, so fair enough. That was pretty brazen of the (real bad guys) at the end though... like, if they were gonna shoot us, fine, but don't practically announce your evil plan then leave us alive. Ah well. Luckily my compatriots also snarked at this idiocy, so I'm in good company. Then we got Deus Ex Machina saved, but the narrative acknowledged that too and said something was up and the timing was way too convenient, so I'll take it, whoever this guardian angel looking over our shoulder is.
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C1 boss was actually pretty awesome. The first fight lures out Laura's S-Craft, so I'm not set to insta-gib the fairly badass support the real boss brings. The actual boss is super-huge and gets stuck on his support, which is some of the good news, I guess, although it becomes annoying later when his big body is literally blocking the way to go revive Rean's corpse and the like. Anyway, actual boss has very badass 2HKO area damage on his physical (spread out!), full MT 4HKO w/ Seal (luckily, I block Seal on the two characters I care about for this, so who cares), and OHKO-anyone-even-with-defense-buffs to try to stop too much stally stratz. Healing a lot and waiting for S-Crafts was still solid, although attempting to apply Burn was also good, since the percentage health damage is pretty huge for a boss, like 2000 a tick. Had to use some revival items after Alisa ran out of EP, but eh, that's what they're there for.
This is a silly and minor nitpick, but is a setting adjustment, Falcom clearly wanted things to be a bit more modern so sure we have a freaking COMPUTER LAB at school. Oh well, I'll forgive it, for all that this doesn't fit with Trails in the Sky where that kinda stuff was reserved for Zemurians, Ouroborous, and the Russel family. Also, similar to Trails in the Sky SC C8, I like that the academic question on what exactly the super-powerful orbal tech for military use is - yeah, it's communications. Deadliest weapon a soldier has is a radio, after all. (Or, nowadays, a cell phone.)
As another random thought, Class VII is supposed to be a bit special because it's integrated across class lines. But tons of other stuff seems integrated too...? Like, sure, there's separate classes and people being snooty, but said classes mix all the time and have unified clubs and extracurricular activities and other such stuff. So Class VII isn't THAT shocking.
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Sopko: Yeah, I dunno. Guess I'll find out soon enough, FOR SCIENCE. I guess Elliot's staff damage is more relevant than I'd expect thanks to ARCUS links.
CK: So it seems indeed. Well glad Our Heroes recognize that they're being given Bracer tasks, at least. I see that the story finally remembered to introduce Chancellor Osbourne for people who didn't play Sky. Bit o' slow-rolling there.
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Also, super super belated response to Elf on FF13: Yeah, if Orphan 2 was a boss in Chapter 4 or the like and scaled appropriately, I can see people getting walled by it. It is a bit of a puzzle boss. However, it is a puzzle that you should have solved many many times already: stagger this dude, and attack while its defenses are down! That is ~80% of bosses in the game. It is a locked door but you should have already constructed the key for it. If you simply have Relentless Assault - 2x RAV + COM - and spam auto combos, I wouldn't be surprised if that wins the fight. I still think it's crazy weird people apparently lost to it in non-challenge runs.
No other boss in the game requires you to stagger it that quickly; only the eidolons even come close (and they're different in a few ways). It's less of a puzzle you've already solved and more of a final exam for that particular style of fight. Come in with the wrong paradigms and you're losing for sure (good thing you can set those after a reset!), you really really want Haste, etc. Even with a very chain-heavy paradigm (such as COM/RAV/RAV or SAB/RAV/RAV or my SAB/SAB/RAV), the margin for error is relatively small. As I said I strongly suspect you don't realise how small it is; you probably staggered him with a few seconds left and didn't know it. This is like throwing a strike on your first bowling shot and going "man it's crazy weird people have trouble with this".
Mighty No. 9
Beaten. Final boss took me a lot of tries and the second form was just crazy until I figured out its weakness. Endgame was fun enough despite having only two proper stages (and one variant pseudo-stealth one with a second PC).
It isn't one of the better MM games (though nor is it one of the bad ones; easily better than MM6/7/X3/X5/etc. IMO), but it's still reasonably fun. Decent enough array of weapons, a good set of boss fights, some neat mechanics ideas. Its downsides are the bad graphics/music/VA, occasional lag and stupid load times. Stage design is mixed rather than outright good like it often is for MMs, but so it goes. It won't be one of my all-time favourites, but it is a shame that this game was the victim of massive pre-judging for stupid reasons which prove that gaming culture is a cesspool.
6/10
Otherwise I am playing Tonfa Fantasy 7 and Fire Emblem Heroes, but will detail notes about those in their respective threads.
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I think battle text is placed differently than the rest of the script, as it's part of the battle script and not the game script.
Really though, the PC version probably wouldn't have caught that anyway, since most of the re-translation was just grammatical/spell check errors. "This guy are sick" would probably be caught by a grammar check, for example, since it has a pronounce/verb conflict, or "beacause" because it's just spelled wrong. Something like "Attack while the tail is up! It'll counter attack with lasers!" has absolutely nothing wrong from a mechanical standpoint; it's spelled properly and grammatically it makes sense, so a quick run down of correcting typoes wouldn't catch that.
That seem plausible. I doubt those altering the SPAG with the PC FF7 would've been aware that the one line Cloud has when fighting the Guard Scorpion had become quite amongst the crowd who play the game.
Speaking of oddities with the PC version, I've just gotten Yuffie in the game and the screen you're in when you recruit her was playing "Chasing the Black-Caped Man" instead of "Descendant Of Shinobi". It was weird, it was fading into the latter but suddenly went to the former. Then again, I'm aware that this screen is what allow players to perform that "Yuffie Warp" glitch which can be useful for speedruns.
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I'm going through the mobile Dragon Quests with extra challenge rules, because now that I'm used to the control scheme mobile has been ridiculously practical. In fact I don't even use computers anymore.
I went through DQ2 and 3 without the main hero. This forces a very pleasant mage-heavy playstyle. The removal of one party member really hurts, but DQ mages have more tricks than you'd expect. Boy did I struggle against the final bosses though.
The DQ3 port is pretty gorgeous, all other DQs on mobile look like trash in coparison.
I'm now going through DQ4 with a Torneko/Meena/Maya/Borya team. Maya owns, MVP forever, she's a total revelation, and Meena has been essential with Midheal and very useful with Sleep. Torneko is the most worthless tank ever and Borya has been very unimpressive (only one kind of attack spell so he's easily walled, Maya does way more damage usually, he gets his main trick Oomph relatively late and it's not very useful in this team, he has a level disadvantage and his durability blows)
Meena is the #2 best tank in this team and it's a tragedy
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Remake Meena is actually okay, so none of that is too surprising; I would be interested in how you'd feel about her on NES (where she'd still be your only healer but she'd be fragile as hell). Borya's main use strikes me as Acceleratle which is great against bosses as insurance (that + Oomph is pretty much why he's recommended for the main party normally), but yeah Maya certainly does more damage.
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I played Nes DQ4 a long time ago but don't particularly remember the game balance that well.
Still, her durability isn't really awesome or anything in the remake.
Accelerate is not very good with my current team because
1) Meena is not too slow
2) It is better to maximize damage than minimize risk, considering that risk is already very very high and Accelerate would only have a minor effect on it. Both Oomph and Sap take priority over Accelerate
3) Oomph Torneko / Sap boss also means Torneko heals more with the miracle sword. This was actually vital against Estark because Meena could not possibly afford to heal all 4 party members with her ST Healing.
Jesus, when do I get the sagestone.
Borya is very weak against randoms and his main use is buffing Torneko of all people against bosses. :(
He DOES make Torneko awesome. When Torneko isn't dancing / doing nothing / etc
Honestly you haven't lived until you've tried beating Baalzak and Estark with Torneko / Meena / Maya / Borya. I feel like I've barely won each of these battles.. I still haven't needed to do any levelling, though it took me several tries to get to the Zenithian Armor in That Cave. Encountering skeletons = Game over until Maya got Boom.
Leon was tough too, but since Sophia is forced for this fight I could remove Torneko and have a slightly better time.
I have literally finished each of those fights with Borya dead and he is lagging behind even more now.
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Nevermind, Meena is the slowest. Huh. I think I gave her the mercury bandana
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From Young Zenny, DW4 NES:
Max HP: (Average = 256)
1. Ragnar 441
2. Alena 360
3. Solofia 270
4. Cristo 218
5. Taloon 215
6. Brey 174
7. Mara 149
8. Nara 124
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It's coo, I don't remember NES that well either. (I certainly didn't realize just how uber the two-attack weapon was for Alena, for example.) also noooo don't be eaten by mobile gaming. (Would be curious to hear what you think of Adventures of Mana if you keep at it, though. I played the Vita version and the bosses were reasonably fun fights; not really sure how that'd translate to the mobile version, where I presume control would suddenly get a lot less precise!)
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Oh yeah ok
I have to respect a game with such a big HP spread. Though it's really sad that Torneko didn't even have average HP
It's okay I've also been playing SMT Apocalypse, no fusion hard mode
It is like SMT4 without the huge pacing issues, but with added anime to appease the Persona fans. There's a scene where the girls change clothes and you can peep, for example.
The Persona elements drive me nuts but the appeal of the super refined SMT gameplay is high enough that I like it a lot overall. It's also still the best looking 3ds game.
The anime isn't much of a problem at the beginning, but it starts becoming one as you get more party members. The story itself is very intriguing, it's just the banter between NPCs that's annoying as hell
YHVH is often mentioned and will likely play a big role. This game is voice acted and uses a weird scratch sound everytime someone mentions YHVH so you can't hear its name. I just sold the game to Grefter.
I have read that there are two endings: either you go full friendship is magic love everybody or you go full edgelord ultra metal let's kill god. I'll go with the second option, and have been a dick to all my friends for no reason.
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Have I mentioned lately that you are the highlight of my mornings Fen?
Also let's be real, even if you didn't want to go full grindcore speed metal ending, Yattaf would be being dick to all her anime friends anyway.
I do like the name of god being incomprehensible. I would prefer the sound file from NBA Jam a Tournament Edition when you use a special team and they had a generic filler name in the VA of just a dude going YOOOOIIiIP, but a record scratch works as well.
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Final Fantasy VII: Got Yuffie. Damn was she a pain to find. Speaking of pains, is it just me, or are Chocobos annoying to catch in this game? On a more positive note, damn is that Nibelheim flashback fun to watch when replaying the game. There are so many different aspects you notice after knowing the truth of the incident.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds: Done the Dark Palace. I was a little worried when a stealth mission was involved to get there due to how dreadful the one at the start of Wind Waker was, but the wall merging ability manages to allow the section flow quite quickly. A plot point in the game I failed to mention was that Yuga is the one to hijack Ganon as opposed to the other way round like with most Big Bad Wannabes in most Zelda games. There is something oddly soothing about this.
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DMC4: Picked this up again after a couple weeks. I know I'm a little rusty, but holy shit Credo you are a cheap dickhead. I actually had to break down and buy a healing item here. And then fights with 3x jetpack knights. This is really swingy, either I blitz them in like ten seconds or I can't touch them at all and get shredded by charging attacks. I think the secret is Demon Suplex.
I think I'm getting close to the Nero -> Dante handover? I just beat up I. Ron Butterfly.
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You have like one mission left before Dante mode. What difficulty are you playing on, btw?
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I'm going through the mobile Dragon Quests with extra challenge rules, because now that I'm used to the control scheme mobile has been ridiculously practical. In fact I don't even use computers anymore.
I went through DQ2 and 3 without the main hero. This forces a very pleasant mage-heavy playstyle. The removal of one party member really hurts, but DQ mages have more tricks than you'd expect. Boy did I struggle against the final bosses though.
The DQ3 port is pretty gorgeous, all other DQs on mobile look like trash in coparison.
I'm now going through DQ4 with a Torneko/Meena/Maya/Borya team. Maya owns, MVP forever, she's a total revelation, and Meena has been essential with Midheal and very useful with Sleep. Torneko is the most worthless tank ever and Borya has been very unimpressive (only one kind of attack spell so he's easily walled, Maya does way more damage usually, he gets his main trick Oomph relatively late and it's not very useful in this team, he has a level disadvantage and his durability blows)
Meena is the #2 best tank in this team and it's a tragedy
Ooof that team is so bad on durability, Psaro is not going to be easy. You can itemcast the sword of decimation (+110 attack, cursed) for Sap. You can use the Zenthian sword to dispel Bounce in the final form at least! Your offense is going to be garbage too as Psaro tends to resist elements. No Kabuff really hurts as well. DQ bosses have competent physicals and your team is awful at taking hits. Taloon has HP but bad defense due to low speed (Needs Liquid Metal Armor real bad); Meena has the same problem.
E: Torneko........... yeah. He's a fusion of the Merchant/Goof-Off from DQ4, he's not meant to be anything other than a joke character. He's closer to Cristo than Solo in STR which is just pathetic.
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You have like one mission left before Dante mode. What difficulty are you playing on, btw?
I forget what the game calls it, but it's the default one I.E., the one just above the Obviously Easy setting, so presumably this game's version of Normal. I am really bad at these games, but I'm also stubborn.
I play every game on Normal the first time through unless it's Gust or Touhou.
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I forget what the game calls it, but it's the default one I.E., the one just above the Obviously Easy setting, so presumably this game's version of Normal. I am really bad at these games, but I'm also stubborn.
I play every game on Normal the first time through unless it's Gust or Touhou.
I'm the same way, but it's not quite so satisfying in DMC4. You may have noticed anyway, but every time you die against a boss, it gets weaker on the replay. Not 100% sure this applies to the first death, but it definitely happens by two deaths. So if you're bad-but-stubborn, it'll basically force-downgrade you to EZ mode. You can get around this by replaying the whole mission again, but meh.
I know it definitely happened to me for a few bosses was "Round 1: Get rekt." "Round 2: I think I got this guy's pattern, but I still lost." "Round 3/4: Okay now I definitely have his pattern but all his numbers are now horrible so it's a one-sided slaughter and I don't know if this would have been good enough for the boss non-nerfed."
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I started with DMC1 so I played on whatever difficulty was recommended for such people (I think it's the highest available without an existing file?) and whatever it's still significantly easier than DMC1.
I'm okay with bosses getting easier upon your death (as in KIU for instance, which works because the game really rewards you for not dying as far as rewards go) though yeah it's really unsatisfying if the dropoff is dramatic.
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Yeah, and that was a mild turnoff to me from trying to finish KIU at higher intensities, too! For games like Ys Origin/Oath, you press the "replay" button and you're good to go, and have a save point right outside the boss room anyway. Lets you practice on the boss easily with 10 deaths in a row before you figure it out well enough to win, and it's glorious. If you want a "temporarily reduce difficulty, I give up and just want to get past this annoying fight" button, great, but pls don't press that button for me.
Then again, I guess there's classic NES games which totally do send you back to the start of the stage upon death, scrub, and I'm not against them. But eh.
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Yeah, it's different design philosophies when it comes to bosses. Some games are fine with letting you practice the boss over and over again, some aren't, and I certainly think both types have their place. DMC1-3 all had finite lives for you to play with before you restart the level, anyway (at least on the difficulty I played; I know DMC3 had gold orb EZ mode)... I forget if DMC4 did or not. For a game I rather like it's a bit of a blur.
God Hand had a take I definitely enjoyed, where the game got higher as you did better and lower as you did worse, but it the game made it a big point of personal pride to try and keep your ranking high. Since dying means you're (obviously) doing worse, bosses would quickly fall to the lowest difficulty setting if you died... although on Normal Mode, said lowest setting was still enough for them to be competent, and the more difficult ones might well take quite a few tries even then, at least for most first-time players. So it kinda blended both styles.
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Trails of Cold Steel
So... you're sticking to your story that the Old Schoolhouse having multiple levels of doom is a recent development, Principal? This isn't just hazing and you throw every class through here? Huh. That said, if you're serious and the Old Schoolhouse is vaguely related to Emperor Dreichels, why would he ask the schoolhouse be preserved? And why would it be opening up sections that are slightly harder with a new boss to test our skills against? I've thought long and hard about the issue, and the only way it makes a lick of sense would be that this really is a training ground designed to level up new badasses fast. That way, Dreichels' reincarnation could quickly regain all his combat skills as a student before going on a bloody war of conquest and unification. So, basically I am a side character in Gaius's training montage before he conquers the world. It'll do.
Anyway, people play weird pranks on me. Today I learned that giving a rose to a girl is considered romantic; who knew? Not sure if her sister was actually trying to hook us up, or just has a weird sense of humor. Practical exam wasn't so bad (although the extra credit was pretty RNG). The EXTREME extra credit was pretty bad, though. Our instructor whipped out her weapons dramatically, and this is apparently a surprise to everyone. Not me, I had a prophetic dream where I saw this when I was level 50, but still... really, class? Are we doing straight book-learning or something? Why is her weapon choice surprising? Don't you generally know if you're getting taught by a karate master, a kendo instructor, or a sniper? Presumably there's some sort of training dojo offscreen and she's been demonstrating moves and crap over these last two months. Then again, since we have 8 different styles, maybe she really is saying "eh screw it you all handle it yourselves, I'm a not even bother with training weapons." (Also, I can only assume she keeps her weapons stashed in the same pocket dimension Laura uses for her sword, as her outfit sure doesn't look like there's a lot of places to comfortably hide a big gunblade. Screw learning that trick, walking around with a sheathed sword is more stylish IMO.)
In any case, I was less than impressed with the master of the dojo flaunting that she can throwdown with her students, but whatever. Surprisingly, rather than being integrated with new party members one at a time, Sara decides to straight-up swap me into the Fail Group, so guess I get to learn how all of these losers fight at once. Checking, it seems Matthias & Jusis haven't bothered to upgrade their crappy Master Quartzes at all, which might explain their woes.
On to Baraheard next. Jusis, I realize you don't want special treatment, but do you think you can get, say, a minor loan from your dad for "school supplies"? I swear the money won't go into shotguns. It'd probably be cheaper than the fancy hotel rooms you can get for free.
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Random thought: The Celdic arc is actually kinda close to the first chapter of Trails in the Sky - criminals disrupt local economic practice, flee to nearby forest, Our Heroes investigate. On the bright side, compared to the Sky version, CS seems more cognizant that this is Pretty Bad (the Capuas are "rivals" but are supposed to be sympathetic thieves or the like who don't kill people, except their plan involves setting off explosives underground and unleashing monsters. Look the only reason you didn't have any deaths was sheer luck, and even ignoring that, disrupting people's livelihoods is not really going to make you friends here), and hell, there's even an excuse for how it was remotely possible to track down thieves in a forest (rather than a fortress or the like) - they were dragging goods via wagon, so you can't just go into trackless wilderness, but are stuck following obvious paths.
Schoolhouse 2 (well, Schoolhouse 3, but it's floor 2) boss was pretty rad. Classic way to design a three-part boss encounter, where they get *pissed* once one of them is reduced to critical health or dies. I see that CS is going to let me have a reserve slot, which is pretty handy; might make balance a little tricky, similar to how FFX bosses are brutalized by walking in with *7* Overdrives ready to go rather than merely 3, but S-Crafts are a bit fairer, so be it. It worked out pretty well; I could use Laura in the first part of the fight while I could maintain a big Strength buff and use her to help blitz down the first boss hard, while keeping the frail Alisa R (Elliot had HP 1, she didn't) in reserve. Once Laura was low on health and her one-dimensionalness too much of a liability, I could swap into Alisa for turtle mode. Killed #2 with basically only Gaius left alive, then proceeded to win the fight. It cost me ~4-5 revival balms, but I'll take it. I also lucked out a bit in having status immunity items on the right people (Elliot immuning Confuse, fighters immuning Seal), but might make future bosses a bit swingy if you don't guess their status correct. (Insert Trails SC Angel of Slaughter fight woes here, where you want to block both Instant Death and Petrify, and things get a lot dicier if you don't. Luciola a bit similar although blocking Sleep should be really, really obvious in her case at least.).
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I forget what the game calls it, but it's the default one I.E., the one just above the Obviously Easy setting, so presumably this game's version of Normal. I am really bad at these games, but I'm also stubborn.
I play every game on Normal the first time through unless it's Gust or Touhou.
I'm the same way, but it's not quite so satisfying in DMC4. You may have noticed anyway, but every time you die against a boss, it gets weaker on the replay. Not 100% sure this applies to the first death, but it definitely happens by two deaths. So if you're bad-but-stubborn, it'll basically force-downgrade you to EZ mode. You can get around this by replaying the whole mission again, but meh.
I know it definitely happened to me for a few bosses was "Round 1: Get rekt." "Round 2: I think I got this guy's pattern, but I still lost." "Round 3/4: Okay now I definitely have his pattern but all his numbers are now horrible so it's a one-sided slaughter and I don't know if this would have been good enough for the boss non-nerfed."
Yeah, it was apparent. A couple of the scoring screens have included demerits for "boss handicap." I expect crap scores anyway, but I'm not a fan of the game condescending to make things easier without asking me.
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SMT 4 Apocalypse: My save file got corrupted. I had a secondary save file, it doesn't work (I can't save) I tried deleting and redownloading the game, plus backing up the savefile and re-getting it. It didn't help.
:(
DQ4:
Hey guys did you know about Dragon Quest 4's racist enemy?
Hoodoo Gooroo:
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/c8/78/c1/c878c19d29018093eeef73628a2e40ed.jpg)
He also has a more red, harder version called Voodoo Gooroo
Yeaaaaaah I think they removed this enemy from Dragon Quest 5 onwards and that's for the best.
Anyway, Psaro? More like NECROsaro.
I beat him on the fourth try, though two times I died for Dragon Quest Reasons like Zing failing 10 turns in a row. Levels were 32-25.
He's different from the other bosses in that he's not very threatening (thanks to the Sage's stone) but the battle is very very long and any mistake is big trouble.
Finding the right person for the Sagestone was the biggest issue:
Brey can't use it because he has a lot of shit to do with Oomph, Sap, Accelerate
Meena can't use it because, after a dispel wave, it is vital to use both Sagestone and Insulatle.
Maya can't use it because she does so much damage, without any buffs / debuffs
Torneko can't use it because he might spend turns dancing at a critical moment instead. The prick.
I went with Maya first, but ran out of steam against the final form; Then I went with Brey and gave the Midheal staff to Meena.
I ended up going with Brey.
Against the first forms Meena and Maya bring enough healing that he could spend some turns not Sage Stoning and going for Oomph instead. Against the last forms, Oomph doesn't matter that much, Maya can do all the damage instead.
I'll do the postgame with that same awesome team, before moving on to 5. I'm considering doing a monster only party?
Oh yeah I also tried a Romancing SaGa 2 solo challenge.
It was a spectacular failure, let us not talk about it ever again.
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AM2R
Been playing through this on desktop when not Cold Steeling it up. It's pretty good. Difficulty curve is a little wacky. Starts off at "games for your parents" level of difficulty (okay, sure, I died on the first Alpha Metroid, but that was thanks to my controller repeatedly disconnecting and the game not auto-pausing on this), then the first Gamma Metroid utterly wrecked me, killing me once, forcing me to run away a 2nd time after being reduced to like 10 health, then finally defeating it with 4 health left and tiptoeing VERY CAREFULLY around the damage tiles on the way back to the savepoint. (Have I mentioned that I am Bad At Metroid Combat before?) The boss guarding the space jump was pretty badass too, and the boss guarding the Varia Suit killed me a few times before I figured out how I was supposed to damage him. And oh man the Varia Suit has made things way more sane (I certainly didn't have it for the first Gamma Metroid). The next wave of Metroid breeding grounds, in the area around the super missiles, was much easier, despite the spoopy mood lighting.
Kinda cool how "early" you get the Space Jump in this game, it's nice to vary up the traditional Metroid gathering order some. Anyway. Just did Research Team ship, now onto the Mining Facility, where there's a puzzle / blockage annoyingly far from the save point with the stuck driller.
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Mega Man X: I decided to play this game because I heard that many consider it an all-time great. I'm currently playing it little due to the fact that I barely have room for it on my backlog. I've just cleared the Flame Mammoth level and, yeah, the Storm Tornado is pretty damn awesome. I'd go as far as to say that it's the game's Metal Blade.
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Yeah that's not really an exaggeration.
Do try out some of the other weapons too, several others are quite good and there's at least one other I consider another real gem. One of the reasons I definitely consider the best of the SNES MMX games, at least, is how much more fun and effective its weapons are than those of the other games. (Having said that, MMX4 and MMX8 are great too.)
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Storm Tornado is op as fuck, but I've cheerfully gone through multiple stages just murdering shit with the flamethrower or the boomerang as well. MMX has really good weapon variety.
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Fenrir do a slimes only challenge in DQ6 (no don't dq6 sucks)
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It's too late I already bought it
A very good idea. I don't kno whether I should do this or DQ5 next
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I can't speak for DQ5, but I came out of DQ6 kinda regretting my time with it, wishing it was more like DQ4 or DQ8. If I really wanted job system DQ there is just so much better one in 9.
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DQ6 is like DQ7 on a much smaller scale, which says a lot about how bad DQ7 is. Even the 3DS remake didn't really address most of the issues.
On the otherhand DQ8 3DS is a nice quality of life improvement for handheld play. You think the game is easier but all the post-Dhoulmagus bosses are stronger. Empyrea, thanks for having Kafuddle hit 100% of the time on my party. I actually wiped on Rhapthorne level 39 thanks to his stronger offense and defense.
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DMC4: Popeman seemed refreshingly easy until he hit phase two and then I could barely even hit him anymore. Several deaths and one victory later, I YouTube the fight to check on whatever it was that I was obviously missing. Oh, you're supposed to uppercut the giant statue when it tries to punch you. That had not occurred to me, although I guess the most ridiculous plan being the most viable one really should've struck me first, in this game.
Onward to Dante mode now. One of Dante's costumes is smug monocle aristocrat outfit. Worth the price of entry, wearing this for the rest of the game. I immediately feel a lot more comfortable mechanically with Dante than with Nero, though I do miss the claw.
Also took time to replay a couple things recently in preparation for The Last Guardian (which I have--Christmas present--but haven't touched yet):
Ico: Was definitely worth experiencing again. I'm struck now by something I was probably less conscious of as being a key draw when I originally played this: interconnected environments that span an entire game. I find it difficult to define exactly what makes this work so well for me, but it absolutely does (hi there Symphony of the Night and Dark Souls, and this is probably even more obvious to people who've beta-tested Cidgame). Comprehension of spatial relationships is like left-brainsex or something. There's a lot to be said for making your setting one of the main characters, because then exploring from the highest peak to the neglected cellars is like engaging in a dialogue with the game. I love stepping into these forgotten corners of a world. Who built this castle? It's on a scale that probably surpasses any brick-and-mortar construction in the real world, but most of it doesn't seem to serve any practical purpose for its lone living inhabitant. All this space, all these empty rooms, and what does Queenie do with it? Apparently just sit around turning kids into wraiths and clones for body-swapping. Pathetic.
This game is so amazingly good at provoking vertigo though. The elevator shaft, fuck.
Shadow of the Colossus: It's great, everybody knows this, etc. But man, those controls. I remembered them being a bit clunky, but guys, next time I complain about Camera Souls, somebody just tell me to shut up. Doesn't matter though, SotC is an amazing experience anyway.
I was planning on climbing up to the Secret Garden again, but after checking a video to confirm exactly how much stamina that requires, I think I'm gonna pass for now. You're not getting that much grip gauge without multiple replays or chasing down all the lizards--and you're not finding all the lizards without the lizard radar and you're not getting the lizard radar without clearing time trials and etc. I actually did all that stuff when the game was new (even hard mode trials, I think), not inclined to invest the time again right now.
But the real selling point of replaying both of these games is just the suggestiveness of the scenery. Team Ico apply a really unique Bronze Age aesthetic to their games that just doesn't overlap with anything else that I can think of, and the clothes have a strong Ainu vibe going on. I'm sick to death of medieval settings, so this was refreshing to see again. Everything visually conveys a sense of great antiquity and neglect without anyone telling you much of anything about where you are. This time, I played both games on the PS3 edition; they still look great, but the HD transfer is only a small component of that effect. PS2 scenery textures generally didn't look amazing, right? They can often come across as pretty barren of detail by contemporary standards. The fact that Ico and SotC don't suffer from this despite age can be credited to good set design. SotC's forbidden zone conveys more the natural desolation of a Scottish moor than of Friday afternoon copypasta work. This place feels abandoned because it's supposed to feel like the edge of the world.
Great stuff, fun presentation of its otherworldly presences too--I love the visual effect around the Queen, I love that Dormin refers to itself as We and simultaneously speaks in both male and female voices, etc.
Dunno when I'll get to The Last Guardian--want to finish DMC4 first, and next weekend the Souls fan community is apparently trying to organize global co-op replays of DS2 which you know I'll have to participate in, so probably not for some weeks. I've heard mixed things about TLG, but after these replays, I'm at least confident that Team Ico won't let me down in the realm of audiovisual design, and you guys know I'll overlook a helluva lot for that.
Random edit: point I forgot to fit in somewhere was just that Wander can take such an absurd amount of falling damage that it makes you wonder why they bothered with any outside of the straight up dead drops.
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but guys, next time I complain about Camera Souls, somebody just tell me to shut up
Nope, because no matter how bad it is in there, Camera Souls is still fucking terrible and DS demands a lot more out of the player in terms of challenge and camera control.
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Trails of Cold Steel
Bareahard was pretty interesting. My attempt to stoke Machias - Jusis cooperation via competitiveness - look we gotta beat the other team - seems to have done okay at forging a truce. Still, weird stuff afoot, yo. What are the odds that the military base we visit has one of those annoying little kids with a flying device. And Baron Bleublanc, while of course a fine gentleman, sure seemed to know a little too much. To wildly guess: clearly our instructor, Sara, is a member of Ouroboros since she blatantly has an Ouroboros mech. The little kid with her flying mech is one too. They're both trying to undermine the noble faction, Sara by luring them into overreacting to Machias, the mysterious kid by just raiding their shit. Bleublanc is actually a brave bracer in disguise trying to keep the peace. We'll see how my intuition stacks up.
Midterms were fun. Not really sure how I did it, but I had strange memories of cram sessions with everyone, despite only having enough time for 3 of them? Almost like I was having the cram session, then moving back in time to have a different study session with someone else, while maintaining the memories of the first session. Anyway, this served me well on the test, although I miiiiight have looked up the answers from Emma's cheat sheet as a final sanity check. I think I did pretty well, as a result.
The "practical" Midterm went pear-shaped, no thanks to Instructor Valestein. But hey, our rivals in this friendly bout sucked enough that they had real trouble breaking Eliot / Machias sustain, so it was pretty easy anyway. I tried to make up with Kenneth, but he was not having it. Oddly enough, he didn't seize on what could be a perfect excuse for him losing: the fact that we were armed with prototype super ARCUS orbments. He's heard of how this kinda thing is a huge edge in battle, right? Go pull some strings and get some of your own, bro, and we can have a fair fight where we EACH have the unstoppable power of love and friendship.
I also had a bizarre Student Council request this time. Our resident Casanova was receiving mysterious letters pledging undying love to him, and he wanted me to investigate? An odd bird. Anyway, turned out the one ugly person the administration allowed on campus was the one sending the letters, causing him to nervously run off! Hilarious. Silly secret admirer, thinking that ugly people count as, well, people. Speaking of odd requests, there's apparently some super-fan of the radio program Abend Time on campus, as well. I'm a fan too, but whenever I'm paying attention, it's boring. I guess it must be good off-screen when I'm not really paying close attention... whatever that means. Weird.
Anyway, time for some horseback practice. The Riding Club is going to be sooooo jealous of this.
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Really liking ToCS so far. Chapter 2 was extremely good, interesting stuff happening, and the narrative electing to err on the side of making everyone awesome rather than lame. Mentioned this before, but Rean is definitely falling closer to the "Commander Shepard" side of main characters rather than the "SMT silent hero" side - sure, he's awesome, and people like Rean, but that's because the writers are being careful to include scenes of Rean being perceptive, noticing things, saying the right thing, etc. In other words, he isn't a silent-yet-adored protagonist, nor is he a huge-jerk-yet-adored-anyway protagonist. Cool.
While this plan is of course miles better than yon average RPG villain plan, I hope that Duke Albarea had something else in mind with C2's villain plan. Kidnapping someone, fine. Arresting someone publicly seems problematic, since now it's open knowledge that you have them, and you're inviting both the law and the military to take an interest in it. When the Black Clad soldiers showed up to take Prof. Russel in Trails FC, they didn't say "hi we're with the intelligence division, come with us" in the town square. They just kidnapped him quietly. Also, he had to have known that this would get both his sons in trouble. Remains to be seen if he's just an idiot, or was up to something else. At least, as usual, these types of things are fine as long as Our Heroes point out "hey this plan is stupid what is he thinking" too.
I really like that they didn't try and hang into Jusis vs. Machias tension forever, but instead used this as an excuse to move on to a new and different inter-party tension du jour.
On the downside... I'm pretty skeptical of our new additions to the cast. Millium looks like she's gonna be annoying. Sharon is terrible and the narrative is treating her terribly... considering that only the noble dorm had maids & butlers & such before, I thought that was a nice wedge, and one that would realistically be horrible for morale in a West Point type situation where you want everyone feeling like they're treated the same. Now Class VII gets in on this, and it's portrayed positively? Boo hiss. Elise & Alfin, ugh, not good first impressions, although I guess I was warned of this before.
Also. The music in this game is great, not that this is a huge surprise, Falcom etc. All of the battle themes are fantastic, and work pretty well with the 'pace' of the battle - I think you write slightly different for turn-based vs. real-time, and they're great at amping up the tension and making things awesome. I was pleasantly surprised with, of all things, the rainy day at the Academy before Midterms music too. Way better than the usual Academy music. It's such a small thing to let the player visit a place they've seen a lot already, except with rain and Our Hero running around with an umbrella, with rainy music in the background, but it's effective. Neat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1tI_idiwnQ&index=10&list=PLzFTGYa_evXg9ZudTxcGNs2m5X4O9nj66 -- The Glint of Cold Steel, regular battle theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnpg9Zc3_iE&index=20&list=PLzFTGYa_evXg9ZudTxcGNs2m5X4O9nj66 -- Boss theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1bNrqTXacU&index=45&list=PLzFTGYa_evXg9ZudTxcGNs2m5X4O9nj66 -- Big boss theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV_zh3Q7N14&index=30&list=PLzFTGYa_evXg9ZudTxcGNs2m5X4O9nj66 -- Rainy day
I may have to ban myself from using Impede & Arc Slash. The fact that Rean can basically lock someone down in a duel with that move says all that should be needed about its effectiveness in a teamfight situation, where everyone else can pile on the delayed enemies. I really hope that they start handing out Delay immunity like candy to the enemies... or resistance... or something.
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Yeah that's not really an exaggeration.
Do try out some of the other weapons too, several others are quite good and there's at least one other I consider another real gem. One of the reasons I definitely consider the best of the SNES MMX games, at least, is how much more fun and effective its weapons are than those of the other games. (Having said that, MMX4 and MMX8 are great too.)
I'm aware that Chameleon Sting and Homing Torpedo are pretty good too. Currently, my main weapons are Shotgun Ice and Storm Tornado. The former is rather situational for me.
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Dunno when I'll get to The Last Guardian--want to finish DMC4 first, and next weekend the Souls fan community is apparently trying to organize global co-op replays of DS2 which you know I'll have to participate in, so probably not for some weeks. I've heard mixed things about TLG, but after these replays, I'm at least confident that Team Ico won't let me down in the realm of audiovisual design, and you guys know I'll overlook a helluva lot for that.
If you're into other Team Ico stuff, I don't think the Last Guardian will let you down. It's remarkable in a lot of ways imo and has a lot of the audiovisual and environmental designs that I'm a sucker for. It does have technical issues for sure. I wasn't too bothered by framerate stuff (I rarely am) but the camera can get ridiculous and just shift to black. The kid controls crappily, not in the disempowered sense but in a "let's run into a wall for no fucking reason" sense.
I was never bothered by controlling Trico, although I did start yelling at it like it was an actual animal at times. Naturally, the game is contingent on how you feel about the relationship between the boy and Trico but I fell for it in a way I didn't expect, because I thought I knew what I was expecting and it still delivered.
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I got really into SotC and really not into Ico. Last Guardian is probably not for me right?
DQ4: My team can't handle the aftergame. Turns out Kabuff is actually a must.
DQ5 Monster Only:
Past the prologue (it's really good in retrospect) I get a slime (Gootrude) , a draky (Vlad), a funghoul (Champ) and a ticking timeburrrrm (Bomburrr).
I ditch all the humans and welcome the four monsters.
Positives: - both slime and draky can equip boomerangs
- slime has kabuff
Negatives: - none of them listen to me so far
- they all have shit stats
- they don't have healing
All is lost
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You probably need to grind for Wisdom bro.
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Use the tiger! What is the point of DQ5 without adorable kitties?
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Kitten's gone now.
I do find it cute how the wisdom stat is tied to whether monsters obey you or not. I had no idea.
Update, all 4 of my monsters can use Edged Boomerangs, i bought three and got the last one at the T'N'T board. My team decimates everything right now. Just one slime, one bat, one mushroom and one bomb, throwing boomerangs, killing everything. Australian Death Squad
Edit: I went to gamefaqs and some random guy is doing a monster only DQ5 challenge at the exact time. ??? It's not like this is an usual thing people often do
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The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds: Completed all the Lorule dungeons. All I have to do is find the remaining heart pieces and complete the final dungeon. As much as I love the game, Rosso's Ore Mine can die. It is very tedious to navigate due to the limited amount of checkpoints that are given when trying to access the Ice Ruins. Other than that, the game has been great and it hosts some of the best dungeons in the series IMO.
Final Fantasy VII: Left the Cosmo Canyon. Damn are Enemy Skills brutally overpowered at these points of the game. I would complain that the method of getting spells like White Wind and Aqualung is annoying, but Manipulate has worked surprisingly well on my end.
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DMC4: Chapter 16ish? I beat the giant ice frog, for real this time. Things continue to be much easier with Dante--I actually beat the last couple bosses on the first try (granted, they were repeats, but still). Also Pandora is exactly the flavor of ridiculous that I expected from this game.
Started replaying Anime World War 2 Valkyria Chronicles because I wasn't done gaming for the day but there's only so much frantic button-mashing I can deal with in one morning. I forgot that this game had a flying pig mascot. Did not forget pretty much anything else, it's still nearly 100% Cid-bait.
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Have you played the sequel? It is like if they took things we like and put it in a setting that Fenrir would want to launch into the sun. It is literally Anime.
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DQ4: My team can't handle the aftergame. Turns out Kabuff is actually a must.
No one on your team can take hits besides Taloon and well. You don't have Kazing either because the developers hate Nara. Kabuff is hugely important too, but no Kazing or MT healing hurts just as much. There's a reasonable argument as to take Ragnar or Brey for your fourth spot in the party in the normal game, but Alena/Cristo/Solofia are pretty much locks for the other three spots just based on competence.
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Cristo is definitely needed for Egg & Chicken because Chicken does too much damage. 2 Kabuffs make him though, and you could get by with any team members beside Cristo honestly.
Nara is better against Aamon, thanks to Insulatle. This boss would be a huge pain without her the same way Chicken & Egg would be a huge pain without Kabuff.
Multiheal is not actually very useful, because you already have a Sage's stone at this point.
I'd argue that Maya is better than Alena. Maya is better against bosses and her MP pool is large enough that she can spam OP MT stuff against randoms (especially with the gospel ring / happy hat) Not that Alena isn't great.
Sophia is unremarkable for most of the game but eventually becomes MVP.
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Have you played the sequel? It is like if they took things we like and put it in a setting that Fenrir would want to launch into the sun. It is literally Anime.
I have not played the sequel, despite owning it for years (and now I think the PSP's busted, but I guess I could get a Vita? I think backwards compatibility is a thing there?) I have heard it's pretty much just straight up anime high school drama, which is not exactly a place that I would've liked to see the series go, but I like the gameplay in VC enough that I'd be inclined to give it a go anyway.
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It is that but then more Nazis invade. It is weird as hell.
Vita backwards compatibility is limited to digital though so if you have the UMD you are out of luck.
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Alternatively, out of 10 dollars. https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-us/games/valkyria-chronicles-2/cid=UP0177-ULUS10515_00-VALKYRIA1937PSP1
Also.
AM2R
I am bad. Got rekt by a Zeta Metroid, got rekt (After long tower exploration) by crazy re-activated Tower robot. Why does Samus keep turning on the power to these creepy abandoned facilities.
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DMC4: Have I mentioned the game is much more enjoyable as Dante? Because the game is much more enjoyable as Dante. He is the campiest sunovabitch, even when no one's around to witness it. Maybe especially when no one's around to witness it. This was clearly the aspect of demonhood that Agnus was trying hardest to emulate, based on their pre-battle soliloquy duel.
I have no real idea what the actual mechanics are with the Lucifer's darts, but it's so fun to use.
VC: Something that I definitely did not forget? How shitty the Batomys battle is. Cruised through the first phase easily, but apparently did not recall exactly where Selvaria's unit spawns on the map. She immediately tears right down the center trench where my non-lancers are hanging out, OHKOs Rosie, OHKOs another trooper, then her entire squad falls on Alicia (because that's what it takes to actually kill Alicia) and permakills the fallen trooper and beelines for the tank, which by this point cannot realistically be repaired because the lone engineer is on the other side of Selvaria and would get killed by interception fire before he could move. All of this happens the first turn she's on the map. Ragequit, done for the night.
Getting violent for veggies though, that was something.
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I actually quite enjoy Nero gameplaywise but yeah Dante's campy fun is extremely welcome after Nero's bland shounen anger.
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I kinda liked how other people did their Pokémon Gen 7 things, so totally ganking that.
Pokémon Moon: Just finished the first island, and I'm torn. Been clamoring for a change to the formula for a while, but it feels like a step forward and back. It handholds you through this entire first island process, and it just feels like a super slow Star Ocean start. Maybe now that I'm done with that the training wheels will come off, and we'll see what the game has to really offer. The Red Card trainer on Route 3 was a nice preview if a lot of the coming battles are like that. Fun battle, that.
Current Team:
(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/723.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/736.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/741-p.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/732.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/088-a.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/058.png)
Rowlett is good, and Grubbin's been better than I expected. Especially since Team Skull yo has been tossing Drowzee at me yo. Will probably ditch the rest of the team eventually. Oricorio feels bad, but the typing you get handed (Electric/Flying) is too intriguing to not at least try out. Probably be the first one out if it doesn't improve/get an Electric attack soon. Grimer is something I haven't used before, Growlithe and Trumbeak along for the ride being perfectly adequate so far.
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Fwiw, Cid, a large part of why Dante has an easier time with bosses than Nero is because when you face them as Nero, it's a fresh playthrough, but Dante is going in with all the upgrades Nero accumulated throughout. You'll find the boss fights are much easier when you face them in the boss rush with Nero. That and you're a lot more use to the mechanics by the time you play as Dante too of course.
As far as Lucifer goes...as someone who has played a lot of DMC4, I still never quite got a hand of them. I know Lucifer has some crazy potential, but I just tend to stick with Rebellion and Gilgamesh myself, since typical DMC Sword and DMC Fist. Not exactly great with the DMC Gimmick weapons...which is basically just Nevan and Lucifer granted.
Make sure you give Lady/Trish campaign a chance, because it's just interesting seeing the same game played with completely different styles. Lady in particular is interesting because they managed to make a character based entirely around DMC Guns and make it work, and not make it feel like DMC2. And yes, lots of explosions; that much should go without saying.
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They were easier in boss rush than they were first time (no deaths, but narrow victories for a couple of them), but still not as easy as they were with Dante (3/4 brutally curbstomped). I guess this is fine, nobody should be more OP than Dante anyway.
Game finished. Wasn't a fan of penultimate level being puzzle o' randoms, but I knew that was coming (had seen my brother play that part years ago). Got an S-rank on it somehow, probably my only one in the game. Sure didn't rate that well vs. final boss (3x heal item + gold orb) who I struggled to chase down just as much as I did at the midway point. Also, I crashed about twenty seconds into the credits fight. Wasn't paying enough attention to the other side of the arena. Anything special happen if you hack through all of that?
Will probably try other character modes at some point, but playing something else in the interim. I took a quick look at Trish/Lady mode--looks like remaining expendable resources from Nero/Dante mode carry over?
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Yeah, everything you got as Nero/Dante goes to the other two modes, so you start off with more health and all those lovely souls to shove into skill upgrades.
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Trails of Cold Steel, C3 (+Schoolhouse C4)
While I am not a criminal, I discovered an ingenious plan should I ever be mistaken for one on the course of this field study. First, I'll fight off the cops, not bothering to claim innocence for robbing the Bank of Crossbell or whatever. If I win, I'll clearly be innocent by right of might. If I lose, I'll tell them that I was just testing them, and that I have a lead on where the Real Culprits are - they've escaped to that town in Liberl with the hot springs, and I'd be happy to escort them there. It's such a compelling, believable story. I should know, because I ran into it this Field Study. Suspicious girl who we've seen messing with army installations before is flying around the site of an attack, decides to attack us to "test" us, we beat her, and she gives us this obviously true tale, except with the Real Culprits hiding in the local Ancient Ruin. And she didn't explain who she was or how she knew this or anything, but I guess she didn't need to after such a believable story.
Anyway, afterward, turned out she was part of the Chancellor's elite loli secret spy / internal subversion team. Should have guessed. Her boss was put in charge of fixing things up with the Republic, too. General Vander thinks that because Captain Lechter is one of the Chancellor's "top men", that success is nearly assured. Seems awfully optimistic to me. After all, wasn't the General himself one of the Empire's "top men", and he didn't exactly get the job done in Liberl, no? Not to mention the many problems that people actually WANT to solve but can't, no matter how many high-performers are thrown at them. I didn't tell the General this to his face, of course. Shame I didn't get a chance to train with him, though, he's supposed to be quite the swordsman.
Speaking of training. Back at the school... and a month later... man, some of these clubs are slow at doing obvious things. Apparently Frieda, the Fencing Club captain, never actually faced off against Patrick Hyarms, new hotshot of the first years in the Fencing Club? The Club doesn't have THAT many members. He got rekt, of course, and was for some reason really surprised and torn up about this, despite that being the expected outcome. And apparently I've never faced Laura yet. What kind of training are we DOING...? Even if we aren't fighting each other outright, this is a military academy, so you'd think we'd at least be doing drills and seeing each other's practice moves together...
There's also a suspicious red door at the Old Schoolhouse now that "couldn't be made with modern technology." Rean you dingbat, although Alisa is in trouble for not contradicting him either. Everyone know that the Zeram civilization was like 1500 years ago or something. THEY might have made weird shit that we can't. 220 years ago, when this academy was made, we know plenty about, and there was no Orbal Revolution, no fanciness. Their tech is our tech but worse. You can beat that dang door!
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Yupyup, still good times. Nord Highlands were pretty great. Easy as pie, but still great. Arc Slash >>>>> everything, watch the Unscathed XP bonuses pile up.
So utterly random compliment of the day: Trails of Cold Steel is simultaneously really player-friendly about travel times, but also still letting you appreciate the actual distances involved. When you're in a town, you just press square, and can instantly scroll through a list and teleport to whatever shop you want, notable local places, street locations, and any exits to nearby field locations. It's great. But you can't teleport to other towns/dungeons. And furthermore, the game bothers to take its time in getting there, to appreciate the scale of Erebonia a bit more. If you want a field trip to feel like a very special trip out to Saskatchewan, then we're going to have plot scenes for the full 12-hour journey, complete with getting up early, taking the train to City A, transferring (and nearly running into others) and splitting up with the other group, taking a different train, transferring again, looking for snacks, running into someone else off to see a passenger, then hopping on a random freight train headed for the border, meeting with some people there, then riding horses before the sun sets to actually get to your destination before it's dark, followed by collapsing early. So many games are too nice about this kind of travel that it kills the experience of it a tad.
Also, unusually for Trails (at least compared to Sky), the game was willing to take some minor characters that you run a quest for and have a name and know exist... and actually kill them. Feels bad man. Interesting. I'm definitely cool with a slightly darker tone for an Erebonia story.
Of course there was an obligatory pervy old man with a heart of gold hiding out in the middle of nowhere. Sigh. Well anime stereotype #34 checked off, I guess. Old people talking about how hot their daughters / granddaughters are is even sketchier than it used to be thanks to one Donald Trump, though. We also have the quest to stop the pervert photographer at school... and by "stop" apparently we mean "give him a talking to where he mostly only shows remorse at getting caught." Yeah I'm gonna play my SJW card here and say to just expel him anyway, don't bother.
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Mega Man X: I'm in Sigma's fortress and I've just done the Boomer Kuwanger rematch. Since I've gotten all the weapons, I might as well waste your time and give my two cents on them.
X Buster: Good stuff. The charged shot and the fact that it's free allows it to be better than at least half of the weapons you get.
Shotgun Ice: It feels weaker than the X Buster and it's mostly situational. Said situations consist of beating Spark Mandrill and getting that one Heart Tank in Boomer Kuwanger's stage.
Storm Tornado: The damage which this weapon can do is just insane. I find it to take care of most bosses if I haven't gone and wasted it.
Fire Wave: Another weapon which I ended up using quite a bit. While it isn't as good as Storm Tornado, more control with the direction and a lack of reload are appreciated.
Electric Spark: I only ended up using this on Armored Armadillo; it's expensive and weak. A far cry from the electric weapon you got in the first Classic Mega Man game.
Rolling Shield: The ability to bounce of walls is okay, otherwise I found it to be rather weak.
Homing Torpedo: Yeah, this one is pretty awesome. Two powerful and accurate shots in a row is such good stuff. Using it to cheese Boomer Kuwanger is the best thing ever.
Boomerang Cutter: Middle of the road. Not as strong as my power three (ST, FW and HT), but can be pretty useful for grabbing those hard to reach Sub-tanks and taking care of what would otherwise be the beast of the game (Sting Chameleon).
Chameleon Sting: I got this one last so I haven't used it as much as I would have liked to. From what I've used of it though, it does pretty solid MT damage.
Oh yeah, did I mention that this OST kicks arse? Spark Mandrill and Storm Eagle's stages have my favourite tracks so far.
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Sword Art Online Memory Defrag: I know you anime snobs don't like SAO, so I'll just say fuck you preemptively.
This is a pretty neat mobile gacha game with good production values. Real-time combat where you tap and drag on the screen to do things. You can block, parry, jump, etc. Some of the controls are not that effective. Like if an enemy is holding up a shield you're supposed to run behind him and hit his back, but it's not very easy to do so. Or possibly I'm doing it wrong.
Unusual for a gacha game in that there is no stamina/timebux system. You can play as much as you want, which can be a good or bad thing. It's pretty easy to run into content that you're not ready for, but there's plenty of grinding places to build your stats. Some of the boss fights are really nice, like the ice dragon. Once you learn the attack patterns you can beat enemies that you don't have the stats for.
Also there are an overwhelming number of time limited events running concurrently. Took me a while to figure out where to start.
Anyway, nice little game, check it out if you're not Sopko.
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I'm only going to judge you if you profess genuine love for the anime.
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Some of the weapons in MMX have their worth from their charged variants. Rolling Shield is really good for Sigma Stage 1's platform climb, for example, since it completely shuts down any enemy interference. Likewise, Chameleon Sting is just really useful for avoiding damage outright (it's another defensive one, but it's totally immunity to damage for a period of time, instead of "until it hits something it can't kill in one shot", the big advantage if you ask me is avoiding Impact Damage outright.)
MMX1's weapons as a whole are pretty middle of the in terms of overall balance. So while Storm Tornado is absolutely fantastic, it's offset by Electric Spark being kind of trash. It's kind of disappointing when the weapons in the follow up two games feel far more gimmicky in comparison. MMX4 and on, they went for straight up gimmicks, but it's not as bad there since X can still use the Buster while equipping a boss weapon, so they serve to compliment the buster, not compete with it, allowing for what would be a questionable weapon like Magma Dragoon's "Pure Vertical Fire Weapon" to suddenly seem like it has a useful niche, instead of "This is only useful in ultra specific scenarios." It's an interesting design choice and did help the X series further have it's own identity compared to the classic games, which I think is something the Mega Man series does well as a whole; none of the sub-series feel like it's just "Classic Mega Man but we changed the way the main character looks!" They all have their clear focus and identities that set them apart from one another.
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The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds: Beaten the final boss. This has easily become my favourite game in the series as it takes pretty much all of ALttP's assets and makes them into something fresh, 3D Zelda take notes. I don't know if I'll play BotW, maybe I'll wait it out until the hype culture has died down. Even then, I'm not sure if I'm ready to return to the sluggish nature of 3D Zelda.
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Unlocked Mia. Unlocking her means I've now unlocked all the characters. I'm tempted to give my two cents on the cast in terms of battle prowess, but I'm not sure how many other people on the forum have played XBX so I don't know if it will be to anyone's interest.
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SMT Apocalypse: I got my save to work again.
Currently level 94 vs Vishnu
The renegade path is some Soul Nomad evil path shit. Holy craaaaap
DQ5 Monster only:
Got to gen 3. The game was really cute as a kid, but it's not very impressive right now. Choose your wife! Become king! Now your wife is kidnapped and you need to save her!
Then everybody is turned into stone and it doesn't make sense for a number of reasons.
Let me rate all the monsters I got:
- Slime: Has a boomerang. Has Kabuff. Has shit stats. I kept him around because he has a lot of good unique equipments + maybe I can make it big by doing SLIME RACES with him.
- Drake: Drake doesn't have any of the nifty things Slime has, but at least he does more damage with a boomerang. I kept him around all the time too. And he has Tick Tock, which is midly useful.
- Fungus: Jeigan! Really good stats + Boomerang, unfortunately he caps at really low levels.
- Ticking Timeburrrrrm: Jeigan mark 2. See above.
- Rotten Apple: Jeigan mark 3. No boomerang, but super high speed + super damaging physicals. And even Swoosh!
- Sabrecat: Didn't use.
- Brownie: Slow, unimpressive
- Walking corpse: Slow, unimpressive
- Slime Knight: My only healer, so an absolute must. He does pretty good damage with physicals too.
- Hulagan: I kept around to see if she was getting good. No.
- Goodybag: Interesting stats, but it doesn't ever reach 20 wisdom so it won't listen to you ever
- Orc King: Only monster with Zing. He can use it 3 times. I had it fail 3 times in a row.
- Minidemon: Seems weird but I never gave him much of a chance.
- Magic marionette: Garbage
- Drag-goof: Seems strong but I never gave him much of a chance.
- Prestidigator: Starts really bad, eventually gets Sizzle for groups + Frizzle for bosses. Main damage dealer for the last part
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SMT4A: I'm up to the final boss. Spent like 6 hours in the final dungeon.
The stakes are so high in this game that I'm fighting hordes of Metatrons in random battles.
Weird how the SMT with the highest stakes is just a spinoff. I think this game literally ends with the hero literally killing the literal judeo-christian God for good.
Hey why is Satan my pal now? Ok whatever I'm not complaining.
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Because fundamentally the Neutral path of SMT games is not so philosophically divergent from the Chaos path as they like to pretend.
Tyranny - I didn't do a post here to say I started it, just talked about it in chat places. I am 1/3 of the way through in a single 10 hour play session which has made it hard to get back to because I don't really have 10 hours to play stuff outside of weekends where I am trying to be social.
Holy shit you guys this game is good though. This isn't to compare quality or anything, but this is Pillars of Eternity's Planescape: Torment style sibling in the same way Pillars of Eternity hearkens back to Baldur's Gate and Planescape: Torment was a huge swerve away from the combat system and all about words.
This game is so wordy you guys and it is full of narrative branches in story telling that puts you through similar scenarios (so the same stuff that gets neckbeards crying about Illusion of Choice as if the presentation didn't matter). There is choices you make during character creation that effect story beats throughout the entire game essentially. The culmination of Chapter 1 you effectively pick from three different ways that you are going to go through the next 2 chapters based on factions you side with. Even within the one of those three paths I went with there is still tons of room for different flavour on why you are doing what you are doing.
It is really a master class in how you can do multiple stories without actually having to reuse assets or make whole new areas to cater for a branching path, provided you have enough layers of script and scripting in your dialogue trees.
It also does that neat thing of Pillars of Eternity of breadcrumbing checks you can't make based on things like Background to let you know there was an articulation point here, but you were locked out. It breaks the immersion technically and shows behind the curtain a little bit, but I think that helps educate the player on what is actually going on and is part of that "the dialogue is the actual gameplay here" part that Torment has as well.
Oh and the setting and magic system feel like they take a deep inspiration from Brandon Sanderson with deep overlapping themes as Mistborn. The core world concept is very much a Lord Ruleresque Overlord conquered, here is the story after. It is set in a post apocalypse where everyone is back to the Bronze Age. Iron is rare and whole chunks of the society are based around it's collection and manufacturing. The Magic system is effectively you construct spells for yourself made up of key functions you find in the world from individual parts and can buff via more complex parts. So you know, a codified set of rules. Of course the Overlord breaks all those rules and somehow getting that kind of power is the PC's main shtick. So yeah, Sanderson AF.
Not finished or anything yet, but based on the first third it gets a high recommendation if you have a stomach for a pretty bleak dark fantasy setting.
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I've just beaten the game and I really wish I thought about using the charged Rolling Shield against that damn platform climb. What I did ending doing with the charged Rolling Shield was using it to farm spare lives for Sigma, even though I didn't end up finding him too difficult.
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Hollow Knight: started playing this. thoughts later. this is just a PSA that if you like metroidvanias you should check this game out. 5 hours in, and it's 9/10 or 10/10 territory so far. thoughtful level design. controls like a dream. insanely pretty. elegant handling of health/life/special abilities. hints of an interesting plot unfolding. I have high hopes.
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It's stranger than this Gref, and doesn't really respect SMT2's continuity
Spoiler incoming, I write on a phone and a too lazy to spoilertext
In SMT2 Satan was totally Lawful evil, ultimately he was YHVH's tool to use to punish people and get them to his side. Michael and Satan have this Good Cop/Bad Cop routine?
Lucifer was a fallen angel who went against this entirely.
In this one Merkabah and Lucifer fuse to become Satan? Then you fight Satan and he takes you to YHVH? Then he goes all "oh fuck it I'll help for no reason"?
Yeah
Anyway the Apocalypse final boss was one of the best final bosses in an RPG, absolutely intense and exhausting. On paper he's not very durable, but he puts so much pressure on your team that you spend almost all your time on the defensive and have almost no time to attack.
Unfortunately I lost twice and really don't feel like trying again a third time. :(
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yo dawg i heard u like fusions so i took 2 fusions and fused them?
(SMT4 Merkabah was already a fusion of 4-5 entities, and Lucifer might possibly be a fusion of 2 entities as well, it was kinda vague - definitely one person powering up another person, at least.)
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Yes
Hey, how about
The new main antagonist from SMT Apocalypse fusing with the SMT4 protagonist to become......... Vishnu??
That's a thing too
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SMT4 is in totlly different continuity from SMT2... or should I say rest of the SMT.
The Lucifer in SMT4 is not even the same Excellency we use to know.
SMT4 Lucifer's ideology is not remotely close to what his Excellency is trying to achieve.
(And... I think this is the first SMT game ever since Majin Tensei series where Lucifer is not the same person as the Excellency).
Even Stephen is a different person too. I pretty much spit drink when he goes "I am the avatar of cosmic will."
...Wait, Fenrir, why have you not talk about male pregnancy in this game?
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I have no idea what you're talking about re: male pregnancy!
................... go on
I thought all SMT games including this one happened in the same overall universe with alternate timelines or something. Whatever they were talking about during the rad SMT Nocturne theater cutscenes.
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Supposedly, yes.
But even you consider that, it doesn't explain Majin Tensei from way back then.
Same to SMT4. There is no way you can say the Lucifer here is the same person as his Excellency.
In SMT4, Lucifer is trying to prolong the Armageddon indefinitely because he is a being dependent on the Judaeo Christian theology. Thus if YHVH dies and Judaeo Christianity ends, he dies too
But in SMT2, we see his Excellency alive and well even we have beaten YHVH to death.
More importantly, his Excellency is a completely separate entity from Satan. Not like the Lucifer here who is half of it.
And let's not even get into Stephen is the avatar of cosmic will bull crap. How is anyone going to be able to rationalize that?
Male pregnancy? You are on the genocide route right? Just pick a guy to be your consort, the guy is going to bear your children anyway.
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Trails of Cold Steel
(http://www.rpgdl.com/wiki/images/f/ff/Jusis_idiocy.png)
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Uuuuuh I picked Navarre for best bud. Is ghost pregnancy a thing?
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Pokémon Moon: Completed the second island, visited the Aether HQ, dropped off on the third island. After the first part was more of the same, the game started holding your hand less and doing more, so it's been more enjoyable. As said before, some of the regular trainer battles have been actually good, and the way they switched up the game progression from Gyms has been interesting. I want more Red Card battles though. There's only been the one, and all the other Route Masters (I guess we'll call the ones you can only fight after beating everyone else on a Route that?) haven't been as good as it.
My First Plot is amusing, but they're telegraphing the story beats pretty hard. Lookin at you, Lusamine. Oh well.
Current team:
(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/724.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/733.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/737.png)(http://www.serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/088-a.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/757.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/769.png)
Oricorio ended up being key to winning the Fire Totem, since Air Cutter hit both it and its support. Still, mostly unimpressive and I had two Flying already. It got booted when I found an Oranguru, whose design still amuses me. It also proved pretty underwhelming, so I kicked it for Sandcastlemon, which should last due to Ground. Grass Starter switching to Ghost in final form means some overlap, but oh well. I might actually keep Grimer-A on my team, since it's proven pretty tanky and useful. Tossed Growlithe for Salandit cause New Pokes, will probably also stay for a while. Poison's kinda come into its own in this game, I feel. Charjabug remains solid, good for Water AND Grass Trial, but haven't needed to break it out in a bit. Toucannon is now only Flying, but Flying isn't necessary anymore with Rides. Will probably be the next shuffled out.
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DQ5 monsters only: I'm well into Gen 3 now, just beat the queen
My team changed to : Golem, Slime Knight, Mini Demon, Slime
Golem is an unkillable force of nature
Slime Knight heals
Mini Demon is a mage with a whip. He has been very useful against some threats (Bjorn) but he's lagging now. Hope he learns something better than Boom eventually
Slime blows now but he has Kabuff/Kasap and I gave him all the itemcasts items. Unfortunately, my get rich quick through slime races scheme has not been practical
The caravan is such a half assed mechanic in DQ4/5/6. Either give me 4 or 8 party members. Don't randomly allow me to have 4 or 8 party members. Especially in a game with expensive items. Obviously the 4 left are eventually going to be rubbish.
The Knick Knack museum has yielded no rewards yet but has been massively addicting
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AM2R - Finished. 4:48 with 68% item collection. Good times, recommended, see jsh & Shale, etc.
Difficulty curve was wacky. Early game is EZ, then it gets hard, then you get Varia Suit and it lets up for a bit, then it gets hard again, then you get more than 2-4 super missiles and the Gravity Suit and Screw Attack and the game is back to EZ (if you play safe and aren't speedrunning). I think they could have nerfed Super Missiles from their OP Super Metroid incarnation some considering they weren't in the original M2 nor do enemies seem to be balanced around them, maybe make it 3x damage of Missiles, or even more harshly restrict how many are in the game (say, 5 maximum forever). I "only" had 10 by the end and it was still enough to make the Omega Metroids a lot more frail than I think they were intended. Metroid Queen was also a tad disappointing in fight design, think they could have upped her damage and reduced her durability to make the fight a bit more exciting. Also, no reason to go back to the huge water cavern they made you walk through? Tsk tsk, horror logic says you only walk through an empty room if you're going to be chased by monsters when retreating through it later.
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Random comments to others:
Lemon, pretty cool you liked LBW. I still think we got slightly gypped by no Hilda fight, but whatever, it's pretty great. Good point that the overhead Zeldas just plain feel a lot faster than the 3D ones, even if they give up some of the sense of scale. Yes, I can race from one end of the map to the other with my runner rival in 2 minutes, yes this makes perfect sense, what.
SMT4 - Fenrir, I'm not an SMT expert, but I think Niu's logic on SMT4's connection with the other games is a little questionable. Like, I have a friend who really liked Valkyrie Profile, and basically decided that Valkyrie Profile 2 was its own weird alternate universe due to its character assassinations on some of VP1's characters. This is fair enough for fanfiction, but.... Niu's right that Lucifer's plot in SMT4 is pants, but I'm not sure that's really a good signal for how alternate a universe it is. (Notably, SMT4 seems to be a continuation of SMT1, as best I can tell - Flynn is the reincarnation of the hero in SMT1, and the 2 alternate universe you visit in-game are the Law & Chaos endings to SMT1, ~25 years later. If Lucifer sucks, it's due to bad writing, not due to creating an alternate alternate universe where Lucifer is not up to all that much.)
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Yeah I agree.
Akira as the SMT1 main makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons and I'm buying it.
I also think the SMT2 and Apocalypse are a whole lot different, in 2 YHVH loses the war but retreats, so he can curse and eternally torment the SMT2 protagonist forever afterwards (like he does in Nocturne)
In Apocalypse he gets godslayer'd, so the protagonist goes free.
Lucifer being some part of YHVH and disappearing when he dies makes some kind of sense even for old SMT, in a way
DQ5: beat the king, got an archdemon. (1/64 chance only) he replaces the slime now.
T'n'T is completely awesome. I don't think I've mentioned it yet? I love it
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Random comments to others:
Lemon, pretty cool you liked LBW. I still think we got slightly gypped by no Hilda fight, but whatever, it's pretty great. Good point that the overhead Zeldas just plain feel a lot faster than the 3D ones, even if they give up some of the sense of scale. Yes, I can race from one end of the map to the other with my runner rival in 2 minutes, yes this makes perfect sense, what.
I'm not Lemon :P
Seriously though, I'm glad we're in agreement that 2D Zelda feels faster. Breath of the Wild is being showered with praise, but if the game is still sluggish, then I would probably pass up on the game.
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You've got a roundish yellow avatar I saw out of the corner of my eye. Case closed.
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Tyranny - another solid play session in, I have set myself on a path through the game I wasn't actually angling for, but I think I will stick with it, I was hoping to go independent but am actually just all in on the locals. I had an option of forcing myself onto the independent route but eh, let's stick with it. The replay value is high enough that I will stick with it and redo Independent route later, probably as a bid heavy armour 2 handed guy on turbo easy.
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You've got a roundish yellow avatar I saw out of the corner of my eye. Case closed.
If you have trouble differentiating us by avatar, you would have even more trouble if you met us IRL.
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SMT4 - Fenrir, I'm not an SMT expert, but I think Niu's logic on SMT4's connection with the other games is a little questionable. Like, I have a friend who really liked Valkyrie Profile, and basically decided that Valkyrie Profile 2 was its own weird alternate universe due to its character assassinations on some of VP1's characters. This is fair enough for fanfiction, but.... Niu's right that Lucifer's plot in SMT4 is pants, but I'm not sure that's really a good signal for how alternate a universe it is. (Notably, SMT4 seems to be a continuation of SMT1, as best I can tell - Flynn is the reincarnation of the hero in SMT1, and the 2 alternate universe you visit in-game are the Law & Chaos endings to SMT1, ~25 years later. If Lucifer sucks, it's due to bad writing, not due to creating an alternate alternate universe where Lucifer is not up to all that much.)
SMT4 does not continue from SMT1.
To be more specific, SMT4's time line is different from the SMT1 due to Masakado and Stephen being completely different from their SMT1 counter part.
Also, this is not a problem that Lucifer sucks. Rather, Devil Summoner series has pretty much told us that Lucifer is the same person in every game post SMT3.
That's the real problem here. As the SMT4 Lucifer is different from the original Lucifer, and literally causing huge contradiction within the continuity.
Also, 25 years ago, Flynn is actually one of the demonica troops. I seriously don't recall SMT1 main being a demonica troop.
Oh, on top of that,l if SMT4 is a continuation of SMT1, then there is a huge pile of continuity mass that you have to work out from SMT Imagine and SMT Nine, which happens 10 years after SMT1.
You also missed the biggest plot contradiction that SMT4 has brought to the entire SMT cosmology.
They kill off YHVH, and by that I mean ALL YHVH across the multiverse.
And not just kill it, the entire monotheism concept that made YHVH into being has been removed by the law of observation.
In other words, YHVH can no longer exist in the SMT cosmology anymore, be it past, future, or alternate universe.
And... do I have to continue why this is a problem and what problem it cause to the SMT cosmology as a whole?
For starter, this alone destroys the SMT4 is an alternate SMT2 clause. Because SMT2 YHVH is trying to make a come back through the cosmic will. But wait, didn't SMT4 denied YHVH from that somic will entirely across the entire SMT multiverse? So if SMT4 happened, SMT2 YHVH wouldn't be able to do that right? So how can SMT2 and SMT4 both happens?
This some glaring self contradiction that cannot be worked around.
BTW, VP2 is it own alternate universe. Whne Lezard traveled to the past, VP2 already branched into its own timeline. That is why VP1 Lenneth didn't give an damn to what Lezard is plotting until the very end game. It is when Lezard transformed his tower into the new Yggdrasil and begin to erode other realities that VP1 Lenneth has to take action.
Yeah I agree.
Akira as the SMT1 main makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons and I'm buying it.
I also think the SMT2 and Apocalypse are a whole lot different, in 2 YHVH loses the war but retreats, so he can curse and eternally torment the SMT2 protagonist forever afterwards (like he does in Nocturne)
In Apocalypse he gets godslayer'd, so the protagonist goes free.
Lucifer being some part of YHVH and disappearing when he dies makes some kind of sense even for old SMT, in a way
Did you play SMT2 for real? YHVH died in SMT2.
But the cosmic will that supported his existence still exists. In other wards, new YHVH can still be born from new monotheistic faith.
Also, it is Satan who is a part of YHVH in SMT2, and he can't exist without YHVH, not Lucifer.
This is why Satan's race is Divine Spirit, the same race as YHVH and the Holy Ghosts. In SMT2, YHVH, Satan, and Holy Ghosts are the same being fundamentally. If YHVH is gone, so are the others.
BTW, Akira is Nanshi.
In other words. Flynn=SMT1 main and Akira=SMT1 cannot co-exist.
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Trails of Cold Steel
No Reanblog today, it'd be along the lines of "What the f%^&ing f*&$, weird shit is going on these days." See Jusis picture from before.
I was actually pretty annoyed at how they did the Elise visit plot.
Aside from siscon woes... was Elise being hypnotized or something to go into the Old Schoolhouse?! There's lots of excuses for unauthorized people to go exploring there, and people in emotional shambles aren't necessarily super-rational, but it was still really forced. But okay, fine, whatever. The actual showdown was fine, although we got robbed of PC Patrick. The narrative AFTER didn't ring true, and badly, though. Okay, we are in an alternate universe where sending kids to go fight dangerous monsters is a perfectly rational normal activity, but even given that... this was worse than a screw-up. This was more like a fuck-up. You nearly got a non-student killed down there! Holy shit! This is, like, major scandal level event. Yes, I know as a player that the plot can't ACTUALLY stop Our Heroes from doing more Schoolhouse Exploration in the future, but it's easy enough to ensure that can still happen while respecting the gravity of the situation - especially since the plot itself wants to super-hype the gravity of it, with like half the school running around searching for Elise. It's also a chance to darken the narrative a tad and bring up the mysterious unlocking that happened (Celine, yes, pretty obvious to the player, but not to the students). Fine, schoolhouse exploration is just like training, and like training, you gotta do it safe. If Machias left a bunch of loaded shotguns on the floor of the shooting range, and a janitor bumped into them at night, he'd get chewed out and lose his privileges to go there. They get a lame brief bit of dialogue where Sara indicates that Vandyck wants to stop the explorations entirely, but that she'll fight against it, move on. But nobody talked about how the hell this extremely dangerous old schoolhouse got unlocked to begin with, when random Trista kids or jealous non-Class VIIers could easily go poking there and bite off more than they can chew! They needed a scene with Sara going all "Look, Rean, I know I'm not the greatest role model always, but we entrusted that key to you on the condition that you lock up afterward. I don't mean to kick you when you're down, but your failure to do this endangered someone's life - it's just a cruel irony it was your own sister, but it could have been anyone." And that can go in some interesting ways - Rean being very mopey if he improperly thinks he's at fault for endangering Elise's life, or others (Emma?) standing up for Rean and saying no, I saw him lock that thing, but then that raises the question (to the PCs) of who did unlock it, and WTF is going on if others can get in there too. Big investigation. Maybe even have an excuse for Our Heroes to have to sneak into the Old Schoolhouse at 2 AM after being forbidden by the Principal or some such.
The Fie-Laura split was a tad forced but mostly worked. Chatted with Sopko on it, and while on one hand I kinda respect the game for not going for JAEGERS KILLED MY MOTHER IN FRONT OF ME or some such, but because they didn't opt for something melodramatic, it also makes the split a little harder to explain in retrospect. Oh well. (I did like that Fie's reveal on this was from basically a plot task, not some kind of shonen we-are-all-defeated oh-wait-Fie-unleashed-her-secret-technique confrontation a la the Rean-Elise-Robot one.)
I wonder if there was a dropped plot line somewhere with the Music Academy kids that Elliot knew. The bad guy plays a demonic flute. We have our hometown hero musician out to prove himself. No concert-of-the-goddess or some holy music or such to counter him? Well aside from the usual musical beatdown in battle, I guess.
I was amused at CS sneaking Amber Amour from Skies into this game. Also, Olivert was raised as a non-noble in a random one-off statement from a townsperson? I dunno if that fits that much, this is the guy who drinks the most expensive wine in the house without particularly paying for it. He figured out some of the noble lifestyle well enough, it seems.
The bonding events often have the good taste for Rean to just sit back and watch the fireworks as other people settle their own little plotlines, but all the swimming ones after were a little weird - like, Rean was having to pile into the pool for both Laura's event and Sara's training? With very unclear third wheel responsibilities in both? Followed by some sort of tasteful fade-to-black fanservice of pool tag in swimsuits and inappropriate touching that you can't see. I'm not sure what they were trying to go for with that, but sure whatever game.
Nobody in this game particularly wants to comment on the ethics of Millium, which mildly annoys me vs. Sky FC & SC. Sky was always a tad apologetic about Tita coming along, and usually featured everyone else saying no don't come, but she would either insist or be needed for some engineering fix-up. Tita was more of a mechanic that happened to be able to defend herself as far as general role in the plot. The other cute preteen, on the other hand, definitely has more of a warrior role, but Estelle also thinks this is completely crazy and fucked up to have tiny assassins, and puts considerable effort into trying to convince her to stop doing this, so sure. Nobody in Cold Steel seems to be saying "wait WTF why is a 13-year old working with the Homeland Security Department of beating up people who oppose the Chancellor, this is screwed up." We'll see, I guess.
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SMT4 does not continue from SMT1.
To be more specific, SMT4's time line is different from the SMT1 due to Masakado and Stephen being completely different from their SMT1 counter part.
I rest my case. Welcome to retcons, and sometimes crappy writing. Exhibit #1: comic books. One author might write Bruce Wayne as a paranoid crazy person one step away from madness; another might write him as a canny corporate executive who resorts to vigilanteism as a bit of side public charity; another might see him as a genteel playboy. Comic books routinely say "yeah, this bit of past history? In my work, that part is totally true. I'm going to totally ignore this other story, and reinterpret a third story in a crazy plot twisty way that was clearly never intended at the time. Yeah his wife was totally a robot clone! Cool!" SMT4 draws enough from SMT1 that it really feels like a sequel to it, and the plot points that don't line up are creative license, and characters that don't line up are either intentional robot clone plot twists, or just totally ignoring the source material on that element and doing what that author thought was cool. These are big, grand characters from mythology; they can support many interpretations.
We've had three different Sherlock Holmes recently: the movie version, the BBC version, and the US version. All pretty radically different takes on the same character. Well, Lucifer & Masakado are the same as Holmes, pretty much. I wouldn't expect them to be portrayed identically in every SMT, and if they were, it might actually get a tad boring and not surprising enough.
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SMT4 being a ret-con would only further my point for that game to not be treated as part of the cannon.
Since it provide no solid official explanation to that ret-con.
And without such an explanation, a ret-con work will just be treated as a parody of the original cannon, or just a work using the original cannon as a motif.
When such a ret-con occurs. It is the responsibility of the game creator to work things out if it is to be in-cooperated into the cosmology.
For example, DHE series. Where there are official publication stating that original cannon of the WSC version Riviera has been scrapped, the cannon has been officially updated when the franchise became a series.
Or Eien Shinken series, where the current series director literally split the franchise in to the old cannon and the new cannon. With proper explanation on why the new cannon has to occur.
Or an in story explanation is shown. Marvel comic does this a lot, despite they are bad writings.
Like OAA walks in to change thing because he owns the comic company. Or some cosmic reset occurs in story so the ret-con can happen.
Or worse, Type-Moon franchise where the writing is even worse than Marvel when it comes ret-con. And the Mushroom does this like every two month and tell his fans to eat it regardless how stupid things are.
But bottom line is, some official action has to be taken if a ret-con has to be worked back into a pre-existing cosmology.
Which SMT4 did none of the above. It is just an asspull that shows up out of no where.
It provides no explanation on which time line this story occurred (which is something that Devil Summoner did). Or any statement from the developer side regarding the ret-con. (From the two SMT4 data book to various Famitsu and Dengeki interview I read, there is not a slight sign of it.)
Just how in the world that SMT4 is going to be treated as in-cosmology work instead of a random asspull?
That's equally silly as saying Langrisser Millennium and the classical Langrisser must be in the same cannon because they all have Langrisser in their title.
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The Niu-est post
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I officially object to any SMT sub-series being called the DHE series.
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Now you make me sad Elf. That was the perfect point to revive good old bits.
MEGAMI TENSEI PLOT
Tyranny - the deeper I get into this the more excited I get. This game is really really good you guys. Probably better than Pillars of Eternity was at release? I might just be too excited.
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Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase (PS1): I decided to revisit one of the first games I had ever played out of morbid curiosity. Jesus Christ, this game is horseshit. The controls are stiff and sluggish, the level designs are dull and the bosses are pathetic apart from the last boss who is too cheap. Not helping things is how I've become biased against Scooby Doo as a whole with age. I will never play this game again unless I was paid to.
Final Fantasy VII: Done the Temple of the Ancients. Permit me to apologise for bashing Aerith for being annoying at the start, she barely exists in the plot from Midgar to the temple. On the topic of annoying, Wutai makes you realise just how much you relied on Materia. At least the consumable Fire 3/Bolt 3 are available to soften the blow. On a brighter note, I've been having a ton of fun with Tifa's Powersoul. This weapon makes quick work of bosses if you set Tifa up properly.
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I should probably post here more often; bit behind on stuff I wanted to talk about because it keeps getting hijacked by politics or further news. But!
NieR: Automata
Wow. This game is incredible. Play it. Highest possible recommendation! Turns out when you give Yoko Taro a budget and Platinum a concept they love, they outdo themselves. [ur=http://blog.us.playstation.com/2017/03/03/nier-automata-was-fueled-by-an-unknown-passion/l]Everyone involved in this game clearly loved what they were doing and went the extra mile to make it amazing,[/url] except for whoever decided on the NA release date.
The main gameplay loop is an open world ARPG, blending bits of 3d Zelda, the first NieR, the Elder Scrolls series, Dark Souls/Bloodborne, and more. Combat is Platinum's bread and butter, a refinement of Bayonetta and Metal Gear Revengeance's fast character action into a smoother, more modular blend. But those aren't the important bits, not really.
The best real comparison I can make is to another outstanding game: Undertale. The staff clearly played that, too, and loved it, and this is just about the closest we can get to a AAA-studio Undertale. Automata is filled with heart and dedicated to surprising, delighting and eliciting reactions from the player at every turn. I want to give about a hundred different examples of amazing moments, but I won't because this is a game where you really shouldn't spoil anything.
It's not perfect, there are flaws and quibbles I could make, though none of them are for lack of effort. There are a lot of moments that will elicit negative reactions and make people very sad, angry, or even disgusted. The payoffs for some of these come very late - even going into the last few hours of gameplay, I would've said I had some serious qualms about the story and certain character arcs. But it all does come together in the end.
No, you don't need to have played the first NieR, or know anything about it.
Just... go play this game.
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Well I guess there is finally something that makes me want to get a PS4.
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Castlevania Portrait of Ruin: After DoS put me off my binge on the series for a good year (damn you Magical Seals >:(), I finally decided to get back to where I left off. I've currently just beaten that Behemoth boss in the castle's entrance. Right now, I'm really enjoying some of the new ideas which the game is bringing to the table. The idea of going into portraits to access new areas is neat, the sidequests you can do aren't too shabby (although they're currently coming in small quantities), and I'm liking the thought of having two characters to micromanage. I currently prefer maining Jonathan due to the variety of weapons he has access to, even though Charlotte has the better draw in terms of sub-weapons right now. Meaning I believe she's more ideal for the AI to use, considering how you can hot key them to use their sub-weapon.
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The caravan is such a half assed mechanic in DQ4/5/6. Either give me 4 or 8 party members. Don't randomly allow me to have 4 or 8 party members. Especially in a game with expensive items. Obviously the 4 left are eventually going to be rubbish.
The Knick Knack museum has yielded no rewards yet but has been massively addicting
The DQ6 version of the caravan is actually different from 4 and 5. You still can't switch the inactive PCs in during most dungeons, but they will get exp/job points, letting you grind up an underlevelled new recruit or send someone down the Luminary path without having to endure the godawful Gadabout phase in your party. Caravan PCs can also cast healing spells on your active party members out of battle, saving MP on your main team.
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Nioh: Very much a Dark Souls clone, but it's different enough to be interesting for me. Lots of cool systems in there. The story blows though, you only get to play as the Witcher game and they really dropped the ball on loot vomit. I finished the first two missions in about 4 hours and had literally hundreds of individual equipment pieces. Utter madness.
The weapon choice given after the prologue is between
- Katana
- Twin katanas
- Spear
- Axe
- Kusarigama
OMG. Anyone not picking Kurasigama there is boring. That thing is nuts. Completely awesome.
Night in the woods: more of a cid game probably.
You are a 20 year old female cat who dropped from school and got back to her parents in a small town suffering from an economic crisis. Also, mysteries? Maybe? She keeps a notebook in which she draws people and things she encounters. She's also kind of a jerk? It's the most millenial game. I like it.
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Night in the woods: more of a cid game probably.
You are a 20 year old female cat
Rare pics of Fenrir IRL (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/21/Trauma_Center_-_Under_the_Knife_2_Coverart.png)
Diagnoses then cuts like a knife with precision.
Tyranny - Finished. None of the ending went the ways I was angling. I had to kill everyone. I didn't even get to go back to the library I burned at the start of the game and I hadn't bought the fire signal since I knew I could get it there for free. So I, a dedicated Grefter type played through a game without Fire spells or the ability to set an area permanently on fire. It is okay though, my Control Fire skill was really high just on the back of an ability I got to throw a Sunlight Spear that does fire damage on a 2 minute cooldown (it legit straight up does the animation from Dark Souls) and my fire cleave on Melee buffs, of which I cast about 5 on most encounters.
Overall, yeah this game is up there for me. I am still too fresh off it to place it in comparison, but the similarities to Planescape Torment are there the whole way through, but with much better combat.
I am going to start up Torment Numenara before I replay this completely (started up a new go already, but didn't get far in chapter 1), but two Torment-esque games in a 6 month period is way too much good for me.
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OMG. Anyone not picking Kurasigama there is boring. That thing is nuts. Completely awesome.
I'm a lot further along, and I've been doing a ninja build using that thing exclusively. it is goofy and awesome, and probably the only weapon where you're going to get a lot of utility out of switching stances in the middle of combat. Have you unlocked the moves where you grab a dude and pull him toward you/you toward him? They are really useful for human enemies.
Also: don't hold your breath for a plot to ever, like, exist. This is Samurai Warriors: Dark Souls Edition, and we are all about how cool and awesome the Great Men of Old Times Japan are, and not about really anything else. It's very clear they chose a foreigner protagonist just so they could have someone to dump exposition and history on. Not that they even do very much of that.
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Breath of the Wild: fun! I've only been playing for about an hour, so not long enough to see if it really lives up to the hype, but it's certainly fun so far, and very very pretty.
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Started Horizon: Zero Dawn*. It is the open world game where you hunt robots with spears and arrows. So far this works better than one might expect.
Game has the vibe of one of those 50s/60s short sci-fi stories where some primitive tribesman wanders through some ancient ruin that at the end we're told was once the great city of ASHINGTON, except instead of the shocker ending that's just the starting point here**. This is neat, but it's too early to tell where they're going with it. I feel obliged to question my tribe's policy of exile as punishment for anything and everything out of the ordinary. Surprise, when you banish a schizophrenic dude he does not get any better. Some people are also super keen to forget that they're not supposed to talk to me when they suddenly need a player character to solve their problems (or if they're a merchant they're happy to deal me into the gray market so long as no one's looking). This is basically fine, no taboo really gets 100% support of a populace when people are out of the public eye anyway, and everybody does publicly give me the stink eye if I walk through town.
I really like the protagonist's design, it's very normal person-ish. This extends only to adult character model and not to baby/child character models, because the most youthful faces in this game tend to fall into the uncanny valley, the one area in which the game's graphics, obviously endeavoring to impress in every other regard, do not succeed. You can't mo-cap babies I guess.
Unfortunately there's a long unskippable tutorial where you play as a kid so it's probably not Fenrir compatible.
(*Usually I'd suggest people avoid putting colons in their titles until at least the first sequel. It just doesn't look right.)
(**Like seriously the box summary outright tells you that much, though there's no immediate telling which corner of Earth-in-a-millenium that I'm exploring. One tends to presume Europe based on developer names, though I've encountered NPCs from a variety of ethnicities.)
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Unfortunately there's a long unskippable tutorial where you play as a kid so it's probably not Fenrir compatible.
Ctrl+F 'dino'
No mention of robo T-Rexes. Write it off that Fen can't play it because of kids.
You are weird.
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Didn't Wozz have robot t-rexes
i remember making a post about this like 10 years ago
Notmiki: Yes! I like doing grappling hook + switch to lower stance + mash square/triangle.
I beat the bat lady. Since jutsus are tied to my main stat dexterity, I've been using them a lot. Boss fights feel like the Inspector Gadget Souls-like RPG we all always wanted: I use my ball-and-chain-and-scythe main weapon and spend all the renewable items from the inventory: Pills, goofy cartoon giant bombs, spiky things I throw at the ground, POIZN shurikens, etc.
POIZN is pretty good in this game against large enemies/bosses. There are a lot of ways to apply POIZN, my favourite is to throw a POIZN cloud and throw a few POIZN shurikens. Applying POIZN to your weapon is an option, but honestly it's too dangerous.
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Fire Emblem Conquest. I started this last year but never finished it because it sucked. But FEHeroes put me in the mood for some Fire Emblem so I started a new file. Well, it still sucks. But I finished it this time!
Yeah, this is Bad Design Decisions: The Game. I still can't figure out why higher rank weapons are almost universally worse than E rank ones.
MVP was Velouria. Tanks everything with Beastrune, full healing almost every turn, 10 damage to anyone she fights (if she doesn't just outright kill them). Stupidly overpowered.
Oh, and I married Mozu because I am a pedophile. Also because I thought Aptitude would make Kana good (it didn't). But mostly the pedophile thing.
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Fire Emblem
...
Bad ... Game. I ...'t ...t u... r... n... s.
... u...i... n...t... ...o... a pedophile. Also because I thought Aptitude would make Kana good (it didn't). But mostly the pedophile thing.
decoded
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Implying that I wasn't one before.
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HZD: I stopped for the night after the big arena fight which was actually in an arena, if that word still means anything to people in 3017ish. Streak of keen sniping wipes out half the field, then startling display of incompetence as I miss a shot, alert the entire remaining half of the mob at once, and struggle to make a mad dash to the ammo dump before they can catch up with me. And then in cutscene I'm magically on the other side of the field when it explodes (I guess they expected you to find a more practical vantage point for sniping than right next to it).
I wasn't expecting Batman predator sequences in this game, but they're totally there, even with a couple of the same novelty takedowns. You even have detective mode! So take that, staple it onto a body of Far Cry open world wilderness hunting, add dinobots, and you basically have this game. So maybe no component of that is novel outside possibly setting (it's post-apocalypse, but the atmosphere and tone are distinctly different from what Fallout usually goes for), but the combination is proving highly addicting. It's extremely pretty and there's tons to explore, and unlike a couple other games I've played that aimed for that formula, I don't get the impression that this world will turn out to be a total waste of space.
We're apparently neighbors with the Sun King, so I'm just going to assume that the ring of mountains around me is the Swiss Alps until the game states otherwise.
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Put a bunch more hours into Breath of the Wild, still not quite done with the tutorial yet. I'm finished with the "tutorial area," but after that there's a bit of fetch-questing to learn some backstory and get skill/utility upgrades before they turn you lose to do whatever. I'm not as high on the game as the reviews I've read, but it's very easy to dive into and mess around with, and also has a very Witness-y sort of thing going on where the progression of puzzles is about gradually learning the game's design language rather than picking up discrete new tricks. And I know I already said this but even on Wii U this thing is so damn pretty.
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Hollow Knight: beat the game, 100% completion, in just under 40 hours. Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAO2urG23S4) is the release trailer for the game. Go ahead and watch it. Think of the best-case scenario for the game, based on the trailer. That's pretty much the game you get.
It makes me immeasurably happy that some 13-year-old kid is gonna play this and it's going to be their first metroidvania. It is an orthodox, highly polished example of the genre, and whereas I've played a lot of metroidvania type games recently, and they have been good to great in their own ways, this is by far the best at BEING one. You will explore zones. You will retrace your steps. You will get powerups that allow you to poke and prod at the corners of the map. You will do things in an order of your own choosing. If metroidvanias are your bag, play this game, period.
Other thoughts:
The game is very large for a metroidvania. I ran out of leads looking for more stuff to do (other than fight the final boss) only at about hour 35. That last 5 hours represents sheer stubbornness in not consulting an FAQ for the last few things I was missing.
You get a large number of potential powerups, which you have a maximum capacity to equip at a time. For the tougher bosses you'll find yourself experimenting with different loadouts to see what works. Boss fights all allow for flexibility in how you approach them.
Holy shit there are a lot of enemy types. 144 to be exact, including bosses, and none are pallate-swaps. Production values in this game are through the roof. Really.
Although the plot does not have a ton of depth, the game has a theme, and executes it beautifully. By which I mean both that it is elegantly handled, and that the main plot stuff is fucking gorgeous. The final boss sequence is spectacular.
The game does a Dark Souls-y thing where when you die you lose all your carried money and 1/3 of your magic capacity and need to go to where you died to fight your soul and get it back. Ok mechanic for a while, but you run out of stuff to buy way too early for it to work very well in the long run. Thematically, however, it works great.
For anyone who plays: if you quit to title and reload, you will end up back at your last save point. Do not be bashful about using this to travel.
On that note, the game is huge, and there are a few spots that are just too far from fast-travel points. No big deal for 90% of the game, but when you're hunting down powerups it can be a bit much.
The game's save points are all benches and I am convinced it is an Ico reference. The game has a bunch of references, and can be pretty blatant about them.
Nothing in the bestiary is permanently missable. Thank god. The game actually goes out of its way to ensure that this is the case.
Your health pool is pretty low, you start with 5 and take 1 or 2 dapage per attack, but you can heal with magic off the bat by focusing in place for a couple seconds. Additionally, you replenish magic by attacking and killing enemies. This is balanced very well in practice, both for exploring and for boss fights, which have been clearly designed to make you have to be very careful about when to heal.
I guess saying the game is the best-case scenario implies it but anyway: movement is very fluid, and the wall-jumping and other midair platforming elements are very adaptable and feel great to use. Which is good because there is a brutal platforming segment late in the game.
The music! Is good. Occasionally great. City of Tears is a standout. Final boss music, too.
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Fire Emblem Fates Birthright: Beat Chapter 23. I want a refund on those bullcrap 10 damage AoE moves I took every turn! No, the map wasn't that hard, just annoying!
Assassin's Creed Black Flag: I'm moving around the ocean, apparently having to find 70 things of metal. I have found 3.
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Breath of the Wild is what I thought Wind Waker was going to be. I am both pleased and surprised Nintendo actually made this game; it has just the right amount of tutorial but otherwise leaves the task of figuring out what to do up to the player. A welcome change from Skyward Sword to say the least. The game feels heavily influenced by Shadow of the Colossus, Dark Souls, and various open-world games (again, surprised Nintendo made this of all companies), yet still definitively a Zelda experience. I've probably been playing for about 8 hours and have only explored 3 small sections of the world map. (and barely explored 2 of them at all!)
I was looking forward to playing a lot of games that are recently released/coming out/soon, but I have the feeling I'll be stuck with this one a while! Definitely getting Nier 2's OST day one, though.
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Does anyone know if the switch is region locked?
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Does anyone know if the switch is region locked?
I believe the most recent Switch presentation made a point that it wasn't region locked, but I'm not sure how accurate that is.
This Gamefaqs thread suggests it's quite easy to buy games outside your region: https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/189706-nintendo-switch/75054278
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Breath of the Wild is what I thought Wind Waker was going to be. I am both pleased and surprised Nintendo actually made this game; it has just the right amount of tutorial but otherwise leaves the task of figuring out what to do up to the player
From my understanding, Aonuma wanted to make a Breath of the Wild Style Zelda that completely shakes up the formula and goes back to it's roots for a while but things kept getting in the way. I know Skyward Sword, mid-development, he was talked into making it more conventional because "it's the 25th Anniversary game, give the fans what they want!" or some shenanigans like that. Also Miyamoto allegedly was dicking with the game behind his back, because he wasn't happy with Aonuma or some shit, and Aonuma had to constantly fix it, but that could just be an urban legend (though based on what I've heard about modern Miyamoto, this would not shock me if this was true.)
A Link Between Worlds was one such example of Aonuma basically doing a smaller scale testing ground. The development process there was they started making an ALttP remake, then mid-development went "hey, let's make it a sequel, just use the already existing assets, and take advantage of familiarity to allow for something original." By keeping it to the ALtttP style, world map, etc., it allowed for a smoother transition into the unconventional aspects, while not feeling completely foreign, and given how well received ALBW was, despite being a smaller scale Zelda game, I'd say they succeeded. BotW strikes me as the result of them thinking "Well we did this successfully playing it safe, so let's take the next step!
I'll might actually play it eventually but only once my brother finishes it...3 years from now because he's going to 100% it -_-
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Breath of the Wild is what I thought Wind Waker was going to be. I am both pleased and surprised Nintendo actually made this game; it has just the right amount of tutorial but otherwise leaves the task of figuring out what to do up to the player
From my understanding, Aonuma wanted to make a Breath of the Wild Style Zelda that completely shakes up the formula and goes back to it's roots for a while but things kept getting in the way. I know Skyward Sword, mid-development, he was talked into making it more conventional because "it's the 20th Anniversary game, give the fans what they want!" or some shenanigans like that. Also Miyamoto allegedly was dicking with the game behind his back, because he wasn't happy with Aonuma or some shit, and Aonuma had to constantly fix it, but that could just be an urban legend (though based on what I've heard about modern Miyamoto, this would not shock me if this was true.)
Link Between Worlds was one such example of Aonuma basically doing a smaller scale testing ground. The development process there was they started making an LttP remake, then mid-development went "hey, let's make it a sequel, just use the already existing assets, and take advantage of familiarity to allow for something original." By keeping it to the LtttP style, world map, etc., it allowed for a smoother transition into the unconventional aspects, while not feeling completely foreign, and given how well received LBW was, despite being a smaller scale Zelda game, I'd say they succeeded. BotW strikes me as the result of them thinking "Well we did this successfully playing it safe, so let's take the next step!
I'll might actually play it eventually but only once my brother finishes it...3 years from now because he's going to 100% it -_-
That is one pet peeve that does bug me! One save file??? Come on! I guess they want to sell more systems, but this one seems particularly egregious to me for some reason.
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You could make multiple accounts on one console to get around the save file thing, no?
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You can do that with the Wii U. I'm not so sure with the Switch.
If BotW sounds like the next step forward from ALBW, I might actually play it. Maybe Nintendo have finally let go of OoT and realised that trying to copy it isn't a good method of replicating its success.
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Oh, it's a huge shift from the OoT formula. The very basics of combat are similar and there are setpiece puzzles. Where you find those puzzles, what the dungeons are like, the overworld, the progression of stats and skills, advancing the story....all overhauled.
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HZD: Yesterday I was mostly engaged in map clearing, so I'm going to get into some random mass guessing about what the hell is happening on this crazy old planet.
-I visited a robot factory! I'd been wondering. I'd assumed that not every machine you meet patrolling the wilderness could be vintage hardware--that kind of thing stretches credulity a bit in Fallout games and this is like four times the temporal distance since the fall of civilization. Generally, it does seem like someone working on HZD took notes from Earth After People in determining what degree of human construction would still be recognizable after this much neglect (I've met one dude with a working machinegun and it was terrifying). So I'd assumed someone or something had to still be making the robots. It looks more like something so far. I've yet to see evidence of sentience, for all that the robots can coordinate action as a pack, and it's presently easy to believe that mechanical processes begun a millennium ago are still chugging dumbly on just because no one ever told them to stop (though as a seasoned consumer of media I expect there to be another, possibly unnecessarily convoluted explanation provided in due time). There's even a kind of mechanical ecosystem apparent, overlapping with or replacing the natural one (I've yet to see any animal larger than a boar and am inclined to credit mass extinction for the absence). The robots are mostly designed after animals and often have an obvious ecological niche in this cycle of breaking down and rebuilding dead machines; the visual design aims to suggest muscle and tendon with tangles of wires and conduits, without ever adding outright biological components. There is a bit of Geth flair to it at times, but that's fine. It also must be noted that the aesthetics of the factory sequence were spectacular; it felt like something from another planet, designed to make most efficient use of available space without regard to human convenience.
I still have no idea how to deal with Corruptors. They move so fast and so constantly that I can barely line up a shot, much less scan them thoroughly for weaknesses. I can only hope the game doesn't see fit to demote them from boss to random mob anytime soon (I'm assuming it will happen eventually).
-Our tribe really does seem to use exile as the only punishment for any crime. I've yet to hear about any other kind of judgment being meted out. This might make it sound like the country would run out of people in no time, but being declared "outcast" can apparently be a temporary condition based on the severity of the crime, and what it usually means in practice is "No one is allowed to talk to you and you are not allowed to talk to anyone else," but you might just be relegated to some obscure corner of the country rather than kicked totally out of it. It's more like they consider being socially ostracized and Not of the Body to be the fundamental basis of all punishment. If you killed a dude then you are probably kicked out for good, though.
None of this really applies to the protagonist, who occupies an apparently unique position in being outcast from birth because no one knows where she came from and consequently one of the shaman crones put up a stink about her being devil spawn or something (my going theory is that she's a clone of some important scientist from Beforetimes and the tribal matriarchs lack the scientific knowledge to figure this out.) This explains a lot about her attitude, which is aloof enough to be skeptical of dogma but not outright derisive because it's still the only culture she was ever exposed to growing up (even if it was pretty much entirely secondhand). It also makes for a natural introductory wedge for a player who is of course a complete outsider to the entire scenario, but executed in a way that makes sense in context--she knows enough to occasionally fill in the blanks for you, but is ignorant enough that NPCs still need to tell her things. Beneath that, she is basically your expected universally helpful videogame messiah, but again for reasons which make sense in context, because while yes, her foster father's parting message to her was a very on the nose exhortation to practice selflessness, it's clear that his lifelong example speaks louder (he adopted and raised her as a single dad). This is nice because it means you actually have a reason to feel attached to your videogame father figure instead of him just sounding like Liam Neason.
-Greeting a visiting delegation from the Sun King was striking not just because it's the first time you see outsiders, but more notably (to me, at least) because it's the first time in the game that you see any evidence that reading and writing have survived the apocalypse. Priest unfurls a scroll and it hits me that prior to this point, over several hours of game, we haven't seen any previous evidence of literacy in this world. The protagonist has a totally-not-a-Pipboy accessory that once or twice has flashed writing at her when she picked something up, but I've yet to see confirmation that she's actually learned to read from this example (she doesn't react in-character to datalogs that the player can find and read). It doesn't seem like our tribe retained the basic concept of literacy. I've wondered, as someone with a lifelong inclination towards dreaming up fictional scenarios and never doing anything with them, exactly how long after a global collapse it would take for an accurate recollection of said collapse and the circumstances preceding to effectively recede from collective human memory. It seems a little bit like with our tribe, that may be on purpose--it's clear from walking around their main town, when they finally deign to let you in, that the Nora went all in for oral tradition.
We're apparently neighbors with the Sun King, so I'm just going to assume that the ring of mountains around me is the Swiss Alps until the game states otherwise.
-Nope! By this point, it has been made emphatically clear that we are in the former United States, most likely somewhere in the Rockies, which practically speaking does gel better with the broad ethnic diversity of this game than most other places in the world would. Also datalogs make it apparent that a prelude to the apocalypse was the Supreme Court ruling that a corporation can run for president via a proxy candidate. Sounds reasonable, the way things are going.
Most of this rambling is just to demonstrate that I appreciate there being actual plot things worth speculating about while you are stalking robots to figure out the best way of making them explode spectacularly.
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Cid,it is cute that you flirted with the idea that a game could be made somewhere other than the US, of course it is in America. Why would you make something set somewhere else..
Mass Effect 3 - I should be playing a billion other things, but I wanted to get through my replay of this before Andromeda hits aaaaand I just finished a word heavy game, so ashooty one is good.
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I can dream, Grefter.
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HZD: We have met the mecha tyrannosaur and OH MY GAH
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Oh, it's a huge shift from the OoT formula. The very basics of combat are similar and there are setpiece puzzles. Where you find those puzzles, what the dungeons are like, the overworld, the progression of stats and skills, advancing the story....all overhauled.
The combat isn't just "waiting for openings" right?
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Oh, it's a huge shift from the OoT formula. The very basics of combat are similar and there are setpiece puzzles. Where you find those puzzles, what the dungeons are like, the overworld, the progression of stats and skills, advancing the story....all overhauled.
The combat isn't just "waiting for openings" right?
Believe it or not, it has a dark souls style parry system, and since you have to use a variety of weapons with different moves, it stays fairly fresh. I wouldn't say it's the best combat ever, but it's significantly improved from past Zelda titles. The main focus of the game is exploration.
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HZD: Inevitable boss fight of "Oh, of course there are two of them now" surprisingly easy because reasons? I'm not actually sure what one of them is. One of the corruptors died offscreen while I was busy hiding and headshotting mooks. The best I could infer from looking at the debris later was that he set off an Ewok log trap. This wasn't my handiwork because I had not set any traps (also I don't have any Ewok log traps). Reason #2 was just that the NPC in that fight was unkillable. I'm not even sure at what specific point he entered combat (at first he just stood there); I would imagine after some or all of the human enemies are down, since by that point it looks to him like I'm the winning option to side with. Anyway, the bots can knock him down, but he'll auto-rez after a few seconds. Immortal distractions are pretty OP, you guys.
Deathbringer was even easier, despite seemingly having more weapons than every boss in the game so far combined. I sniped a flamethrower dude's pack while he was next to the boss and suddenly 2/3 of boss HP is gone. Okay? Granted, I expect it to be much harder when I actually meet one of these things which is intact and mobile (this seems inevitable).
A plot dump occurred, so let's see how much sense we can make of the apocalypse so far:
-It's 2040ish and ecological collapse is imminent.
-Ted Faro owns the leading manufacturer of domestic service robots. Elizabet Sobeck is a genius wunderkind roboticist with a progressive bent.
-They fight crime! They team up to build green robots that can repair environmental damage without contributing to the problem. Data logs suggest they ran on biomass conversion, so basically Mr. Fusion? This sounds like a nice idea but has Implications later.
-After many years' effort, this work at least staves off the worst case scenario that we are probably really looking at after Trumpco have had their turn.
-The planet saved, Faro decides the company's next transition should be to WORLD'S LEADING ARMS MANUFACTURER.
-Sobeck says fuck this, I'm out.
-Someone at Faro decides it would be a brilliant idea to develop and market a self-replicating mobile weapons platform.
-Have you figured out where things went wrong yet? Congratulations, you are smarter than Faro's engineers.
-A swarm in the south Pacific glitches out (probably?) and begins replicating without restraint or any regard to programmed parameters or stop orders.
-The Slylandro Probe Effect quickly goes critical. IT. ATE. EVERYBODY! appears imminent (remember, biomass conversion) until Sobeck steps in with a drastic plan.
-???
-The world is safe again! But...for HOW LONG?
So basically we made our own apex predator. For science capitalism! So far there's still no indication of genuinely sentient malevolent A.I. in this equation, which is kind of nice since in some ways there's something a little creepier about entities wholly bent on eradicating every speck of life on Earth just from sheer dumb instinct, like guys, what if we made nanites that could molecularly disassemble the Earth, huh? But our ultimate adversary in the game clearly is a malevolent A.I., so it seems impossible not to assume a connection somewhere. The robot ecosystem thing at least makes way more sense now--the animal-aspected robots are presumably what's left of the earlier Faro productions, still following directives to refurbish the Earth and only getting violent when it looks like someone might interfere with their work. They can be persistent if angered, but don't go out of their way to systematically hunt down and murder people until HAL overrides them. But the military robots LOOK like military robots and are only ever unremittingly hostile. At the very least, one doesn't get the sense of a single overriding A.I. in universal control here.
Whatever ??? is, it's probably what actually ended civilization. Faro was scared enough that he had to be blackmailed into cooperating, even knowing that HIS ROBOTS WERE LITERALLY EATING THE PLANET TO DEATH. At least the title finally makes sense, because it was a military operation, and U.S. military operations always have to have excessively dramatic names.
The clone thing is pretty squarely confirmed by the number of times machines have recognized me as someone long dead (while complaining about that niggling fraction of a percent of DNA that doesn't quite match perfectly).
tl:dr version: https://frinkiac.com/meme/S08E25/1242056.jpg?b64lines=IElOIEVJVEhFUiBDQVNFLCBNT1NUIE9GIFRIRQogQUNUVUFMIEZJR0hUSU5HIFdJTEwgQkUKIERPTkUgQlkgU01BTEwgUk9CT1RTCiBBTkQgQVMgWU9VIEdPIEZPUlRIIFRPREFZLCAKIFJFTUVNQkVSIEFMV0FZUyBZT1VSIERVVFkgCiBJUyBDTEVBUi0tVE8gQlVJTEQgQU5EIAogTUFJTlRBSU4gVEhPU0UgUk9CT1RTLg==
I've wondered, as someone with a lifelong inclination towards dreaming up fictional scenarios and never doing anything with them, exactly how long after a global collapse it would take for an accurate recollection of said collapse and the circumstances preceding to effectively recede from collective human memory.
Yeah, this makes more sense now. It's not really emphasized on a metaplot level, but data logs have suggested the WALL-E effect (I.E. humans so dependent on machines that they've forgotten how to do much by themselves) in play just before the end times. One can imagine dislocation between past and future being more dramatic when such a technologically-reliant culture is suddenly wholly deprived of it. So basically we're one of those crappy lategame Civs that would spawn in some obscure corner of the world near the end of a game of Civ 1&2 with no tech or military.
Did I mention the vistas are a thing in this game, you guys? The vistas, they are a thing. Rappelling down from Faro tower nearly provoked genuine vertigo. Also, I finally found a location whose name remained unchanged over a thousand years (or maybe that was just in the audio log that referred to it, now that I think of that), so now I can definitively say that we're playing in Mr. House's backyard.
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Final Fantasy VII: At Gaea Cliffs. The Icicle Labyrinth was more annoying than I remembered it to be. At least I could use the randoms to gain some more limits on my characters.
Pokemon Red: For some reason, I feel like having a Pokemon binge. I suppose I can use this as a way of playing the Gamecube titles for the first time. I'm at the Pokemon League right now. The difficulty here is almost non-existent as Psychic types nail everything due to the way the Special stat works (it doubles duties as both Magic and Magic Defence) and the fact that the only type that resists it is itself. However, I say the difficulty is 'almost' non-existent as the level curve is actually competent here unlike with GSC and HGSS.
My team so far (forgive the terrible RB graphics):
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/003.png) (http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/026.png) (http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/064.png) (http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/085.png) (http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/112.png) (http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/131.png)
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That's the best part of doing those, Bit!
And Ghost is almost as bad. I managed to squeak by the last 2 E4 and Gary with only Gengar alive due to the wonky Ghost mechanics in Gen1
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I've used Gengar in quite a few playthroughs. Yeah, the AI in RBY clearly wasn't programmed to fight against Ghost types effectively. My favourite AI fuck up in RBY was putting a Poison type up against Lance's Dragonite and it would spam Agility because it was a Psychic move. With this AI flaw in mind, you could bring a level 3 Weedle against Lance and you can just wait for Poison Sting to Poison Dragonite.
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Pokémon Moon: Third island down. I suppose it's slowly taking off, but nothing really happened on this island. Lotta treading in place aside from MAH BOY GUZMA. Hopefully this jaunt into Aether Paradise will be more entertaining.
Current lineup:
(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/724.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/733.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/737.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/758.png)(http://www.serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/089-a.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/770.png)
Didn't find anything worth replacing yet. Same ol, though Palossand is a little disappointing since everything seems to counter Psychic in this game. Still. I like using gimmicky pokemon designs sometimes. SANDCASTLE! Almost as good as Vanilluxe. Salazzle's been great. Muk's a wonderful tank. Charjabug really needs a physical electric move, but X-Scissor has worked wonders. Toucannon is overall solid. Decidueye is still neat and his Z-Move is cool.
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Oh, it's a huge shift from the OoT formula. The very basics of combat are similar and there are setpiece puzzles. Where you find those puzzles, what the dungeons are like, the overworld, the progression of stats and skills, advancing the story....all overhauled.
The combat isn't just "waiting for openings" right?
Believe it or not, it has a dark souls style parry system, and since you have to use a variety of weapons with different moves, it stays fairly fresh. I wouldn't say it's the best combat ever, but it's significantly improved from past Zelda titles. The main focus of the game is exploration.
Well that solves any of my woes. I remember people making SotC comparisons when BotW was first announced during E3 2016. If anyone here has played both games, would it be fair to say that they're similar?
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Oh, it's a huge shift from the OoT formula. The very basics of combat are similar and there are setpiece puzzles. Where you find those puzzles, what the dungeons are like, the overworld, the progression of stats and skills, advancing the story....all overhauled.
The combat isn't just "waiting for openings" right?
Believe it or not, it has a dark souls style parry system, and since you have to use a variety of weapons with different moves, it stays fairly fresh. I wouldn't say it's the best combat ever, but it's significantly improved from past Zelda titles. The main focus of the game is exploration.
Well that solves any of my woes. I remember people making SotC comparisons when BotW was first announced during E3 2016. If anyone here has played both games, would it be fair to say that they're similar?
I had to climb on one boss (which I encountered while walking around) in order to find its weak point and beat it. That felt very SotC. I would say there are a lot of similarities between the games, but BOTW has a much better camera. It has the same feeling of wandering post-apocalyptic land until you encounter something. One of my only real complaints is that Stamina is so limited, which makes running a chore sometimes comapred to SotC.
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Breath of the Wild:
I've been playing extensively since launch. It's the first open world game I've played where the open world itself is fun to explore. Typical of open world games tend to heavily gate where you can go by insane stat checks or the worst, developer placed invisible walls. BotW you are free to explore anywhere within Link's own ability. Any mountain can be climbed, any monster can be defeated (steal their weapons out of their hand with the magnet!) right from the get go. Well, at least until you complete "tutorial" plateau. Frigid or hot conditions can be temporary dealt with by cooking or permanently with gear. They even thought of fire weapons helping in cold climates or ice weapons in hot areas. Not much you can do about volcanic heat, but Death Mountain is suppose to be intimidating to explore. The disappointing aspect is that there's not enough meat told in the story outside of flashbacks that are pretty difficult to trigger and some hidden lore you can find in Hyrule Castle.
Most traditional Zelda conventions are not present, both good and the bad. All special abilities are obtained at the beginning, all of your shields and weapons are expendable, and everything will kill you in one hit if you're not prepared. Sadly the greatest asset to a Zelda game, the dungeons, fall completely flat in BotW. They take place in a giant mechanical beasts, with one large room with several smaller rooms and 4-5 mini puzzles then the boss. That's it, maybe one monster for you to fight. The whole Rito section of the game took me 1 hour, from finding the village to defeating the boss. Hyrule Castle is a great final dungeon, it actually feels like a castle rather than a bunch of empty hallways with locked doors. There's many ways to get in, tons of secret rooms you can find, great gear to collect, and of course if you can do it just climb straight up to Ganon.
It's not the GOAT game that everyone was expecting but it's definally the best effort Nintendo has put out in a long ass time and probably for the next 5 years. I hate most open world games with the exception of New Vegas and GTA. BotW is now added to that list.
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If BotW is similar to SotC, then that gives me enough of an incentive to play the latter and get a feel of what I would be getting myself into.
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Sadly the greatest asset to a Zelda game, the dungeons, fall completely flat in BotW. They take place in a giant mechanical beasts, with one large room with several smaller rooms and 4-5 mini puzzles then the boss. That's it, maybe one monster for you to fight.
FWIW I think the shrines (stand-alone bite-size puzzle rooms, of which there are 100+ scattered around the map) more than make up for this. The dungeons are trying to be something very different from what they're designed for in other Zelda games; while I've only done one so far, climbing into a giant robo-elephant and solving puzzles using its trunk was definitely a unique gaming experience.
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If BotW is similar to SotC, then that gives me enough of an incentive to play the latter and get a feel of what I would be getting myself into.
Everyone should play SotC. It's pretty short anyway.
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Honestly, I've felt most dungeons in a Zelda game are dull, since they all follow the exact same formula since OoT and it's really just masking the same damn thing every-time. It's one of the reasons ALBW dungeons stand out. They're much smaller, but because you get the item BEFORE going in, they don't follow the formula, and thus offer way more flexibility in terms of the dungeon design and progression. It's not just a key or switch hunt until you get the dungeon item, which then acts as a glorified key, and then the boss is just "we need to justify using that new toy you got to beat this guy, no matter how impractical!"
Fire Emblem Birthright: Completed. Had to do the final map multiple times and it pissed me off because they make you slog through the first half which is not really that hard, just to have a map that can end in 2-3 turns one way or another. I eventually just shoved all my stat items on Corrin and YOLO'D. My Corrin didn't get a lot of good durability boosts so the Final Boss could one shot on a counter, hence I really needed to buff his defenses to high hell. The winning run had Saizo not gett he HP boost he needed to survive one hit, just to sneak in a stat down hit, but luckily, I could get Azura up to Corrin for and hit anyway, so it all worked out.
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If BotW is similar to SotC, then that gives me enough of an incentive to play the latter and get a feel of what I would be getting myself into.
Everyone should play SotC. It's pretty short anyway.
Cosign and also Cid you should try the Last Guardian, I'm curious what you'll think.
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Honestly, I've felt most dungeons in a Zelda game are dull, since they all follow the exact same formula since OoT and it's really just masking the same damn thing every-time. It's one of the reasons LBW dungeons stand out. They're much smaller, but because you get the item BEFORE going in, they don't follow the formula, and thus offer way more flexibility in terms of the dungeon design and progression. It's not just a key or switch hunt until you get the dungeon item, which then acts as a glorified key, and then the boss is just "we need to justify using that new toy you got to beat this guy, no matter how impractical!"
Your analysis on why 3D Zelda dungeons kinda suck is reminding me to view Arin's Zelda sequelitis. That video sums up all my problems with 3D Zelda. The bashing he gives to Skyward Sword near the end of the video also helps.
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If BotW is similar to SotC, then that gives me enough of an incentive to play the latter and get a feel of what I would be getting myself into.
Everyone should play SotC. It's pretty short anyway.
Cosign and also Cid you should try the Last Guardian, I'm curious what you'll think.
I totally will (I mean, I already have it), but at the very least after finishing Horizon: Zero Dawn and probably after Nier: Automata (though it's entirely possible that I will want a break between two games about a post-apocalypse Earth run by robots--seriously, these two came out within a week of each other). Speaking of:
HZD: I finally got the big plot dump, and it's a doozy.
Earth was never actually saved. Everything died. IT. ATE. EVERYBODY. Sobeck's historical distinction was just in being enough of a brutal realist* to accept the inevitability of extinction and make a plan for the aftermath: building an A.I. capable of re-terraforming the planet after all organic life was extinguished.
(*Which attitude is mostly reflected in our cloned protagonist's fluency in sarcasm.)
Data logs indicate that the writers put a lot of thought into assessing the psychological impact that working with this kind of personality in these conditions would have on people, some of which specialists opted for medical euthanasia instead (because of course that was an option Sobeck realized would be necessary and had prepared in advance before asking anyone). The writing here is the best in the game, and I'm genuinely impressed.
Our adversary, Hades, was evidently a subcomponent of the terraforming A.I., and its sole function was to take control of the system and wipe out life anew for a fresh start should the system happen to produce a biosphere that was incapable of supporting human life, because Sobeck was enough of a pragmatic hardass to recognize that her creation might not get it right the first time and need a global reset button. The one key point that we still don't know is what the hell Hades is doing lodged in one of the Faro robots that ended life in the first place. My best guess is that it did have to perform the global reset at least once and decided that the best way to accomplish this was through the same way it happened the first time.
And it probably doesn't think its job is done yet since the human civilization we've got here is not what was envisioned--the first humans reintroduced on Earth were supposed to be gifted with an archive of knowledge on history, art, science, etc. That part of the plan clearly didn't work. The prevailing primitiveness of human belief in the present isn't the result of people forgetting everything, it's due to them starting with a completely blank slate. When I made that comment about lategame Civ, I didn't realize how on-point it would turn out to be. Based on the number of Sun Kings I've been told there were, I'd guess we're looking at 300 years of human life being back on Earth, 400 tops.
tl;dr version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MR2nKL_qo4
Sylens is a difficult man to be friends with. "Trust is not a firm foundation for a relationship, but mutual self interest is an unbreakable bond."
I've also finished with the collectathon component of the game, and this may actually have lowered my opinion of the whole? Maybe this is a personal problem. I know grabbing all the TACOs isn't necessary, but I'm not gonna finish without clearing that whole map, am I? It plays on my OCD so hard. I went through a binge of wiping all those niggling little flags off the map over the weekend, and I've realized it turned the world from a very pretty thing to be savored into a checklist to be worked through by rote. These aren't mandatory tasks, but it does remind of me of an opinion I've had about similar games in the past, which is that more content doesn't necessarily equal good content. I've come round to supporting shorter games over the years. I just read an Onion A.V. Club article that summarized this game as "There's a great game hiding in Horizon: Zero Dawn," and though I don't agree with every assertion of the reviewer, I think the core sentiment is valid. A lean plot run or a supercut of the ruin diving and logs might be more satisfying than a 100% run. Because those really are the best parts of the game, and more engrossing than I would've expected from a dev team previously responsible for many games called Killzone (the contemporary action, by comparison, is more hit-or-miss). There's a pleasure to finding out what the hell happened a thousand years ago akin to that of, say, finally being given real historical information in Xenogears.
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After 7 years, Iji gets a surprise update, moving the platform to Game Maker 7 for current OS/hardware compatibility and making *major* overhauls to the game. (http://remar.se/daniel/iji.php)
2 new endings, more plot, totally revamped stat upgrade interface with an entirely new "nonlethal/passive nanoweapons" tree, overhauled graphics and text, faster walkspeed, more/better cracking options, better interaction tracking for just about everything. (Players of old versions will remember that one generic soldier in sector 3 that changed things if you killed her? Now *every enemy* is tracked in the same way, and many logs and events in future sectors have branching options depending on what you did earlier.)
If you've never played Iji before, it's free, go do so. It's a sidescrolling sci-fi ARPG with a ton of secrets and flexibility in play, and massive amounts of polish and design thought. Absolutely fantastic game. Also did the pacifism/violence plot split before Undertale and did it better, if you're into that sort of thing (and this update only improves it further!)
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!!!!!
Well shit, time to spend all weekend when my wife is at work playing that now. Surprise update indeed. Excellent game.
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Pokémon Moon: 4th Island and Otherworld down. Villains were Pokémon villains. Team Skull and the main villain were fun, but overall I didn't care much about it. It really drives home that Lillie should've been the protagonist. Period. MC's fucking dumbface through the entire plot was just groanworthy. They're making baby-steps, but they need to try harder...
Vast Poni Canyon was a good dungeon. Lots of counters for my team made it challenging, and Hapu's Flygon nearly put me in the ground. By comparison, I steamrolled villain's team in Otherworld. While some mechanics draw things out in a negative way (SOS in wild pokemon battles making catching annoying. Srs, just make it so they can either attack or call, not BOTH), the overall challenge upgrade of this title has been positive. I never even turned off Exp Share! Makes me look forward to the E4 battles upcoming.
Current Team:
(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/724.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/738.png) (http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/758.png)(http://www.serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/089-a.png)(http://www.serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/028-a.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/792.png)
Just felt like it for Sandslash. It's a fun turn on the design, and Ice/Steel will cover spots I was missing once it catches up to my team. Not that Toucannon was bad. Lunala gets Palossand's slot, though with Hypnosis it might come back to catch legendaries later.
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HZD: Goddammit, Ted, everything wrong in this setting is your fault.
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Nier 2: how did something so insane get such a budget
I love it
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The Watchers laugh. La la la la la
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HZD: Finished. Blue light > red light. The ending scene was nice.
I don't think I have a lot left to add by this point? It's a cool game. It suffers from some of the bloat typical of overstuffed, open world, AAA games, but has enough personality to recommend it, does a lot of things right with its lead character, and gives her a fine foil in your main ally being a profoundly cynical Faust figure (though I have to wonder--does Aloy make sure to turn off her Pip-Boy when she has to pee?) I recommend this if you appreciate striking vistas, assembling narratives of buried histories, and shooting robot dinosaurs in the glowy bits to make them explode. There is a degree of satisfaction to the latter comparable to shattering enemies in VP2.
If there's one mark against it that I haven't mentioned, it's the load times. These can be astonishingly lengthy when you're booting up anew lategame. You don't commonly need to actually see loading screens for a long time, because seamlessly connected open world, but once you start having actual reason to fast travel everywhere, get ready to hurry up and wait. Also some minor interface quibbles re: item management, like why can I sell in bulk but not buy in bulk? Ultimately minor stuff, I think, but it's there.
Of course, they had to leave at least one significant question unanswered for sequel bait: who gave Hades sentience in the first place. It wasn't a consequence of Faro zapping the historical database, because that happened a thousand years ago and the terraforming A.I. said the problems started within the past couple decades. Oh, sequelitis.
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There is a degree of satisfaction to the latter comparable to shattering enemies in VP2.
That is some high praise, there.
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Pokémon Moon: 4th Island and Otherworld down. Villains were Pokémon villains. Team Skull and the main villain were fun, but overall I didn't care much about it. It really drives home that Lillie should've been the protagonist. Period. MC's fucking dumbface through the entire plot was just groanworthy. They're making baby-steps, but they need to try harder...
Vast Poni Canyon was a good dungeon. Lots of counters for my team made it challenging, and Hapu's Flygon nearly put me in the ground. By comparison, I steamrolled villain's team in Otherworld. While some mechanics draw things out in a negative way (SOS in wild pokemon battles making catching annoying. Srs, just make it so they can either attack or call, not BOTH), the overall challenge upgrade of this title has been positive. I never even turned off Exp Share! Makes me look forward to the E4 battles upcoming.
Current Team:
(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/724.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/738.png) (http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/758.png)(http://www.serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/089-a.png)(http://www.serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/028-a.png)(http://serebii.net/sunmoon/pokemon/792.png)
Just felt like it for Sandslash. It's a fun turn on the design, and Ice/Steel will cover spots I was missing once it catches up to my team. Not that Toucannon was bad. Lunala gets Palossand's slot, though with Hypnosis it might come back to catch legendaries later.
I remember ranting about how bad of a choice keeping the player a faceless mute (who should be played by Orlando Bloom) was when I got to a similar point in Pokemon S/M. I actually like Lillie and it would have been a neat idea if they made her the main. Heck, she even has a connection with the game's mascot. Pity the internet seems to have made her a living meme and ruined the word "bag" as a result.
Speaking of Pokemon, I decided to reserve a slot on a backlog to binge on a specific game series. I decided to test run this idea with what could be classed as my signature, which might be Pokemon. I decided to play Red out of it Blue and Yellow because it was the one of the three which I hadn't played in a while. I got from Pallet Town to the Pokemon Tower in one sitting due to how easy the game is. None of the Gym Leaders have provided a challenge yet due to the fact that the AI likes to spam X items. Then again, why am I expecting challenge from a game which is "when in doubt, use a Psychic-type!"
Current team:
(http://serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/003.png)(http://serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/064.png)(http://serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/135.png)(http://serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/051.png)(http://serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/084.png)
I used Fearow before I got Doduo and Clefable before I got Jolteon.
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Pokemon Red: Beaten the Elite Four and caught Mewtwo. I think anyone who has played past generation 2 will agree with me that RBY hasn't aged well. The only other Pokemon games which are worse than RBY in my opinion are GSC and DP. The latter in particular is a beta which Game Freak released as a final product.
Final team:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/003.png) (http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/026.png) (http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/065.png) (http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/085.png) (http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/112.png) (http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/131.png)
Temporary members:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/021.png) (http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/075.png) (http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/134.png)
If you are wondering about how I got an Alakazam, I have an emulator which can allow me to trade Pokemon in the Game Boy titles. Yeah I use emulators for older games instead of the Virtual Console, sue me.
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Completed all the affinity missions. I have yet to find a character in this game who has arc that isn't quickly resolved through a sappy scene. In the case of some characters like Irina, it gets to a point where their only contribution is being in the scene. I'll have a break from the game for now. I'm not sure if I'll come back to finish the rest of the normal missions or if I'll replay the main story.
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Nier 2 is great but so far it's been nothing like Drakengard really - Yako Taro has changed a lot.
A lot of Nier elements are there - finishing sidequests seem to make the world worse, you move like a fucking cheetah around the world, combat is a wash (even with Platinum) and there's a lot of variety. But the atmosphere is so different! This also means I won't possibly be as disappointed with the endgame in this one.
It's weird to see obscure guys I liked for a long time, mostly for being obtuse, confusing and inexplicable (Kawazu, Taro, Souls guy) get so much traction lately
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I do want to believe that before we start World War 3 and usher in the apocalypse, that we first create radiation-resistant robot dinosaurs to roam the plains. It's a stretch goal, but we can do it.
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Which one's Kawazu again?
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Iji - this is great.
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Kawazu is the SaGa guy
Why did his games keep selling
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I remember ranting about how bad of a choice keeping the player a faceless mute (who should be played by Orlando Bloom) was when I got to a similar point in Pokemon S/M. I actually like Lillie and it would have been a neat idea if they made her the main. Heck, she even has a connection with the game's mascot. Pity the internet seems to have made her a living meme and ruined the word "bag" as a result.
Piggybacking off this, this is the first time I feel in a Pokemon game where the protagonist actually felt like a detriment to the game. No matter what the scene is, the character always has that empty "=)" on his/her face and it's jarring at times. There's moments where Lillie is pouring herself emotionally, and your character just stands there smiling like "wait, why are we happy about this?" Now a silent Pokemon protagonist is a given, but they could at least bother to let the character show some emotion, if at least just showing facial expressions to match the scene.
I know lolPokemon plot!!!, but the only reason other games got away with it is because their plot was so minor (Black/White 1 aside, and being a sprite based game, obviously expectations in presentation are different) but Sun/Moon actually makes an attempt at a serious jRPG style plot, with actual characters, so when we have Lillie, Hau or Gladion all showing varying expressions, development, personality, etc., and then you just have the character going "=)" regardless, it's painful. A parallel this would be Suikoden 5 where you have all these colorful, well written characters...talking to someone who can't respond if there isn't a text prompt, and it stands out a lot.
It also stands out when playing games like FF14 or XBCX alongside Sun/Moon which also have Avatar protagonists (well...XBCX, you're not really the protagonist, just the PoV character), but they let your character at least show visual reactions. Nothing major, just stuff like a surprise face, a head shake, etc.
Actually I give props to FF14 for this further since while it doesn't avoid the "Silent Protagonist Avatar IS PERFECT!!!" syndrome, it at least does it with a sense of self awareness, having occasional nods to the fact that the writers realize they wrote you that way and are just going with it. Heck, in 3.5, Thancred has a line that is essentially "I mean, we could put the Warrior of Light as the leader...but s/he's too busy being ABSOLUTELY PERFECT AT EVERYTHING S/HE DOES that they won't have time to be leader." Or even earlier, Cid says something like "So...we need someone to save the world? Well how about it, Warrior of Light? You're basically an expert at this!" Hey, if you can't actually make a silent protagonist flawed, you can at least acknowledge that you know you accidentally made them perfect and play to that.
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Zelda: Two Divine Beasts down. The Goron quest was really simple compared to the build-up for the Zora beast, but also really neat to play through. The dungeon was smaller than the elephant but also had a better gimmick, so still good. Currently exploring the tropical regions in the southeast, which is nice -- big change from the usual mainland terrain, a bunch of rare cooking ingredients (SO MANY BANANAS), good puzzles in and out of shrines.
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Yakuza 0: I lost a dance battle to not!Michael Jackson. who has some fuckin' moves, man.
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I remember ranting about how bad of a choice keeping the player a faceless mute (who should be played by Orlando Bloom) was when I got to a similar point in Pokemon S/M. I actually like Lillie and it would have been a neat idea if they made her the main. Heck, she even has a connection with the game's mascot. Pity the internet seems to have made her a living meme and ruined the word "bag" as a result.
Piggybacking off this, this is the first time I feel in a Pokemon game where the protagonist actually felt like a detriment to the game. No matter what the scene is, the character always has that empty "=)" on his/her face and it's jarring at times. There's moments where Lillie is pouring herself emotionally, and your character just stands there smiling like "wait, why are we happy about this?" Now a silent Pokemon protagonist is a given, but they could at least bother to let the character show some emotion, if at least just showing facial expressions to match the scene.
I know lolPokemon plot!!!, but the only reason other games got away with it is because their plot was so minor (Black/White 1 aside, and being a sprite based game, obviously expectations in presentation are different) but Sun/Moon actually makes an attempt at a serious jRPG style plot, with actual characters, so when we have Lillie, Hau or Gladion all showing varying expressions, development, personality, etc., and then you just have the character going "=)" regardless, it's painful.
This is why I couldn't get invested into the Exeggutor Island scene during the late-game. Lillie provides some genuinely heartwarming backstory between her and Lusamine; but the player, like you said, just gives the same =) face. I'm pretty sure the only time they bothered to give the player a different face is when Nihilego first appears at the Aether Foundation.
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Well it's not everyday I have Meeple piggyback off my forum post. Even though you do raise some good points with the player and how games like Xenoblade X do the job much better. I wish they could have gone the route they went with in that game and gave the player face reactions to some of the events or conversations; as well as making them a PoV character to view Lillie's story like how "Cross" was one to view Elma's story. Now if only the initial male design wasn't trying way too hard to be Shulk.
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Honestly, a few facial expressions is all you need. Sure, it wouldn't fix the whole "you're a personalitiless nobody who everyone loves" problem, but at least it wouldn't ruin the moment. The way the Sun/Moon Protagonist is demonstrated, it's like they're basically a robot with a preset face, and so it doesn't matter what is said when, they're just always blankly happy.
Even better, give us prompts that dictate our facial expression after it, if you really want to sell the "YOU'RE THE TRAINER!" thing. At least something to show a reaction.
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Iji - this is great.
Welcome to the party, pal.
My problem with replaying Iji would be that after running it pacifist, that's the only way I can replay it.
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I tried doing a pacifist run first, then I found out kicks kill enemies and so do flying turret heads. So I just did a standard run. Then I did a pacifist run next. Had to FAQ how to avoid the 1 unavoidable kill, but did the rest legit. Now I'm trying to kill as many enemies as possible but I'll probably have to FAQ that also because I keep seeing enemies I can't reach.
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Kawazu is the SaGa guy
Why did his games keep selling
Taro likes to change and try new things, that's why.
But his ways of hurting his layers never change.
Kawazu? Because he is a truly creative game maker, and we SaGa fan has undying love for him. SaGa Scarlet Grace truly is a master piece and what U.SaGa should have been.
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Yakuza 0: I lost a dance battle to not!Michael Jackson. who has some fuckin' moves, man.
The disco mini-game makes no intuitive sense to me and I'm fairly decent at rhythm games (I think). I don't know about you but when I got access to the Hostess club I spent like ten hours doing just that. Yakuza 0 is wonderful.
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Started Nier: Automata. Fenrir, you can say what like about Taro changing, maybe it's true, but 2B's opening line is still the most Taroesque intro possible.
Ran first mission, immediately died to first boss. Okay, that's a game over screen. I already have a list of small details I don't feel it's right to say anything about and none of them are story-related.
I just landed on Earth and immediately had a near-death experience with a moose.
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Started Nier: Automata. Fenrir, you can say what like about Taro changing, maybe it's true, but 2B's opening line is still the most Taroesque intro possible.
Ran first mission, immediately died to first boss. Okay, that's a game over screen. I already have a list of small details I don't feel it's right to say anything about and none of them are story-related.
I just landed on Earth and immediately had a near-death experience with a moose.
Taro torture his players not just by story, but by gameplay as well.
Like the intro that has no save point! Which you must start over everytime if you die! Etc.
Oh, remember to hit the self destruct button when you are on the bunker.
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Started Nier: Automata. Fenrir, you can say what like about Taro changing, maybe it's true, but 2B's opening line is still the most Taroesque intro possible.
Yes.
I got the first proper ending. (I got three non proper ones earlier) Reaction was "okay"
Obviously nothing makes much sense so far but as usual I'm guessing the game will start becoming really cool afterwards.
This game has some AMAZING setpieces. Sorta like Uncharted if it wasn't a generic boring Indiana Jones ripoff but a weird as fuck Taro game. This is not something you usualy see in japanese games.
Combat is broken despite Platinum, but pleasant.
Sidequests are often the most boring fetchquests you can imagine, but the writing makes them worth it. My favourite one so far is the 10 stamps one, though obviously I like the one about the Jean Paul Sartre robot too. And the one in which you eat a fish. someone asks you to eat a fish but says it might be dangerous. You eat the fish and die. ENDING K UNLOCKED
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Fenrir man I know you're playing on Very Hard.
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Obviously nothing makes much sense so far but as usual I'm guessing the game will start becoming really cool afterwards.
Always be you.
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I tried Very Hard but getting OHKOed by a random in the prologue and losing 20 minutes of progress wasn't great.
Instead I played on Hard and got OHKOed by bosses in the prologue and it took me like 3 hours to finish it. Then the game got me to sit on a black screen until the install was complete (I couldn't save)
Cavia
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Yakuza 0: I lost a dance battle to not!Michael Jackson. who has some fuckin' moves, man.
The disco mini-game makes no intuitive sense to me and I'm fairly decent at rhythm games (I think). I don't know about you but when I got access to the Hostess club I spent like ten hours doing just that. Yakuza 0 is wonderful.
Agreed about the disco thing being unintuitive. I'm beating 8.5s (sometimes) in Future Tone and getting rekt by this. Haven't unlocked the hostess club because I'm busy becoming a slumlord respectable real estate investor (but I need to improve my Outrun skillz to make it happen).
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Nier 2 is great but so far it's been nothing like Drakengard really - Yako Taro has changed a lot.
A lot of Nier elements are there - finishing sidequests seem to make the world worse, you move like a fucking cheetah around the world, combat is a wash (even with Platinum) and there's a lot of variety. But the atmosphere is so different! This also means I won't possibly be as disappointed with the endgame in this one.
It's weird to see obscure guys I liked for a long time, mostly for being obtuse, confusing and inexplicable (Kawazu, Taro, Souls guy) get so much traction lately
http://www.glixel.com/interviews/qa-nier-automata-director-taro-yoko-w472664
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C7KfDuYWkAACf73.jpg)
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If there's one element that ties the Nier and Drakengaard games together it's the constant sense of surprise they offer. Is subverting your audience's expectations important to you?
I'm the type that gets bored easily, so I lose any motivation to work if I know what the end product will be like. Actually, I can't even fill in any official government documents because I lose all motivation to do so the second I understand what I'm about to write. As such, I can only create a product that constantly betrays my own imagination.
Somehow not Fenrir. or is it under the mask
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Nier 2 is great but so far it's been nothing like Drakengard really - Yako Taro has changed a lot.
A lot of Nier elements are there - finishing sidequests seem to make the world worse, you move like a fucking cheetah around the world, combat is a wash (even with Platinum) and there's a lot of variety. But the atmosphere is so different! This also means I won't possibly be as disappointed with the endgame in this one.
It's weird to see obscure guys I liked for a long time, mostly for being obtuse, confusing and inexplicable (Kawazu, Taro, Souls guy) get so much traction lately
http://www.glixel.com/interviews/qa-nier-automata-director-taro-yoko-w472664
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C7KfDuYWkAACf73.jpg)
Yet this guy persist.
He had already ran out of new things to do since DoD3 went on sales.
And NieR2 having more shadows of his former entries really is a sign.
You start to wonder if his own persistence of staying in game directing field, even after his creativity has gone dwindling, is a part of his "betraying my own imagination."
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Man I disagree hard. Nier Automata is definitely Taro's best game, even if it ends up reusing some of his classic themes. Somehow it has become more streamlined and pleasant to play, but without really losing becoming less weird. The weirdness has just gone in another direction (-> beginning of NG+, Romeo and Juliet play, "THIS CANNOT CONTINUE", etc)
And that's like the best OST. Cid is going to love this
Have I mentioned that one of the best thing in OG Nier and this is that you move like a fucking puma. In this one you move even faster. You're faster as a humanoid than Mario Kart 64 karts at 200cc
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Speaking of moving 600mph
DOOM - Finishes, been an ongoing thing every now and then since Christmas Sales. This game is good but super fucking intense. It was actually hard to sit down and play for extended periods because of the fairly unrelenting pace it sets. Is it a constant crescendo turned into a game. I finished it to clear up some hard drive space.
Her a Story - so to finish up other things HS I started a while back, I had poked at this lightly one night before raid, mostly discovered the last interview first. Had a rough idea what was going on. Just did lame stuff to view it all in chronological order tonight. Twisted in directions I didn't predict with some stuff, but had the basic framework. The final dialogue that frames the game threw me and I did t expect that. It is as good as people lead you to believe.
Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist - speaking of things I should have done months ago. Take some of the central conceit out of Stanley Parable and instead just explore the themes of being inside a game and focus on humour. Not bad for free and 15 minutes, but very diminished compared to Stanley Parable.
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Pokemon Red: I ended up finishing the Red part of the binge very easily. I had to catch Mewtwo because tradition, and I also had to fight MissingNo because tradition. Jolteon ended up being my MVP for the Elite 4 because it had both Thunderbolt and Pin Missile to take care of Lorelei's team, and 5 members of Blue's team (who I named Brit for this run).
The final team:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/003.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/065.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/135.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/121.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/112.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/144.png)
Jagens:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/021.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/036.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/051.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/rb/085.png)
Pokemon Silver: The one out of the GSC trio I decided to play. I did Gold as a Nuzlocke challenge and I do Crystal most of the time anyway, because Suicune is just too damn awesome. I've currently got to Blackthorn and just caught Lugia, I decided to wait until I got to Blackthorn because that's when they started selling Ultra Balls.
The current team:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/154.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/181.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/064.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/128.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/131.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/249.png)
Jagens:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/161.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/074.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/022.png)
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Spyro: A Hero's Tail: Out of the first five Spyro games, this was the only one I haven't beaten (glitching Enter the Dragonfly does count as beating it). Quite strange considering how it was one of the earliest games I owned for the PS2. I can see why it took me so long. Even as a kid this game seemed unpolished to me. The camera is awkward placed so that Spyro/Hunter are susceptible to back attacks, the music is pretty lacklustre asides from Crocovile Swamp and the bosses are the worst I have seen in a platformer. Every boss is placed inside a circular arena which makes avoiding their attacks monotonous very quickly, the entire fight is centred around waiting for their weak spot to be exposed and after a couple of hits a cutscene occurs to show them taunting you which slows down the pace of the battle. They are a test of your patience and not your skill. Also, you know you have a bad game when the developers forgot to write an ending. Overall, just avoid this one.
Pokemon Silver: I reckon everyone is pretty sick of Pokemon sprites by now. Like Lemon, I have just caught Lugia. Fighting legendaries that know healing moves is a chore. Not helping things is how Lugia knows Safeguard, which protects it from status which is useful when catching Pokemon. Like Lemon said; GSC has a laughably bad level curve and barely any of the new Pokemon, a unique selling point of the game I might add, are present. Some are even restricted to Kanto such as Houndoom and Murkrow, both of which are meant to be promoting a new type. What Lemon didn't point out was how the Johto region is painful to backtrack through. I swear every area is blocked off by a dungeon, HM obstacles or a combination of both like Ilex Forest.
Team so far:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/154.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/064.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/126.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/128.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/131.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/249.png)
Damn, even me and Lemon's teams are similar. I'll try harder with RSE.
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Man I disagree hard. Nier Automata is definitely Taro's best game, even if it ends up reusing some of his classic themes. Somehow it has become more streamlined and pleasant to play, but without really losing becoming less weird. The weirdness has just gone in another direction (-> beginning of NG+, Romeo and Juliet play, "THIS CANNOT CONTINUE", etc)
Well, my point is not about the quality of the game. It's more about what's troubling Yoko Taro himself.
He has openly admitted on he's starting to run out of new things to do since DoD3. And his confession in that interview above only shows that problem got worse. I was struck pretty hard when I saw he pretty much declared himself to be an antique of the past now or simply a 老害 now.
He might became more skillful at what he's been doing now because he has done it many times now, but he is accomplishing less than before when it comes to his own philosophy as a writer and game director.
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Overwatch: Hit 50 hours played on Symmetra, 66% win percentage. Welcome to my reality.
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Mass Effect Andromeda - Yeah it is a Mass Effect game. It feels like Mass Effect 1 story beats updated to Mass Effect 3 polish on the gameplay.
I don't think it will be earth shattering on anything, but really neither was Mass Effect 1.
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Trails of Cold Steel
That idiot Fidelio will show Rex's skeevy pictures at the photo exhibit, but not mine? Well I'll just link them here then:
https://goo.gl/photos/hLqL9MUWZry9TRWh8
Fie is familiar with reptilian infiltration techniques.
https://goo.gl/photos/VzpWf2iyFSbbZYUY9
No sweat, C. (Please ignore the Bag of Tricks x6, aka "you resorted to heavy item spam.")
https://goo.gl/photos/g4abgXbpTDWiqArj6
That's a good point. It is weird that people don't get mad at me for this in the daytime.
So, after some excitement last night (pretty sure it was just a bad dream), we finally have our awesome concert. I'm thinking that something real weird is going on still, though. Everyone knows that the third song and encore has got to be a sing-along, right? Get some crowd participation? Except... it was blatantly a solo. Okay, a solo backed by piano and drums, so Laura & Elliot have an excuse... although Elliot was still on what seemed like a keyboard... so... what was everyone else doing? What was *I* doing? Fie & Millium in particular were still doing drunken swaying and mouthing, but maybe they were lip-syncing. Kinda weird for a "sweet" song. I was... playing the guitar/lute... I think? I didn't hear anything that sounded remotely guitarish though. And lastly, I figured we were gonna do some Erebonian folk song that everyone knew. Y'know, like, say, the Whereabouts of Light, also known as the only Erebonian folk song that exists. Instead we did a song that... uh... not really sure where it comes from, might be Liberlian? It clearly existed, but not sure it existed in *our* world, if you get what I mean. Sometimes I get a weird sense that some music is happening here, like Amber Amor, and other music is happening in some great screen above. It's kinda creepy.
Also I'm not 100% sure why Crossbell merits THIS level of freakout. Apparently their government and police force is incompetent enough to let their big bank get blown up, so I really can't see them being too big a deal. They're just side characters in the real story, after all, like Class I's operetta, which was really good but I somehow only remember the applause at the end.
Also also, I'm having both Angelica and Gwyn, like, arrested or something. Seriously. A healthy libido is all well and good, but there are limits to decorum.
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Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin: Finished the game. This title is pretty damn good and a huge step-up from Dawn of Sorrow. I was very fond of the duo system and how the game gave both characters new equips at similar times. It gives you a chance to experiment with these new items with the characters to see which one you prefer at that point. I also liked how this is one of the first titles to actually feel difficult. The NES titles aren't well designed when being hard, ditto for Bloodlines, IV was mainly difficult near the end, SOTN doesn't put up a challenge, COTM is hard due to dodgy design choices, HOD is pathetic, going after all the summons made me overleveled in AOS, and DOS used the Magical Seals as a way of pretending to be difficult. This game makes you think carefully about your equipment, items, and money without feeling forced. The bosses always pack a punch and the game is nice enough to always provide a save point before each fight, unlike something such as Metroid Prime 2 where you lose half an hour of game progress when you lose a fight, my favourite boss fight was the Dracula and Death fight. I don't need to explain why this fight is so good.
The main issues I have with the game are how the Sandy Grave forces you to use Jonathon, the way how you get the good ending, quests, and some of the designs for the later parts. The game doesn't give you a clear indication of where you get that one spell for Charlotte to use, and even then it has a long wind-up time during the one fight where you use it. Meaning you'll be getting bombarded by Loretta and Stella's attacks half of the time. SOTN at least gave you some kind of clue as to where to go to get the glasses from Maria, and you just needed to attack a floating orb to save Richter. I liked the idea of quests for the most part, even though they become reliant of random drops during the later half, and by then you'd be better off with you got whilst exploring anyway. I could imagine this being an excellent concept if given some fine tuning. My problem with the later half of the game is rather minor; the areas mainly seem like rehashes of the some portraits you entered earlier on, e.g. 13th Street was very similar to Forgotten City. Even though SOTN did something similar so why am I even talking?
Overall, this game is a solid A-rank game which makes for the disappointment which was Dawn of Sorrow. Though I don't believe this title is quite as good as the likes of SOTN or AOS in terms of exploration and the customisation options available to you.
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"Jonathan!"
"Charlotte!"
"Tetsuo!"
"Kaneda!"
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I've dabbled on the Richter and Maria mode for a bit, bad habit with NG+ Castlevania, at least they're nice and quiet when they change who the leader is.
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Richter & Maria mode is p. cool. I played it on Hard; since there's no items, it's a really strong "no excuses" for learning the bosses and making it really rewarding when you beat them. Sisters mode was a pass, ugh, Stylus abuse 24/7 not my thing, and I'm not even a DoS seals whiner.
I don't recall any part of the game really "forcing" you to use someone (forcing you to learn enemy elemental weakness, sure, but Charlotte has a wide variety of crap to equip - even spellbooks which hit different defenses, too), but I do agree that if you're playing "optimally", you are incentivized to use Jonathan over Charlotte, because his skills require usage to level up and hers don't. So if you want sweet upgraded Axe throwing, you should be using Jonathan all the time, at least until you've maxed any skill you care about. I would have been happy if they'd nixed that idea entirely, and just have some late-game artifact that upgrades all your skills.
I found SOTN's true-ending puzzle the hardest of any, myself. PoR requires a bit of completionism to find the spell, but otherwise isn't so bad. (I might just be salty that the clue in SOTN talks about the Clock Tower in a game where there is a section called "The Clock Tower" but it means a different clock tower.)
Good times though.
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Also, random note: XSeed has a big sale on all their PSN titles going on this week:
https://www.facebook.com/XSEEDGames/photos/a.207802608353.129865.163718093353/10154436990378354/?type=1&theater
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The problem with Sandy Grave is how most of the enemies there don't take much damage to Jonathon's whip. Meaning it's kinda geared towards Charlotte. I never said that the rest of the game did this, but yeah I personally prefer maining Jonathon. Mainly because he has a more interesting weapon draw; the AI is more than capable of handling Charlotte.
I will agree that the description for the Gold and Silver rings are really stupid. "Clock Tower" will indicate that the titular area is the next port of cool. But nope, it turns out to be the area in the Marble Gallery where you first met Maria. I like SOTN a lot but this one part doesn't deserve the rose-tinted spectacles treatment.
Also, "DoS seals whiner"? I prefer the term constructive criticism! :o
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Like half the reviews couldn't shut up about the seals back in the day. You're not alone; some people really, really hated those seals! (I obviously didn't, but everybody acknowledges there was a backlash - there was a reason why the Stylus mechanics were a bit different in PoR / OoE.)
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Trails of Cold Steel
Beaten. Well, CS 1. Short version: It's great! Very, very well done. A bit of a pleasant surprise, as I was skeptical of Yet Another High School type story, but dang if they didn't somehow make it mostly work. As per CK / Sopko, if I had a complaint about it, it's that it's a little too anime pandery. Oh well. Still, I'm a person who managed to play all the way through Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time (still sketchy weeb award winner for me), so I can deal, and Rean being a good protagonist salvages the worst of this kind of game.
If I had to mention one thing that's worth hyping about the game, it's that it is possibly the most player-friendly RPG out there in terms of interface, accurate records, and respecting the player's time. Not sure what you're doing? Check a quest list. Need to get around town for shopping or chatting or events? Press square and warp to wherever you want to go. Want to know enemy stats? We'll reveal all of the data over time, and you never lose it once you have it, but even at first, we'll always show status and elemental susceptibilities and current HP (well, after a single hit). And you can look it up easily afterward. You always have a helpful minimap that takes no time to check, shows recent player movement (so even if you turn the Vita off then turn it back on, you can see which way you came from and which way you were going), lets you zoom in and out, shows people to talk to / monsters / event trigger locations. If you lose a fight, you can just press retry. Forget which armor / orbment / etc. it was you just picked up from a treasure chest? It's cool, new stuff has a nice "new" marker on it until you hover over it once. Most of the outdoor encounters are skippable if you are even vaguely good at dodging, just run right past them, so if you're not in the mood for randoms they are generally not an issue, barring a few close-quarters dungeons, which is fine. And even then, you still have a run command. But fights are *fun* in this game, so not even a big deal!
But yeah, good times. This was a ~100 hour game for a completionist like me, and it's amazing how much more stuff I still wanted in the game - people talking more (read: at all) about what happened on the crazy other field studies that Rean didn't go on, people asking Olivert how the hell he convinced our rivals in Liberl to help him out, more details on the Reinford Company, etc.
A few random positive notes:
* A lot of the cast had a bit of a weak start - the Class VII females especially, who basically were introduced as anime archetypes. However, the game built 'em up into characters worth caring about by the end. I will take that any day over "cool concept that we do nothing with."
* The gigantic cast of NPCs that you can stalk all through their daily lives and struggles, a Trails tradition, is still totally here. And most of them are p. great.
* I liked Rean, Elliot, Gaius, Laura, Jusis, Crow, Sara and all the instructors. Fie, Emma, & Machias, took some time to find their groove but got there. This is, like, most of the main cast, so this is a good sign.
* The plots to almost every chapter are pretty good. There's definitely some convenient luck that various evil plans just happen to go into effect when Our Heroes stop by, but that's just how games roll, it's cool.
Some nitpicks:
* A lot of Japanese video games are really into the "person who voluntarily serves another character with complete adoration and dedication" trope. (Oddly enough, not Final Fantasy, at least, but certainly your average Suikoden game has a few of these.) With modern anime tropes, this has kinda half-merged with the maid/butler fetish. Now if you want to serve this trope for people who are into it, fine, but I do find it mildly annoying that every maid/butler at the Academy seems to be utterly dedicated to their patron with no thought for themselves. You'd think they could include a few maids who just shrug and say "it's my job" then go home at night, and a butler who has grown resentful of their boss and is seeking a way out as soon as they pay off their debt or whatever.
* Millium started off annoying, but the writing eventually sorta smoothed it over. Sorta. Towa felt like another fanservice character, but the kind that I'd find tolerable, so she was okay-if-not-spectacular.
* There's definitely some hanging plot threads I suspect won't be answered in CS2 because they're a little too local. Notably, the big dramatic Prologue confrontation at Garrelia Fortress ends up a tad anticlimatic and nonsensical based on later events (and the incident at Legram still needs some explanation too...). Badass and exciting, sure, but still nonsensical.
* THE TWIST: Okay, it was cool, and yes it's hinted at early (heck, was even telling Sopko about it in C4), but it still doesn't REALLY work. I respect not wanting to hint the player TOO hard, but... this was a pretty cataclysmic failure on the part of the good guys. Kinda like Harry Potter book 4? I'm sorry, but there should have been more signs - a lot more. Recruiting an international terrorist organization takes time; so does cultivating contacts and supporters. Yes, I've seen Code Geass, so I know that high schools are secretly great places to run a rebellion and it's a more impressive reveal, but you need "this person is absent for an entire week and comes back with some crazy excuse/story" type events. There was also a body in the helicopter according to the Imperial Chronicle... who was that?
* Ouroboros: What are you idiots doing again? Well, Cold Steel keeps you on your toes if you're a Skies player, I'll give it that much. (The Chancellor was their guy. Why the hell are they selling bots to the Imperial Liberation Front which is trying to kill their ally. Or having the 2nd Anguis help C get a super mech. I kept expecting that some Cunning Plan would be revealed that made this make sense, but no such luck. I can only hope that in CS2 it's revealed they had some falling-out with the Chancellor, or else that the 2nd Anguis just hated the Chancellor personally while Sharon was his ally, or something. Honestly I'll be happy if they're extremely awkward allies in CS2 a la ME2 Cerberus, it'd make sense, although I doubt it.)
* Alisa R. When she's being a normal person, being a mild techie, having Ferris rivalry fun, she's fine. Having Rich Girl problems and ranting about Reinford being too big, eh, not my cup o' tea, but fine. But when the writers are like "you know what, people love jealous tsunderes, let's go with that," she's miserable, because the game has such terrible excuses to set her off. Rean goes to meet a contact - one who you've met before - for purely business reasons, with another person, and is also uh "out of his league", and this sets you into a jealous fit? That MIGHT make vague sense if she was openly Rean's girlfriend and Rean had been "bad" lately and she was just looking for an excuse to dump on him, but she isn't, and this is an utterly harmless incident. Sheesh. She helps drag down the Prologue, too.
* Sopko asked me to guess when I started the game how many of Class VII's parents would still be alive. Come on, game. I get that your cast is way way way too big already, but you can merely acknowledge the existence of other relatives off-screen. (While I'm at it, a few too many of C7's parents are Big Shots. This is fine for the nobles like Laura & Jusis, and I guess Alisa R fills the important role of "richer than a noble" commoner that sets off noble jealosuy. And Machias gives you some insight into the merits of the Reformists. But... you need some commoners who are just random commoners, whose parents were petty merchants or something. Gaius's family shows how "normal" people can be perfectly interesting too, but... Rean/Fie/Crow/Millium all have unique situations, Elliot's dad is a surprise big shot, Emma has a presumably weird situation, etc. I guess having at least one normal family is something, but it does make you wonder.
And some negative ones:
* The last chapter is weirdly weak, especially since I checked with Sopko and he confirmed that there's no particular extra explanation for the dungeon in it in CS2. I don't mean the final fireworks, but the dungeon is the slowest and biggest of any dungeons, and there's not a great plot excuse for what's going on, just a noisy invitation for some hardcore training or something. Not even sure why Celine is hissing at it. Granted, it's still *okay*, just considering how good the excuses for dungeons are everywhere else, it's an obvious letdown to basically say "hey surprise dungeon time."
* Elise Schwarzer. The *idea* of her is fine. "Happens to be classmates and friends with princess at exclusive boarding school for nobles" is actually one of the better excuses for RPG heroes to get to meet a princess on instantly good terms. But, aside from that, she exists solely for very poorly-sold siscon. Ugh.
* Gwyn. I think Donald Trump may have ruined "pervy old guy who can't shut up about how hot his relatives are."
* Angelica. Look, I'm not the Christian right. I'm not gonna complain about lesbians, and I'm not going to complain about lesbians who aren't shy about it and are very, uh, forthright. That said, if you imagine Angelica was a guy and give her the same lady-hunting lines, you can see what an utter creep she'd be. She just can't shut up about how she's going to deflower every delicious maiden in sight. This might be fine for 25% of your lines, but not 75% of them when you're a reasonably major character.
* While on the above note, Rex. Yeah, minor character so no big deal, and I guess they did gave him a moment of seriousness in the very final chapter, but ugh, "takes surreptitious pictures of pretty women" is such a pathetic and odious gimmick trait to have. I guess this is more a JAPAN complaint since that's an issue they have there and just don't seem to treat very seriously.
Gameplay:
* V & C in C6 probably the hardest fights. S, a mere one chapter earlier, the easiest plot fight, although Nosferatu was very dangerous in the same chapter (probably not if you equip the right status resistance before, though). Earlygame bosses in general pretty badass too. Loa Erebonius not so bad, really, and midgame bosses generally pretty easy.
* Final party was Rean/Jusis/Fie/Laura/Emma/Alisa/Machias. Jusis shouts at people with Noble Command. Fie & Laura unload a bunch of damage (had Domination & Gladiator Headband on Fie for huge random clearing). Alisa has Angel which is basically the best MQ in event of dangerous boss (totally saved the day vs. both V & C). Emma's a solid mage, and Machias is the best "oh crap" support to bring in if things go south due to having tankiness + EP healing + time shotgun.
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Like half the reviews couldn't shut up about the seals back in the day. You're not alone; some people really, really hated those seals! (I obviously didn't, but everybody acknowledges there was a backlash - there was a reason why the Stylus mechanics were a bit different in PoR / OoE.)
If you ask LordDirtyBrit, he'll tell you that I can't shut up about the seals to this day.
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Yeah, Lemon spends a good few mins crying about the seals to this day :P
Pokemon Silver: Beaten Red. Just like the rest of the game, Red didn't put up a challenge. I didn't even need to use the level 70 Ho-oh on the fight that often, I only really used it on Venusaur to beat it quickly. All in all, I can't understand why the Johto games get so much love. RSE manages to both update the game mechanically and create a solid core adventure, the latter of which was not accomplished by GSC. I'll explain my thoughts on RSE's strengths when I update my progress on those games.
My final team:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/154.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/065.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/128.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/131.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/249.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/250.png)
Temporary members:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/020.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/074.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/022.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/126.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/200.png)
Metal Gear Solid 2: I have the game on the Xbox 360 so I decided to try it out. I've met Peter Stillman. I kinda wish I was playing this game back in 2001, the fact that you are playing as a protagonist (Raiden) who wasn't even the one advertised must've been legendary. Speaking of Raiden, I don't think he's as bad as everyone says. Then again, it seems to be 'cool' on the internet to claim that any protagonist who isn't from the 80s/90s or isn't hyper masculine is 'whiny' or 'emo'. In terms of gameplay; while crawling is still a bitch, the combat mechanics are so much better than in the first game. If only because the game actually allows you to shoot properly without having to take dazepalm.
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Raiden is fine it's Rose constantly trying to dredge up their relationship drama that starts sourly influencing opinions of him.
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Rose seems quite clingy right now, but some the codec calls can make for some funny comedy relief lines from Raiden "Lobster, woo hoo".
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I like SOTN a lot but this one part doesn't deserve the rose-tinted spectacles treatment.
Which is funny considering it's a game that gives you rose-tinted spectacles as equipment (did those do anything?)
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Rose seems quite clingy right now, but some the codec calls can make for some funny comedy relief lines from Raiden "Lobster, woo hoo".
I eagerly await your response to the endgame calls.
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Y'know, it was kinda annoying at the time, but looking back, there's too many perfect happy Hollywood romances out there in video games. MGS2 at least acknowledges that super-soldier child killers probably have more screwed up relationships than non-weird ones. (And the weirdness isn't "damsel in distress" either.)
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Just going to say that the Stylus problems in DoS were a legitimate flaw. You can argue they aren't a big deal, which is fair, but the way I look at it, it's a mechanic that at best is "something extra you have to do" and at worst a legitimate flaw with the game. It's exactly like QTEs in games like God of War. I just spent all this time killing the boss, now you're asking me to do this ONE EXTRA THING to finally kill him, which if I fail, I get penalized and have to fight him again (I guess that's better than the usual "Press X to not die!", but that's not saying much.)
My thought is if a mechanic can only serve to hurt the game, and it's at best giving you a net gain of 0 value on the game, why even bother? It was clearly forced in because it was an early DS game and EVERYTHING had to find an excuse for the stylus.
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The game's title even has DS as an acronym. I would complain about this more but the SNES and N64 had a similar treatment.
Yeah, you pretty much summed up my problems with the touch controls in DoS. It gets to a point where it seems as though the game got the 3D Zelda treatment, a pre-existing title with a gimmick which doesn't bring anything new to the table. I thought these Castlevania titles were above this type of game design. I'd be lying if I said that I enjoyed CotM and HoD but they at least try new ideas.
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It ain't no Dream Drop Distance. That made me want to log on to the forums on my phone so I could throw my phone in disgust when I worked that one out when CK was posting about it.
Mass Effect Andromeda - It is good, has some seriously intense quest bloat, it I think you just do the ones you want to max out Habitation viability rather than Hoover them all up. It is good, feels like a more polished ME1 really. Similar tone and world building.
Default Female Ryder is great and the internet is trash garbage. I should review some of the other premise choices at some point.
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By 'more polished ME1', do you also mean the gameplay? Or is it still more of a 3rd person cover shooter like ME2 and 3?
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It is still a third person shooter like 2/3. It is better shooter mechanics than 3, but it is still a shooter. ME1 wanted to be a cover based shooter as well, it just is really fucking bad at it.
Main refinements are that cover is automatic now just contextual with the environment and sprinting and stuff is on multiple buttons instead of everything being on Use. Powers no longer have shared cooldown, but are each independent ones, but you can only set 3 at a time (CD is tracked around your cross hair).
If you want more crunchy western RPG stuff, you will want to pick up Tyrrany or Torment instead. If you like ME as a shooter RPG hybrid, it is pretty good.
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It is still a third person shooter like 2/3. It is better shooter mechanics than 3, but it is still a shooter. ME1 wanted to be a cover based shooter as well, it just is really fucking bad at it.
Main refinements are that cover is automatic now just contextual with the environment and sprinting and stuff is on multiple buttons instead of everything being on Use. Powers no longer have shared cooldown, but are each independent ones, but you can only set 3 at a time (CD is tracked around your cross hair).
If you want more crunchy western RPG stuff, you will want to pick up Tyrrany or Torment instead. If you like ME as a shooter RPG hybrid, it is pretty good.
Speaking of Torment:
https://www.gog.com/game/planescape_torment_enhanced_edition
I have zero time but I want to pick up Tides of Numenera at some point.
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I have been waiting and was paranoid it was stuck in some licensing hell.
Chris Avellone, Lead Designer on Planescape Torment, has partnered with Beamdog
That was all I needed.
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Final Fantasy 14 Heavensward: Well, the HW Main Storyline is finally done, so figured I might as well post that HW is "beaten" and now I need to wait until Stormblood comes out.
Overall, the HW storyline is probably one of the best stories the series has had to date. FF11 hipsters will rave about Chains of Promathia, but I just found that story convoluted and hard to follow, with a lot of tedious nonsense, characters that didn't really go anywhere, the annoying as **** FF11 dialect forcing (reading any dialog involving Goblins is the worst thing ever), so many terms that are hard to understand, and even forced comic relief that blatantly detracted from the main story (no, go die in a ditch, Chebukki-kids.) By contrast, Heavensward's story kept all the comic relief to side-stories (Hildibrand) and was played straight the entire way, with a clear main plot, and understood how you handle arcs. The Dragonsong War stuff was just great, the Warriors of Darkness started kind of dumb and implied they wanted to do more but I think the developers realized how overdone "Dark Hero Doppelgangers!!!" are and solved it in one dedicated patch which worked as a vehicle to re-introduce Alisaie and make her actually DO SOMETHING, and the Stormblood set up was generally well handled with some stylish moments, and glad they didn't pull another Empire Strikes Back ending, since unlike ARR, HW is in a point where you want to see the characters expanded upon, not "delete cast, replace and reintroduce!"
I'm wondering what Stormblood is going to do to try and top this.
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I have been waiting and was paranoid it was stuck in some licensing hell.
Chris Avellone, Lead Designer on Planescape Torment, has partnered with Beamdog
That was all I needed.
I'm curious if he's planning on adding in quests or characters like has been done in the other Beamdog EEs. I don't know if there was a lot of note that was unused but whatever, it will hopefully be more polished, non-awkward Torment. I haven't played it in years.
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There is some stuff, but off the top of my head the Torment Unfinished Busibess mod is a bit less dense than BG2 one for all that Torment is falling under its own weight more than BG2 is.
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Let the record show that on March 27th in the year of our lord 2017, user Gatewalker ACTUALLY finished a game that he began playing.
SO I've been playing the Odin Sphere PS4 remake. Gameplay in the original was just not something I could handle, but once I got into the flow of Lifthrasir(sp?), I really got into it and just kinda powered through the whole thing in a week-ish.
Cornelius was easily my favorite character, both for character worth(though I like Velvet and Gwen just fine, and Oswald has his moments) and for being the most fun to play as. Easily pulling 500+ hit combos off with lightning rabbit was Good Times. I wouldn't call it effortless, it took some real doing to keep the timing of stringing the right moves together down, but I clicked with it fairly early. Mercedes was the char I was not having fun with, character wise she's alright if a bit annoying for awhile(doesn't help that she likes Ingway. Man I dislike that guy), but mostly I just did noooooot click well with her style. I'll grant she's probably the actual best character, gameplay wise...I just can't use her for beans.
The strengt of the game is probably the same as the original, though. Story presentation is amazing, each chapter answers questions(often only partially) raised before it and raises new ones and everything ties up neatly in the end. It's a great modern take on the style of the old Epics. All of the major players, not just the PCs, felt like real Heroes in the mythological sense and no one felt like the story could have worked without them. Even the Fire Kingdom which got the least amount of real plot feels needed.
The final fight sequence I had heard a loooot of negative about in the original, but in the remake none of the fights feel too tedious, even if only the Fire King truly felt HARD.The Cauldron was the only one that failed to make me heal multiple times, but Velvet was also using Maury's Bell(highest def in the game and basically doubles your HP), soooooo yeah.
Also, Maury is Kier's new favorite NPC from anything ever.
I may look up the Hidden Trophies and try to 100% this one. Good game, glad I got it, glad it got the remake at all.
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Let the record show that on March 27th in the year of our lord 2017, user Gatewalker ACTUALLY finished a game that he began playing.
All it took was a literal fascist in office.
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Cornelius was easily my favorite character, both for character worth(though I like Velvet and Gwen just fine, and Oswald has his moments) and for being the most fun to play as. Easily pulling 500+ hit combos off with lightning rabbit was Good Times. I wouldn't call it effortless, it took some real doing to keep the timing of stringing the right moves together down, but I clicked with it fairly early. Mercedes was the char I was not having fun with, character wise she's alright if a bit annoying for awhile(doesn't help that she likes Ingway. Man I dislike that guy), but mostly I just did noooooot click well with her style. I'll grant she's probably the actual best character, gameplay wise...I just can't use her for beans.
Interesting. I'm up to the final bosses and my opinions on character (combat) worth are pretty different. Had the least fun with Cornelius - he was good but kinda boring. Velvet I generally agree - had no fun with her until I abandoned the idea of playing from distance like the game intends and embraced her melee options, which are surprisingly good. Still, felt pretty clearly like a character that was designed to be good at a thing (long-range combat) and was not given the tools to make that thing both good and fun. Overall...Gwendolyn=Mercedes>Oswald>Velvet>Cornelius, I think. Gwen's reportoire of air moves is a joy, and the control scheme makes it really intuitive and easy to execute, too. Knocking a dude up ion the air, then executing 3 or 4 fast swooping attacks, then knocking them on the ground never got old. Mercedes I thought they did the best job of making her play really differently from the others, encouraging you to play keepaway and giving her a few tools to make that style fun. Her evasive ground slide while strafing dudes directly above her was a very good addition.
(as for character worth, I really like Gwendolyn and Oswald's stories, and I'm not sure whether the fact that they are complete doofuses helps or hurts my opinion. I admire how the story is filled with self-interested dickheads; really gives it that Norse Edda feel.)
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Gwen I'd have probably liked more if she didn't come first while I was still getting the hang of things, I'll grant. The swooping attacks were fun but I had a hard time scooping enemies back up to continue the combo after the third swoop -> knockdown. I could probably do a lot better with her if I picked her story back up now. FOrtunately the rust with her didn't matter much for her final boss, since they're all very non-standard fights. Hell, for Cornelius's final boss I had to completely redo my skill shortcuts since only 1 of my usual set skills was any good there.
Thinking on my own gameplay preferences with OS chars, I'm finding myself a bit amused here. Cornelius is very much the character that can, if you're good with the timing and using the right skills, just keep a combo going almost forever. This is something I love doing in brawler style games...but haaaaaate this kind of playstyle in fighting games. Gwen meanwhile seems to go for short combos into hard knockdowns that send her back to the neutral game, which is how I play fighting games but not how I like to play brawlers. :V Just kind of amusing to think about.
Gwen and Oswald *are* complete doofs and...Gwen is adorable about it, while Oswald is in that very mythologicaly appropriate grey space of being Not A Good Person while also being sympathetic due to his background. He does get my single favorite line in the game though, "You must have mistaken me for a better man". That was a GREAT scene.
Actually, a question since you're on the final fights yourself. Do the finals besides the fire king feel oddly unaggressive to you at all? Dragon seemed like it also got to what I considered normal levels of boss aggression by the end of the fight, and I guess the cauldron is just a weird fight, but the first two specifically felt like they just...didn't really attack that much compared to what I was used to.
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Grefter don't try to tempt us with your Ubisoft Open World'd Mass Effect, we know better
Nier Automata: Path C! Just cleared the factory!
The main game is pretty short, but like Nier/Drakengard you haven't really finish d the game without going for the other endings.
I knew pretty much immediately upon seeing it that Pascal's village was going to burn, but that was a little overkill. Oh my god.
At least I'm glad I wasn't controlling the one destroying the village in a stupid rage like 9S would, because I was expecting that and dreading it already.
Also! Main character death somewhat in the middle of the game! Nice!
[size]
Have I mentioned how completing sidequests often make the world shittier? I think I have. This is such a small, lovely subvertion of RPG tropes. Because you are not making things better by being an errand boy and killing a bunch of things.
Persona 5 is out on tuesday BTW
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Actually, a question since you're on the final fights yourself. Do the finals besides the fire king feel oddly unaggressive to you at all? Dragon seemed like it also got to what I considered normal levels of boss aggression by the end of the fight, and I guess the cauldron is just a weird fight, but the first two specifically felt like they just...didn't really attack that much compared to what I was used to.
Haven't actually started them yet, but I'll let you know what I think when I do.
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Fenrir, plz. The last thing I would do to you is suggest a third person open world collectathon.
Instead I would tell you that the intro to Torment Numenara is you reading about your character freefalling from low orbit, trying to direct themselves to crash land near a regeneration pod, missing, then you go through character creation inside part of a trickster god's mind where you pick your personality type based on seeing all possible reflections of yourself in a mirror. Once you remember who you are, you then escape from the mindscape of the trickster god to flee from The Sorrow that is destroying portions other personalities you meet there. In the real world you wake to be told you are a left over body from the Trickster God who periodically rebirths as a new person and the body is left as their own person afterwards. You are told this by two people who followed you're body as it burned up on reentry and you crashed through the roof of a place with one of those regeneration pods.
The guy has had some kind of relationship with one of the Trickster god's past bodies and the woman has flickering images of herself in other realities that she communes with.
Numenara is the new release for the Fenrirs. Not Shootem Spacemans.
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Trails of Cold Steel, more stuff I forgot to mention, books edition:
Right after a BIG SCARY THING HAPPENED and there was a TIME LIMIT TO GO FIX IT in the final chapter, the ability to do the obligatory trade FAQ-bait books for completionists to get an ultimate weapon came up. So I of course sat back and read it all then rather than doing it in Dickens-esque installments throughout the game. Eh, the problem can wait, it's book reading time! It's... Tsukihime fanfiction?! Orphan dude with tragic past goes hunting Elder Vampires with a hot blonde lady who seems to know what's up, and there's three types of vampires, the wussy vamps, the Elder Vampires who are ultra powerful, and the True Ancestors which are Totally All Dead Really Yes. And he has an initial maybe love interest which he promptly abandons to be with his new true wuv who is inexplicably impressed by him. And the big bad Elder Vampire wears a huge black coat where he keeps random crap like evil dogs and ghouls. I wonder if it was just a really really close ripoff, or if both were taking from some similar third source, because this is an awfully specific interpretation of vampires, complete with similar weird terminology.
Also, two characters in this game were in Carnelia from Trails SC's book collection. Weird. I guess I should have remembered the name of minor characters from books-within-games who die but aren't really dead better.
Trails of Cold Steel 2
Started up, in the first chapter. Nightmare is... considerably easier than CS1 Hard?! Enemies just don't deal that much damage. Earlygame Celdic randoms could knock off 80% of your HP with a Zero-Arts surprise Aerial from a Zwordar or whatever, and the same here in CS2 NMM deals a mere 30% of your health or so, and the regular attacks are back to the more 8HKO fail you're used to from video games. On Nightmare. I think?! The game is easy enough I keep wondering if I maybe somehow picked the wrong difficulty at game start. On the bright side, this means that the earlygame bosses are less bullshit than they were in Trails SC, although they're still a bit bullshit - they're BS in that they have healing moves of unknown spamability when your best healing is item-based and limited, so they can stall you out if your offense isn't good. I ground my way up to Impassion on Force MQ though in the Prologue, which tips that fight pretty heavily toward you.
I still think it's super cool that this game basically picks up immediately where CS1 picked off with all your skills and orbment slots and all and not babying you. On the downside, that means they feel obligated to uber up your party in other ways so that you can get that feeling of growth... Overdrive might be a *fun* mechanic but it doesn't seem super balanced!
Plot thoughts:
* It's still weird that absolutely nobody has mentioned yet that Chancellor Osborne & Ouroboros were working together, as was stated bluntly in Skies SC? Are they just retconning that out? I guess it depends on how exactly Lechter & the Black Rabbit will be portrayed, since they showed up in the "villains" section of the opening movie, and Vita Clotilde handed the Princess off to them. Are they Osborne's Ouroboros contacts and is still working with the Reformists? Or did everyone inexplicably defect to the Nobles?
* On the same note as above, I have to admit that based on Skies SC, Cold Steel did exactly the reverse of what I was expecting. Olivier claims in SC that Osborne has 70% of the Army owing loyalty to him, so you'd think that Cold Steel would be about Olivier rebelling against Osborne WITH some of the nobles. Not to mention that the Provincial Army is portrayed as more boorish and petty than magnificently evil and powerful, like the Erebonian military might have been, so it doesn't feel like a worthy enough opponent. Kinda disappointing that this will be closer to SC presumably than FC where the Army is the Good Guys.
* I'm also not really much of a mech show guy, so too bad that CS2 will be mechier showier than usual. Especially with the surprise bullshit hordes of Soldats that magically nobody noticed under construction before. (At least the Courageous has the excuse that it was partially assembled in another country, it seems, as far as surprise unveilings go.) Critical failure from Lechter? Ignoring plot, it also means that to keep the mech fans happy, I fully expect the final showdowns to be "Cool land battle" -> "Hahaha I reveal my true power" -> "Oh shit let's call Valimar and let him steal the show!" Yeah, I'd rather be proud of my awesome swordsmanship than proud of the fact a random magic mech chose me to pilot it. Oh well.
* Not that I'm complaining, because marking quest locations is nice, but I think I'd have been okay with not marking the quest locations for the chess puzzle on the minimap! It wasn't THAT hard. Make it so if you mope around that screen too long, you get a big fat hint or the like so you don't get stuck.
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Oh shit I forgot about Torment 2!
Well, I'm waiting for the PS4 patch that improved performance, because it doesn't look good right now and I have Nioh/Nier 2/Persona 5 to finish anyway
Yes I'm a monster for getting it on PS4 but I have to
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I don't mind man. Anything that gets you playing cool shit. If it had a phone release and you grabbed it on that I would be just as hype. I have become a lot less of a purist in my twilight years.
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Zelda BotW is a fantastic game with limited story, but gawd damn.
I had a blast for 120+ hours and I still didn't find all the koroks or finish all the side quests.
That was much better then every recent Zelda game I've played.
ALBW is the only one I'd call good since WW.
Loved it. Now my switch will most likely sit unused until Stardew Valley or some other rpg like game gets ported to it...
(I'm looking at you Mana bundle!)
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https://www.gog.com/game/thimbleweed_park
New game from Ron Gilbert is out. There's too much to play and I have zero time.
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Final Fantasy VII: I discussed how I was replaying this one a month back. I ended up beating it a few days ago with little effort. It's a shame One Winged Angel is an excellent song so you want the fight to last longer. But nope, it was a Comet2 from Cloud, a Mug from Tifa, and a 2x Cut from Yuffie. I also liked to use Cait Sith as my 3rd party member for boss fights; he's a fat mage with a Limit which you can easily rig to get Mog Dance. I never did the superbosses or the Battle Square since I already did them in my 1st run of the game.
Final Fantasy III (NES): I decided to come back to this one 3 years after giving up on the DS version. I've just beaten Medusa and I'm currently rather enjoying it. It's interesting to see the Job Class System in its earliest form and working your characters around the rules it has. Funnily enough, the main area which I've currently had trouble with was the Cave of the Seal; even then it did an effective job at reminding me that the opponents were undead and I should deal with them accordingly (fire Cures with my Red Mage). I decided to name the characters after buddies on my Twitter because why not?
Pokemon Silver: Beaten Red, who was joke even with a party in their early 50s. It makes you wish that his party actually had good movesets. I've seen people complain about the Snorlax, even though it can be hilariously beaten by a Misdreavus. I decided to add in the Level 70 Ho-Oh for the post-game because why not? I ditched Meganium for it because Lugia was beginning to do the tank job better.
The final team:
(http://serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/181.png)(http://serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/065.png)(http://serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/128.png)(http://serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/131.png)(http://serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/249.png)(http://serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/250.png)
Jagens:
(http://serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/154.png)(http://serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/161.png)(http://serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/074.png)(http://serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/022.png)
Special mention:
(http://serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/silver/200.png)
Pokemon Sapphire: Sapphire was the only one of the Hoenn games which I hadn't played. During the days when the remakes were announced, I used to think that the 3rd Generation was an easy target due to the amount of H2O in the late-game. While I still think that these routes are rather dull and lack challenge, I believe that this one has aged very well. I also really like the gyms here, except the last three. Roxanne and Wattson take advantage of their team's durability and constantly try to lower your speed, Brawly has a Makuhita set which attempts to make it an evil tank, Flannery seems to have a weather approach going on, and Norman makes you change your strategy around his Slaking.
The final team:
(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/5/56/Spr_3r_257.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/9/92/Spr_3r_169.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/4/46/Spr_3r_065.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/61/Spr_3r_306.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/5/53/Spr_3r_026.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/0/09/Spr_3r_382.png)
Jagens:
(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/c/c7/Spr_3r_264.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/e/ee/Spr_3r_319.png)
Nuked the ship and the last Trick House challenge:
(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/8/81/Spr_3r_384.png)
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Nier Automata:
Got the last main ending.
So. Everybody loves the special ending and finds it beautiful and powerful. I did too, but something about it felt really off. I thought about it more and now have this theory that it is completely cynical and manipulative. I love it? In any case, it is not what it seems.
I'm not sure I should talk about it more because that'd spoil everything though.
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I've also played some ios games at work slowly.
DQ5 is finished, this game only really had the early parts going for it, it's not great otherwise. My final team was Cureslime / Golem / Archdemon / Minidemon. Team rulez
Secret of Mana Yattaf Solo: surprise the mechanics are still jank in the phone port, though slightly less?
Balance is still dead
Most of the changed graphics are very good, except saber spells! Instead of having a cool looking blue sword, a tiny Undine dances over you. WHAT THE HECK the saber spells were supposed to be the best thing about this solo
The bosses so far:
Spiky Tiger was tough but not that bad. Eventually I learned how to avoid his attacks and it went well? Yes avoiding attacks is possible in this game to a point, it's just the hitboxes which are completely nuts
Fire giant: Dude does INSANE damage with focused spells but if you heal right before, both the healing and damage spells work at the same time and you're fully healed. Even if hit by OHKO damage. Also if you stay in front of him he spams Explodet. I ran him out of MP that way.
Evil Wall: first phase: can rarely be hit, heals with cure water while the eyes do weak damage
Second phase once the eyes go down: becomes vulnerable, pushes you into spikes / wall for gruesome instant death
I avoided the second phase entirely by just killing one eye, boosting accuracy with SPEED UP (OMG) and wailing on the main part with lvl 2 axe charge attacks
Kilroy: got completely cheesed by the whip
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Bravely Second- Actually have a little time to game, so I'm trying to finish this off. Just hit Ch 6. Also just got Glossolalia, which is fun. Even though I only have a few spells in it (and am not planning to use friend codes to get more), I got an ara, an aga, Dark and MT healing, which is not a bad basic skillset for a cost of 1 support slot.
Noble Eagle definitely an interesting tactic to try to exploit in use of killing randoms quickly, although it can go very wrong with a miscalcuation.
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Final Fantasy VII: Beaten Sephiroth. Yuffie's Conformer wrecks most of the end game bosses thanks to their high levels. Overall, I found coming back to this game to be a pretty fun time. Materia is fun to experiment with and the plot is very engaging, especially throughout disc 2. This run has exposed me to more of the game's flaws though. A lot of the minigames kinda suck and I felt they were trying way too hard to have variety with them. I also feel that the damage output is way too low from both randoms and bosses, which means that there isn't much strategy to consider against them as most set ups will steam-roll through them with ease.
Pokemon Emerald: Beaten Steven, who is a superboss in this game while Wallace is the champion (what the hell?). This game has aged way better than the first two games. The mechanics are balanced unlike with generation 1 and the core game is solid unlike with generation 2. The level curve is consistent, the Pokemon selection is much more varied than the first two games and the region is actually fun to explore asides from the large amount of water routes near the end (at least they are optional though). The bosses in this one put up a harder fight than the first two as well. While they aren't all that challenging, they at least use actual strategies unlike with the bosses in the first two games such as Flannery's White Herb + Overheat Torkoal. Colosseum is next, a game I have never actually played before. I hear it has a pretty bad reputation due to its slow battle speed and purification system though.
Final team:
(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/8/8d/Spr_3r_260.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/a/ab/Spr_3r_286.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/4/46/Spr_3r_065.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/61/Spr_3r_306.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/5/53/Spr_3r_026.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/8/81/Spr_3r_384.png)
Temporary members:
(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/3/33/Spr_3r_263.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/4/43/Spr_3r_277.png)
Used on Steven:
(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/0/09/Spr_3r_382.png) (http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/67/Spr_3r_383.png)
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Final Fantasy Dimensions
Decided to replay this. Considered what I wanted to do, and then decided that I'd done enough fiesta-type challenges for these games lately and that hey that solo of FF5 was pretty fun, so sure, let's try one in this game. The twins are the only cool characters anyway, so my choices for who gets to solo each path are obvious. Like most FFs, characters stay at 0 HP after battle, which makes solos more palatable (ironically the main exception to this is the only FF I have soloed twice).
Like FF5, Exp focuses and AP does not. Exp focusing is good because spoilers this game is harder than FF5 so I'll need it to not just get totally dunked on by damage. Probably gonna get dunked on by status regardless. Stay tuned!
Prologue: None of the characters from the Lux side of things will be used in the solo, so whatever, I just play this normally so it goes faster. Turns out having no jobs is pretty boring! FFD tries to make it a little better by giving Diana and Aigis some magic (and then Elgo gets a fuckton when he joins). The first two bosses aren't much, Manatoise explodes to Elgo's Blizzara and Watchbeast to his Fira.
I now gain control of the party of the party working for the Empire. In the first battle, I kill off Nacht and Sarah. The fun begins! No job system yet, and I do this part as a duo rather than a solo to level both Dusk and Alba; it also eases me into the actual challenge. Dusk starts with L2 White and Alba starts with L2 Black, so hey, skillsets!
Mount Lux: First dungeon fo the challenge. I give Dusk the Iron Sword and Alba the Whip (back-row weapon) and use those + Alba's MT magic to sweep. Patch up with Cure between fights. Once I get the Iron Bow I switch Dusk over to that so both can be in the back row (its damage isn't that much lower than the sword, and hits weakness on some enemies here). Not much to say about enemies in this dungeon; Sprinters inflict confuse which makes them more notable than the rest, but it's not as bad as it could be as my characters don't hurt themselves that badly. Bombs are also notable for being elementally neutral which makes my inner FFT fan twitch but is true to FF5.
Crystal Temple: A slight step up. Mud Golems are bulky and also confuse, Lesser Lopros is generically hard-hitting so I have to be a bit more careful. Nothing too bad though. I use status (Sleep or Mini/Toad or Slow) occasionally on tougher enemies; it's nowhere near 100% but it works more often than not. Tents restore MP (only way to do it repeatedly at this point as ethers are pricy). They also revive everyone but whatever, they can kill themselves again.
Watchbeast - Doubleacts, but to the back row his damage isn't too special. The problem is that below half HP he starts using Soul Despair, which is MT HP-1. Fortunately it's only ever used as the second move of a doubleact, so he can't score cheap kills. Still that makes wary of using my turn right before I suspect he's going to act, and MT Cure doesn't patch me up much, though typically enough to survive a double physical in the back row. So not too bad, I just need to be awake.
Jobs!
Now the real fun begins. I control Dusk's party first. Which means solo Dusk. Let's talk about how the jobs do solo:
Physical jobs: Have good HP and decent damage but no MT. They're fine if I don't need to heal mid-fight. If I do, I'm in the wrong job. Potions restore 100 which struggles to erase 1 round of enemy damage even now (and only gets worse from here), Hi-Potions are in short supply and not storebought yet. Warrior is generally the job of choice here since Counter is quite a bit better on a solo.
Summoner: Summoner has the deepest MP pool, near-best Int/Mind, and bad stats otherwise. Importantly, they have Sylph. Sylph's healing focuses, and at this point one use (which also does damage comparable to a L1 spell, competent at this point) easily fully heals me if I'm in a magical job, even Red Mage. It's much less potent on the physical jobs... though still way better than Potions or Cure. Unfortunately at that point its 12 MP cost becomes the bigger issue.
Red Mage: Offers balanced stats and a decent physical and loads of skillset, Sylph still heals fully.
Black Mage: Highest possible INT has its uses, though only once I've learned Sylph really.
I actually get L1 Red first because it's a great swiss army toolkit for encounters; it provides MT, Cure (which far outpaces potions on a mage), and the ability to kill flans. Once I get that my strategy for the first few dungeons is to go Summoner L1 Red until my MP runs low then switch to a physical job and use potions between fights.
Crystal Temple: Just a walk out in what is normally supposed to be you showing off your shiny new toys. Unfortunately in my case things are much less impressive. I run into a group of three Stunners (rats which do... exactly what it sounds like). I learn that paralysis can be reapplied and the timer resets, so once one Stunner lands it I never recover. Yikes, FF1 flashbacks.
World map by contrast is super-easy and a chance to build some AP. Near Liene there are some tougher enemies like Bugbears (who aren't so tough once they're minied, as I discover when briefly running Red + L2 White, since it's a white spell). No big. In Liene I can buy L2 white but there's no reason to, decision to do Dusk solo paying off! I do buy L2 black, of course, and a bunch of potions. Not enough, it turns out.
Mount Liene: Some NPC tells me it's dangerous, I shrug him off. I promptly wipe twice to the first random I get into. Yikes. Mud Golems and Lamias both have confuse, and the Headband which blocks it was on Alba, so I don't have it. That's bad. Otherwise it's just a matter of damage adding up and my underestimating it. Fortunately this dungeon has a Headband in it... as well as the Metal Rod (best int-booster) which Alba also made off with. Hooray! Unfortunately only Red Mage/Monk/Thief can use it... but it's okay, confuse falls off a bit after this dungeon anyway.
Castle Liene: Yellow Jelly is immune to physical which is a threat to me once I'm low on MP and running physical sets, though I keep some MP and MT Thunder 2HKOs them even off Knight MP. The other enemies here are either old or not too notable.
Hell Minion and Butch - Black Mage with Sylph. Hell Minion can use Roundhouse (damage+empty targets ATB, which is a pain) and otherwise just hits me, not too big a deal. I use Sylph if I feel in any danger and Fire/Ice/Bolt otherwise. Once he takes a few hits he calls for Butch, his pet chimera. I ignore it and keep attacking him. The choice is made extra obvious by the fact that Butch can drain around 80 HP a round from me (and I'm in the back row) which would outpace much of my damage. Sometimes he'll use a weaker MT attack instead. Ha! He also has stun, but at least there's no damage, and Hell Minion no longer attacks at this point, just gives Butch orders.
First time I played the game I killed Butch first and Hell Minion responds by going into a berserker rage and buffing himself. This time I kill him first, and he responds with "Avenge me, Butch..." and I assume Butch is gonna do something similar. Butch responds with a roar. On his next turn, he uses Flee. :)
I've reached the Warship now and it's definitely a step up. Updates later.
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Final Fantasy Dimensions The twins are the only cool characters anyway, so my choices for who gets to solo each path are obvious.
Wow you would think I would be used to FACTUALLYWRONGelves by now, but jeez, that's some serious bullshit.
Dusk sucks as well.
Person A5 - I bought this today, I dig how the manual is a little minfig of the main character, though I guess I could complain about silent mains being really flat characters, but I think that is kind of the point here.
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Persona 5- Also doing this thing. SOCIAL LINKS SOCIAL LINKS SOCIAL.... errr CONFIDANTS!
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Ahem...
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) PERSONA 5 :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
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what about it?
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PERSONA 5
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Persoooooonaaaaaaaaaaaa (https://youtu.be/2_zAxPqKa8Y)
Diablo 3 - Season 10, Witch Doctor again because I liked Zuni's set last season when I used it so why change things.
I will actually get to Persona eventually.
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Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep A Fragmentary Passage- Well that's a title.
The way they integrate style changes with everything else works well I think, and the idea behind chain spells makes spamming magic not an entirely terrible idea despite the return of KHII style MP. The restriction that puts on your ability sets compared to the last three and change games in the series does make things feel artificially harder though. Getting a read on enemy attacks is kinda wonky too, BUT that could be a function of the particular bosses involved (pure-dark Heartless in the main, which have always been weird and gimmicky compared to other boss forms), or of the game being built on the assumption that you're an experienced player if you're playing this particular game and all.
That said the star of this show is the levels. While the actual layouts are pretty linear, they very clearly wanted to show off after years on portables and other such things. It's pretty, it plays with perspective and layered level elements, it really helps push the game along.
I'll uh spare everyone any other ponderings.
Real short of course, but it was pretty upfront about that. 7/10 stuff I suppose.
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Man, they aren't even trying any more.
Kingdom Hearts reBirth by Sleep:Gaiden/5 Games.
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Dusk is at least kind of amusing and a much-needed voice of sanity in Sol's party of idiocy.
Final Fantasy Dimensions Chapter 1 end + Chapter 2 start update
Oh yeah since I should record my levels: 14 for Watchbeast, 19 for Hell Minion.
Warship: By far the toughest dungeon so far. Many of the encounters here are semi-fixed; you can avoid them via stealth but if you engage one you can't escape. Once you engage one the encounter is decided randomly, from the same list as the randoms (which only occur in rooms with no wandering soldiers). Two enemies here are particularly tough. There are also a couple truly fixed encounters which you must engage to proceed, including one as soon as you enter the dungeon.
Battlemage x2 + Cavalier (2 resets): The Cavalier uses physicals and is unspecial. The mages are another matter. They're in the back row and can use Fire (around 80-90 damage, which is a 4-8HKO depending on job. They can also physical for dinky damage, cast Poison, or cast Toad. Toad sucks because it means that I can't do anything except use items, and I discover quickly I should Maiden's Kiss ASAP to cure it because suddenly all physicals hit frogs super-hard. Occasionally both battlemages use it consecutively, cancelling it out. Ha! It can also miss, though not often. Anyway they fall in 2 ST hits or 3 MT.
Once aboard the ship, both these show up as randoms, as do three more enemies: Sergeants, Sergeant Majors (both wusses; the latter can take an extra hit but will run at low HP), and Swordsmen. Swordsmen unfortunately have Pommel, which is paralysis. Paralysis lasts a little over three turns and means you can't do anything. Oh yeah and if Pommel is used again it gets refreshed. They don't use it too often (I'd guess around 1/6 of the time) and one time I fight three of them and get super-lucky and kill them with damage before they use it even once (which means 3-4 MT spells). But uh yeah this is terrifying. No way to block it, though it's evadable so that's a definite leg-up Red Mage has (they have 20 evade at this point with shield + Kenpo Gi). That said RM needs one extra hit to kill quite a few enemies in this dungeon so I typically run Summoner/Black. Later on I realise that I should be aggressively trying to status these guys... Toad does the trick! It usually hits but not always, and means they can only do 1 damage. Toad any swordsmen as a super-high priority, deal with Battlemages as the next priority... it takes me a bunch of resets to get all this down but eventually I do.
There's a fixed fight at the bottom against a Swordsman, a Battlemage, and two Cavaliers. A couple more resets here. Finally, toughest of all is an optional fight against two swordsmen and two grunts... to make matters worse, it's an automatic ambush so yeah paralysis very much a thing. Front row (which becomes back row), red mage to increase speed/evade, Toad/Sylph through this one. Probably takes me around 4 resets. My reward is a Crossbow, and since I have been using bows as Black/Red Mage occasionally to conserve MP this isn't a complete waste.
At the top of the airship is a chian fight culminating in a boss. The first part is against three Battlemages, usual strategies apply. Then three Cavaliers, easy-peasy. I do heal up with Sylph at the end...
Captain (1 reset) - What an original name. Anyway he's kind of a badass, being significantly faster than me and 3RKOing a back-row red mage. By himself not so bad, but he brings two friends, a Phalanx (who has Roundhouse, which is damage+stun) and a Battlemage. Oh yeah and one of his physicals (he doubleacts) adds confuse. Ack.
So yeah, the strategy is Red Mage with a Headband, back row. Silence on the Battlemage turn 1, now she can't do anything but occasional physicals. Silence never wears off! Next, Sylph on the Phalanx... twice in a row becase I'm taking loads of damage. This kills him and I'm down to the boss. He's still tricky because he's so fast and taxes my resources, but he's vulnerable to Slow, which is great, so I keep him under that. Slow, unlike Silence, does need to be reapplied periodically. I run of MP in this fight because it's not short, I have to use Sylph a lot and I had to burn some getting through the first two fights. I use three Ethers (=4500 gil, ew) but I win.
After there is a plot fight with Baugauven. I dunno what happens if you die before it times out and I don't want want to find out; I'm able to turtle a bit. After that the party is revived and I have to fight two battlemages and a cavalier, thank goodness there's no swordsmen. I'm a bit nervous at this point since I really don't want to do the boss fight again but I win. Chapter 1 complete! I was Level 22.
No new stuff worth noting in Braska. I buy potions. Lots of potions. I end up going up to over 90 and I'll need most of them.
Deist Cave - This dungeon is the first serious resource test. Unlike the Warship I am actually kinda far from a save point, the dungeon is not short and there's only one save point in the middle. And battles tend to drain 20-25% of my MP.
-Takumis Pineapples get 3HKOed by MT or 2HKOed by MT + ST (including Sylph). That said 3HKO MT is a bad plan because at low HP they sometimes blow up for 200+ damage.
-Cait Siths aren't too damaging but they have confuse. Red Mage and Monk can block it but otherwise too bad. Fortunately confuse isn't too bad since this dungeon spams physicals otherwise, enemies tend to deconfuse me. Still it can be bad if it happens when I need to heal, of course.
-Cave Turtles hit decently hard but die to two Blizzards.
-Tunnellers are jerks in slugfests, having nearly double the HP of most enemies in this dungeon and sometimes tossing out 150-damage Earthquakes. Three at once is pretty gross. Mostly they drain a lot of MP.
-Red Caps come in reasonably large numbers and their damage can definitely add up, but there's nothing special about them otherwise.
I have a lot of resets here, probably more than I should. A lot of this is due to trying to cut corners in my Sylph use.
Once I run out of MP I try to switch to Knight/Monk. Monk... does not work, loses slugfests and I get owned. (They become able to win them once I get the Poison Knuckles late in this dungeon.) Warrior works better with counter/better durability but does fear confuse some. In both cases though I can expect to use like 8+ potions after each fight which is terrible. I do discover that now that my level is higher, Sylph is actually still surprisingly okay healing, just limited MP. I steadfastly refuse to use any ethers here. I do run occasionally, especially when I do clever things like forgetting to change my row for warrior/monk use.
I get a Healing Staff which is awfully tempting for extending my resources; it item-casts Cure! Unfortunately Cure cast by it is way worse than the real thing, restoring ~50 HP when used by Red Mage. Ew, no.
I almost die to the Drake plot fight at the end (again, assuming one can) due to not going in healed but I just get it to time out.
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I tried a Dimensions solo before deciding that No, This Isn't Worth It. Good luck
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CONFIDANTS CONFIDANTS CONFIDANTS!
5/16.
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It probably isn't worth it, no, but I've had worse ideas. How far did you get? (Also did you ever finish that Black Mage SCC or did you get bored of burning everything?)
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In the solo, I got up to near the end of the first chapter IIRC but it was hard and I was really scared of making the wrong choices re: jobs, especially since I hadn't even played the game once.
In the black mage SCC, I got up to the final boss but couldn't beat him because of the low durability and non existant useful healing options for a black mage at endgame! I had even hoarded all elixirs for this fight, but this wasn't enough. And levelling didn't help in any way.
It sure was fun though
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P5: That UI
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One or two people may have suggested that I'd like Heavensward. That it is, in fact, kinda Excal bait.
They were right, so very, very right.
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P5: 6/11. 27 hours in.
Plot's been good so far. I like the Caper framing. Copy Shogun had some freaking great dungeon gimmicks. Reminded me of El Shaddai in a way...
The cast isn't as likeable as the P4 cast, maybe even not quite as likeable as even the P3 cast... I suppose the moodiness fits the Rebellion theme, but man are they hardcore moody teenagers. With good reason! And really everyone is a terrible person. Or maybe I'm just getting old. Party is also -really fucking bad- at keeping their mouths shut about what they're doing.
Random S-Link commentary... Temperance is okay in practice but the setup is -really- fucking skeevy. Moon is an awful character who might just have the best bonuses attached to their link. I'm intrigued to see where Sun will go. Didn't expect him to be Sun at all, really. Grabbed what I could there, waiting on a Sun persona to do more.
I'm at 3 Knowledge, 3 Guts, 2 Proficiency, 2 Kindness, 2 Charm. Knowledge takes way more points to level than the others. Has anyone found a place to read books other than the train? The Movies and DVDs are great though. They really went out of their way to make cheesy dumb knockoffs.
Game is good times so far. The amount of effort is apparent. Music feels lacking, with only the Night theme sticking out. Just going for low-key rather than the WOOO PEP of P4.
Edit: Also, whenever it cuts back to the interrogation and they ask MC to be brief, then the game proceeds to have you continue going through days as normal... I keep getting a picture of MC telling Grandpa Simpson's Onion story from "Last Exit to Springfield." As was the style of the time.
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Sopko, could you give me five bees for a quarter?
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The main difference between Persona 1-4 and Persona 5 is that 5 is a hostile game (so far) much like mainline SMT. You are not welcome. This makes the earlygame infinitely more gripping honestly.
Also these are the best menus of all time
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I think P4 just colors perception that much. P3 wasn't exactly upbeat, and neither were P1 and what I played of P2:EP. It totally makes sense for the first part of P5, but the level does start to wear on you a little.
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It's interesting you bring up color - P5's black white and red scheme - very traditional for stark, powerful imagery - seems inherently conflicted with the super slick coolness of so many other aspects of the game. Not sure what to make of that yet - I initially thought P4's color scheme was a misfire but I've 180'd on that.
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You mention P2:EP. I was getting P2:IS vibes more from this game, now more then ever. I had to stop due to issues at work but I'll keep playing to see what happens.
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Persona: Not actually playing yet, but watching my kid play. Igor's voice actor totally lifts.
(https://i.imgur.com/o3LMqjv.jpg)
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Final Fantasy Dimesions - Dragoon chapter, middle
On the world map, the main notable new random is the Stray Fang. They're dogs fought five at a time, and they will use Roar, which is stun (ATB reset). They are faster than me. So uh yeah unless none of the five use it I don't get a turn, and this doesn't happen very often. Fortunately stun does not in any way impede my ability to run, so I just escape every time I run into them.
I reach Deist. Storebought L3 magic! Yeeeeeeessssss~ Anyway, the L3 black is a game-changer. -ra spells hit three times as hard as the basics and only cost twice as much MP, a huge improvement. I buy Cura and Protect (not Raise) since I have plenty of money but I'm not sure when I'll use them, Protect is only -25% HP with a duration limit, which has clear uses in a team but probably not in a solo, Cura is outclassed by Sylph. But yeah, -ara spells. My new best friend. Two shots of it MT take out any randoms on the map. I head to pick up some Dragon grass in a totally not lifted from FF5 plot point and... oh dear.
Lieutenant (~10 resets) - So he's basically the same as the Captain from the Warship, which is to say he does doubleact physicals that sometimes add confuse and generally 3-4RKOs me. His stats are a bit worse for the time but a bit better unscaled. This wouldn't be so bad but the big difference is his support is way better. He comes with two Ensigns who can sometimes physical for weak damage (though it's a tech so it doesn't lift confuse), but can also cast -ara spells of their own, with the offensive ones doing 200 damage (legit for the time, my HP as Red Mage is around 700-800) and Cura healing off roughly one MT -ara of mine. Yikes. Worst of all, unlike the captain's support, they seem to be status immune; quite a few of my resets involve trying to land sleep, silence, toad, anything. Nope. Beyond that it's extremely easy to be overwhelmed here (if both ensigns use attack spells... yikes), and even when I'm not it's equally easy to be walled by them (especially since Sylph is now a notable offence cut) until my MP runs out, which doesn't take as long as you might expect with my spamming Sylph constantly. I determine that Slow helps overall but I can't seem to win anyway.
Fortunately there's something new and cool next to this boss fight: a white chocobo! This little buddy will restore my MP but not my HP, which is actually great for a solo because it means that unlike tents/inns, my allies are not revived. Grinding just go easy, blast away with MT spells then heal with Cure between fights, rinse repeat run from any roar-spamming dogs. I gain 2 levels which doesn't actually take long, bringing my HP up to around 800 and giving me a lot more margin for error between Sylphs. Strategy is to Slow the lieutenant turn 1, heal with Sylph whenever needed and blast with a ST -ara on an ensign if I somehow don't. Once one Ensign falls the risk of death falls dramatically and the fight becomes much easier. I may use one Ether, I forget. I'm Level 27 (was 25 when I got there).
Dragon Valley: My next destination. A bunch of resets here, what else is new. -ara spells are still great but there are two problem enemies. One is the Stinger, which counters below a certain HP threshold with HP-1. Do I need to explain why this sucks? Some experimentation lets me figure out that I can OHKO one with an -ara, and if there are two or less enemies left, MT -ara OHKOs them too (FFD does this thing where spells do 100%/67%/56%/50% as they unfocus instead of a straight 100%/50% like many FFs). Otherwise they have bad damage and sometimes poison, so a lot of my resets are just learning how to manage them. There are also Sidewinders who are weak to ice and get OHKOed by MT Blizzara which becomes the only spell I need, Elementals who half elemental magic but still get 2HKOed by it sometimes (though have decent magic offence of their own), and Zuus. Zuus are big fat jerks: they have status immunities (I think), hit hard, and are really bulky. Alone they're not bad, they actually get barely 2HKOed by ST spells. When they appear with Stingers and Elementals then things get hairier. I mostly have trouble with them because they appear later in the dungeon when I'm nearly out of MP and uh yeah fighters get destroyed here.
Midway through the dungeon there is another Drake plot fight. I figure out that you need to hit him twice for 900+ damage or so and he'll use Flee, timing it out doesn't work. At the end of the dungeon there is Barbara who freaks me out by getting three decently damaging turns before I get one and then a fourth while I charge Sylph to not die but after one shot of Sylph she retreats, not sure if that's time or damage.
Moogle shop, I can buy ethers again. I don't, but it's nice to know that I can. Main priority is stocking up on 99 potions again. Yeah I may have run out in the previous dungeon. I also get Barbara who comes with a sexy pair of Battle Boots, +2 speed yay.
Cave of Fulmination: Dynamines counter with Self Destruct at low HP, ironically I have an easier time when I first show up here and I'm at a lower level and MT -aras seem to barely not trigger the counter (maybe it's below 1/3 HP?). Ogres sometimes use confuse but also physical me out of it, bats have terrible damage but also have confuse and only rarely hit me out of it. Thunder Harpies have a MT attack (lol) but unusually strong physicals and good bulk, I actually need 3 turns to win battles involving them. Flamehounds use a lightning attack based on their current HP (no, not fire) which does around 300 at max, but not so deadly once beaten up. And finally there is the Mindflayer, the dangerous enemy of the dungeon. Not only can they use -ara spells for 200 or so, but they can use Mind Blast, which is probably like 75% accurate paralysis + around 150 damage. Paralysis is still awful!
Anyway I get through this dungeon all the way to Ramuh's save point with no deaths. I rule! I do run out of MP and potions and straggle through my final fights as I try to win with physical setups, fail, and have to run, but oh well. Then I promptly have half a dozen resets from the save point exploring the bottom floor of the dungeon, whoops, too many Mindflayers and exploding Dynamines here.
I try to fight Ramuh but he has incredible HP (7200! Nearly triple the previous boss). Without Slow I spend too much time healing, with Slow I'm limited by Red Mage MP (since I need both Sylph and -aras, and I don't yet know Red 3 so the only way to get all three relevant spells is as a Red Mage). I could easily win by using the Dry Ether in this dungeon, I think (unless he gets nastier at low HP) but there's no compelling reason to do so now, I'll leave this until after the next area I suppose. Although looking forward it's not like Vata is likely to be any easier...
I'm Level 31.
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Trails of Cold Steel 2 - Finished the Prologue, Celdic, & Nord Highlands. Good times so far, although seems suspiciously easy for Nightmare. (I double-checked by starting a Hard file to compare monster guide entries, and yeah, this is definitely Nightmare mode.)
This isn't a HUGE complaint, but the game is still squeamish about actually killing people or finishing them off or anything. This plays both for and against your party, but yeah, ultimate nerf warfare as you unload with huge special moves of doom and knock people "unconscious" afterward. Well I guess HP being a weird concept isn't new, that's been around since D&D first edition. It's still weird considering that This Is When Shit Goes Down, and this is taking place in cold-edged Erebonia, not hippie Liberl - if I'd been in charge of writing the plot, I'd definitely use the change of setting as an excuse to draw more of a contrast and not have everywhere feel similar in values and culture. It still slightly annoys me about how nice everyone is - even in a world where people just don't die and it's impolite to finish them off while unconscious, taking them prisoner and stealing their stuff is presumably above board, no? An army is at its weakest in retreat. Don't just drive up with reinforcements and say "haha you should retreat"; cut them off and finish them off and steal their cool stuff, and take them prisoner. Especially for tanks. Their whole point is that they're mobile and chase you down forever!
I'm not sure I would call it idiot ball, but there's a plot point that the characters are being weirdly silent about when there's an utterly obvious in-setting assumption to make. Since she's in the opening video, there's a new antagonist who's a little girl who has an invisible robot friend. Millium Orion (a party member) is a little girl with an invisible robot friend that looks identical, but is a different color. Millium's codename or whatever is "White Rabbit", new antagonist identifies herself as "Black Rabbit." And the opening video - as well as the game plot - quickly establishes that antagonist's last name is also "Orion." So.... um... folks? Care to, you know, comment on this strange coincidence at all? Like... there is OBVIOUSLY a connection here. Maybe Our Heroes don't have the ability to investigate it at all, maybe Millium herself is being inexplicably closed-mouthed about her sister/relative/clone/rival/whatever, but there can at least be some speculation on what this would imply. And hell, the characters can even be wrong about it. It's just bizarre to shrug and ignore it, when this has an obvious implication that would be good to consider! (Specifically, that the Intelligence Division may have gone wrong / Lechter showed up in the antagonist side of the opening video? For all that having Lechter as an independent or Reformist villain would be fine, having him work with the Noble Alliance makes negative sense... we'll see I guess, but the characters should be wondering about WTF is going on.)
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Shadow of the Colossus: I promised that I would get round to this one and I'm not one to break a promise. I've currently beaten Kuromori; meaning you could argue that I'm already halfway through the game. I'm actually really enjoying this one despite not being big on 3D action adventure games (I'm looking at you 3D Zelda). I really like how each fight with a colossus is handled. They don't all feel like the same thing as each other; each have their own unique stadium and their own platforming puzzle. My favourite of the colossi in terms of a good fight is currently Avion; nothing is more frantic than trying to stab the wings whilst keeping in a position where the wind won't blow you away. The only colossus which I didn't beat on my first try was Kuromori, mainly because I wasn't quick enough when getting away from his breath. Also, Revived Power is an excellent piece of music.
Pokemon Colosseum: GameCube games now seem to cost silly money, meaning I decided to play the game through other means. However, little did I know that these other means costed the data on my GameCube memory card. Meaning I'm not going to be playing this one anytime soon. Good thing too since I really wasn't enjoying this one. The battles are extremely slow, do we really need to see every individual movement a Zigzagoon makes? The AI is also really retarded, that Misdreavus meme can't have come out of nowhere. My favourite moment with the AI was when Golem and Camerupt kept spamming Earthquake to wipe out their own party, even the Entei. Yeah, this Pokemon game is kinda bad; the original Diamond and Pearl compares favourably to it even in terms of speed.
Pokemon FireRed: I usually play LeafGreen for muh Starmie, but this binge is an attempt for me to give other versions a try. This meant that FireRed was the one which I picked; although I'm not using any version exclusives in my final party, so the difference will only be what I find in the wild and Charizard appearing on the title screen instead of Venusaur. My friends on Twitter aren't all that fond of this game; they go as far as to say that it's one of the weaker entries in the series. I personally disagree. FRLG manages to improve on most of RBY's problems; even the early-game selection has a bit more variety this time around. The main drawbacks which I have with the game are the bosses are more simplistic than RSE and you can't access some of the Pokemon which got evolutions in GSC, I want my Crobat dammit! I also don't understand the raging hate for the soundtrack. It's as though RBY had a good soundtrack to begin with. The main songs I believe are worse than RBY are the battle themes outside of the one that plays against Gym Leaders, I strangely have a soft spot for that version of the song. In terms of position I've currently got as far as the S.S. Anne. I would've gotten further into the game if I wasn't searching for that annoying electric rat.
The current team:
(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/f/f7/Spr_3f_002.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/e/e5/Spr_3f_017.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/9/9b/Spr_3f_056.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/5/5b/Spr_3f_025.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/4/4f/Spr_3f_074.png)
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Since people are playing P5 now.
I'll drop this tweet here. A tweet from last year from a pro translator who had lived in Japan.
If only every translator in the industry has his level of awareness...
https://twitter.com/iiotenki/status/814615451393257472
Also a few game play tips:
1. Get the Death's co-op level to lv.7 ASAP before Temperance shows up.
You want those SP recovering accessory from Death's shop as early as possible.
2. MAX OUT Temperance ASAP as soon as she shows up. She literally is the MOST POTENT co-op in this game. She can do a lot of things for you so you don't have to waste your time slot. She can even free up some of your class time. Her co-op MAX bonus even lets you keep your night free time even if you dive into Palace or Memento that day.
3. Always keep at least one persona in your inventory that can cast confuse. Most mid bosses eats status this game, and confuse on them = they give you big bucks every turn. You really want this money grind by mid game.
4. Once the Wheel of Fortune unlocks, get her to lv.7 ASAP. Her potency is second only to Temperance. She can raise the affinity of other co-ops for you.
5. Buy the state up drinks in the station every Sunday. It really helps you out in the long run. And I mean buy it every Sunday, even the drink they give you is something you don't want. The type of drink is always sold in a specific order, no randomness in it. The next drink won't show up unless you buy it first either.
6. Do not raid a Palace unless you can beat it in one run. Losing a day hurts a lot more than you think.
7. Almighty damage up skill exists in this game. Shows up randomly if you do on-line fusion after it unlocks.
8. Once you can make skill cards, get the Emperor's co-op level up to lv.7 He can duplicate ALL CARDS once he hits lv.7 Also, you can get Phy Immune card and Charge card just by mid game side quests. So don't use them, but save them for mass production later on.
Random S-Link commentary... Temperance is okay in practice but the setup is -really- fucking skeevy. Moon is an awful character who might just have the best bonuses attached to their link. I'm intrigued to see where Sun will go. Didn't expect him to be Sun at all, really. Grabbed what I could there, waiting on a Sun persona to do more.
Whoever did the Sun and the Moon must have done the proper home work on Tarot reading.
They were done so fittingly to their respective Arcana that's a bit of unbelievable.
I also lament they didn't reverse the Moon's position on the final co-op screen (when they did it to another Arcana). It is a realistically done transition of the Moon's reading from upright into reversed.
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honestly I'm enjoying P5 enough that I may just do a replay to get max social links instead of trying to get them all on try 1. I'm 30ish hours in and not remotely tired of it yet, despite massive binge playing.
And yeah, Sun is probably my favorite social link, but I'm a sucker for redemption arcs. And Moon I kind of want to punch repeatedly.
My favorite char in the game overall so far though, goes to the Priestess link. 1000% Gate bait character.
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Thanks for the link/advice, Niu. I juuuuust got to the point where I can choose how to spend my time (5 hours! it's a good thing the game is so awesome because that's pretty absurd) so your advice is timely.
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Metal Gear Solid 2: About to fight Vamp. While I love the bosses in this game, I wish they shown up a bit earlier. There was practically nothing in between Olga and Fatman, the former of which was fought in the Tanker chapter. As a result; Fatman, the harrier and Vamp are fought quite close together, mainly separated by plot dumps. Speaking of plot, I'm rather enjoying it so far. I'm actually finding the Raiden and Rose relationship rather interesting (sue me) and because of this, I am ensuring that I don't read up on why Jack won't open himself up. I hope Kojima was going for a dramatic irony approach with the whole 'Pliskin being Snake' plot point though. Nobody would think that Pliskin and Snake are different characters, especially considering that the game outright states that they have the same actor.
Pokemon Leaf Green: I said I was going to do Colosseum next. I tried the game out and I found it way too slow to play through, even slower than Sinnoh mk1. Not helping things was the issues ThatMasterLemon suffered with the DIOS MIOS emulator, so I just decided to give up and move onto FRLG. I've just finished the Silph Tower. Boy what a difference a RSE point makes; the mechanics are no longer broken, the types are pretty equal for the most part (Dark and Steel are non-existent until the postgame) and the Pokemon selection has improved somewhat. The early game Pokemon have been buffed quite a bit too; Pidgey now has a Flying move before you get the Fly HM and Mankey can be caught at Route 22 like in Yellow. One last thing that helps FRLG in comparison to RBY from the top of my head is that there are running shoes now, good bye going into the menu to get the bicycle out.
Team so far:
(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/2/23/Spr_3f_003.png) (http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/6e/Spr_3f_057.png) (http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/7/7f/Spr_3f_026.png) (http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/f/f4/Spr_3f_065.png) (http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/9/98/Spr_3r_134.png) (http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/a/af/Spr_3f_085.png)
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - Vata pain
Highwind Tower: Another tough dungeon because they all are. I do this dungeon in multiple runs to restock on potions and save after the cutscenes which occur frequently. Some new randoms, new problems.
Liliths counter with Embrace, which inflicts petrify. I can't immune it. They also use confuse a lot, which causes me to randomly attack... sometimes them, which gives me a nice snake hug. Balrogs use confuse sometimes too. This makes being a Black Mage (for more MP) risky, so I mostly run Red Mage for confuse immunity. Liliths can be OHKOed by ST Fira since snakes hate fire? I dunno. MT Fira just means I eat counter-petrify.
Lesser Demons can inflict silence or sleep. Sleep's annoying, how much depends on who they're with, but usually something will physical me out of it soon enough. Silence means I have to use an Echo Herb and if used when I'm low on health means I can't use Sylph and can get in a lot of trouble. "But Elf, you should just use fighters!" Yeah Monk is kind of an option here with the claws from Ramuh's cave but they take a hell of a beating and I can expect to use like 15+ potions per battle. Anyway Lesser Demons also counter with Curse sometimes which halves my damage. Annoying but at worst means I need to lob one extra spell to win.
Wyverns and Bone Dragons are harder-hitting and a bit bulkier, though Bone Dragons hate fire (so do bats, who return from Ramuh's cave. Fire is good in this dungeon). Bone Dragons use curse on their own turn sometimes. I have some deaths here (especially figuring out Liliths) but it's not toooo bad. The boss is the real problem.
Vata - Unfortunately there's a cutscene before the fight which revives everyone to 1 HP and Barbara to full, so I have to begin each Vata attempt by killing them off. This isn't as bad as it could be because Vata is a softy at full HP, using double physicals which do 120ish to the back (Red Mage has around 1500 HP now, way more than you'd have normally at this point). Slow him, beat him down with -ara spells, Sylph when low on HP. Easy!
Once he loses a third of his HP or so Vata starts getting a bit more serious, using Howling Gale. He'll doubleact, the second move is always a physical. Howling Gale does like 300 and inflicts Sap. Sap drains like 12% of my health over 4 turns or so, not too bad but we're forcing more Sylph now. Vata's got enough HP that MP restoration is a must, I use my Dry Ether during this middle phase of the fight and get ready for the limit phase.
At around 30-33% HP, Vata will start using Buffet (MT damage that also stuns) and Tornado, which is HP-1. Tornado is super-cheesy for a solo. First of all, he still doubleacts with the second action being a physical. He doesn't always do so, but probably at least half the time. Tornado followed by a physical that hits (I am a shield-using red mage) = I die. But wait, it's worse! Sap can be fatal, and can't be cured (short of Dispel which I don't have). If Howling Gale has being used recently, I die, unless I'm right about to get a turn and use a potion (or I was already charging Sylph).
The key of course is to refresh Slow right before entering the limit phase (if not slowed, Vata is faster than me and thus Buffet's stun is extremely dangerous, plus he has more chances to Tornado). I then spam Magic Bomb 2, which costs 16 MP and hits slightly harder than an -ara. (600 damage instead of 550, roughly.) And I pray a lot. Sylph gets used whenever I feel threatened; overzealousness on offence costs me plenty of resets just as cheap Tornado deaths do. After around 10ish resets I win. Chapter complete!
I gain control of Alba. Second versa, same as the first: I switch to Summoner to gain Sylph as a secondary since that's gonna be great again. I leave the shrine, heal up, bemoan my lack of potions, and get on a boat. There's a fixed encounter and... wait, it's actually really quite hard!
Blood Suckers (~5 resets) - They're weak to lightning, and counter it with Constrict which is paralyse. Paralyse means I die. Otherwise, they can use Slow and are significantly faster than me to start with. This gets them lots and lots of turns. They can triple physical which does around 20 per hit to my 200ish HP (400 as a fighter, but that means front row; Dusk made off with my bow). And they're reasonably bulky, needing 4 Sylphs/L1 spells to fall. I get ruined by Constrict, then try to beat them with physicals but always end up damage-spammed to death, and even magic setups often get beaten down. I ultimately retreat to Summoner and just spam Sylph and pray I don't get overwhelmed. Not very elegant or strategic but I'll take it.
Mount Verde: I get a shop at this point, hooray! I buy 30ish potions; should have bought 90 because this dungeon is surprisingly big with just one save in the middle. The randoms here aren't too notable so my usual strategy of spamming MT spells and using Sylph when needed gets the job done until I run out of MP, at which point I switch to physicals with mixed success, then switch to thief when I finally run out of resource (despite not having flee yet, thief is the best job for running away... not because they do it any faster, but because I can steal while I do it). About the only randoms worth mentioning in particular are the Yellow Jelly, which is immune to physicals, and the Megalodoth, which is weirdly tanky for the time, shows up in pairs and hits reasonably hard, so running from them is actually optimum.
After this dungeon I find my new white chocobo location. Yay! I also get Chocobo ASAP this time (I missed the pre-Warship chocobo forests with Dusk), so it actually has a use: at 12 MP it is overpriced, but still hits harder than L1 spells at least.
Mazewood: This dungeon starts with another deceptively tough fixed fight.
Scouts (~3 resets) - Like Blood Suckers, these guys count as bosses and have status immunities. They can use Cura which offsets one of my attacks, or -ara spells which deal like 5-6HKO damage, or weaker physicals. The problem is they're CRAZY fast, like over 2x my speed, and there are two of them. So uh yeah that damage can add up fast. Red Mage for better bulk/speed, then Chocobo -> Sylph most turns, burning almost my entire Red Mage MP on just one fight. I go back out and heal up of course.
This dungeon is pretty tough, and it's mostly due to three specific enemies. One is the Treant, which can use Berserk. A berserked mage is a dead mage. The second is the Mantrap, which can use sleep. Not bad alone, but they buy time for Treants to use berserk, and they appear together. The third, even worse, is the Vampire Thorn. These guys can appear in packs as large as four, and while they're weak to fire, spamming MT fire is NOT gonna cut it here. Once they've taken any damage there's a decent chance they use Drain, which does 100! This not only is significant healing, it's badass damage, 4HKOing me. Multiple ones using Drain = GG. I can put them to sleep and try to overpower them one at a time but it's super-costly and risky.
Past a certain point in the dungeon, though, you get a Slasher (31-power axe). And holy hell, for the first time I'm pretty sure a physical setup is actually OPTIMUM for a section of the solo. See, axes hit weakness on plants, which all the problem enemies in this dungeon are. Those Vampire Thorns which need Sleep + Fire x2 to die, or Sleep + Sylph x3? They die to a single hit from the Slasher; I don't even need to use Strike (the basic physical tech). The others don't fare much better defensively (they die to one hit + one counter, or one crit/Strike), and berserk is no longer a winning play for them. My counters hurt too! The physical setup is relatively less potent against the dungeon's other enemies but whatever they're not the threat. I burn potions fast as with any physical setup but it's worth it. Somewhere in this dungeon I get a creepy old man on my team, he's easier to kill off than Barbara though. Good.
I reach Alfheim, which means -ara spells! Definitely catching up with Dusk reasonably fast; I'm already Level 25.
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Persona 5 - okay actually started because I wanted a break from Mass Effect. Was trying to work out which Bro Ryuji was. Then it turns out he is a moron and gives you toy guns, mess and fucked up metaphors. Hey Sopko finally a Bro that is definitely me and not you.
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Persona 5: Why are the camera controls so bad? 2017 and we don't know how to make a working camera? Also the controls during "hide" sequences in palaces are way too twitchy - protagonist bounces around like a flea on caffeine.
Not sure if I like or don't like the UI. I can see it giving people seizures.
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I hope Kojima was going for a dramatic irony approach with the whole 'Pliskin being Snake' plot point though.
Kojima 101. I'm pretty sure somewhere else during that conversation chain Snake says something about his headband giving him infinite ammo.
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He does yeah. More specifically, he just says "Unlimited ammo" pointing to his headband or some such.
In any event, there's no question the game wanted dramatic irony there; any player would figure it out immediately, and the name on top of that is further evidence of "we're not even trying to hide this fact from the player, it's just there to hide it from Raiden."
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The only thing causing me to doubt the 'dramatic irony' aspect about Pliskin was that Kojima seems pretty adamant on Raiden representing the player. Especially considering how Raiden was meant to have covered the Tanker chapter as part of his VR training like how the player had played it before starting the Big Shell chapter.
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DirtyBrit: It's been a long time, but my recollection on Raiden plot was that he played Metal Gear Solid 1 in VR training - i.e. that he did a VR simulation of the "Shadow Moses Incident" where he played as Snake in Alaska. Not the Tanker, which is a little too recent. And of course video game training will make you a heartless killer who only follows orders! Could be wrong though! (Either way, it fits into Raiden = YOU THE PLAYER OF THIS GAME RIGHT NOW of course.)
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DirtyBrit: It's been a long time, but my recollection on Raiden plot was that he played Metal Gear Solid 1 in VR training - i.e. that he did a VR simulation of the "Shadow Moses Incident" where he played as Snake in Alaska. Not the Tanker, which is a little too recent. And of course video game training will make you a heartless killer who only follows orders! Could be wrong though! (Either way, it fits into Raiden = YOU THE PLAYER OF THIS GAME RIGHT NOW of course.)
Once Raiden learns about the Patriots, he discusses to Snake and Otacon about the Tanker chapter and how he covered it during VR training. Snake and Otacon then tell Raiden that he was played a version which didn't cover the true story. Either way, OF COURSE VIDEO GAMES MAKE YOU INTO HEARTLESS KILLERS!
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P5 - forgot to save in a safe room, wiped to some trash after a miniboss, quit for the night, lost one sprint of Safe Room stuff in Castle 1. Not sure if I can clear this in one day without being wayyyyyyy more conservative with SP. Feel slightly catfished after P4 Golden where they were much more free with SP with send For Help and just general dungeon pacing. It felt like the first dungeon is like twice as long as your intro dungeon in 4.
Debating what to do, I could check how much SP I have on the save and evade all the trash from here on out (which actually feels doable with the tools you have) and see if the 15 SP of drinks, Snuff Soul and Chewing Soul from a Locked Chest will do the job. On the other hand I did buy like nothing going in, I could roll back further and go shopping.
Another option is to just put it on face roll mode and move on with my life. Will wait and see.
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I say play theough dungeons slowly and don't talk with garbage/boring confidants so that not having enough time isn't a problem
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We play Persona games for very different reasons. I enjoy following someone else's spreadsheet like laundry list of things to do. It is cathartic and leads me to seeing more and more perfect shoes.
Also I neglected to note another highlight. This game is amazing at drawing old Japanese men like you would see in a Production IG or Satoshi Kon movie.
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Persona 5: beat the first Palace. There are either too many save rooms or not enough. Died on literally the last enemy before a save room. And yeah for an "intro" dungeon this is hella long.
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - In which elves visit elves
Addendum to previous post; I'm Level 23 upon reaching Alfheim.
Anyway I try out Titan's cave but the enemies seem harder than those in the main plot, so I head for the Yggdrasil Cave instead. One annoying new enemy is the Red Soul, which can inflict curse on its own turns, halving my damage. I can heal that with a Sacred Candle buuut they often just use it again. It usually ends up easier just to run. Otherwise there are three enemies here weak to ice so Blizzara is go. One of them is a flan who immunes physicals. Tunnelers, the beefy enemies from Deist Cave, make a return, and are much more reasonable with -ara spells, though are still bulkier than average even now. Cait Siths and Pineapples are back from there as well, but die really easily. Magus is the most dangerous enemy here and the source of most of my resets since they almost always use reasonably damaging -ara spells and don't get OHKOed by MT, I also get ambushed by them several times.
When out of MP I run physicals here, they're kinda serviceable though not dominant like they were in the Mazewood; flans unfortunately wall them.
Green Keeper (2 resets) - Every turn he gets, he regens 140 HP. Sylph does somewhat more than this. He's weak to fire and Fira hits for around 600. On his own turn he uses either one or two physicals which each do a bit over 100 to the back row, I have around 600-700 HP. Legit enough pressure. He also counters magic around 50% of the time with Osmose, which only drains like 10-15 MP but it adds up.
The problem, though, is below half HP he casts Haste, raising his speed by 50%. Haste doesn't wear off. If I slow him to get rid of it, he'll counter with Haste (a pattern shamelessly stolen from Evrae; fortunately he doesn't counter until his limit range). Suddenly the regen is more potent as is the offence, it's easier to get overwhelmed and if I turtle behind Sylph his regen beats me out.
Winning strategy is to go Red Mage for the slightly better bulk while retaining good damage (isn't this always the case for bosses?) and use Slow at the start of the fight. Four Firas will knock him into limit range, so I use three then use an Ether and heal up with Sylph in preparation for the final push. At this point Slow wears off but no big, Haste will overwrite it anyway. I push through with Fira and spam that, getting in one Sylph and hoping for some luck with him not doubleacting. It's good enough.
Unfortunately there are two more Green Keeper fights to come in this chapter, and every one gets tougher than the last. The last one... *does some research* oh fuck (https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/e/e9/FFD_Natural_Healing.png). Well uh we'll see if this is the end of the legit solo run when we get there, I guess.
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Persona 5 - okay actually started because I wanted a break from Mass Effect. Was trying to work out which Bro Ryuji was. Then it turns out he is a moron and gives you toy guns, mess and fucked up metaphors. Hey Sopko finally a Bro that is definitely me and not you.
Ryuji is not the Junpei/Hanamura position.
Morgana is closer to those two than Ryuji.
Though, it is Mishma who really fits the Junpei/Hanamura position in this game.
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So, my first playthrough, and I'm starting on perma-Merciless.
Dungeon 1: Had to leave like two or three times. Beat the boss at level 8.
Dungeon 2: One shot cleared, though there was the forced eviction for a puzzle. Ground two levels when I secured the infiltration path, though it still felt low. Also picked up two lockpick chests on Calling Card day. Boss beaten at L16.
Dungeon 3: Still on this one, but having the SP Adhesive 3 is helping a LOT. Just secured the Infiltration Path, and am sitting at L21ish. Wondering what I should do about the boss and when.
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Persona 5 - okay actually started because I wanted a break from Mass Effect. Was trying to work out which Bro Ryuji was. Then it turns out he is a moron and gives you toy guns, mess and fucked up metaphors. Hey Sopko finally a Bro that is definitely me and not you.
Ryuji is not the Junpei/Hanamura position.
Morgana is closer to those two than Ryuji.
Though, it is Mishma who really fits the Junpei/Hanamura position in this game.
Mishima is human garbage, so no. He's not Junpei/Hanamura. Ryuji is just those guys taken a step too far, which grates after a while. Honestly, it seems the whole cast are Quirks without the P4 cast's grounding normal behaviors to accompany them. They're all quirk all the time and it's kindof tiring. I still enjoy Morgana's antics though, and Queen is cool. I'm wondering how Oracle will turn out, since they could go either way. They run Fox's gimmick into the ground too hard.
As for you, Grefbro, you are Hierophant. Every meeting is a lesson about coffee. Star might be one of the more pointless links out of the 3 games, even though their link benefit is good. Death and Temperance are good so far. Ryuji's actually isn't bad since it deals with the parts of him that made him tolerable in the beginning.
Anyway, I'm up to 9/6, 56 hours in. 4th dungeon was the first I could get through in one go, but it cost me all my Snuff Souls, Coffee, and Soda. Leveling Moon up as soon as I did means I'm way overleveled now (37 after the last batch of Mementos requests). Shiki-Ouji is goddamn broken. Unless there are a plethora of Nuke tossing enemies next dungeon, I don't see a reason to use anything else? Null Physical is just that good, and I have Bufu/Mabufu and Psi/Mapsi on him too, along with Double Fangs. I could maybe find a skill card to improve the physical offense, but it's all he needs.
Stats are up to 5/4/5/4/4. Just barely missed leveling Kindness up to 4 to start Hermit before coming shenanigans, but I have high hopes for the S-Link. I played... maybe until June FAQless? Since jumped onto the Spoiler-free FAQ train even though my schedule's way off sync.
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Breath of the Wild: Cleared Vah Naboori, which has easily the toughest boss fight so far -- largely because I failed to bring any one-handed weapons, so I couldn't block its melee attacks and had to rely on dodging, which is really unreliable once it changes attack patterns. I only won through abuse of Daruk's Protection -- turn it off in the first phase, when dodging is easier, then reactivate it for the last phase and take advantage of the automatic stun when it activates.
Luckily, I shouldn't have to worry about a lack of one-handed weapons again, because my next stop after that was to finally make my way to the Master Sword. Not only is a great to have a reliable weapon in my inventory, but using it to dismantle Guardians is so sweet.
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Persona 5 - okay I figured two options were on the table, stat up too late and do the whole place again or power through on Easy. I rolled back to before going in to palace to check shop options. No SP healing for me yet, so I went with weapon for Ryuji and cheap armour for him and Ann. A weapon might have been better. First lockpock went to weapon for Morganna. That went down pretty fine really. Not fighting everything and not pushing Persona upgrading as much (still got everything from the first chunk of the dungeons, everything but the owl guy or up overall. Generally stuff was fine except for trash Heavenly Punishers who could just opt to global My whole party with AoE if they wanted and were just a dice roll.
Ended up staying up even later and beating the boss as well.
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Generally stuff was fine except for trash Heavenly Punishers who could just opt to global My whole party with AoE if they wanted and were just a dice roll.
It's a counter at like below half HP. They're still harder than any boss in that dungeon.
Anyway I am playing this a lot, shock, it's good. I am incredibly sick of Ryuji though and he's the most infuriating party member (thank god Morgana is there to own him). Echoing Soppy's sentiment that the cast isn't as likable as P4, but those are some high standards to be held to, so it's not a damning statement. For Ryuji it's annoying since his social stuff is fine (actual development shown) but his general presence never improves beyond "hot-blooded dumbass who revels in being a dumbass." I just got Queen and she's great, looking forward to more of her.
First dungeon was hardest so far from sheer length. I did what Grefter did and restarted when I learned how tight the time squeeze is in this game, managed to one-day it after relenting and dropping the difficulty to Normal for randoms but honestly it was mostly having the knowledge of how to do the encounters. Second was a joke (enforced break helps) with a much better boss. Third is currently a joke and what I'm on at the moment. Though to be fair that's mainly because of unlocking Death rank 7 and buying those SP accessories, in particular making the protagonist a wrecking ball that now doesn't run out of gas (in an SMT game, stunning, I know).
If you are buying out SP drinks like I am, the vending machines that sell them are at the school courtyard, Shibuya Arcade, and Bathhouse. The accessories have made it a moot point though.
Pretty much agree with all social link comments so far, re: Moon being human garbage. I did not expect to end up liking Death but did. Morgana is way better than Teddie for mandatory mascot char. Navigating Tokyo is fun. On some level I am pretty bothered by how casually people seem to discuss prospects of student/teacher non-platonic relationships (srsly just gossiping about a girl possibly dating a teacher is kind of repulsive; note that this is ignoring getting into the actual plot which of course is its own thing) but that's about the most eyebrow-raising thing as far as social commentary goes. Temperance starts out really questionable for that reason as well but at least tries to vaguely address it directly.
I will probably play the game to death for the foreseeable future, 25 hours in (in practice more because I spent about 4 hours replaying through about 10ish of first-time content).
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Persona 5 - okay actually started because I wanted a break from Mass Effect. Was trying to work out which Bro Ryuji was. Then it turns out he is a moron and gives you toy guns, mess and fucked up metaphors. Hey Sopko finally a Bro that is definitely me and not you.
Ryuji is not the Junpei/Hanamura position.
Morgana is closer to those two than Ryuji.
Though, it is Mishma who really fits the Junpei/Hanamura position in this game.
Mishima is human garbage, so no. He's not Junpei/Hanamura. Ryuji is just those guys taken a step too far, which grates after a while.
Junpei/Hanamura arch type fells under the "Is complexed/jelous/attached to MC because MC is just so much better than them" category.
Mishima is no different here. He just takes a step further in the wrong direction than Junpei did.
But on the topic of Mishima being human garbage... Save the comment till the end of his co-op.
I'd consider Mishima even better than Hanamura for one thing he did.
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Persona 5 - game just turned into hot garbage.
Started Heirophant. Time skip happens. Edgeworth lady in the future doesn't say "And how about caffeine? You must have had someone to make you coffee and the ways of the bean to be a Phantom Thief."
I am fucking done. Fuck this bullshit game.
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Persona 5 - game just turned into hot garbage.
Started Heirophant. Time skip happens. Edgeworth lady in the future doesn't say "And how about caffeine? You must have had someone to make you coffee and the ways of the bean to be a Phantom Thief."
I am fucking done. Fuck this bullshit game.
Silly Grefter, it is the curry that you should be mad about. Who cares about coffee if you have curry.
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My Playstation 4 bricked this morning, so not only do I not get to play Persona 5 or Dark Souls 3, I'm also going to miss the entire new Overwatch event that starts today while it's in the shop. FML
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Is just memes Niu.
Coffee and curry are life.
Edit - and like for real, I wear loafers and ankleless socks these days even. Other than the part where Sojiro lays more pipe than a sanitation worker the overlap is a bit weird.
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - Ranger chapter end
I do the Cave of Convulsion at this point. Bone Dragons (bulky, fire weak, curse physicals) and Liliths (fire weak, coutner with petrify if not OHKOed, also use confuse) are back and still kind of a pain. Elf Toads sometimes counter with Toadsong, which does what it sounds like, but it's highly inaccurate. Speaking of inaccurate, they sometimes use Croak, a move I must have seen over 30 times and have never seen hit once. Hopefully my high level is reducing it or something.
The main new dangerous enemy is the Dark Mage, who has Sleep and lots of magic. Magic doesn't wake sleeping targets. When a Dark Mage has friends, they aren't so dangerous, but a pure Dark Mage fight is another matter.
Titan - Probably the easiest boss in the game so far. Titan uses damage, and isn't really that great at it. His big thing is his MT limit which is maybe kind of okay in a normal playthrough if you don't think to Slow him. (I Slow him.) He has high Def so magic is a must and he has no weaknesses besides wind (bow damage still bad) so I end up using three Ethers here, arguably a waste since I'm not going to actually use Titan any time soon. Oh well.
Yggdrasil: Dark Mages are back, and pairing them with Elementals (weaker mages) makes for a relatively dangerous formation. Black Widows inflict slow but are wusses otherwise. Wood Eaters inflict blind but are wusses otherwise (Silver Speces get used when I'm running a physical build). Stingers, who counter with HP-1, also make a reappearance; as usual, OHKO them.
Physical builds become much more palatable here with the Great Bow received during the dungeon; it lets me sit as a Warrior in the back row and still counter everyone for full damage. Plus it OHKOs Stingers. Magic builds are still more effective overall but physical works very well when I run out of MP, better than in many previous dungeons.
Green Keeper 2 (1 reset) - This one is fought at the start of the dungeon. Basically the same as the previous (and with the extra levels from Cave of Convulsion under my belt, his damage is definitely worse relatively), but he regens twice as much, 280-290. Ick. Strategy is largely the same as before; Protect and use Fira as a Red Mage, heal up and use an ether before knocking him into limit range. I also cast Protect at that point too so I can get him down without using Sylph; this proves enough to win.
Green Keeper 3 (~5 resets) - A bastard. He regens 430 HP a turn. In haste, he 4-3's my Fira casting, which does around 700. In other words, I only outpace him by about 130 damage every Fira, and that's nowhere near good enough since Osmose ensures I run out of MP and have to waste a valuable turn on a Dry Ether... or have to heal. I see no way for my current build to do it. So for the second time in the game I actively stop to grind a little.
This time, it's not a few stat points I'm after, but skills. I'm close to both HP+20% (Red Mage 3) and Int+20% (Black Mage 5). I get both, and set both in place of Sylph. This means I have to use Cura/Hi-Potions to heal, but that's okay. With Int+20% combined with the two extra levels I get, my damage is now closer to 900, so my margin for outpacing regen is far more significant. Once again, Protect, heal HP/MP while he's slowed before activating his limit, and then blast away with Firas. This time, with no risk of needing to heal HP at any point, I'm victorious.
Asmodai - Two plot fights first, one of which is solo Freyr who can't die. I actually do have to attack with him to advance the plot, not that this matters. Then the real thing.
Anyway, after the Green Keeper fights he's a bit of a breather, though not trivial by any means. He brings loads of status to the table; I respond by equipping to block confuse and poison. His skills include Forsaken (~20 MP damage and confuse), Caustic Spittle (damage + sap/slow/poison). Below a certain threshold he adds Cursed Miasma (paralyse) and Upheaval (earth magic). Slow is initially a big worry but proves not too bad; it lasts less than one (slowed) round, and since I keep Asmodai slowed constantly too, it's not that loog for him either. Similarly, paralysis sounds super-deadly (see my rants about Swordsmen earlier), but his version doesn't last as long (only two rounds or so), and the move which inflicts it is extremely inaccurate. Overall his offence is rather poor against my bulked-up overlevelled HP (though I am back to running Sylph instead of HP+20% now). Slow, Sylph when my HP falls below around 600, blast away with Fira. Eventually I realise that the Great Bow is damaging enough as a substitute to save MP (like half as much, but no charge times). Sadly I do waste a Dry Ether before figuring this out, and I'm not gonna redo all that plot just to correct this. Victory is mine on the first try. I'm Level 37. A total of 23 levels gained during one sub-chapter! Exp focusing is silly.
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So last time I posted here about actually playing something, it was starting Nier Automata, but it didn't really click with me at the time because I'd just played a game about killer robot future, and also I got distracted because--
Dark Souls 3: Show's over. The Ringed City, the second round of DLC for Dark Souls 3, is the last piece of Souls content we're going to get. So says Miyazaki, and I see no reason to disbelieve him--as good as DS3 was, it never felt as inspired as Bloodborne did, and it's very easy for me to believe that he'd be both creatively better off and more invested in establishing more original IPs than in continuing a series that's said its peace.
But The Ringed City is very good. That's pretty much in keeping with expansions to previous Fromsoft games, which usually add some of the best content they have.
The lore connections are cool, most of the new loot is fun to play with, and three out of the four new bosses are outstanding. The other one is hot trash, but I'll still call this a winning ratio. The optional boss is From finally doing a dragon boss right, and the last boss is pretty much the final word on what has traditionally been the kind of fight From always excelled most at: an impossibly badass fallen warrior in need of a mercy killing. I could gripe about the actual levels leaning too hard on a basic design tenet of "Make the player run a lot looking for hiding places from an unkillable sniper -> retread steps later to loot everything after finally finding a way to kill the sniper." I raged a lot about this when I first played it and do dock points for them reusing the idea too many times. But ultimately there's too much good here for me to feel like this ruins the experience. Of all the DS2 zones to explode and repurpose, I wouldn't have expected Earthen Peak. (But that's okay guys, you know why? Because it means they brought the fanservice clothes back.) Based on that, I kind of expected to see more overt landscape nods to past installments going forward, but I guess I can see why they didn't do that more--trying to cram in more environment types would likely lead to geographical incoherence. And the Ringed City already is exactly what it needs to be.
As for that dragon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRdMsdPPOr0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvok_DYfP5s
So much rage for the second one. Does that count? No, seriously, does that count? He was already dead! I guess it doesn't count, because I know that if the hit had killed me, the game wouldn't have called it a win.
(When From tallied up death rates for Dark Souls 2, they announced that the player failure rate for Fume Knight was something like 95%. I'd bet that Midir is higher, and having by now run this fight a helluva lot in co-op, I'm prepared to cite this as the #1 reason why: host trying to forcibly insert the lifeline exercise into Midir's anus. If you drop in and see that the host, or even another phantom, is constantly busy trying to stab the giant dragon in the ankles, I can almost guarantee that this attempt is a lost cause. Guys, no, this isn't Sinh, stop trying to fight him the same way. It's amazingly rare to draw a full party full of people who actually recognize the only thing you need to do here: hit him in the goddamn head you morons. I say this after being one of those morons for entirely too many futile attempts.)
If you play this, please make an effort to seek out the NPC sidequest. It's great, and drives home what probably should've been apparent a long time ago: Patches really is just Miyazaki's stand-in, isn't he? I guess we needed that one last kick in the ass for the road.
I'm also curious to know who people think the preachers are referring to in their neat little speeches. Mostly it sounds like the invading NPCs to me (though one of the others is almost definitely Sirris).
Fear not the dark, my friend. And let the feast begin.
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Since this is pretty much the end of our series (of events), and insofar as I can tell the last time I'll have reason to post about personally playing Souls games, I figured I'd cap it by dumping a list of all the characters I ran through the game before I exhausted build ideas (not to mention save slots). It is strongly recommended that humans skip over the following content unless they are similarly obsessive about breaking Fromsoft games into tiny pieces. If there's one thing this listing makes blazingly apparent, it's that the reason I play Fromsoft games is different from the reason I replay Fromsoft games. The reason I play them is to explore the wreckage of amazingly detailed worlds and try on fabulous clothes. The reason I replay them is to build a better machine.
Roberta
Name Origin: Black Lagoon, Rosarita Cisneros. FARC guerilla, combat maid, killer robot from the future.
Build Type: Welcome to the CLUB.
Stats: 31 VIG, 6 ATT, 40 END, 40 VIT, 50 STR, 14 DEX, 8 INT, 9 FTH, 11 LCK
Melee Weapons: Butcher Knife (obsoleted) -> Smough's Great Hammer, Vordt's Great Hammer, Quakestone Hammer, Ledo's Great Hammer.
Casting/Ranged Weapons: Longbow (obsoleted) -> Millwood Greatbow.
Magic: No. 0 attunement slots.
FASHION SOULS: Dancer's set, sans helmet (I rarely wear anything in games that obscures my character's face). It's real armor but it's just so slightly girly. It works.
Rings: Havel's Ring (equip load+), Estus Ring (healing+), Chloranthy Ring (stamina regen+), Ring of Favor (equip load/HP/stamina+).
NG+?: No.
Combat Assessment: Highly satisfactory for an initial vanilla run. Butcher Knife was mained from the moment I picked it up until beating the game. Good power, reach, and excellent stagger potential for its speed. It got phased out for heavier weapons once I grinded to aftergame levels for the DLC, but I strongly recommend it as a user-friendly middleweight weapon for any new player. As for the clubs: they are not broke tier like they were in DS2, but they are still very good. There isn't really a single best out of those four. All have valuable quirks. Smough's probably ideal on paper, but I have a hard time using it because it takes up so much visual real estate. 7/10. Effective build, but I've made better.
Anastasia
Name Origin: Dark Souls 1, the Firelink Shrine fire keeper.
Build Type: Everything burns.
Stats: 27 VIG, 40 ATT, 17 END, 8 VIT, 12 STR, 18 DEX, 40 INT, 40 FTH, 7 LCK
Melee Weapons: Rapier (chaos), Witch's Locks, Demon's Scar.
Casting/Ranged Weapons: Pyromancy Flame, Black Bow of Pharis.
Magic: Yes. 6 attunement slots. Standard array: Great Chaos Fire Orb, Black Fire Orb, Flame Fan, Warmth. 99% of the time all you need is GCFO though. Anything else is novelty.
FASHION SOULS: Fire Keeper set w/the starting Pyromancer crown. One can't help but notice that Fire Keeper robes hug curves very suggestively in this game.
Rings: Sage Ring (casting speed+), Fire Clutch Ring (fire attacks+, physical defenses-), Great Swamp Ring (pyromancy power+), Witch's Ring (pyromancy power++).
NG+?: No.
Combat Assessment: OP. Unironically OP, broke-ass what-were-they-thinking good from the moment you pick up Great Chaos Fire Orb for the rest of the trip. It is literally the only thing you need to melt vanilla DS3. Few other options make the base game as much of a joke. 9/10. Only real issues are GCFO gets very expensive to spam & half the Ringed City bosses totally wall her damage. Objectively, I think there are some good arguments for sorcery being a stronger option, but I'm ranking this build higher for being the first I ran that felt like it completely dismantled the game in ways the game wasn't prepared to cope with.
Rosemund
Name Origin: Rosey was the party healbot in the D&D game I ran from 2013 to 2015. The name was originally lifted from Connie Willis' Doomsday Book.
Build Type: Shall we discuss miracles, then?
Stats: 27 VIG, 31 ATT, 35 END, 7 VIT, 15 STR, 14 DEX, 7 INT, 60 FTH, 13 LCK
Melee Weapons: Lucerne (lightning; obsoleted), Saint Bident (raw; obsoleted) -> Follower Saber (lightning), Rose of Ariandel.
Casting/Ranged Weapons: Cleric's Sacred Chime, Sacred Chime of Filianore, Longbow.
Magic: Yes. 5 attunement slots. Standard array: Great Heal, Sacred Oath, Sunlight Spear, Lightning Arrow
FASHION SOULS: Maiden set. A returning favorite from Dark Souls 1. I like white & gold designs.
Rings: Ring of Favor, Lightning Clutch Ring (lightning attacks+, physical defenses-), Morne's Ring (miracle power+), Ring of the Sun's First Born (miracle power++).
NG+?: Oh hell no.
Combat Assessment: Poor. I've really struggled to make a miracle build viable in this game. Part of that is because my first impulse was to try to run it the way it worked in previous games. DS1: throw lightning spears, collect win. DS2: cast lightning buffs on a fast lightning weapon, cast Sacred Oath, pump nothing but FTH so your buffs last forever, you are now a human blender. DS3: ...? Neither of those options really work. Lightning Spears look pitifully weak (look weak, we'll come back to this), and stacking the miracle buffs on a raw weapon never got me the kind of numbers I'd grown used to. So what the hell are you supposed to do with your faith build in this game? I struggled to get this character through even the shittier bosses, and had to lean on summons a lot for anything remotely difficult. Having tons of healing is great, but what's the point when you can't functionally kill anything? I was inclined to conclude that the only value of miracles was utility casting for someone willing to make a minor investment in faith when they don't have anything else to do with their levels. I mean, she got marginally more competent when she picked up the Follower Saber/Rose of Ariandel (my earlier weapon choices were woefully misguided--I picked the Lucerne because it worked well in DS1, the Saint Bident because it scales with faith, but both are terrible weapons in this game). But those are DLC weapons and squarely in the column of too little too late. It wasn't until a week ago that someone pointed out that Lightning Spear miracles only deal maximal damage if you fire them at point blank range. So there it is: DS3 faith build is supposed to be a melee caster, which, yeah, is pretty much the most unintuitive approach I can conceive of for a caster build. But having now made good use of it, I have to revise earlier estimate of worst build ever, because Sunlight Spear/Lightning Stake are absolutely brutal if used effectively. Like best numbers I've got out of this game good. The flipside is that she's a complete glass cannon, but it's totally worth it for style, right? (Lightning always was the aesthetically superior choice for offensive magic.)
5/10 because now I can OHKO invaders. It's hard to argue against all that time she spent being completely inept, though.
Nanami
Name Origin: Revolutionary Girl Utena, Nanami Kiryuu. Quite possibly the dumbest character in existence. Chosen just because of the dual wields.
Build Type: DEX weapon buffer.
Stats: 27 VIG, 14 ATT, 40 END, 24 VIT, 20 STR, 50 DEX, 10 INT, 15 FTH, 9 LCK
Melee Weapons: Sellsword Twinblades (sharp), Dragonslayer Spear, Lothric Knight Long Spear (sharp), Crow Quills (sharp).
Casting/Ranged Weapons: Sorcerer's Staff (obsoleted) -> Priest's Chime, Black Bow of Pharis, Onislayer Greatbow.
Magic: Yes. 2 attunement slots. Standard array: Blessed Weapon, Force. (Before respec from INT support to FTH support: Magic Weapon, Chameleon.)
FASHION SOULS: Sunless set (Sirris' outfit). I think this is probably the prettiest armor that From has designed.
Rings: Lingering Dragoncrest Ring (buff duration+), Estus Ring, Chloranthy Ring, Ring of Favor.
NG+?: Yes.
Combat Assessment: Outstanding. I went into this thinking she'd transition from the Sellsword Twinblades, her starting weapon, to something more distinguished (because how often does your starting weapon actually stay your best option forever?) Like probably the ultra-weeb dual katanas or Ricard's Rapier or something. Wrong wrong wrong. Sellsword Twinblades bestsword twinblades. You effectively hit twice with each swing, it's fast and spammable, and it is 100% my style. I loved powerstancing in DS2 and was happy to see dual-wielding done right at least with some weapons in DS3. This was exactly how I wanted to play the game. 10/10. Objectively I'm prepared to concede that quality build is supreme in DS3, but damned if I had as much fun with that as I did with this one. (I respecced from sorcery buffs to miracle buffs just for style. It turned out to be a minor component either way.)
Iris
Name Origin: I just always liked the name. I've used it in every one of these games.
Build Type: Magical princess.
Stats: 27 VIG, 50 ATT, 15 END, 7 VIT, 13 STR, 18 DEX, 60 INT, 7 FTH, 12 LCK
Melee Weapons: Crystal Sage's Rapier.
Casting/Ranged Weapons: Court Sorcerer's Staff, Darkmoon Longbow.
Magic: Yes. 7 attunement slots. Standard array: Soul Stream, Crystal Soul Spear, Great Heavy Soul Arrow, Great Soul Arrow, Soul Greatsword, Homing Crystal Soulmass.
FASHION SOULS: Antiquated set w/Crown of Dusk. We are going full magical princess here, you guys.
Rings: Sage Ring, Magic Clutch Ring (magic attacks+, physical defenses-), Young Dragon Ring (sorcery power+), Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring (sorcery power++).
NG+?: No.
Combat Assessment: Apparently people think sorcery sucks in this game? I don't understand why. Look at the bolded spell up there. It is not Crystal Soul Spear. If you are leaning on Crystal Soul Spear, you are doing it wrong. It costs way too much FP to be casually worth it even against bosses. GHSA is where it's at. It deals maybe 100-200 less damage for like a third the cost. You can and should spam this against absolutely everything. You will never run out firepower. So she may not have the raw stopping power of Great Chaos Fire Orb, but she also literally never needs to engage anything in melee combat. This is a fair trade. Also more dynamism in hitboxes (Soul Greatsword/White Dragon Breath/Pestilent Mercury good for cutting through mobs). 8/10. Maybe a little boring, but very effective.
Dame Fortune
Name Origin: Nothing special. Just Lady Luck.
Build Type: RNGesus. Pump Luck and ignore other offensive stats. How could this go wrong?
Stats: 27 VIG, 11 ATT, 40 END, 20 VIT, 11 STR, 20 DEX, 12 INT, 8 FTH, 60 LCK - 99 hollowing
Melee Weapons: Barbed Straight Sword (obsoleted) -> Anri's Straight Sword, Claw (poison), Painting Guardian's Curved Sword (blood), Dark Hand.
Casting/Ranged Weapons: Sorcerer's Staff, Black Bow of Pharis.
Magic: Yes. 1 attunement slot. It is reserved for Chameleon, because that is the best spell in the game.
FASHION SOULS: Thorns set (sans helmet). This is Kirk's armor from Dark Souls 1. It seemed appropriate for undead edgelord bleed build (for mechanical reasons, Fortune had to run at max hollowing all the time).
Rings: Untrue Dark Ring (maintain human appearance while hollow/phantom), Estus Ring, Chloranthy Ring, Ring of Favor.
NG+?: Fuck no.
Combat Assessment: Bad. This is probably the fault of my weapon choices. I know it's possible to make a competent bleed build in this game. People have done it! But usually they are doing it with the Warden Twinblades--which, in spite of all that luck, I never managed to get on this build (and would've been hesitant to use anyway, since it would just repeat Nanami's moveset). So in practice, that obscene luck score usually just went towards Anri's Straight Sword, because ASS is the only weapon that innately scales off of luck. It's a decent sword, considering her options. But you know what would've been more effective? Not dumping fifty levels on luck, as with every other build in this list. I even tried hollow-infusion weapons, and I might just as well have been running raw for all the boost I got with that. 3/10. She really wanted the last patch's buffs to poison/bleed weapons to exist last year when I ran her through everything non-Ringed City. And yes, I did have to have a ring slot dedicated at all times to not looking like a horrible zombie. Aesthetics are a moral imperative.
Kirika
Name Origin: Noir, Kirika "can murder you with anything" Yuumura, because this file was supposed to sweep up any weapons that didn't fit with anyone else.
Built Type: Quality. (The designation derives from Demon's Souls weapon upgrades. "Quality" weapons benefited from both Strength and Dexterity.) In practice, this turned out to mean Big Swords.
Stats: 27 VIG, 10 ATT, 40 END, 27 VIT, 40 STR, 40 DEX, 9 INT, 9 FTH, 7 LCK
Melee Weapons: Black Knight Sword, Wolf Knight's Greatsword, Murakumo (sharp), Dancer's Enchanted Swords, Washing Pole, Arstor's Spear.
Casting/ Ranged Weapons: Black Bow of Pharis, Onislayer Greatbow.
Magic: No. Starting ATT gets her 1 attunement slot, but she lacks the mental stats to use anything but Heal Aid (and she has better things to do with her FP than that).
FASHION SOULS: Black set (sans mask). It's severely swank light armor. This is Yuria's outfit (my brother dropped his NG+ copy since I've never actually fought her).
Rings: Havel's Ring, Estus Ring, Chloranthy Ring, Ring of Favor.
NG+?: Yes.
Combat Assessment: "Wrecking ball" basically sums it up once the BKS dropped (I was running Brigand Twindaggers before that, which is not I thing that I recommend humans doing). Ultra greatswords are slow and boring to me in this game, but ordinary greatswords are oustanding. BKS fast enough to get multiple hits in windows that would be problematic for heavier weapons, with only marginally less attack power. It's fantastic. Switch to Arty's when she's hitting abyssal enemies or just needs the moveset (the overhead slam's great for pancaking dudes). The rest of that list's just there for giggles. 9/10. Quality build is supreme in Dark Souls 3. I feel like there might've been a better balance to strike between VIT/VIG/STR/DEX, because she does feel a bit squishy, but there's a reason most people you see online are just facetanking everything with big honkin' swords.
Priscilla
Name Origin: Dark Souls 1, Crossbreed Priscilla. The optional boss that I never killed.
Build Type: Stealth mode utility caster. Daggers only.
Stats: 27 VIG, 30 ATT, 40 END, 16 VIT, 16 STR, 40 DEX, 15 INT, 15 FTH, 10 LCK
Melee Weapons: Dagger (sharp), Rotten Ghru Dagger (sharp), Tailbone Short Sword, Friede's Great Scythe.
Casting/Ranged Weapons: Sorcerer's Staff, Pyromancy Flame, Black Bow of Pharis, Avelyn, Repeating Crossbow.
Magic: Yes. 5 attunement slots. Standard array: Spook, Magic Weapon, Chameleon, Cast Light, Rapport.
FASHION SOULS: Painting Guardian set (sans hood). Worn for theme purposes, but I still love the metal Aladdin boots.
Rings: Aldrich's Sapphire (regain FP on crits), Estus Ring, Chloranthy Ring, Ring of Favor.
NG+?: No.
Combat Assessment: Surprisingly competent. Bosses are often a struggle when all you've got is a knife, because her usual tricks won't work, but some basic utility casting can be amazingly effective at dismantling the actual levels. Paired with Aldrich's Sapphire, Spook pays for itself: cast stealth spell -> run up behind enemy -> backstab to regain FP spent on spell (and probably OHKO enemy). Rapport is also stupidly good. A surprising number of the nastiest enemies are vulnerable to this (notably winged knights, and the giants in Ariandel). Sneak in, cast this to convert an enemy to your side, watch him kill his friends, then backstab him to get the FP back. Hilarious and efficient. This entire formula broke down in the Ringed City, though, and I finally had no choice but to resort to a real melee weapon (Friede's, the only good scythe in the game, and conveniently tailor-made for this build). And even in Ariandel I had to lean on the Avelyn an awful lot. Still, was a helluva run before that. 6/10 for exploration and entertainment value, points off for not being able to handle bosses like at all.
Desdemona
Name Origin: It was supposed to be Desdenova, from the Blue Oyster Cult song, but apparently my brain was somewhere else during chargen. And while you can respec your stats and appearance in Dark Souls 3, you are branded forever with your starting name.
Build Type: Hexer. A question was posed: is it possible to build a functional dark caster in Dark Souls 3. (Answer: only sort of.)
Stats: 27 VIG, 40 ATT, 13 END, 8 VIT, 12 STR, 12 DEX, 45 INT, 45 FTH, 7 LCK
Melee Weapons: Morning Star (chaos), Golden Ritual Spear
Casting/Ranged Weapons: Caitha's Chime, Izalith Staff, Short Bow.
Magic: Yes. 6 attunement slots. Standard array: Affinity, Great Soul Dregs, Dark Edge, Deep Protection, Dorhys' Gnawing, Lifehunt Scythe.
FASHION SOULS: Karla's set (ragged witch robes) w/Blindfold Mask. I actually don't like the latter aesthetically, but what am I gonna do, not optimize my damage output?
Rings: Sage Ring, Dark Clutch Ring (dark attacks+, physical defenses-), and situationally either both sorcery power+ rings or both miracle power+ rings.
NG+?: No.
Combat Assessment: Middling. Dorhys' Gnawing is supreme (if it bleeds, you can kill it), but this build gets totally walled by things that ignore both the status and dark attacks (notably Dragonslayer Armour and Darkeater Midir). And the rest of her skillset is really secondary to that. Great Soul Dregs is incredibly damaging, but by the time she got it, the only remaining bosses wall dark damage, so what why? Lifehunt Scythe is also surprisingly powerful if you're optimized for it, but that's putting her in melee range and that's somewhere she really shouldn't be. Having to shuffle rings is also a hassle (she can't be optimized for both sorcery and miracles simultaneously, so in practice I'm only ever using half of that spell list at a time). 5/10. It's a really different skillset and it's cool when it works, but it rarely feels very practical. Takes a long time to come together and just gets totally shut down by some specific enemies.
Juri
Name Origin: Street Fighter's resident evil Korean.
Build Type: Pugilism. Fucking. Souls.
Stats: 43 VIG, 6 ATT, 40 END, 11 VIT, 40 STR, 40 DEX, 9 INT, 9 FTH, 11 LCK
Melee Weapons: Caestus (refined), Demon's Fist, Crow Talons (sharp)
Ranged Weapons: N/A
Magic: No. 0 attunement slots.
FASHION SOULS: NAKED DRAGON. Running without armor was a mechanical necessity, really (you get almost nothing out of Flynn's Ring if you put on the barest amount of extra weight). I went dragon mode just because Dark Souls 3 underwear is super fugly.
Rings: Flynn's Ring (physical attacks+ in inverse proportion to present equip weight), Estus Ring, Chloranthy Ring, Ring of Favor.
Combat Assessment: People, don't do this to yourselves. It's not worth it. I wanted it to be worth it, because what's more badass than punching demons and dragons to death? It worked amazingly well in DS2. I could argue it's the optimal way to play that game. But not here. Arguably fist weapons have a couple advantages: speed and stagger potential once you've broken something's poise. But whatever value they might have is more than offset by a puzzling amount of wind-up time on your first punch + terrible range that's aggravated by powerfully unreliable hitboxes (you whiff so much with these weapons, even when it looks like you shouldn't). Also, Flynn's Ring. Flynn's Ring, what has become of you? You used to be so good. But in DS3, you get almost nothing out of it unless you're naked with just the one weapon equipped. And running naked really teaches you that armor is actually valuable for damage reduction in DS3. This was not true of its predecessors. But you see that 43 VIG up there? Juri needed it, oh good lord did she ever need the HP. Shit shit shit build, just painful to play. ...Is what I'd say before DLC times. Because the Crow Talons are actually decent. (Not good, but decent.) You have actual reach now. Some of the other problems are still there, but...The weapon art. The weapon art! I'm just gonna drop this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRb3z-53TiM
(No, I didn't specifically try to find an example set to Genesis, and I have no idea why you would accuse me of this.)
4/10, only raised that high for Raptor Flurry. It really is that bonkers, and it has not been patched. It's limited use, risky and highly situational since you're committed to the full attack string once it's started, but it's so good when you've got an opening.
~
So there you go, folks. That's pretty much the last year of non-FFXIV gaming for me, and a testament to what are surely exceptionally responsible habits of budgeting free time.
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Persona 5:
10/8
If I had to guess with the time I have left, I can only max one of Hierophant (Grefter) or Hanged Man (Rob). Both don't really give much; guns suck for damage and coffee just gets outclassed by SP Adhesive 3. I can't believe I missed Star for so long because I have a habit of skipping through phone convos. Jesus fuck shut up Ryuji.
Only the first palace required two trips due to resources. The second Palace was a grinder but still managed to do it in a day. Then the SP Adhesives 3 comes into play and one day Palace runs are easy. Probably now that I have Temperance at rank 10, I might up the difficulty up to Hard and focus on two days for Palace runs.
If you're following the spoiler free daily guide, remember that you can boost your confidant exp once Fortune is rank 7. I'm way ahead on Tower and Priestess at the cost of a lower Hierophant and Sun. I think I overdid social stat grinding if I reached Knowledge rank 5 before October. Rank 5 Knowledge is require for....Star, aka the most fucking boring co-op in the series. Devil would be completely skippable (like what does security level even do?) if not for the nice Charm boosts and Beezlebub, the master of nulling everything except Almighty.
I will never get used to Igor's new voice.
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(http://pix.iemoji.com/images/emoji/apple/ios-9/256/thinking-face.png) 5 - woop woop that's the sound of the police. Woop woop that's the sound that I miss.
I forgot to complain bout Igor. The opening sequences with him use the same model they use for his in the velvet room, so he talks with lip flaps moving, but his teeth just in a constant smile and It is an amaaaaaaaazing effect. Creepy as fuck and the two little girls make it feel even more like the Red Room it is a spoof on and the new voice really fit it. But then he just ends up talking like normal after that in the animated windows and it is boring.
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P5: Bah. Sudden Eph out of nowhere. Suddenly I have competition!
10/13. Can't say I didn't see that coming. Surprised they didn't immediately put 2 and 2 together, but it's still early after. Palace 5 boss has The Best attack.
5/5/5/4/5. Can finally continue on Priestess (you need Rank 5 Charm to progress beyond 5). Curious to see how I'll end up finishing S-Links ranks given I haven't followed the guide much except to get the best responses and make sure I'm not missing Good end. Don't feel bad, Eph. I also hit 5's in Knowledge and Proficiency before October. The guide has you hitting 5's in a couple others before it too, IIRC. (If the security level is high enough, you cannot hide from/ambush enemies and they respawn. Often behind you, as what happened to me in the last leg of Palace 4).
The retro games are amazing. Simply amazing.
Apparently there's no ceiling on the late fees for DVDs. There's a screenshot of someone running up a 43k yen tab. Ha.
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So I've been on a Star Wars binge lately. Not quite sure what it is but I've managed to find a couple of fun mobile games for it.
Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes:
I like the core of this game. It's a squad building RPG game where you group 5 characters together and form a team. Most notably, it reminds me a lot about DL related concepts (like how important speed is, how team matches are almost always decided after the 1st two turns or so, etc) and there are lots of different characters to use. Speed is CTB, you can designate leaders, which give unique effects, etc. What I don't like about it is how much of a money sink it is. I'm don't mind paying for things I like playing, but I've definitely spent way more on this game than I like to admit. Still it's fun. Just getting up to near the max level now but still lots more stuff to do. Currently using a Rebel squad of Wedge/Biggs/STHan/Lando and Boba as my fifth. Thinking of replacing Lando with Qui Gon Jinn but we will see how well it does.
Star Wars Force Arena:
I'm not a huge fan of MOBA type games. But I picked this one up and...it's actually really fun. It feels like a real game and definitely one you can play for hours (as opposed to the other one, which is time locked by stamina). You play as either the Rebel faction or Empire and control a hero/leader. The goal of the game is to destroy the other leader's shield generator. The generators are guarded by turrets and destroying a turret gives you a point. Matches are only 3 minutes long and if time is over and the shield generator has not been destroyed, then the person with more points wins. Each faction can summon a variety of different troops or support options that are specific to that faction but the amount and types you can summon are limited to your deck size, which is around 7 cards. Each leader also has a unique card specific to them. Overall, this makes the play experience under each leader quite different and adds a lot of replay value.
For example, Luke is a melee hero and he has a passive that lets him reflect projectile attacks as long as he is standing still. His unique allows him to call Obi-Wan who can use Mind Tricks to convert the opposing side's organic units. Compare this to say Han, who is a ranged leader, but instead has a 15% chance to score a critical hit (double damage) and can place mines around the field. His unique is to summon Chewie who will taunt and draw enemies to fire on him instead.
What I really like about this game can be boiled down to a few key points:
1) The matches are only 3-4 minutes (4 only if tied score at the end of 3 mins), making them very short so you can play a few matches here and there instead of needing to put a long term time commitment or needing to wait and "snipe" like in Galaxy of Heroes
2) Feels more like an actual game because it is not time gated. So you can play as many matches as you want.
3) Does not require any money to get any real sense of progress. And money you do spend gets you significantly more value.
4) Chat interaction is limited so unlike other MOBAs (say League of Legends), if you make a mistake or play badly or whatever, the only thing people can spam at you are messages or SW emojis that can be interpreted positively. Is that Angry Vader spam just this guy being angry or is he actually imitating Vader? You decide!
Highly recommend checking this one out if you like Star Wars and are looking for a mobile time waster. The ironic thing of course being that, despite this game being better than Heroes, I've still spent way more on the other game than this one just because this one can be enjoyed more without money :(. I am a bad person.
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P5: Enjoying it enough that I'm just planning to max all links on a replay and leaving some to flounder(Tower, Heirophant, Hanged Man, prolly Empress as well). Moon became less stupid after...well, the point I was at, actually! No longer want to punch him, just kinda want him to exist somewhere other than around me constantly. Priestess is my relationship link, Queen is best girl.
I...generally like the cast about as much as P4s? Skull is terrible in group scenes(someone taped the idiot ball to his ass or something I dunno) but I like him in his link events, but I also don't actually like Teddie outside of the bear puns so they cancel out there. Queen is great, Panther/Mona are fine, Fox's gimmick is funny so I don't mind it, and Oracle is possibly the most relatable character in anything I've ever played. And Noir(it's French for black) seems like she'll be fine too. Generally good cast with one low point, seems on the same level as P4 to me~
Beat the 5th palace, at the point where the Change Of Heart actually triggers afterwards(i forget the exact day). Been just leaving it on Normal becuase I don't hate myself enough to play SMT on hard. Had a couple game overs here and there, all absolutely my fault because I was zoning and forgot to do stuff like, oh, BUY THE NEW GEAR BEFORE DOING THE NEW DUNGEON....yeah, I wound up reloading my save from before dungeon 5 and redoing about 2 hours worth of dungeon crawling due to that one. Oops? I have also managed to get all three Auto-kajas on one persona now, which also has 2 flavors of MT damage + swift strike for just brutalizing randoms.
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Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes:
Yeah I played this a lot when it was new. Dropped it because of the consistently terrible management. They'd nerf heroes that didn't need nerfing and buff ones that were already good. And since it takes so long to get a character leveled you're just screwed if they nerf a main part of your team. Play Devil Breaker or Heroes Tactics if you like hero collection games but don't want to be fucked up the ass to play.
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Well it is run by EA, so terribly managed isn't surprising. I like the core of the game though. I imagine I'd probably drop if it wasn't for that. I'm mostly sticking to the plug and play characters for now since they are more meta resistant and less likely to be directly affected by nerfs/buffs.
EDIT: I'll say play Force Arena if you like Star Wars; captures the feel better and less of a sink. If the DL had some sort of group there, I'd probably play it more. Interestingly, I did see a Snowfire on the leaderboard and thought for a moment that it was our user Snowfire. But then realized that Snowfire isn't really a SW geek, so I think its just an imposter.
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Since people are getting there, I'll this important tip here:
DO NOT fight Casino's Shadow immediately after beating her Palace. Fight her on the last day.
You lose all free time if that month if you figure her early.
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Insanity on my Persona 5 run:
Spent 2 hours confusion grinding a boss in Momentos. Went in with 9K Yen. Came out with 1009K Yen.
Fully upgraded everyone's gear, and stocked up on medicine and two more SP Adhesive 3s from the doctor. Still had 500K.
Went into Palace 4. Miniboss 1... Started instinctively confusion grinding it. Came out with another 200K.
Continued on in Palace 4. Walled at the second miniboss until I figured out its weakness.
Died twice after that - once was my fault. Was running out, ran right into an enemy I avoided before, it ambushed me and I died.
Then the next time, I ambushed an enemy, couldn't end the battle before the first turn... And I got MTKOed on their resulting turns.
Decided to put the game down for the night and went to bed. Haven't played yet today.
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Tide: Not me, nope. I *did* visit some friends recently and one of them was a SW Mobile game player... I assumed it was the squad-based one that takes a really long time to whale/grind up your characters, since there were allegedly like 8 different knobs you could slowly upgrade in it.
Persona 5: I didn't play any of the other Personas (although I *did* sit in the same room as someone playing P2:EP, and watched most of P4 on YouTube), but this seemed reasonably cool enough to give a shot. Everyone is talking about coffee, but nobody's talking about the important things: names. Specifically, you can put crazy characters in your names now. I think the INTENDED use was so that you can have J-Pop singer names and ensure everyone spells correctly LUCKY ☆ HEART or whatever, but I think that's really missing the point. The point is, you can force everyone to ♪sing♪ your name with the ♪ symbol. Yes. Music Meister simulation incoming, Talaysen will be pleased. But... what name for a handsome, quiet, Japanese thief of hearts? Well, since I got the husband of the couple mentioned above to give FE12 a shot (it was the wife who was playing Star Wars Mobile), why not go with ♪Samto♪, dashing swordmaster and unstoppable force, and definitely not a quiet fraud with pretentions far greater than he can back up who ends up working for the bad guys?
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More like handsome, passive-aggressive, Japanese thief of hearts, amirite?
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I missed out on naming my P5 dude Jim Dances Crazy. Alas.
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Other solid names:
- 1011010110 10001010 (for people who like Nier Automata?)
- 24601 (for bread thieves?)
- Veg3Ta x Sepir0th (maybe throw in more Xs?)
- ●● ●● (it's watching you. always.)
- @#_?! ♀♂
- Niu
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I missed out on naming my P5 dude Jim Dances Crazy. Alas.
I am pretty happy with Shinsuke (because Shinsuke Nakamura is the greatest thing to happen in decades), but First name: Jim Dan Last name:Ces Crazy, would have been pretty great. "It isn't pronounced 'Says Crazy',it is like the soft C in Italian, closer to 'Chez Crazy'."
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I put my last name as Weeaboo, so everyone is like "Weeaboo-kun?"
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Was your first name Captain or K? Because I dig both of those. Captain Weeaboo. K Weeaboo.
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It was Kevin because I am original.
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Captain K = Sopko confirmed?
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - Bard chapter part 1
Pirates have closed the port, and with it my ability to buy Hi-Potions! Am I a bad enough dude to deal with pirates?
There's a fixed fight against four pirates. It's... well, much tougher than the FF1 fight it's obviously referencing; I need four -ara spells to drop them and they take a lot of my health. They can add blind or confuse, but as with many other enemies, cancel confuse often enough that I'm not too worried.
Pirate's Island itself is a relatively easy and short dungeon. I don't have much to say about it. We reach the pirate hideout, rest and get ready for...
Bikke (3 resets) - Compared to Vata, Bikke is of course much easier, but he's not trivial by any means and definitely catches me off guard a bit. First off there's another fight against four pirates, which is an automatic back attack. This chains into a non-back attack fight against Bikke himself (so no cheating by switching rows before the fight). Drop into the back row, -ara spam three times, Sylph, finishing -ara deals with the pirates.
Bikke himself hits shockingly hard, up to 450/900. Uh yeah, back row it is! After he loses around a third of his HP he'll start summoning support: two pirates. Sadly the pirates are immune to frog/mini so permanently disabling them is out, but true to FF1, sleep works. He'll only summon when alone, so killing one pirate and sleeping the other works well. Slow on him all the time, I use Protect some too.
It's a slog since his offence makes me use Sylph reasonably often and the Slow/Sleep refreshing adds up too. I end up saving on MP by just hitting him with a bow during the first stage of the fight, but once summoning comes into play I switch back to a rod/shield and -ara spells. I use two Ethers. I'm Level 39-40 (levelling up after the pirate fight).
That fight would probably have been notably easier with Ramuh, especially just for cleaning out the pirates fast... kinda regret not getting it. Well, time to remedy that. I head to Rusalka, buy some Hi-Potions and L4 spells, then it's a backtracking we go!
Ramuh - Really easy now. Defence is reasonably high so bows aren't good, but Slow and -ara spam gets the job done, he croaks before I even have to use an Ether.
Avengers - These guys are fought in a small cave in the town of Deist. They absorb all elements, reduce magic damage significantly, have decent def, and counter everything: magic with Bio (does around 600, adds Sap) and physicals with physicals (around 250 to the back row). On their own turns they alternate Libra and physicals. With their magic resistance, Sylph isn't actually very good here, I eventually realise. Best strategy is just to set Int+20% and HP+20% and use Bio and Cura. I also cast Protect. Everything else proves a waste of time. One Avenger takes out a majority of my MP so I run from the random ones and fight the two forced ones in separate runs. For my troubles I get a sleep blade (decent enough sword, though slightly weaker than the stuff bought in Rusalka) and a Protect Bangle, which is Auto-Protect! Really cool, even though Protect is only damage -25% in this game.
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Bravely Second- Final Dungeon. Think I basically have my finalized setups now:
Kaiser or Guardian/Dark Knight- Kaiser for randoms, Guardian for bosses. In randoms, Kaiser casts an evil buff or two and then proceeds to do at least 20,000 MT Damage. Guardian for bosses since that buff strategy is bad for bosses and the ability to block physicals comes in handy very often.
Time Mage/Black Mage or Singer - Meteor Rain is a naaaaaasty ST damage combo. Black Mage for MT on randoms, Singer for buffs on bosses
Hawkeye/Pirate w/ Auto Undo- Not great against random, but can bring massive physical pain against bosses. Apply an element, spam Amped Strike, blow all your MP...and have your MP return to full the next turn.
Patissier/Bishop- Spam MT Death for randoms (most of whom are suspectible), healing for bosses + Glossolalia to have some ability to do damage if needed.
Unfortunately, I really am not having fun in the final dungeon. The enemy setups are lame, which really takes away a lot of the fun of having a bunch of evil setups. The sin bosses were generally pretty fun, although between Astrologer and Guardian, it was enough pretty easy to control their damage (Soul Mirror just is kind of evil if a boss has no real way to deal with it).
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P5: Stopped on my birthday (11/12). Just did a dive into Mementos, still remains an easy area. STILL using Shiki-Ouji but I should be able to break away with getting the Null Physical card from a mission. There's a couple decent choices to attach it to for now (once it's copied).
Tracked down all the elusive and wily vending machine sodas. Time well spent. Beat Punch Ouch! Time double well spent. I am also the crane machine master.
Choosing to romance Priestess, as I hear is the style of the time. There's not that many great options. Hermit's cool but takes a backseat. Death and Temperance are good but have that awkward Persona dating an older woman issue where they never make it not weird. Empress maybe on second playthrough. Lovers just ended up way more bland a character than I expected her to be. Not CHIE IS MILHOUSE level, but still. Devil is a no. Star is lulwut. Now the important thing was that I romanced Priestess, which was the style of the time.
...
On second thought, since I named the hero Donovan, Hermit should've been it. She is basically Kite. Damn.
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Why no body are cheating on the girls so you can die in their hands when they find out you are a cheater post Valentine's day?
BTW, below are the days of influenza.
11/13、11/14、11/15、12/8、12/9
During these days, shadows in Mementos has a high chance in starting the battle in despair status.
This applies to the reaper too. In other words, you can one shot the reaper with the skill that perfect ID any enemy that is despaired.
In other words, you can exp and money grind to kingdom come on those days by committing mass Reaper genocide.
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I'm pretty done the same stuff Soppy has except I'm going to date Empress over Priestess. Axe > No Axe
Right down to the same date (11/12) and just finished all the mementos quests so I can get Moon to rank 10 before I do endgame. One A rank request was insanely hard since it kept spaming Deathbound for 330 damage a piece. Then I realized with the Persona that has repel phys is immune to it so I let Joker be bait while everyone else slowly beat down.
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Persona 5 - Yusuke can fuck off forever.
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I put my last name as Weeaboo, so everyone is like "Weeaboo-kun?"
I used my real name. So just like in real life strangers call me Darling and just like in real life it's a little weird.
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They think it don't be like it is, but it do (https://youtu.be/_yHuzyrdsaA)
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I'll slouch all I want YOU'RE NOT MY DAD
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I love how Persona 5 is bringing the DL together again.
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It's amazing and a little surreal to sign onto PSN and see literally everyone in my friend list playing Persona 5. I know it shouldn't be that much of a surprise, since P3 and P4 were significant hits, but a corner of my brain still finds it odd to see what started out as obscure OK-bait take the gaming world by storm.
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Filled out the entire map in Zelda. The last tower I did is in one of the few areas in the game where you have to approach in a certain way, rather than flying or mountain-climbing or swimming or whatever other route catches your fancy, but that did make it very satisfying to finally get through.
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - Of frogs and water scorpions
With the Dragoon chapter sidequests finally out of the way, it's back to Rusalka to advance the main plot. At this point I can go to three different locations: the Glacial Cave (Shiva), the Feywood, or Mt. Rusalka, with the last being where the plot wants me to go. I'm bad at following directions.
Glacial Cave: I could talk about enemies here, though it's mostly "use fire a lot". Dragoon's fire breath is a decent option, more on dragoon later. However, there's one (quite common) enemy here which makes this dungeon extremely painful: the Ice Lizard, which often uses Binding Attack, i.e. paralyse. Remember what paralyse does? It means I lose as it gets refreshed until I die. I do occasionally get lucky and recover but it requires about 3-4 solid rounds of not being hit by it again and yeah that's just a crapshoot. Looking ahead, I get paralysis immunity next chapter, so I'll wait for that and come back. Shiva isn't going to be doing anything Ramuh can't in this chapter, anyway, as the key element for the big plot dungeon is lightning.
Forest of the Fey: Not much to do here, so I just raid it for treasure. Since I actually run low on MP here unlike Pirate Island, I switch to my new fighter job of choice, Dragoon. Dragoon is great on a solo since while you're in the air, enemy attacks can't redirect to your buddies; they just fail. Obviously healing or buffing enemies will be a problem but there are none in this chapter. Jump even ignores Row, so I can hang out in the back row and do rather solid damage, typically slightly more than a ST -ara. Jump has a charge time (in addition to the time in the air) and there's no MT option, and of course it means my Sylph is weaker, but still a good place to be. The breaths are neat options too; they're the same power as an -ara hitting two targets (so outdamage -aras against more than two) with no charge time, for the same MP cost. Pretty nice! Dragoon Int isn't so hot but this can be ported to mage jobs as a solid secondary.
Anyway, the enemies here aren't too impressive. The Plant Spider sometimes uses paralyse with Constrict, though relatively rarely fortunately (and its accuracy is so-so); they die first with prejudice (Fira and Jump both OHKO). Bloodfangs are wolves and have stun, like their predecessors; fortunately they don't appear in numbers as large and doesn't use it as often, so they aren't as bad. The Gilbird is a rare enemy who often just runs and when it doesn't will sometimes use confuse or sleep. I try to kill 'em and once get lucky enough to land two Bios (they absorb all elements and have high evade of both types) which kills it. 1000 gil is more trouble than it's worth, probably, but oh well.
Mt. Rusalka: Plant Spiders make a return unfortunately; they're joined by Mandrakes who also have a fire weakness and Constrict. Both die first; Jump OHKOs, as does mage Fire Breath for the MT. Diorits scare me with their petrify attack; fortunately it is slow-petrify so it's not a big deal. There are a few new bulky enemies here too; repeated Jumps or -ara spam see them off. I probably should have used Break on some of them (IIRC it works on most things at this point, and certainly costs less than mulitple -ara spells), but I forgot.
Weresolider - The Weresoldier is a lot like Bikke, in that he hits hard and doesn't do much else (some of it is MT; good thing I don't care). He is the first boss in the game who immunes Slow! Unfortunate. Between his slow immunity and the fact that I now have Auto-Protect, my tide-turning utility spells no longer have use, so the plan is simple: hit him with -ara spells and cast Sylph when HP falls below 900 or so. He's quite a bit easier than Bikke because he doesn't do that thing where he summons support, although the fact that he can doubleturn me means I do have to stay awake during the fight for sure.
I have Teleport, which means I don't have to walk out of this dungeon! Yay.
Rusalka Sewers - You do this dungeon as frogs, who always do 1 damage. Bees have 2 HP and pathetic offence, Mice have 5 HP and somewhat better offence. Don't fuck with mice. Anyway this is easy obviously. If it were actually hard I would switch to Jobless and equip Eduardo's harp on the way out, but it isn't so I don't.
Back to the Forest of the Fey for a boss fight. Randoms get roflstomped.
Vortex x3 (2 resets) - "Vortex is a boss, but it's only a little stronger than monsters around here." ~FF wiki, spouting pure bullshit
There are three of them, they have 2000 HP and resist the big elements. They're reasonably quick and barrage with Water spells which do around 350; if all three of them use it that's half my HP as a Red Mage. Sylph gets used a lot. They also have confuse (I equip to block that after the first reset; confuse applied by mages is nasty) and silence which sucks because I have to waste a turn curing it; fortunately silence isn't too common and does miss sometimes. Non-magic healing just isn't nearly good enough here, so Dragoon doesn't cut it (not to mention they can't block confuse). Element resistance means Bio gets used for offence; I use it MT at first then realise that's a bad plan since getting one down is more important. Once one is down the fight becomes mostly safe. Sylph's damage really adds up in a meaningful way for this fight; possibly for the last time? My level is in the high 40's by now; I forget to note it.
Underwater Temple: As you'd expect, a lot of lightning weakness in this dungeon. Unfortunately Lightning Breath is the L4 from Dragoon so I don't have it at first, though I do get it by the dungeon's end. Dragoon works great here because they have a lightning spear, and then get the Coral Sword early on which is great at this point.
Anemones inflict sleep, which gives more dangeroue enemies time to be scary, but are pure physical otherwise so can't exploit it themselves. Several enemies in this dngeon can inflict poison: Sea Snakes, Conus (theirs the deadly "Toxify" version), and Water Scorpions (more on those assholes later); this makes the Star Pendant a decent consideration over Auto-Protect.
Scattered through the dungeon are four Nereid mini-bosses. They use Sleep and Temptation (MT confuse, shaky accuracy), and Blizzara for around 350 as their main offence. Sleep + magic is dangerous! They do have a physical, but it's none too common. I never actually die to one; I go Dragoon with HP+20% (which gives me a ridiculous 3500+ HP total) and just Jump and hope for the best and it always works, but I do get a good scare once or twice.
No, it's a random, the Water Scorpion, which is the main problem. They're not weak to lightning but are still fragile enough to die to one Jump or Ramuh or ST -ara. (Usually.) They can use damage that adds poison or... Death Needle. It's not a counter, they can use it any time they want, even turn 1. If that hits and I'm hit with anything else, I die. They don't fight alone ever, always in formations with at least 3, sometimes there is more than one Water Scorpion at once. Obviously they are the absolute highest priority but every fight with them is still a diceroll. They only appear in the floors after the first Nereid fight, but once they start appearing I eventually figure out Summoner gives me the best chance, since one Ramuh takes multiple out at once, meaning I just need to survive one round without them using it (or Sylph/a Hi-Potion if they do, both dicy in their own way since Hi-Potion doesn't heal much and Sylph has a charge time; I use an X-Potion once in a pinch far from a save point). Sadly I can't yet port Ramuh to a faster job; L2 Summon is weirdly far into the Summoner job.
Styx (2 resets) - The last General revealed is the token female. She is also the first one to immune Slow, joining Weresolider in what is largely a trend from now on. Oh well.
Styx can use Mini, Frog, physicals, and Water, preferring Water by far. The statuses make her physicals hit harder though are still weaker than Water to the back row; Frog is also annoying as you might expect. Water does somewhere over 500 to my Red Mage's 2400 HP, a 5HKO. Styx is quite fast so using Sylph whenever my HP drops below 1100 is essential. Sylph is again by far the most practical way to do this, as other healing options (except my highly limited X-Potions) aren't nearly good enough. Once below half HP or so Styx starts using Undine Cry, which is notable for being MT, but here is slightly weaker than Water. It sets Sap, though, so it's not really a downgrade even on a solo.
One reset needed to equip a White Cape (blocks frog and mini for good measure), one is just execution. I use a single Ether; Styx has 15000 HP (roughly double any previous boss) but a lightning weakness to exploit keeps it from feeling too terrible. She does counter lightning with MT stun (turn reset) but that is conveniently useless against a solo!
There's a plot fight with her afterwards but there's not much to say about it. Pirates to the rescue; Bard chapter complete!
Current progress:
Dusk Level 50
Red Mage L7
Black Mage L5
Dragoon L4
Warrior L3
Summoner L2
Monk L1
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Why no body are cheating on the girls so you can die in their hands when they find out you are a cheater post Valentine's day?
BTW, below are the days of influenza.
11/13、11/14、11/15、12/8、12/9
During these days, shadows in Mementos has a high chance in starting the battle in despair status.
This applies to the reaper too. In other words, you can one shot the reaper with the skill that perfect ID any enemy that is despaired.
In other words, you can exp and money grind to kingdom come on those days by committing mass Reaper genocide.
You don't even need that skill. If the Reaper comes in with despair status, you just defend until it commits suicide and you win.
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Persona 5 - Morganna learned MAGArula. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - Do you like.. darkness?
Back in control of Alba! We're back to a world bereft of L4 spells and storebought Hi-Potions, but that's soon to change.
Umberwood: BINDING ATTACK nooo- yeah, it's back, this time used by Ghouls. They don't use it quite as mercilessly as Ice Lizards did, but it's still awful. Ghouls can be OHKOed by Fira but that's about it. They are sometimes paired with Glyphed Souls which inflict curse, thus nuking my damage, and I certainly don't have time to deal with that. I often run from such fights. The only other particularly dangerous enemy move I need to watch for is Ents and thier confuse, but as usual the Headband can prevent that.
I run a mix of Red Mage and Ranger in this dungeon. Red Mage is obvious, Fira is cool. Ranger... well, the Francesca axe is long range and they can use it. Once Warrior hits L5 I can run Counter and HP+ on the Ranger and tear into enemies reasonably well, which is nice. This build lacks a way to OHKO Ghouls though.
It takes quite a few resets but eventually I get through. Aule has storebought L4s and Hi-Potions; I stock up of course. I also buy a Flame Bow and Mithring Bangle (curse immunity! Very important), and some new armour. There's a white chocobo nearby and I get ready for my next dungeon.
Cave of Dread: This place is a clear reference to the Cave of Darkness in FF3, despite the slight rename. There are some randoms here, the Outcast and the Cruller, which are particularly problematic. They're weak to dark, but resistant to all magic. So physicals are the way to go. But wait! If you kill them with a physical, they regenerate with 10% HP. If you kill them with a counter, they survive at 0 HP and use Regenerate on their next turn instead. Only magic can finish them off. They also immune all status (I never try slow, it might work)... so yes, the only practical way to kill them is to hit them to low HP with physicals and finish with magic.
I run Red Mage with the Flame Bow here, or Ranger with the Francesca. With Red Mage I run Int+20/HP+20, with Ranger Counter slides in for Int+20. Ranger can use Magic Bomb to finish enemies off. Ranger hits harder and faster and is more durable. Red Mage's advantage? It can cast Teleport.
Why does this matter? Because one of the two regenerating enemies, the Outcast, can use Embrace. A hug from a otherworldly skeleton monstrosity probably isn't as sexy as one from a topless snake-lady, but it's just as effective at turning poor Alba to stone, and I can't block it. It's not used often, and never in the first couple turns that I see, but Outcasts aren't easy to pick off quickly, so I often just run / cast Teleport unless I think I've got a good shot at a quick kill (e.g. first strike, or a lucky counter). This is the source of a lot of resets here.
Crullers aren't trivial either though by any means, as they cast a reasonably damaging Bio or use Slime, which inflicts Slow (if they use Slime while an Outcast is around, it's definitely time to run). They are sometimes accompanied by Abysteel, bats that can inflict curse or silence. Curse can be blocked by the Mithril Bangle (can't be used by heavy classes) which becomes near essential here. Silence is very annoying because I need to lift it to finish off the Cruller, so the usual strategy is to down the bats first, then cure silence and kill the Cruller with the usual combination of physicals and finisher magic.
Oh yeah there's another enemy here, the Death Crawler, which is apparently the tankiest of the regenerating enemies. I wouldn't know because I never actually drop one to 0 HP; I only ever encounter them with a combination of Cruller and Outcast which uhhh yeah is simply the nastiest random formation to this point (at least that isn't rocking paralysis or HP-1); I never actally beat it. Discretion is the better part of valour and all that.
Well that dungeon had nasty randoms, surely the boss will be easier at leas- Hecatoncheir fuck
(5 resets)
6000 HP... kinda. He's a regenerating monster like the others in this dungeon. Fortunately, he isn't magic-resistant; he halves the big three elements instead. So Flame Bow is out, but Bio/Magic Bomb/Sylph all work to full effect unlike against the regenerating randoms. Magic Bomb 1 offers by far the best damage:MP ratio here, so it becomes the attack of choice despite Bio offering somewhat more damage. MP will definitely be an issue here, as we see.
When he drops to 0 HP one, he uses Regenerate, regardless of what is used to kill him, returning with 600. When he drops to 0 again, he uses Hyper Regenerate, healing to full. At this point Graham shows up and everyone revives to 1 HP via cutscene. Fortunately Graham is great at killing himself off, because of Darkness (1.7x damage, then takes 25% MHP). But I still have to kill the boss again, so his absolute minimum HP is 12600, which is actually quite impressive.
His own turns can involve Dark Breath (200 MT damage and Curse) which necessitates a Mithril Bangle, Quake (400 MT), or 1-3 physicals, 1 at the start of the fight but usually 3 as the fight goes on. Sadly, this multi-physical only triggers one counter. The physical barrage hurts quite a bit without Protect, up to 500 to the back row and thus nearly double that to the front, necessitating plenty of Sylph. He can also use Whack which is a little less than 2x physical damage and adds confuse (Headgear takes care of that).
One strategy I try here is a bit of a crazy one: Jobless (yes) with Counter, Summon L1, and Int+20%. Why Jobless? Because it can equip the Dark Sword, and thus hit Hectaoncheir's weakness. Dark swords are also supposed to kill regenerating enemies, but apparently it doesn't work against the boss... even to finish him off. Which is unfortunate because after a couple tries this build does stumble over the finish line of killing him a third time and the game tells me to finish him off with the Dark Knight! Instead he kills me.
So, the winning run is instead good ol' trusty Red Mage flinging magic. Protect is a big deal here, so I make sure to keep that up. Magic Bomb is used for offence, Sylph for healing. I try Slow but he's immune too, unshockingly. The fight is a marathon and I need to use 4 Ethers to get through, while watching my HP carefully. When I kill him off the third time the game tells me to finish him with Graham. At this point I have no choice but to revive Graham (and since Hectoncheir is faster than Graham, I have to hope that he either uses physicals on Alba or misses; after a few PDowns he does). Graham then uses Darkness for the KO, and conveniently kills himself too. All exp is property of Alba!
Mount Falgabard - Well there's another dungeon right away, no map or anything in between. I use some Red Mage here but after I realise that they have no good answer to Ogre Chiefs (2200 HP... they'd be a great choice for Break but nooo it doesn't work). I switch back to Ranger. This dungeon sees the return of Mandrakes (paralysis, but not as scary a version of it as Binding Attack; it never kills me) and Diorites (slow-petrify and physical tankiness). There are also Gremlins who set confuse (Headband!); both them and Wyrms (reasonably bulky) are weak to the Francesca. Counter Ranger puts in some good work, MT -aras do their thing too. Definitely the easiest dungeon of the chapter so far, but I'm running very low on Potions/Hi-Potions by now so that adds some tension. I don't quite run out, though.
Hecatoncheir beaten at around Level 41; I'm a bit higher now.
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Think you are good at games? Nah, get dunked on scrub.
For once I want to just specify that where normally I am speaking with at least a thin veneer of sarcasm or irony, this next part is unironic on smashing on P5 for something.
Persona 5 - So early on it was established that you can pull someone into the Metaverse by being close to someone. The arc I am up to has been about how the team are coming under closer public scrutiny and they know they explicitly are being watched by another student in school. They also decided to just go into the Metaverse in the middle of a public square in Shibuya because as Ryuji puts it "now one notices a piece of trash in the bottom of a trash can disappearing, this is just like that".
Literally the single most jarring bullshit break from internal consistency I have seen in the series.
Edit - on the other hand Makoto! Yayyyyy broken people's neurosis just put directly on the page! Imposter Syndrome the character done completely literally where it is Peile actually saying the shit she feels! This is SMT stuff when it is at its best and doing it through the Persona style correctly. This is my jam.
Edit edit - also for reference that was said before I found out that her Persona is a sweet fucking motorcycle. That is pretty much the same as Snow FF13 get his Eidolon sequence, but instead of his grief for his dead wife turning into two chicks that scissor to be a motorbike it is the expression of her true self turns into a motorbike and that is infinitely cooler.
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P5: The first big boss was surprisingly easy, I had way more trouble with the first mini-boss (the one who does Charge -> Lunge) Hard mode is hard. So far. But I'll eventually break it.
The game has stopped feeling new and it's good old comfortable Persona now, warts and all. But with awesome dungeons?
New dad wants me to talk to him but I spend my evening time making lockpicks
Planescape Torment on iphone: Uuuuh nothing is made to accomodate for the smaller screen. Holy crap. The dialogue appears on like 10% of the screen, like in the PC version. You can increase font size but the text doesn't appear on a larger part of the screen, so that's useless
Touching any button accurately also requires toothpicks for fingers
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P5: 11/26 up to 12/7 plot dump. huge spoilers
Okay, it's pretty much a given that Akechi was the traitor. I caught the school trip scene where he heard Morganna talk about pancakes. Then lied that his persona was awakened recently (it's wasn't). However I wasn't expecting Joker to catch on at the same time, using his mistrust in Akechi to bait out the true culprit. I still don't get how they created a fake cognitive Joker that Akechi shot. When I saw Joker get "killed" I was expecting mysterious Igor powers to revive him or something to that effect. Now we have to take down Evil Anime Howie Mandel on his giant boat.
Game difficultly was thrown out the door once Strength is maxed where you can use your giant trust fund to fuse personas 20 levels higher than you. I abused flu season to get an easy kill on the Reaper that just skyrocketed my levels. I don't have quite enough to make Satan or Lucifer sadly.
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Final Fantasy III: I decided to give this one another try as I first played this game through the DS version. The slow speed and the irritating bosses which like to use two attacks in the same turn caused me to rage quit from the game by the Dorga and Unne fight. As I played later installments and, well, got gud at Final Fantasy games, I decided to give the game another try through the NES version. I've just fought Dorga and Unne and I'm rather satisfied with what I've played. The battles are much faster in this one, the bosses are a lot more fair this time around and the game isn't slowed down with pointless scenes involving the four bland mains. Some issues I do have with FF3 though are the limited inventory space, a relic of older RPGs which has thankfully retired for the most part, and a lack of save points in dungeons. Despite these flaws, I've had a decent time with the game so far and I'm optimistic that this will last for final portion of the game.
Pokemon Leaf Green: Beaten the Elite Four twice. This includes the fights with them in the main game and the Sevii Islands. Overall, I found this game to be pretty enjoyable. An issue I've always had with this game is that the player has to catch 60 kinds of Pokemon if they want to access the postgame. Though having a postgame is welcome considering how RBY never had one while GSC did. Obviously I decided to nuke the Elite Four rematches with the Mewtwo I caught at Cerulean Cave, sue me.
Final team:
(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/2/23/Spr_3f_003.png) (http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/6e/Spr_3f_057.png) (http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/7/7f/Spr_3f_026.png) (http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/f/f4/Spr_3f_065.png) (http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/9/98/Spr_3r_134.png) (http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/0/0b/Spr_3f_144.png)
Temporary members:
(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/66/Spr_3f_022.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/1/1c/Spr_3f_050.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/a/af/Spr_3f_085.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/b/b4/Spr_3r_150.png)
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Persona 5 - I beat third palace last night. Probably useless advice since I am behind the curve, but whatever.
For anyone doing a follow the guide, get all the Links play through here is a thing I did because money is tight and you need 100k floating yen after the dungeon and at this point I had just been selling consumables to catch the train because I was a touch to liberal with summoning Registered Persona and buying stuff.
Download the free healing bonus , it gets you a Soma. Sell that Soma for 50k Yen. Use that to buy your SP Adhesive 3 at Rank 7 Death.
The guide tells you to level up Sun. It sounds kind of trashy. It isn't.
Hold Up enemies and demand Money sounds dumb, it can be, but the upper limit on what they will offer is like up around 10x loot drops. The amount they will drop seems to stay the same per Hold Up. If you are really lucky you can demand from them multiple times before they leave or get pissy.
Finding a solo enemy is really easy since spawns are fixed. Enemies respawn when you go through a load screen that isn't a safe room.
So in Palace 3 from the first Safe Room you can encounter a single enemy in a Dog Shadow and it is right near a shortcut back up a level. It is weak to Ice. SP Adhesive 3 at this point was getting my main 7 SP a turn and Bufu cost 3. It is super easy to just grind out Hold Ups for cash that way and have the SP to keep up with healing. If you are really lucky you will get a chain of demands for more when it is dropping 5k Yen and walk out of a fight with 25k, but more realistic is coming out with 2k per fight for 30 seconds work.
So doing the bad thing and grinding like a mofo before going to bed, probably 40-50 minutes work just chilling with a podcast on got me 200k Yen before selling treasure from the dungeon. Should get my gear up to date for the people I want to use.
Also this probably ties a bit into frustration about the reward scaling in the game in that so far at least, the later in the dungeon you get the more enemy difficulty is just more of the same trash mob, which A) isn't really harder because of MT spells and B) give way more rewards than the earlier less dense versions of the packs. That paired with the fact that you normally want to get levels at the start of the dungeon more than the back half (so you are leveled enough to actually recruit) and it puts you in this weird spot of, you are better off going to the start of the dungeon to recruit some stuff because it is just easier and burns less resources for the same rewards.
Like, it is fine, it is just kinda sub optimal in that SMT way of things.
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P5: 11/26 up to 12/7 plot dump. huge spoilers
Okay, it's pretty much a given that Akechi was the traitor. I caught the school trip scene where he heard Morganna talk about pancakes. Then lied that his persona was awakened recently (it's wasn't). However I wasn't expecting Joker to catch on at the same time, using his mistrust in Akechi to bait out the true culprit. I still don't get how they created a fake cognitive Joker that Akechi shot. When I saw Joker get "killed" I was expecting mysterious Igor powers to revive him or something to that effect. Now we have to take down Evil Anime Howie Mandel on his giant boat.
Because at its heart, the game is still a Caper. Outsmarting the villain and running down the elaborate ruse in the heist is the backbone of any Caper plot. I could almost hear the Ocean's 11 music in my head while that whole thing went on. It's not nearly as good if the DEM ends up being "You were revived due to Igor hax" rather than "Thief Club's plan totally worked". My GUESS is that they relied on Akechi to supply the cognitive Joker there because Akechi expected him to be there. Cognitive You reacts how Akechi thinks he'll react, etc.
And it's a Nice Boat.
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Hermit is amazing
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Trails of Cold Steel II
Still good, but still not quite as cold in its steel as I'd prefer. Example: A major villain does a very bad thing with a personal touch to Rean and his family early in CS2. (Duke Albarea sending Jaegers to randomly shoot up Ymir and try to capture Alfin & Elise, injuring Baron & Lady Schwarzer, and indirectly still leading to their capture.) Rean reacts furiously at the time, hulking out and going into a murderous rage until he can be calmed down. So... the game clearly expects us to acknowledge that this was a *serious* affront, and it's still a quest that needs fixing. I recently ran into said villain, and... Rean... didn't have much to say? Charitably, Rean was busy with other problems like enemy giant robots, and we can pretend that said villain was much better guarded than it appeared so that Weltall couldn't just lean over and kidnap *him*, but still. I'd want to f*&k him up! Even if Rean has regained restraint and is cooly rational about the problem now, aren't you interested in at least trying to mess with said villain solely as a means to an end to get your kidnapped sister back? There's proper, non-revenge related reasons to want to threaten / coerce this dude.
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Gameplay notes:
Nord Shrine randobosses:
The Donald Trump strategy of spamming "Speak Lies." Only a 5-7HKO, so no big deal, right? Well... except it's full MT and applies Sleep at a good rate and there's 3 of them. If they keep it up, Elliot can't outheal them. Luckily, they eventually stop the spam, and they're not SUPER tanky, but that was still exciting and close.
Bleublanc & Black Rabbit:
First and only boss battle I didn't deploy Rean for. There's a forced-ambush right before by soldiers who are frail but with reasonably badass offense, and Rean had to blow his S-Craft before dying to win, and 0 CP Rean didn't seem a super-inspiring choice for the fight. I'm not sure he'd have been the best fit anyway, amusingly enough. Ran Gaius / Alisa / Claire / Elliot instead, with Gaius having the Gladiator Headband. While physicals are still meh in CS2, Gaius can troll by front-lining with Insight while building CP for ults, and spam CHrono Drive to keep everyone nicely sped up. Alisa helps fuel everyone up with CP and Insight for dodginess with Heavenly Gift, Fortuna, and occasional offense/healing. Elliot has buffs but is mostly about actually killing shit with magic. Claire just uses Inspiring Leadershp on cooldown for speed-ups and buffs. Done right, the buff parade is way too much to handle. Bleublanc at least *tries*, having status attached to his attacks, debuffs, and can summon more crap to force an S-Craft out of me. Black Rabbit just spams physicals at Gaius who dodges most of them? I kept getting worried about S-Crafts after I brought them low, but they seem to have forgot how to do that, or are "holding back" or some crap. Tsk, Reno & Rude used 'em. After Rabbit falls, it's all over. Don't get close to getting the AP bonus for winning fast, though.
Legram / Bareahard randoms:
You know, they could at least *pretend* to try since they give you super-meido for this part. Maybe double the number of enemies, or more HP? I stuck Gladiator Belt & Headband on Sharon and speed-boosting Orbments, so yeah, repeat "This won't take long, Shadow Stitch!" a lot. For those that haven't played, it's a 2x hit craft to a huge area that has a huge speed and movement debuff attached, and each hit has a 30% chance of Nightmare, a 30% chance of a random status, and all the status Orbments for another 10 or 20% chance per (I think I had Sleep & Burn). This is pretty much gg. On the off chance a crippled, no movement, slowed enemy isn't horribly statused, she can just use it again next turn. Which will be fast because she's a speedster. Yeah. This goes for the treasure chest randoms too, who stand no better chance of surviving unstatused.
Superbadass ape near Legram:
And... random uber-badass boss despite having an Enforcer on the team that's more of a threat than anything else?! wut. Anyway this ape is extremely tanky (like ~120K HP), has a move that heals himself for quite a bit (~17k) *and* buffs Str, Def, and Spd. FOr 5 turns. If he does it again before it runs out, the buffs refresh and stack, so we're talking +50% Spd and +50%Atk for utter SMASH. His physicals hurt a ton and can inflict Faint, and he has a charge-up supermove, Knockout, which hits an area for massive damage (OHKO if he's buffed) and guaranteed Faint if you don't immune it. Very monodimensional, but he has what a Trails boss needs to succeed: enough bulk to withstand an S-Craft blitz, healing to require me to set up a sustained, buffed offense, and strong offense of his own. In fact... he was TOO badass. He wiped me like 3 times until I went back with some more Faint-resistance gear (only enough for 2 characters, although I suppose I could go to the shop to buy more if I really needed to), and even then, his offense was too much. I got him low, and it was then clear that all hope was lost. Except... except... huh?
That's right, I accidentally cheesed the boss with a strategy perhaps better known from Lunar 2: the CORPSE BLOCKADE. Because he's short-range only, Alisa hid behind Rean & Emma's cooling bodies. It'd obviously be ridiculous and disrespectful to step over the dead, so Mr. Ape could only watch in frustration as Alisa buffed up then threw fire magic at him constantly, and solo'd the fight. If he'd spammed healing harder, that would outrace my damage, but he doesn't, and he can't hurt Alisa anymore, so... gg.
Legram shrine boss:
Haha HP sucks too much, die to S-Crafts suckers. (Taken in TOTAL, their HP is fine, but splitting it across 3 of them, well. Most S-Crafts have enough range to hit 'em all at once.)
Stahlritter & Pyro:
MT Insight from Alisa once more saves the day. Along with Jusis shouting at everyone as usual, Noble COmmand kinda broke. Pyro's fire blasts count as physical attacks, and while they're pretty good (area-3HKO off great speed), they get evaded a lot once Insight is up. Stahlritter is a bit frailer than Ape (~90K HP) and doesn't have healing, so Noble-Command buffed S-Crafts finish her off pretty decisively. I even survive Pyro's All-Cancel cheaty 20K damage attacks phase for a bit thanks to Alisa's Angel.
Divine Knight battles:
Are still lame. In Cold Steel I, the one relevant DK battle was insanely difficult, so clearly they overreacted. You can't possibly lose them unless you are truly asleep at the switch. Not sure how these could be sanely balanced though anyway, forcing your co-pilot to spam healing would be lame too as then all co-pilots would be identical. Oh well. Giant robots just not quite my thing I guess.
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P5: Stopped at 12/16, about to infiltrate Palace 7.
As a note of awareness for people if you're not following a day-planner: Even though you have mondo free time in December, you lose the ability to do S-Links with your party about a week before the election. Plan accordingly. Unaffiliated links like Tower, Fortune, Hanged Man, etc still appear on their days, but often you're left with nothing to do. If you're not sure of what to do, gaming is always fun. They put effort into those. DVDs are a source of hilarity too. Trophywise, The Guardian only took me 3 sessions to catch. Hitting a home run wasn't as difficult as I'd thought.
All in all, not following a day planner I still maxed stats and came within 9 combined ranks of maxing all confidants (assuming the plot ones go through). Missed out on Lovers (2), Emperor (2), Fortune (2), Hanged Man (1), Empress (2). Not sure if I'll be able to raise any of these in the coming nights. I think my downfall was ultimately forgetting Sun and Devil raised Charm, and instead spending nights watching DVDs, reading books, and playing games to raise it for Priestess 5. Made me play catchup later. Oh well.
Palace 6 had the most rockin music.
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P5: 11/26 up to 12/7 plot dump. huge spoilers
Okay, it's pretty much a given that Akechi was the traitor. I caught the school trip scene where he heard Morganna talk about pancakes. Then lied that his persona was awakened recently (it's wasn't). However I wasn't expecting Joker to catch on at the same time, using his mistrust in Akechi to bait out the true culprit. I still don't get how they created a fake cognitive Joker that Akechi shot. When I saw Joker get "killed" I was expecting mysterious Igor powers to revive him or something to that effect. Now we have to take down Evil Anime Howie Mandel on his giant boat.
Howie Mandel? Oh please Eph, get your facts right.
This guys is Char Aznabel, okay? They have everything in place from the voice to the suit.
Serious answer to your question.
They didn't "create" a fake Joker, it was there in the first place because JUDGEMENT cognitively believes Joker is already there, so it naturally is there. The Palace always reflects what its owner believes to be true, and everything is almost the same as reality outside the dungeon area which is the center distortion.
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Legram / Bareahard randoms:
You know, they could at least *pretend* to try since they give you super-meido for this part. Maybe double the number of enemies, or more HP? I stuck Gladiator Belt & Headband on Sharon and speed-boosting Orbments, so yeah, repeat "This won't take long, Shadow Stitch!" a lot. For those that haven't played, it's a 2x hit craft to a huge area that has a huge speed and movement debuff attached, and each hit has a 30% chance of Nightmare, a 30% chance of a random status, and all the status Orbments for another 10 or 20% chance per (I think I had Sleep & Burn). This is pretty much gg. On the off chance a crippled, no movement, slowed enemy isn't horribly statused, she can just use it again next turn. Which will be fast because she's a speedster. Yeah. This goes for the treasure chest randoms too, who stand no better chance of surviving unstatused.
Don't forget the bit where her locked accessory gives an Impede effect, so she'll also lap all of them even if the rest of the team can't finish them off. And as long as there's more than two enemies, being two hits means that the move ends up being SP-positive, generating more than you spend.
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P5: Morgana :"You should go to sleep"
FUCK YOU
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P5: 11/26 up to 12/7 plot dump. huge spoilers
Okay, it's pretty much a given that Akechi was the traitor. I caught the school trip scene where he heard Morganna talk about pancakes. Then lied that his persona was awakened recently (it's wasn't). However I wasn't expecting Joker to catch on at the same time, using his mistrust in Akechi to bait out the true culprit. I still don't get how they created a fake cognitive Joker that Akechi shot. When I saw Joker get "killed" I was expecting mysterious Igor powers to revive him or something to that effect. Now we have to take down Evil Anime Howie Mandel on his giant boat.
Howie Mandel? Oh please Eph, get your facts right.
This guys is Char Aznabel, okay? They have everything in place from the voice to the suit.
Well now that I've fought the Shadow version I definally see it. Also he's the best boss in the game. Shame about the rest of the bosses being total potatos though.
Fusion above your level is crazy broken but kind of necessary if you want to play around with high level personas. I made Yoshitsune (he's level 79) and Beezlebub (level 82) at level 59. Cost over 1 mil yen but it was worth it.
All the palaces have great music but fucking memetos is godawful and you spend a lot of time in there.
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P5: Morgana :"You should go to sleep"
FUCK YOU
Yeaaaaaah. Morgana is rad but more times than I care to admit I've literally screamed "STOP TELLING ME HOW TO LIVE, CAT!"
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P5: Morgana :"You should go to sleep"
FUCK YOU
Yeaaaaaah. Morgana is rad but more times than I care to admit I've literally screamed "STOP TELLING ME HOW TO LIVE, CAT!"
Just accurate to being a cat owner, really.
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - Building a black/red deck.
Castle Falgabard has an important shop to restock at. It also has two trapped treasure chests; the fights are easy though. Souls of Hate can use curse but that's about the only notable thing. One of the rewards is a hat that blocks sleep, an addition to my all-important collection of status-blockers. In the castle basement there are some Bandits, I beat them up. Then they retreat to their boss, and...
Dundoth (3 resets) - He fights with three Bandits. The problem with this fight is simple: Roundhouse. All four enemies have it; it is a physical attack which always hits and always stuns. Lockdowns are a thing that can happen. Dundoth can also use Eye Gouge for blind and Whack for conuse, and probably has some MT or something. He hits reasonably hard too (around 300-400 to the back row).
Powerful Sylphs and the Red Mage toolkit are useful here, so the usual build comes out to play (Headgear to block confuse, Battle Boots for speed). Slow on Dundoth, Protect on self. However, it still is an extremely tricky fight to deal with, as a bad run with Roundhouse is fatal. Bandits have enough bulk that they don't fall that easily, and additionally, long charge times are dangerous in this fight due to how stun works. (Sylph is still a must, though.) I go for Break a couple times and it never gets off.
Eventually, though, I hit on the winning strategy: Confuse! Yep, this Level 4 red/white spell reliably works on the Bandits, turning their attacks against their fellows. They can still randomly target me, but confused characters only ever use their basic physical, and basic Bandit damage is no big. So the priority order becomes to heal with Sylph when necessary, maintain Protect/Slow, then try to keep as many Bandits confused as possible. I focus my Sylphs on the boss and the Bandits end up doing quite a bit to him once the front one dies (putting everyone else in the front row). Dundoth has like 7000 HP or so, which falls fast enough once he's alone, mostly to -ara spells as always. I use one Ether because the early stages of the fight are a big of a slog.
Passage: A small dungeon after the bandits. A couple enemies from the Underwater Temple show up here, proving that I should have bought the Lightning Bow instead of the Flame Bow, oh well. Souls of Hate return and can curse, but don't do so often; the more important accessory choice is actually a Star Pendant. Goetias (pretentious name for a sewer rat, there, FFD) can inflict confuse and Toxify, blocking both is useful. I mostly run Counter Ranger here; no difficulties.
Commander (3 resets) - Another generic imperial officer who is no slouch. No Roundhose spam here, but he does come with two Lancers as support; all are in the front row. The Commander hits like a truck: his Axe attack does over 700 damage to the back row! That's a 3HKO to Red Mage (4HKO to Ranger who just gets dunked on here). He also has a confuse physical, as usual. The Lancers are less damaging but more damaging than Bandits; they definitely add up. Sadly, the Commander is immune to Slow, so there's no way to stop painful Axes from ruining my day. He also casts MT Shell at the start of the fight (doubleacting with Axe) which weakens magic notably
Priority on the winning run is to use Protect, and then, once again, Confuse the support! They hit hard, doing around 600 to the boss's 6000 HP. I use Sylph to heal; it does a bit less in the first few rounds until Shell wears off (which it does twice as fast as my Protect at least). Again I focus on the boss and let Confuse do a lot of my dirty work; no Ethers needed here at least.
I check out Ifrit's side-dungeon at this point. The first encounter is against bats who mercilessly spam Binding Attack until I die. Paralysis immunity can't come soon enough (next chapter). Fire isn't useful for the rest of this chapter anyway, so I skip this dungeon. (Yes, this is exactly what happened with Shiva in the Bard chapter, too.)
Mt. Gulg: And the reason fire isn't useful is we have this little FF1 reference! Ice is the element of choice here for sure; most monsters are weak to it. Fortunately the game gave me an Ice Bow in the Falgabard Passage so Ranger has a solid source of damage. (It even hits wind weakness on a couple of the few enemies not weak to ice, too.) Anyway, this dungeon is really rough; let's break down the enemies:
-Pyrolisk is an asshole. It has Glare, which paralyses. Fortunately they're only common on the first screen. Always the highest priority to take out, but I can only OHKO them with a Ranger's Strike (and running Ranger with Battle Arts is really problematic elsewhere) and even that misses sometimes. Status it is! Confuse/Sleep both work. If I'm Ranger, Leg Aim (damage+stun) can reset their turn; and I'm faster than them and can complete the 2HKO next turn. They also have Slow-Numb, and thanks to paralysis locks I finally learn how that works: time doesn't make it tick, you just die if it gets inflicted four times. This is hilariosly useless on a random enemy outside a solo; could have done something on a boss but none have it I don't think? You'd think the status-happy Earth General might have used it...
-Magmantis just hits hard. 350 ITE/uncounterable damage per turn to the back row (double to the front; nasty in sneak attacks). They get 2HKOed by the Ice Bow and are the second highest priority.
-Horned Devils can use Fira and Slow and have decent bulk; Silence/Mouth Aim work well. If they get off Slow that's annoying because
-Hell Ligers can use Roar. Not too notable otherwise but slow+stun is a bad combo.
-Prometheus and Fire Gigas have large bulk, are quite damaging, and can confuse (Headband!). Red Mage can own Prometheus with Mini! Otherwise there's not much to say about them; they do a lot of damage before going down. Leg Aim can help if I have MP to burn.
-Fire Elementals are fragile and spam Conflagaration which is MT fire. They're often found in the front row and sometimes keep a more physically imposing enemy in the back, in which case I leave them until last.
Anyway aside from Pyrolisks I don't have many resets here. However, whichever build I run, this dungeon is BRUTAL on my resources. 3-4 Hi-Potions a fight is typical! I come in with 40 and this isn't enough; once I realise this I warp out just prior to the imperial base section of the dungeon and buy 60 more.
In the last section there are some semi-fixed encounters with wandering imperial soldiers. As in the Warship the encounters are random once triggered, but you can't run. They're against the following:
-Sorcerers use various annoying spells, including Slow/Sleep/Bio, but can be silenced, and since both my builds can do that...
-Archers can also use slow. Jerks! They also hit pretty hard. Silence them after doing so to any sorcerers, then kill them.
-Lancers aren't notable and die last.
-Martial Artists can blind (ew) or stun with Roundhouse (EW). They also counter with Whack (confuse). I don't actually fight many which is good because they're a pain; Red Mage handles them better due to not caring about blind and having Confuse to own them.
Finally, our bosses:
Commander (2 resets) - He's back, new and improved! Actually the Commander himself is entirely the same as the one in Falgabard: MT Shell, 700 damage Axe hits, Whack for confuse. The difference is that this time he comes with a Sorcerer and a Martial Artist instead of Lancers. Silence the Sorcerer, Protect self, Confuse the Martial Artist and turtle like mad with Sylph through all of this. Roundhouse is a bad time which makes the start of the fight tricky.
I run out of MP just as I win this fight and I use five Ethers to recover for the next. I'm not sure if this is necessary or if my MP is auto-healed, but I'm not taking the chance before fighting...
Baugauven - He's kind of the loser general. He's a lot like Styx 1 (whom I faced with a very similar power level), in that he's reasonably fast and elementally focused (though you can't block his element), but he has 3000 less HP and there's no status to worry about, so I can equip for stats. Also Protect reduces his physicals. His most damaging moves hit for around 500, either Heat Wave or double Burning Slash. No Sap to worry about either. Red Mage with Sylph does its thing otherwise. He sometimes counters with Fira, which does around 300; no big but something I need to watch. For the second time in a row, the General boss at the end of a Dark World chapter is in fact the easiest boss of the bunch. Should have brought support like his underlings!
Also after the fight he plotkills me. Then Graham plotkills him (I don't even have to attack). He's... actually dead for real, despite this being his first boss fight. I was so surprised by this I didn't even leave a save file for him for stat topic reasons, on my first playthrough. Don't worry, Vata will make up for him.
Chapter complete. Current progress:
Alba Level 51
Ranger L7
Red Mage L6
Warrior L5
Black Mage L5
Summoner L1
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Nord Shrine randobosses:
The Donald Trump strategy of spamming "Speak Lies." Only a 5-7HKO, so no big deal, right?
I dunno, Trump's "Summon Great Wall" strategy is p.good. Immunes damage from drugs unless you have a ladder.
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P5: 12/24. About to hit up final dungeon, I assume. I just BARELY picked up the last request in time to complete it for the trophy, but alas I would still have to do things over again to get 100% S-Links. No re-gerts. Although, as a Caper and not a Murder Mystery the game doesn't lend itself as much to a replay for story reasons, especially when the game goes way out of its way to explain WHO did WHAT WHEN and WHY even more thoroughly than P4 did. To comic excess sometimes! Yay scenes of villainous villains reconfirming their villainous deeds!
Spoiler talk Palace 7 was cool in concept but the backtracking needed for the mouse puzzles was a bit much. Dragged a bit. Shido's Shadow was a great fight though. Ryuji was putting out ridiculous shotgun damage during bird phase (~900-1k? a turn with Taru). Definitely a good marathon fight. I think they missed a good opportunity for a headfake though with the Cleaner. It should've been Akechi, and the yakuza guy you chase is just some random dude. The boss gauntlet there is good times though too. Skadi with Phys Null made a joke of this dungeon.
Speaking of Akechi, fuck Akechi. That is all.
Plotwise... I'm not sure how much I like that THERE IS NO COINCIDENCE AT ALL. Like, if they game suddenly turned around and said Kamoshida was also in on it, I wouldn't bat an eye at this point. Why the FUCK is Shido's group involving random High School Principals in their plans at a level where the motherfucker knows about the psychotic breakdowns and Shido's involvement? Seriously. They showed why/how they might keep people in line, but holy shit is this massive conspiracy a bit too massive. There's a line between making the story tight and connected, and just going out of their way to beat in the theme THERE IS NO CHANCE ONLY FATE YOU MUST BREAK THE FATE.
Also, I never thought I would say this... but poor Ryuji. Dude goes balls out to save the party, has a chance to have a genuinely affecting moment making the sacrifice play, and they keep him alive. Oh well, it is a Persona game and they're not going to take a PC away from you. But then the party GETS MAD AT HIM AND BEAT HIM UP. What the fuck you ungrateful dickfarts. luljustanimehumor
God I really feel bad for the people who get to the true final dungeon and never touched Mementos at all.
EDIT: OH. Yes. So when you're done with the Bugs you have to make for the Strength link, MAKE SURE YOU ITEMIZE IT. The Bear Gloves are the most hilarious weapon in the game.
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CK: Actually, said accessory doesn't exist yet in Chapter 2! According to a FAQ, I'm about a minute away from getting it at the end of C2, but unlike Toval, she has free accessory choice. (That said, of course I stuck an Impede Orbment on her anyway, so still.)
Final Fantasy Dimensions
Due to Elf's FFD hype, I figured I'd give it a try. It's reasonably cheap, so what's the harm? I'd prefer to do it on a tablet, but my phone is reasonably big, so we'll see if my distaste for phone UIs wins out. Early signs not promising, with lots of drunkenly missing doors, getting stuck in corners, and a game that has a lots of hidden crap in barrels. Also, I'm right-handed, and the Android controls are on the right side of the screen, so it's easy to accidentally press them instead. Sigh.
Early discoveries: If you idle during the prologue, it's too early to quicksave, so it just boots you back to the beginning. In general losing data seems kinda alarmingly easy. At least there's a quicksave on entering floors, as I discover in the first dungeon and get some bad luck - there's an evil scorpion with an MT 4-5HKO, and a possible formation is 2 of them. And they decide to spam said move when I wasn't perfeclty healthy to begin with. Yeah RIP, I manage to take down one but the other devours everyone. Not sure I approve of there being challenge when there's not much I can do to deal with it. I guess I needed to heal harder in-between battles...? Do it every time? Yeah, about that. Let's do a comparison. Say your game wants to keep track of healing resources in dungeons.
FFD:
1. Wait ~2 seconds for menu button to appear in the top right while not moving. (It's pretty fast, but if you immediately jump for it, you'll get the movement pad instead.)
2. Press "Magic/Abilities."
3. Press Diana. (Or uh Aigis/Elko I guess later.)
4. Press "White Magic."
5. Press "Cure."
6. Press "All."
7. Press "All" again to confirm.
8. Press "Back."
Persona 5:
1. Press the square button after combat.
yeahhhhhhhhhhhh i dunno if I'm gonna stick with FFD here. If I do I want the most auto-battle compliant setup possible, so no cheaty Fenrir spell-spam that requires selecting crap on a mobile UI with too many presses.
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Isn't fighting with bad inputs the True Fenrir experience?
P5 - Fourth Palace beaten in like August or something? I normally post in downtime while traveling these days so work from memory.
Generally speaking at this point there is a few feelings that I would need to do comparisons to be sure on, so these are completely just Feels assessments, but it feels like you have just less free time in this than P4. It also feels like social skills take longer to grind. Also feels like there is more automatic social links this time.
Overall splitting between Mementos and Palaces I think feels pretty negative. It adds to that feeling of more restrictive time. Mementos and Palaces barely even play the same with Mementos being your standard Persona giant randomized dungeon and Palaces being hand crafted sustained dungeons.
It feels like 3 systems competing with each other rather than 2 pillars bouncing off each other like in P3/4. I wonder if there was a design doc or an early Alpha where you just had either Mementos and slice of life or Palaces and Slice of Life sequences and if the alternate world where those went ahead of the game felt less jumbled and more lean in what it is, because again, I like some SMT, but they tend to be in the upper numbers in time played for JRPGs and Persona games were already even bigger time investments than most other SMT games. I feel like the last thing they really need is to feel more cluttered and busy.
For the record I would want something that means in even harder on the palaces, all the movement and encounter control you lose in Mementos frustrates me.
Also has anyone worked out specifically what causes you to just get Personas rather than an encounter? I assume some of it is overlevelling, but I get it a fair bit in Mementos and only once in a palace. I think it hasn't something to do with ambushing an enemy while under alert? In Palace I got it the one time I did on a second enemy I ran into after alerting a dog enemy nearby. In Mementos it is mostly just when I engage from max range on low level stuff, maybe that was facing me ? It is kinda all over the shop.
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yeahhhhhhhhhhhh i dunno if I'm gonna stick with FFD here. If I do I want the most auto-battle compliant setup possible, so no cheaty Fenrir spell-spam that requires selecting crap on a mobile UI with too many presses.
If you set the cursor to memory then auto-battle will do whatever that PC did last (so yeah Fenrir spell-spam is very possible). Extremely useful in general since FFD's ATB is quick-paced so Auto is actually a notable effective speed increase when you can get away with it. That said I'd probably wait until you can play the game with better UI. It's fine on a tablet but most people seem to agree that it's less so on a phone.
The healing between battles thing is pretty normal for an RPG though! You can complain about it as a general thing (and I'll agree that generally I prefer the WA4/FF13/Zeboyd/Saga Frontier/etc. way of doing things) but yeah it's something you kinda need to do in, like, every actually challenging RPG that doesn't heal you after battle automatically. One-button versions are a nice idea though I rarely use them because they can be inefficient and may not draw from the resources I want them to draw from (e.g. if multiple PCs have MP pools, potions vs. cure spells, etc.).
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I never actually use Auto Recover in P5. Hardcore.
P5: Up to the beginning of Palace 3 because I had a lot of free time. I ditched Ryuji (outclassed) and Morgana (FUCK YOU) and am keeping Mystical Ninja / Motorcycle Pope. I dig that last party member. Ann is the weakest member of that group and I'm looking forward to replacing all the original team with new PCs.
The temperance confidant is some next level sleazy anime shit. Is there a romance option at the end? Oh god I'm sure there is one.
P5 feels in some ways inferior to 3/4 but two things make it so much better it'd be hard to go back : 1) Non randomized main dungeons 2) levelling confidants opening up new, awesome skills
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I don't think there is anyone who doesn't like Priestess so far; I went for the romance train on her even with pretty much no hesitation.
Temperance has a lot of issues with its setup yes, although the actual S-Link interaction itself is less anime than you'd assume it is. It doesn't really excuse the premise being questionable as all fuck but the scenes won't leave you cringing or anything.
Auto-Recover is bad for the reasons NEB outlined, although the way P5 progresses needing to watch every drip of SP and where it's allocated becomes increasingly less of a concern (pretty much gone by the third dungeon IMO, as you can use out-of-battle party members' SP reserves for healing, can have access to SP Adhesive 3, etc.) The Palace dungeons are waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than Mementos and anything I ever saw out of P4 so huge thumbs up there, being static gives the designers way more breathing room with creativity and pacing. Plus the aesthetics are just cool really, and the cast having light (unique) conversation banter while running it is a seriously underrated touch.
You get the instakill into free Persona thing explicitly by ambushing an enemy you're overleveled for. You'll never get it if you don't ambush. I don't know if it's tied into security level at all but it certainly shouldn't be more likely at higher security (consistently happened for me at 0% security level). Basically it's a way to get low level Personas without going through the time wasting steps of crushing a weak encounter and dodging the possibility of having too much damage to sanely negotiate with them.
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Ambush insta kill came from Ryuji's lv.7
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THat makes sense. The only time I really out levelled story's enemies was Angels in the second Palace because they are level 12 and I was back tracking at like level 15+.
I was contemplating the dumb romance thing, I would just not do it but A) seeing content and B) you pick enough dialogue and see enough cutscenes to know that MC ain't Ace. Priestess does seem the one that fits main plot best?
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P5 - well that 5 minutes was a fucking roller coaster of emotions.
Yeah okay Ryuji is stupid but eh I am less frustrated by him than most people seemed to be at September.
Wait what the school that is worried about their massive case of Negligence from the start of the game wants to fuckong do WhAAt?
Oh you can buy a game from the retro game shop in Alohabara called Punch Ouch. K game we good again.
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P5: this music
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MnHqMeGR-rE
P:T: hey Grefter I am still ready to play this terrible port, as a jerkface solo TNO
Which items are absolutely necessary outside their levels again, aside from junk? Can I store shit in shelves and go back to find it later? I haven't even left the mortuary and my inventory is already full of garbage
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Um. Just junk early on I think? Pry bar I think is handy later maybe. Chocolate Quasit and the Foldable portal later on, otherwise that is really it.
You can put stuff in shelves for later, don't leave it on the ground, that is what goes missing.
I legit forget some of the finer points, I don't do yearly replays any more. I was waiting for this remake to be honest.
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - Sol? Sol? SOOOOLLLLLLLL!
Memorist chapter, Dusk again. Like most chapters this begins with a town and a shop which doesn't really have much new stuff.
Ashmonte: The enemies here aren't too notable. Aegir can use Constrict but rarely and with poor accuracy. A couple enemies here can use sleep. Easy dungeon, we hit a save point and...
<Aigis> We'll split up.
<Elecman> NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
So uh Sol and Sarah go together and get annihilated. Worse, they have a force fight against two Lancers, who are enemies from the last chapter but are quite capable of destroying Level ~9 PCs. Nope nope nope.
I fight about 8-9 battles until Sol/Sarah hit Level 21, with Dusk shepherding them along. I then make them Red Mages with L1 Summon (where have we seen this before) and they can now reliably survive long enough to get turns against the lancers (originally, the lancers would instant double them and/or OHKO). Confuse is once again the play to win, and Sylph patches up both at once. Sylph OP.
Anyway there's also a Dusk/Aigis section which is a mega-joke because the enemies are weaker than usual (as they were for Sol/Sarah, but yeah). Then we're done.
Hierro Cave: Challenge stall points aside, this dungeon is significantly nastier than the last, starting to look like the later parts of the Dark Knight chapter where enemies hit hard and are just a brutal tax on resources to get through. L2 spells no longer doing a great job.
The most notable enemy here is the Alveolata, which regens around 350 health a turn. Overcoming this with MT is difficult, easier though not trivial with ST. The best solution? Break! Finally buying this spell really feels like it pays off. Actually it's useful against several enemies here... Rock Eaters are elementally neutral, reasonably sturdy, and hit very hard with Smash To Bits (plus they're adorable squirrels), Break takes 'em out too.
Speartongues can inflict Frog; this is annoying, but at least it's inaccurate. Mighty Golems are powerful, bulky, and can confuse... but Mini deals with them. Earthipedes are bulky and can use a damaging (500) Earthquake, and no fatal/transformation status works; Sleep is an option, but just outslugging them and eating the Hi-Potion costs is also an option.
I equip the Headband and Protect Bangle and use appropriate status moves + dragon breaths as Red Mage, then switch to Dragoon when low on MP which is much harder because I lose options and confuse immunity, and do have to run from some fights.
I reach Fabrica. I buy the L5 black magic, althogh this is the first spell level Red Mage can't use, which means we'll see how much value I actually get out of it. But more importantly...
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/avb19epvj8lsh8f/Gold-Spun%20Hat.png?dl=0)
FUCKING. FINALLY.
(Also sleep and silence immunity options, as well as an anti-confuse robe... lots of good stuff. The Gold-Spun Hat can only be used by mage classes, unfortunately.)
Glacial Cave: Anyway, time to get Shiva. With my Gold-Spun Hat firmly in place, Ice Lizards (paralysis spammers can now be safely mocked. The rest of the dungeon... is not trivial mostly because I need to save my MP without leaving a mage job, so I do a lot of bow physicals (should have bought a Flame Bow) and that results in eating through my Hi-Potions at a decent clip. But besides paralysis, no enemy here has overwhelming damage or any especially dangerous tricks; there's curse but that's about it and the enemies who use it (Cursed Silver) are fragile. I use Fire Breath against larger groups and Mini against Ice Golems and otherwise try to conserve MP.
Shiva (1 reset) - Not too bad. Shiva uses silence which is unfortunate since she outspeeds me so it's a nasty tempo move, beyond that she's an awful lot like Styx or Baugauven, 500ish magic damage and decent speed and 12000 HP + an elemental weakness. She'll use Blizzara to heal herself periodically and doing so buffs her damage by like 25% or so, so that adds some oomph, but she's still reasonably maangeable. I win the first time I actually block silence. Fira and Sylph all day long.
Will I actually use Shiva? Who knows! That's not really the point. Ramuh proved useful though, so we'll see. Current level is in the mid 50's.
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Bravely Second- Beaten! The final boss' HP was pretty poor (I was certainly expecting it to have a lot more). What good is 150,000 HP when I have a character who can do 80,000 x 2 after storing 3 BP? Certainly nothing like the final boss from the first game. The little interlude was the only part that had me worried for a second, which is more than I can say for the boss.
I'm thinking of using new game plus to do a stat topic since I can reset level. What level would people take the stat topic at for normal? I guess I would use job level 11, but just put notations about what is gained at job level 11 since it's not what would be considered standard DL legal.
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Anyone surprised I've been playing PERSONA 5?!
Currently completed the 5th dungeon...IN SPAAAAAAAACE! Going to save my detailed comments for the end, but it's excellent. Things are going slower than back in the old days because
1) Fuck you real life I wanna play my vidya games
2) I've been going it very slowly taking notes on everything in the game including mechanics for writing some type of FAQ... and stat topic, of course
God, I remember the days of grinding out a game in the course of a week. Real life gets in the way too much.
Also, romancing Backstreet Doctor. Because I feel like being different.
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Persona 5 -
...Why is an event that requires me having max rank in a social stat to activate... Giving me points in that social stat?
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Anyone surprised I've been playing PERSONA 5?!
Currently completed the 5th dungeon...IN SPAAAAAAAACE! Going to save my detailed comments for the end, but it's excellent. Things are going slower than back in the old days because
1) Fuck you real life I wanna play my vidya games
2) I've been going it very slowly taking notes on everything in the game including mechanics for writing some type of FAQ... and stat topic, of course
God, I remember the days of grinding out a game in the course of a week. Real life gets in the way too much.
Also, romancing Backstreet Doctor. Because I feel like being different.
(http://i.imgur.com/MAHz4De.png)
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Beat P5 today. Final time clocked, 95 hours. Holy shit. Was a hell of a ride, 10/10 game to me easy. Also, Rivers In The Desert is going to be stuck in my head for days.
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Same, 101 hours here thanks to some dithering.
9/10 here. It's an almost perfect game but at the same time I didn't form as much emotional attachment to anything in it like I did for P4. Most of my quibbles are minor nitpicks, although the one I think rises above minor is that the end drags itself out too much and kinda fizzles.
EDIT: For people planning on NG+, you keep pretty much everything BUT consumables, so sell anything you don't think you'll need for the final dungeon. HOWEVER, the last day you can sell them is 12/22 or so. Don't miss out like I did ;-;
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Beat P5 today. Final time clocked, 95 hours. Holy shit. Was a hell of a ride, 10/10 game to me easy. Also, Rivers In The Desert is going to be stuck in my head for days.
If only the singer can pronounce desert properly.
I can never take that song seriously because the singer pronounced it into dessert.
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That and Our Beginning has wormed it's way into my head, yep
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Planescape Torment :
Wis 18 Int 17 and the rest in charisma.
I started off by ditching Morte, and ate a few no-fights quests in the hive until reaching level 6. Went to see the midwife, changed to a mage. Went to O for wisdom, then Dak'hon, basically explained the philosophy of his whole clan to him by unlocking all the circles and gorging on all that exp, then immediately ditched him too.
Now I can start fights and they are surprisingly easy considering I'm playing on the hardest difficulty and going solo. Balance in all things for crowds (this thing is so great), chromatic orbs and defensive spells for single units. Even as a mage I am the most buff motherfucker and can handle most guys 1vs1.
The writing in this is still real good. I was quite overwhelmed by the game the first time to be honest, and it's easy to see why. NPCs everywhere who throw walls of texts and quests at you. A bunch of areas to visit. Weird stats, no piece armor, Dnd rules with negative armor being good, tacos and everything. Curses.
My mistake was exploring by carefully examining every square inch of the map, eventually forgetting about what my quests were about, instead of just following one quest whenever I get one and not paying attention to the rest.
Playing as someone greedy, mean and cruel is less fun nowadays because I feel like I'm roleplaying Trump
P5: I cleared the third palace
God is this game still relentless on hard mode, I love it. One time an Oni got a turn and OHKOed Joker with a critical hit. Afterwards I always made sure to get the first turn and Dormina them with Ann/Joker so they never could actually act. This is the kind of shit I have to deal with. I'm legit intimidated by every enemy, don't get me started on the armless dudes who cast Mazionga.
My Shiki-Ouji carried me through the dungeon thanks to Null Phys, Diarama and a lot of damage spells. Honestly every battle with a deva went everybody but Joker instantly dies -> Joker slowly beats his enemies because he's basically immortal
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Final Fantasy III: Beaten Titan and gotten the Warlock, Summoner, and Shaman jobs. I've made two of my party members M. Knights (now I've gotten past the city which provides equipment for them), one of them a Summoner, and one of them a Shaman. Making half of my party physical attackers and the other half mages should make the shift to the Eureka classes easier.
Pokemon FireRed: Beaten the second Pokemon League challenge. Another issue which I forgotten I had with the game was how you had to get 60 kinds on your Pokedex in order to do the post-game. This probably isn't an issue for people who complete the Pokedex anyway, but it's a minor inconvenience for someone who is just binging on the games without 100%ing them. Otherwise, like RSE, I feel like this one has aged rather well.
The final team:
(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/2/23/Spr_3f_003.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/6e/Spr_3f_057.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/7/7f/Spr_3f_026.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/9/98/Spr_3r_134.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/7/7b/Spr_3f_094.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/0/0b/Spr_3f_144.png)
Jagens:
(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/e/e5/Spr_3f_017.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/7/74/Spr_3f_075.png)(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/a/af/Spr_3f_085.png)
Nuked the second Pokemon League challenge:
(http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/b/b4/Spr_3r_150.png)
Pokemon Platinum: I don't have much of a choice but to play this version for the binge. Diamond and Pearl feel too much like betas for me to come back to them. I've just gotten to Hearthome City, the place with the square which brought back the most over loved aspect in a Pokemon game. I remember really liking this one when I was younger, but I'm having a lot of problems with it looking back. The game's world is uninteresting, and it bombards you with dialogue until you beat the first badge. It's even worse with Platinum where you have Looker, the annoying cop who reminds of the Doctor from Doctor Who; a show which I have next to no love for. What I will say about the game though is that it has the best boss draw at this point. I liked RSE's boss fights but the ones here felt like the next logical step forward in terms of what they could make the AI do.
The current team:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/394.png)(http://www.serebii.net/platinum/pokemon/397-m.png)(http://www.serebii.net/platinum/pokemon/267-m.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/479.png)(http://www.serebii.net/platinum/pokemon/207-m.png)
Jagens:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/074.png)
Shadow of the Colossus: Beaten it and still shaken by the game's ballsy ending. I watched Zero Punctuation's review of the game afterwards and Yahtzee pretty much nailed both the positive and negative aspects which I had with the game. The smaller colossi fights stick out like sore thumbs in comparison to the others which I had little to no problems with. The other minor gripes which I had were the frame rate, although I hear it was improved with the PS3 compilation of both it and Ico, and Agro's finicky moments, even then I still preferred his top speed over that feeble cattle which is Epona. Other than those minor niggles though, I felt that this was an exceptional title which runs circles over any Zelda game, even my beloved ALTTP.
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I'm legit intimidated by every enemy, don't get me started on the armless dudes who cast Mazionga.
This is legit the thing I was looking forward to most. Game not telling you enemy names, because the thing I figure SMT needs to start doing to Fenrir is start not telling him what things are.
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Beat breath of the wild not long ago, all shrines found. Man, what an incredible game. Getting p5 for my birthday next month, working until then.
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Grefter I have no idea what you are talking about?
P:T: Many as one does not live up to my memories.
As far as giant rat conglomerates in RPGs (needs to be a trope) go it pales compared to that one in Romancing Saga 3
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The smaller colossi fights stick out like sore thumbs in comparison to the others which I had little to no problems with.
Yeah, pretty much. Was it...11? 12? That was the bull you have to scare off the cliff with the torch? Easily the worst in my experience. His melee attack knocks you down for so long that you can legit get stunlocked to death before you can get away again.
But in general: controls may be finicky, but the game is so, so good at what it sets out to do that I mostly don't care.
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Fights with stuff like "Corpse Bird" or "Angry No Arm Man" instead of Taki Mitama that you have been fighting for a decade now and might remember weaknesses from other games.
Also, the mechanics behind the rats in PS:T leaves a lot of room for improvement. The coolness was always in the concept.
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Oh yeah! To be fair even if its real name had appeared I wouldn't have remembered it.
I have an encyclopedic knowledge of SMT demons but can never remember the names of any of the japznese ones!
Mechanics behind rats don't even matter because I have BEES
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So. You claim to have beaten Persona 5, eh. You must have had help - walkthroughs, guides, FAQs, snarky forum posters. Tell me who they were.
...and on that note...
Persona 5 - See Grefter's post from earlier. Holy shit I have no idea how on earth you're supposed to clear the castle in one day, and that's using the Snuff Soul for 50 more MP and drinking all the vending machine SP restorers. Well... I suspect you're obviously *not*, that this is training you to take Palaces in multiple runs so let's intentionally have a really long first area. Oh well, I'll miss out on a few activities, I'll live. Since Laggy-san did the same thing, I gave myself permission to knock it from Hard -> Normal, just for the first dungeon only and not on bosses. Kinda ludicrous on Hard and I'm not as masochistic as Fenrir - Brutal Cavalryman doesn't have a weak point you can hit until you recruit or fuse a Silky for Bufu, and he freaking OHKOs everyone with Cleave. No need to charge up or anything.
Trails of Cold Steel 2 - Here, OTOH, I have plenty of broken, so bring on the 25-levels-too-high Nightmare Cryptids that cast near-OHKO full MT magic. I thought I was gonna lose, and then I reminded myself how busted Delay is even against enemies with only 10% vulnerability and got back on my feet from a sure loss.
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I played on Normal, FAQless to start, referring to the Confidants guide for best answers and glacing at a no-spoilers day planner to see if I was on track for things around July. I did not do the first and third palaces in one day (2 doesn't count since you're forced to leave via plot and thus get a free recharge), but I did manage Palace 4 and forward. 4th even done without Adhesives. But Normal and Hard even seem a world's difference. Even with a lot of time wasted, I only had 9 total confidant ranks done, so you do have some leeway. I think some of the FAQs cram getting the Read All Books and Play All Video Games trophies in there. Again, my biggest time loss was forgetting the Confidants that raised Social stats with each rank, and did other things that made me play catchup in the end. If not for that, I think I would've been fine.
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The key was to take your money from the start and put it in a weapon for Ryuji.
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Or download the free Soma and sell it to fully equip your party.
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That Soma is SP Adhesive money, dog.
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Honestly? The benefit from having the equipment from the start trumps the money crunch in the middle.
Also, starting NG+ I realize you don't see the outside of Sojiro's car until the very end. Rest assured, Grefbro. It is baller.
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Got my PS4 back from the shop, so I can resume playing Persona 5. But first, Dark Souls 3!
I've been playing a strength build knight (50 str, 39 vit, rest into hp). Holy hell this is a million times easier than my previous run (0 added hp, dexterity build). I used Vordt's hammer for most of the game, then switched to cosplaying Tsorig once I had the stats (2-handing Fume Ultra Greatsword, full Black Iron armor).
It's hilarious destroying things that gave my previous build problems. With the no-hp build I got walled hard by Dragonslayer Armor. As Tsorig? Killed him on the first try with no ember. Hardest boss was probably the Rotting Greatwood, just because it is early and I couldn't get anyone to help and my stats weren't in place yet. Easiest was Champion Gundyr. I was still embered from Oceiros so I summoned two players who had signs there. I stabbed Gundyr in the ass with R2 and he fell flat on his face. Then the three of us literally did a Persona All-Out Attack on him. Too funny.
This is also my first time going through either DLC. In Ariandel, Friede wasn't too bad. First form is the hardest. When Father joins he eats the same stab in the ass that Gundyr did for a quick phase 2. Also fought Sonic the Fucking Hedgehog at the bottom of the rope bridge. I actually made it harder on myself because I didn't find the bonfire down there so I was going down the vines every time I fought him. GOTTA GO FAST.
Not too far into Ringed City yet. Twin Demons I figured out was easier if you just summon Lapp and not Gael. Gael dies too easily and just adds more difficulty to the enemies. Lapp is a nice tank for distracting them.
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Overwatch: Uprising is a pretty nice mode. Not very forgiving though, I've yet to beat Hard mode, and there's two more difficulties above that. All heroes version leads to random team comps that shouldn't work but do (Pharah, Reaper, Bastion, Zenyatta).
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Persona 5: I missed one question on the exam and that gave me the worst grade in class. Apparently I am going to smart kids school. Somehow nobody has noticed a meowing cat in my desk helping me with answers.
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First day in days I have had time to do something not work.
P5 - I have been putting it off because I had lots of rambling, but now I am in the middle of a bunch of days where plot plot plot happens and I can't save, so now is as good a time as ever.
Akechi has like the worst fucking tie ever.
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Persona 5: So I had been playing with all allies on AI control, Persona 3 style. But I had to turn it off for Major Boss 2. AI doesn't know what to do with that fight and it's just chain deaths. Also doesn't help that my levels are a bit low, 17 compared to the community average of 20. Anyway I am now past that and have a cockblocker living in my mancave. How am I supposed to romance sexy maids now?
Also I love fucking with Moon in every conversation. Phantom Thieves? Wtf are you talking about man?
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Honestly, 17 was the average when I was at that boss on Normal (like 2 weeks ago). I was also at 17 and didn't really have a problem with it, so really it's just you using AI mode =-P
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Yeah it's very easy with manual control. Just a shame the AI isn't as good as P3's.
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Metal Gear Solid 2: Beaten Solidus Snake. Is it just me or is the sword extremely overpowered? It allows the player to quickly breeze through opponents from the instant you get it, except for the Metal Gear Rays you fight but even then the sword can block their attacks very easily. Overall, I'm probably not going to be very popular for saying this, but this game was pretty incredible. The gameplay improves my problems with MGS1 (other crawling still being a little awkward) as you can now aim in first person which makes combat a damn sight easier. There are more creative ways of hiding yourself such as grappling from surfaces and hiding corpses to avoid attention.
I also really enjoyed the narrative, I was even able to understand what was going on despite how twisted it became near the end. I felt the message of the game in particular was very powerful; while the dangers of the digital age are clearly expressed through the Patriots censorship plan, it also states how we can use it to display our history for the better of future generations. It really made me wonder what is stopping me from putting any ideas I have for video games into practise. If I had to come up with a complaint, it's that the cast is a mixed bag. While what Kojima did with Raiden back when the game was released was ballsy and I felt that the game did a good job with making him a complex character who is quite similar to the player in more ways than you'd think (you could kinda compare Raiden's backstory as a child soldier to your experience with killing in video games), I couldn't stand Rose. Codec calls with her took forever and most of her dialogue was romantic trite which gave Titanic a run for its money in terms of corniness. Also, because the relationship was confined to codec calls, there weren't many moments which allowed Rose to show why she eventually fell in love with Raiden despite her being a spy for the Patriots. Thankfully, there were effective moments which were displayed through small moments outside of codec calls such as the aftermath of Emma's death. I also felt that the Dead Cell members weren't worthy replacements to the FOXHOUND bosses, Fortune and Vamp weren't nearly as developed or as likeable as Sniper Wolf or Psycho Mantis.
Apart from my issues with the cast; I still really enjoyed this game, easily one of the best games I've played this year so far. I would recommend the game, but I would strongly advise that you play the first game before playing this one.
Pokemon Platinum: Beaten Crasher Wake. Oh boy, the battle speed in this game is quite shocking in comparison to RSE and FRLG. While Platinum's battle speed isn't nearly as bad as DP's, it still feels off in comparison to the previous games. I also feel that the movement speed feels slower in this game in comparison to generation 3's. You'd think they would've created something faster with the new hardware. One thing I can praise Platinum on is the difficulty. Apart from Sun and Moon, Platinum is probably the most difficult game in the series. Fantina's Mismagius can burn in hell and even Roark's Cranidos is tough for a first gym leader.
Team so far:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/394.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/397.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/197.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/026.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/449.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/426.png)
Super Metroid: I was going to play Aria of Sorrow, but before that I decided to take a look back at one of the games to popularise the Metroidvania genre. What also compelled me to replay Super Metroid was that I had never played the NTSC version of the game, but rather the much slower PAL version. Needless to say, the speed difference was very noticeable. I found Samus' walking speed in this version felt just as fast as her running speed in the PAL version if you want an idea on the speed difference. Other than that, what else can I say about Super Metroid? It is easily one of my favourite games of all time, I'd even go as far as to say it is my favourite non-RPG thanks its great atmosphere, bosses and areas which encourage several methods of exploration. If only Nintendo would make an ALBW-style game with Super Metroid to generate more interest in the Metroid series, I can dream.
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Persona 5: Palace 1 boss down on 4th attempt. Note the HP totals, and SP total on Joker, upon entering the boss's final phase here :
https://goo.gl/photos/C9NXJjGBEUtLEhoS6
Gameplay spoilers: Holy hell how is this boss doable on Hard without grinding an extra day in the Palace. Sure, I won with only 2 total trips to the Palace + 3rd for boss battle, but it felt pretty RNG-y. ♪Joker♪ was flat out of SP, so the battle couldn't stretch any longer as I'd be out of Tarunda juice. And god help you if you don't use Tarunda, as I didn't at first. Lustful Slurp buff is so insane on enemies, a max hit Volleyball Assault can nearly kill you from full-health, and buffed Tongue Slap is bad times too, and he double-acts! Sheesh. Even after I remembered that Tarunda exists and realized it was the only shot, it still took luck... I basically abandoned healing after his 2nd Ultimate Jecht Shot of doom, and after Mona stole the Treasure, he nicely hit the mostly-full health returned Cat rather than any of my 3 nearly dead members. That gave me more DPS, and he elected to wipe out Mona & Panther, so a 4 & 5 HP Joker/Ryuji staggered to victory afterward. If he'd attacked someone else before (reducing DPS), or ever attacked Joker in the final phase, gg. This was STILL cheating a bit in that I ran the dungeon on Normal, which gives a bit more XP, so presumably you'd be at lvl. 9 still on straight-Hard unless you grinded the Palace an extra day. I was lvl. 9 on Mona, lvl. 10 on everyone else, which definitely made things a tad easier. (Still no Media though, and according to the Internet, there was a fusion with phys. resist that'd help too that I didn't have.)
Also, I did ignominiously lose to randoms once on the way over, because I didn't have the final safe room unlocked, because when I tried to unlock it I died and had to re-do the miniboss. I actually had to redo that miniboss twice because the first time I didn't know about the other safe room, and if you choose not to teleport back to the start after finding the Treasure, HAHA TOO BAD SUCKER you can't do it again without returning to a safe room.
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We playing 5s games now boys.
Dragon Quest 5 - been on my to do list for a while. Figured I would get it for Phone since I have DQ7 on DS going nowhere and it was cheaper. Started up and decided that DQ5 was as Fenrir as the series would get so called my Hero Fenrir (because it's just true). Your dad is name Pancratz. Off to a good start.
Persona 5 a straight dialogue quote
"This overwhelmingly forgettable appearance, generic speech style, and total lack of sex appeal...
Mishima... are you an NPC!?"
What's an NPC?
Savage
> He's the Protaganist. (This is the correct answer.)
That self burn right there P5 is some good shit. I wonder if localization or if original script?
Edit - also the amount of bagging on Mishima you can do would almost be that douchey broey humor like Sopko and I have except that I mean it every time I make Shinsuke (aka Sopko) pick it and Sopko only means it 1/4 of the time when he says it to me. Fuck Mishima.
Edit 2 - Akechi thanking Sojiro for a delicious coffee and walking away. Cup still steaming on he counter. The signing on that plot twist is pretty fucking blatant.
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Original script, Greg.
But they used a different term instead of NPC.
But same meaning.
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I should have also checked in on finishing up Heirophant. As you would expect, best thing the game has to offer.
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Persona 5: Third Palace was quite a bit easier than previous ones, and boss was a joke. The AI does know what to do on that one! I almost made it through the whole thing in one day (thank you Invigorate 3) but chickened out near the end when I was totally out of SP on everyone.
I bought a 100,000 yen rock. I am not a sucker at all.
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I should have also checked in on finishing up Heirophant. As you would expect, best thing the game has to offer.
(http://i.imgur.com/T6WAMnH.png)
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It's a pretty nice attic all things considered.
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Now, I don't think I got the joke.
Why that piece of art when the Heirophant plot focused on his relationship with Hermit?
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I've been playing some Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. It's... decent? Hasn't really grabbed me so far. Just got to the savannah world which feels Rayman-style drug-induced, so that's a thing. Also, I'm happy to note that temple levels are still stupidly brutal; I spent nearly an hour on one.
Final Fantasy Dimensions - Hey sexy momma, wanna kill all humans?
First, another sidequest.
Anima Grove: Not too much to say about this dungeon. Usual Red Mage until MP gone then use Dragoon works well enough (though Dragoon is dicy due to no hats). Find the status holes here and there, exploit 'em, dragon breath does good damage to the rest. One enemy has Constrict and the dog-type enemy here has paralysis on their physical randomly so Gold-Spun Hat does its thing.
Conquerer (3 resets) - He's weak to fire and it takes me a while to figure this out because it's not really intuitive! (He looks like a red lion.) Anyway, he's easier than the resets make him look. All he does is use various physicals (double normal physical, Bite, Whack for MT) which do reasonably standard boss damage. Sometimes he'll use MT Roar (stun), which is less scary than ST because it fails around half the time, wasting his turn utterly. I go in with Memorial Ring and use Protect to stop those, it works pretty well... until he gets low on HP. Then he starts spamming Pox, which is MT physical damage that also inflicts Deprotect. This overwrites Protect and he's slightly faster than Red Mage, so... yeah, recasting Protect isn't an option and suddenly his damage is really high and it's far easier to be overwhelmed.
Eschewing Protect, I try again as Black Mage thinking the extra Int/MP will be useful, but the lost speed makes this not the case; I die.
Back to Red Mage, this time with the Protect Bangle for Auto-Protect. Fortunately this DOES impart immunity to Deprotect, so Pox is now nothing special. I win this time, don't even have to use an Ether although his large HP score (21000) makes this a concern. -ara spells aren't what they used to be...
Fabrica Cave: This area is one screen long. It's also surprisingly nasty! Hellclaws can use Death Claw. This can cause HP-1 sometimes. They also use Bio for Sap. RIP. There is also the Dread Chimera, which has a massive HP total, no weaknesses, and is mostly status immune, while doubleacting combinations of solid damage and curse. Ack. Black Mage can deal with them: Tornado! First serious use I've gotten out of L5 magic. It won't be the last. The easiest enemies here are Carmillas and their pet bats; the bats can be wiped out in two MT Firas. However, the bats can cast Silence, which sucks. I sacrifice my Protect Bangle to block it, but restore it as soon as I'm through this area.
Shipyard: The enemies here are mostly imperial soldiers, but they've taken a level in badass. My magic offence isn't what it used to be and they have lots of annoying status immunities. Finding the holes remains crucial.
Base Guardian - Hit hard and reasonably durable. Vulnerable to Confuse and Stop. Sometimes can confuse themselves.
Storm Trooper - Weaker than the above, though no jokes. Again, they have random Confuse. Sleep works, not much else does.
Highlander - Archers who cast Slow. I hate Slow so much. They're immune to silence unlike the ones in the Dark Knight chapter. Confuse and Stop both work.
Archmage - They use -ara spells and Curaja and Sleep. Sleep is certainly dangerous! They don't use physicals so I have to time it out if it lands. Or block it with a hat. Vulnerable to sleep themselves (a trend) and since they're pure magic they're a source of infinite MP via Attune Blade (Runic) spam, that's cool.
Repairer - Also mostly mages, they cast Cura/Protect/Shell to annoy my blitzing abilities. Weak to lightning since they're robots.
Sky Shooter - Most dangerous thing about them is Laser, which is 30% CHP gravity. Certainly takes a big chunk out at full HP. Oh and they also have random confuse. Yeah the robe that blocks that sounds good.
I can't always afford to set Dragon Breath here, Red/Black with two of Attune Blade, HP+20%, and INT+20% is my norm. Aqua Breath works as a decent substitute which is always available. It's somewhat more damaging than normal breaths anyway, though eats MP quite a bit faster, but honestly we've reached the point where that's okay. Attune Blade and Osmose do give me ways to stretch my resources.
Sentry x3 - They're not too notable a boss by themselves, though since they are unique to this formation and immune status they should probably be considered one. They use Cura (decent healing) and various attack spells. However, my offence can overwhelm them, and Sylph patches me up nicely. I waste a bunch of MP on them trying to find status holes, but nope.
Vata 2 - Although I beat this fight without resets, it isn't easy in the slightest. Vata's offence is somewhat higher for the time than that of previous bosses; not significantly, but enough to force that much more healing. And he's tanky with 20000 HP and no elemental weakness, and my offence really isn't improving much these days. Fortunately, unlike his first form, he can't use Tornado, which is a big deal. Jump does around 800, Howling Gale is around 500 and Sap, physicals hit twice for 400 total and sometimes miss, Thunder Breath does around 500. Below half HP he gains Buffet (700, sometimes stuns; he's faster than me) and Wild Dance replaces Jump, which is actually slightly worse against the back row: 4-5 hits of around 150 each. Buffet makes me more careful about healing. He also starts using Lancet at this point, which does pitiful damage (200ish) but drains, and also takes 15 of my MP. The draining doesn't matter too much (even my Sylph does over 300 now) but the MP damage does add up; still this is one of the better things he can do, from my perspective.
There's not much to say about strategy. I use the Memorial Ring for higher speed/int and cast Protect periodically; I'm pretty sure this wins out over using Auto-Protect. No statusblockers needed here. Sylph when HP falls to the point where it will heal fully, -ara spells otherwise. I have to use Sylph quite often so the fight really drags out; I end up using my one Dry Ether and two of my three Elixirs. I might have been able to save one if I redid Sentry fight in a more efficient way, but the fight was a long one which I executed well so I didn't feel like redoing it.
Heliogabalus: This dungeon continues straight after the previous one but fortunately a shortcut opens up to skip the shipyard, so I retreat and restock on my Hi-Potions. This dungeon has a lot of the same enemies as the previous, though there are some new ones mixed in. The most dangerous is the Iron Fist, a monk-type who can confuse (whatever, we're blocking that) and stun with Roundhouse; he uses that quite often and since he's fast it's extremely dangerous. Confuse them with high priority. There are also a new lancer and swordmaster type; the swordmaster has paralysis as a counter according to the wiki but I never see it, so it might be a counter against basic physicals or something. (Ha, imagine using those...) Weresoldier X and Proto Armour are both bulky but not overly dangerous; the latter is weak to lightning and uses Laser which is still 30% gravity.
Anyway this isn't the easiest dungeon but since I'm somewhat used to many of the enemies by now it's not as bad as it could be, just a reset here and there. There's one fixed ambush fight against four Storm Troopers, but it's near a save point and an Aqua Breath barrage backed by confuse immunity kills them before they kill me.
Two plot fights occur and then we get to fight the final boss of the chapter, and it's a doozy.
Argy-2 (8 resets): Argy-2 hits harder than Vata, though not as fast. She mostly uses -aga spells which do over 900. That alone isn't the problem, although it's no joke. The problem is that she also has a variety of physical techs. Some, like Strike, are no big deal. Some, like Body Slam (confuse) push me to use a confuse-blocking robe, but still aren't too bad. The bad are the following:
Lotus Strike - Even probability of sleep, paralysis, slow, and instant death.
Blaster - Even probability of paralysis and instant death. Replaces Lotus Strike below half HP.
Neither is common but both are brutal. Slow landing is awful. Sleep is almost fatal given her preference for magic. Paralysis is fatal. Instant death... do I need to say it?
Blocking as much of the move as I can is key. The Gold-Spun Hat blocks paralysis, the Cleric's Hat blocks sleep. I can't, sadly, use both. I go for a quick FAQ dive and realize, to my relief, that I actaully missed a sleep-blocker on a bookshelf back in Deist: the Drowsy Ring. One backtrack later and I have the ability to block both sleep and paralysis at once, reducing her nasty status moves to 50%. This still sucks, and it kicks out the Memorial Ring and its stat boosts to boot, but it's the best chance I have.
The one good news is that I've hit Red Mage L10 since Vata, which gives me access to an extra slot. I run Red Mage with Summon and Int+20% to buff my offence and healing. Still, it's not enough; Blaster is just too dangerous and my offence means I have to see way too many of them.
Solution? Get more offence. I flirt with Jump-based strats here but the weaker Sylph, as usual, just makes it impractical. But -ara spells aren't cutting it any more, and Bio/Shiva are only small upgrades (with much worse MP-efficiency). -aga spells don't exist yet. What does exist yet? The fusion ability Deep Freeze, which requires knowing both Shiva and Stop. Unfortunately I'm not yet particularly close to either Black L5 or Summon L3...
So, it's grind time. I need around 1000 Black Mage AP or 900 Summoner AP to get one of those abilities. I opt for Black Mage, as it gets me closer to Magic Font and the sum total value of L5+ black feels more useful than Summon, especially since much of light-side Summon is useless to a solo (Phoenix, Unicorn). After some research, I head back to the Underwater Temple, which has relatively easy enemies (by this point) who give 12-20 AP a formation. I run Lightning Breath which takes out everything on the starting floor in 1-2 shots. Once I hit L10 I set Int+20% to make the OHKO on some enemies more solid.
It takes around 25 minutes, which is the longest grind session so far, but my reward is Deep Freeze, which does >200% damage over time compared to -ara spells and is only slightly less MP efficient. It also sets Stop, not that this is useful against a boss. I also level from 63 to 66.
Anyway, it takes a couple tries, where I figure out that Blaster is definitely more common than Lotus Strike, but yeah knowing to buff with Protect and make sure HP/MP are in good shape prior to the final Deep Freeze/Sylph blitz carries me through. On the winning run I see two Blasters but neither inflicts Death. Yay. Memorist chapter complete!
Dusk Level 66
Black Mage L12
Red Mage L10
Dragoon L6
Warrior L3
Summoner L2
Bard L2
Monk L1
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One of the cool things about RPGDL is that we don't have annoying arbitrary rules against doubleposts.
Final Fantasy Dimensions - In search of the safety dance
Back in control of Alba again. I have a new shiny toy in Dark Knight. Dark Knight itself isn't too amazing or anything (the self-destructive moves are punitive on a solo, though Curse is a neat status for some enemies), but it grants Backliner, which is absolutely crucial to abusing Ninja, which is probably the game's most impressive job. So unless otherwise noted I'll be levelling in Dark Knight for a while. Dark Knight can use the Francisca, the back-row axe, which is starting to look weaker now but still performs overall better than front-row weapons.
Anyway I'm in a desert. Enemies here are competent enough, the best of them capable of brutally hacking through my MP. Sand Bears are tanky and hit pretty hard but can be cursed (and hit with other status like sleep). The Olgoi-khorkhoi (say that five times fast) is largely status immune and can drain a respectable chunk of HP, and hits very hard when it isn't doing that, so I usually try to take them out first. Striped Bark is an enemy which is usually harmless but occasionally dangerous, as they can rarely and without provocation use HP-1. Status works okay, they also die in a couple hits.
Gardenia Slums: Okay there's this little quest here where you have to make four slum-dwellers trust you. There are five options for this; doing four advances the plot, doing five gets you an Elixir. I've learned that Elixirs are pretty great, so I'll be doing that.
-One NPC just needs an X-Potion. X-Potions aren't common but this is still an easy sacrifice given the Elixir reward.
-One NPC needs a Pickaxe, which requires a slightly annoying but ultimately easy little fetchquest chain in Gardenia.
-One NPC needs a Cactuar Needle, which can be obtained from King Cactuars in the previous dungeon. King Cactuars are a huge pain to defeat on a solo since I don't seem to have any way to do it in less than three hits and they love to run. Fortunately stealing from them is an option as well. Thief to the rescue! They're not a common encounter but patience wins the day.
-One NPC needs a White Dress. This requires 500 coins from the casino, which costs 10000 gil or some time spent in the casino. I decide to opt for the latter. I experiment with the memory match game and while it's reasonably fun the odds of getting a lot of coins from it are pretty low. By comparison, high/low is simple: guess whether a card is higher or lower than the displayed one. You bet 1 gil and double your pot with each successive guess (a tie just results in trying again). Some math nerding reveals that I have a 75.6% chance to win each round. Winning 9 rounds in a row = 8.1%. Not too bad since it's a bet of 1 gil and 9 rounds in a row nets 512 coins, all I need. (10 wins in a row is the max, and 6.1%, so a good deal if you need more coins than I'm interested in at the moment.) I get this in about 15-20 tries which is reasonably typical, and it's actually pretty fast, so hey.
-One NPC wants a gem guarded by an Antlion to cure her sick child nope never seen this plot before. Anyway unlike FF5, the Antlion's respectable enough.
Antlion (2 resets) - His damage is competent enough, around 400-500 with Bite and Earthquake. Nothing special, and no status. The good news: he's mostly physical, so Protect sees play. The better news: he can be slowed! Yep, I try this just in case and it works, and as always the spell is a huge deal. The bad news: in Soviet Kaklim, antlion slows you. He has a low chance to counter anything with Silme which inflicts Slow and Sap; Slow lasts quite a while and Sap just adds on a bunch of annoying damage. So yeah, some respect for Slow is needed here, and obviously keeping him Slow is a big deal. He should be totally routine but getting fewer turns to keep the requisite buffs in place does make things hairier. He's got around 10000 HP which isn't too bad, but no weaknesses to exploit (Red Mage -aras are my offence of choice and do around 650-700). I use an Ether.
Now that I've proven that Alba is fantabulous enough to be trusted by shady resistance organisations, I'm able to advance the plot again.
Imperial Camp: We break in here but get ambushed. 1 reset on the fight here, it's pretty tough. It's in two stages: the first is a front attack against two Storm Troopers (normal grunts, can confuse) and an Archer (who can Slow). Slow is a pain but a Red/Summon setup handles this well enough. The problem is that immediately upon winning there's a back attack by a Martial Artist, Archer, and Lancer. Martial Artists remain jerks, because they have Roundhouse for stun as well as confuse and blind. The combination of Slow and stun is a dangerous one, and if I'm caught in the front row at the battle's start, that's a lot of potential for bad things. The solution is to be in the front row before the fight starts. This makes the first fight more dangerous but nothing a first-turn row-change can't fix, followed by Silence on the archer then Protect. In the second stage, I at least start in the right place. Confuse on the Martial Artist, Silence the Archer, Protect, -aras, Sylph, you know the drill for any tough fight.
After that we get solo Glaive! RIP me.
Once again I level the required PC to around 21. Since it's just one instead of two this time, it's even faster. This lets Glaive survive any fight long enough to use Teleport (unless his luck is real bad, e.g. a Lancer CAN instant double and use Impale for a 2HKO both times, but it's not likely). There's a forced fight with a Unit Captain, but after surviving two of its attacks, THE MASK shows up. The Mask has L6 black magic which is pretty badass. Two -aga spells send the enemy packing.
I then run from all fights until there's another Unit Captain, this one with support. I have one reset here and that's because I unequip The Mask of his armour (gold-spun stuff, so yes I can finally block paralysis with Alba too) and then underestimate his durability. Redoing the fight with Red Mage Glaive using Sylph and a Thundaga blitz works, though.
I get Alba back, kill off Glaive again, etc. Anyway the dungeon becomes a pretty normal one from here on. Red Mage is a bit safer than Dark Knight here since there are Gevaudans, dogs that can paralyse rarely, as well as various imperial soldiers who can inflict confuse as usual. But DK can get the job done too, and since this isn't as short an area as you might expect, I do run out of MP with Red Mage and have to use physicals anyway. Francisca, HP+20%, Counter and a lot of Hi-Potions gets me through to the boss.
Base Captain (2 resets) - Oh look, it's yet another Surprisingly Competent Imperial Officer boss fight. The Base Captain has a mean Axe, doing almost 1000 damage regardless of defence or Protect. He can also confuse and has MT, the usual. He's immune to slow. Not too shabby by any means. I discover the hard way that he CAN use axe on consecutive turns and well that's like 75% of my HP right there. Anyway he's not too fast but Sylph has a charge time so I do have to watch out for that.
The start of the fight of course is a bit hairy because I have to kill off Matoya (who starts in the back row, switching to the front helps) then survive his minions. Fortunately they're not as scary as they could be. He has a Base Defender who hits hard but can be confused and a Storm Trooper who isn't much as long as I have confuse immunity (I very obviously do).
Anyway, more -aras, more Protect, more Sylph. I use one Ether, again.
I get Matoya's snazzy equipment. There's a Dancing Knife which I'm sure will have some utility for random Osmose, but screw that, the real star here is the Red Shoes. 5 speed alone makes them great, but they also block Confuse AND paralysis. If you've actually been reading these updates, you know that those are two of the most obnoxious statuses to deal with, confuse mostly because it's super-common and paralysis because it's basically fatal. I have other ways to block them, but getting them both on an accessory that anyone can use and is already useful? The dark side just got its answer to the Protect Bangle.
Anyway, with paralysis immunity, just like on the light side, it's time to backtrack for the summon I missed because Binding Attack is was a pit of festering sewage.
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Persona 5 - Beat the final boss on Merciless. Final average character level: 62. Way overstocked on items, only used 3/5 Somas I had by the end of the game, but I had a lot of the doctor's items used too.
Final boss took me TWO FREAKING HOURS to beat.
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Persona 5: I can't believe you guys wasted time dating Priestess when you could have been with Temperance instead. Best waifu. She makes lockpicks, and I sit in the room and play video games and watch her. Or she makes curry in the kitchen while I read books. And I always get a great massage when I come home from a hard day of killing Shadows.
(https://i.imgur.com/mT1xfEX.jpg)
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P5: I am in november, I'll probably max all confidants easily. Niu was wrong.
Sometimes this game shows some ancient politics. That comic relief gay couple that tries to see the underage protagonists naked and it's all played for laughs. Ann being a victim of sexual harassment then being total fanservice / object of desire for the male members of the crew in every cutscene. Your teacher in a maid outfit coming to your home every night. I remember a scene where promiscuous girls were pretty much shown as human garbage by the main characters.
Are we in 1990 again?
TBH the text bores me a lot now, and I hate Morgana, but I am mad addicted to the gameplay + time management + style
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Finished Bravely Second. I guess overall I was unimpressed with it, though it did do many things right.
Liked the two new main characters a lot, but didn't care for the plot or the general tone of the game. I'm okay with a game being goofy, but this one just wouldn't stop. I started skipping cutscenes in sidequests about halfway in. The soundtrack was probably my biggest disappointment, but let's be fair, it had big shoes to fill. Every time I thought I liked a song, I realized it was a song from the original. The new job classes were all refreshing and innovative, which surprised me. Some of them felt a little too gimmicky to be useful, though, or like I would have had to specifically build a party from the start expecting to use them. Still, the game at least provides plenty of classes from the original so you can fall back on familiar options. That said, I don't think the game provided enough interesting bosses to really test the skills learned. I felt like I just powered through things and didn't need to experiment much. That's really the only knock I can give the gameplay, as it was otherwise very satisfying.
Like BD, I really enjoyed all the quality of life features in the game. Instant random encounter % switches, turn macros, pig warping, and what have you. All that stuff matters. The game ends suggesting a third one is coming, and if I have the time I might get it, but hopefully whoever is writing the script can balance the goofy with the serious a little better (I thought the first game struck a nice balance).
I guess either a 6/10 or 7/10 from me. if I was looking purely at gameplay, it'd be more like a 8.5.
Final team was:
Yew - Summoner with Spellcraft and Exorcism, but he was a Sorcerer/Red Mage most of the game. Was incredibly potent for the entire game. Killing enemy groups quickly is very important here. Excorcist is a great new class; the concept of undoing turns is simple but very useful. Played with many Undo BP setups to get 4 turn strings of attacks from my other characters. It seems like people on the internet don't like the Summoner in these games, but I found it to be pretty powerful myself.
Edea - Sniper/Ranger. I changed her class a lot and didn't really settle on a specific role, but she ended up with pretty good damage in the end. The sniper is a cool class that sort-of specialized in breaking through defenses (like Default).
Magnolia - Ninja with Quad Wield and attack buffing (from Charioteer). Also had Astromancer's ability to buff other stats. I was unimpressed with Charioteer as a class, but man, it learns some great secondaries. Buffing felt a little weak in this game unless you spent tons of BP stacking it, but I got some good results at the end of the game. This character tore through stuff at endgame.
Tiz - He was basically a Bishop the entire game with a bunch of different secondary classes for support. Bishop is ridiculously good; it's basically a White Mage that heals based on percentages instead of a Magic stat. Probably could have optimized by using it on a fighting class or something that could benefit from this more.
Currently playing Night in the Woods. It's cute.
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Persona 5: I can't believe you guys wasted time dating Priestess when you could have been with Temperance instead. Best waifu. She makes lockpicks, and I sit in the room and play video games and watch her. Or she makes curry in the kitchen while I read books. And I always get a great massage when I come home from a hard day of killing Shadows.
Foolish CK. You should have Temperance make curry than do Death's lv.9 event, showing Temperance that you are dating other woman in her face.
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Persona 5: Oh the things you learn/notice in NG+
So I really should've been using Fortune's Money reading more the first time around. For 5K, you get something like 1.5x-2x money for winning a battle with an AOA. Took one before the 4th Palace runthrough, and it was much more time efficient than Negotiating. The groups of 3 Sandman in the beginning were worth 5K apiece. Even better: You just have to WIN the battle with an AOA, you can kill one or two and it'll still count all the enemies in the battle for the bonus. Sure, Confusion grinding the Mementos bosses is still your best money-maker, but this is probably the most efficient method for Palaces.
Training in the Gym or at Home will raise your max HP and SP. You get a bonus if you have a Protein Shake. I need to check and see if stuff like Muscle Drink also works. Good for near the end when you may have finished S-Links and you don't want to read or play games.
If you don't have a book or tools to craft (and would rather take the chance to get points in something other than Proficiency), Sleeping in class will give you 1 in a random social stat.
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Forums are back, so time for an extra big helping of Elf-challenge walls of text. Enjoy~
Final Fantasy Dimensions - Improper dancing in the middle of the sewers
With the Imperial Camp cleared, there's a shop upgrade. The Mask and Matoya joined with most of the important defensive equipment and I don't really need new weapons, but L5 spells are cool if sadly not usable by Red Mage. I buy the black stuff. Then a backtrack to get Ifrit:
Cave of Perfervidity: Well what kept me out of this dungeon before was the Icaronycteris and its Binding Attack. Not a problem any more! With Red Shoes (paralysis/confuse) and Sigurd's Armour (curse) I'm immune to a lot of status attacks in this dungeon, as several enemies use those. There's a new lamia-type enemy but this one doesn't use confuse, just curse (and reasonably strong MT damage, good thing I don't care). The most dangerous enemy is probably either the Grenade, which can Self Destruct for about 600, or Flamequines who can do around 400 with Fira, but honestly neither poses much danger and I take the dungeon apart with Dark Knight. Woohoo.
Ifrit: Red Mage with Sylph, zzzz. He can use confuse but Red Shoes say lolnope, otherwise he has offence/durability which may have been slightly better than Baugauven's but he wasn't much anyway and I'm higher-levelled now so who cares.
Beneath Gardenia: A tougher dungeon for sure! Dark Knight has trouble cutting it here so I switch back to Red Mage. Alveolata makes its return from Dusk's chapter, with annoying regen, poison infliction, and a useful Break vulnerability. The real problem enemy though is the Leach Squid, which can hit up to three times each for 300 damage to the back row. Uh if that doesn't ignore row that's just brutal against the front, wow. (I don't find out.) They are reasonably durable and can appear with support and up to two at once. Gross. I mess around with confuse but eventually realise they can be petrified too and that makes them much less bad. Aqua Flans have decent scary water damage (400 or 700 depending on the move) but die very quickly to magic damage (even a Dark Knight Magic Bomb 1 does it). I don't have too much to say about the other enemies but their damage can add up. When I run out of magic I try to muscle through as Dark Knight and do pull it off but some fights can be a bit scary for sure, Squids immune Curse so I basically have to hope for luck with Bash them (confuse-inflicting physical, probably around 50%) or run if they're in a tough enough formation. Alveolata regen can be pierced decently with Strike.
Owner? (8 resets) - Oh no, "Owner?" has betrayed us! This would be less awkward and more effective if they'd given this guy a name. Oh well. He only has 10000 HP which is slightly less than our previous Token Imperial Officer. He's accompanied by two Weresoldiers X, one in the front row and one in the back, who are quite bulky and the front-row one hits reasonably hard. Owner himself has Bio which does about 800 and Sap, legit for sure, but sadly the real problem lies in his status. More on that later.
First of all the support. A Claw from the front-row guy and a Bio is a LOT of damage and puts me back on my heels quite a bit, so confusing the front-row one is useful. Poisoning both also is reasonable, since they have a lot of HP. I'm pretty sure this is the first time all game something has been worth poisoning. Break doesn't work, Tornado does but I'm running Red Mage for speed/HP so no dice there. My general priority is to stay healed, keep the front Weresoldier confused, keep Protect up, poison the Weresoldiers then hit the boss.
Owner can use three status attacks: the first is confuse which is blocked by Red Shoes or the Gold-Spun Robe. The second is silence, which is rarely used as a counter to magic. I am torn about whether to block this; losing the 5 speed from Red Shoes is an interesting tradeoff for using turns on Echo Grasses. I eventually go with Red Shoes because I want as much magic evade as possible. And why is that? Because the third status is MOTHERFUCKING BREAK damn you game. I get my first blocker for it, of course, next chapter. If it lands, I die. He can use it rarely at any time, though it gets more common once he's below half HP. Fortunately it's not too accurate, especially if I equip for as much magic evade as possible (I do). Based on my experience over all the fights it's something like 25-50% against the setup I run. (Probably much higher normally, assuming my juiced mental stats are reducing its rate.) Not much to say about this, there's luck dealing with it for sure.
Since this is another "race against the RNG clock" fight I once again dig up the best magic attack I can get: Dark. Dark is a fusion between Curse (Dark Knight) and Cura which is dead easy to get so I pick that up. It hits notably harder than an -ara but less hard than Deep Freeze. It's shit for MP-efficiency (32 MP instead of 10 for the -aras) but that's okay, Owner isn't too durable and I'm willing to burn resources here. I use a Dry Ether on the winning run.
Odin's Castle: Curse and confuse come out to play here, I block both. Silence from Carmilla Bats is also a concern and blocking all three statuses isn't possible, but obviously physical setups don't fear silence. I use a bit of a mix here as usual. The dungeon isn't precisely easy and I burn through my full stock of 80+ Hi-Potions but I don't have too much to say about it either; no enemy has overwhelming damage or status I can't deal with. There are some cool rewards here like a rod upgrade.
Odin himself will use Zantetsuken on a 5-turn countdown, and it inflicts either HP-1 or instant death. The former can be dealt with by charging Sylph as he uses it, easy-peasy. The latter kills me, and judging from my YouTube research probably kicks in around 1/3 of the time. He has 30000 HP which is uh a lot right now, and I don't really need Odin badly. Leaving this for later.
Underground Fort: Man the empire has bases everywhere. This dungeon has a lot of the same enemies as the Shipyard/Heliogabalus from Dusk's chapter, and some of the same strategies apply when I run Red Mage, e.g. confusing Base Guardians, Weresoldiers X, and Iron Fists; putting Archmages to sleep. Gevaudan has Roar which is annoying, fortunately their paralysis and all the confuse in this dungeon are both blocked by Red Shoes.
But actually the job I end up running for most of here is Summoner. See, between Gevaudans and Raised Ghouls there's some notable fire weakness here, and Ifrit OHKOs both (OHKOing Gevaudans is useful, they appear up to three at a time, with other enemies). Ifrit spam is also quite fast which is nice. Once I burn my MP I switch to Ranger (I have Backliner by now so I use axes from the back row, Eph-style) and it's albe to get the job done too though can have more trouble with some tougher formations. Aim Heart means I still have access to confuse which is nice, though Archmages are more of a problem and I need some luck to punch through their healing.
This brings us to Asmodai, the boss of the chapter!
There's... a lot to say about him. Suffice to say Alba's record of walking over the Four Generals has come to an end. >_<
Asmodai 2 (17 resets) - Okay, let's break this one down. There are two problems with Asmodai which make him probably the toughest fight for the solo so far:
1. You can't actually solo him. Once below half HP he will periodically use Return to Darkness to become invincible. Matoya has to use Third Eye to remove this. (I suppose Matoya could solo him, but as a Dancer with no way to output high damage or heal more than ~700, hahahaha good luck.)
2. He's hard, man. Earthquake does 800+ MT, Upheaval a terrifying 1200+ MT. Dark does 1800+ to a solo target, though it unfocuses. Return to Darkness, the move which activates his invincibility as a side-effect, is yet another MT attack, does similar damage to Earthquake, and adds one of four random statuses: Poison, Debrave, Deprotect, and Deshell. Forsaken is MT confuse and MP damage. He also has physicals and Curse (sets Curse + Sap) which he'll use in double-acts. The entire set is kinda terrifying and this is considerably more damage than the other bosses fought in the Memorist/Dancer chapters which topped out around 900, usually ST.
Anyway on my first run I play carefully as a solo and get up to the ilmit phase. Not much to say here, while tough, standard Red Mage strats of Sylph get the job done. I block both curse and confuse. However the below half HP phase is just nasty, with Dark 2HKOing even my inflated my HP score... and yeah I try to revive Matoya to have her use Third Eye but he's got way too much MT so I have to revive her RIGHT after he takes a turn (Matoya is quite fast; he outspeeds Alba as Red Mage despite her much higher level), and in the meantime I can't use Sylph and I die.
So I come up with these modified rules:
1. Matoya can participate in the battle; however she can not deal damage to Asmodai (accomplished by unequipping her weapon) nor heal Alba. She can heal herself, restore her own MP with Osmose Dance, and use Third Eye.
2. Since Matoya's presence causes Sylph to unfocus, I allow Matoya to use Cure Waltz after Sylph (or later, MT Curaja) is used, to make up for the lost healing. (Cure Waltz is MT healing, restores around 650 or so.)
The problems are legion. They don't really show up until the second half of the fight... the first half isn't EASY and I do have some resets there, but the second is where things get ugly.
-First of all, I learn that Deshell + Upheaval is a OHKO on Matoya. It wouldn't be normally, but she's still at her base level. This makes winning nearly impossible because, as I have already learned, successfully reviving Matoya during the second part of the fight is nearly impossible. The solution is to gain a couple levels with Matoya.
-But even then, things feel kinda hopeless. Something eventually goes wrong, and there are two reaosns for this. One is Deshell in general. Deshell is terrifying. It's only +25% damage but adding that on to Asmodai's already good damage is nasty. Matoya still dies really easily during the second phase, while Alba just takes loads of damage. The other problem is that my healing just isn't good enough. Sylph only restores ~1800 (unfocused, 900), even following it up with Cure Waltz is a difficult pace. And it has a big usability problem in that if Return to Darkness gets used while I'm charging Sylph, RIP me. The solution is a job I have yet to use this playthrough. A job which I'm kinda terrified is actually the best plan.
White Mage.
I lose some speed, and certainly damage due to lower Int. I gain a little HP and a lot of MP due to being able to set HP+20% and MP+20% (no need for secondaries). But I gain Curaja, which does 2600 ST (around half of that MT). I gain Blink, which shuts down two Asmodai physicals (I eventually decide this isn't worth the time to cast, the physicals are too weak). And most importantly I gain Shell, a 25% damage cut that also overwrites Deshell (and is overwritten by it, but we can't have everything).
Strategy is generally as follows: cast Shell whenever reasonably possible (since Asmodai is invincible at the battle's start, two ST castings is the way to go then; later MT, or ST to overwrite Deshell). Curaja, mostly on self only, whenever HP drops below around 1000 or I anticipate a doubleturn. I equip Red Shoes to buff Alba's slow white mage speed as much as possible, leaving me vulnerable to Curse, so I have to heal that when it lands (Matoya gets the curse-blocking accessory). Matoya can defend when at high HP or heal herself with Hi-Potions. Occasionally, especially later in the fight, I'll use MT Curaja -> Cure Waltz from Matoya if Asmodai is starting to outpace Matoya's damage. And of course, using Third Eye (with no weapon) to remove Asmodai's invincibility is a thing. As far as Return to Darkness' status... besides Deshell, I can deal with poison using Antidotes, but despite the fact that poison is no joke this is really only something I can do when time allows as healing is more pressing. I can deal with Deprotect using Protect but often don't because physicals are a small part of Asmodai's offence overall. Debrave I just accept.
Anyway this is definitely a winnable approach but it requires perfect execution for a very long time. White Mage does around 500 with her physical to Asmodai and misses some of the time; he has 23000 HP. (That's despite Asmodai being weak to bows.) F-Abilities provide slightly more damage but not much, and drain my MP much faster. Eventually I decide that rectifying my offence is a thing I should do.
Ranger Level 12 grants Quick Shot, which does 85% normal damage but has a 4x recharge time, so it's basically 3.4x damage per round. It costs 36 MP for four uses, and almost HAS to be used an auto to get its full potential, but careful use of that is certainly possible. It's a huge offence push. So I run White Mage with Aim (no HP+20 or MP+20). By now Alba has hit Level 67 and Matoya has hit Level 51 (despite being 40 when I first reached this boss). On the second try I'm able to execute perfectly and I win, although it's super-hairy and I definitely am worried about dying several times during the second stage. I use two Elixirs.
Dancer chapter complete! Woof, that was tough.
Alba Level 67
Ranger L12
Red Mage L8
Dark Knight L7
Warrior L5
Black Mage L5
Summoner L5
White Mage L1
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - Of drunken paladins
This chapter actually picks up in the middle of the dungeon where Dusk fought Argy-2. There are a few fights on the way out, against the same enemies from before. Nothing too new and since the escape is quite short I can go all out on resources, so I don't have any specific trouble even though the fights aren't trivial.
After that I arrive in Berth, restock on items, and head to Mt. Wells. Notably there's a mantis random on the plains here which doubleacts for like 600 to the back row per hit, 100% accuracy. Um, ow.
Mt. Wells: A difficult dungeon! I experiment with a few setups including Summoner (not great but it means a lot of starting MP, can use Deep Freeze is I desperately need ST), Dragoon (can outslug some enemies but really doesn't work well as we'll see), and Red Mage (either using Dragon Arts for good MT or Black Magic... the latter ends up being more useful).
-Caladrius: Birds. Holy hell they hit like trucks, even with Protect Bangle + back row they can do 600 with Dive, or inflict blind. They can be confused and will do like 1100 to themselves, that's fun at least. A quick MT blitz can let me win slugfests (two summons, four dragon arts) but it's not a given.
-Floating Death: Hits decently hard but not as hard. Casts Confuse. Block that with Gold-Spun Robe so they waste some turns.
-Juggernaut: Vanilla enemy. Weak to fire but decent HP. Fira spam can take them out before they kill me usually since they're not super-damaging, but if necessary various status (sleep/stop) slows 'em down too.
-Purobolos: Unfortunately puts a lid on Fira spam since they absorb it! They also use Firaga which hits quite hard (600-700) or weak physicals. Weak to ice for MT spam there, or vulnerable to Break.
-Coeurl: Douchebags. They have Blaster. Remember Blaster? Nothing I can do about its instant death. If it inflicts paralysis... well, Gold-Spun Hat can stop that. Vulnerable to various status so hit them with one immediately. I usually use Sleep first since it's fast then Confuse so they can't wake up and get a Blaster immediately.
-Mythril Dragon: When they're at full HP, their Blight Wing does 1200-1300 damage. Um, ow. They also use rather nasty physicals or a MT Blizzard Breath which is their least scary thing. Confuse works; they hit themselves for 1600! Stop works. Tornado works.
Stop + Confuse or Sleep + Confuse are very safe lockdown strategies for a single enemy. With Black Level 5 I can then cast Osmose repeatedly to regain all my MP. Definitely nice! Ethers are still kinda expensive (I'd need one per battle at least at this point).
Vata 3 (1 reset) - Oh look, he's back again. Anyway he once again doesn't have Tornado so no worries about cheap deaths. At high HP, Vata can use physical x2 (about 300 per swing to back row + Protect) or Thunder Breath (500), sometimes mixing in Jump (1300) which keeps me honest. He's quite fast and I do lose once to consecutive Jumps, so I have to be a bit more conservative with my Sylph use. He can use Howling Gale for 500 damage and Sap, as usual.
Later in the fight he mixes in Lancet (drins resources a little, generally a breather though), Wild Dance (does around as much as Jump roughly), and Buffet (his scariest move since it can stun sometimes, and does 900 damage). This is all basically the exact same skillset as his previous fight, just scaled up.
I run Red Mage with Int+20 and Summon and the Memorial Ring for +3 to all stats, Protect / -ara / Sylph strategy applies. The biggest issue I have here is that I run out of MP and... I don't have any Dry Ethers or Elixirs! Right, I used them all up on the previous Vata and Argy-2. So I scramble around late in the fight and use two regular Ethers and two X-Potions for emergency healing and then mercifully am able to win. Definitely wish I'd saved at least a Dry Ether; I was sub-optimal in the previous Vata fight for sure and kinda paid for it a bit here. Then again, only one reset so everything turned out fine I suppose.
There's a flashback sequence with solo Gawain; not much to say about it, Charge spam for the win.
Back to Berth and then we get a solo Sarah section. Fortunately she's still Level 21 from the section in the Memorist chapter and this proves adequate; I run Red Mage and use Teleport every fight. There's a healing pot halfway through Mount Burtgang (the short dungeon she has to do) so no worries there. I die once but only due to some gross stupidity involving Auto-Battle expecting to teleport but realising I'd actually defended instead in the previous fight to save some MP, whoops. Totally my bad though, this is manageable enough otherwise. The enemies are generally 1-2 at a time from the previous chapter, the one that scares me most is a Gevaudan since I don't have a paralysis blocker on at the time and they can rarely inflict that.
Back to Dusk and company and they get a short (but slightly longer) dungeon of their own, which of course I do normally as Dusk + corpses.
Underwater Cave: The Leach Squid, the multi-acting physical monster from the Gardenia sewers, makes a return here. Uh yeah they're scary; I try to run Summoner for Ramuh but this mostly scares me out of that, Red Mage with HP+20 and Dragon Arts/Black it is! Break works on 'em. The other enemies can be taken out via Thundara spam or Thunder Breath spam takes 'em out. Hoanes can use Silence and that's kinda annoying, Sea Flowers can use sleep. Good thing I can block 'em all!
I reach Burtgang. I buy Level 6 spells, the Wizard Rod, and the Black Robe (yay Int). There's another Sarah solo fight which I die in, but this proves okay as it just causes Gawain to show up, use an Elixir on her, and then they easily take the enemies out. Sarah jumps from 21 to 23. Party re-unifies at this point. I also get Gawain. Gawain wins the award for the most annoying character in the game to kill off. His (good) armour is all locked in place on him, he has high defensive stats all-around, and his own techs can't self-target so only his physical can self-damage, and not for all that much. Fortunately I only have to do this once and thereafter can abuse the local white chocobo to restore my MP between dungeons, and Osmose on stopped targets lets me recover MP mid-dungeon nicely.
Divine Forest: I try to run Summoner and/or Black Mage here but have trouble doing so because they tend to lose slugfests (Summoner can Sylph but can get into obnoxious heal-locks) due to lower HP/def/speed. Which tells you that this is another competent dungeon. Gorgias hits incredibly hard, doing nearly 1000 with its ST moves. Goblin Mage has some rather nasty damage too. Katipos (spiders) are jerks because they can use Slow which makes battles much harder to win. Other enemies pack some status like confuse which I block. The good news here is that every enemy except Gorgias can be hit with petrify, so Break spam is the order of the day. Gorgias can be stopped, Tornadoed, and abused for Osmose MP at least. I get Unicorn, which heals almost as much as Sylph for over triple the MP! I guess maybe it's more useful on a non-solo or something. No boss fight here, rather unusually, since unicorns only care about your X chromosomes and possibly your sex life.
Castle Burtgang: There are a huge variety of enemies here and again they can be pretty tough, I can win many fights with Black Mage/Summoner but I lose often enogh to get annoyed and retreat to using Red (with Black Magic) yet again.
I won't try to list all the enemies, but some notable ones are Midnight Mages (Dark hits for around 800 and they almost always use it, also they immune Stop/Break so I have to use the shorter-lasting Sleep/Confuse), Fused Organs (undead and quite bulky, they can use Pandemonium does 600 MT and can inflict paralysis, poison, curse, and probably confuse but I'm blocking that; Gold-Spun Hat + Robe makes a return), Iron Knights (1000 damage axes), Katipos (back again to use Web and make my life miserable, I often have to run if they use it immediately), Snipers (have decent long-range damage and confuse).
Unlike the last dungeon almost nothing here can be petrified (just the Katipo) but Stop works on most, as does Confuse (Confuse on hard-hitting physical enemies like the Iron Knight and Archlancer is quite useful, I often stop all but one enemy and confuse the last one).
There are two mini-bosses who are quite legit.
Ghost Rider (2 resets) - At 19000 HP he's not actually that much lower than the previous boss, although a fire weakness helps. Fira and Sylph do their thing. Mostly uses physicals so I run Protect. Wild Dance, which it uses often, is even stronger than Vata's, doing ~1500 if it rolls five hits. Ow! Since he can use it on consecutive turns I almost have to use Sylph is a double is potentially coming. Below half HP he'll start using Pandemonium which is messy. I block confuse and paralysis (... eventually) but curse will weaken the subsequent Sylph and toxify is surprisingly obnoxious too since my HP is high. (It does over 500.) Anyway one reset here is just because I didn't restore my MP before the fight, not expecting this guy to be so respectable, the other is just an execution failure on when to heal during the Pandemonium phase.
Ghost Knight - Worse than Ghost Rider in most ways, has the same HP and fire weakness and physical focus but can only hit for around 1000 and doesn't use Pandemonium. He's got more MT at high health (he uses Sweep often) but here he's just easier.
Later stages of Castle Burtgang feature one rather notable new enemy, the Super Grenade. Despite the bizarre name, she's just a female humanoid mage (the wiki claims it's a mistranslation of "High Nereid"). Regardless of nomenclature, they hit for 1000 with Blizzaga and can use Temptation (MT confuse). Blocking confuse makes them less bad of course. They also are immune to everything except Tornado, so disabling's not really an option; the two-turn kill with Tornado is the best bet since they have enough HP. I don't die but they're pretty scary, especially two at once.
Styx 2 (4 resets) - Styx is highly damaging at full HP and has a nasty limit phase on top of that, and can inflict five different status effects. Once you account for all that she's not that bad, really!
She's actually rather unusual for a FFD boss in that she's totally patterned, using the exact same attacks in a fixed cycle, so let's talk about her that way:
1. Water. Does around 800 to my Level 73 Red Mage's 4000 HP. Unfocuses against the party and always kills them off first turn, which is nice since they revive to 1 HP in a cutscene before the battle starts.
2. Temptation. MT confuse.
3. Waterga. Around 1600.
4. Undine Cry. Around 900 MT and adds Sap. Probably ignores at least some of the factors which reduce magic damage normally.
5. Doublecast Mini + Toad.
Sap can not be blocked and lasts at least five of her turns and thus once it is used the first time I am never free of it for the rest of the fight due to how the fight works. Sap takes about 15% of my health over that interval, so ~600.
In total she does around my max HP once every cycle. During that time I need to cast Sylph twice and can use Thundara on any other turns I get. If I'm not blocking confuse that's a potential wipe, if I'm not blocking toad that's an annoying turn spent on a Maiden's Kiss. I end up blocking both. She still counters lightning attacks (her weakness) with Discharge which is MT stun, and this still doesn't matter on a solo.
Once she falls below about 14000 of her 32000 HP she "upgrades" several of her moves:
1. Water -> Lorelei's Tears. 1800 MT. This move is monstrous for a party and not much better for a solo.
2. Temptation -> Siren Song. Can randomly add any of Toad, Mini, Silence, or Confuse, MT. Silence is the one new one.
3-4. Unchanged (Waterga, Undine Cry)
5. Mini/Toad -> Haste. You don't have Dispel. She's immune to Slow. Once she uses this the first time she'll never not be hasted.
So now her offensive output is roughly 125% of my max HP every five of her turns which really works out to about every three of mine. Any of the non-Mini statuses of Siren Song landing is absolutely fatal now. Fortunately, the combination of Lamia's Tiara (confuse), Scholar's Gown (silence), and Diamond Bangle (frog/mini) blocks everything as long as you have access to light armour... guess what Red Mage has! Anyway with Int+20% and Summon on my Red Mage, Sylph restores just over half my HP. If you do the math that's just enough to keep up with her level of offence! So uh once she's hasted I hardly do anything but Sylph Sylph Sylph all day long. I can occasionally squeeze out a Thundara, I do so... like twice i believe. Maybe three times. At one point I use an X-Potion instead of Sylph because I anticipate a fatal blow coming mid-charge; X-Potions restore around the same. At another point I use my one remaining Elixir to get all my MP back because taking a turn not restoring HP is risky. Anyway the Thundaras (as opposed to Deep Freezes or Darks, etc.) are MP-efficient enough that fortuantely one Elixir is all I need.
Fun note here, the main FAQ for the game as well as the wiki (which is presumably either written by the same person or copied from the FAQ) talk about how Vata 3 is much harder than this fight. Hahaha good one.
After, the game freaks me out by making me walk out of the dungeon without saving but there are no encounters. Instead I get to watch the THIRD plot fight of the game in which some badass older dude character beats up a boss while surviving at 0 HP through willpower. Come on FFD, you're better than this. (You're not better than this.) Paladin chapter complete!
Dusk Level 73
Red Mage L13
Black Mage L12
Dragoon L6
Summoner L4
Warrior L3
Bard L2
Monk L1
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Games I played: more Future Tone. I can quit any time. Lemme just uh. Do a couple more songs then I'm good, yeah.
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P5 - Finished this during forum maintenance, so copy pasting message to sopko and deleting some spoilers, so this is shortens in no particular order.
Google suggest Lavenza is probably a reference to Elizabeth Lavenza from Frankestein, that is cute.
I have 0 fucking clue why the MC would leave Tokyo at the end of the game.
The whole last arc goes on way too long, game is good. Way better than P3, not as good as P4 Golden.
Dragon Quest 5 - slow progress but getting places. Naming he main Fenrir was a good pick because this is the most Fenrir DQ game I have played. It is weird and Pokémon but early game will randomly just crush your face if dice rolls don't like you. Getting monsters improves the balance a lot, but that might just be RPGs work when you have party members. About to do request quest for Mirror of Ra to show someone's true form.
Dragon Quest Heroes - so the sequel came out and I figured I should finish this. It was okay. End game is more fun for me than grinding out Hyrule Warriors after game which is way too judgey. Kinda looking forward to getting to 2 on PC.
Things I didn't think, I would post positiviely about 15 years ago. SMT, Dragon Quest and Musuo.
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P5 - Bought a PS4 mostly to play this game, currently on Palace 2. I don't think I've seen a Persona as aesthetically polished as this, which is quite a hell of a feat - granted, it being actually PRETTY this time around also helps, but damn, they really stepped up the ante for this. I feel like I'm doing a goddamned mess out of the game schedule, but this is pretty much how it goes for me on a first playthrough.
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Fear not, my tiny Brazillian friend. There's plenty of time to do a lot of stuff if you're familiar with how Persona time management works. The goals here are the same in the other two. There will be tests, and other things that require social stats. The best thing to do is figure out what activities give the best and double up whenever possible. Some S-Links give points in social stats too, for instance!
Grefbro: ALL the Velvet Room attendant names are from Frankenstein.
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I know, going for the last name was just not one that was right there off the top of the dome mang, but I just spent a week listening to a YouTube lyric video for Beneath the Mask that consistently quotes "I pose Masquerade" where it is obviously "at Poe's Masquerade" in reference to The Masque of the Red Death and I can't fucking deal with people missing super obvious literary references any more.
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On that note, I only just realized the strength of P4's psychology pun game. "Junes" is a reference to June Singer, and the japanese slogan "Every day young life Junes!" is Carl Jung life. It took a few years but we got there.
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Fear not, my tiny Brazillian friend. There's plenty of time to do a lot of stuff if you're familiar with how Persona time management works. The goals here are the same in the other two. There will be tests, and other things that require social stats. The best thing to do is figure out what activities give the best and double up whenever possible. Some S-Links give points in social stats too, for instance!
Well, I have Chariot at R5 and Death at R6 if it's any consolation, and I literally just recruited Yusuke. Still bumbling somewhat at social stats, though. I also need to get Hierophant at R4.
Idly, being a -lot- more familiar with tarot symbolism nowadays, holy heck are the metaphors for the confidant links on the spot.
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Always have been yo. Even back in P2 (EP I guess, I didn't really think about IS) and the stronger associations.
Dragon Quest Heroes 2 - I figure Captain K is the only person that cares, so here is a review based on 20 minutes.
There is an area called Greena Pastures.
There is this party member.
(https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/dynastywarriors/images/e/ef/Ornaze-dqheroesII.jpg).
You are welcome.
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Always have been yo. Even back in P2 (EP I guess, I didn't really think about IS) and the stronger associations.
Yeah, in retrospect you are correct, but actually getting to notice them off the bat is pretty interesting. Interested to see how far they go into it narratively, some of them are insanely on the nose off the bat (hi, Magician) while others simmer a little bit more in the symbolism.
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Yea ain't meant to be throwing shade, more noting something they do well. SMT loves to recycle its tropes and symbolism at the best of times. Sometimes it just works well though.
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Dragon Quest Heroes 2 - I figure Captain K is the only person that cares, so here is a review based on 20 minutes.
There is an area called Greena Pastures.
There is this party member.
(https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/dynastywarriors/images/e/ef/Ornaze-dqheroesII.jpg).
You are welcome.
That's not an Ugly Old Man, but I do like a big axe. Is Melvin playable?
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Wait why is DQ5 the most Fenrir DQ
Persona 5: Guys I don't really understand the lyrics of the "just chilling walking around town during the evening" song. But I somehow hear "an empty bladder" at one point during the song. Since I've played this for 73 hours and you hear this song all the fucking time, I am pretty sure I have sung along "An empty blaaadder" approximatively 150 times, at least
The new recruit is such an obvious temp considering its confidant bonuses. If it ends up being the traitor I am going to roll my eyes so hard
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Persona 5: I just fought this boss (boat spoilers):
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1479022/thumbs/o-DALI-900.jpg?2 (NSFW) -> http://i.ytimg.com/vi/GvtRoWk0fAo/mqdefault.jpg -> http://pa1.narvii.com/5782/39e076370e4015c8188e26e89793a4fe1e114d5e_hq.gif
I knew Ann would be hardest hit by Ryuji's death because I play with the characters on AI control. AI Ann always heals Ryuji first, even if other characters need it more. Nice little touch there.
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Wait why is DQ5 the most Fenrir DQ
Because it is the only game in the series where you play the son of a hero, get to pick from three wives and then have kids, one of who is the hero of prophecy, but your main character isn't the big prophecised hero of legend. Because it is the game in the main series that leans hardest into Dragon Quest Pokémon. Because the start of the game will happily throw you up against mobs of 7 or 8 enemies and it won't be all slimes.
DQ5 I am playing might be a remake but it is the one that feels like it is trying the most ideas other than 9 and DQ9s ideas were mostly mobile gaming related.
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P5
Dungeon 6 or 7. Idk.
Lv 63 at around 88 hous played.
Fun game. I was sad temp character was temp, but it made too much sense...plus he's pretty strong and he stands out.
Ah well. Game threw me a curve and now I'm cruising.
I'm at that point where the new pokemon are all starting to look cool. Maxing out a certain confidant really breaks the game.
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Games I played: more Future Tone. I can quit any time. Lemme just uh. Do a couple more songs then I'm good, yeah.
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I've been playing some Twilight Struggle on the PC. Been mostly playing the computer and giving it +10 influence in any country that it already has influence in at the beginning of the game. It's been decently competitive with that modification.
Anyway, in the most recent game as the USSR, I drew the worst hand I've ever seen without DEFCON suicide cards. Ussuri River Skirmish, Voice of America, Five Year Plan, Bear Trap, Nuclear Subs, Puppet Governments, Nixon Plays the China Card, and a bit of low Ops trash. I had used the China Card on the previous turn because there was an action that I needed 4 Ops to make work. The only USSR card I drew is Liberation Theology, and I had to use it for Ops because I was so up shit creek. Obviously PG and Nixon were played for Ops (Nixon quickly so I wouldn't have to give up the China Card after he used it) I can't really recall ever using Bear Trap on myself, but I ended up doing that, tossing URS, and then space racing Voice of America. Five Year Plan ended up being the hold card because it was pretty pointless to use but isn't that dangerous without those other terrible cards to make it a hinderance. As it turned out, I drew a terrible Scoring Card next turn and gladly used Five Year Plan to toss it.
I started a replay of XCOM. I'd kind of forgotten how to play, so I have just been playing on the standard difficulty. If I am still in the mood for another playthrough by the time I am done, I might turn up the difficulty.
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Salt + Sanctuary: God I love the vita port
I cleared the Dome and got the hardlight brand. The game vaguely tells you that you can now do stuff with the purple clouds. *notices cloud on a ledge* oh cool then I'll - *goes right pass through it to his doom* the fuck *checks gamefaqs*
OK so to use the brand you need to have your torch out. Sure.
I am playing a mage and this game does the Dark Souls thing of mages having allright spells but no juice, but keep playing and raising magic and soon you'll 1) have more MP potions 2) do more base damage 3) have better spells
You get more resources but also spend less mp to kill enemies and soon enough MP worries evaporate. And spells are pretty OP.
There is this magic imbalance thing: if you use too many lightning spells in a row you take damage and need to use fire spells to counteract that, and vice versa. You get a ring that completely reoves this effect from the get go and so I thought this was wasted? But nah I removed the ring for min/maxing and things are going fine. Alternating between elements is fun.
The game has a huge ass game world but it has no map (like Dark Souls) and lacks recognizable landmarks within levels (unlike Dark Souls) Honestly it's really easy to just get lost all the time. OP spells alleviate this somewhat.
I feel there are more visually arresting moments on the vita, while everything was kind of a blur on PS4. The sense of scale is as good, and amplified by the lack of a map. Climbing the ziggurat is my favourite part about this.
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I think my favorite part is just that past a certain point you only keep going down and somehow there are still more things down even though this becomes increasingly implausible physically.
Fenrir make sure you try the magic scissor greatsword this time. It's exactly what it sounds like and it's so dumb.
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I think my favorite part is just that past a certain point you only keep going down and somehow there are still more things down even though this becomes increasingly implausible physically.
Yeah! Really loved that about Dark Souls as well. Going from the Burg down its sewer systems and oh here's Blighttown and look there's a swamp waaaaaaay below us and ok we're at the swamp now and it's definitely the bottom wait what's up with this little passage um ok guess there's something below the swamp and WHOA bosstime and ok the bell, which is in a tower for some reason even though we're underneath literally everything and wait there are ruins now? Sweet! (disclaimer: ruins actually not too sweet. but existence of ruins, beneath all that? sweet!)
See also Dark Souls 2. What's down the well? A lot of stuff, and stuff beneath that stuff, and then even more stuff, and then, if you find 'em anyway, giants. because why not.
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(http://jv.gilead.org.il/CI/138/images/00.jpg)
Trails of Cold Steel II - I have a lot I could write about since the forums were down, but I'm just gonna whine about this. At least *4* times so far (Ymir townsfolk, Fiona, Irina R, airline hostages), nameless mercenaries in trouble have threatened to hurt/kill a civilian nearby or a hostage if the Good Guys didn't back off. The first time went very, very wrong, and had something approaching the gravity of this situation with at least some consequences. Every time since has always had some deus ex machina reinforcement show up to save the day. Seriously, it's almost to the point of parody by now. It's especially aggravating in cases where it's right after you the player won the battle, and the jaegers just get back up afterward, because, and do their threatening. Look, if OUR gigantic skulls coming up from the floor and flame explosions don't kill you outright, then *your* nerf swords shouldn't be killing these civilians either, at least not very quickly. Ugh.
More generally, this game just loooooooooooooves having surprise bullshit into surprise bullshit. Now SOME of this is fine, don't get me wrong. But when every plot fight begins or ends with one side showing off their cool trap, or having surprise reinforcements come in from off-screen to save the day, or whatever, it gets really old. Having weirdly good timing to always show up when trouble starts is fine, but it kinda takes away from the player's accomplishment a little if the bad guys ALWAYS get back up and do some BS, then have it be countered by OTHER BS, usually some ally showing up. The best I can say is that at least this sometimes happens for the PC side too, where the villains win a plot fight then get counter-BS'd by PC plot powerz or the like, but still. Let me just win and have it be all my efforts that carry the day sometimes, please. (I'm even excluding Valimar from this.)
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Always have been yo. Even back in P2 (EP I guess, I didn't really think about IS) and the stronger associations.
P2 is actually the Persona that did all the symbolism thing the best.
Kaneko did a mind blowing job in connecting the tarots to the persona design with Greek Mythology on top, and then blends into the actual characters.
It was amazingly done. Modern Persona simply cannot compete.
Which also fueled a lot of my complain on P3 when it took a million steps backward.
It really took too long for them to finally taking steps forward again in P5...
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Trails of Cold Steel II - I have a lot I could write about since the forums were down, but I'm just gonna whine about this. At least *4* times so far (Ymir townsfolk, Fiona, Irina R, airline hostages), nameless mercenaries in trouble have threatened to hurt/kill a civilian nearby or a hostage if the Good Guys didn't back off. The first time went very, very wrong, and had something approaching the gravity of this situation with at least some consequences. Every time since has always had some deus ex machina reinforcement show up to save the day. Seriously, it's almost to the point of parody by now. It's especially aggravating in cases where it's right after you the player won the battle, and the jaegers just get back up afterward, because, and do their threatening. Look, if OUR gigantic skulls coming up from the floor and flame explosions don't kill you outright, then *your* nerf swords shouldn't be killing these civilians either, at least not very quickly. Ugh.
More generally, this game just loooooooooooooves having surprise bullshit into surprise bullshit. Now SOME of this is fine, don't get me wrong. But when every plot fight begins or ends with one side showing off their cool trap, or having surprise reinforcements come in from off-screen to save the day, or whatever, it gets really old. Having weirdly good timing to always show up when trouble starts is fine, but it kinda takes away from the player's accomplishment a little if the bad guys ALWAYS get back up and do some BS, then have it be countered by OTHER BS, usually some ally showing up. The best I can say is that at least this sometimes happens for the PC side too, where the villains win a plot fight then get counter-BS'd by PC plot powerz or the like, but still. Let me just win and have it be all my efforts that carry the day sometimes, please. (I'm even excluding Valimar from this.)
And you wonder why people are praising Trails writing so much when the game has already taken this style of writing since Trails of Zero.
Anyway, this trend gets worse., and gets completely shameless in this style when you hit the Blazing Demon Castle.
God, I was head-desking so hard in that dungeon.
The meta direction of the writing also gets increasingly FF13, which is out right bad and scary. Ultimately devoid the player's sense of accomplishment.
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Oh I definitely agree with all of this. Salt and Sanctuary's nature also means that the surface feels safe and familiar while the firther you get down below the more complicated, murderous and unfamiliar it gets. Like, the bandit camp / castle / dome and even ziggurat all feel relatively comfy, while areas like the ruined temple just feel like a nightmare of passages going god knows where.
I really don't need a two handed weapon, on the other I really need giant scissors. Hmmmm
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Persona 5: beaten. 7/10 in the context that I've played Persona 3 and 4 before. Would rate higher if it was my first Persona game.
So, this game brings nothing new to the series and what it does do is worse than what's been done before. It doesn't have the atmosphere or pacing of P3, nor the setting or characters of P4. And wow is this game on rails too much. "Let's not do that right now." FUCK YOU MONA.
Dungeons were decent, at least a step up from P4s. Still prefer P3's random dungeons.
So the ranking goes P3 > P4 > P5.
89 hours, finished at level 73 (killed Reaper once). Maxed out Chariot, Heirophant, Tower, Hanged Man (on the last day, didn't even get to use it), Temperance (mah waifu), Death. Moon was at level 2 because fuck you Moon. I actually went out of my way to always pick the dialogue option for Moon pretending the Phantom Thieves don't exist.
Spoiler stuff:
The Akechi stuff was handled pretty terribly. Other than the pancakes thing, everything they show you is something that happened off camera, that your character just "forgot". Despite Akechi being telegraphed, I was expecting Mishima to be the real villain because Futaba talks at one point about the person controlling the Phantom Thieves popularity.
Kamoshida was a really great villain. I loved how they showed the difference between his public face and his private actions. Problem is, he was also the first villain and the game had nowhere to go but down from there.
Ryuji: Was boring. A large portion of the plot revolves around him revealing the identity of the Phantom Thieves every 5 minutes. The scene escaping from the boat was pretty great though.
Ann: Also boring. This character appears to have been made strictly as fap-bait. From the latex suit to falling over with her ass in the air to attacking enemies with a dildo (critical assist with electromag whip equipped), she's just an object. They could have done something interesting with her being from another country, but they didn't.
Yusuke: He had a personality but was annoying. Missed opportunity for him to say "IT'S HIGH NOON" when summoning his Persona.
Makoto: Also boring. She did feel a little more realistic than the other characters. Great outfit and her introduction scene is the best in the game. But her codename is lame, should have been Rider.
Haru: NUH-WAHR! MILLADEE! God I hate this character. Worst in the game.
Morgana: Second worst character. Tries to be Teddie from P4, just ends up being pointless.
Futaba: This was the best character. Although she had plot-device hacking powers, she felt like a real person with a variety of emotions.
Sojiro: Good character, good UOM.
Kawakami: So the Valentine's Day scene goes like this. Sojiro's asking if you have any plans, cause when he was young he was a real ladykiller. Kawakami walks into LeBlanc. Sojiro's mouth drops. "Miss Kawakami? So... a teacher and a student? That really happens?" Then he leaves, we talk for a bit and then Kawakami says "Tonight you're going to take care of all MY needs." Hell yeah!
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Woah I disagree hard.
Salt and Sanctuary: Oh shit how could I forget to mention this:
I died to a mimic and the game said "8000 salt lost to mechanical lever"
???
I went back to the mimic, killed it, got no salt back.
Then I went down below and saw that the lever I already used to open a door was full of salt twirling around it? Shit got real there, I couldn't activate it again or hurt it so I had to leave it there and lose all my salt. I'm still happy though, because that's the best bug I've ever seen in a game TBH
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I had no idea that could happen, but I've never actually died to a mimic.
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Salt and Sanctuary 2h weapons are a joy to use, if a tad overpowered. You can pick up the warhammer fairly early. Smash some dudes with it. Don't knock it til ya tried it!
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Salt & Sanctuary vita always crashes in Hagel's on the way to the boss so I've dropped it for now. A patch is on the way apparently.
Persona 5: On the boat, all confidant maxed (except the forced ones)
I'm sure the game is very proud of its story but that was dumb.
Thanks to strength lvl 10 I made a cocytus. Nice but just okay! I then made her into claws, which were, again, just okay. But then I made a Shiva, which is ludicrously good by that point. He has Auto-Matarukaja and opens every battle with MT Severe Gun damage. Makoto/Yusuke wipe the rest.
The high fusion cost is so high I probably won't be able to finish the compendium, which makes me :(
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - NINJAS
Are you ready for wanky edgelord NPCs? I know I am!
Alba now has access to Dancer. The main thing Dancer has going for it is that Osmose Dance takes less JP/AP to access than does Osmose, otherwise the job offers little for a solo besides bad durability. Speaking of Black Magic, not having that at level 5 (due to not having done the grind for Deep Freeze that Dusk did) is going to make the randoms here harder than they were for Dusk. The randoms themselves fortunately are a bit less good than the corresponding ones in the early parts of the Paladin chapter.
Moonlight Wood: The game talks up how this is a hunting ground and hands you a new bow right at the dungeon's start (which several enemies are weak to) so I figure sure why not. Red Mage with Counter and HP+20 probably isn't what they had in mind but it works pretty well! A number of the enemies here are also seen from Mt. Wells.
-Clouded Eagles are not as scary as Caladrii were but they still do respectable enough damage and can rarely use blind. They get 2HKOed by bow attacks which is nice.
-Tanglethorns use a lot of turns trying to paralyse me and getting trolled by my sweet red shoes. They're weak to fire so MT Fira can clean 'em up fast enough.
-Clouded Wolves are a rather vanilla enemy, they do enough damage though that I often cast Protect at the start of fights involving them.
-Juggernauts are similar. Weak to fire.
-Clouded Bears are bulky and hard-hitting and can be confused.
-Mythril Dragons are even bulkier and extremely hard-hitting and can also be confused. Still uh those hits they land on me do hurt! So I sometimes heal myself with Cura mid-fight, imagine that.
-Coeurls can use Blaster (chance of instant death), which makes them grade-A douchebags. Sleep + Confuse double lockdown is worth it here.
I have a few resets, generally either from Coeurls or Mythril Dragons.
At the end of the forest I fight a wanky ninja. It's a plot fight of course and he retreats after a few rounds. I should really count how many plot fights this game has. For now I'll just settle for saying it's too many.
Shop upgrade with L6 spells and some new gear. For now I mostly just buy a new sword+shield so I can do Backliner red mage physicals better.
Akame Valley: Yikes, this dungeon is a huge drain on my Hi-Potion supply. I actually run out once, have to retreat and do it again, and almost run out again before clearing the dungeon. Not having L5 black kinda sucks! But unfortunately I'm not that tempted to fix this lack because I really want to work on Red Mage for my ninja setup I have planned (plus getting it to L10 for an extra slot then L13 to carry the skillset are both worthy benchmarks; I do achieve both this chapter).
-Purobolos: Vulnerable to Break, doesn't like Blizzara much either, but hits quite hard with Fira. If they're the last enemy left, they're a candidate for Attune Blade spam to restore MP.
-Blood Lamias: Slap counters are kinda annoying (damage that can confuse, but I block that permanently now with Red Shoes). Weak to fire. Various status can slow them down. If they have Embrace I don't see it.
-Beligians: I have no idea why they're called this; they're horses. They double physical for decent damage, or can use Roundhouse for damage + stun. Ew.
-Devoahans: They can also hit pretty hard and are weak to fire, confuse helps.
-Wild Ogres: Hit hard, lots of HP... Mini makes them a free win though. Mini is below 100% unlike most status at this point, but good enough.
-Undertakers: Can be hit by sleep, otherwise they're really annoying, bulky and Quake hurts quite a lot.
-Destroyers: The most annoying, they're bulky and have no status holes I can use.
Casting Protect at the start of some fights is actually worthwhile since my offence isn't too strong and most things can't be petrified. Ranger, when I switch to it, does actually work somewhat better. Otherwise I sometimes use -aras, which are by now quite weak unless hitting a weakness, and sometimes use Backliner sword physicals which are somewhat better and save MP but lift confuse/sleep from enemies which are my main ways of controlling them. I sometimes run Counter too but Counter and confuse don't have great synergy.
Underwater Tunnel: Easier than the previous dungeon because petrify is back in style after a dungeon where it was near useless. That said there are some very capable enemies here too and it does take a few tries, and eats about 70 of my Hi-Potions.
-Gelatos: Mmm, gelato. Anyway, they regenerate a bunch and are vulnerable to Break. They can use Curse Breath which is kinda annoying but they mostly show up in statusable formations so not that annoying.
-Sea Flowers: They can inflict slow, the jerks. Sleep too, though this matters less. But can be petrified.
-Grand Shells: They can inflict slow and be petrified... I think I just said that.
-Poison Toads: Can not be petrified, but can be confused, and weak to ice and not too durable, so direct assault works well enough. Their firebreath is no joke, though, even though it's a MT move that doesn't focus, about 500-600 and they can show up 3 at once.
-Hoanes: Confusable. Can use silence so I block that via Scholar's Hat. Weak to lightning, not too durable.
-Leach Squids: From the previous chapter. Still hard-hitting even now. Still vulnerable to Break.
-Goblin Mages: They hit quite hard with their spells, around 1000! Confuse makes them use their (surprisingly respectable) physicals instead, and silence can shut them down more permanently. Leaving one for last = Attune Blade food.
-Mother Lamias: Unlike their brethren in the previous dungeon, they DO have Embrace (petrify). And a lot of status immunities. Know what they don't immune? TOAD. Experimentation pays off, no petrify 4 j00.
I reach Leviathan. Leviathan is a lot like Styx (a good start), hitting a bit less hard and with fewer statuses overall, but with one extra bit of annoyance: it can counter with Slow. I have no way to block Slow so this sucks. This fight is winnable especially if I use White Mage to counter Slow with Haste and am hyper-conservative with healing buuut the problem is this will probably need at least one Elixir, maybe more. And Leviathan's not really a good enough spell to justify this at this point.
Unfortunately not defeating Leviathan means there's no teleporter back, so I have to walk. This worries me a bit but knowing the enemies well and being able to take a very direct route back instead of taking all the detours for treasure makes my remaining Hi-Potion supply last long enough.
Tower of Trials: Miniboss right away. It's basically a random but I aproach it wrong.
Lesser Ninja x4 (1 reset) - They are reasonably fast and can double physical or use Shuriken for about 600-700 to the back row, and since there are four of them that can be tough. On the second try I cast Protect immediately, and use a combination of Confuse and Sylph to get them down; they're more durable than the average random but nothing super-special in that regard.
ninja plot nooooo. Fortunately Jinnai can kill himself off reasonably quickly thanks to being a ninja.
Anyway, randoms here are legitimate again, let's talk:
-Lesser Ninja: Just covered, they're pretty common here in a lot of formations actually!
-Kurohabaki: They are pretty much the "Greater Ninja"; they use a lot of ninja moves including various MT spells and Stunner (Red Shoes say hi), as well as double physicals. The bigger thing is they immune all status and have decent HP so I usually deal with/confuse their allies, get Protect up, Cura a few times if needed and take 'em down.
-Poison Toad: See previous dungeon.
-Nix: Can hit hard with magic (1100 or so) or use some status like Silence and Confuse, I block silence after dealing with this. Vulnerable to Break/Silence, or are a source of MP if needed.
-Attack Dog: Can Roar for an annoying turn-cancel. Vulnerable to Break.
-Devout: Along with Kurohabaki, the other main jerk of this dungeon. Divine Shot and Dark hit slightly less hard than Nix's magic, but they have no status holes... other than Slow anyway. They're durable enough that Slow is worth it. They sometimes cast MT Protect or Shell too.
-Helios: Like many other giants, can be Minied and thereafter can't deal damage. Not quiiiite harmless after that if they have support because they can still use Roundhouse for stun. I'm picturing tiny little versions of these guys using roundhouse kicks and it's adorable.
There are three trapped treasure chests containing some decent formations of the above but all are near save points. There's also a plot fight mid-dungeon zzz. Then...
Tobikage (5 resets) - Bascically a more well-designed version of Wendigo from FF5, there are four of him. Hitting the wrong one makes it immediately vanish, but will use a counter, either a Sweep for ~300 or a Wind Slash for ~600 (the latter unfocuses MT). The real one can use Displacement to revive any fakes and then immediately shuffle their positions (there's no pattern I could notice). He can also use it as a counter to taking damage sometimes, though never the first time he is hit between Displacements (he'll say "Hmph!" instead). Otherwise they use a combination of their counter moves, and physicals and MT ninjutsu which do anywhere from 200 to 600, but remember there are four of them so this can add up. The real one also has a few extra moves up his sleeve, and yes him using one will telegraph where he is: one is Flash for blind. Sadly, though, waiting for him to use these is a bad idea, because the other is Assassinate for ID. Can't block that, GG.
Anyway I try to win with a Ranger Ogrekiller (anti-human weapon) Quick Shot barrage and it works kinda well but his ability to use counter Displacement means I can't take advantage of my time advantage very well. And if I go on a bad run of picking targets he will be able to get off Assassinate eventually.
I then try to win with Summoner. This works better, surprisingly: Summon takes out everyone at once and makes me eat three counters but "Hmph!" also appears to reset his AI so that I don't see Assassinate, that or I just get lucky. However the offence adds up fast against Summoner's poor speed/HP and it's easy to get stuck casting Sylph in a heal-lock until enough time goes by for him to throw in ID, or just overwhelm me with damage because I have to be at least somewhat aggressive.
The solution is to gain a couple levels in Summoner so that I can cast Titan as another class, namely Red Mage of course. Now I can cast Protect at the start of the fight, then use Titan or Sylph as necessary with far better stats than what Summoner could pull off, so I never have to Sylph twice in a row. Titan like 7HKOs him too. Not an easy boss by any means and I did have to resort to a little grinding (I might have been able to win with MT Dark, probably should have tried, but it is a lot weaker...) but not too bad.
A little more dungeon with some tougher formations (a sneak attack by Devout + Kurohabaki is one I have to run from) and I reach the final save point. Then another plot fight as invincible Jinnai plotkills Tobikage. Then...
Elder (3 resets) - Man 50000 HP is a lot at this point. The fight has three phases, 15k/15k/20k each, let's talk about 'em.
In the first phase he is a generic ninja. His physical ignores row and hits for a bit over 1000 depending on setup, and his ninjutsu do somewhat less but are MT. He'll rarely counter magic with Slow (agh) or physicals with a physical of his own. Aside from the Slow counters this is easy-peasy and his damage here is low enough that even Slow counters wouldn't be a bother.
The second phase is the Real Problem. When he takes 15000 he'll counter by "putting his back to the wall" and powering up. Now his ninjutsu does over 1000 too. Worse, he picks up Noxious Gas (Toxify, must be healed or blocked), Assassinate (so sayeth the guides, I never see it), Great Gale (HP-1), and Wind Slash, which does a staggering 2600 ITD magic damage (unfocuses against a team). He's reasonably speedy. A Great Gale used while charging may mean you're dead next turn. Hell, even if I heal with Sylph, I may die next turn because Wind Slash does more than it can heal! This happens at least once. The one good thing is that Elder's defence drops during this phase.
The third phase sees the emergence of the Mind Parasite, the true boss. At this point the Elder loses his old skillset but he continues with the ability to output loads of damage. -aga spells can do over 1500. Not so bad you say? He can doubleact them after Spellshock (Deshell). Still not that bad? In the second half of the final phase (... the fourth phase? I dunno man) he can doublecast them for over 3000 damage even if you're not in Deshell, the highest damage of any boss to date. He'll also counter periodically with Mind Blast (does around 600, but also adds Sap and Paralyse). The one nice thing about this phase is that it will waste some turns on Forsaken (some MP damage and confuse).
This boss is kinda custom-made to overcome Sylph spam. The threat of ID and Great Gale->Wind Slash in phase 2, and then the huge damage of phase 3, mean turtling is no bueno. But hey, I have other plans. See, the Elder is, unlike Avalon's generals, weak to human-slaying weaponry, even when the Mind Parasite comes out to play. And the strongest weapon available to Ranger at this point is the Ogrekiller, which hits weakness on humans. A Ranger with Ogrekiller Quick Shot can do around 1400 per swing (four times a round), 1800 during the second phase. So it actually only takes around 8 rounds of offence to down the entire boss this way. Quick Shot does produce a few more counters than I'd like, but they're uncommon enough and none of them inflict Slow, so that's acceptable.
Setup is thus Ranger with HP+20%, MP+20%, and Counter; we don't need no stinkin' healing skillset! Front row since no reason not to, Red Shoes to block confuse/paralyse and equip for speed past that. The plan is to spend as little time in phase 2 as possible, in particular. X-Potions can be used to heal when my HP drops (I make sure to go into phase 2 healthy even though Great Gale is a threat). I use one Elixir as well midway through the fight to restore both HP/MP (Quick Shot does burn through it), and probably 3-4 X-Potions in all. I get a little lucky as his one use of Spellshock misses but all that does is save me some items and I had others to spare.
Ninja chapter complete!
Alba Level 79
Ranger L13
Red Mage L13
Dark Knight L7
Summoner L7
Warrior L5
Black Mage L5
White Mage L1
It's worth noting that she's 6 levels higher than Dusk now; some of that is the Asmodai grind but a lot of that just seems to be that the Ninja chapter is longer and grants more exp than the Paladin chapter; every dungeon in Ninja is longer than the corresponding one in Paladin except for Moonlight Wood versus Mt. Wells.
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P5: I'm in the final dungeon. Jingle bells.
Let me grade all the time wasting activites in the game. On hard mode.
Raising confidants:
- Chariot: 9/10. Sure, everybody hates Ryuji, me included, but: 1) you can focus on him at the beginning and get a lot of cool in-battle bonuses before anyone else gets them 2) he's one of the best characters endgame thanks to Matarukaja 3) Shiki-Ouji is a godsend persona earlygame 4) the rank 7 Auto-kill is neat
- Lovers: 9/10. Ann comes early and is one of the best for a long time. Not impressive endgame, but only at the very very end? Crocodile Tears is 100% useless because demon negociation is weird in this game
- Emperor: 6/10. Pretty good for most of the game. Clear LVP at endgame though, and not amazing against bosses, which is where the confidant in-battle abilites matter the most. I've never duplicated cards. Who the fuck does this
- Priestess: 8/10. Better healer than Morgana, but not by that far. Confidant bonuses are decent quality of life but disposable. Looks fucking rad
- Empress: 9/10. Really interesting stats and skills, plus her crops rule. Why doesn't any shop sell carrots / tomatoes, in Tokyo? This would have made the earlygame so much easier
- Hermit: 9/10. All these skills are RNG but they're all so good and free?
- Hierophant: 4/10. I mean, coffee / curry is good for the earlygame if you don't know about the clinic I guess. +1 for the fucking coffee trivia
- Sun: 7/10. This guy helps fill up your compendium, and that's about it. +1 for the cool story
- Death: 10/10. She's fun. And SP Adhesive 3 removes the stressful part of the game entirely
- Moon: 9/10. More exp. More exp means More personas. Yes. You can even ignore his dialogue and treat him like shit, he'll auto-rank up
- Hanged: 3/10. I've tried gun customization super late in the game. Gave everybody the best guns and customized to max. It still wasn't really worth it. I could have fused a Metatron instead! The game needed a cheaper way to restore bullets
- Star: 9/10. More money is good. Party member swapping is so important for the later boss fights.
- Fortune: 10/10. Biggest timesaver in the game
- Temperance: 9/10. I love reading in class and getting massages after dungeons. -1 for the maid outfit, come on this was already sleazy enough without it
- Tower: 6/10. Much better than I expected for a gun focused confidant. Down shot makes recruiting no-weaknesses enemies a breeze, and bullet hail is neat
- Devil: 4/10. All the abilites are useless. You do get a lot of charm points + exp boost for devils, that's still something
- Studying at home: 2/10. For chumps
- Crossword puzzles: 4/10. Oh great, hard crosswords, for a subpar knowledge bonus, on random ass days only. I can't rate it too lowly because the concept is really cool
- Reading books at home: 3/10. Reading books should only be done in class or in the subway, unless you want a fucking trophy from it
- Using the washing machine: 1/10. Just let your maid do your laundry instead
- Making coffee: 4/10. Just let your maid do it too, if you care, I guess. Still not too bad , for SP healing early , and Soji points. And it's cool. Quietly making some nice coffee with your coffee machine is one of the best things about this game
- Making curry: 3/10. See making coffee, less useful because it comes later
- Hot bath: 6/10. Good earlygame source of charm. -1 because I never could get any the special effects on rainy days to happen, and I suspect this might not actually be a thing
- Making tools: 9/10. Hell yes, lockpicks and huge proficiency gains
- Battling cage: 2/10. Bad minigame for low rewards. +1 point because it looks nice
- Training: 5/10. More max HP isn't bad at all TBH when MC death = gameover
- Installing a DVD player and watching DVDs: 4/10: A relatively bad way to raise stats. You waste one day installing the player. There's no easy way to tell the good DVDs from the bad ones. Morgana will fuck you over and you'll have to return your DVDs late. Still, this is so damn cool I can't give it a bad rating
- Installing a console and playing videogames: 6/10. They're very much like DVDs, except it comes later in the game, has additional but worthless rewards. But they're even cooler. Playing videogames in a videogame is my thing. I finished them all
- Installing a computer: 9/10. Should be done ASAP, ignore everything else, you get some of the best armors from it
- Sleeping: 2/10. Gets you a random ass bonus, sometimes. Just train instead. +1 point for the satisfaction of being a lazy fuck
- Studying at the cafe: 7/10. Very good source of knowledge and guts early on
- Working at the general store: 4/10. Gets you money and eventually a request (like every other job) No stats though... But I like how the store looks. It's neat!
- Working at the flower shop: 7/10. Good stat bonuses and $$$. Making flower bouquets and shit? Hell yes.
- Working at the restaurant: 6/10. Similar to the flower shop, but a lot more stressul
- Big bang burger challenge. 9/10. "Eat as much meat as you can" challenges are decadent and gross. On the other hand, those stat bonuses. Can't believe I aced my exams and charmed a hot girl only because I ate a really big burger
- Theater: 8/10. Consistently one of my favourite ways to raise stats, it looks really cool too. I like getting more points from it because I read a book about dutch angles once
- Gym: 6/10. The stat gains are low, but it's fun to see the MC get better and better at getting swole. I spent all days at the gym in december in my game and got super ripped (By super ripped I mean like +70HP +30sp)
- Studying at the school library: 3/10. It's like studying at the cafe but less cool and you don't get coffee
- Working at the bar: 8/10. Probably the best job, you get to be the confidant of some random washed up people for stat bonuses and money
- Fishing: 2/10. Really confusing minigame, and once you start getting used to it you've pretty much entirely mastered it already. It looks like you can get a good armor from it but you'd have to get there like 10 times at least and get bored out of your mind
- Maid cafe: 0/10. Maid cafes are Hooters for shitty nerds. No. And I already have temperance at home anyway
- Praying at the church: 2/10. If you fucked up and replaced Makoto's Marakukaja with Splash, sure, go ahead and use it
- Spending time at the shrine: 1/10. A really bad way to rank up confidants, it might matter if you only have one left and you're super close to the end. This gives you one afternoon/evening for one note. Fortune gives you three notes and doesn't cost time. God Fortune rocks
What did I miss?
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I never got any special effects from the bathhouse either. Come on P5 the rest of your game made me expect sexy shenanigans.
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Persona 5 - Finished Palace 2, currently dicking around. I'm having serious trouble dealing with locations in this game - feels like I'm missing a lot of places and the game's also been terrible at letting me hang out with Ryuji and Ann. Why haven't they been at EITHER of their usual spots for two/three weeks in a row, dammit. Also, holy crap is Hierophant a slow-going Confidant Link. I agree that Death is an amazing Confidant Link. Just a great character all around, also my most advanced Link to boot.
Also, Mishima is human garbage.
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Yeah the game is a bit overwhelming at first and then it keeps introducing new things. I'm surprised about Ryuji / Ann being unavailable for so long though. Generally, going with the flow is great, if someone tells you "check this out" you should do it, unless it's Mishima who wants you to go to some place with him on sunday or something
People will sometimes move. Press R1 twice anywhere to see whoever's up to hang out easily. If there's a blue card , they're available. And if there's an "UP!!" next, then the confidant link will rank up if you hang out. I stopped physically checking out where people were long ago.
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It's also a thing that you can't hang out with your party S-Links if you've completed the palace but not sent the calling card yet.
Chariot 6 is apparantly also u ique in that it requires a text and night action, and will only trigger on 15 days in the entire game.
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It's also a thing that you can't hang out with your party S-Links if you've completed the palace but not sent the calling card yet.
Chariot 6 is apparantly also u ique in that it requires a text and night action, and will only trigger on 15 days in the entire game.
From when to when? Ryuji's at the point where he should rank up to 6 already.
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Temperance also has time limitations like Chariot.
Coop with required events that takes place in school are all like that. (Plot won't let you got school in certain segments of the game.)
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - Twilight part 1
You can imagine some obvious joke about Twilight right here if you wish. We good?
Anyway the chapter starts out with a couple fights against Troopers, who are generic soldiers who can cast Cura. Not too worrying, like most humans they can be confused.
We then reach Mysidia. Shops aren't too new here, with one major exception: X-Potions! They cost a lot (equal to 20 Hi-Potions) but they're a neat new healing option in a pinch. Speaking of new options, Dusk now has Paladin. Since they can't Jump and have lower speed than Dragoon they're not really a great physical option for me (though a solid one normally), and Dusk is kinda committed to magic due to having Black L5 right now anyway.
Heliogabalus: For what is in theory a major dungeon (this is the empire's ultimate weapon or whatever) there's actually not much variety in enemies here... far less than in our visit here during the Memorist chapter, certainly. The Trooper makes its return, but everything else here is a machine. This means thunder damage is the way to go, and Thundara isn't cutting it any more. The best choices are Thundaga which requires being in Black Mage, or Ramuh which requires being in Summoner. Summoner proves inadequate as its lower job level exacerbates its already poor HP/speed, so Black Mage it is. My main setup for this dungeon is Black Mage with INT+20% and L1 Summon, because hey Sylph is still great especially off my now super-high Int.
-Troopers: Generic threats, use Cura sometimes, hence why having high damage helps. I no longer have Confuse but Thundaga overwhelms them and makes them spend many of their turns healing.
-Gustavs: Little robots, also can cast Cura. Weak to Thunder. Can fire off Heat Beams for like 600 which can add up fast given their tendency to appear in high numbers, or would if they weren't exploding to Thundaga.
-Couriers: Reasonably tanky and can fire Machineguns which do 900+ to the back row, ouch. Damage overwhelms pretty well again, Stop is a vulnerability I can exploit if need be.
A little ways into the dungeon there is a fixed fight with a Terminator (https://resizing.flixster.com/lcBTjjtHdeXQDPOMO2gIZ2fiNJ8=/180x240/v1.bTsxMTI5MjI1MjtqOzE3NDEwOzEyMDA7MTUzNjsyMDQ4). He can fire off an ID-inflicting Blaster faster than you can say "hasta la vista, baby". Fortunately, saying "Stop" is faster still. Equipping for speed to help get the drop on 'em is important. Thundaga and/or Tornado can deal with them past that. After this point they become randoms too, sometimes appearing with support, so Stopping them ASAP is always essential. I run a Gold-Spun Hat for paralysis immunity in case Blaster does that instead, and sometimes they do open with MT physicals instead.
A little further on in the dungeon another solider will summon a Geo Armament. These guys on the other hand are just big bags of HP. 10000 is a hell of a lot for a random at this point, and they even immune Tornado (and everything else I try). But they have no tricks and always appear alone, Thundaga 4HKOs them or Sylph can help if necessary. Again, they appear as randoms after their introduction.
Also of note in this dungeon is the Assassin's Dagger which gives a substantial speed boost, I use it over a rod for the time being but each has their place. Since I have Black Magic, restoring MP is easy; most things here can be Stopped and used as Osmose punching bags.
Vata 4 (1 reset) - You can mostly copy/paste the previous Vata fight here because it's basically the same. Red Mage, Protect/-ara/Sylph. Jump does decent damage, other moves slightly less. Howling Gale does Sap. Fast so I have to watch out for two Jumps in a row. Below half HP he gets some new moves, the most dangerous of which is Buffet which does as much as Jump and can sometimes add Stun. He can no longer use Lancet but his new dinky useless move is Critical, which does less damage than his basic double physical anyway. He also has Holy Breath but that's strictly less dangerous than Buffet. Execution is everything, I use three Dry Ethers, I win. The fight's a long one and very much shows the age of the Sylph Red Mage strategy; I probably won't use it many more times now. But it still works so hey.
Plot fight against Shango. Zzz.
There's a notable amount more dungeon after this but no new enemies so the same strategies work. After it's complete we switch parties.
Dusk Level 75
Red Mage L13
Black Mage L13
Dragoon L6
Summoner L4
Warrior L3
Bard L2
Monk L1
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So Watch Out for Fireballs did a thing recently on a DS game that was only online purchasable called Crimson Shroud. It is apparently still available for like $10 or so and is like D&D flavourful as fuck.
It is a Matsuno game, so you got your Ivalice/Ogre legacy there, but is a standard JRPG stand in a line and take turns punching each other. There is no levelling(? I could be off there), you just power up by improving gear. You actually roll dice instead of the RNG. You can like... throw dice off the table to save them to use on future rolls?
Status is super important.
Game is hard as balls.
No random encounters, everything is a fixed encounter that you can redo.
If it didn't have online only purchase, random drops and an obtuse critical path it would sound like the Elfest thing ever. I am tempted to try it out.
Dragon Quest Heroes 2 - So they made this more open worldish than the original,but that really is just substituting the boring maps with running through wilderness. Crafting is way better, in that instead of rolling the dice on accessory upgrades you just use it to upgrade base accessories. This lets you build up to status immunity/mostly immune to the real bothersome effects (for me it was Quake/Roar and Freeze in the original one). They included class changing for the main characters, so you have a huge swing on variety in the mains. There is just straight up more characters.
I hated Torneko stuff in DQ4, but apparently all you needed to do was make him borderline stereotypical Irishmen and now he is dead sexy.
It does focus too much on the new characters rather than playing with the returning ones though.
All in all it feels like bigger and better than the original, carries over the good flavour stuff of the original and really lives up to the promise of the first.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand it looks like no one is playing it. So RIP that series I guess.
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - Twilight part 2
Back in control of Alba. Again, storebought X-Potions! The new job this time is Ninja, which is probably the game's strongest job overall. Let's review.
-Ninja has the second best speed of any job, with speed being generally the most important stat in this game (level adds on to Str/Int/Mind for damage, defensive stats aren't as potent relatively)
-But in case that's not enough: they're above average in every other stat too, except for Mind and MP. Their MP is still the highest of any physical job by a ways, as is their Int. Mind doesn't matter. Their Strength is about equidistant between game-best and average, which puts them notably above Red Mage, for instance. In other words, they have the best general stat build.
-Great skillset which includes ninjutsu (slightly weaker than a MT -aga, but no charge time and lower MP cost), Healing Pill (fixed 30% healing which is already at minimum better than Cura), and eventually will include some status attacks and Restorative Pill, which is fixed 60% (!!!) healing... already better than Sylph, at no charge time.
-Innate Dual Wield. It's only +50% damage in this game but uh that's still huge, and it's a huge advantage over other physical jobs for freeing up slots.
I immediately dip in for two levels to get the three basic Ninjutsus (unlike most other non-mage skillsets, you can port the skillset to other jobs starting at JL1!) and Healing Pill, then it's back to Red Mage. My goal is to get Magic Blade, an outstanding physical skillset which is at the core of some of my lategame plans (it includes cheap elemental 1.5x damage skills, fast 100% status, and a great Osmose clone... even some healing).
Anyway, Dr. Unne tells me to go get a tablet to translate Lufenian because this game wants to repeat almost every FF1 plot point. World map randoms are mostly fire-weak and get nuked by Flame.
Rosetta Tower: There are some pretty respectable randoms here. It's made worse by the fact that two of them will use petrification, and not just as a counter either. Athena's Mirror counters this, but this kicks out Red Shoes. And enemies still use paralysis and confuse so I waste all my slots blocking those too. I run Red Mage with Ninjutsu and a random support skill (MP+20% to start dungeons, Attune Blade if MP runs low, HP+20% or Int+20% otherwise).
-Spectres: Fire-weak but reasonably bulky and not jokes on offence with their Sap-inflicting Rend, four Flames will take them out.
-Lufenian Souls: Also fire weak. They can cast Dark for a bit over 800. Interestingly, Silence doesn't prevent this, but it does half Dark's damage, perhaps because it's a fusion ability between one silenceable skill (Cura) and one not (Curse)? Interesting anyway. That said Confuse is overall a better reduction of their damage if I need it. Three Flames blow them out. They sometimes death counter by causing Berserk, but fortunately any enemies they're with are 1-2 hits from death by now.
-Mini Satanas: Cast a bunch of spells, their favourite being confuse but there are also -agas in there which hit for over 1000 if not resisted (the Dragon Shield in this dungeon halves fire). Vulnerable to Break or can be abused with Attune Blade.
-Spites: Can cast Quake or use Embrace for petrify, so Athena's Mirror is go! They can also use Entice for confuse. Also weak to fire, and petrify for that matter.
-Creatures: Can Bite for confuse+poison. Vulnerable to Break.
-Medusas: Can cast Break or Tornado. Those are nasty! Obviously blocking petrify is still go, but Tornado is dickish too. Break doesn't work on them, but Confuse does, so I mostly use that. Their claw physicals are merely decent though, so if I'm on the ball after Tornado I can use Healing Pill to get back in the game, but it's still something I'd rather not see.
-Mystic Dragons: Loads of HP, immune to all status I have, can cast -aga spells, have hard-hitting physicals. The good news is that the Dragon Shield halves their physical damage down to a mere ~500 to the back row or so, and halves Firaga too! The bad news is that they have very high HP and only give 10 AP, so I conclude after beating one that they're a big waste of time.
-Radons: These floating balls of invisible radioactive gas hydras are rare encounters who immune most status and hit hard enough to generally convince me not to bother; it doesn't help that I only ever encounter them when low on MP.
At the top there is a boss.
Guardian - He has no plot but 40000 HP, which is more than Vata. Anyway he's kinda like Vata in that he has... respectable but not overwhelming offence so we slowly turtle through him with Protect/Sylph/-aras. Let's talk about what he does:
At full HP he will either use two physicals for around 500 a swing to Protect + back row (not great accuracy so a number of them miss against my shield) or Quake for around 1100. He can also use Thwack for around 900 against Protect + back row. The latter two moves are MT but I don't care. Boring! A grind to get down but an easy one.
Below half HP he will try harder. The second physical can be replaced by Roundhouse (always hits, damage+stun) or Headbutt (always hits, 1.5x damage) adding some bite here. He can sometimes counter with Right Arm, which is slightly stronger than a single physical. And Thwack gets replaced by Pox, which not only hits harder but also inflicts the devastating Deprotect. Roundhouse has the potential to be kinda terrifying but the good news is that my Red Mage with +speed can get stunned and still charge Sylph before his next turn (unlike when Vata's stun landed), so it's not as bad as it could be; I just need to be very fast on my menu use if necessary!
My HP is around 4400 and Sylph does around half that, heal whenever my HP is below half or I suspect it will be before I finish the charge, Protect when it's about to wear out or after Pox lands it (unless I need to heal at which point things get scary), anticipate running out of MP and use a Dry Ether at that point (it takes three). Fortunately I win first try because this fight takes a while!
Alba Level 81
Red Mage L14
Ranger L13
Dark Knight L7
Summoner L7
Warrior L5
Black Mage L5
Ninja L2
White Mage L1
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I talked about Crimson Shroud earlier, it's real good and doesn't overstay its welcome.
I played it twice.
It had pretty average difficulty, though, it's not too hard. I didn't really dwelve in the systems I just made the best sounding numbers bigger.
There is indeed no levelling.
At one point you need a random drop to progress and that just blows though.
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Difficulty complaints on the podcast were very very much about New Game +, but I also don't know their threshold for JRPG difficulty. Other genres well documented, clear fans of the genre but have grown out of them, and they haven't really covered a ball buster of a JRPG on the show. So *shrug*. You also decide to solo games first play through Fen. You have a knack for them.
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Difficulty complaints on the podcast were very very much about New Game +, but I also don't know their threshold for JRPG difficulty. Other genres well documented, clear fans of the genre but have grown out of them, and they haven't really covered a ball buster of a JRPG on the show. So *shrug*. You also decide to solo games first play through Fen. You have a knack for them.
I also played Crimson Shroud. Liked it a lot less than Fenrir, and I still don't think it's worth the cost, though the idea was cute. It's got a neat aesthetic and an interesting story presentation, but like Fenrir says, you can pretty much ignore most of the skill development in the game, which makes the seemingly-complex aspects of the game feel very underdeveloped. (I seem to recall this being a problem in TO for PSP as well) As an example, if I remember right the game gives you a metric ton of equipment that wards off various kinds of magic, but the enemy variety in the game is so low that you would never have any reason to equip any of it. I will say that rolling dice for attacks was satisfying somehow, even though they were virtual.
Difficulty-wise, I seem to recall it being very easy, but I didn't play it on NG+ so maybe it's tougher. I have listened to enough WOFF and BonfiresideChat to know the casters are... I hesitate to say bad, but not great... at games, but for all I know I found gear they didn't or something.
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I meant that the games are not hard in comparison with other RPGs / Matsuno games. I'd say TO / FFT and Vagrant Story are much much harder.
It's overwhelming but easy on NG
On NG + it's harder but you know what works. And most people have no reason to play it, it's only for people who really loved it
The podcasters are pretty much always rushing through the games, I don't think they'd necessarily find the same issues as normal people unless the game is designed for rushing
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Haven't posted here for a while.
Final Fantasy V: Decided to replay this one after finishing Final Fantasy III for the first time to see how well it holds up. I felt that FFIII was pretty solid for an NES RPG, but the final boss was pretty tough unless you didn't grind beforehand. With Final Fantasy V, I've just got the submarine and boy has this aged really well. The battles are much faster than FFIII's and an unlimited inventory is always welcome. I also prefer how FFV is built around experimenting with the jobs to deal with different areas and bosses, as opposed to FFIII which is based around keeping to a job for as long as possible. While FFIII's job playstyle worked; I'm definitely more comfortable with FFV's, if only because I'm more used to it.
Pokemon Platinum: Beaten Cynthia, both during the maingame and postgame. I've already moaned about this game's battle speed in my previous post so I'll instead focus on a different topic. This game loves HMs so much that it causes it to become tiring to playthrough after a while. Throughout my Pokemon binge, I've tried to teach some of the HMs to my team members to minimise on HM slaves. I couldn't get away with this technique with Platinum as the game loves throwing the nigh useless Defog (before generation 6) in your face and will sometimes rear its ugly head even during the postgame areas. What I'll give this game credit for is one of the best champion battles in the series. Asides from Kukui, Cynthia is probably the toughest champion thanks to her well rounded team with great movesets and her ace Garchomp which will outspeed the rest of your team unless you are over-levelled. Overall, while I've had several good memories with DPPlt in the past, the games really haven't held up as well as the folks on 4chan and GameFAQs will have you believe.
Final team:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/395.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/398.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/197.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/026.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/450.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/487.png)
Temporary members:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/405.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/075.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/426.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/483.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/484.png)
Dialga and Palkia were mainly used during the postgame, hence why I've listed them here.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow: Finally decided to get round to this one as my brother bought it on the Wii U VC for me to play. I've currently reached my first warp point after meeting up with most of the cast members. It's a Castlevania plot so I'm not going to give two fucks about any of them. As for the game itself, it is pretty darn good. It's already coming off as an improvement to Symphony of the Night, a game I already enjoyed quite a bit, as the soul system allows for more depth to combat in this game. I find that they do a much better job at giving variety to your arsenal than the awkward spells for SOTN. Whether or not I prefer this game over SOTN depends on how much more challenging the bosses are.
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Final Fantasy III: Game beaten. I liked this version of the game way better than the DS version, and I find the original take on the job system to be an interesting one. Even though it still has two major issues. Your bag space can run dry very quickly even with Fat Chocobo to try and solve things. It's particularly annoying when you have to empty your character's equipment before they change classes. The other major issue is that the final dungeon is comparable to Chapter 12 of Xenoblade Chronicles X in terms of poor design. It's a point of no return, and some of the opponents are too gruelling for a single sitting. The final boss in particular only has one command but your chances of survival depend on luck, you're screwed if she strikes first with Flare Wave if you're already on low health. It must have been difficult for Japanese players having to go all the way back out of Sylx Tower to save, then go back through again just to do the Dark World. Funny since the rest of the game is fine and isn't as grind-heavy as other people will tell you.
Final Fantasy V: Yeah, I'm on a job class binge right now. I just cleared the Barrier Tower and gotten control of the submarine. I played this game before and I didn't think much of it due to the fact that I was relying heavily on a guide written by Djibriel, that guy from GameFAQs who thinks he's a real comedian. Even though looking back and having a better idea on how to use the job classes, I'm really enjoying this one and I'm appreciating it as an evolution of what FFIII brought to the table.
Current job classes:
Bartz: White Mage with Summon (Yuna anyone?)
Lenna: Ranger with Counter
Galuf: Time Mage with Black Magic
Faris: Ninja with Blue Magic
Pokemon Platinum: Good grief this game didn't want to end. Too my surprise the post-game was the more tame part, and that had Stark Mountain under its belt. Platinum's end game has that crushing sea route before Victory Road, and then there's Victory Road itself. That dungeon is a God damn marathon which will have you lucky that your Pokemon have moves with two digit PP. Not to mention it requires every HM in the book, expect Fly and Cut. Even Defog is needed during the post-game portions of Victory Road. Yeah, this game hasn't aged as well as I remember. It's the Pokemon series' Final Fantasy IX; only with less callbacks to older games and no princesses in orange jumpsuits. But I'll give special mention to Empoleon for being badass during my run of the game.
Final team:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/395.png)(http://www.serebii.net/platinum/pokemon/398-m.png)(http://www.serebii.net/platinum/pokemon/212-m.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/135.png)(http://www.serebii.net/platinum/pokemon/229-m.png)(http://www.serebii.net/platinum/pokemon/487.png)
Jagens:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/075.png)(http://www.serebii.net/platinum/pokemon/267-m.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/479.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/472.png)
Post-game:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/483.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/pt/484.png)
Pokemon HeartGold: I've currently beaten Morty and explored certain areas with Surf. Areas like Union Cave and Route 34 have trainers which have surprisingly high levels.
Current team:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/153.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/169.png)(http://www.serebii.net/heartgoldsoulsilver/pokemon/065-m.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/128.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/170.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/126.png)
Jagens:
(http://www.serebii.net/heartgoldsoulsilver/pokemon/020-m.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/074.png)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty: Playing this after LordDirtyBrit started raving about how was a gift from the Gods or something. I've just beaten Olga and already I'm noticing improvements from the first game. Crawling doesn't feel as tight, the AI is more cunning, and the one boss I've fought currently is more interesting than “wait for an opening to perform 60s Batman stunts” battles in the first game. No, Psycho Mantis isn't an interesting fight anymore. Everyone and their mother knows how to beat it. Also, listening to Otacon fail at giving proverbs never leaves me without a big stupid grin on my face.
There, here's my life's work!
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I also prefer how FFV is built around experimenting with the jobs to deal with different areas and bosses, as opposed to FFIII which is based around keeping to a job for as long as possible.
Interesting; with the original FF3 I don't think I agree with this? FF3DS yeah sure, you want lots of JLs. In the original FF3, though, jobs are gonna go obsolete eventually regardless but are often very spiky in terms of performance, so it really rewards using certain jobs in certain areas, as well as certain brute-force things like a Scholar for Hein or Dragoons for Garuda.
FF5 certainly rewards experimenting somewhat too, though there are some powerful options which really reward staying in one job for a while, moreso than in FF3o.
I played this game before and I didn't think much of it due to the fact that I was relying heavily on a guide written by Djibriel, that guy from GameFAQs who thinks he's a real comedian.
I can take or leave Djibriel's humour but that guide is superb as a source of information. Between it and the BMG you can learn pretty much everything there is to learn about FF5. I played FF5 back when guides were shit and that definitely hampered my enjoyment of the game; now I'm a huge fan.
t's the Pokemon series' Final Fantasy IX; only with less callbacks to older games and no princesses in orange jumpsuits.
That sounds eerily accurate, right down to the games being too damn slow for no reason and both having weird hipstery fanbases which will try to tell you the games are totally way better than all those other more popular games.
I've only played Diamond/Pearl but there's no doubt in my mind whatsoever it's the worst mainline Pokemon.
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I also prefer how FFV is built around experimenting with the jobs to deal with different areas and bosses, as opposed to FFIII which is based around keeping to a job for as long as possible.
Interesting; with the original FF3 I don't think I agree with this? FF3DS yeah sure, you want lots of JLs. In the original FF3, though, jobs are gonna go obsolete eventually regardless but are often very spiky in terms of performance, so it really rewards using certain jobs in certain areas, as well as certain brute-force things like a Scholar for Hein or Dragoons for Garuda.
Semi-tangential rant....
The caveat to the jobs having 'spiky performance' is that you actually do need to level up classes in FF3 NES for them to be useful in the long term, especially mages; you can't afford to have them changing jobs much. Magic has the same hit system as physical attacks (unshown) so, for instance, Black Mages will be considerably more useful if you stick with them and raise Skill a lot, which means you either need to level up outside the main story or just focus on one job. I remember being seriously underwhelmed by magic my first time through the game, but once I understood that there were multipliers that changed; unfortunately, it makes the class system far less engaging than it could have been. I actually think having a Skill level system in this game was a mistake from a design perspective.
The problem is that, once you understand the game mechanics, the best way to handle FF3 is to choose classes to stick with for the bulk of the game (Knight, Karateka, Black Mage, White Mage) and only swap them for specific areas that require another class or for their eventual replacements that you don't get for very long. So in the end, it's actually more like FF1 than FF5 unless you want to spend a serious amount of time with weak characters. Like MasterLemon, I appreciate that FF3 has a unique take on class systems that was a product of it being an innovative system, and it's one of the reasons I prefer the original (helped considerably by FF3 DS not having an ability system), but I've definitely become more critical of it over time and vastly prefer FF5. Would be cool to see one more mainline Final Fantasy game try the job system again and incorporate improvements from FFT, FFX-2, Bravely Default, etc. Perhaps I should be careful what I wish for...
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That's just the thing. You can stick with Black Mage to level them up a bunch and have them be better, but as soon as you hit the earth crystal anyone can match the performance of a high-skill black mage by switching to Magus and/or Summoner at that point. So in the end all that job focusing feels kinda worthless to me. The Earth Crystal isn't that late if you do it as soon as you get the Invincible.
I remember Karateka falling off seriously hard as time went on so maybe I didn't grind as much as you but I definitely remember inferior equipment catching up with it in a bad way such that switching to another physical job would be an improvement, Skill be damned. Sticking with Knight I can see but you definitely want Dark Knight for the Cave of Darkness and Dragoon is really great in boss fights especially once you get the Blood Lance (and four Dragoons are consistently amazing against bosses as Garuda demonstrates, though boring); there's absolutely some tradeoff there. Though I'd tend to agree that other physical jobs struggle to find a niche in that section of the game.
I like FF5 quite a bit more than FF3 too for a variety of reasons (the biggest being that being able to move skills from one job to another makes the whole system way more interesting) but I definitely don't think FF5 is less of a victim of this; you definitely want to level up jobs a bunch so you can get powerful skills out of them. Physical setups are completely worthless long-term without hard-focusing in at least one specific job (Ninja, Ranger, Mystic Knight) for instance.
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Speaking of job system FFs...!
Final Fantasy Dimensions - Twilight part 3
Back to Dusk again. Shops upgrade with Level 7 spells and some new gear. I buy all the L7 black spells. Comet and Quake are both significant improvements in ST and MT damage, though in a cruel twist of fate neither ends up useful in this dungeon. Death is the new status attack though and it is a good time. As in the previous Light dungeon I mostly run Black Mage here since its stats manage to just be good enough and it has an answer to everything in the dungeon.
Mysidia Caverns:
-Caterchipillars: Sometimes use Slow which is annoying. Vulnerable to Break. Mid-high priority.
-Brains: Can use Constrict for paralyse (Gold-Spun Hat blocks it) or Osmose. Vulnerable to Break.
-Desmodontidae: Bats. They can drain for some light damage or occasionally use silence (which is rare but super-annoying, so I do eventually use my accessory to block it, losing some durability). Vulnerable to Break.
-Black Lizards: They hit things. Immune to Break and bulky enough to take a Comet, but vulnerable to Death.
-Zombie Dragons: Hit hard. (Dark Breath does over 1200.) Vulnerable to Break.
-Alchemists: Hit hard with Thundaga. Can take a hit from Comet, immune to Break. Vulnerable to Death.
-Mythril Golems: Benign but bulky. Tornado then poke.
-Gorgimeras: Damaging and bulky. Tornado then poke works. Sometimes they spawn behind another enemy in the back row which is helpful since a lot of their bruising is physical.
I try to run Quake but it takes at least 3 shots to down almost everything (and misses bats) so it's not really worth it. Comet similarly doesn't matter because it can't secure any OHKOs. The Break/Death/Tornado show carves through everything nicely, though, and Stop/Osmose still exists to make sure I don't run out of MP.
Protector (14 resets)
This is it, the final boss of the light path, the guardian of the Light Crystal, the first boss of the game on steroids. He's not too bad normally but he's a real jerk here. 46000 HP is a solid total. He can physical twice for around 700 per swing to the back row (Protect helps), or Thwack for a bit more than that to everyone. He'll often add MT Roar (chance of stun) before Thwack. And he can cast Holy, which does anywhere from 2500 (Red Mage) to 3200 (physical jobs). Reasonable offence but nothing we can't handle.
Below half HP he starts using Soul Despair at periodic intervals, which is MT HP-1. Now fortunately he'll never use Holy the turn right after this, just physicals or turnskips, so that's a big help. Unfortunately it's still hard to heal up fast enough. Also at this point, Holy Breath replaces Thwack, which is about 1800 MT magic damage, and it can still be used after Roar in the same way. He'll also upgrade his double physical to sometimes include Right Arms, which hit about half again as hard.
"Okay," you say, "That sounds pretty competent, but I'm not seeing 14 resets." Yeah, well. The real problem: he sometimes counters magic with Brain Crush. I've seen Brain Crush before, Lufenian Souls used it in the previous Alba dungeon as a death counter. It inflicts confuse and berserk. Alba can block berserk at this point. Dusk... can not. Berserk is absolutely, 100% fatal. Since this is not a short fight, thus, magic is not an option. Including, sadly, Sylph. So we have to do this with physicals, and we have to do it by healing either with white magic or X-Potions. And Soul Despair ensres there will be plenty of healing.
At this point I have a brainwave. Holy is the main problem. How about... Reflect? A quick test later leaves me with a big surprise: Holy isn't reflectable in this game! Flare is, most white magic is. Just not Holy for some reason. Either they wanted the spell to be a bit more badass, or they wanted to make this boss a bit harder to shut down. Anyway without a working Reflect, white mage setups aren't very appealing here. My damage is just too low, and I don't have a good way to restore MP with Osmose potentially countered. I could grind to get White Magic 6 (for Haste/Shell/Regen) on a better job, but that's a crazy amount of AP at this point since I don't have any investment in White Mage yet.
This leaves a physical setup chugging X-Potions, which heal for 2000. The best physical setup is unquestionably Jump: it allows me to be in the back row and do full damage, and the time in the air doesn't matter. A quick trial run shows promise as I reach the limit phase on the first try even with a terribly out-of-date weapon.
So I walk out of the dungeon levelling Warrior (for Counter) and Dragoon (for general JL), running Black Magic 5 as my secondary. Break and Tornado are still effective as always, though not having a turn 1 option for enemies I used Death against hurts, as does losing out on blockers. So things get a bit harder now, but fortunately I better know how to deal with and prioritise the enemies, so it's not too bad. I restock on Hi-Potions and buy an Enhancer (best sword/spear available at this point). I take a few more stabs at the fight but still can't win, once because I run out of my supply of 20 X-Potions. So I go out again and by more X-Potions, and also level Dragoon up to JL 10 for a third slot in the process. Both of these ultimately prove unnecessary on the winning run, but improving my odds and having slightly higher stats helps.
Protect is valuable in this fight. The best option is either to run Auto-Protect, or to use another accessory (Dragon Armlet is the best, 2 Spd and a def/eva boost) and cast Protect manually on occasion. HP+20% feels worth not having Red Magic available for sure, but once I hit JL 10 I try to run both. However, needing to recast Protect obviously is some loss of efficiency, and surprisingly, so is what just having Red Magic on my menu does to my timing. See, after using Item one or more times, I want to pick Jump as quickly as possible. If Red Magic is set as a secondary, it forces me to scroll to see Jump, and that splitsecond if valuable. If Red Magic isn't there, Jump will be immediately visible in the top slot after using Item, so I can pick it immediately. This time ends up being worth quite a bit. So my final setup is actually to run no secondary at all, just Dragoon with HP+20%, Counter, and... INT+20% because it has a tiny effect on Holy's damage and really I have nothing better for that third slot, which makes me feel guilty for getting it.
Strategy? Jump. Use X-Potions if my HP drops below 3200, stop if my HP rises above 5400 (I have 7400). Soul Despair will be used after my 10th Jump; anticipate that and no need to heal before it. Use my only Elixir after the first Soul Despair, otherwise use two X-Potions. Hope to be in the air when Soul Despair is used again. If Roar hits, Jumping IMMEDIATELY is helpful since I can barely get that off before his next turn, and then he'll get two turns while I'm in the air. When possible, try to mess with his timing so that he'll get two turns while I'm in the air generally, though this is risky. Pray for as few Holys as possible; fuck that move.
On the winning run I use a mere 14 X-Potions due to having some good luck with his AI and dodging the worst moves while in the air. Go me.
Dusk Level 81 (reached boss at 78)
Black Mage L14
Red Mage L13
Dragoon L10 (reached boss at 6)
Warrior L5
Summoner L4
Bard L2
Monk L1
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That sounds eerily accurate, right down to the games being too damn slow for no reason and both having weird hipstery fanbases which will try to tell you the games are totally way better than all those other more popular games.
I've only played Diamond/Pearl but there's no doubt in my mind whatsoever it's the worst mainline Pokemon.
Finally, someone who gets it. Diamond/Pearl is the worst mainline Pokemon, MeepleLard has often described it as a beta and he isn't wrong. Platinum fares a little better, but I don't see why everyone is now saying it's the series' highlight. My guess is that they grew up with them.
As for Final Fantasy IX, not only does the game itself appeal to hipsters, the protagonist does too. I've seen several players nowadays claim that Zidane is the best protagonist because he isn't "angsty" like Cloud or Terra and he isn't "whiny" like Tidus. The thing with the three protagonists I described is that their character development and emotional conflict didn't feel forced unlike that scene in Bran Bal in FFIX. I'll give the game credit for having my favourite villain in the series and a great OST, but boy does it have problems.
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Where does Job level factor in in OG FF3's damage formula?
Persona 5 sure gets less stylish in the endgame where the generic JRPG plot kicks in. I'm right in front of the final boss. Might not watch the ending once I beat him.
I am going so slowly through P:T and am discovering new things. I'm pretty sure I just rushed through from the lower ward on, I didn't even go into the forge or anything. Here I went to the forge, did a long questline to become a forgedude, then did another long questline inside the forge to betray the forge and become an anarchis punk. I also bought all items for the curio shop and am trying to find an use for them. Hey lady do you sant some... chocolate based mystic item?
I'm super stoked for the new Fire Emblem, which removes all the clutter from new Fire Emblem including like skills and talking and NewAnime art. It's just big ass maps and gorgeous graphics and OldAnime. There's not even the fucking weapon triangle? I'm down for it. They also stole Invisible Inc's retry system which is suuuuper ace.
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Where does Job level factor in in OG FF3's damage formula?
You gain new multipliers for both physical and magical hits after accruing x number of Skill points in the class. It's similar to the way gaining levels in FF1 could increase your Agility (or whatever it was) which led to extra hits after every 8 or so points. (Edit: I'm not entirely sure about this bit on status magic. It seems to be the case, but there's no way I'm confirming it) This is also relevant to status magic, just like in FF2. The chance to hit is essentially based on a number of 'attempts' (hits) that increases with each multiplier. As such, for instance, Toad and Mini are great instant death spells in FF3 (not as obscene as in FF2) if you have a high Skill mage, but if you weren't focusing on using them the entire game, you might never find this out. Another wrinkle is that your mages need to use Magic to actually gain a good amount of Skill growth, but smart players are likely to conserve MP and not gain nearly enough Skill. The late-game classes have higher multiplier by default, so Sage and White Wizard are essentially superior to White Mage by default etc, and the difference is made even bigger by the average player not having high Skill in their classes before the change. However, for the longest stretch of the game, including difficult dungeons like the Cave of Darkness where instant death spells are extremely useful, it's critical to have higher Skill levels on your mages if you want magic to be worth anything. Another example is the fight with Salamander at the Fire Crystal. This tends to be a hard fight for new players, but players who have gotten a decent skill level for their mages breeze through it since their Cure2 and Ice3 spells will be so much better. (I didn't know any of this until I watched HCBailly's LP, and I confirmed it in a mechanics FAQ later on IIRC)
Citation (Ctrl F for Skill): https://www.gamefaqs.com/nes/563415-final-fantasy-iii/faqs/29389
5.1) ATTACK MULTIPLIER
5.1.1) BLACK MAGIC ATTACK MULTIPLIER
Note that Black Magic also includes the Terrain command from the Geomancer.
A.M. = (Intellect/16) + (Level/16) + (Skill/32) + 1
In short, this quirk of the battle system is why I stated that I think having Skill levels be tied to jobs is a negative in this game; it discourages experimenting with jobs since your competency in battle depends on sticking with something. This hurts physical classes too, though not as much since they keep getting new weapons to offset the loss in hits. Some classes have better inherent hit rates too (I don't even know why, guessing it has to do with higher base stats or hidden values), like Mystic Knight, so switching over to them and getting immediate results makes it seem like the problem I'm describing isn't that big of a deal, but it's present for much of the game. I would have preferred that hits be tied strictly to Level like they were in FF1, but I don't blame the developers for thinking this was a good idea; it seems natural on paper. In FF5, yes, you get passive benefits for mastering jobs or equipping other abilities, but the raw stat change from switching jobs is the same no matter what your job level, so you can easily change paths any time you want. I think that's a much less tedious, more fun system for this type of game, and hey, Square's developers realized that too.
Re: FF9 discussion,
I personally love Zidane, forced Terra sequences or no. He's one of the high points of FF9 in my book. A much more likeable protagonist than the leads before him. I agree that the lag makes 9 a real slog to replay, though. If it didn't have such slow battles I would rank it much more highly than I do.
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My only inputs to this conversation are that FFV is the bomb, FF3 blows, Pokémon D/P/P snoozes, FF9 is terrible if only because of the slowest battle system in a JRPG I can think of (and 20% slower in PAL on PSX because early 2000s Square regional support was horrible).
Would be cool to see one more mainline Final Fantasy game try the job system again and incorporate improvements from FFT, FFX-2, Bravely Default, etc. Perhaps I should be careful what I wish for...
This from jsh is the most interesting tod bit of an idea. To me, I am happy seeing Bravely Default and spin offs inherit the Job system. At this rate they have a much higher batting average, FFV is the only good main line one that I think did it well. X-2 is okay, 3 is the template but is completely superseded. Both Bravely Default games are great, FFT speaks for itself, Dimensions I think is a seriously great sleeper of a game that when it one day gets a port off of phones or a rerelease is going to blow up a bit more. When the series return to it, it falls flat or feels really different, like notice how no one talked about FFXIII here? Two of those straight up use a job system in Paradigms, but they are so pared back and defined that they are just combat roles. Not to slam FFXIII, but specifically as far as interesting Job systems go it is pretty flat.
XI and XIV do fine for MMOs.
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Fuck
That's like FF9 levels or me retrospectively enjoying a game less because of its mechanics
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My only inputs to this conversation are that FFV is the bomb, FF3 blows, Pokémon D/P/P snoozes, FF9 is terrible if only because of the slowest battle system in a JRPG I can think of (and 20% slower in PAL on PSX because early 2000s Square regional support was horrible).
Oh shit, I have a PAL copy of the game which I never played thanks to the power of Steam. I could only imagine how slow it would be.
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It is a goddamned nightmare.
PS:T - once Enhanced Editions came out for BG1 I pretty much stopped my replays of this, so it has been well over half a decade since I played this. It holds up for me. I was worried it might have fallen from that great height, but especially with the enhancements in the new edition which tighten up the controls and run it at 40 instead of 30 fps for this clock rate (speeding the whole game up, not just a visual thing), yeah it is working for me. Started it up sort of to help deal with some real life stuff and just the opening music for my emotions all a tumultuous whirlwind.
Pretty standard good guy play through as a Mage though. Achievements might get me to redo as Evil sometime.
I like that the EE doesn't really try to fill in balance stuff and just leaves Friends as a stackable charisma buff and stuff in.
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I'm super stoked for the new Fire Emblem, which removes all the clutter from new Fire Emblem including like skills and talking and NewAnime art. It's just big ass maps and gorgeous graphics and OldAnime. There's not even the fucking weapon triangle? I'm down for it. They also stole Invisible Inc's retry system which is suuuuper ace.
45€ for the season pass lol
Nintendo implemented DLC way later than most vidcon companies, but they're one of the most predatory companies about it now
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I'm super stoked for the new Fire Emblem, which removes all the ... Fire Emblem ... It's just big ass ... fucking ... I'm down for it.
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*shrug*. The price tag is all there up front on that one. I had to look up what the fuck this new Fire Emblem was. A super faithful remake of 2(?), keeping its mechanics but jazzing up the plot and graphics? Right after a pretty successful waifu game and main line waifu sequel? That seems odd. 45€ worth of DLC for what was originally an NES game sounds even more mind bending though. Do we know what is in that season pass?
I ask that as someone that bought all the DLC for that previously successful mainline waifu game.
Also sopko post came in as I am typing this. You did good this time bro.
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This is like 3 maps + classes per 10€ pack
This FE feels like new SMT non Persona games
"Sorry about all the waifus in the last game. Here is a less waifu-oriented one that will sell way less"
I think they still have to update the mechanics / flow a bit, because FE Gaiden is some ancient shit
I finished Persona 5. Underwhelming final boss. Music blew + I didn't really have to think about it. matarukaja, marakukaja, mediarahan, MT skills + Carrots
Be careful kids: carrots can be used in battle, tomatoes can't
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I figured if anyone would enjoy the Megami Tensei 2 chaos/neutral boss rush as the final dungeon it would be you. But yeah by the final dungeon I was starting to be checked out. It isn't as good as the palaces and it isn't as good as like the tower in DDS1 (fuck the sun in DDS2).
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Yeah I sure liked seeing the four archangels again, but they're over in a second. What I didn't like was the save the world / MUHUHAHAH / power of friendship usual BS. Level architecture is pretty meh too.
I bought FE Echoes, it is what I expected. Everybody in my team is a villager with terrible growth. I go to my orange tree to pick up oranges to use in battles. There are SMT4 dungeons with easy battles but a fatigue system to make things more difficult.
The third map had us fight a bunch of dudes on one sife while an absolute beast of a regular enemy (2HKO, takes 1 damage from everybody but my one mage) traveled over the mountains to attack us from behind. Fun.
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Nioh fanbase: " we want female characters"
Nioh : "here you go, free dlc"
Me: "thx wait what it costs 50000 glory? I've been playing for hours and I only have 2000"
Nioh : "Yes"
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P5: I've been doing new game+ on Merciless, and I got to Kaneshiro dungeon before I realized you can summon anything out of your Persona registry regardless of your level. So I summoned my endgame Thor with no weaknesses thinking I'd be invincible. Then I got Dormina'd and technical hit for OHKO.
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Job system / FF3 stuff, with bonus Zidane hate:
A.M. = (Intellect/16) + (Level/16) + (Skill/32) + 1
That formula isn't nearly as egregious as you're implying? "Skill/32" means that you need to gain 32 Skill to even see a single multiplier increase, which takes at least 9 rounds per skill point, or 288 rounds per multiplier. That's a very slow increase in a relatively short game like FF3. You bring up Salamander and let's be honest, even gaining one skill mult by him feels kinda unlikely (as you noted you'd have needed to use magic a lot, and MP limits don't make that as possible as you might like). Whether he's an easy boss or not has a lot more to do with eqipping fire resistance then whether you ground up an extra skill mult or no... in other words, being in the right classes. (Red Mage > Black Mage or White Mage there for instance, which supports my argument!)
Now, granted, the spiky nature of this increase is kinda bad (the boost I just described, whenever it occurs, will likely up your multiplier from 3 to 4 and yeah that's quite a bit when it happens), similar to the problem FF1 had. But I don't think tying it to JL is as bad as you seem to think, especially when FF3 manifestly does not reward you for sticking with a job a lot otherwise since there are no skills to learn and constant upgrades of "you just got this new job which uses much better equipment/spells than your previous job".
Most job system FFs do have job level matter a bit for job performance; in Bravely Default and FF3DS it's more important than in FF3o for sure, while in Bravely Second and FFD the effect isn't as potent but very much there. Job system games in this regard are often about competing between the effects of switching jobs for immediate usefulness (or as soon as you get some great skill to port out of the job) and building up job level, with job level granting either more powerful skills or making the job a better carrier. FF5 eschewed the latter but it's very big into the former.
I personally love Zidane, forced Terra sequences or no. He's one of the high points of FF9 in my book. A much more likeable protagonist than the leads before him.
I never liked Zidane back in 2000 but he's gotten way worse the older I get; I was stunned how badly he came off when I watched the game a couple years ago, especially after a similar adult rewatch of FF8 convinced me I'd been a bit too hard on some of its weaker castmates as a teenager. But Zidane just seems to have scene after scene where he acts like a total dipshit. I think for instance of the scene in which he beats up a guard of the castle in which he is a guest so he can go talk to Garnet because violence to NPCs is funny. Or the scene where he mocks all his friends behind their backs when sending them to the elemental pillars. The Terra stuff is forced as Brit says and I'm not a huge fan as such but at least it involves him in a moment of vulnerability instead of acting like an asshole; I suspect some people just hate on it because it's being "emo" or whatever they decided they hated Squall for.
I'll give the game credit for having my favourite villain in the series and a great OST, but boy does it have problems.
This is pretty much my exact opinion of FF9 these days, yeah. Not sure who my favourite villain in the series is but Kuja certainly belongs in the discussion. Both genomes are self-absorbed brats but at least the game recognises it with Kuja!
These fans really seem to dislike XY due to its rather poor narrative.
I'm not here to defend XY's narrative (and question how much one should use plot to compare Pokemon games) but uh do people really think DP is any better? I don't remember any plot except that Team Galactic had a plan as stupid as "expand the landmass/seas!" but the game took it more seriously. (I could really do without the Evil Teams having stupid grandiose JRPG plans, they don't fit Pokemon at all. Team Rocket had small-potatoes goals but those fit the setting much better IMO.)
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With Pokemon SM's narrative there were two evil teams where one's motives were small-potatoes and the other's motives were more grandiose. Meaning it kinda makes both camps happy (the former is brought up more amongst the fanbase). And you raise a good point about people using plots to compare Pokemon games. You could count the above average plots in the series on one hand and still have room to spare. Pokemon plots pale very strongly in comparison to other RPGs. I've seen people say Colosseum is a high point in the series due to how it has one of the deeper plots. For me, the game was so dull that it was one of two Pokemon games which I couldn't finish, along with Pokemon Ranger.
Also, I'm pretty sure that people hate on Squall because Spoony told them to. I've never played VIII and I only know bits and pieces of its plot, but I should probably go into this one with an open mind; especially when looking at how they do Squall as a character.
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I never liked Zidane back in 2000 but he's gotten way worse the older I get; I was stunned how badly he came off when I watched the game a couple years ago, especially after a similar adult rewatch of FF8 convinced me I'd been a bit too hard on some of its weaker castmates as a teenager. But Zidane just seems to have scene after scene where he acts like a total dipshit. I think for instance of the scene in which he beats up a guard of the castle in which he is a guest so he can go talk to Garnet because violence to NPCs is funny. Or the scene where he mocks all his friends behind their backs when sending them to the elemental pillars. The Terra stuff is forced as Brit says and I'm not a huge fan as such but at least it involves him in a moment of vulnerability instead of acting like an asshole; I suspect some people just hate on it because it's being "emo" or whatever they decided they hated Squall for.
Never notices these moments with Zidane until now. They've lowered my opinion on him even further, that's for sure. As for Bran Bal, I'd like the scene more if Zidane's emotional crisis had some build up like Cloud's did. I couldn't care less if a character has an 'emo' moment near the end of the second act. The point of the second act is to bring the characters to their lowest point so it only feels natural that a JRPG would have a moment like this for their main protagonist.
Speaking of JRPG casts, a lot of people criticise FF8's characters for falling out of focus throughout the story (from my understanding). FF9's cast doesn't fare much better. By disc 3; only Zidane, Garnet and Vivi matter. Sure; Eiko gets a DiD moment at the end of the Desert Palace, but after that she is irrelevant to the rest of the plot along with the others.
I'm not here to defend XY's narrative (and question how much one should use plot to compare Pokemon games) but uh do people really think DP is any better? I don't remember any plot except that Team Galactic had a plan as stupid as "expand the landmass/seas!" but the game took it more seriously. (I could really do without the Evil Teams having stupid grandiose JRPG plans, they don't fit Pokemon at all. Team Rocket had small-potatoes goals but those fit the setting much better IMO.)
Yeah, Diamond/Pearl's plot is pretty stupid. A lot of the game's fanbase (4chan and GameFAQs kids) like to defend the narrative of the Sinnoh games because Platinum 'improved it'. First off, you should not have to wait for the deluxe version in order to receive the complete experience. Secondly; Platinum does not improve Diamond/Pearl's plot, it adds an area between the Galactic Admin double battle and Cyrus which basically gives him the same conclusion he had in Sinnoh mk1. No added backstory, no depth towards his motivations, just more "I'll create a new universe".
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - Twilight part 4
Alba again, L7 spells shop upgrade is go. However, I don't really have White or Black Magic on my plate at the moment; my current goal is getting Magic Blade which means I'm still running Red Mage with Ninjutsu. Fortunately that works pretty well for the time being. Anyway, I magically gain the ability to speak a lost NPC language then it's off to the Lufenia Ruins. I pass through Barrier Grove on the way there; it's a small dungeon with pretty much the same randoms as the world map.
Quite a few status attacks get used here but the Chouchou accessory can cover most of them, so I end up using that. Cursed Gold likes curse and is weak to Blitz/Thundara. Malboros use Bad Breath to inflict lots of things, Break works on them. Grand Mummies have paralysis and are weak to Flame/Fira. Lamia Queens can slap for confuse and are vulnerable to Break. Black Flans die to MT magic quickly due to their bad HP. Lufenian Souls return from the previous dungeon and are still fire-weak though use Brain Crush for confuse/berserk. Vampires can be petrified. Abaddons can cast Dark for relatively good damage but can also be petrified. Overall this dungeon isn't really too hard since most enemies don't have overwhelming damage and the status is all blocked, although I do warp back out a couple times due to running low on MP; there's a restore point at the start. Fortunately the dungeon is structured such that I don't lose much progress this way.
There are some fixed encouters with on-map enemies at a few points, including flames which seek you out (and are Lufenian Souls) and soldiers which are Giant Soldiers who are kinda damaging/badass overall, Protect and Healing Pills do for them though, while slowly taking them down for lightning. Fortunately the soldiers are pretty easy to avoid.
And then I get Magic Blade. Yay! Magic Blade is pretty great; I switch over to Ninja with Magic Blade and things get notably easier. The elemental slashes cost 8 MP to do 1.5x damage and make your attack elemental (so 2.25x against a weakness) which wrecks all the fire- and lightning-weak enemies here. Stoning Slash, Muted Slash, and Drowsy Slash inflict their statuses with perfect accuracy. Draining Slash... isn't very good but it's there. Curative Slash on the other hand is surprisingly solid; it can miss sometimes which is a bummer for a healing move but in a ninja's hands it restores more than Sylph possibly can at this point. And finallly there's Osmotic Slash, which far outpaces Osmose on the MP restoration front; one use restores roughly half my MP at this point. Best of all, the moves all have low MP costs and no charge times. Anyway Stoning Slash and overwhelming damage from the elemental slashes largely makes short work of randoms though being in the front row for funsies does add some tension.
The boss is optional, but hey I'm smarting from the fact that I didn't beat the last two eidolon bosses on the dark route. Time to remedy that.
Diabolos (1 reset) - He can double physical for around 800 per hit (twice that to the front row). Below half HP one of those may be a Binding Attack for paralysis. He can also use Dark, Dark Breath, Evil Messenger (all dark attacks) which do 1500-2000, with Comet hitting slightly harder still, around 2500. Not bad, but no real tricks. Unfortunately, my first run with Ninja ends as a loss because the physicals just hit much too hard and I basically spend almost all my time healing.
Second try I run Ranger with Backliner and Magic Blade and take the fight apart. Backliner (or a back row weapon) is absolutely necessary to make Curative Slash work in the back row, since otherwise its damage is quartered. I use those whenever I start to worry about my HP. The rest of the time I use Quick Shot which is the usual 4x recharge slightly weaker physical. He occasionally counters with Mind Blast for paralysis (blocked by Red Shoes) and Sap, not a big deal. Osmotic Slash if I'm worried about my MP. But now that he does nothing which hits harder than 2600, and I'm significantly faster than him, he's no threat really.
Needless to say I'm looking forward to when Ninja hits JL10 and can also use Backliner Magic Blade.
Alba Level 85
Red Mage L16
Ranger L13
Dark Knight L7
Summoner L7
Warrior L5
Black Mage L5
Ninja L4
White Mage L1
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Persona 5 - Currently at the third Palace. The new PC is seriously good - nice stat spread, nuclear damage, better ST healing than what my dedicated healers have. Nothing to complain about. The character is also -really- good, the character work they did up to the point where she joins is some hot shit and I can't wait to see how her Confidant link pans out. Imposter Syndrome the character indeed, I also fucking -love- the symbolism with her Persona and Arcana. Very nice take on the High Priestess archetype.
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Fire Emblem Gaiden Remake:
Finished Chapter 1. Got the ridiculous item for beating the baron early on.
Promotion is weird and good - When you promote your stats raise to the minimum stats for the current class. Meaning if you have 0 defense and upgrade to tank you'll get like 10 def immediately. This encourages early promotions, which are very much needed - you can't go very far with just your shitty villagers. The characters are reasonably balanced so far, my MVP would be Lukas because he got an early general promotion and cannot possibly die. He feels like Oswin.
Mila's turnwheel is the best addition possible to Fire Emblem (it rewinds time back to whenever you want) but maybe it's too powerful? You start with three uses / battle and then you can upgrade it.
The game's approach to maps is... FE4like? - Here is a big open field, 136 cavaliers are homing to your position, good luck. It handles this way better than FE4 though. Enemies are reasonably durable, and the lack of a weapon triangle simplifies things. There seems to be a bigger focus on positioning and defense than usual. Bows have 1-4 range but are extra weak. Yes.
The battle animations are fantastic but I turned them off during the second battle. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The story has been pleasantly minor too. So far I like this game quite a lot.
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Mila's turnwheel is the best addition possible to Fire Emblem (it rewinds time back to whenever you want) but maybe it's too powerful? You start with three uses / battle and then you can upgrade it.
You get 10 or so uses late in the game. It's suppose to be balanced around the fact that it doesn't recharge in dungeons, but dungeons are actually the easiest part of the game.
Echoes is a little bit too faithful to Gaiden, which can be good or bad the way you want it. They nerfed the Angel/Speed rings and Falcon Knight's bonus damage to monsters but kept all the wacky magic including a character that can now sing/dance/rescue all in one.
There's one new character in Echoes not in Gaiden who's sole purpose is to get cucked. Seriously.
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I have also started FE2r. The first hour was almost entirely plot; the only battle I fought was essentially a cinematic. Is this really Fire Emblem?
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Mila's turnwheel is the best addition possible to Fire Emblem (it rewinds time back to whenever you want) but maybe it's too powerful? You start with three uses / battle and then you can upgrade it.
There's one new character in Echoes not in Gaiden who's sole purpose is to get cucked. Seriously.
Eph
Having unrequited love =/= being cucked
Don't let insecure alt right memesters take over your language
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NEB you are going to hate FE2r so much
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I know there are other things you've said which let you draw that conclusion, but I'm amused that this exchange was essentially
<NEB> This game seems to have a lot of plot and not much gameplay
<Fenrir> Yeah it's not a NEB game; it is a Fenrir game
Truly we live in interesting times.
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze - Near the end! I do think the game found its identity a bit better towards the end so that's cool at least. Will say more when I'm done.
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - Reunion
One last seqence controlling Dusk! One last dungeon for the light side, no bosses. This dungeon is a suitably nasty sendoff though.
Massive Cavern: Unlike the previous dungeon, status takes a real hit here and several key enemies are immune. So damage is the order of the day, and Red Mage doesn't really provide much any more, so Black Mage is still go.
-Ahriman: A staple enemy of this dungeon, they have initiative and will cast Doom with it, which gives me about four turns before I die. If somebody is already Doomed they will cast Dark for some modest magic damage. They're vulnerable to Break at least.
-Malboro: Bad Breath inflicts lots of statuses, I block confuse so most of the rest can be healed with a Remedy. They also sometimes use a slow-inflicting Tentacle, or often just use physicals. Either way, Break takes 'em out.
-Black Flan: Low HP, they die to a single Quake. Fights against three of them are the easiest encounters here. They can inflict Slow.
-Ghast: A couple MT Firagas take them out. They can Binding Attack so I block that too.
-Apocrypha: For some reason these guys randomly block most statuses and are reasonably durable despite not looking it in either case (they're gargoyles, not Radiant Historia final bosses). They can cast Confuse (blocked!) or Silence and the latter is annoying, so fortunately they don't do so often.
-Parasite: They're pretty common but also pretty weak aside from a Binding Attack which I block. Break works.
-Fury: One of the real jerks of this dungeon, Fury is a spellcaster that can use Comet for 1500+ or various other spells for somewhat less. They block most statuses; Sleep works although since they often appear with Ahrimans, it may not be a good option! Two Comets kills them.
-Titanius: Immune to all status and have 10000 HP or so, three Comets kills them unless they counter the first one with Curse. Did I mention they counter any damage with Curse sometimes? Yeah it sucks, as it nerfs my damage and makes their own physicals more deadly. A fight against an Ahriman + a Titanius is very RNG.
I definitely have to run a few times when Ahrimans are present. When they're not I can at worst fall back on Sylph, usually. Oh yeah there are two miniboss fights against...
-Behemoth: Immune to status. 3HKOed by Comet. Uses Comet as a Death Counter for around 1500 and on its own turns can Heave for about 2000 to the back row (Protect reduces this, so I use the Protect Bangle) or physical for half that. Sometimes they counter with physicals too. Sylph works if I can't just outslug, just have to be careful.
At the bottom there is a cutscene, a party switch to Alba, and a plot fight, but this one has teeth.
Cocytus (1 reset) - She will cast Blizzaga on the whole party for 2000, wiping out all my low-level folks so only Alba and The Mask survive. Then she casts Benumb twice for 7000 a swing. Game over man! The second time I am able to have Alba Defend and she survives the Benumb with 42 HP remaining. Her fourth attack is a plot move that ends the fight.
Back in control of Alba, we lose The Mask and head up to Lufenia.
Imperial Elite x3 - Not a terribly challenging fight, petrify doesn't work but Drowsy Slash does, so I use that. Then everyone was a zombie.
Back in control of Dusk, the plot takes us to Lufenia and we fight zombies.
Weresoldier Z x4: Kinda dicy but sleep does work so I'm able to put the front row Weresoldiers to sleep, cast Sylph a whole lot, reset Sleep a bunch, and eventually on spare turns get off Tornado then finish with Sylph to thin 'em out. Once that starts the fight falls into place.
And that's it for Dusk! Let's give him a hand. Final stats:
Dusk Level 83
Black Mage L15
Red Mage L13
Dragoon L10
Warrior L5
Summoner L4
Bard L2
Monk L1
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Actually I felt the beginning plot lasted a quick 15 minutes and you felt it lasted a sluggish one hour, and I expected this might say a lot about our mindsets going in.
I'll probably give Awakening another chance eventually after this one, assuming I keep liking this. Or maybe I'll just do Thracia 776 instead
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It's not about how I feel; that's what my game clock says! Actually it's around 50 minutes, but still.
If anything I'm rather excited for this game because Fire Emblem is just so superior to other video games in terms of what I look for in games these days; I can still make fun of the slow start which is something I expect out of many other JRPG series but not really this one. (Compare how FE7 was like 2 minutes of dialog, tutorial fight, 5 minutes of dialog, real fight, and I'd be surprised if anyone didn't finish at least Chapter 2 before their game clock hit one hour.) I extra wasn't expecting it because this is a remake of a game I assume has very little plot.
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If anything I'm rather excited for this game because Fire Emblem is just so superior to other video games in terms of what I look for in games these days;
When elves can't get X-Com 2 but this happens. Literally me right now (https://youtu.be/KrZHPOeOxQQ).
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From developer interviews apparantly Gaiden had the bulk of its plot written out in the manual, but no one's ever translated that to my knowledge. The actual in-game text was barebones even by 8-bit standards.
I've reached the end of chapter 3 in Echoes on Normal/Classic. Anecdotally hit rates in the remake feel a *lot* better than they were back in Gaiden, but it's possible my memories are exaggerating how painful the latter was. Nosferatu in particular doesn't feel like an excercise in masochism this time around (it helps that you don't have to kill stuff with it to get meaningful exp for healers this time around).
Conversely, I've gotten an almost comical amount of 1 stat level ups thus far, even for people with really good on-paper growths (Alm, Celica, Catria). It's not a big deal overall, especially considering the promotion system, but it is a shock to the system after the inflated growths of FE 12/13/14.
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FE Echoes
Well I was planning on ignoring this until I finished CS2, but eh. While I'm in Act 3 of CS2, I juuust got there, so that might yet be awhile, so sure, joining the bandwagon.
It seems that the JP fanbase reaaaaaaaally loves characters that are massively head-over-heels in love with the main character so that they can identify with them and thus be loved by proxy. Still, I'm impressed that so far they've kept it to mostly older-anime style art, so you know what, I'll still take it. Although... maybe have at least two pieces of art per enemy type? The hordes of brigand clones make it feel like I'm invading a Williamsburg coffee shop with all those identical beards. Or maybe a Canadian lumberjack conference.
Also, we're burying the lede on the most important issue: DL class promotions for the villagers! From inspecting Ram, Tobin was shooting arrows for arrow practice, Klive scorched a wall in magic practice, and Grey slashed up a fence in sword practice. Klive seems a decent mage anyway (and the Internet says he gets a good spell list), Grey has comically bad speed which is fixed by going Mercenary, and Tobin, uh, we need an archer and you're the only one left, so sure you win. We already have a Soldier in Lukas. Faye, though, is ????. I figured "eh, female, so take the female-only class" and made her a pegasus knight, but surprise, a new peg knight joins 20 minutes later. Is she supposed to be a Cavalier, then? (I'm not complaining too much about the Peg Knight pick because Faye has 3 points of Strength on Claire as it stands, which is *potent* for weak characters who struggle to meaningfully break defense.)
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Also, belated, but re all the Mona hate in Persona 5:
(https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/3/33870/1050721-terranigma_0016.png)
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Grefter hurtwords :
I don’t think I’ve mentioned how hard I bounced off Xcom 2 despite me enjoying Xcom 1 quite a bit + 2 improving over the Xcom formula in every way
I honestly think they just aren’t even good games anymore? Xcom suffers from:
- An agonizing pace
- Too much time spent making non choices like “Should I move forward and go under cover or move forward and slightly to the right under this other cover”
- Too much unpredictability. I’m not talking about RNG, but field of view and how it affects enemies, whether background objects will explode, panic status, etc. The way enemies get a free turn when you notice them is maddening.
The base building is allright, but not, like, good. Again, there are a lot of non-choices: Do you want to prioritize short term or long term? Well, prioritizing short term will give you a bad armor that costs an item slot, so just go with long term.
I honestly believe both FE and Invisible Inc are both vastly superior strategy game in their own way and Xcom is this sloppy middleground between them that just fell into irrelevance as soon as the latter got released
FE Gaiden Reloaded: Finished Chapter 2. It went well. Rescuing the three green units was difficult (Bad AI still there), I restarted and summoned some hellspawns with my cleric that could bother the pirates while the rest of the team moved through the enemy ranks quickly.
Optional helldragons from hell were EZ, especially compared to that one guy with a shield in Alm’s 3rd battle.
My villagers are: Mage Gray, Archer Kliff , Mercenary Tobin, Sister Faye. The boys are average, Faye is really useful. No one feels particularly awesome or bad so far, except whoever is wearing the thunder sword.
Honestly with the turnwheel, Classic Hard should be the default difficulty. It’s even disappointing that there isn’t a difficulty level above.
At the end of chapter 2 I finished a Quest by giving a Cheese loving guy cheese. He gave me honey. I then completed another quest by giving the honey to a bartender. She gave me one biscuit. Cool quests game.
Some people are praising this game’s story, and this just doesn’t make sense except in the context of other Fire Emblem games maybe. The only remotely interesting thing happening so far has been the classy dancing couple at the end of chapter 1.
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You deserve this you trash (https://youtu.be/aECzfk-Biuo)
it is all true (https://youtu.be/HPam_3D9eXU)
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Invisible Inc
NEB play this already, Fenrirs agree
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Oh yes Invisible Inc is just the best strategy game honestly. My whole post could have been just "Invisible Inc existing makes Xcom look bad"
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(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/75/4d/c4/754dc47ab21ea171d040fa3fed241e67.jpg)
Planescape Torment. Did Ravel's Mase. Holds up.
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XCom2 is fantastic, and it's so not like my normal type of game. Manages to hit it out of the park on both the gameplay and plot side which is pretty rare.
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FE Echoes: Deleted all my save files by doing a soft reset...?
Well
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Fire Emblem ... It's just big ass ... fucking ...
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wut seriously
Anyway I have played a bit more and yes, suddenly we have gameplay. Gameplay is pretty simple, forests are god, I'm having fun outside not being sold on FE battles as "random encounters" in a dungeon; even small FE fights are a bit too big a deal for "did I successfully encounter-dodge on the field y/n".
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Yes
It took me about 3 hours to get back to the beginning of Chapter 3.
Replaying made me realize:
- Invoking / grinding is not necessary to save Leon, you just need to be super aggressive
- On the other hand invoking is necessary to beat the dragons if you do not do any optional battle.
- Fuck sidequests I'm ignoring them all
- Supports working two squares apart is a new thing isn't it? It's great. This is the first time I care about support mechanics in a FE game
Character performance is like opposite of last aborted playthrough. Kliff and Leon are now gods. Saber is garbage.
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Yes
It took me about 3 hours to get back to the beginning of Chapter 3.
Replaying made me realize:
- I am elfboy now.
DQ:Heroes 2 - slowly getting further in this. Strength of the sequel over the original keeps holding up.
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The archer fortress is such a spiteful piece of design
I remember this kind of hatred in FE Gaiden and it's still there
You get:
- having to cross the desert with low movement
- like 14 archers all packed together in one fortress, they all have like 4 range
- one super sniper hidden in the middle, a few badass mercenaries
- Game: "enjoy your two new pegasus knights!!" Me: "Oh cool thanks!" Game: *loathful smirk*
- they all stay immobile and then you come near and they all start moving at once and homing to your weakest unit's position. You try to retreat but there's only the desert as far as the eye can see and your healer can only move one square and she's gonna die nooo
Perhaps the worst/best FE map
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FE Echoes - Also on Chapter 3 now.
* Yeah, the game is definitely nice as far as picking what evil parts of the old game to keep as "interesting", and which parts were just chores / technical limitations. BUT. I get why a NES game might only have 2 pieces of battle music, but as far as things to upgrade in a remake, really, you can write some more pieces of music. They tried by having a pretty solid remix that disguises the shortness of the loop by mixing things up, doing variations, etc., and that's good, but just write a few more pieces? Please?
* "They're going to execute Mathilde soon!" Uh. Game. Time exists and passes. Please warn me if by "soon" you mean "when is dramatically convenient, i.e. whenever you show up" or if you mean "by X date, and if you backtracked for conversations to start the chapter or dare grind, looool btw you didn't know you were on a time limit before."
* I stop by a forest village with only one exit to hear some tales of woe, and also shake the rust off a random sword I found somewhere. When I try to leave, a spawned Paladin army is now sitting on the only way out, with no way to usefully retreat from it as best I can tell. Seems like a potential hard stop if you foolishly saved in the village and had trouble with the encounter, which I certainly did - the only fight so far I've accepted a death (which doesn't REALLY count because Casual), because it has the super-spread formation from the Berkut battle I just finished, except you are facing 8 Cavaliers, a Paladin, 2 archers guarding the flanks to make Pegasi nervous, a super-Arcanist, ugh. Also you are sporting squishy new recruits.
* The plot's themes are in a slightly weird place (but, to be clear, way better than FE Fates's nonsense, so I'm not really complaining TOO hard). Alm is a proper proto-democrat. But he also has a mysterious lineage?! Won't that be awkward. "Haha! We thought a commoner was actually good for something, but turns out it was because he really had royal blood in disguise. Guess that explains that weirdness. Back to the way things were!"
* Also for some reason it seems really Against The Pale for Alm to dare claim the throne himself, with Celica accusing him of lusting for the throne, and Alm himself going "huh, better not sit on the throne" if you inspect it. Uhhh. Game you said it yourself, but if you're going to revolt, it really helps to have a replacement leader lined up so that people know what they're fighting for. "I'm a warlord who led the victorious army to save our people" is a perfectly respectable excuse to make yourself King - or, if you're nervous about bloodlines and such, "Lord Protector", "Regent", "Steward of the Throne", whatever. Or if you want to go all proto-Democracy, make yourself a First Consul or something. But.. have SOME leader!
* I'm not surprised they changed it, but I wonder if "Another Hero-King" sounds cooler in Japanese, rather than the extremely lame way it sounds in English. ("Hey Ma, I checked in the drawer, and we had another hero-king there as a spare. Should I get it out?") (Mō Hitori no Eiyū-ō ?)
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Oh yes Invisible Inc is just the best strategy game honestly. My whole post could have been just "Invisible Inc existing makes Xcom look bad"
Agreed, this is one of the best strategy games to come out in years.
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All these posts about Echoes reminds me that I need to get into Fire Emblem.
Final Fantasy V: Started the merged world section of the game. While the game's storyline and characters are quite barebones outside of the tongue-in-cheek dialogue, Galuf's death was pretty damn stylish for the time. Even if he is facing off against one of the most boring villains in the franchise. The fact that there are people on GameFAQs claiming that Exdeath is a more effective villain than Kefka baffles me. In terms of gameplay, I remember the Forest of Moore being much more difficult during my first playthrough. I suppose I wasn't familiar with the Titan + Gaia Gear combo when I first played this one.
Pokemon HeartGold: Caught Lugia; because this is HeartGold, it obviously means that I'm at the postgame. Unlike DPP where a vocal minority of hipsters will tell you that they're the best in series, a rather large amount of people claim that this game is Game Freak's magnum opus. In my opinion, HGSS are not the best in the series. In fact, unpopular opinion alert, I'd say that HGSS are probably my least favourites of the Pokemon remakes. This is because I believe that this game is a combination of all the aspects I dislike about generations 2 and 4. It combines generation 2's poor overworld design, inconsistent level curve and limited amount of Johto Pokemon (in a game set within that region) with generation 4's slow battle and movement speed. A lot of the aspects that players hype this game for such as the added Crystal elements (Suicune and Eusine), gym leader rematches and walking Pokemon are small touches which don't add that much to the core gameplay in all honesty. On a brighter note, I found a shiny Goldeen near the Power Plant. That's something I guess?
Final team (Johto):
(http://www.serebii.net/heartgoldsoulsilver/pokemon/154-m.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/169.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/065.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/068.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/131.png)(http://www.serebii.net/heartgoldsoulsilver/pokemon/250.png)
Temporary members:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/012.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/074.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/126.png)
I'll probably list my team I'd have used against Red in the next post.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow: Beaten Chaos. I decided not to collect every soul in the game as the process is too time consuming and my brother tells me that it will end up making you overlevelled. Final thoughts? This game is definitely a worthy follow up to SOTN. Heck; I'd say it is a slightly better game overall, at least for me anyway. The combinations you can use with souls to defeat bosses are fun to toy about with, I particularly enjoyed cheating Death's tackles with the Medusa Head ability so that I could stay in mid-air. Speaking of Death; I found the bosses in this game much more engaging than SOTN's roster, mainly because there's some actual challenge provided by them this time. Julius Belmont in particular did not hold back. At least continuously losing to him meant I could listen to his excellent battle theme for longer.
The game isn't without flaws though. Like SOTN, you can only access the true ending of the game through a cryptic method of defeating the game's climax boss. While you could credit both titles for not holding your hand, I do believe that this practise doesn't add anything to the experience and nothing would be lost if the game just continued after the player defeats the climax boss without using the method. I also believe that the Chaotic Realm is a poor method of extending game time. The main purpose the area serves is to make the endgame feel longer than it actually is. If you removed the Chaotic Realm from the game, I reckon that the endgame would take around 15-20 mins as opposed to 30. Despite these drawbacks though, I still highly enjoyed this game and I'm looking forward to trying out Portrait of Ruin sometime in the future.
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I'm playing PREY right now but it's proving to be quite tricky as the enemies are tough.
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - DARK MATTER
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/67e2rqcuhwpx2m3/Dark%20Matter.png?dl=0)
Apparently Square Enix disagrees with Calvin on this one since they love this name. Regardless, I have to go find 8 pieces of it. And do lots of other sidequests because I'm a compleitionist nobody is buying that one, NEB I don't want to get pasted by the final boss.
I'm in control of Alba, running Magic Blade Ninja still because it's great. The fused world is a depresing place with most people gone and more importantly a dreary colour palette. It's up to Alba and the Albaettes to save the day! I make a pit stop at Braska to restock on Hi-Potions which I'd burned through in the final dungeons pre-path merge, and then it's on to our next dungeon.
Deist Forest: After some trouble with sleep I eventually run a Chouchou to defend a bunch of statuses, absolutely worth the tradeoff in speed. Once that's in place and I know to take enemies seriously things aren't too hard.
-Ahriman: Oh look who's back. Stoning Slash kills 'em fast though not before they get off Doom. Fortunately I can end fights fast and they never appear with the dungeon's one bulky random.
-Earth Raptor: The dungeon's one bulky random, they can hit reasonably hard against my front-row setup and sometimes counter, while immuning all the status I can use except poison (who cares). No big deal; I control the turn split and Curative Slash patches me up faster than he can hurt me. Always appears alone.
-Goblin Prince: Can doubleact, using physicals or a Goblin Punch which can do 1600! Or can cast Sleep as the second action and that's bad, a couple resets convince me to block that. Vulnerable to Stoning Slash.
-Vorpal Bunny: Can we take a moment to appreciate how awesome their name is? Incisor hits for 2000 if they're in the front row, Smash to Bits is reasonably competent gravity. Vulnerable to Stoning Slash.
-Malboro: I quickdraw them every time I'm not ambushed and Chouchou stops most of their bullshit, but they are nonetheless still the first against the wall, where the wall is two petrify-inflicting slashes.
One cool thing about Dualwield Stoning Slash is that even in the rare time one swing misses, the other does the job just fine. This move is so good. Also good is Osmotic Slash which continues to heal over half my MP so I just do that at the end of any fight where I feel confident and my MP has dropped.
At the end there is a miniboss fight against two encounters in a row, but we've seen them before.
Imperial Elite x3 + Weresolder Z x3: I go in the back row with dual boomeranges to be safe. Both enemies immune petrify but they're vulnerable to Drowsy Slash so I put everyone to sleep then beat them down with more Drowsy Slash spam. This actually works, unlike in FF5 where it toggles sleep. Hahaha.
At this point I gain full access to the world map and I can go anywhere! Here's some of the stuff I do to help prepare for the assault on the Evil Empire:
-Grab the Bunny Ears from Harmonia which is a hat with solid defences and +4 speed.
-Head to the Moogle Cave and do some shopping. I can buy Dry Ethers now, which is certainly potentially handy, although Osmotic Slash has made this far less important. I also get some general equipment upgrades, in particular the endgame claws (for ninja) and bows/axes (for ranger). Armour I mostly am going to use all the utility stuff I already have, so I don't buy much.
-Grab the Tetra Bangle from the Crystal Temple, which has some key elemental resistances I may want later.
-Grab 100000 gil from Mathel.
-Fabrica lets me immediately put that gil to use, buying my second Dark Matter. I also pick up the Argy summon I'll likely never use.
Next I redo Mysidia Cavern to get Alexander. The enemies here are the same from before and can largely be Stoning Slashes or outslugged as usual; the only notable thing is that Alchemists can inflict Blind which matters now so I equip a hat which blocks that.
Alexander (2 resets) - Second very legitimate holy-alligned boss in this dungeon! Alexander can use Holy for around 3000, similar to Protector. The difference is that it's not his strongest turn, because he can doubleact, and Divine Shot (his next strongest magic) does 2000. 4000 total is a lot! He uses that combo first round and periodically thereafter, but he'll also mix in physicals which fortunately are weaker to back-row me. Anyway in order to be more effective I go back to Ranger with Backliner here and hit him with a mix of Quick Shots and Curative Slashes on myself, with Osmotic Slash to restore MP as usual. He periodically counters with either Protect or Shell which slows my offence some but I'm able to control the fight well enough (for all that any miss with Curative Slash is scary, I try to be conservative with healing for that reason). He can also dispel but I don't care.
Onto get more Dark Matter!
Gardenia Slums: There are three fights here against imperial soldiers: a General and two support. Generals look and sound scary, being palette-swaps of the imperial officer bosses who have given me a hard time in the past, but they're no bosses: they can be put to sleep. So can their support, which is either Weresoldiers Z or Royal Lancers, who can cast Slow. Not a big deal. Dark Matter #3 get!
Burtgang: Just some randoms here in a relatively small area, but yikes some of 'em are tough.
-Slagworms: They hit super-hard though are slow and vulnerable to petrify. The real problems are Tot Aevis, big birds with full status immunity, loads of health and the ability to petrify. Gross! Athena's Mirror is go I guess? But wait...
-Zaghrems: Monks who appear in trios. While status vulnerable, they can inflict paralyse with Glare then mercilessly punch me to death. So I need to block paralyse AND petrify... which means Gold-Spun Hat I guess. But mage classes get bodied here bad. I try Black Mage but I literally get 2HKOed by Slagworms before I get a spell off despite back row. And Red Mage offence is just pathetic at this point against anything that can't be petrified. So... whatever, this place is short, back to Magic Blade Ninja. Block paralysis and just try to run whenever I face Tot Aevis.
-Mykales: Mages. They hit pretty hard, low 4 digits with their -agas. Red Jacket can ward off one of those elements at least. Sleep works!
-Earth Raptors: Still bulky and hard-hitting but no real tricks. Now they can appear two at once! Another formation which forced me back into ninja.
Anyway there's Dark Matter #4 here, no fight to defend it though. There's also a Fang! I now have 50 FP worth of Fangs, so I take that to Moogle Cave and get a Shell Bangle, which is Auto-Shell (cut magic by 25%). Much later than you get Protect Bangle, but not a shabby option at all.
At this point I'm getting close to JL 10 on Ninja, and all I have left is boss fights. So I decide to go finally take down Odin and Leviathan and get some JP in the process. Odin is a total joke now, I doubleturn him and with his lightning-weak Arcing Slash carves him in half, he doesn't even get halfway through his countdown. Leviathan is tougher! I don't take him seriously and his Slow counter comes at a bad time. Next time he's easy enough since he can't do more than like 1500 or so which isn't much, just have to respect the possibility of Slow. I now have all summons except Bahamut, and I hit JL10! Which means...
BACKLINER. MAGIC BLADE. NINJA. Tremble in terror, enemies.
Hakagure: Has a Murasame for me, a katana slightly stronger than any other weapon available to Ninja at this point, so I run one of those and one Crystal Claw. There is also a boss.
Void Prisoner (1 reset) - He doubleacts with physicals and/or Cursed Gaze. He can alos use Glare for paralysis. My one reset here is having the wrong accessory on, I come back with a Chouchou and no status is a problem. Comet does around 1500, Flare does around 2000, some other spells do less; nothing I can't handle. Dark Matter #5 get.
Rended Void ~ Fire: The last three Dark Matters have short dungeons followed by a boss fight. This one features the return of Tot Aevis (so I block stone), as well as Creatures, who are vulnerable to stone but can use Bite for confuse, so I use the earlygame Headband to stop that too. There are also Belmodars who have decent damage but can be sleep-locked, and Salamanders who hate ice.
Revived Baugauven - Easiest boss in the game so far, holy shit. I run Red Jacket for fire resistance and a Protect Bangle, and nothing he has can do above 1000. And he has no status. He counters with Firaga sometimes I guess? lol who cares. Freezing Slash carves him up.
Rended Void ~ Earth: Not too much to say the enemies here. Creatures and Mykales return, as do Slagworms. Ogre Kings immune most things but aren't very scary. The boss is another matter!
Revived Asmodai (3 resets) - Okay he's a jerk, and certainly the best of the three revived generals. He can used Cursed Miasma to cause paralysis... but like the first fight with him, it's short=lasting so this isn't that bad. (He doesn't use it much, and never below half health.) He can also use Quake for a little under 1000... and can follow it up with a physical for 600 and Dark for around 1000, not a bad combo at all. Worst of all he sometimes counters damage with Comet which does 2200, so a nasty turn and a Comet is a lot of damage. He can also use Forsaken for some MP damage and confuse.
Below half HP his damage moves upgrade, replacing Quake with Upheaval (around 1300) and his physical with Takedown (about 900). This + Comet is now near OHKO. He can also now use a combo of one damage move and Sickly Miasma, which can do poison, frog, mini, blind, silence, and/or confuse.
On the winning run I use the Shell Bangle to make his offence more manageable, and block Confuse with the Headband since that's the one truly nasty control-denying status. A Remedy can cure up anything else, and I have a large speed advantage as always so that lets me control the fight well enough otherwise.
Rended Void ~ Water: Belmodars, Creatures, Mykales reappear here. Tumbleweeds can paralyse but I'm blocking that and they die to petrify. Undines probably have some scary status since they're lamia-type enemies but they die to petrify too.
Revived Styx - The middle of the three revived generals in quality. Double Waterga does around 2500, everything else does somewhat less. She's the fastest of the trio even before she casts Haste, at which point she's similar to me. She still has Siren Song so I block confuse/mini/frog with accesory and hat, leaving only Silence as a problem to be Echo Screened. She counters lightning with Discharge 100% of the time now, but this still doesn't matter! Arcing Slash, Curative Slash, and Osmotic Slash do their thing.
That's all of 'em! Next up, the (very big) final dungeon! Current level is 93, Ninja Level 12.
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P5: Dating Fortune on this playthrough because she's cute. Actual line of dialogue:
"Weeaboo-san, are you interested in older women?"
> Hell yeah I am.
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We bought a big TV - I think something like 55 inches?
I returned to Nioh on it. All these graphics guys.
I had an amazingly hard fight against a snow lady. I really love how the hard bosses feel different from Souls bosses, but I really don't feel like I'm doing amazingly well. Victory happens because boss durability is low enough that I can get lucky sometimes. This isn't necessary worse than having to master a boss to beat it. I quite like the total panic I feel when both the boss and I are at low HP and I throw all my bombs at it in a panic.
New patch added a new weapon class, the odachi AKA big ass sword. My stats aren't geared towards it unfortunately.
I'm grinding for a female skin, this might take ages
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Fenrir just lemme know when they patch the game to make that an option at chargen.
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The Witcher 3 - Started this. Finished White Orchard. There is probably a massive post about the mechanics of this game boiling up in the back of my mind.
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Fenrir just lemme know when they patch the game to make that an option at chargen.
I think you're out of luck. These are skins and the Witcher Dude Doppleganger is still the guy playing, he just oooks like other people because magic. I don't think this is going to change.
Even if the cost is reduced to 0, unlocking the teashop takes a while.
I got 12000 glory for checking my clan ranking victory/defeat thing, I think you can get that every week. Dunno if doing online stuff could help raise that rank.
At least I'l astonished by the game's quality + can change my dude's beard / haircut
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FE Echoes -
Such a strange game. I'm liking it, though. Just go to Chapter 4 recently, and now found the part where you have to go through a dungeon to get between two map areas. Uhh. I guess going back to do sidequests is a tad annoying now.
* I really like lots of the stages being so heavily themed, with the archer stage, the myrmidon stage, the cavalry stages, etc. Your average combined-arms FE stage hugely favors the player, which is nice in that you get to feel awesome because you match rock up against scissors and scissors against paper, but you know what's also interesting? Throwing rock at you 20 times and having all 20 rocks charge you at once. Your papers can only handle so many of them...
* ...that said, the archer fort that Fenrir mentioned wasn't THAT bad. mostly because phantoms are made of cheese if you want to. Move over Jade Curtiss, Genny is truly the necromancer here. Go slow, lure out the other guards, then let the archers pincushion the dead while your real troops move in for the kill.
* After the generally low bar set by FE Villains from FE11-14 (barring a few memorable ones like Gangrel & !Robin), the villains here are a bit better. Simple but relatable, and having decent reasons to hate Alm's guts but not being some sort of ludicrous "should we make Corrin suffer or should we try to kill them? let's change our mind about this six times" plotline. Berkut & Fernand are both solid enough.
* I also like that this game, being an older one, is much happier to embrace canon pair-ups. Getting to play construct-your-own-anime-soap-opera is cool & all, but just telling a romance story is nice too.
* Similarly, while the writing is nothing special and many of the subquests are very underwritten and involve get X for Y, I like that you're never quite sure how they'll end. In Echoes, they let you kill / capture some villains early in the game, and not all subquests are entirely happy - "find my son" gets resolved as "return my dead son's journal from the cave where he died." In a game like Trails of Cold Steel II, you would never ever possibly capture a "real" villain anywhere close to before the final Act of the game, nor rarely even defeat them in battle, BUT you'd be practically guaranteed success if you were told to go rescue a missing villager. Our Heroes would never arrive too late there. I like the FE Echoes approach better (even if Trails writing & characters are as usual way better).
* I whined about this in chat, and it's not a big deal on Casual, but the game does feature one notable 0/10 mechanic: if an enemy squad attacks you on the world map, they get the first turn (that's fine) and you aren't allowed to set up (that's.... not fine.). And furthermore, some maps can have the enemies in range of your defenders on turn 1, so if you have a squishy unit in the wrong "spot" in your order (say Genny at #4 or the like, because that's where she joins, or Silque up there), well, too damn bad, they're dead on turn 0 before you get an action. You can't Turnwheel that usefully either, so better hope you saved earlier, but not, in the worst case, after a battle with the other team! Oh well. An issue for Classic players, that's the kind of death I'm happy to fallback on Casual EZ mode for.
* I *am* a little alarmed at how little game there appears to be left, at least on Celica's side. I'm only just getting everyone promoted to their final class levels, and there's only like 2 maps worth of enemies left on the map, and maybe a dungeon? Well, we'll see. Maybe it's a big dungeon.
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Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - Beaten.
Overall I wasn't too impressed with this game. As with its predecessor I think it does some fun on-rails sequences involving mine carts and/or ROCKET BARRELS, which are slightly more forgiving this time due to having two health and honestly that's probably a good change. The stage design of the more "normal" stages remains not that impressive, and Donkey Kong in general manages to still be a platformer where it feels like you can't do very much besides jump and roll, and one where the controls don't ever really feel that great. Like I don't want to compare every non-retro non-Mario modern pure platformer to Rayman and say "Rayman did it better" but it applies here again, sorry!
Like Rayman it is bad at boss fights. Most of them take 4+ minutes which is just excessive for the type of simple platforming bosses they are. Most of them took me a few tries of but they're definitely more long than they are challenging. Final boss wasn't as satisfying as DKCR's for sure.
The game is very pretty, which is nice! The environments were often just outstanding to look at. I don't have much to say about the music.
And one last minor quibble but as I mentioned the game often felt like it was without an identity. Like the whole point is I'm trying to kick some winter-causing fiends off MY island, right? (And let's be clear, it's definitely mine: it's called "Donkey Kong Island" and I've seen his banana stash, DK is the 0.001%). But for most of the game this winter theme is forgotten entirely. Meh.
I dunno, probably like a 5 or so. Not really a bad game but never really threatened to take my attention away from the other games I was playing.
Fire Emblem Echoes - In Celica's chapter, which so far has been quite easy because mages seem kinda great? At least if they get stats. Busted up a bunch of pirates. Failed to recruit Leon because despite moving at my usual brisk pace Leon died to the enemies before I could reach him. Oh well.
Soldier seems like a very shitty class. Lukas was quite easily my LVP in Chapter 1 sadly. Every other class seems to have a definite niche and there's a case to promote your villagers into them.
I'm enjoying the game for sure, it definitely has its good points and brings some nice new (old?) things to the series. It also has some stupid clunky points which will prevent it from being in my top tier of FE games most likely. Will go into more detail later.
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As usual, 1000 years in the making.
Pokemon HeartGold: Beaten Red. This game didn't outstay its welcome like Platinum did surprisingly. I wonder if my stay with the game would have been longer if I decided to do them Gym Leader rematches? You know, that wild goose chase to get every Gym Leader's phone number. Other than that though, the superbosses weren't up to much; especially how they were swiftly beaten by Lugia and that Mewtwo which you can nab at Cerulean Cave, and fling Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, and Ice Beam to. It was going to be either that or grinding. You know, everyone's favourite past-time.
Final party:
(http://www.serebii.net/heartgoldsoulsilver/pokemon/154-m.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/169.png)(http://www.serebii.net/heartgoldsoulsilver/pokemon/065-m.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/128.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/171.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/250.png)
Jagens:
(http://www.serebii.net/heartgoldsoulsilver/pokemon/019-m.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/074.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/126.png)
Superboss nukes:
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/249.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/150.png)
On a side note....
(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/150.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/126.png)(http://www.serebii.net/heartgoldsoulsilver/pokemon/212-m.png)
When you need to create a sprite design in 5 minutes.
Final Fantasy V: Beaten that game as well. Holy shit it was good! The only real slumps the game hit were late World 1, going around the world to look at meteors, the higher floors of Exdeath's Castle, dude I just want to get to a Save Point, and that stint where Lenna is MIA in early World 3. Other than that, this game was really damn fun; way better than I remember it. There were plenty of areas in World 3 which each provided you a new toy for you to fit into your arsenal, which used to be such a crawl for me during my first playthrough. Although as good as my characters were on Neo Exdeath, Dragon Power + Zeninage = 9999 damage, they couldn't hold a candle against Omega and could barely beat Shinryu; I never even used the Ragnarok on Neo Exdeath. So I know who I'm not fighting in future runs.
Bartz: Mime with Summon, Time, and White
Lenna: Freelancer with Rapid Fire/Zeninage and Two-Handed/Mix
Krile: Mime with Summon, Time, and Black/Mix
Faris: Freelancer with Throw/Zeninage and Blue (who could Dual-Wield)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Finished that fight with the Harrier and leant the obvious truth that Pliskin is in fact Snake. That boss fight was pretty fun if a little too generous on the rations. Then again, that harrier does fling missiles like nothing else, and it runs circles around the Fatman fight in terms of design. I didn't mind the idea of the Fatman fight, but it felt rather luck-based to me. You gotta love that final cheap trick he pulls off on you though. Outside of bosses though, the stealth is still as fun as it was during the tanker chapter, and it tries to hide the backtracking which you have to do in each strut by making you go into different floors which have a different dynamic going for them. I know some people didn't like Raiden when the game first came out and they were thrown off by the change which was never told to them, but I honestly think he works better as the player than Snake did during the first MGS. Mainly because Raiden being a rookie means that it's more understandable for him to constantly ask questions during the infodumps, even if they're mistaking “nodes” for “nerds”, whereas we were meant to buy Snake as experienced in the first one even though he does parrot exposition comparable to the main protagonist of the game which I discussed above.
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Pokemon: Magikarp Jump - I started this, I recommend the first 20 minutes to everyone. I am going to keep playing it because it is dumb and cute.
I started off naming my Magikarp after DLers. Elfboy got taken by a Pidgeotto. Sopko got blown up by a Voltorb. Andy couldn't beat a league. Jim couldn't beat a later league. Then I gave up and just started calling all my Magikarp Andy because it is just too perfect.
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Speaking of Pokemon:
Pokemon HeartGold: Beaten Red. Decided to throw Mewtwo and Lugia at him, Choice Specs on the former is just downright brutal. Pity the process of catching Mewtwo involved me having to use Rock Climb throughout Cerulean Cave. For some reason, Game Freak believed players wanted Rock Climb in HGSS so they shoved it into several locations. Sadly; one of these areas was Mt Silver, which meant that the journey to Red lasted for way longer than it needed to.
I addressed my thoughts on the game and why I believe it's the most overrated title in the series during my previous post so I won't repeat myself here.
Final team (Kanto):
(http://www.serebii.net/heartgoldsoulsilver/pokemon/154-m.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/068.png)(http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/131.png)(http://www.serebii.net/heartgoldsoulsilver/pokemon/250.png) (http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/249.png) (http://www.serebii.net/pokearth/sprites/hgss/150.png)
Final Fantasy V: Beaten Neo Exdeath. Decided to use Dragon Power from the Mix ability to power up Zeninage in order to end the fight quickly. I also decided to try my luck against Shinryu so I could have the Ragnarok for the last two bosses. While I was able to dispose of Shinryu somewhat quickly, the Ragnarok really didn't make that much of a different against Necrophobe and Exdeath.
Overall, my opinion on this game has improved thanks to this replay. I already enjoyed this game quite a bit during my first playthrough, but because I wasn't trying to go for the postgame content exclusive to the GBA version this time, it meant that I could relax a little more and not have to worry about grinding for the Dualcast and Rapidfire abilities.
Shadow of the Colossus: Lemon wouldn't shut up about the game so I decided to try it out. I've just beaten the third colossus (Gaius); while I never died on the fight, it took quite a while to defeat as the constant head shaking prevent me from striking the emblem. Currently, I'd say this game definitely deserves the hype it gets from the gaming community. The battles against the colossi manage to succeed as both puzzles and bosses, and the points when they start fighting back against you crawling their bodies makes the player feel like they are Wander when clinging to that R1 button in order to stay on the titan. It's a feeling of immersion which I have never felt from the likes of a Zelda game and I hope that this feeling will last throughout the entire game.
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - Avalon
One thing video games really need less of is "Empires" that don't seem to actually have any towns, cities, or non-military citizens in general and just seem to consist of soldiers who unthinkingly exert their emperor's will for no given reason. FF2, FFD, Bravely Second all fit the bill. Not that I'm expecting anything remotely worthwhile out of FFD's story by this point, obviously.
Anyway Avalon Castle, despite being only round 1 of the final dungeon, is a large area and can be divided into several sub-sections.
Entrance area: Many of the enemies here are the same high-level soldiers encountered earlier. To a man(/woman) they can be put to sleep. Royal Lancers can cause slow so are higher priority. The exception are two mechs, the Satellite and the Io; the former gets OHKOed by Arcing Slash and the latter gets 3HKOed and always fights alone so neither gets a chance to be a threat (I never see anything better than Laser, 30% gravity, out of them anyway). Humpties can cause confuse but can be petrified, and I run Red Shoes as so often to immune confuse/paralysis and get a nice speed boost. Overall this section is easy.
Shango's area: Many enemies here have a lightning theme. This includes the presumably mistranslated Flameknight which can cast Thundaga for about 1200 or use Arcing Slash for somewhat less (they're still soldiers, so sleep works), and the Plasma which can use Thunderbolt for a rather ridiculous 2800, a high 3HKO even to my inflated Level ~95 HP. Plasmas fortunately can be petrified and are the second highest-prioity kill. What's the highest? That would be the Bandercoeurl, asshole cats who can use Blaster. Blaster can cause instant death, ending a couple of my runs. It can also cause paralysis. Sadly I can't block both paralysis and lightning as a ninja, so I accept full lightning damage and just make sure I go into battles at full health. If I see two Bandercoeurls, I use Ninja's Smoke Bomb which I recently acquired to instantly run. If I see one I put it to sleep. So the plan becomes to sleep a Bandercoeurl, then petrify any Plasma, then sleep anything else, then sleep-lock everything to death.
Shango (2 resets) - Although he's the lightning general, Shango very much has a heavy fighter stat build: not that fast, but surprisingly tanky, with good defence and 66000 HP which is uh a lot since I do around 2000 per elemental Spellblade doublehit. Fortunately my usual arsenal of healing and Osmose is up to the task... or is it?
Shango is light on status: he only has one move, used rarely: Pommel. Pommel is, unfortunately, paralysis, and it landing even once means I die because Shango's damage is very good. So I block paralysis... same dilemma as last time, I leave myself fully open to lightning damage. This wasn't my first plan but so it goes. I could block paralysis and half lightning as a mage but yeah that's really no longer practical at this point, I give up way too much speed, damage, and/or healing.
Above half HP he can use Sweep for about 1200 MT to the back row (instantly overkills anyone else, and everyone does start this battle alive), or Voltage Cross for about 3000 lightning, or 2-hit physical combos (the physicals can be some low-multipler techs or Pommel) which tend to do around 1000 per hit or so. Not too bad although Voltage Cross keeps me honest. Below half HP he'll open with Divine Storm which is mostly a joke (1400 lightning MT, Sweep is better against most setups to be honest), but signals that has real skillset is coming out to play: physical + Voltage Cross combos (can do over 4000), 3-physical combos (including Pommel/techs), and two-physical + Thundaga (Thundaga doing around 1400 for a total of over 3000). Since my HP is only around 6000 this would be a heal-lock, except I'm almost twice his speed on the dot. Still, can't take him lightly: Curative Slash can occasionally miss and only restores 2000 per swing; a double-hit is 4000 which is obviously good enough but a single may not be, so heal first just to be sure. Anyway with the right setup and proper play he's not too bad.
I teleport out after beating him.
Cocytus's area: This area has an ice theme. Which means fire damage is quite good, so Burning Slash does good work when I'm not statusing things. There's also no Blaster here! Yay! I wear a Tetra Bangle to half ice. Ice Knights are kinda like the Flameknights in the previous area, doing ice magic and ice physicals and are vulnerable to sleep. Icicles are immune to my relevant status tricks and take rather little physical damage normally, but still get 2HKOed by Burning Slash. Itztlacoliuhqui (that's some Aztec ice god apparently) are also immune to status (the only non-boss humanoid in this dungeon who is) and can either use Blizzaga for decent damage or Lovely Lullaby to cause sleep. Fortunately I can block sleep with a hat. She's not vulnerable to fire like you would think but she gets 2HKOed by Burning Slash anyway. This area is both shorter and easier than Shango's area was, and gives me a cool new claw, the Dragon Claw, to raise my damage further.
Cocytus (2 resets) - The reason I did this area second is simple: I was more worried about Cocytus herself. She can inflict Stop and I can't block that (I try a Chouchou once just in case; doesn't work). She can also inflict confuse. Not blocking confuse would be fatal, but it turns out not halving ice just means I take way too much damage. Cocytus has lower defence than Shango AND has a relevant elemental weakness (so I do 5000 a swing to her 66000 HP rather than 2000) but she is faster (still notably slower than my overlevelled Ninja) and hits harder.
She seems to be rather patterend. On her first turn she will open with Spellshock to cause Deshell doublecast with Blizzaga which does around 1200 (all figures are with Deshell active and ice halving considered). She'll then use Benumb, which does 1700 and causes 100% Stop. This sucks! Fortunately it's got a short duration; it lasts a little over one of her turns. Her next turn will be Slap + Roundhouse which together do around 1800, always hit, inflict confuse, and stun. So in total Benumb really means 3500 damage total when it comes out. After stun resets by turn gauge and stop wears I have to move quickly to get my next turn before hers, but fortunately I can. She will then use Glacial Dance (around 1300 + Sap), then Benumb again, then back to the start with Spellshock/Blizzaga.
So she does a lot of damage despite my precautions, but fortunately as long as I stay above around 4000 HP I'm relatively safe. I do get reasonably frequent doubles (though not constant) when not stopped so that helps offset how often I do get stopped. Not too much to say past that during the first phase.
I'm very worried about any sort of improvement she'll get below half HP but it's not actually much of an improvement, as Benumb actually gets used less! She adds Blizzaga onto the end of her physical-combo so that's now really nasty. Benumb gets replaced by Arctic Reverb, which does the same damage but there's no Stop (it's MT, so not fun for a non-ice-resistant party). And Spellshock+Blizzaga is replaced by Spellshock+Benumb. So overall even more damage, but less Stop is a huge help. Not a particularly easy boss but not as much as a wall as I feared she might be.
With Cocytus defeated I teleport out again, and this time decide to go hunt down the Moogle Charm, which does what it did in FF6. It's guarded by Earth Eater, who can counter and is quite hard-hitting, with physicals doing up to 1700 or so after Auto-Protect. He's also almost as fast as Ninja so there's actualyl not much margin for error with my 6000 HP. I beat him on the second try. Back to the dungeon!
Imperio - The holy-elemental general. Despite not having a resets this is a scary fight. On a hunch I run a Shell Bangle knowing that he and the boss after him both have some hard-hitting magic. This proves a very good idea as he also likes to use Spellshock for Deshell, which Auto-Shell protects me from. He'll combo it with Divine Shot which does around 2000 (all figures are post-Shell). He can doubleact Right Arm and Flare for some solid damage (1000 + 2700). He can also doubleact Protect or Shell with Swing which does around 2000. And he can use two physical techs, usually Right Arm and Critical, for around 2000. Nothing too bad so far, but shit gets real when he pulls out Judgement. Not only does it do over 2500 against my Shelled self, it also inflicts Deprotect (all his physicals get 25% stronger) and Debrave, which reduces my healing by 25% and my damage by even more (not sure why... I had thought it was independent of subtractive defence but maybe not?). My damage starts out at around 2000 as it did against SHango, but Protect cuts it by a quarter and Debrave roughly halfs it which makes my offence rather pathetic. It also makes Osmotic Slash suck too; I use Dry Ethers in this fight for the first time in forever.
Anyway while rather scary there's not TOO much chance I lose to this stage unless I get really unlucky with my healing; it just takes a while. And I do have fixed 60% healing through the ninja skillset if I need it, although with its higher cost I mostly stick with Curative Slash. Like the previous generals I have a clear speed edge, which helps a lot. After he takes 37500 damage (which takes a shockingly long time), it turns out this isn't even his final form!
Gehenna - The light general is also the dark general what a twist. He uses Soul Purge several times, which is a joke (800). Then Tornado for HP-1. Shit! Heal from that. After that he'll use a mix of physical techs (Right Arm is back, and Bane is the real threat because it inflicts Sap; they do around 2000 together) and I'm worried about a cheap Tornado/Sap death, but he seems patterned not to do that, thank goodness. I wait around whenever he's about to get a turn when I'm in Sap for a long time just in case. At this point he'll use a mix of Dark Star (2000) and Blindga (mostly just misses).
If this damage sounds bad, that's because it is. Even Dark Star's not great. He's honestly a bit of a joke, but with some caveats:
-The threat of Sap + Tornado. Never manifests, as I mentioned. I think that's due to a pattern but I only did this fight once so it could be luck!
-He counters with Comet (1700 or so) sometimes. So I don't attack if my HP is below 4000. Since I have a speed advantage this isn't too bad.
-The wiki claims he can cast Death, though I have no memory of this and I never see it in this run either. Death would SUCK. I actually considered getting a Reflect Bangle just for this fight but the optional boss who guards it was very tough so I decided to go without and hey it worked.
-If I had died I would have had to redo the (longer) first stage of the fight too.
All's well that ends well! All generals dead, first stage of the final dungeon complete.
Alba Level 98
Ninja L17
Red Mage L16
Ranger L13
Dark Knight L7
Summoner L7
Warrior L5
Black Mage L5
White Mage L1
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I forgot that I don't have PSN + so I can't do any online mode in Nioh
Will have to get girl skins the old school way
Magikarp Jump:
This is a pure F2P numbers go up game
You've seen everything the game has to offer after 20 minutes and then there's only the grind left
Anyway I've played for a while, and restarted to min/max the shit ouf of this by abusing a mechanic.
See you get xp by eating fruit or training. You have 2 fruits and 2 training options, you can get some better ones later. But the training option is chosen randomly and the foods are too (but worse food has a % higher chance to appear) Best strategy is to just never buy anything new and to upgrade your basic options all the way up to infinity. Yes.
BTW the magikarp can meet some gruesome deaths, jesus christ
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Did you click the TV and watch the video?
You can also evolve them.
Aaaand the achievement for "social media shares" can be pasting a link into Notes on iPhone. That will let me buy a Charizard.
Edit - Andy evolved into a Gyarados and crashed my game.
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- Yes
- Yes
- Woah I didn't know that. I just #shared 100 magikarp pictures on #social media because of this.
I named my newt Magikarp Grefter. He had sick training bonuses. Unfortunately, he exploded later on. Sorry.
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Hey, there's a new (and free!) Shovel Knight expansion! I was going to play Phoenix Wright during this vacation, but I need very little excuse to play through this game again.
Three stages down so far, and Specter Knight continues the trend of mixing up how the game plays in interesting ways. His basic movement and attack are way more similar to Shovel Knight's than Plague Knight was, but the more advanced stuff is very different and he has a sub-weapon that trades weapon energy for health, which really changes risk/reward. Also one of his armor upgrades lets him surf his scythe over spikes. Good stuff!
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Of course, you are required to get the ULTIMATE ROBE UPGRADE, which makes him float instead of running followed by a silhouette, and we all know that's important!
...though Scythe Surfing puts up a compelling argument...
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If you have the scytheboard you can do kickflips while jumping.
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Future Tone: I can quit any time. But since I haven't quit yet, I perfected every single song on hard difficulty, for some reason.
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Persona 5 - Current real life schedule is cramped as hell, so I only get to play this during weekends. I'm currently on Palace 4, setting up to handle the first miniboss. Bael Kaneshiro was honestly a chump - his gimmick is the easiest to deal with so far and his offense isn't particularly scary even though one of his AoE attacks is fire-elemental (i.e. punishing Yusuke's existence). Tarunda is just way too good, though, it takes so much of the bite out of the bosses - and having Ann get it in time for the -first- Palace master is kinda ridiculous, honestly.
I also like how accurate status is on your end in this game, though it'd be -great- if it were AoE for the randoms. As is, I mostly use Pulinpa for controlling Palace midbosses and Memento bosses - or sometimes problematic individual randoms like Palace 3's Shiki-Ouji (first motherfucker without any weakness to exploit, packs a mean physical) and Take-Minakata (another mean physical, weakness isn't easy to exploit). Dormina also provides an alternative for Pulinpa, but it's awkward due to being cancelled by damage and providing regen to them. I just fused a Pisaca with Tentarafoo and Stagnant Air along with Pulinpa, so I feel some lucrative times are coming. Past that, just running an Ann/Makoto/Yusuke party. Morgana's healing is more useful in the reserve than in the frontlines right now, Wind isn't anywhere near as exploitable as it was in P4 and Morgana's stat build kinda sucks, so I'm just frontlining for speed and offense (Yusuke's good at both and he gets a pretty decent physical array - both ST and AoE, while Makoto's just overall very solid with both types of offense, MT status healing and Diarama to round things out alongside Yusuke-level speed. She's good). Ann provides more Diarama and Tarunda for bosses while bringing in some status on Dormina and good fire offense. MC is a Persona MC post-2, so we all know what the deal is.
Also advancing pretty well on the Confidant Links. Sun 6/Death 7/Chariot 8/Lovers 7/Moon 4/Temperance 6/Priestess 3/Emperor 4/Devil 4/Hierophant 4/Star 3/Strength 5 so far for the unforced links. Temperance's setup is indeed pervy as FUCK (and there's a bunch of male gaze shit that seriously bothers me in this game in a way that makes it feel worse than P4 at times), but on the other hand, the game at least gives a serious attempt to address the issue at hand and the character herself is -really- good, both in terms of arcana symbolism and the character arc itself. She's just portrayed in an immensely -human- way that connects with her presence in the main plot very well. Priestess is another highlight for that in both senses so far (though I'm nowhere near as far with her), but it's really hard to bungle Makoto overall, she's just a very tightly written character. It's kinda crazy how likable they made someone as neurotic and emotionally stunted as her - maybe it's the whole intelectual honesty and self-awareness thing. Imposter Syndrome the character is seriously fun times.
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Magikarp Jump: level 41 carps
Genetically engineered oran berries so they give 20000 xp instead of 2
I always chose to gamble my carps if given a chance, the mayor tells me it teaches me a lesson but no
One carp goes from level 1 to max in 10 minutes
They are monsters
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STAR OCEAN TILL THE END OF TIME PS4 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Shit, that means I have to get all those battle trophies and unlock the maid costumes all over again.
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I wasn't going to post about it again, but Fen has overtaken me. you are the real monster fenrir
Magikarp Jump - So watching a youtube video that came in my suggested viewing (HOW DO THEY KNOW) while I was eating dinner told me nothing of use other than one thing.
Fen. Click the TV 14 times, just cancel. Do a training session. This game is made by some interesting people.
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Gumballs and Dungeons: This is a roguelike mobile game I stumbled upon. There's huge list of characters, and they each have access to one of three skilltrees. Each dungeon has a gimmick, so there's a lot of variety in what you're doing. It starts out pretty lame, but once you unlock more stuff it gets deep. Really deep. Like mc would do pages of theorycrafting on this deep.
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Fire Emblem Echoes
Finished. Well.... finished the main game. Not 100% sure I'm up for the post-game; Awakening's style of "here are some brutally hard / over-stat'd set piece battles you can go to or grind up for at your leisure" is more my style than "brutal Star Ocean Cave of Trials-esque huge dungeon with no save points". Anyway, I liked it! It does a lot of things right that more modern Fire Emblem has gone too anime on. Our Heroes are not crusaders for peace who miraculously spare everyone and use the power of friendship. Their love pentagons are predefined. And as noted before, some of the villains are pretty good. My sole complaint on that note is Emperor Rudolf; he's basically proto-Walhart from Awakening, and Japan treats these type characters *way* too sympathetically. "Man must gain the strength to move beyond the Gods, so I'll start a huge war that will bring out the true strength of man regardless of who wins! And also traumatize my family! Aren't I noble?" If they treated him as someone with the germ of a good idea who became a loon about it, or just plain had him switch sides rather than fight you, it'd be fine, but whatever.
(Okay, fine, Jedah paraded his evil plan in front of the heroes a little too much as well, before someone complains he was lame. But I don't think he was ever intended to be much more than a "munch munch evil is awesome" type villain. It would have helped if he'd either kept his evil plan to himself more - tell some subordinate so the player knows, but not the party - or just make him straight-up sincerely believe that his plan won't usher in an age of chaos and despair or whatever. Oh well.)
Anyway... most of Echos's dungeon crawling is very direct, eschewing twisty mazes where you might get lost. They do do some classic big NES dungeon in the final dungeon which is less my style these days, but whatever, I read the map / guide on Serenes, so. The last battles are suitably epic, though, which is p. cool, complete with cheaty enemies that you get to out-cheat. I did turn back time after I found out the hard way that it was a moving final boss. I'm not really sure how to beat him without losses without illusion targeting cheeze; I think that you might just have to lure him away from his badass support while staying out of range of it, which is doable but painful.
I liked it! Recommended. If I had to nitpick, the smaller cast size means that there isn't tons of replayability; you can try a playthrough with promoting your Villagers into different options, or try evolving weapons slightly differently (only matters by Chapter 4 really due to money shortages, though), or aim for the Blitzkrieg (LTC) achievement, but that's about it.
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Also, incidentally, I'll be curious if the game lets you revive neutrals you never recruited, Elf, re having Leon die on his initial map. I kinda doubt it. Have fun with 0-1 Archer (depending on how you use your Villager) on Celica path, aka the path with tons of enemy Cantors with crappy defense but who hide behind waves of summoned crap!
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Pokemon Black: Got to Mistralton City.
Current team:
(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/502.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/508.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/530.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/539.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/557.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/561.png)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty: Beaten the game. Damn is it leaps and bounds ahead of the first game. The stealth is more interesting, the bosses are much better, even though the final boss is way too ambitious with its swordplay, and the story really appealed to me as an IT student looking at the digital age. I can't delve too much into the story without reducing the size of the text, even though I found myself at the edge of my seat whenever there was a major plot twist. The cast is pretty solid, I especially liked what they did with Raiden, Otacon, and Solidus. Then again I liked the cast of the first game as well. The main issues which I had with the plot were with some of the villains, particularly Vamp, and Rose. Vamp is that anime villain who they like to ninja into the plot whenever they feel like showing off something that looks cool, and Rose is a rather dull love interest who has some very stock dialogue. Being dull is a major issue here as it causes you to become apathetic about the plot twist that she was sent to spy on Raiden's life.
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Spirit of Justice: started this, up through case 3. Very impressed so far - the game really nails the authoritarian religious setting, where causing trouble in the form of being accused is your crime, irrespective of whether you did it. The game puts Phoenix in a position where the only way he can win his cases is by tarnishing the reputation of venerated religious figures, which is an act that has the peanut gallery screaming for his head, even though he turns out to, y'know, be right. It's an unsparing criticism, and gives the game a focus that Dual Destinies lacked. Looking forward to the rest of it.
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About 110 hours into Persona 5. Soooooo gooooood. I have no real interest in ranking it against Persona 3 or Persona 4, but it's a Persona game, and it's what I love about Persona games, and I'm really enjoying the little quirks they re-introduced (well, mostly - demon negotiations and dungeon puzzles can get tiresome) into the series, and the design just makes me so happy.
The worst thing about getting older is not having the time (or energy) to binge on a good game. We've been playing since the game was released on April 4. Two months in at 100 hours is like an hour and a half a day. BOO.
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Fire Emblem Echoes
I did turn back time after I found out the hard way that it was a moving final boss. I'm not really sure how to beat him without losses without illusion targeting cheeze; I think that you might just have to lure him away from his badass support while staying out of range of it, which is doable but painful.
If you made Faye a Cleric, she gets the Rescue spell at a lowish level. What I did after taking out Jedah was warp Alm in to kill the Medusa caster, then immediately Rescue him out the same turn. Did the same on the next turn to take one the Witch boss on the left side, while the one on the right got baited out while safely out of the final boss's range. Once the fight was down to just the final boss + Mogalls I sent in only Alm + people who gave him support bonuses and whom I could count on to take a few hits, with one Fortify and two Physics for safe long range healing.
Warp/Rescue/Fortify/etc. not limited by finite staff uses is pretty abusable lategame, once you get the tools to not care about the HP penalty.
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Yeah, I made Faye a Pegasus Knight. I'm actually glad about that in retrospect; she's good but not game-breaking there, and infinite Rescue staff uses in an FE = totally busted, I agree, maybe too busted. I didn't have any Rescue or Fortify users. (Since Faye has better Atk than Clair, I made her the damageless tank with a shield that relied on her Anti-Terrors bonus to do damage. Still, being able to body-block with a tank wherever needed was more helpful than you might expect.)
That said, I think I may have made the wrong call in rewinding drawing the final out if I wanted to win without resorting to AN ILLUSION WHAT ARE YOU HIDING cheeze. It was actually Falcon Knight Faye that drew him out and survived (with 2 HP), and the Medusa caster doesn't move + left witch doesn't move until aggro'd, so there's no reason why you can't slowly drag the final away from the Medusa caster. As is, I D-Day'd the Medusa guy & the Witch and killed some of the Mogalls and relied on Illusions to do their thing, which they did. (It was especially great vs. the previous boss's dialogue - You took everything from me! You will suffer! Who knew illusions could be so rage-inducing?)
Meanwhile, poking around the postgame... the DF->Villager->DF loop is so stupid. Deploy a solo Saber to some respawning Graveyard enemies for EZ level-ups, watch his stats shoot through the roof. He's only a Myrmidon and it's already crazy. Why the game decided that DFs and only DFs get a free break-the-game button, I don't know. (Maybe make it so that DFs can access Villager at L10, and everyone else requires L20, if they insisted on making DFs super speshul? Or, to give other non-DFs a fighting chance of competing, either make it easy to farm Forks rather than have them be super-limited, or make it so there's an L20-30 at greatly reduced XP gain?)
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AN ILLUSION WHAT ARE YOU HIDING
Snowfire using WoW memes? Something's not quite right...
BG1 - Kensai Halfing using daggers run. Even without exceptional strength and the "worst" weapon class, still bonkers. Aec'tlek os much easier when you use Potion of Mirrored Eyes. Had to reset once because someone got inflicted with Death Gaze after pots ran out because Chaos move one of the trash adds into a corner I didn't see. That fully heals it. Moving on to Seige of Dragonspear next time I have time for games. New BG content feels weird.
Imoen isn't usable, they gave me Safana to replace her. So I am down an arcane caster. Debating what to do. I could swap out Khalid and Jaheira for another fighter and get a caster. I could use Minsc and Dynaheir, but blehhhhh.
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Also, incidentally, I'll be curious if the game lets you revive neutrals you never recruited, Elf, re having Leon die on his initial map. I kinda doubt it. Have fun with 0-1 Archer (depending on how you use your Villager) on Celica path, aka the path with tons of enemy Cantors with crappy defense but who hide behind waves of summoned crap!
Interesting; I guess that helps me decide what class I'll make Atlas, sure. I haven't had much trouble with cantors yet, or... anythin on Celica's path, really. Because mages. Have I mentioned mages are ridiculous in this game? So much terrain with ridiculous avoid bonuses... which they ignore. (Even things like "indoor hallways" have a substantial boost.) And then of course almost everything you fight has more Def than Res, sometimes by a lot. And their weapons don't take up valuable inventory slots. My only complaint is their lower move.
I agree with most of your comments, with one major exception, at least so far: villains. The villain cast in this game seems kinda wretched, especially if Rudolf turns out as badly as you say? Like uh... there's Jedah and Desaix have both already monologued about how evil they are. There's Berkut, whom the game obviously wants me to think is cool and competent but has done nothing but hold the idiot ball. And Remia who you can tell is the Token Female Villain because she has no personality beyond being smitten with a male villain and being kinda anti-violence. Really the only bright spot so far is Fernand, and that's because he's the only one who both acts in a vaguely believable way and actually is given a character motivation, instead of just being evil for the sake of being evil. A shame that he does seem to fall into the FE trope of anyone who dislikes the main character being objectively wrong, evil, or both. Maybe some of these characters could improve (I can see ways to make Berkut's derpy scenes so far retroactively have payoff, for instance) but I'm not really expecting it.
I'm certainly happier with the PC cast. Mae and Boey's interactions with each other and their lord are often quite fun; Tobin and Grey aren't as effectively-written but they're decent enough too. Alm and Celica themselves are both pretty likable/well-executed, though there one scene together so far did dial the melodrama higher than I personally would have. Also 100% approval for full voice-acting at last; it's really surprising that it took a lower-budget side entry to finally get this into the series.
Map randoms are weird in this game. I had one camp on a story battle and the resulting fight was brutally hard! I left to go promote someone and came back; the random moved off and I took it out, now much easier. And then the story battle it had been camping on was now a complete joke. This... isn't a huge complaint; the fix was easy enough, but it does make the game feel weirdly unpolished.
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - void
Part 2 of the final dungeon. It's broken into lots of parts, again. First off we head to the World of Despair. Sounds like a fun place.
World of Despair: The randoms don't give me much in the way of problems. Natural-looking animal enemies like the Death Hornet, Hellhound, and Nightmare, along with the Mother Brain, can be petrified. Followers of Nil don't count as human for human-slaying, but they're vulnerable to sleep nonetheless; so are Albinopedes and Eales (Eales are kinda nobtable for having a nasty 2500 damage Wind Slash). Stunner is an option for the sleep-vulnerable enemies too: it does no damage and has a slight recharge time attached, but it does allow me to use basic physicals on them after. I also gain Assassinate (ID with a huge recoil) during this time although it's only situationally useful at best; still, it hits the enemies vulnerable to sleep/stun but not petrify. Enuo and Electrum don't have status holes, but they are weak to fire and lightning respectively so that wrecks them. The one bulky status-immune enemy here is the Hydra, who can use Triple Breath for over 2000 damage, but by neutralising any of its support fast I can just use standard boss tactics (Curative Slash when needed) and win easily.
Of the above the problem enemy is definitely the Death Hornet, which like previous bugs occasionally throws out HP-1. Since they can appear in formations of up to three this is definitely somewhat scary; my huge speed advantage does often let me stone them before they move at least.
I had Level 99! There's a fixed fight with four Followers of Nil which is easy. Then a little later on, a boss!
Despair (2 resets) - This guy is definitely not worth 2 resets; he's actually quite easy. The main problem move is Caustic Spittle which does around 800 and inflicts slow and poison. Poison can add up so I heal it. He can also use Sandstorm for blind (can be blocked by a hat at least). Fortunately he's half my speed so even after Slow we basically trade turns. I say "basically" because one of my resets is a butterfingers moment where I don't hit the right command fast enough and he's doubleturns at a bad time and I die. My other reset is just being overconfident and caught off guard by his "limit". It's not much of a limit. Aside from his status moves he can double physical for 2000 or cast Flare for 2700, which off his speed and lack of counters isn't much. Below half HP he can triple physical for 3000 and yes being at 2900 HP is what kills me, oops. I block both blind and poison and accept the slight stat hit (neither Protect nor Shell are that important here with his damage being about equally distributed).
After this a quick check of a guide reveals I missed a side area, with a rather important prize, so let's do that!
Under Castle Lux: It's within the World of Despair and has the same randoms. It has a Gladius, a knife which boosts speed a bunch, and a Ribbon! Hooray~. Ribbon is my new accessory for most fights from here out although Red Shoes can still see some use if I'm not worried about status.
Sworddancer (1 reset) - Like here. She uses initiative MT Doom, 10 ticks to deplete 40000 HP! Can I do that? Well, of course... I equip two human-slaying weapon and set Aim for Quick Shot instead of Magic Blade and spam that until I win, using a Rejuvenating Pill once to recover from her damage (she'll use Saber Dance on her other turns for around 2000, and sometimes counters with Drain or Osmose dances).
World of Misery: Mostly the same enemies but a few new ones mixed in. Chaos Claws can use Death Claw, which has a chance to cause HP-1. I don't like this and since I'm level 99 I just run if I face more than one. There's also the Red Dragon who can Firebreth for over 2000 but only appears alone or with an Electrum as support (who dies first). I hit JL19 Ninja here which gives me an extra slot, I use it on HP+20% after some experiments with Counter.
Misery (1 reset) - One reset from foolishly not running the Ribbon; why do I do that? Anyway he can Bite for poison+confuse, which is bad. Otherwise he uses various physicals and can do somewhere a bit over 2000 a round with them. Pox causes Deprotect and does around 1500. Deprotect is bad. There's also Devil Claw which dispels and inflicts a random debuff (Debrave, Deprotect, or Deshell). Deshell's not relevant. Fortunately dispel gets rid of the previous debuffs.
World of Anguish: Again, some recurring enemies, some new. Fossil Dragons are big and scary looking, but they can be petrified. So can Ixtabs, which are floating skeletal monstrosities. The one new unpetrifiable enemy is a Hecatoncheir palette-swap called Demon Warrior which has 2000ish damage and decent bulk/immunities but that's nothing I can't handle by now. I hit JL20 as Ninja here and there's honestly very little reason to keep fighting randoms although I'll fight some just to prove I can. I could go back to Red Mage for Dualcast but noah.
Anguish - Dark Breath does like 2500. He can counter sometimes with Claw which does around 1500. He has some status which I'm blocking. Stay above 4000 and I win.
World of Suffering: Some new enemies mixed with the old again. Glasya Labolas are ogres with pretty good immunities and some status moves I don't care about. Mirror Mages have reflect! Drowsy Slash works though. Blue Dragons are a lot like red, but a different colour.
Suffering - Two sources independently claim he has Blaster, but I never see it. Might be a counter to magic? Either way the question of whether the Ribbon stops ID in this game is one I can't answer yet, fortunately. He uses Aero for 2500 or so, or double physicals for about 1000 each. Below half HP he'll cast Enaero (doubling it with physicals) which makes his wind magic stronger: around 3300 now. No big deal. Without Blaster he's not taking me down.
Defeating Suffering unlocks an optional fight against Soul Eater, a killer squirrel kinda-superboss with 3200 HP but who takes like 50 damage from my strongest weapons under Dualwield (and even that requires a switch to Ranger to use). I try using Throw but he counters ITD by summoning five other Soul Eaters, which is bad because he's almost as fast as me and can use Incisor for 3500 to the back row. I might be able to beat him as a Ranger with Curative Slash and Quick Shot or something but it'd take a huge number of resources and his reward, while cool (Miracle Shoes, Auto-Protect/Shell/Regen), probably isn't cool enough to justify that, because the Ribbon is pretty great and Auto-Haste is coming soon too. So instead, it's on to the main plot and the game's penultimate boss...
Nil Vata (1 reset) - The start of the fight is weird because he keeps talking and this revives everyone to 1 HP. Stop that! I kill them off repeatedly. Fortunately he doesn't do much in this phase, aside from the odd Flare. Once he finally fully transforms we get the real fight.
He can Jump for just over 4000, Wild Dance for slightly less, and cast Buffet for around 2500 and a chance of Stun... all tricks we've seen before. 4000 is a lot, but since he doesn't counter it just means I have to stay above that threshold. And since I'm faster than him unlike in previous fights (yay ninja~) stun isn't as bad as it used to be. The usual strategy works; the one reset is just an execution fail.
This also unlocks one more optional boss which I fight for the hell of it:
Bahamut (1 reset) - Gotta catch 'em all (the summons, that is)... even if I don't plan to use 'em at this point. Anyway Bahamut starts by counting down 3-2-1, and then fires off Megaflare for around 4400 base. During this countdown he can also counter with Devil Claw, which as before, dispels and also adds a random debuff. I get hit with Deshell and this really sucks; Megaflare now does over 5500 to my 7000-odd HP.
For the rest of the fight he can cast Tribreath for around 2200 base, or Flare for around half that much again. He can use double physicals as well; double Claw does around 3200. Deprotect or Deshell can make these worse of course.
Once below a certain HP threshold (60%? Didn't count, but it seemed like before he hit half) he'll charge Megaflare again, this time attacking on the turns he does so, and continues this for the rest of the fight. This part is quite scary especially since Devil Claw counters can mess with things quite a bit. The threat of Devil Claw + Flare/double physical is over 5000 damage, even more with Deshell in the mix. The threat of Devil Claw + Megaflare is fatal from full HP. Defending against Megaflare's not a bad choice. Oh yeah and one of his physicals can now be Rend, which sets Sap as well as dealing damage.
He doesn't use status so on the second run I equip a Shell Bangle which both reduces the effectiveness of Tribreath/Flare/Megaflare AND makes me immune to Deshell, so Devil Claw now sometimes does nothing, and sometimes does Debrave/Deprotect which are annoying but not nearly as dangerous. This brings his damage very much under control and I win without too much more difficulty, though he's hardly a pushover.
The final stretch is next! I'm sure the final boss won't be a problem.
Alba Level 99, Ninja Level 20
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SO3 HD Note to the Ciddys, JP version of SO3 HD was prone to crashing, and apparently western NTSC version has been kind of buggy/crash heavy for people as well. PAL version I've had two crashes so far, one was vs those dragons that guard the doors if you mess up the flute sound in Ruins of Barr, to be fair kept screwing up there since I was unsure of the new PS4 controls for the flute so I had to fight a lot of dragons, and another was while I was trying to quickly switch between characters for their status with a Laser Weapon equipped, when I went to try to check the Laser Weapon on Sophia on Moonbase the game crashed. Crashing/freezing and weird shenanigans with graphic bugs, etc could be a thing on the PS2 anyway though but PS2 gave you the option to try to wait the thing out or something where PS4 hard crashes with error code and reboot to PS4 menu after.
Also I heard from people that JP PS4 had different cancel frames for some moves, including Blade of Fury, Crescent Locus, and Peppita's dances, apparently for the dances they removed both PAL and NTSC cancel windows from them >_>
I've done two runs so far. One was a quick run to see what things were like on PS4, made it to Planet of Styx, optionals were Nel/Peppita, now doing my Galaxy run, made it past Styx and to Gemity, and Eternal Sphere transport thing, went back to Elicoor, Moonbase, Styx and did things~
Getting kind of carried away, Peppita is L63, Maria is L52, Cliff is L50, Albel is L50, Fayt is L30, and Sophia is L50 >_>
I made a thing, Spike Shoes, Shoots powerful balls of ice while attacking, adds water based damage, shoots balls of lightning while attacking, Raises normal attack decision by one.
I also made six Star Talismans while Crafting, obtained seven more Lunar Talismans in the process, and also made six Brooches of Footwork. However Maria, Fayt, and Sophia trolled me on Moonbase and refused to make any Tattered Tomes~
Peppita did make a Philosopher's Stone though so I picked up Ansala back on Elicoor. Also picked up Stanice. Have picked up Misty Lear, Grats, Ansala and Stanice so far.
Contemplating if I should now go and pick up Osman, the pen thing from Kaddan, and do some Writing shenanigans including for getting Convert Damage to MP for Maria, Sophia, and Peppita. Also with Alchemy I could maybe make the thing that gives Sophia +500 INT. Then also with Writing I could make the things that give adds elemental damage, could do adds fire damage on Laser Weapons for Maria and Peppita for Azazer and earth/wind for Belzeber and Berial >_>
I thought about Ring of Mental Power for 6% MP Regens but apparently I can't make this until I get Chilico :(
So far I have 76/300 Battle Trophies and have unlocked the 2P Color alt costumes, and Universe mode :)
Oh yeah I've been streaming too~
https://www.twitch.tv/froststar
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Pokemon Black: Got to Icirrus City. Looks like they finally got a DS Pokemon game right. The battles flow as fast as they did in RSE and the core game doesn't feel padded out with dungeons involving HMs like DPP did. In fact, until Sun and Moon swapped them for the much better Poke Ride, HMs became a lot less noticeable in this game. Cut is the only one that the game forces the player to use, and even that's extremely early on. Two issues that always bugged me in this game though were the extremely high encounter rate and the limited Pokedex selection, both of these were thankfully fixed in the sequel.
I'd discuss more about the game right now, but Lemon summed up most of my thoughts in his post and I obviously want to avoid repeating them.
Current team:
(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/503.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/530.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/561.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/563.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/640.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/614.png)
Temporary members:
(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/513.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/525.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/539.png)
Shadow of the Colossus: Beaten Dirge. The feeling of immersion has definitely not left since my last post. Each fight with the colossi up to this point has brought something new to the table, my favourite so far being the fight with Hydrus due to the suspense of trying to deactivate the electric spines before it dives back into the lake to electrocute you. The only two fights I haven't enjoyed so far are Avion due to the tedious nature of having to swim to the platforms and waiting to get back onto him if you fall off, and Basaran due to the game's camera not being able to capture both him and the geyser you want to lure him onto. Asides from those two, the game is a blast so far and I hope it stays this way.
Street Fighter 2: Turbo: I'll come clean, this is the first time I've played this game. I'm a bad person, I know. I'm playing against Lemon to try to determine which characters are the ones that I am best at using. So far I'm enjoying Ryu and E.Honda quite a bit; though I've only used the two I mentioned, Chung Li, Ken and Blanka so far.
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Spirit of Justice case 4: Eat your hamburgers, Apollo.
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Suikoden II - GODDAMN CHINCHINCHINIRO EVERYONE WHO PLAYS THIS CAN GO TO HELL
Time to crush Super's idol
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System Shock 3 Prey: Played and beaten over a week. Saw one of the groups I follow do it and it seemed damn spiffy so I bought it and it didn't disappoint. Great atmosphere, good enough combat a nice sense of exploration and Talos is an excellent fun playground. Typhon make for a fun enemy, if a bit unvaried. Number of weapons is low but they're all damn useful so I'll take it. You superpowers in Neuromods make a noticeable effect on making you horribly powerful. Ran basically pure Human-side with some small utilities from the typhon-side and was just wrecking typhon not-face. Already started a playthrough 2 with the intent of going pure typhon mods, with minimized human effects as a whole. No shotguns for me. Starting over let's me really appreciate all the foreshadowing they've done. The amount of neuromods in the Lobby alone is nuts when you know your way around.
Story is kind of difficult to get into without spoilers but it's decently engaging despite the whole thing boiling down to endless fetch quests. Things get obnoxious late-game though with all the constant loading screens though. Also has the rarest goddamn thing in video games with these types of "outbreak of bad shit" with an actual group of NPC survivors. Who don't all die the second the walking death aura that is a protagonist comes through.
Push the fat man.
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Spirit of Justice: done, other than DLC case. Very strong entry. 3>1>6=AAI2>>2>AAI1>4, offhand. More thoughts later. I think this and AAI2 are at the very top of PW games that seek to make a broader point and succeed in doing so. Well, 1 has to be high on that list as well. (2 I love as a game but the moral of the final case is pretty incoherent, for all that the case particulars are great.)
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - The power of Nil is absolute!
So I'm at the final section of the final dungeon. Near the start of it, I get a Hermes Sandals, which are, as you might expect, really badass: Auto-Haste! Sure it's only 150% speed and not 200% but that's still amazing. Ribbon has some definite competition for randoms, I go back and forth. There are some pretty tough randoms here as you might expect.
-Gomory can use Break, so taking them out fast is important if I'm not running Ribbon. If I am they're no threat.
-Great Malboros can use Bad Breath (scary if I don't have a Ribbon), but they're vulnerable to stone. They can also use Tentacle which damages and inflicts Slow, which Ribbon doesn't block (but Hermes Sandals does).
-Pisco Demons can Mind Blast for paralysis, so again no Ribbon makes them scary. They have no status holes but they get 2HKOed.
-Abyss Worms have like 20000 HP and hit pretty hard. They are, however, not totally status immune. Assassinate works! Har.
-Prisoners of Nil can use Death which makes them grade-A assholes. I don't learn if Ribbon can block it or not. They're vulnerable to silence, though nothing else useful: silence is good enough.
-Giants of Nil are bulky and reasonably damaging but even two at once is far less dangerous than most bosses now so whatever, take out other enemies first and cruise.
-Red and Blue Dragons aren't new, technically, but fighting both at once is, and this makes for a nasty fight. Both can do a bit over 2000 damage with their stronger moves... but worse, both can counter for around that much too, so potentially I can face 6000 damage! I do have 7700 HP so I can manage that but it means I have to be very careful when fighting them. Red Jacket can cut the fire damage/counters at least, allowing me to take out the Red first since their counter is always fire, though they can still Bite for 2000 on their own turns.
There are more, those are just some of the ones sticking out in my mind. There are also mini-bosses! These have to be fought.
Electric Image: Is Shango unscaled pretty much. Pommel remains a threat so I do have a Ribbon.
Frozen Image (1 reset): Is Cocytus. I learn the Ribbon doesn't block stop (and die in the process), so I pull out the ol' Tetra Bangle again to keep her ice offence under control. Hermes Sandals might block her Benumb's Stop but I don't feel like chancing a reset to test.
Light Avatar: Is Imperio. Judgement is still a pain but not too much to worry about past that with a Shell Bangle, and fortunately he isn't consectuve with another boss this time.
Dark Avatar: Is Gehenna. Is easy. I run Hermes Sandals here.
Finally, there are two monsters in a box against one of the absolute nastiest random encounters in the game, the Nil Protector, a palette-swap of the Protector which caused me so much grief. They can also be fought as randoms near the end! Run away if that happens.
Nil Protector (1 reset): Nil Protector can triple-act, using physicals for around 1200 (back row), Laser for 30% CHP, or Magic Bomb 3 for about 3000. I've never seen Triple Magic Bomb 3 but uhhh you can see the problem; two Magic Bomb 3's and a physical is already almost fatal (my HP, as noted earlier, is about 7700). So I often have to heal twice between his turns. Fortunately he's pretty slow so I can do that. Shell Bangle reduces the chance of an outright KO and increases the chance I only need to heal once, so I use that one last time.
And that brings me to the final boss!
Elgo (3 resets) - Everything is awful.
He has 130000 HP, a bit more than the previous bosses. For the first half of the fight he isn't too scary, which is to say he roughly 2HKOs me (his best move, Flare + Slice'n'Dice, does 4500; his worst is Holy which does 3400, just enough to heal-lock). He can counter with Slow! Slow would be horrifying. Fortunately Hermes Sandals blocks it, so my accessory choice is locked in. With that, I get slightly more than 2 turns to his 1, which makes him faster than most bosses ignoring my Auto-Haste though not extraordinarily. First half of the fight is a simple hurt-and-heal as a result. Since his 2HKO is low, one Curative Slash should pretty much always patch me up nicely. I learn to Osmostic Slash him to get my MP back shortly before phase 2; the last time I'll use this handy skill.
The second half of the fight are when things get ugly. See, he can now doublecast Holy and Meteor. Combined, these do around 7500; once I'm dropped to double-digits from full HP. Flare is now comboed with elemental Magic Blades (Elgo ripping off my strats) for around 5000 to the back row. His other moves are worse due to being MT: Ultima does 3000, and Pandora's Box only a little over 2000, though the lightning spell it creates can stun and the ice spell inflict Stop... and yes, I do see this land once, so that ends the possibility that Hermes Sandals block it. I guess nothing does! Fortunately, just like Cocytus, the stop doesn't last very long; he gets one turn while I'm stopped only. In theory a Pandora's Box (Stop) followed by Holy/Meteor is completely unavoidable death
However, it gets worse. Not only do I have to heal twice after some of his stronger moves (Holy + Meteor for sure), but he can counter with Gravity (50% CHP). So... yeah I can't actually attack him safely when he's about to get a turn. All I can do is either:
(a) try to wait for when I'm going to tripleturn. Very dicy because if I'm slow on command entry I can pay for this.
(b) if he uses a strong move, heal twice. If he uses a weak move, attack once then heal. If he Gravity-counters the first attack, one heal may no longer be enough, so if I don't think I'm getting a third turn I'll need to use an Elixir. I have 10.
There are no good options; I mostly go with (b). One nice thing about not banking on tripleturns is that when I manage one and I'm at full health, I can defend so that I'll be in better shape next turn.
Thank goodness he has no status besides slow/stop so I don't need a Ribbon. This is probably one of the most difficult fights in terms of sheer execution. I use two Elixirs.
Elgo is then eaten by the power he sought to control, never seen this before! There's a long cutscene. And then mercifully, a save point.
Chaos Elgo - Actually he's easier than human Elgo by quite a bit! Not easy by any means but the first form prepared me for the biggest shit he can throw at me. Chaos Elgo mostly has the same stats as the first form, near as I can tell, except that his defence is a bit higher.
At full HP, Chaos Elgo has:
-Grand Wall is a row-ignoring (IIRC) physical for 3200 or so, or can instead hit twice for a bit under half that.
-Flare, Holy, Meteor. They do what they did in the previous fight, which is a high 3HKO except for Meteor which is just over 4000.
-Pandora's Box. Also does what it did in the previous fight. The rare chance of stop is scary but assuming the duration is unchanged it's manageable.
-Eclipse. Around 2000 damage and supposedly can add Curse. i equip a curse-blocking hat because I'm a cheater and read up on this fight before I did it.
-Dark Flow. Relatively weak damage (1500 or so), but heals him a little. The first time he uses it it wipes out the party instead but the power of friendship revives me; fortunately he uses it again for its real version right after so all my puny 3-digit HP loser friends die instantly.
-Black Hole. MT Dispel. Irrelevant to me! He always doubleacts this with something else so it's not a wasted turn.
-White Hole. 5000 healing and puts self in Protect/Shell. Once used he's in Protect/Shell forever. With Protect up I do about 2000 damage per offensive action, about half
Chaos Elgo has three forms which he shifts between: a neutral form, a dark form, and a light form. The forms vary in physical defence, elemental defence to holy/dark (two elements I can't access so whatever), and some skillset details. Dark Flow and Black Holy are only in the dark form, White Hole is only in the light form. Several moves are used across two or even all three forms, I don't really keep track because it's not too relevant. Anyway, the good news is that shifting forms takes a turn! So that's quite a few wasted no-actions.
The other good news, if you read all the above, is that he can only do 4000 damage at once! Yeah sure that sounded impressive back when I was describing Nil Vata but after Elgo phase 2's 5000-7500 from his best moves this is nothing; most of his moves don't even heal-lock me!
Really the only bad news is that Gravity counters make their return. A Gravity counter followed by a Meteor is still fatal. So I do have to use the same basic strategy as against regular Elgo: attack first, THEN heal. Fortunately, double-healing isn't necessary; one Curative Slash gets me out of Meteor death range. Rather than try to go for super-high execution moves, I just accept a strict 2-1, healing then attacking, over and over.
When I run out of MP, I use Elixirs. This happens pretty often. Chaos Elgo has 200000 HP which means I need around 100 attacks to win, plus 2.5 for every use of White Hole and some more for every use of Dark Flow. That's a lot! I use three Elixirs.
As his HP drops, Chaos Elgo does improve, as is the FFD boss norm, though not that much as far as a solo is concerned. After he loses about a third of his HP, the screen will flash. On his next turn, he'll use 10000 G's, which is MT HP-1. No big. I Curative Slash twice after it because nooo way am I finding out what a Gravity counter does at 1 HP. He can re-use this move hereafter.
After he loses the second third of his HP, the screen flashes again, and his next turn is Big Bang. Big Bang does just under 4000 MT and sets Sap. This is NOT a fun move for a full party and highly encourages you to use Shell/Mighty Guard. But for me and my stupid HP total, it's just another Meteor. Except it's worse, because there's, I eventually notice, a definite lag after he uses it, so i can safely attack 2-3 times before healing. I should also mention that, due to some act of colossal mercy by the game desigers, 10000 G's cures Sap (and maybe dispels some other things for all I know), so there's no danger of a cheap death.
Otherwise as his HP drops he starts acting on the turns he form-shifts, and can double White Hole with an attack as well. But he can't double any actual attacks so his overall offence doesn't really get more dangerous.
It takes a good while and I use three Elixirs, but victory is mine on the first try!
Alba Level 99
Ninja L20
Red Mage L16
Ranger L13
Dark Knight L7
Summoner L7
Warrior L5
Black Mage L5
White Mage L1
I thought about going to Red Mage 20 (for Doublecast Magic Blade) or Ranger 20 (for a powerful offensive F-ability which would outdamage everything I have except Quick Shot, and without Quick Shot's increased counter risk) and if the final boss had walled me harder I might have, but it wasn't necessary.
Move valuable jobs!
1. Red Mage. So yeah this is obvious. Best carrier for most of the game due to great equips (light armour AND mage armour which includes many key statusblockers, shields, rods/bows/swords), solid magical stats without horrid HP or speed like other mages, and a great skillset (status, Protect, -aras are great offence for a long time). Eventually their primary skillset falls off but then there's Magic Blade, which provides an amazing swiss army knife skillset for a physical solo.
2. Summoner. So hey I'd like to put Ninja here, I really would. Ninja is obviously better when it's around. But Sylph is pretty much the only reason solos are viable for like... half the game. It's the best healing until Curative Slash/Restorative Pill (Curaga heals a bit more but is attached to a way worse job). I used it all the way until the pathmerge. The job has some uses otherwise when MT damage is called for but its bad HP/speed are limiting.
3. Ninja. Okay yeah, I've ranted about it before, Ninja is the uber-carrier and cries out for a switch to a physical build to deal with the endgame. Amazing speed, good stats otherwise, innate Dualwield, good innate skillset.
4. Black Mage. Largely inferior to Red Mage (yes, they do more damage; it's not worth the speed/HP hit) until you get Black L5, then it turns out that Stop/Osmose/Tornado are amazing. I really felt the lack of good black magic when raising Alba as a red mage late in the pre-merge.
5. Ranger. So if you can spare the skill slot, and can run a physical build, it turns out that Quick Shot is really good! Best DPS in the game. Otherwise they're fast and have good back row options.
6. Dark Knight. Only really contributes one important thing, but Backliner is pretty darn important for allowing me to use full-powered Curative Slashes in the back row (as well as better offence). Their skillset is junk in a solo.
7. Dragoon. Good stats and the breaths are pretty nice MT on a mage. Jump loses its downside in a solo and becomes the best physical move on the light side.
8. Warrior. Of the early physical jobs, it's the best due to Counter and the ability to use bows and thus be in the back row. Almost never BETTER than magic, but sometimes you run out of MP and this is the best thing to do that doesn't burn through valuable earlygame Elixirs. Outclassed by Dragoon and Ranger pretty fast though.
9. White Mage. Mostly useless due to wretched stats/offence, but it proved essential in the hardest fight in the game because Shell is that great.
Not useful in a solo, but I respect them normally: Monk, Bard, Paladin, Seer, Magus
Not useful in a solo, and questionable normally: Thief, Memorist, Dancer
Most challenging bosses!
Just genuinely nasty:
1. Asmodai 2: No question here. Deshell combined with really high magical offence for the time AND needing to keep another unit alive? He'd probably be the hardest boss for the solo without the invisibility mechanic; with, he was just nuts, especially since my primary strategy relied on pseudo-draining. Made me use the weirdest setup to win.
2. Protector. Dusk's final boss was tougher than the real final boss. Him countering Sylph and Holy hitting super-hard for the time was a brutal combo to overcome.
3. Elgo. That said the real final boss, or at least his first, more human form, was pretty evil too. An extremely difficult fight on execution, and I wasn't going to grind my way out of trouble on this one; insane damage AND gravity counters.
The trio of praying to the RNG:
4. Argy-2. More frustrating than hard, Argy-2's ability to throw out unblockable instant death at any point in the battle wasn't very fun, but it did challenge me to optimise my damage to a large degree.
5. Owner?. Stupid name, but essentially the same problem as Argy-2, as Break was unblockable and fatal. Not as durable at least, also made me optimise his damage.
6. Vata 1. Fortunately no other Vata, or boss in general, was cruel enough to combine Tornado doubleacted with other things. The mercy of this fight was that he had a much lower HP range where he could use the egregious move, and that he could be slowed, but that's not much of a consolation.
Other major worries:
7. Lieutenant. With his Ensigns support he could just output way too much damage. Fortunately he was fought early when grinding was both quick and effective, but I did pretty much have to do that and then find a way to efficiently take down one of his support.
8. Green Keeper: Big regen is not fun for solos, especially when you cast Haste to make it happen more often. I had to optimise a blitz to have a chance here; a rare early fight where Sylph wasn't worth it.
9. Tobikage: More ID cheese, but this time it's actually manageable. Shockingly high damage from a spiritual successor to Wendigo though, it made me use an unusual strategy based around Summon.
10. Styx 2: Lots of offence and necessitated a very specific set of statusblockers. As with Green Keeper, it turns out Haste on a boss is a bad time.
Honourable mentions: Hecatoncheir, Dundoth, Commander (1st), Elder, Revived Asmodai, Cocytus.
Fun times. File was around 56 hours, so probably 70+ in practice. Longer than I really had time for at the end of a busy school year, but the DL is all about poor life decisions.
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Pokemon Black: Beaten Ghetsis. I've decided against completing the postgames for the rest of the Pokemon binge, mainly because I've gone through them before in previous playthroughs and I would prefer to just focus on the next game. I'll still complete Episode Delta though as I feel that was what the developers intended as the true ending of ORAS, not unlike Red in the Johto games. Back to Black, the game is still quite solid even with Sun/Moon stealing the 'best narrative' niche. 'Best narrative' is a statement I never thought I would associate with Pokemon.
Final team:
(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/503.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/530.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/563.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/640.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/614.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/643.png)
Temporary members:
(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/513.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/525.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/539.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/561.png)
Shadow of the Colossus: Beaten Celosia and Pelagia. For all the hate the smaller colossus fights get, I still didn't have many gripes with Celosia. I felt the method of breaking the armour was clever and the small size meant for a neat twist where it is the player who is striking fear into the colossus as opposed to the other way round like the preceding fights.
Street Fighter 2: Turbo: Tried out every character. Out of the entire roster; I'd say Ryu, E.Honda and Guile are my favourites to use, Ryu being my main overall. Despite its age, I had a great time with this one. I can definitely see why this game popularised the fighting game competitive community as well as the genre in general with developers. Though I'd be lying if I said I was a pro at the different combos you pull off in the game. Maybe I might get better at this game over time?
I'm not sure where to go with the series next. I managed to buy a cheap copy of Super Street Fighter 4 at my local GAME; do I go for that next or do I give Street Fighter 3 a go?
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Pokemon Black: Beaten Ghetsis and N. N wasn't all that though considering how his Zekrom is predictable, and Reshiram could easily beat anything which wasn't the two fossil Pokemon he had. Ghetsis put up more of a fight though. Ghetsis is one of my favourite fights in the series; along with Cynthia, Red, and the Champion of SM.
Final team:
(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/503.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/530.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/558.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/561.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/640.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/614.png)
Jagens:
(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/508.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/539.png)
Used against N and Ghetsis:
(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/643.png)
Pokemon Black 2: This game feels like a logical step up from BW in most aspects. The selection is twice the size now, meaning there is more to choose from and the encounter rate is lower. I've just beaten Burgh in the game, that place where the Harlequin trainer class has that weird encounter theme. The main issues I have with the game right now are the forced tutorials and the dip in quality which the story has taken. Granted the plot is still better than the previous Pokemon games, even though Team Plasma are less interesting here. I like the idea of them being reduced to petty thugs, even though their motivations become more grandiose and dull later on. Also, your rival Hugh has a character motive which is so generic that it gets to the point of making most of his dialogue cringeworthy.
Current team:
(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/499.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/448.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/081.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/109.png)
Street Fighter 2: Turbo: Been playing this game with Brit in order to broaden my interest in the fighting game genre, fun stuff. It's a good starting point for fighting games. The game has a fast running speed and the mechanics are simple enough to get into; although they're difficult to master. Out of the 12 characters, my mains were Guile, Chun-Li and Ryu. The ones I didn't enjoy as much were Balrog and Vega. I like it when my characters can take a fair few hits, not just 2.
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia: Just got to the Kalidus Channel. Currently this game is very promising. I like the variety in the areas which you explore, and the Glyph system is fun to experiment with. In fact, I think it has the potential of being better than the Soul system from Aria of Sorrow if my views on it don't change as the game progresses. I've only fought one boss so far, even though it seems more experimental than previous fights in the series; this is by no means a bad thing. The main issue I have right now is the Ruvas Forest area. There isn't much to it asides a straight line, and they felt the need to add “Metroids” into the game. At least in the Metroid series you're given the utilities to attack upwards when you first encounter the titular species; Shanoa has no such privileges until you get the Glyph which allows her to throw axes.
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Persona 5 - Just started September and the only confidant link I mastered so far is Sun. Granted, I'm almost there with Lovers, Chariot and Temperance, and I'm past L5 with most others (only 4 on Hanged Man, though). Incidentally, the relatability levels with Futaba are pretty much -off the charts-. After Imposter Syndrome The PC, we get Panic Syndrome + Social Anxiety The PC and it's been downright delicious.
Mishima continues to be complete human trash.
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NotMiki: Glad you enjoyed Spirit of Justice. It's definitely wacky because *some* of the "political" points in it were pretty great. Just... some were nonsense as well, and worse, the plot sometimes wanted to talk about the nonsense parts really deeply rather than moving along and acting casual.
Also, I think you liked case 3 more than I did (and Elf, IIRC?). The final witness had pretty badass presence points, but that case makes negative sense. The culprit committed, literally, the PERFECT KURAIN CRIME. Someone with no past and no known real name is dead, and you know this. And their body is hidden in a ludicrously inaccessible spot that people can't visit. There's zero proof he's even dead! And to the extent that people in the government know about his "other" activities, they'd assume he got killed in a secret mission! Rather than just burying him, or even trying to transport his body down the mountain than out of the city hidden (and having it inevitably fail due to surprise inspection/accident, if we want some gameplay), you frame your *guest* instead? And furthermore, a guest whom the story gives 0 hint at them having an antagonistic relationship toward? GRAHHH.
For Case 5.... I dunno, I think the game made a bold but unwise call when it decided that everything you did in court didn't really matter and everything just bent to Garon's will. Sure that might make sense, but then what's the point of the game? What am I fighting for?! etc. And then, given that they WERE going to do that, the way the writers decided the heroes could extricate themselves from the situation was idiotic, even if we assume the spiritual powers plot makes sense. IF Garon has been ruling all these years without actually demonstrating her powers, then it's not a shock she'd refuse to do so on demand and just order the heretics executed for daring to ask. She's just being a moron by even trying. Pretty huge disappointment that the doohickey from the first half of case 5 wasn't even useful to her in the end, which kills the tension of trying to stop her from getting it! Of course, backing up, the plot point that Garon didn't have any Kurain powerz, and Seances were performed by ??? during the last 20 years or so, was really dumb as well.
Fire Emblem Echoes - I did the bonus dungeon, but skipped the final and YouTubed him. I only brought along one looped DF (Saber) as a hard-carry in case of emergency, which led to about the right amount of challenge; he could hold off an entire side, but the rest of the party had to contribute as well, and he wasn't quite invulnerable against dragons and the like.
The final does look like a cool fight, but having more looped DFs or Forked units seems like it'd help quite a lot, and yeah I don't care enough. Maybe if there was a save point on the 10th floor. Alas.
I did the 4 "Deliverance" DLC maps which were pretty cool, even if the rewards were hideously out of date and clearly aimed more for doing the DLC in Chapter 1. (Also, WTF are Fates Vallites expies doing in some random tomb in the DLC? Whatever, bit o' fanservice I guess.) The other DLC is all grindfest support when you already have free grinding, so not the most useful.
Anyway I posted a stat topic over in the unranked forum for like the 4 people who could possibly care. The cast is amusingly wacky in the DL at least, they definitely play different than Yon Average FE duelists who can get a tad samey.
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NieR Automata- Not actually playing this at the moment, but I had some thoughts I wanted to commit to paper.
So as a rule 2B hews fairly close to a relatively stock female characterization, the idea of Roses Have Thorns- cold and closed off, actively hostile to intrusion into her life, but generally a front to conceal deep inner pain. One of the more basic ways to paint your Badass Warrior Woman character, especially in the animes.
But then there's 6O. The game isn't coy about her falling for 2B, or at least rebounding onto her, but it's incredibly coy about how 2B responds to it. In fact her entire reaction seems to be playing off as not really noticing or caring that this happens despite increasingly obvious passive-aggressive hinting at it from 6O's part. She'll generally do whatever 6O asks even, but this seems to be because she does that for everyone. She's a video game lead and all.
The odd part is that this is an almost exclusively male characterization, the dimwitted harem lead reaction to women throwing themselves at him.
And it's weird this comes off as so subversive to me because they make sense existing in the same character. 2B intentionally holds people at arm's length, so of course she, whether as a consequence or by intent, misses social cues for how others want to interact with her. But you never really see it that I can think of. Seeing two sets of tropes played so straight used together in a way that makes sense, but still creates dissonance.
Or I'm tired and forgetting tons of other examples. I dunno.
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For Case 5.... I dunno, I think the game made a bold but unwise call when it decided that everything you did in court didn't really matter and everything just bent to Garon's will. Sure that might make sense, but then what's the point of the game? What am I fighting for?! etc. And then, given that they WERE going to do that, the way the writers decided the heroes could extricate themselves from the situation was idiotic, even if we assume the spiritual powers plot makes sense. IF Garon has been ruling all these years without actually demonstrating her powers, then it's not a shock she'd refuse to do so on demand and just order the heretics executed for daring to ask. She's just being a moron by even trying. Pretty huge disappointment that the doohickey from the first half of case 5 wasn't even useful to her in the end, which kills the tension of trying to stop her from getting it! Of course, backing up, the plot point that Garon didn't have any Kurain powerz, and Seances were performed by ??? during the last 20 years or so, was really dumb as well.
Regarding Case 3 you have to make a few assumptions for it to make sense. You assume that Garon had good reason to believe that other people in the government had already been informed that he was suspected of being a rebel, that others in the government would know about the secret chamber and search it regardless of whether the body were moved, and that the search would inevitably lead to his wife's conviction. These assumptions are not THAT unlikely. If Garon doesn't believe that a divination seance can be performed on his disciple, that kinda makes sense under this scenario - if it can't be performed you have a rare death that can be pinned on someone. If it CAN be performed (and he may have assumed the government could do so because they would know his disciple's, um, Real Name, then maybe his angle was to have Maya convicted and executed before the murder could be discovered, with the fingerprints on the murder weapon forestalling the need for a seance to be performed.) Anyway, yeah you need to do a lot of speculating for the case to work BUT IT CAN!!
Regarding Case 5 I pretty strongly disagree. The point the case is making is that the Queen's legitimacy derives from the will of the people, and that Apollo is able to win by calling into question her legitimacy in a way that matters to them. Now, that's not 100% true, because what he really does is call into question her legitimacy in a way that matters to the people with guns, and that's an important distinction that the game doesn't make. More broadly, it seemed to me that the Queen acted in the trial in a way that demonstrated that she felt that pushing things too far would create a political climate that could erode her authority. Given the rising popularity of the rebels' cause, and throwing into the mix a coup attempt by her husband, that's a logical assumption.
Anyway, I appreciate the broader point the game was making about how Authoritarianism is Bad, Truth is Good, and The People have an inherent wisdom that makes them receptive to choosing Truth over Authoritarianism.
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Case 3 is stupid in a lot of ways to be honest. Datz's massive time-waste of a testimony. The Inmees somehow deciding that killing Tahrust AND Maya (essentially) was a remotely sensible solution. The things Snowfire noted. The game expecting me to have sympathy for the Inmees at the end (nope, sorry, you tried to an innocent killed; you're scum). YOU'RE GUILTY HAHAHA but we'll let you investigate anyway. The main thing which keeps the case out of the trash tier for me is some good setting work (I broadly agree with Jim about the game pulling off its message, though I don't think it does so perfectly) and watching Reyfa's development. And hey I'll give the case props for aging Maya up in a way that makes her feel like her new age but still Maya, which is a better job than DD did with Pearl.
I think Spirit of Justice has a bad habit of raising the stakes way too high too fast and it doesn't work very well for me narratively.
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Persona 5 - Another weekend binge-playing this. Done with Chariot, Lovers, Temperance, Devil and Death, while being 9 on Priestess, 8 on Strength, 4 on Tower, 1 on Empress, 6 on Hierophant, Emperor and Hermit and 7 everywhere else. I really hate the arbitrary mid-link social stat walls - this wasn't anywhere near this bad in Persona 3 and 4, where they could wall you from STARTING a link (and even then, mostly lategame), but didn't slam your door midway through half the links in the game - a bunch of which are actually walled by STARTING stat checks as well! Seriously, why does Makoto have to be walled by a Knowledge 3 AND a Charm 5 check? The sidequests attached to most of the lategame links also kinda suck because they make you spend precious in-game timeslots, but they make a lot of sense given the narrative. Gameplay remains SMT-ish, really. Pyramid Palace boss was pretty scary because MT Despair is just horrifying (I almost thought I'd bite it when Queen got hit by it, since Energy Shower was my way of dealing with it, but SMT revival be borked and allow your PCs to get turns just after being revived). Space Palace boss's gimmick was kind of uh cute, but it's sorta underwhelming a fight in practice. Also, Casino Palace's theme is way too catchy for its own good.
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NotMiki: Re Case 3: Phoenix Wright games ask the player to accept that things which, logically speaking, certain secrets that should be EXTREMELY HARD TO KEEP are in fact secret until they come tumbling out at trial, and if there was some confidant who knew about it, they were totally out of the loop. And I accept this! Sure fine we'll assume that the Amazing Nine-Tails trainer / scheduler doesn't step forward to clear up some obvious confusion and do some simple note-matching to prove a certain person couldn't possibly be him. Anyway, within the context of Case 3, the game wants you to think that Rayfa / the gov't are totally clueless and haven't matched up the mysterious Lady Keery and Puhray are the same person, and only a supergenius like Phoenix can figure it out. So... I kinda accept that. Anyway, considering that Puhray *lives* with the Zealots, it just seems completely implausible that they wouldn't have had free reign to lie as much as they like - he went on a trip, he's ill, whatever - unless he had already told the gov't to arrest them or some such, which would make all this moot anyway.
Case 5: Yeah, I'm totally down for a good revolution plot. My problem is that the Cunning Plan for cutting the Queen down to size with not cunning at all and worked, uh, because we said so. At the most generous, this one REALLY WAS a wild ass bluff. Let's hope that Garan A) has no powerz to begin with (despite using them being a key duty...), B) doesn't suddenly GET vast cosmic power from giving her an artifact that people were trying to acquire for this purpose, and C) doesn't simply ignore the taunts and has Our Heroes shot on the spot. Maybe her gov't falls afterward in a riot, but it'll be too late for us!
Now, in the realm of simple alternate scenarios... after all the buildup, nobody ended up caring that much about poor Jove Jupiter. What if Apollo had conclusively proved to the soldiers with guns that the Queen had set the fire herself and killed Jove? And that was enough to upend her power? And this conveniently enough is what defense attorneys in PW-world usually do, crack old cold cases, so you can feel clever and then rewarded for being clever by plot developments in your favor? Implausible? Maybe, but still less so than what actually happened, and let your actions feel like they had some meaning!
Persona 5
Brutal. Savage. Rekt. (https://gfycat.com/BrutalSavageRekt) (To quote memes from games I don't play, thanks Grefter.)
I was complaining in chat before about the fight immediately after recruiting the Palace 2 PC, which features an Embittered Blacksmith with utterly insane damage - like 200-400 single-target. His backup crew of Foolish Monks are not a huge threat, but if you don't kill them quickly through their Sukukaja buffing, they will start attacking and taunting you, and that's just utterly horrible when you're already potentially losing party members from round 1. I eventually settled on the Git Lucky strategy of "hope Blacksmith attacks whoever I Sukukaja myself on round 1, AND that it misses." After that, Tarunda + Slime on Joker + Suku'd Ice to eventually clean up the Monks did their work. And this still cost me a DLC'd Soul Balm or whatever, aka CHEATING. Sigh.
Anyway, I got to the boss of the Palace, and got DESTROYED. No mercy. Annihilation.
The good: I ranked up Ryuji's bond a bunch, so have a really badass Shiisa which resists physicals, is L19, no relevant weaknesses, and has Rampage on Joker for some MT physicals.
The bad: 5 boss parts means the action economy on Ann spamming Tarunda isn't very good vs. the Tarukaja spam the boss does. Tradin' turns to be 3 of my turns vs. 4 of their turns. Nose's MT damage outdamages Morgana's Media healing too. The ST damage is all solid 2HKO level if not resisted/weakness'd.
The horrible: Did I mention that the bosses spells can hit weakness on my party members, nearly OHKO'ing them from full health, and surely OHKO'ing them if they aren't fully healthy? And yes I'm wearing stuff like the Fire Ring on the fire-weak character, Ice Ring on the ice-weak, etc. And that the boss part gets a One More off this?
The execrable: So I got him down to just the Mouth once with Joker alive at 22 HP or something before dying. Let's say I sweep 'em. Well hahaha the fight isn't close to over then, that's just phase 1, I even double-checked OK's stat topic. That's "okay you can start the real fight now."
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah. I'm obviously running our recent recruit for plot reasons, wouldn't be right to deny him his rival showdown. Of the others... Ann has Tarunda to stop the buff spam, if inefficiently. Morgana has MT healing, but playing slow still gets me plain out-DPS'd, my healing won't cope and even if it could, eventually an elemental weakness will get hit and that's that. Ryuji can speed up the clock on wiping the physical-weak parts (most of them), but he's only ST unlike Joker's MT physicals; Fox has the same problem. Yeah... this looks dark. Not sure if there's a way out of this short of grinding my way up, unless some of those armor purchases are a lot more potent than I expect.... although checking, OK's stat topic claims that they work against magic damage too, which is something I guess. Everyone's L16 except Ann & Morgana who are L15, but I could grind a tad on Ann to get her to L16, she's really close. If I need to go to L17/18, it probably means burning a day grinding in Mementos, which is probably the plan now I guess.
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Revisiting old shit.
Suikoden II random thought blob (spoilers for Suikoden II, The Last Story)
It’s been a decade since I revisited the game, so I thought I would just verbalize a few feelings on the subject.
There’s this common trope in video games, of course, of the best friend who goes rogue or who diverges significantly from your path in some way, although I feel like in the modern game, this is a little bit too cliche so story writers have generally moved away from it. I feel like there’s a few criteria for making this trope stick properly, and I think S2 nails all of it.
1. Establishing relationship through dialogue and repeated themes - between all of the flashbacks and the present day stuff in the Unicorn Brigade camp and the really sweet scene between them in the fort (all sex jokes aside), I think the game builds up a pretty good repertoire on this front. I also think Nanami having a positive and happy relationship with the best friend character also helps, because there is more than one person in your army who cares about him(as opposed to say, Tactics Ogre, which is a case study on how not to do this trope.)
2. Character has aspirations beyond their relationship/jealousy of the main character - in general, characters who are primarily or solely defined by their relationship with another character are problematic, and a significant number of the people who fall into this trope (Kain being the easiest to pick on) define themselves by the main. This is a place where Suikoden II excels, because Jowy is primarily motivated by his desire to reshape the world in the way he wants and his quest to obtain the power to do so. By giving him both a pretty altruistic motivation and a brutal method for getting it, he manages to be sympathetic while still being a legitimate threat.
3. Character has significant development on both sides of the coin - both as a protagonist and an antagonist - While Jowy spends a majority of the game as an antagonist, his role as a protagonist is memorable, important, and he is a well-establishment member of team good guy before turning. I actually feel like if anything, I would have liked to see more scenes with him on the other side, particularly a development of his relationship with Jillia. I probably would have added a few more scenes to the Highland people in general.
4. Serves as a logical foil to the main - the game hammers this one home pretty hard, but it works. Often these characters are not particularly good foils because one is just bad or an idiot.
I’ve always had an appreciation for people who are willing to get shit done for the good of man because sometimes The Heroes get away with doing things in the most unbelievable, candy-ass way possible.
The reason I decided to ponder on this was because I was considering why I think Jowy is a more effective version of this trope than Dagran. Is it just because I’m older and more jaded toward all things I consider already done? I think #3 is a pretty crucial part of the puzzle and that’s where TLS really fails. His betrayal is way too late and doesn’t have any scenes beyond just the final one. While I reflected upon how S2 could have given Jowy a little more villain screen time, at least his has time to mature into his own as a bad guy character. I think TLS tries too hard to do the swerve at the very end and it hurts the game’s coherency. Otherwise, though, I think Dagran has credible motivation, he has a good relationship with Zael, and his jaded worldview is a nice contrast to Zael’s idealism. But they botched the landing.The characters are different enough that one doesn’t feel like a copy of the other. Dagran has a much more “looking out for number 1” feel whereas Jowy is driven by misguided ideology.
Other things I thought:
S2 really hits you hard with the good scenes toward the end of the game. Nanami’s death scene is always a heart piercer, and “I threw the book away. You read it too many times.” is a great showdown between two important players who otherwise would never interact. I’m also very fond of both Jillia’s last scene in the main game and of course the final duel. I thought it was interesting that Jowy lies to you about killing Jillia even then. I ended up deciding to go with the best ending rather than the bad end, because I just felt so sorry for everyone involved.
Shu is such a bastard. When Nanami explains to him why she decided to pretend she was dead, she says something like “Bobby is too important to be protecting other people like me.” and he’s pretty much like yup. I admire Suikoden II for actually having a pair of characters who do morally questionable things for the right reasons and who are not shown up/proven wrong for it like in many games.
The game pretty much holds up as well as I remembered. The bosses, for the most part, actually have teeth, and the game feels meaty without being too padded. My final party was Riou/Camus/Flik/Nina/Rina/Oulan. Rina with Cyclone/Mother Earth/Lightning was a pretty fucking silly combination for crushing randoms.
Luca remains one of the most monstrous, in your face villains there is. I was just pondering if, 70 years into Dunan’s future, will there be plaques in Highland commemorating the death of people of Muse? I feel like the facts of that will get out sooner or later. (And will there be Muse-Ritual-Sacrifice Deniers?)
Also, the game has no idea how to use its vs. it's, it makes me twitch
Bam.
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Ciatos makes big post about Suikoden 2. No hype for the greatness that is Apple and just love for her abusive Bishis.
Forever Ciatos ;(
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4. Serves as a logical foil to the main - the game hammers this one home pretty hard, but it works. Often these characters are not particularly good foils because one is just bad or an idiot.
I dunno. That "Peace Conference" scene convinced me that Our Hero is an idiot, and possibly Jowy too (and the best explanation for Jowy not being an idiot involves a strong "plot hammer of fate"). So choose your poison!
Trails of Cold Steel II
Finished Act II.
Okay, I like the game a lot, but per earlier complaints... whenever I want the plot to zig, it zags.
A) Complaint I have: there's too much cutscene help that decreases player agency by having your battle victory not matter, or require some outside aid. The game clearly decides to fix this a bit, but in the on area where it would actually make the most sense to bring in aid?
* Fighting random merc, or a random golem: UH OH BETTER CALL IN THE CAVALRY
* Invading an occupied town that's got soldiers & robots & shit in it: WE WILL DO THIS ALONE. (and not merely not call in adults help - decline other students help, too! And not for reasons of "it's a suicide mission, volunteers only!")
As it happens, because the plot says so, we end up not fighting the soldiers really, which I can only hope is part of some "leadership is actively throwing the war and trying to undermine their own side" gambit. I guess they REALLY didn't want to push a child soldiers fighting the war thing, which is fine I guess, although if they wanted to, they could have made this scenario a Mass Effect 2-esque culmination of the game, where all the allies you've recruited play a part in defeating impossible odds or some such.
B) Complaint I have: Game likes its villains way too much, even when Our Heroes have excellent reason to hate their guts due to mistreatment of close family members, and they seem to help the party more often than they hinder it.
* Person who has betrayed all he ever seemed to stand for: "I still believe in him!" No big melodramatic hate-off. He helps the party out way more than he should, and the party doesn't bring up any of the other differences.
* Person who is a traitor / spy / terrorist who killed a bunch of people: "Oh yeah he's fine, we'll recruit him back." He cheers the party on and helps us out in various ways. Nobody's mad at him.
* Person who's theoretically the big bad: Orders her troops off you, and also seems more interested in helping you forward and "training" you with the occasional boss battle than actually stopping you.
Okay, so we FINALLY reach some *actually* sympathetic villains-of-circumstance, people who already helped the party at the end of Cold Steel 1, and...
* Let's actually have a melodramatic fight!
I'm not REALLY complaining, I'll take it, just if ever there was a time to just say "Hey we surrender, the price is having an AWESOME DUEL" and not pussyfoot around these people not being villains, do it. (Also some seriously bad opsec on the Sekrit Plan for tomorrow, wouldn't SOMEBODY in $TOWN have contacts on the other side?). Also on that note... come on, Falcom. I was gonna pussyfoot around and scan them and see their moves, but Laura had a crit marker on her turn. I couldn't resist Radiant Lioning the Group A fight and winning it in a single move. No Domination either, this was just with a Jusis buff on top of her starting Brave. Yes, these kind of split battles can be kind of bullshit if you somehow get stuck, but considering the plot, just make them optionally winnable like the Lorence fights in Skies. This is on Nightmare mode against the Act boss. I should not win in a single action, without even getting to see Tide's favorite character take a turn!
(Also jump in a lake, FAQ writer that suggested grinding up current weapons for everyone. Telling a FAQ writer "I am so great, this fight you hyped up was actually easy" are annoying, but this is a rare time that I wouldn't feel like a jerk for sending one: you're telling people to waste their time preparing for a very easy fight.)
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Ciatos makes big post about Suikoden 2. No hype for the greatness that is Apple and just love for her abusive Bishis.
Forever Ciatos ;(
It is Super Cool that Apple bends down to give a blowjob to Abusive Bishie. All ladies need to fall in love with Abusive Bishies.
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I dunno. That "Peace Conference" scene convinced me that Our Hero is an idiot, and possibly Jowy too (and the best explanation for Jowy not being an idiot involves a strong "plot hammer of fate"). So choose your poison!
I don't agree with this at all. Riou/Namami want to believe that Jowy is their buddy and really does want peace, and that with the war's major instigator dead, peace should now be possible. With what they know, this is an entirely reasonable belief, and even if they have some reason to doubt, they're gonna want to believe the best of their friend. (Being skeptical here is Shu's job.)
Don't really see how Jowy is an idiot in that scene either; he springs a pretty good trap; due to the presence of Pilika he freaks out and isn't able to quite follow through on it, but him not having veins of ice-water is kinda the point and hardly idiocy.
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Riou/Nanami bringing Pilika to the peace accord is kiiiinda sketchy though, but that is just the same point you are bringing up. It is all in character.
Ciatos makes big post about Suikoden 2. No hype for the greatness that is Apple and just love for her abusive Bishis.
Forever Ciatos ;(
It is Super Cool that Apple bends down to give a blowjob to Abusive Bishie. All ladies need to fall in love with Abusive Bishies.
Victory at any cost. Pride is for people who are prepared to lose. and hey sometimes you just want some of that d
Also talking about Suikoden 2 on a page where you can search for Neclord and don't find a version of this linked (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nsx0BW3zopc) is something I am fixing.
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To be clear I like Suikoden II, but sorry, Riou is a complete marshmallow to a frustrating degree. If the game wanted to sell the idea that Riou genuinely believes in Jowy while also believing in the cause he has just been leading and fighting for, they could have written him some dialogue that indicates that rather than "...", the dialogue choice for the stunned and confused person who's out of their depth. I want to play as someone who can go toe-to-toe with the villain and argue their side (which may well be "This isn't you, Jowy! We can stop the carnage! I know you care!" or some such if they really want to hype Riou the believer-in-Jowy), not shut down and either concede or mutely, uh, something. Jowy's actions at the Conference are a grievous insult, a betrayal, and a breach of honor; act like it! If this was a one-off I could write it off as an exception or a writing gap, except the rest of the game seems to concur with Riou = charismatic figurehead (who doesn't display THAT much charisma, but whatever, silent main problems), Shu = brains who bails Riou out of trouble.
107 star ending with murdering Jowy to hell in the duel totally canon. Kill the bastard.
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Persona 5
Brutal. Savage. Rekt. (https://gfycat.com/BrutalSavageRekt) (To quote memes from games I don't play, thanks Grefter.)
Anyway, I got to the boss of the Palace, and got DESTROYED. No mercy. Annihilation.
The good: I ranked up Skull's bond a bunch, so have a really badass Shiisa which resists physicals, is L19, no relevant weaknesses, and has Rampage on Joker for some MT physicals.
The bad: 5 boss parts means the action economy on Panther spamming Tarunda isn't very good vs. the Tarukaja spam the boss does. Tradin' turns to be 3 of my turns vs. 4 of their turns. Nose's MT damage outdamages Mona's Media healing too. The ST damage is all solid 2HKO level if not resisted/weakness'd.
The horrible: Did I mention that the bosses spells can hit weakness on my party members, nearly OHKO'ing them from full health, and surely OHKO'ing them if they aren't fully healthy? And yes I'm wearing stuff like the Fire Ring on the fire-weak character, Ice Ring on the ice-weak, etc. And that the boss part gets a One More off this?
The execrable: So I got him down to just the Mouth once with Joker alive at 22 HP or something before dying. Let's say I sweep 'em. Well hahaha the fight isn't close to over then, that's just phase 1, I even double-checked OK's stat topic. That's "okay you can start the real fight now."
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah. I'm obviously running our recent recruit for plot reasons, wouldn't be right to deny him his rival showdown. Of the others... Panther has Tarunda to stop the buff spam, if inefficiently. Mona has MT healing, but playing slow still gets me plain out-DPS'd, my healing won't cope and even if it could, eventually an elemental weakness will get hit and that's that. Skull can speed up the clock on wiping the physical-weak parts (most of them), but he's only ST unlike Joker's MT physicals; Fox has the same problem. Yeah... this looks dark. Not sure if there's a way out of this short of grinding my way up, unless some of those armor purchases are a lot more potent than I expect.... although checking, OK's stat topic claims that they work against magic damage too, which is something I guess. Everyone's L16 except Panther & Mona who are L15, but I could grind a tad on Panther to get her to L16, she's really close. If I need to go to L17/18, it probably means burning a day grinding in Mementos, which is probably the plan now I guess.
Yeah, Goldmember is probably one of the rougher fights in the game for several reasons:
1) Multiple parts, meaning you can't Tarunda to nerf everything at once
2) Random action order for the first turn, so you don't know how they'll interrupt your characters
3) Can hit weakness on every party member you have at that point, and 1 Mores are painful for all involved
4) Getting MT physicals is helpful, but requires you to level a little bit (on Normal and lower, usually not a problem)
5) I think it's impossible to have a maxed confidant with any party member by that point (maybe with Skull, but it's tight, and you'd miss everyone else), so you can't get the evasion skill for their weakness
Level 17 helps a ton, as it gives Skull Rampage. Fox gets Vicious Strike at level 18. If you are able to gain 1 level, that would help a lot (lower boss damage, raise your damage, etc.). Even if not, you probably need to try for a blitz if you can. Yeah, everything revives, but they revive with 75% --> 50% MHP, and so get easier to kill. You'll get an AoA after you destroy the parts, and then take 10 MT damage over 2 sets of actions on your team. It's enough to recover, likely. Attack items, if you have them, can help for taking out the Mouth (since it drains gun and physical skills), if you're running pure physical murdering with Skull and Fox. Panther can do MT, but she'll only hurt the mouth and nose - same with any basic elemental skill (wind, fire, electric, ice). Panther's probably the weakest party member for that fight (although 1 more level gives her Dekaja, which...might be situationally helpful if you're really hating Tarukaja).
Yes, protector defense is universal. Less noticeable early on, but it makes a difference. One of the better purchases is the Padded Shirt (27 defense, En+2), since it boosts both defense and En, it's very potent. One of the better ones you can buy for at least the first 2 dungeons, decent even for the 3rd. It's 2400 yen, available for the first palace. Shiisa is probably the best persona for that fight, due to no major weakness and Rampage, as you noted.
It's generally downhill from there, boss-wise - there are small spikes later on, but the first stage of Goldmember is pretty rough since it's a perfect storm of ways to fuck you over.
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I should not win in a single action, without even getting to see Tide's favorite character take a turn!
Cold Steel 2's difficulty is sorta amazing. Like, you know how we basically talk shit about FF8 and the million ways to break it? CS2 is sorta like that too, even on the hardest difficulty setting. Now granted, you needed the Crit event to get the OHKO, but considering that there are multiple other things such as but not limited to:
1) Delay locking. This is even better because like Fie and Angie have Delaying techs as well and can help out with this task
2) Calling in a mecha for free damage (held back by being in the operation phase, but hey)
3) Overdriving twice for free damage.
4) Infinite turn works
5) 1-2 CT Tier 5 spell casting
and you've got a game where you kind of have to let the enemies play to see what they can do. I know for a fact for example, that Pyro, even on Normal has a MT OHKO. This could be bullshit normally, but in Cold steel 2 this isn't even remotely enough since he kind of needs a turn first, which if you are playing optimally means he will never see one.
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To be clear I like Suikoden II, but sorry, Riou is a complete marshmallow to a frustrating degree. If the game wanted to sell the idea that Riou genuinely believes in Jowy while also believing in the cause he has just been leading and fighting for, they could have written him some dialogue that indicates that rather than "...", the dialogue choice for the stunned and confused person who's out of their depth. I want to play as someone who can go toe-to-toe with the villain and argue their side (which may well be "This isn't you, Jowy! We can stop the carnage! I know you care!" or some such if they really want to hype Riou the believer-in-Jowy), not shut down and either concede or mutely, uh, something. Jowy's actions at the Conference are a grievous insult, a betrayal, and a breach of honor; act like it! If this was a one-off I could write it off as an exception or a writing gap, except the rest of the game seems to concur with Riou = charismatic figurehead (who doesn't display THAT much charisma, but whatever, silent main problems), Shu = brains who bails Riou out of trouble.
107 star ending with murdering Jowy to hell in the duel totally canon. Kill the bastard.
With the caveat that silent mains suck and this argument kinda shows why... I don't have a problem with Riou reacting to that scene by being stunned, rather than being angry, which seems to be the crux of your complaint? Though yeah, obviously Riou is a bit of a figurehead leader of the war effort. He's both a silent main and fifteen. The game would have been stronger if Riou were a stronger personality, but so it goes.
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So...by demand in chat, my next abridged has been chosen and it'd be an unconventional pick, so without further ado...
Final Fantasy 14: Stormblood Abridged
Ok, so before we start, a quick note that yes, I will be inserting Meepel into this as though she's the "canon" main because it's far more interesting than a silent protagonist. She has a gimmick, which...well...you'll figure it out! No, I will not tell you what certain letters mean!
Faize: Wait, why am I here?
Narrator: Because I quit and someone else is going to narrate this story, and since you were the original person who broke the fourth wall and criticized...
Faize: That seems hardly fair...
Narrator: Deal with it.
Faize: *sigh* Fine. *ahem* So after ending a 1000 year long war by stabbing a Dragon in the face...
P. Meepel: Multiple times I might add!
Faize: HEY! Don't break the fourth wall this early! Anyway, and then trounced the Warriors of Darkness who threatened to break reality because they were pissed off.
D. Meepel: Nay, they were a dishonorable crew trying to revive gods in order to kill them so people would kill themselves. They got the rightful JUSTICE!!! they deserved and were...not actually killed, but have to deal with Minfillia...I guess that counts? Oh, and Alisaie decided to be awesome, a true warriors warrior!
Faize: Ok, you just broke the 4th Wall AND stole part of my narrative! And then with the help of Nero, our heroes unleashed FF5 Omega on FF5 Shinryu, leading fanboys to squee, and there was a lot of war, death and oh yeah, apparently that's where we left off.
W. Meepel: MEEPEL SMASH PUNY SLOPPY MAN!
Faize: ok, screw it, just start the story in the Rising Stones already, this narrative isn't really working.
*in the Rising Stones*
Alphinaud: So, now that we've basically broken down Baelsar's Wall, killed the Griffon, watched a robot fight a giant dragon, named said Dragon, I think it's time we go to Ala Mhigo.
P. Meepel: Sounds good to me. At least it's not that frozen wasteland that is Ishgard.
D. Meepel: Yeah, but it's probably hot, I need to find proper attire that is both comfortable in the heat, yet not unfitting of a true honorbound hero like myself!
Alisaie: Is she...talking to herself?
Alphinaud: Yes, yes she is. You'll get use to it in due time, sister. Anyway, as Scions, we should form a party and head out. We need volunteers besides myself, so whose in?
Lyse: Me.
Y'shtola: Me.
Krile: Me.
Alisaie: Me.
Alphinaud: Well, that was easy. I guess Urianger, you stay behind and research primals because that's all you ever do.
Urianger: Got it!
Alphinaud: And I guess Thancred will single handedly defend Eorzea while we're gone?
Thancred: Already defended 5 times in the past 10 minutes!
Alphinaud: I...just...nevermind. There is one member we still need to address *eyes Meepel*
P. Meepel: ...yes?
Alphinaud: We're going to a foreign land, and the Garlean Empire is there and seeing as you took down a legatus...and multiple gods...and a giant robot meant to kill said gods...a huge Dragon that was the first brood...
P. Meepel: I don't see any of that is relevant...
Alphinaud: What I'm saying is...you're single handedly the most valuable person on the team when fighting off a whole miltiary and we need you, please come?
P. Meepel: ...you're not going to let me say no, are you?
Alphinaud: Not really.
D. Meepel: I guess FOR HONOR, and GLORY, I will go and help defend Eorzea in Ala Mhigo!
Alphinaud: ...I'll take that as a yes, but before we go, let's see how our Doman allies are!
*next room*
Yuigiri: Yeah, we'd love to help but I think we need to check on Doma. I mean, we did just see a huge dragon fly off in that direction and SOMEONE has to help out.
Gotsetsu: And I had chance to introduce myself, SO MY TIME IS UP FOR NOW!
Alisaie: ...is he drunk?
Yuigiri: I don't think "sober" applies to him ever.
*in Gyr Abania*
Raubahn: Ah, the Scions, excellent. We've set up camp here.
Lyse: So what's the situation?
Raubahn: Exactly the same as it was yesterday. In any event, we need someone to talk to the Ala Mhigans to joining.
Alphinaud: Well that's why we're here!
Raubahn: Yes, but we can't find where they are!
Lyse: I know where they are, leave it to me!
*at a giant freaking rock*
Alphinaud: All I see is a huge boulder.
W. Meepel: Boulder? MEEPEL SMASH GIANT BOULDER!
Y'shtola: Wait, there's no boulder here...that's a glamour to hide the area, isn't it?
Lyse: Exactly right! I will use this Glamour Dispeller to get through it!
*inside the resistance camp*
Conrad: Aha, so you're from the Eorzean Alliance, welcome!
Lyse: It's good to be back, but we have urgent news to as-...
Conrad: You're going to ask us to join, aren't you, or at least an alliance?
Alisaie: Look, can we cut out all the middle stuff and you just say yes so we can get on with this?
Conrad: ...ok, that works. We're in, but people need a MORALE BOOST before we can be effective.
Alphinaud: Ok, but I'll have nothing to do with that, I need to head back and get people from the Scion base, GOOD DAY!
Alisaie: ...after all that, he just leaves...
P. Meepel: He does that a lot...
Alisaie: I didn't say I was surprised...wait, where did Y'shtola and Krile go?
D. Meepel: Tending the wounded, like any good healer should! SUCH DEDICATION TO THEIR JOB! IT BRINGS A TEAR TO MY EYE ;_;
W. Meepel: Meepel hate puny garleans. Meepel want crush Garlean scum!
Alisaie: Well, all we need is a token victory to raise morale...anything our information sources can help with?
M'naago: Well...you see...
Alisaie: WHO ARE YOU AND WHERE DID YOU COME FROM!?
M'naago: ...we've already met though! I helped at Baelsar's Wall! It's not fair!
Alisaie: ...I'll take your word for it...
M'naago: ANYWAY, apparently there's some prototype Magitek Armor they want tot est out and we can ambush it. If we can destroy it ahead of time, it'll be a minor but impactful blow that will sure to help people out!
Alisaie: And we can use the element of surprise, let's go tell Pippin!
P. Meepel: Wait, why Pippin? Shouldn't we tell his far more capable father?
Alisaie: Look, he needs a chance to prove himself. I mean, he's a Gladiator despie being a Lalafell, you of all people should respect that...
P. Meepel: Well, can't say you don't have a point...
*Eorzean Alliance Camp*
Pippin: That plan sounds a little too convenient, and will only really work if they have an incompetent leader that we may or may not have run into already.
Alisaie: That's another way of saying "Let's do it" isn't it?
Pippin: Pretty much.
M'naago: Eorzeans have a weird way of using words.
P. Meepel: Well, if you want to be technical, Alisaie is from Sharlya, and Raubahn is from Ala Mhigo and...wait what were we talking about right now?
D. Meepel: We were going to destroy a horrible murder machine to save the lives of many defenseless innocents.
P. Meepel: Oh, right, heroing!
*after many failed attempts due to FF14 Early Access shenanigans I am forced to reference*
Raubahn: Ok, we're in position.
Pippin: Wait, father, when did you get here?
Raubahn: I was always part of this mission!
Alisaie: SHHH! You're going to give away our position.
Grynwald*: Ah, I dinnae this we have any trouble 'bout ere, laddies. Easy pickins!
Pippin: That giant robot is probably the Magitek Armor. So what's the best course of...
W. Meepel: MEEPEL SMASH MAGITEK ARMOR!!! *Charges in with a huge freaking axe*
Pippin: ...I guess there's no point in figuring that out now...
Alisaie: Let's just get this over with...
*I forget how you spell his name but going with that for now
*one fight later*
Grynwald: Wut? I b'en bested by the Warrior of Light again!? Blast, Ah'll get ye next time, ye brute!
D. Meepel: A decisive and honorable victory! *whistles the FF Victory theme while doing Cloud's winning stance*
M'naago: Did her axe just turn into a glowing Greatsw-...
Alisaie: Yes, yes it did, and we don't have time to explain that!
*back at Rhalgr's Reach, the resistance camp*
Conrad: Excellent, that should slow them down, but we still need more men!
Lyse: I got an idea, I'll go to my hometown and ask them for help, surely they'll do us a solid!
Meffrid: Can I be important and help too?
Lyse: Sure, why not. Meepel, you're coming with me too!
P. Meepel: Of course I am, not because I want to, but because literally nothing gets done if I am not there to take action.
Lyse: See, you're catching on!
P. Meepel: Oh don't worry, I figured this out a long time ago...like, around the time I fought Ifrit long ago...on reflection, why haven't I quit again?
D. Meepel: Honor?
P. Meepel: ...eh, sure, why not.
*at Lyse's hometown*
Lyse: Hey guys, LET'S FIGHT THE GARLEANS!
Elder: No.
Lyse: What!? But why?
Elder: Look, while you were busy having fun in Eorzea dancing around and punching things with your sister Yda...
Lyse: Technically, Yda wasn't there much and I was more punching things alongside a bothersome intellectual Lalafell Thaumaturge...
Elder: NOT THE POINT! Point is, we've lost so much, and living is the best we got, we're not going to throw our lives away.
Lyse: But...
Elder: YOU HAVE NO PLACE HERE DESERTER!
Lyse: You're spineless!
Elder: AND STILL ALIVE!
P. Meepel: So while you two were arguing, I caught wind that a merchant is lost and we should probably go help him.
Lyse: What does that have to do with our quest?
P. Meepel: I dunno, just it's a lot more interesting than hearing you two argue in circles.
D. Meepel: Plus, a helpless soul like may be in trouble! WE MUST MAKE HASTE TO INSURE NOTHING BAD HAPPENS
P. Meepel: And yeah, what she said.
Meffrid: So...can I help on this mission?
Lyse: Sure.
Meffrid: Yay, I can be important!
*one useless quest later*
Meffrid: Was I important?
Lyse: I...oh look, a former friend of mine!
Youth: YOU'RE A JERK!
Lyse: But...
Youth: LOOK AT US! AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!
P. Meepel: I have no idea what's going on...
D. Meepel: Alas I myself am perplexed...
W. Meepel: Meepel's Head hurts...
Meffrid: Hey, I heard some other guy is in trouble, we should help him!
Lyse: FINE! If it means I don't have to deal with this jerk!
*a quest in a ziggurat later*
Merchant: Thank you, now I need to BRING THESE ILLEGAL OBJECTS OVER QUESTIONABLE TERRITORY!
P. Meepel: This won't go over well, will it?
Lyse: He's going to get himself killed...
D. Meepel: TO RESCUE HIM WE WILL!
Meffrid: Indeed, let's go!
*at the bridge*
Lyse: Are those...Garleans?
Meffrid: Worse, Skulls!
P. Meepel: Are you going to explain what skulls are?
Meffrid: No!
*scene where-in Ala Mhigans who sympathize with Garlea beat up worthless merchant and walk away*
Lyse: That's horrible...
Meffrid: BUt that's the reality. He's alive, which is lucky for him.
Fordola: I smell something...probably not important, BUT I AM IMPORTANT!
Meffrid: Did I here someone being important!?
Lyse: No, you didn't, let's go back!
*back at the hometown*
Elder: You helped us, thank you, but unfortunately much as we want to help, we simply do not have the man power. I apologize but we want to, but can't.
Youth: I can.
Elder: WE HAVE NO ONE WHO CAN HELP!
Youth: No, really, I can help you guys.
Elder: MAY THE GODS BE WITH YOU!
Youth: ...yeah, I'm helping you guys.
Lyse: Well, one is better than nothing!
*at Rhalgr's Reach*
Conrad: Well, it seems we have a few more warriors...
P. Meepel: By a few, you mean one...
Conrad: And the empire's forces are dwindled a bit!
W. Meepel: MEEPEL SMASH PUNY SECRET WEAPON!
Conrad: So we can finally make our move, right?
Alisaie: Yes, let's get this battle under way! We shall plot our next move!
Alphinaud: Plot? Did someone say plot!?
Alisaie: Where...did you come from? How did you get here so fast?
Alphinaud: ...teleporting is a basic magic ability anyone in Eorzea has, sister, why are you surprised?
Alisaie: I dunno, just didn't expect to see you like this.
Alphinaud: Anyway, I brought someone willing to help.
Arevold: I AM AREVOLD! I AM HALF ALA MHIGAN! PLEASURE TO MEET YOU!
Conrad: ...
Alisaie: ...
Lyse: ...
P. Meepel: ...
D. Meepel: SUCH PASSION! SUCH SPIRIT! GLAD TO HAVE YOU ABOARD!
Conrad: So...go tell the Alliance that we're ready to make our move.
Alphinaud: Got it! Let's go tell Raubahn!
*at the Castrum*
Raubahn: Attacking when they least expect it? Ok, sounds good, let's go!
*meanwhile, at Zenos' castle*
Zenos: Ah, the joys of being IN CHARGE OF EVERYTHING. Tell me soldier, what's the status...
Soldier: Well uh...sir...things are as normal...
Zenos: Are you...being useless!?
Soldier: NO sir! By the spikes on your father's spikes I am useful, sir!
Zenos: Ah, good, you are-...wait, are yo mocking my father's fashion sense!?
Soldier: No sir! I did not make fun of the fact that he has too many spikes than should be feasible for someone to wear!
Zenos: That sounds like mockery to me! YOU WILL PAY FOR SUCH INSOLENCE!
*murders soldier*
Fordola: Sir, I have a plan that we can rid the rebels.
Soldier #2: KNOW YOUR PLACE ALA MHIGAN WORM!
Fordola: But sir, I have an ide-...
Soldier #2: YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A PAWN FOR US! BE HONORED WE LET YOU FIGHT ALONGSIDE US, DOG!
Zenos: Calm yourself, this "dog" seems to wish to hunt her own kin, I believe she at least deserves to be humored.
Fordola: Sir! My idea is this!
*fade away*
*at the attack site*
Pippin: Excellent, everything is in range!
P. Meepel: Yes, things are looking good.
Alphinaud: If everything goes well, this should be a decisive blow!
Alisaie: Indeed. I mean, what could go wrong!?
P. Meepel: ...
Alphinaud: ...
Alisaie: Did I say something wrong?
P. Meepel/Alphinaud: THAT'S THE WORST POSSIBLE THING ANYONE CAN SAY!
Alisaie: I don't know what you-...
*explosion in Rhalgr's Reach*
D. Meepel: Alas! We must quit this attack and aide the resistance! THEY WILL NEED OUR HELP!
Alphinaud: Hate to say it, but she's right.
*at Rhalgr's Reach, battle between Resistance and Garleans*
Meffrid: *kills a Garlean* HA! See!? I'M IMPORTANT!
Fordola: Important you say!? WELL SO AM I!
Meffrid: THEN PROVE YOUR IMPORTANCE TO ME!
Fordola: PERHAPS I WILL! ENGARDE!
*Fordola wins*
Meffrid: NO! I'm suppose to be important *dies*
Lyse: MEFFRID! Traitorous scum, you will pay for this!
Fordola: really? And what are you going to do against someone IMPORTANT LIKE ME!
Lyse: Simply. Punch you in the face! After all, I'm not just important, I'M A MAIN CHARACTER!!
*cue cool fight scene here*
Zenos: Down, woman! You clearly are not worthy of fighting a MAIN CHARACTER.
Fordola: I...I...
Zenos: Back down, I will handle this!
Lyse: DIE GARLEAN SCUM!
*she punches Zenos, who blocks all her punches with one hand ala a Shonen Anime Villain*
Zenos: My turn! *knocks Lyse down* And now...you die! *goes for killing blow*
Y'shtola: I GOT THIS! *Barrier*
Zenos: Clever...a magic barrier...BUT IT WON'T BE ENOUGH!
*Barrier shatters, Y'shtola slashed*
Lyse: Y'shtola! NO!!!
Zenos: Oh look, I might have killed her!
Lyse: She can't die, not like this!
*meanwhile, at the entrance*
Alphinaud: Krile! What's going on?
Krile: We were attacked, what do you THINK happened?
Alphinaud: Well, I uhh...
Alisaie: Can we just go in and fight them?
P. Meepel: I agree with the female Lleveliar!
Alphinaud: Ok, so our party consists of me, who is an Arcanist and my Obsidian Carbuncle, that's DPS. Pippin is a Gladiator, that's a tank, Krile is a Conjurer and...Alisaie, what are you?
Alisaie: I have a sword, what do you think I am?
Alphinaud: But you...don't have a shield...
P. Meepel: Look, I'm a tank too, we can do this with 3 tanks instead of a 2nd DPS, so let's just rush in there ok?
*one awesome single player instanced later*
D. Meepel: We have rescued many a fallen ally! Let us press on and defeat our foes further!
Pippin: Someone please translate that for me?
W. Meepel: MEEPEL SMASH PUNY IMPERIALS!
Pippin: ...fair enough.
*team gets to Lyse who is captured, and rescues her*
Lyse: Conrad and Y'shtola need healing, now! THEY'RE GOING TO DIE!
Krile: On it! Alphinaud, get the old guy.
Alphinaud: Right!
Zenos: All these foes were worthless, but perhaps you 3 will be good.
Pippin: Is he referring to us?
Alisaie: I think so...
P. Meepel: So...we have 3 Gladiators against him...does anyone else find this redundant?
Zenos: You must be bad at math, because I only see ONE Gladiator!
P. Meepel: Oh god, not that cliche...
Alisaie: What are you-*is knocked out by one move, Pippin too*
P. Meepel: ...Ok, I can do this, I've beaten Gods and other crazy things before! ...with a full party of 4 or 8...that consisted of varied fighting styles...aaaah crap...
D. Meepel: Fear not, we can do this! We just need to push through with STRENGTH, HONOR AND-...
*explosion that ends the fight*
D. Meepel: ...I did not forsee such a tactic, you win this round, villain!
P. Meepel: Leave the planning to me next time!
D. Meepel: You had given up hope, do not pretend as though your outcome would be any better!
P. Meepel: And thanks to you, we're going to be feeling sore for at least a week!
D. Meepel: BUT AT LEAST I WENT OUT LIKE A MAN!
P. Meepel: ...but...that...I...you...
W. Meepel: QUIET! MEEPELS NOISY AND MAKING ME ANGRY!
P. Meepel/D. Meepel: YES MA'AM!
Zenos: If you're quite done arguing with yourself...
P. Meepel: NEVER!
D. Meepel: HUSH! Let the vile one speak...
Zenos: I have to say...there is no point in continuing this and...why is my sword broken...screw it, I'm going to use that as an excuse to leave, GOOD BYE!
Alisaie: Why did he leave you alive?
Lyse: No! Y'shtola, don't die!
Krile: SHhh! She'll be fine...kind of...look she needs a doctor, I've done all I can.
Alphinaud: Meanwhile, this old guy is fully healed.
Krile: Wait what? I'm the healer and you healed him better?
Alphinaud: Turns out he wasn't actually injured, just fell asleep...in the middle of the battle...not even sure how he did that...
Conrad: Either way, we've lost, but it seems we need a new approach.
Raubahn: Hmm...Zenos controls both this area and Doma...whcih is across the sea.
Alphinaud: AHA! Meepel, do you know what we need to do!?
P. Meepel: ...I get the feeling you're going to tell me anyway... *actual dialog prompt option*
Alphinaud: Why yes, WE SHOULD GO TO DOMA!
P. Meepel: ...why?
Alphinaud: Well, you see, he rules over there and here so...
P. Meepel: ...go on...
Alphinaud: Someone can't be in two places at once...even for someone as perfect as you that's impossible...
P. Meepel: Oh trust me, I'll find a way, just you wait!
D. Meepel: This is not a time for jest!
P. Meepel: ...who said I was joking?
Alphinaud: EIther way, it'll force them to split their forces, and we attack on two fronts! Of course we'll need a Scion kept back here to watch over Y'shtola and keep things under control. Someone smart with high healing capabilities, ideally small so they can get around fast...
Krile: ...look, just say it already. "Krile, can you please stay behind and handle things here?" It's faster and less patronizing!
Alphinaud: Er...ok, Krile, can you stay here and help out?
Krile: See, that wasn't so hard! And of course I can.
*The above few lines actually happen*
Alphinaud: IN any event, since it's across the sea, TO LIMSA LOMINSA!!!!
*in Limsa Lominsa*
Alisaie: Ok, brother, I get that this is a port town, but let's be real...WE CAN'T TAKE AN AIRSHIP INTO GARLEAN TERRITORY AND WE CANNOT TAKE AN ARMADA SHIP.
Alphinaud: I know, I kind of didn't think that far in advance...
Lyse: Aren't you the brains of the group?
Alphinaud: Hey, I didn't say I didn't have a plan...
Lyse: Well, do you?
Alphinaud: ...not really, BUT TATARU DOES!
Tataru: Yes, I do! Meet the leader of the Kraken's Arms, Carvallain!
Alisaie: ...he's a pirate...
Carvallain: Yes, yes I am!
Alisaie: ...why are we trusting a pirate?
Carvallain: Because you have no other option!
Alphinaud: Forgive my sister, she can be a little...blunt...at times. Look, we need your help, can you offer it?
Carvallain: Yes, yes I can, and I have already been compensated. Please note I can't take you to Doma, just across the sea to Kugane.
Alphinaud: It's a start, let's do it! We should first ask our Doman allies to come aboard for some guidance of course...
P. Meepel: Wait, does that mean...no, please, don't tell me you need...
Alphinaud: Meepel, please return to the Rising Stones.
P. Meepel/D. Meepel/W. Meepel: NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
*one return later*
D. Meepel: I swear, those words should be considered illegal and justice should be dealt upon anyone who says them as a result!
P. Meepel: I agree.
Alphinaud: Well, let's get going!
Urianger: Hey, I'm in this game, let me do something!
Alphinaud: Er...what do you want to do?
Urianger: I have this cool looking Crystal Rapier for Alisaie.
Alisaie: But I have a cool looking Crystal Sword already!
Urianger: BUt this one is lighter and better suited for you! Let's face it, you're not exactly tanking material.
P. Meepel: Yeah, that's my job!
Uiranger: But this should let you stab things more efficiently, try it out!
Alisaie: ...you neglected to mention the convenient detach-able orb on this that let's me cast magic too...any reason for that?
Urianger: Look just take the rapier and change your fighting style to Red Mage which is how you actually trained.
Alisaie: Right!
Alphinaud: Ok, NOW we can go!
*one boat trip and an overdue filler dungeon later that we don't need to talk about*
Alisaie: Well, here we are.
Lyse: Indeed, but we're still not on the mainland of Othard.
Alphinaud: ok, Pirate, I know you've done what you were paid for, but can you at least answer me a question out of good faith?
Carvalliar: SHoot.
Alphinaud: How would one go about getting to the mainland from here?
Carvalliar: Ask people, you're not the first visitors here trying to get to Doma after all.
Alphinaud: Right, Yuigiri came through here no doubt, let's find details!
Merchant (name eludes me, but he has one): Aha, there you Scions are!
Alphinaud: And who are you?
Merchant: Lolorito sent me.
Alphinaud: GOOD DAY WE ARE LEAVING!
Merchant: Oh COME ON! Are you still upset over the Crystal Braves thing?
Alphinaud: Lolorito is like the single least trustworthy guy ever, I already know this is a bad idea.
Merchant: Can't you at least listen to me?
Alphinaud: Why should I?
Merchant: Because I have important info. If you come with me, I can tell you...besides, there's spies everywhere.
Faize: And so the Scions end up in Kugane. Will they join Lolorito? Will they succeed? And will Meepel ever get in touch with her Healer side?
P. Meepel/D. Meepel: NO!
Faize: Tune in next time for Stormblood Abridged!
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Luca remains one of the most monstrous, in your face villains there is. I was just pondering if, 70 years into Dunan’s future, will there be plaques in Highland commemorating the death of people of Muse? I feel like the facts of that will get out sooner or later. (And will there be Muse-Ritual-Sacrifice Deniers?)
S3 mentions a revolt in the Highlands. Makes me think the darker path is more likely (Luca lionized like Stalin and Jowy being the villain). People, especially those who are oppressed, will forgive a lot for someone who is a winner and lead them to success. Luca was a sadistic killer, but he also was an extremely effective leader who brought the Highlands to the brink of victory over the city state in a pretty short period of time before his death.
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Star Ocean 3 (answering El Cid with this post cause writing on PSN makes me want to die)
This has aged really badly, like really really badly.
Issues are:
- plot and dialogue
- AI PCs
- music
- battles. To clarify the game aims for higher technicality than button mashing SO1/2, notably with sidesteps / AAA / energy bar. Fine idea but the rest of the game works against it, there is just often too much 1) shit going on in general 2) sfx 3) stunlocking weird pattern enemies 4) Camera zoom in/ out extravaganza 5) AI PCs ruining your day, for all this to work. I'm playing solo Fayt to compensate but this also makes the game a gankfest
- hausers
- Maps: either you try to 100% maps and have a miserable time, or you don't and end up with the Worst Maps In The World
- 15 max CP? Fuck you
- Item creation is way less fun for no reason
- NPCs furnishing their houses weirdly. Why is a chair blocking the way?
- PCs screaming the name of their moves before using them
- BLAZING........................................
- literally every game has battle trophies now and everybody hates them, sorryyy
- Fayt saying "Oh oh!!" before battles, channeling Mickey Mouse
- Fayt saying "That was fun!" After a life and death fight. What is wrong with you you fucking psycho
- Sophia's jeans
- ........................................ SWORD
The good:
- It's full of ambitious ideas thrown together with no respect for cohesion.
- the plot twist
- the murder of pacific noblemen for no reason
- item creation music
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I disagree with quite a number of things there but I will instead reply to
- Fayt saying "That was fun!" After a life and death fight. What is wrong with you you fucking psycho
This one is pretty much bang on. It's not exclusive to Star Ocean by any means, although Tri-Ace does seem to have a thing for it. Even worse is games where you win a battle quickly and the characters are all "how boring, when are we gonna fight some challenging foes?" I'm pretty sure almost nobody would actually think that and anyone who would is seriously mentally ill.
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Pacific or Pacifistic nobleman? I don't remember murdering Laggy in the game...
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Pacific is correct, actually! In fact it's probably a better choice than pacifistic, which... I hesitate to say "isn't a word" because it does occasionally get used, but most style guides would probably tell you not to use it ("pacifist" is already a fine adjective).
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pacific (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pacific)
The ocean is actually named after this word.
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Pacific or Pacifistic nobleman? I don't remember murdering Laggy in the game...
It's DLC
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Pacific or Pacifistic nobleman? I don't remember murdering Laggy in the game...
https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/09/21
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This has aged really badly, like really really badly.
Having played through this from speedrunning after multiple years after, I agree. It's kind of amazing how many people would still defend it vehemently as like the best game ever though. It's weird. Not as bad as say OoT, but for a game like SO3, you wouldn't expect there to be as many people being vocal about it.
- battles. To clarify the game aims for higher technicality than button mashing SO1/2, notably with sidesteps / AAA / energy bar. Fine idea but the rest of the game works against it, there is just often too much 1) shit going on in general 2) sfx 3) stunlocking weird pattern enemies 4) Camera zoom in/ out extravaganza 5) AI PCs ruining your day, for all this to work. I'm playing solo Fayt to compensate but this also makes the game a gankfest
The only way I can ever really play it again I think nowadays is to turn everyone on Manual so the AI isn't running around like crazy and there is less crap happening. Also make it more fun by being able to micro everything.
PS: You can set the camera to fix position so it doesn't go all WHOAMG BATTLE SKILLZ when you activate one. Should help with the crazy camera movement.
- Maps: either you try to 100% maps and have a miserable time, or you don't and end up with the Worst Maps In The World
Map completion is also completely bonkers because to get 100% you have to walk into weird corners and generally maneuver Fayt around like a complete idiot. I don't think people move around like that normally. Better yet, when you get 100% maps on some areas, the game drops an item into your lap worth a lot of money! Bad News: It can also slow you down in battle by 50% making everyone move like Maria and Maria move like a sloth.
- 15 max CP? Fuck you
Yeah, this makes no sense. It really gimps the set ups you can do and makes the game less interesting since often times you're stuck to really only using 2 skills despite a wide berth of solution. If you wanted to put a draw back on setting skills, you could have also made a skill that ups CP but costs a support slot or something.
- PCs screaming the name of their moves before using them
Anime man. It is bad.
- literally every game has battle trophies now and everybody hates them, sorryyy
I like how they also cost like 2 Megabytes on your memory card and just ate space. It was innovative at the time for achievements I guess, but then some of the trophies are just bizarre. Like there is one that awards you for spending 2 hours in battle. Not cumulative, but having a fight go on for 2 hours.
On a side note - I don't mind Blazing Sword having a long start up. It gives the move a notable disadvantage, which helps hold it back a bit. In the early game, Blazing Sword is really good and since you learn the skill at level 6 or something. If you are referring to the dialogue, yeah, Fayt announcing his battle skills there sounds really weird due to the long pause. I really wish I had the JP version still so I can play this game without understanding anything.
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Fenrir man just plug a keyboard into the PS4. Messaging problem solved.
I was chipping away at SO3 last week before getting Shanghai'd by FFXIV expansion, and have been having similar thoughts. Probably much less negative in their intensity, but still encountered enough "Why, Tri-Ace, why" moments to reach basically the same conclusion. Combat is a lot floatier than I remembered, regular attacks swing right over low enemies all the time, etc. Also AI PCs getting themselves killed or not healing reliably (it seems like I have to play healer myself to consistently keep everyone alive in a boss fight). The CP ceiling is really the worst idea in the mix, though. If that was at least notably higher, it wouldn't limit the gameplay as much as it does.
It's still basically a fun game? Fayt, Cliff, and Nel mesh really well as a protagonist team and I'll forgive a game a lot for the continuing opportunity to listen to Nel talk. But the privileged position it held since like 2005 as one of Cid's favorite games is definitely dispelled. (This almost makes me afraid to replay Breath of Fire 5, something else I've been meaning to reconnect with for a while.)
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Pacific is correct, actually! In fact it's probably a better choice than pacifistic, which... I hesitate to say "isn't a word" because it does occasionally get used, but most style guides would probably tell you not to use it ("pacifist" is already a fine adjective).
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pacific (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pacific)
The ocean is actually named after this word.
I am aware. This tends to matter little for making jokes.
EDIT: Though yes I should've gone with Pacifist. Damn.
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Shadow of the Colossus: Beaten Malus. Because it's the final boss, it was easily the most nerve-racking fight in the game. This was due to Malus being the tallest of the colossi, which meant that falling off at any point would cause the player to lose quite a bit of progress, and the method of navigating it involves jumping whilst clinging to it's body which was a technique that I hadn't quite mastered by that time. Another factor that adds to the tension of the fight was the atmosphere which the setting created. While a thunderstorm is quite a cliched backdrop for dramatic fights in most works of fiction, here it is used to add to the bleak nature of the fight. As RabbidLuigi described in his 'most depressing bosses' video, even nature itself wants to prevent Wander from committing the crime of murdering every colossi.
As for the game as a whole, it easily deserves the hype it gets from critics and gamers as a whole. Every colossi fight feels unique in terms of design, even the weaker ones such as Basaran can be admired for the ambition the developers had to create an engaging fight. The sections where the player explores the overworld to find the colossi sound dull due to the lack of enemies and sidequests, but they actually allow you to keep on your toes to anticipate the moment when you wake your next opponent and they don't feel as though they pad out game time with dull puzzles or fetch quests. The AI in the game is rather solid for the most part, though Phaedra takes a while to start searching for the player when they are hiding from it. Agro's AI is particularly stellar as she accelerates rather quickly and she'll arrive to your aid almost immediately after you have Wander call her. I suppose Team Ico wanted to make Agro as competent as possible in order to allow the scene when she sacrifices herself to allow Wander to continue finding Malus even more effective.
I also believe that the game is pretty fantastic from a presentation and narrative standpoint. The game's world looks great and has managed to hold up with its realistic visuals much better than the likes of Twilight Princess (who the fuck thought the faces on the likes of Ilia looked passable?), and the soundtrack has several highlights that have become some of my favourite video game songs. The Opened Way, Revived Power and Despair Filled Farewell are my big favourites from the game right now. The narrative is very minimalistic which works immensely to the game's favour. Only the key plot points are presented to the player and quite a bit of backstory is left to the imagination. For example; the player clearly understands Wander's motivation to revive Mono, but his prior relationship with her is up for debate. Were they lovers? Was she his sister? Did they have darker connections? That's only the beginning of the ambiguous plot points and character motivations in the game. While several important narrative aspects are kept vague, they are clear enough for the player to understand the storyline perfectly and react in the ways which the writers intended.
I've gone quite a bit about the game, but I feel that Team Ico put so much effort into every aspect that I have to give suitable enough credit to them. This has easily become one of my favourite games of all time and I would highly recommend this to anyone who can at the very least tolerate open world titles. As for the other games I have played this week; I'll get round to them next week, I feel I've gone on long enough in this post.
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Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia- Finished the maingame. Knowing that the aftergame is 99% one stupid long dungeon definitely inclines me to not do it, but we'll see.
Highlight notes:
- Dungeons are certainly the weakest part of the game, but aside from teh final dungeon they mostly keep it all short enough to be fairly tolerable. I do like how the town segments work actually though, helps keep track of quests and makes getting goodies pretty straightforward.
- They did a good job attaching personalities to the original cast, and of fleshing out plot points all over. There's one big issue, but we'll dig into that later.
- Except when they just straight up added new cast members they were basically the worst ones. Like dude Faye is just not fun to sit through. Well, for the PCs, the villain additions... also more below.
- Oh c'mon, you just don't get access to Celica's party between the end of C4 and the final battle? Not even a chance to promote? Laaaame.
- As alluded to the final dungeon is not terribly fun, and the final map is like every annoying mechanic (damage tiles, enemies that spawn reinforcements (that spawn reinforcements), Witch teleport spam) from the game tossed on top of what's already a really nasty fight (Final Boss and Big Bad Mage Dude on the same map, final boss has a full MT attack). I dunno how one beats this game on Classic mode honestly.
Broadly this fits squarely into the middle of the series I think? Somewhat better than Sacred Stones, but clearly behind Awakening feels right. Which works out because Sacred Stones clearly pulled way more from Gaiden than most of the games, while the remake was obviously built more or less in Awakening's engine, so it being exactly between its two closest parents makes perfect sense.
Issue the First- There's a massive, massive disconnect between parts of Celica's story. Like, okay. She sets off to find Mila, and stops all over the place to help people, because she's that sort of character, but then at the end she falls into a complete funk and sets her mind on sacrificing herself because without the gods the people will surely die. Like, I feel like there's some missing aspect of the character where she can simultaneously have this intuitive sense that people have a duty to each other and can get through anything together while also believing people are helpless without the gods. I dunno, I guess it would make sense in a real-world religious context, where Gods are distant and unknowable and may not be there so Faith and that's why religions have built in commandments to help the helpless and all. But here the gods are physical persons you can go talk to, and either of the Gods don't seem like they'd have that commandment? I mean, Mila's thing is bountiful lands that require no tilling, so everyone is innately taken care of by pure virtue of living in Zofia, while Duma's all about the self-determination and relying on your own strength to make it in a harsh environment. It's a weird setting inconsistency that manifests really strongly in Celica's story arc.
Celica's really awesome for that first half or so of the game before then though so I'll allow it.
Issue the Second- This one's been discussed, but Berkut is a neat idea that gets totally botched in execution. Like having someone on the opposite side to go on the opposite character arc as Alm is a bit of naunce the game benefits from, but the cast keeps having way more sympathy for him than they should really be willing to grant? He doesn't really do anything in front of them that's not cacklingly evil. Alm being kinda distraught over the final battle with him makes some sense, he's been having an awful day and having to sever yet ANOTHER long lost blood relation would really wear on him, but everyone else is just as into it and that's weird.
Funny enough Fernand has a similar arc but works just fine, they do a better job establishing just how long he's known Clive and Clair, and do a fairly good job of limiting sympathy for him from those two (with Alm just kinda feeling bad that he indirectly caused this). He also realizes he was the asshole without selling his girlfriend's soul to a mad god so there's that.
Loses some steam in the endgame, but real strong up through roughly the end of C3 despite the way the game handles randoms and reinforcements being a bit lame. 7/10.
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I dnno, I found Faye pretty amusing (<Faye> "Watch me Alm, watch me~~, I will kill for you if you want~" <Alm> "O... kay, that's weird"). She's like the tired FE trope of the girl who crushes on the main but can't achieve him (Catria, Cordelia) taken to its extreme at which point it rolls over from sad into funny for me. But I'm not gonna fault anyone if a one-note comic character doesn't work for them.
I definitely thought the dungeon in early Alm C4 (Fear Mountain) was too long; it took me well over an hour to clear and that was with animations off. You can probably cut down on the time some by trying harder to avoid randoms but that's extremely risky since an enemy first strike that kills someone = well I guess you've gotta reset. Dungeons are probably less annoying on Casual.
Fire Emblem Echoes - About to fight Jedah for the first time, though obviously not the last. Most people are in their final class now, except for people who I've had trouble gaining levels with (Atlas, archer Grey, Clive, every General).
Zelda 2 - Did a random replay of this. Enjoyable. Still don't know why Zelda went back to the inferior top-down gameplay of 1.
Final Fantasy 5 - It's fiesta time! Doing the new mode, #regpopular, which is basically chaos but with a slight bias towards certain classes? Kind of a pointless gimmick but fiesta is still fun. Got Red Mage/Mystic Knight so far.
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FF14 Stormblood: ...yeah, not going to do abridged. Too much happens and I enjoy it less when I keep focusing on "HOW CAN I ABRIDGE THIS!?" for all that writing for Meepel was fun; I'll keep it isolated to chat moments.
In any event, just finished the Doma arc, so back to Ala Mhigo! If there's one thing I have to give Stormblood so far, it's that it has the best character work in FF14 thus far. Heavensward was good, but Stormblood seems to have perfected the style Heavensward established in this regard, having more cinematic scenes and giving more time to a larger cast.
It also highlights just how much better the ARR and after characters are relative to the pre-established ones from 1.0. The original Scions are, to be honest, kind of dull. They basically topped out at "we have...personalities..." Sure Thancred was fun and Yda could be funny but you didn't see them quite enough to have an impact, and then you have useless characters like Minfillia, or a Personalitiless Stoic in Y'shtola, and it really is no surprise that 2.0's Plot just kind of sucked. 2.X shifting to focus more on Alphinaud, introducing Doma for world building (and by extension, Yuigiri), Moenbryda was short lived but well done for that brief stint, what have you, and it only actually started getting GOOD when they started the Heavensward build up stuff late. It's almost like that plot thrust of "Primals are bad, go stab them in the face!" wasn't exactly a compelling plotline.
Sure enough, Heavensward comes out and oh look, it's NOT "We need you to do X in Y area!" but an actual storyline, one that could easily fit into a solo RPG, and as I've said, the Dragonsong War is basically the best plot stuff FF14 has done (and still is.)
Stormblood's plot isn't quite as good as the Dragonsong War, but it's at least a lot more engaging than "PRIMALS!!!" that was the majority of ARR's plot. At the same time, as I said, character work so far has just been better. Alphinaud plays a smaller role, but that's because his character arc is done from HW, and they've done good following up since the character we see here is a lot different than the pretentious, arrogant know-it-all we first met, Alisaie has been a real treat in her comeback, basically being that appropriate Sword-arm second half to Alphinaud's brain, Lyse is a functional protagonist, etc. The real good stuff kicks in at Doma, though, where Hien in his short time since he's introduced has basically been surprisingly refreshing for that RETURNING SYMBOL OF REBELLION character, in that he took a logical reason WHY he didn't just start the rebellion up again when recuperating. I think what stands out the most about Hien is despite being literally introduced in the middle of Stormblood, he's done more than basically all of the original Scions of the Seventh Dawn COMBINED Save Yda, who doesn't count because Lyse is basically a whole different character, which really just highlights how useless the original crew was. It almost feels like Yoshi-P recognized this and has been slowly trimming them away to make way for the newer characters who have universally been better and more fleshed out across the board.
I mean, they COULD give time to the older Scions, but they tried with Y'shtola and Thancred in Heavensward and I think they realized the ways these characters are established, there's really no idea what direction to take them. Y'shtola basically just has nothing to work with; they gave her one of those "it's a problem because we say it's a problem!" downsides that never actually comes up, so why should we care? Thancred's case, he had a small character arc in 3.2, but it's over in a single patch, and while he has a fun personality, you can only do so much with that. From what I can tell, I think the whole situation stems from "Minfillia was the glue that held them together" in a sense, which is a problem because Minfillia may be the deciding factor, but she's also very problem at it's core too:
A useless character who basically just exists to tell you things to do, and whenever something dangerous happens, she tends to Rinoa it up and get into trouble, begging the question of why she's so confident and assured with herself when her track record does not justify it. It doesn't help that the game Mary Sues her up with the other Scions singing the praises of how good a leader she is, despite how bad she is at the job.
MEANWHILE, in one instance we get a glimpse of Alisaie's creds as a leader by them simply stating she rallied a bunch of NPCs off screen to come and rescue you and Yugiri from an unwinnable scenario, and saves your ass. When you look at that and see Alisaie being a very capable individual on her own who can fend for herself and think in the moment, there's no question that she could make a competent leader. Minfillia, meanwhile, sits at her desk, sending people on quests, then gets attacked and her only action is "I Surrender!"
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Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment -- finished with all Red Skulls. Stays fun throughout, and twists the difficulty curve around some -- bosses are waaaaaaaaaaaaaay easier than they are for Shovel or Plague Knight, while platforming is trickier and twitchier because you're zipping around the screen with limited ability to control your angles and speed. That's not a bad thing, though! It's actually a bit reminiscent of the PS2 Shinobi reboot, which I thought was really good.
Super Mario 3D World: I never 100%'ed this. Last weekend I decided to fix that. Started at the end of World Mushroom, and am now into World Crown. The Flower levels were....surprisingly balanced? I expected way more unfairness, but being precise and reasonably quick will get you through the levels, even the most strictly timed ones. Well, that and Rosalina's double jump.
World Crown so far:
1/5 stars on the final Captain Toad level
Yet to try Champion Road
17/30 stars in the Mystery House
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Yakuza 0 - Kiryu's idling animation is to smoke a cigarette. 80's/10.
Castle in the Darkness - started a NG+ of this. Died another 50 times on the way to the castle. Love how fast-paced everything in the game is. Needs better fast travel tho. Go fig.
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Random belated comment: I mostly agree with Elf & Fenrir's quip about the strange casualness that many RPG characters have toward battles, but... even if it's life-or-death for the characters, it's a game for the player, so hey, have the characters talk about how much fun they're having, maybe it'll rub off on the player!
More seriously, there's a spectrum of tone in games from Mario Bros. (sure, Mario might "die", but you take deaths about as seriously as a three-dollar bill because you're in a brightly colored land of extra-life magic mushrooms and teleporting pipes) to The Banner Saga (your characters can die even in the visual novel segment from random non-battle crap if you choose poorly, and you the player will be guilted about it, you monster). The middle definitely has some games where Yon Vanilla Enemy is closer to Mario, and only the Big Bads can credibly threaten to kill anyone, so having fun during battles is a lot more reasonable as they aren't actually dangerous. I always liked DQV's marriage vows of "To love and cherish, in sickness and health, for as long as you both shall be resurrected from the church?" Yeah, the cute DQ monsters aren't really killing you, but the Big Bads *can* fuck you up, interestingly enough picking methods that aren't direct death (and thus subverted in-setting) but are pretty horrible anyway. Ah, nothing like getting kidnapped into slavery, escaping, then getting turned into a stone statue and having your wife kidnapped while other people raise your kids as you watch in horror, powerless. So it CAN be balanced, just usually isn't.
Why do I bring this up? Well, because of...
Trails of Cold Steel II
Got to the Infernal Castle. Niu was right, this is really really dumb. Oh well.
This is a setting of Ultimate Nerf Combat where nobody is in remote danger of death after having the crap kicked out of them in battle, but more alarmingly, nobody seems in danger plot-wise. "Oh don't worry, party member whose close family member has been kidnapped by the other side. They're an important political figure, so they're probably safe." No! No they're not! That's not how this works! Key leaders of one "side" kidnapped by the other are, like, in the top 100 most likely to get randomly executed list, and even if they weren't before, then a bunch of kids barging in the front door to save them could easily trigger a panicked guard executing them since you didn't attempt to be sneaky and free them first! (And I should add that, like, random soldiers in towns miles away seem to know exactly where you're going and when, so this isn't really much of a secret that you're coming...) Ugh. Why would the writer even want to take away from the drama of the situation? Wouldn't it be MORE intense if Our Hero said "Yeah, crap, your relative is probably in huge danger, we better save them now before the war takes a turn for the worse for the other side and they start doing desperate crazy things!" Or even "let's offer to trade our runaway son from their side in exchange for your relative's safety?" Sigh.
Other nitpicks:
* Kinda disappointed about Rean's final S-Craft. Azure Flame Slash was maybe the best S-Craft in the series for my tastes: reasonably fast, a bit ragged, and definitely focused on fucking the enemy up. It looks actually painful - two slashes and then a penetrating charge. Termination Slash -Dawn- is closer to "pose a lot then have a huge explosion fire off", with only like 1 second spent on actually slashing at the enemy rather than just dancing against nothing. Alas. Kinda the same problem a lot of the gun S-Crafts have, all Big Explosions from satellite lasers or whatever blend together after awhile. Keep it simple. ( https://youtu.be/UXxpAeQ0yvo?t=10m12s for reference)
* TIME nitpicking? Yeah. Okay, sure, FF7 doesn't care if you go to an inn like 300 times while Meteor is coming, I get it, time always passes in a matter convenient for the player. But... "oh hey, at noon we do a totally unplanned assault, you have this morning to visit every town again, go on a fetch quest, hunt down 4 epic monsters, do some intense training, forge new weaponry, etc." is a little weird. Couldn't they have had even one day for sidequesting, then one day for the operation? What psycho would do all that right before? There's even a line in-game about how "it's hard to believe it's only been two months since the start of (this game)." Yeah, no kidding, it's IMPOSSIBLE to believe that. Just add a few more days in to the calendar, nobody will complain.
* https://goo.gl/photos/HiWt8SnAF5jVWxZm9 Random & Sopko already admired this in chat. Note the Delay values. Considering who's watching in-game, I decided to not hold back and do my best. That poor boss wondering when she'll be allowed to take a turn. (Now if only the characters would actually finish her off afterward, but hahaha who am I kidding, all villains have a get-out-of-jail free card.)
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FE Echoes - Final dungeon. Annnnd suddenly this game's plot is making me want to bash my head against a wall. Oh well.
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Do all Fire Emblem plots make you want to do this or is this one particularly bad? I'm going to give the series a try with Awakening soon so I'm a bit worried if the answer turns out to be the former.
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Fire Emblem plot usually falls into the benignly generic category. There's an evil guy who wants to do evil things using some sort of Super God Thingy, and of course he is some sort of political leader and thus has an army, so your hero has to get together his own army to stop him.
What changes often is the "why" and what not. It's basically sRPG plot Mad-libs, so generally nothing stellar, but ultimately harmless too.
The Tellius games tend to be an exception, in that they actually try and in some cases actually succeed (particularly Radiant Dawn), since they do stuff like world building not seen in the other games, and the explanations and motives are well established and make sense.
Awakening's plot is also different because it's essentially Fire Emblem's attempt at Terminator-style with the "messenger from the apocalyptic future" storyline. It gets flack for this, but honestly it really comes off as just FE Hipsters hating on Awakening since it's the game that made Fire Emblem "mainstream" and god forbid it actually tried to be a little creative with it's story, but that's just my limited experience with the plot hate. It's worth noting a common retort to this is "uh, Fire Emblem games have never had good plot", to which often the response is "STILL MEANS THE PLOT IS BAD!" which misses the point since they were trying to say "Why does this matter relatively to other Fire Emblem games" which is what the whole discussion is about to begin with.
All the other games, the stories generally are just what I said. It's a pity in Fate's case because it has 3 stories and none of them are very interesting, and Snowfire can give you a far better detailed description of "Azura, MASTER STRATEGIST!" than I ever could.
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I'm assuming Elf refers either to stuff with Rudolf or stuff with Celica, both of which are bad and should feel bad (although only one I commented on in my own report.)
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* https://goo.gl/photos/HiWt8SnAF5jVWxZm9 Random & Sopko already admired this in chat. Note the Delay values. Considering who's watching in-game, I decided to not hold back and do my best. That poor boss wondering when she'll be allowed to take a turn.
Only 111 Delay? Son, I am disappoint
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Awakening's plot is also different because it's essentially Fire Emblem's attempt at Terminator-style with the "messenger from the apocalyptic future" storyline. It gets flack for this, but honestly it really comes off as just FE Hipsters hating on Awakening since it's the game that made Fire Emblem "mainstream" and god forbid it actually tried to be a little creative with it's story, but that's just my limited experience with the plot hate. It's worth noting a common retort to this is "uh, Fire Emblem games have never had good plot", to which often the response is "STILL MEANS THE PLOT IS BAD!" which misses the point since they were trying to say "Why does this matter relatively to other Fire Emblem games" which is what the whole discussion is about to begin with.
From what I've noticed; another reason why FE Hipsters don't like Awakening is because of how it got the 'waifu' crowd into the series. I'm guessing more of the 'anime girls' were featured during marketing? Either way, I'm pretty sure this demographic is the minority and a good chunk of Awakening's fanbase enjoy the game for what it is.
Also; if Awakening's plot is similar to the Terminator, I'm all for it. Even if the writing isn't too great, at least it will be fun.
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LordDirtyBrit: FE plot is fine. And Awakening is a fantastic entry point for the series. (Path of Radiance is good too, but that requires a GameCube and isn't portable and is a little difficult to find, and lacks some modern QoL features.) I like the older art style for Fire Emblem more than the modern "Waifuy" version too, but Awakening's art is still for the most part pretty good.
At its best, Fire Emblem plot tends to be "here are some awesome characters, and there's some sort of serious threat they need to work against so there's something to do, but really you're here just to watch the characters go." Good-guy driven rather than villain plot driven, IOW. The plot to Awakening is sometimes a bit dopey, but I love all the PCs and watching them bounce off each other, so whatever.
Slightly longer version: if there's a good theme that makes sense and works well with the characters, any low-level battle-to-battle plot concerns are just harmless nitpicks. If there's a massive disconnect between the stated theme and what seems to be going on, even fun low-level excuses for battles can turn sour, and nitpicks on setup can turn into "this is all so stupid."
If you want an internally consistent explanation of how exactly the Yllsiean-Plegian war or Valm invasion go in Awakening, don't get your hopes up. If you want a showdown between three leaders over sins in the past and how to rule (Act 1) or a melodramatic clash between a strategist and their dark mirror over destiny & friendship (Act 3) with a cast of zany and awesome characters, Awakening is great. (Awakening Act 2 is the weak act, but it's not offensive or anything, just filler-ish.)
Since Meeple brought up MASTER TACTICIAN AZURA, FE Fates is cool from a gameplay perspective, but it has some narrative slants seriously at cross purposes with what seems to be going on in-game, and its mission-to-mission excuses for what is going on at any one point are even worse than Awakening's. Things just happen, and then people live or die because the plot says so. On the bright side, the core melodrama of family vs. family shines through, along with having the PC cast of one story be the antagonists of the other story, which is always good for having memorable and somewhat sympathetic opponents. Just the overarching plot varies between stupid and offensive in Conquest, which is a fair sight worse than most any other FE. (Birthright is at least generic, which is actually preferred if you're me.)
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I generally prefer narratives to be ambitious even if they fail at it. Lack of ambitious storytelling has largely disengaged me from modern RPGs.
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LordDirtyBrit: FE plot is fine. And Awakening is a fantastic entry point for the series. (Path of Radiance is good too, but that requires a GameCube and isn't portable and is a little difficult to find, and lacks some modern QoL features.) I like the older art style for Fire Emblem more than the modern "Waifuy" version too, but Awakening's art is still for the most part pretty good.
I appreciate your concern, but I have Path of Radiance covered for when I want to play it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6oKjuvA55g
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There's nothing as bad as using hipster as an insult, except maybe liking FE Awakening
For real I went back to it for 1 hour and was appaled. Pair Up is handled so terribly that this has to be the worst FE mechanically. People dont even like playing it on Reverse Lunatic + 365/2 days mode, it is purely meant as EZ mode demolish things with your powerful units and enjoy the waifus. The only thing it has is content and bloat
As a FE hipster I'm way way more interested in Fates because it fixed Pair Up (but I still won't play it because it's too gross and digusting in a bad way)
Cid I don't even have a keyboard anymore. The future is weird.
Nioh: still no girl PC but I can now sell my things for girl PC money. I sold all my shit (all loot for a few missions) and got about 1/15th of a girl PC which is good. I'll sacrifice everything on this altar
Night in the woods: I'm playing this really slowly but this is so good and depressing really
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There's nothing as bad as using hipster as an insult, except maybe liking FE Awakening
For real I went back to it for 1 hour and was appaled. Pair Up is handled so terribly that this has to be the worst FE mechanically. People dont even like playing it on Reverse Lunatic + 365/2 days mode, it is purely meant as EZ mode demolish things with your powerful units and enjoy the waifus. The only thing it has is content and bloat
As a FE hipster I'm way way more interested in Fates because it fixed Pair Up (but I still won't play it because it's too gross and digusting in a bad way)
Welp, can't say I have enough knowledge on the series to provide a convincing argument. I'll still give Awakening a try based on its own merits.
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Fenrir has Fenrir tastes. Similar to RoboCop, they are half good, half bad, all Fenrir.
Awakening Pair-Up is just a straight buff 95% of the time, but the game is basically balanced around being in a Pair-Up constantly, so your strategic decision is around what kind of pair-ups make strategic sense + who you want to hook up in your own personal anime matchmaker game. (The other 5% of the time are healers, dancers, and certain rare missions where you need the absolute maximum offensive actions, so you have solo characters.) Example: Vaike is strong & slow, Lon'qu is weak & fast. Pair'em up and you have a unit that is either extremely strong with good speed or a speedy unit with good strength, and can freely switch between them by altering who's in the front of the pair-up. (While, say, Vaike & Miriel not so synergistic, an axe-dude with a magic boost or a mage with a Strength boost.) Anyway, I like Awakening Pair-Up just fine. There *is* a mechanic in Awakening that is somewhat challenge-killing if abused too much, but it's different and only shows up halfway through the game. (Tharja with Nosferatu soloing the game. Maybe optimized kids if you grind them up as well.)
Something that I in particular like about Pair-Up: a problem some earlier FEs have is dragging too many units around with you. Too much ordering the backline units to march & keep-up with the frontline. Flip side, in an ensemble cast game like FE, you want to let more of the cast shine and not have hordes of units you meet then immediately kick into the convoy. Pair-Up allows you to deploy 15 units but have the gameplay act more like moving around 8-9 units (7 pair-ups & 1 healer, say). You get to see a bunch of characters in action, but you're not getting bogged down in managing a big mob o' units.
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Incidentally, I agree with Ciato about appreciating ambition in stories, even if they occasionally fail. Part of the reason I'm one of the resident Xenosaga defenders around here! I was recently recommending FF13 to Sopko as well on the theory that even if it's a trainwreck, it's at least an interesting trainwreck. Conquest plot had to go to special lengths to manage to fly beneath the less ambitious Birthright plot in my esteem. Alas. (Also, I can't comment TOO much on FF15 plot, but some seriously dropped balls in the early game excuse for a plot. Starts off as pimp-my-ride + get married, which I eventually "got" and was cool with, and then it becomes... find the 12 legendary weapons? zzzz. I'm sure it gets ambitious again later, but this was not particularly inspiring for a midgame idea.)
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Actually, FF15's "Legendary Weapon" plot is a subplot that only comes up once in a while when it's appropriate. It seems like it's pulling Zelda's Axiom, but then you realize half of those legendary weapons are completely optional (you get an achievement for finding them all!) and 2 of them are gotten in major plot events that AREN'T derailing the main story. Thinking on it, another weapon is also gotten just kind of the way to Titan, like you walk by and go "oh hey, look! One of the Royal Arms happens to be right there! That's a narrative convenience!" So they're not randomly stalling the plot to say "we need to explore this temple to retrieve this weapon!"
No, FF15's plot goes off the rails in Chapter 14. While Chapter 9 through 13 feel kind of rushed, you can still follow what's going on, just feels like there are gaps (which Gladio's side of Chapter 13 does address some of it at least), then Chapter 14 kicks in and it's basically "Are we...playing the same game?" As I've said in chat, Chapter 14 is clearly all the remnants of v13 coming in and thus it's all Nomura nonsense that Tabata felt obligated to keep in but couldn't find a way to fit in, so fuck it, APPLY JACK HAMMER NOW! It really does feel like "This is the zombie of v13" in many ways, as opposed to the first 13 chapters which are "look, we reused the assets and characters from v13, but this is a different game entirely" (which Tabata was pretty upfront about. He kept saying "Don't expect v13, that game is long gone!")
But yeah, the game does fool you into thinking it's going to be a treasure hunt story for a while, when it lasts maybe 2 to 3 dungeons worth of content, then goes back to actual story.
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That is good to hear that the game quickly moves on from the treasure hunt, because it sure does act like that's the main questy thing to do for a bit.
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I kinda feel the opposite about pair up, 7 units is too few for Fire Emblem and low-skillset SRPGs of its ilk. I generally use it less than I "should" because it's not a very fun option.
I'll want more distance before I say this for sure but I feel like Echoes may have the worst plot of any FE game that reached a threshold of making me care. So... to be clear, I still like it better on thie front than FE11/12 because FE11/12 totally failed to engage me with their characters (I'm definitely with Snowfire that where this series succeeds on writing it's by having decent characters). Echoes deserves some credit for making me care about some of its cast, buuut as per CK's comments part of me now wishes I hadn't because of the lategame disappointment. I'm relatively more okay with Awakening and Fates writing than a lot of people (though both have their problems and are clear steps back from Tellius overall) but this effort is clearly worse to me in a few ways.
As a FE hipster I'm way way more interested in Fates because it fixed Pair Up (but I still won't play it because it's too gross and digusting in a bad way)
Hahaha don't be fooled by the character designs, Echoes is significantly more gross, which is certainly a big reason (though not the only one) I feel the way I do about the game's plot. Maybe I'll get into that when I'm done.
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Incidentally, I agree with Ciato about appreciating ambition in stories, even if they occasionally fail. Part of the reason I'm one of the resident Xenosaga defenders around here!
I can kind of relate with Metal Gear Solid 2. Quite a few people have problems with how insane the plot gets towards the end and I can understand why, but I admire how Kojima managed to both provide a warning about the digital age and how you can use it to your advantage to create a legacy. It's not a subtle execution sure, but it struck quite a chord with me.
Of course, I was meant to discuss the games I was playing in this forum, not act like a confused puppy with Fire Emblem <_<
Mega Man 4-6: I've been on a bit of a Mega Man kick lately, if only to experience several of these games for the first time. I was meant to cover MM4 a while back. Having beaten 6 recently, I thought it was a good opportunity to discuss all three. None of the three manage to meet the standards set by MM2 and MM3, both of which are among my favourite games of all time. MM4 suffers from cheap level design and several of the stages dragging on for longer than they needed to (Ring Man says hi). Though it did introduce the ability to charge your shots, so that's something I guess. MM5 fared better thanks to its superior level designs, though the robot master weapons are quite mediocre in this game (though you could claim that it promotes more strategy with the Mega Buster) and some of the bosses can be outright chores if you didn't go out of your way to get Beat. MM6 is quite possible the easiest game in the series thanks to its predictable bosses and the overpowered Rush Jet Adapter which can allow the player to skip large chunks of gameplay. In a series known for its high difficult, being on the easy end isn't much of an accomplishment.
Not sure what MM7 is going to be like. I haven't heard a clear consensus on the game.
Pokemon Black 2: Managed to beat this one during the last two weeks. This game is basically what game journalists hype GSC out to be. The game expands upon the world Black and White created before the postgame, the villains actually have some form of screen presence unlike GSC Team Rocket and flaws with the originals have been fixed such as the high encounter rate and the Pokemon selection being limited to species from generation 5. One issue I do have with the game though is that the endgame drags. The Plasma Frigate trips are a suitable climax, but Route 23 and especially Victory Road drag out for way too long. I'm beginning to see why the developers made Sun and Moon's Mt Lanakila as short as it was considering how it was placed after the long Vast Poni Canyon. Despite the long endgame though, I definitely say Black 2 and White 2 are among the series' strongest titles to this day.
Final team:
(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/448.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/462.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/530.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/407.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/637.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/121.png)
Temporary members:
(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/499.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/109.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/133.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/419.png)
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That is good to hear that the game quickly moves on from the treasure hunt, because it sure does act like that's the main questy thing to do for a bit.
Oh, I completely understand where you're coming from, trust me. It's worth noting that when I got to Chapter 9, and the game is all "ok, open world stuff ends here, TIME FOR PLOT!" I was like "But...I only have 4 weapons...are they just going to rapid fire the other ones out giving me no chance to really test them?" Turns out...no; the Royal Arms are rewards for exploration, for the most part, and only a handful are given to you in the main game. The game is also nice enough to assume you didn't find all the optional ones and thus never requires you to use them, so yeah, it's definitely "rewards for finding" and not "punishes for missing." Don't think it changes the plot at all either, outside of maybe some visual cues like a scene may show Noctis with all his Royal Armos found in Arminger mode, but that's hardly important.
Regarding Pair Up...
I think Pair Ups biggest flaw in FE13 was mostly that the game didn't give enough good reasons to NOT Pair Up, so you defaulted to that. Rarely did I feel punished for using lesser strong units. The concept was fine, but definitely needed fine tuning, and I think that's definitely something Fates handled better, as I did legitimately have to consider the pros and cons of pair up there.
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Pokemon Black 2: Beaten Iris. Yeah this game is still really good. One of my favourites in the series. It has a good selection and an interesting world to explore. There were three main issues which I had when going through the game. Those were the sewer area, no one likes sewers, the rather easy boss fights, and the rather long late-game. There are two visit to the Plasma Frigate, thankfully the visits to them are fun, and the rather lengthy Route 23 and Victory Road. Granted the Victory Road here is better than the one in DPP, but it definitely overstays its welcome.
Final team:
(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/448.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/462.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/197.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/407.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/637.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/121.png)
Jagens:
(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/499.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/109.png)(http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/419.png)
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia: I'm at Castle Dracula and I've just beaten Blackmore. I didn't enjoy Blackmore all that much. His attacks are too fast and can easily wipe half of your health in one blow. You need to have fast reflexes in order to become savvy to his attacks and finally beat him. Other than that boss though, I'm really enjoying the challenge which is added to these fights; particularly when fighting two of the plot-important characters. Exploring the castle is also really fun, the area awards you for exploring detours and overcoming some the trickier parts, the regular opponents put up a good fight and that Wallman boss is a real treat. The method of defeating the boss is so unorthodox that it's rather charming, and I like the Glyph which you get afterwards. Walking through walls whilst still having control when within them is very satisfying, especially if you decide to backtrack to the Tymeo Mountains, or at least I think that was the area which I was thinking about. It goes to show that the castle compliments the earlier hallway-like areas rather nicely. I think I can safely say that I prefer this method of going through walls than that mist ability in SotN. Speaking of the earlier areas though, this game also reminds me of Metroid Fusion in a way. Both of them sometimes get heat for being "too linear", even though they're clearly going for an action-orientated approach; which they both do effectively for my money. I think I haven't done this game justice and I should probably have saved this arse kissing until I actually beat the game. Then again, maybe I'll find more drawbacks by that time.
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Fire Emblem Echoes - Complete. 41 hours, which is higher than the average for a FE game, but I had very few true resets because of the turnwheel. Final battle spoiler notes: I didn't figure out how to kill Jedah, though this didn't ultimately matter. The final boss's mechanic of "regen 5 until his HP is below a certain threshold, then regen 40" was really weird though; I kinda had to hope for a crit to push past the last little bit. Enjoyable enough final fight anyway.
~Gameplay~
Gaiden has a reputation of being the weird/different early FE, and Echoes decided it wanted to be a reasonbly faithful remake, with modern polish. Some of Echoes weirder ideas work quite well, some not as much.
The good:
-Bows have extremely good range instead of being shitty javelins! This gives archers a niche. Archers still generally have worse stats than your other units, but unlike the Wils and Rolfs of the series, this is actually justified.
-Magic and skills costing HP is an interesting design choice and I'd say I like it overall. Mages are quite strong generally but needing to hurt themselves to do damage is certainly limiting.
-I like that supports build if you're within 2 squares instead of forcing adjacency like most (non-Tellius) games in the series.
-Ninja reinforcements are still gone. In fact, reinforcements in general are gone outside of summons (which you can deal with my killing the summoner). I can't say I miss them!
The bad:
-The game is weirdly light on documentation for FE at times; it feels unpolished. Hit, Avoid, Crit, and Dodge are not shown on the status screen. Evolving weapons using forging tells you nothing and seems to just encourage FAQ use.
-Dungeons are bad. I find how many JRPGs handle on-map randoms kinda obnoxious at the best of times (punishing me with an enemy ambush if I try to avoid them and fail = bleh). It's worse in a game like this when randoms take a while since it's a SRPG. Said randoms are also generally very dull since they're procedurally generated on uninteresting maps.
-On-map randoms are weird and potentially unfair for reasons Snowfire outlined a while back. As a more neutral point, the way they spawn with time can definitely discourage backtracking, though that's not necessarily a bad thing (unless you're an Atlas fan).
-Map design is definitely a mixed bag. Some maps have spread out pockets of individual enemies which are just "why". But there are some reasonbly cool moments where you need to press into a fortress or something and the game makes you feel like you are working for it. Special shout-out to that lategame Celica map with the mage who could cast Upheavel and his crazily well-defended fortress; I generally found Celica's maps relatively easy but that one was good.
-Witches, the RNG enemy, are kinda dumb. If they teleport and OHKO someone with a crit, tough luck kid. But usually they do something useless! There's nothing especially fun about this design.
The... I dunno:
-Mila's turnwheel. It's a neat option! I like being able to take back misclicks. But part of me wonders that it encourages extreme laziness and removes tension. I'll never dock the game points for it since it's optional, and I did end up using it, but I wonder if it would have helped or hurt the game if I'd chosen to never use it, like I was kinda intending originally. I feel like the game has enough clunky moments that I enjoyed THIS game more because of it, but it would have made a game with tighter design less enjoyable for me? Dunno.
~Writing~
Let's start with the positive. The game has quite crisp dialog which makes some of the characters more fun. Alm and Celica are generally rather generic but they're pretty enjoyable; not great characters or anything but they're functional. Alm is kinda like PoR Ike but with a better sense of humour and lacking Ike's weird self-righteousness about racism. Like Ike the game tries to sell him as a commoner but LOL, more on that later. Celica's passion for saving people is engaging. Mae and Boey have great interactions with Celica and with each other. There are many things wrong with the later stages of Celica's route but Mae/Boey getting steadily less screentime is certainly part of it.
But yeah, overall, there's a lot more negative to say. Spoilers from here on, I ain't using tiny text so feel free just to ignore most of this if you're the sensitive type.
-Celica's self-sacrifice. This COULD have worked. As CK said, if they'd tried to sell me on Celica losing faith in humanity and thus sacrificing herself was the only way to save them, okay, maybe. But they don't do this at all. Instead, Celica does nothing but ignore her friends and her brother (who ends up bizarrely irrelevant in the plot) and decide that trusting super-evil Jedah is a sensible plan. This is an incredible, stupid mistake that pretty much dominates the entire Chapter 4-5 plot for Celica. Celica is often compared to Eirika. Eirika, of course, has a pretty big stupid mistake of her own. The difference is that (a) it's a spur of the moment thing, not drawn out over a quarter of the game as every other character tells her not to do it, (b) Lyon is someone that Eirika would logically trust, Jedah is not. Fuck this plot point.
-Damsels, damsels everywhere. With Celica joining in on this late, we have the following list of female PCs who need to be rescued at some point: Silque, Clair, Mathilda, Est, Delthea, Tatiana, Celica. Here's the list of female PCs not on the above list: Faye, Mae, Genny, Palla, Catria, Sonya. For those of you who can't be bothered to count, the first list is longer than second. What the actual fuck.
-Rudolf's plan is horrendously batshit and makes no sense, and killed thousands of people for no damn reason (and the game sees no problem with this). It's pretty much Conquest's worst plot point recycled. At least he's an antagonist I guess.
-Berkut. Oh, Berkut. This character went on an... interesting trajectory. Early on, I didn't like him, because he came off as maddeningly incompetent. The game hypes up this big Rigelian general and what does he do? Alm and his little ragtag band of rebels kick him out of the country almost as soon as he exists.
But midgame I started to come around on him more. See, there's this scene where Rudolf torments him and baits him and oooh, I get it! Rudolf is intentionally setting Berkua up to fail in order to manipulate him! Berkut is gonna be like Ramsus, neat. He's been built up to have everything cut up from under him and do something crazy that serves Rudolf and/or Nuibaba/the Duma Faithful in general. I wonder what Rudolf's plan is!
Lategame, LOL NOPE. Rudolf actually loved his nephew, really! He just treated him like total shit, driving him insane. (Don't try to tell me he couldn't have prepared Berkut for Alm to become leader. He told Zeke who he'd know for like a year at most. Literally ANYTHING would have been kinder than what he did.) The game does not acknowledge this, since Rudolf at this point is a cool dude (fuck Rudolf). Berkut then decides to sacrifice his wife for power. How does he do this? Rinea clearly doesn't want it to happen; I guess his wife is his possession or something. After this very gross scene, you kill him and he ascends to heaven with his wife who still loves him even though he pretty much just mindraped + murdered her. This may be the single worst scene in all of Fire Emblem.
-The main villain cares about nothing but reviving a dark god just like most other FEs, and this is as boring as ever. Still better than Rudolf or Berkut.
-Alm being secretly Rudolf's heir utterly pisses on the "hey commoners can be pretty cool too" theme the game had going early on. The game's other theme is "humans shouldn't be reliant on gods" which mostly just manifests in Celica being dumb and Alm being great. FE is often pretty shitty about communicating its themes effectively but this one does a worse job than most.
~Aesthetics~
The game's art is pretty! I knew early on that I was enjoying this game notably more than Shadow Dragon/New Mystery and I definitely think the incredibly superior art is a big part; it's my favourite since RD. Celica looks so freaking cool. I just wish the Duma Faithful didn't look so comically evil with their blue skin.
Music is nice enough, though few tracks really stick with me. The most noteworthy one is certainly Mila's Divine Protection, especially this version with the strings; it plays for a lot of the game and I was still disappointed when it finally got replaced. It's not as good as Awakening/Fates for music but solid enough and certainly better than any other previous FE's soundtrack to me.
Overall, hmm. The game is better than the previous remakes at... most things. On balance I think I like it more than Binding Blade, too; Binding Blade has enough clunky things of its own, and ninja reinforcements suck. But I'm not seeing much to recommend it above any of the non-remakes from FE7 onwards. 7/10, but low.
Unit notes! Starred folks were used in the final dungeons, kills in parentheses. Since you have to use everyone until the final dungeons, some characters I didn't find as useful still managed to get lots of kills overall.
*Tatiana (5) - Fortify is god. MVP of the lategame just for that, it breaks the game's action economy in half.
Zeke (5) - Had notably worse stats than my main paladins, but still functional enough.
*Mycen (7) - More a less was a coinflip between him and Zeke for a final dungeon spot. Mycen was slower but tankier, and I figured having SOMEONE with over 15 defence would be a good idea. He's basically a Baron with 5 more move.
Atlas (7) - Archer. Total trash unless you take a major detour to promote him ASAP. I waited until after Grieth due to not wanting to do that and he never caught up.
Valbar (10) - Generals are pretty bad in this game without pair up/etc, to get them places, plus so many actually dangerous enemies being magical. He tanked Grieth though, and that was cool.
Lukas (11) - Mine struggled to gain any stats at all and was utter garbage.
Clive (14) - Awful res and mediocre speed made him generally worse than other paladins, but he's still a tier 2 unit really early so he saw good use for a while, even if I knew he wasn't headed to the final team.
*Silque (17) - Doesn't get nearly as good a skillset as the other clerics. No ranged healing, Invoke super-late, etc. Warp has occasional use at least, and clerics are nice to have in general early.
*Genny (18) - Quietly kinda amazing. Invoke! Physic! Certainly part of why Celica's maps are easier.
Forsyth (19) - Is a knight, so kinda bad.
*Conrad (28) - Paladin with nice res. He was functional, I don't have much to say about him.
Luthier (32) - And here's our first mage. Mages are pretty excellent because they excel at killing hard-to-kill foes, either because they have high defence or camp on terrain that gives huge avoid boosts (which they ignore). Luthier's stats aren't too great, but Excalibur is a good spell. Really came into his own when I gave him a Speed Ring, allowing him to double Excalibur and thus murder most things he looked at.
Gray (39) - Archer. He just didn't get enough speed to be useful at the archer job. Apparently there's some obscure bow that gives them a double-hit skill but without it, an archer who can't double much just isn't very useful, and of course his own durability was wretched.
Palla (41) - Probably the worst of the Whitewings due to her relatively low speed, but still decent.
*Python (42) - Turned out somewhat better than Grey since he actually did get speed. Archers are interesting in this game. Not great, but interesting
Tobin (43) - Mage. Tobin, like Luthier, didn't really have great stats, but having a mage was really nice early; he fell off once I got Delthea but stayed useful even then because he gets Physic!
*Mathilda (45) - Just had great stats all-around, in a great class. Really solid.
*Est (47) - She starts underlevelled (though not as much as usual for her) but had the best stats of the Whitewings once she got going. Neat, they actually balanced her!
*Sonya (51) - Mage with Excalibur and good stats. Yeah, she's pretty badass despite joining underlevelled. Split-path with another PC, not sure how good he is.
*Delthea (52) - Mage with a bunch of good spells like Seraphim and Ragnarok, and great stats. Underlevelled but started being awesome even before she caught up. Her biggest problem is that she lacks a 3-range spell... but if you give her the Mage Ring (which is silly OP, +2 spell range), that problem goes away!
*Saber (55) - He was so-so at first, basically having speed but nothing else, but gets better as time goes on. Dread Fighter, despite a derpy aesthetic and a bad name, is actually quite a good class, with surprisingly high movement and massive magical tanking. Great against mages and fast enemies (unless they were so fast he couldn't double them, which definitely happened sometimes).
*Catria (57) - Pegasus knight. Not much to say, she's solid. +10 damage vs monsters and javelin access is good times.
*Boey (60) - Kinda tanky but not really, the low speed ruins that. Male mage stats < female mage stats generally. That said, he still dealt out good damage with Excalibur/Saggitae and anything slow enough that he DID double them had a very bad time.
*Kliff (64) - Cavalier. Kliff just had generically solid stats in a high-move class, pretty similar to Mathilda though not quite as fast or high-res.
*Kamui (67) - I think I took him into a big dungeon where I didn't take Saber because he needed to promote and Saber didn't, only reason I can explain the kill difference. Kamui was a lot like Saber, though low res was a liability before tier 3 (and even somewhat after) as was low luck. Still had the same perks as Saber otherwise.
*Celica (76) - Mage with solid stats across the board, can hit defence and use swords if you want. I gave her Beloved Zofia and the payoff is neat as its final skill could OHKO many enemies, including Mogalls. Her main problem was only having 4 move (a problem most mages share sadly).
*Mae (86) - My Mae got speed-blessed and was some unholy killing machine with great attack/speed. Durability's not so hot but whatever. It's also funny how this game only has one attack stat, as later on she can use swords and does stupid damage with them despite never having trained with them before.
*Clair (87) - Falconknight. Not so hot defence but incredible speed and good attack (the latter apparently isn't normal). I like Clair pretty well so I'm not gonna complain.
*Faye (87) - Pegasus knight. Apparently she's OP as a cleric, as a pegknight she was merely good. Better def than Clair but worse speed/res, so not as good overall, but she should have better attack normally.
*Alm (99) - Alm is terrific early (one of the few lords who STARTS as one of the best PCs), with incredible base HP, decent stats otherwise, and the Levin Sword which is amazing. Then the Levin Sword falls off and everyone else promotes and he doesn't, so he starts to fade. Then he finally promotes and also gains Double Lion, a silly strong tech (2 hits, damage/hit boost) which can OHKO frailer enemies before they counter. He's very good. Mine was 1-2 points down on def which did make the lategame solo section with him relatively tricky, but I still beat it on the second try.
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Always interesting to hear other's plot thoughts on Echoes. For my own spin on some of those issues....
Re gameplay:
* In general, I didn't fear dungeon ambushes very much; dungeon enemies almost never were able to get into range for a turn 0 attack, unlike some map enemies. So I did a fair amount of running past 'em if I didn't want to grind, which I personally didn't find THAT hard.
Re plot:
* Celica's self-sacrifice: Yeah, I can't blame you much for hating on this, although I personally find it easy to ignore, or at least that the writers gave players an excuse to rationalize it away. Which is not to say that they shouldn't have been more explicit, but! My understanding is that in Gaiden, Celica really does just agree to Jedah's plan, because. The changes in Echoes were to make Jedah teleport everyone else away first and act more like he was just plain kidnapping her, no choice in the matter. Now, if Celica was just "playing along" with Jedah's offer and planning on just killing him, she should have said so! But the changes suggest they were trying to move away from Celica agreeing, and instead leaving it kind of indeterminate what Celica would have done had it been up to her. Why this requires indecisiveness I'm not sure, but that's how it is. Anyway, I appreciate the plot change and choose to believe Celica was not really going along with the plan, which is still not great, but less bad.
Of course, this also ties into JEDAH plot, where they kinda dropped the ball a bit? They opted for more generic baby-eating villain, but they were kinda close to a "reverse Celica." Celica believes that everything will be fixed if Mila comes back. If Jedah was more clear about "Look Lord Duma is feeling ill right now, but he'll be totally fine if we sacrifice 345656 maidens + a Brand-wielder to him, trust me I know dragon medicine, and really what cost wouldn't you be willing to pay to fix up our guardian god?," he'd have been an excellent mirror of Celica - bring DUMA back and everything will be fine. Problem is, he also rants about creating an age of chaos, and his attempts to sell Celica on his plan are more "hey I'll maybe beat up Alm" rather than "don't you want the gods back on their rightful thrones, guiding Valentia?"
* Yeah, Rudolf the narrative slant is just horribly, horribly wrong on. I'd still have disliked it had they portrayed him as someone who was Doing The Right Thing In The Wrong Way (how is this close to the right thing?!), but no, the game clearly thinks he's a cool dude by the end. Wat.
* I agree with a lot of what you said about Berkut, but still think he's fine? I didn't think Rudolf had some MASTER PLAN and was just being a terrible uncle, but yeah, tied into more Rudolf being terrible (which is FINE if the narrative acknowledged it). Anyway, he's a solid dark mirror of Alm IMO, has the same plot in reverse where he goes from being the acknowledged heir to a nobody. And... sure, it's bad that he sacrifices his wife to Duma. Made me definitely hyped up to kill him, good for a villain! As for his deathbed repentance, I'm just cool with these in general. (I know that super & some others will complain about, say, XS Albedo getting one of these too.) For all that Japan isn't very Christian, it's very fitting to Christian morality that no matter how horrible your crimes are, there is still a path forward. I'm not going to be annoyed that he isn't dragged into hell Don Giovanni style and Mila pops up to say "yes and he suffered for all eternity due to the worst moment of his life hahaha". Ghost-Rinea forgiving him is also not terrible...? Yeah, he killed her. She still loves him. That's how things go sometimes, and seems fitting enough of what character she had beforehand. Basically, I am only very rarely going to complain about someone getting too nice an afterlife or somesuch. I don't particularly want to see tons of afterlife punishment for bad people to attempt so salve people's sense of justice.
* Entirely agree about Alm's heritage doing weird things to the plot's theme. They were obviously "stuck" with keeping that plot point from Gaiden, but they certainly could have handled it better, and maybe not have had all the lines where Clair/Grey/Tobin's instinctive noble-sense can tell that there's something Vaguely Different about Alm & Celica, some special grace that separates them from You and Me. If I'd been in charge, I'd have tried to stick Alm in awkward spots where after his heritage is revealed, you have the likes of Fernand say "oh that explains everything, I guess now we know why you're such a good commander, commoners are scum after all!" Or otherwise give Oliver-esque incompetent allies & hangers-on to him afterward. Obviously not much plot left after the secret comes out, but Alm should have to struggle to reassure the bros that he's the same old Alm as ever, while attempting to simultaneously assert authority by birth on restive Rigelians while not coming off as Berkut-esque conceited.
* For "humans are awesome, the time of gods have passed - " But that's the fundamental "clash" they're trying to set up between Alm & Celica. Celica is a *priestess*. Of course she's going to take the side of "let's just restore Mila and call it a day." If they'd made Celica think the same way as Rudolf at the start, it'd totally kill the Alm/Celica split they were going for. I'd rather Celica be "wrong" then have both main characters have the exact same thoughts on everything.
Also, you didn't mention this one, and it's quite a nitpick, but:
* Slayde is portrayed as a bit of a dishonorable coward by the dialogue. This is especially true if you do the "Rise of the Deliverance" DLC missions. They picked a strangely honorable way for him to die, though - fighting with a foreign army in a war that wasn't his own anymore, and fighting to the bitter end, at that. This isn't new, but he seems like a solid candidate for the "villain survivor" position that FF7 Elena / BoF4 Yuna / etc. have where he just gets a scene in the end where he's leading his own bandit gang from the hills and extorting peasants. Alternatively, have him appear in the battle, and as soon as a single Rigelian soldier falls, he just runs away, and it's a challenge to cut off his retreat if you actually want to kill him before he escapes with the fancy stat-boost item he's carrying.
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Yeah I can agree with a lot of your thoughts. Some replies:
I don't need to see Berkut dragged down into hell or anything, but what he did was REALLY squicky. Like, straight-up, it was kinda the game's most horrifying moment. That's okay! As you said, gets you hyped to kill that villain. You want to make him unredeemable and force even super-forgiving Alm to accept that this guy has to die? That's a way to do it. But... redeeming him about 5 minutes later reaaally rubs me the wrong way. To me it suggests the writers don't GET how gross what he did was. It's like, no, Rinea really is just his accessory/possession who loves him unconditionally so of course he's free to sacrifice her for power if he needs to, she was happy about it anyway! No. Ew.
A bit of a contrast here is a character he reminds me of a bit: Orson. Seriously messed up guy. Has some understandable reasons for being that way, but still. Does something basically unforgivable. In Sacred Stones, though, the writers own that plot point. Orson is horrible, he doesn't get a deathbed redemption. Nor is he dragged down to hell. He just dies (y'know, like almost every other FE villain does!), and we're left to marvel about what a messed-up person he was in a scene where Eirika and Ephraim discover his "wife". It works! And it shows the writers knew what they were doing with the character and succeeded at it. Needless to say I don't feel the same about Berkut.
Yeah, the fact that Duma was once something far better than just "demon king/evil god" means that Jedah had more potential than most Gharnef-types! I'd have loved if they'd done something with that, but he's basically just a moustache-twirler, sadly.
Fair point on Slayde. I'm legit surprised he survived as long as he did, it felt like maybe the writers forgot about him or something because his end is pointless. Your thoughts would certainly have worked better, yeah.
Talking of Slayde reminds me of his Act 1 battle appearance, and reminds me I forgot to rant about just how incredibly awkward and poorly paced the Zofia Castle battle is. You have great general Berkut, who doesn't even take to the field (or provide any strategy) and runs away as soon as the battle turns. You have Desaix who has some sweet plot armour of near-invincibility... who also runs away. And in general the Deliverance, which was supposedly back on its heels, just seizes control of Zofia way too easily. It's a strange narrative anti-climax. I do think FE has a problem with this in general (the player wins all the fights, even ones that should logically be climactic or difficult, so "march on the capitol!" tends to be a strategy which works without much problem) but this felt like an unusually egregious case even so. I'd probably have changed things so that Alm/Clive/whoever had to come up with some clever strategy to draw Desaix's attention out of the capitol (maybe up to the border fort where you fight Desaix later?) then sneak attack Zofia Castle and maybe defeat Slayde there (he can still run, and in fact that might even be instrumental to the player's victory). Berkut doesn't even get involved until Alm's success here draws his attention. It would have both been more satisfying for the player and would have preserved the image of the baddies better.
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Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that only being able to equip one weapon + not being able to choose what you can counter with is bad. Not the end of the world but it definitely cuts into your strategic enemy phase options. I definitely hope this is a one-off and doesn't return.
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Elf: Fair enough. I suppose you have a strong enough point - which I agree with - that the narrative's desire to play up the softer side of Berkut risks blurring the fact that he does Really Evil Shit. Sigh.
Persona 5
I'm at Palace 4.
* Palace 2.... OK was right, grinding a single level did the trick. Getting MT damage moves on Ryuji & Fox did absolute wonders. That and realizing Ann is *trash garbage* in that fight and should ride the bench. You just aren't sustaining your way through, but blitzing is viable. MagicFanatic mentioned that he won at L16, but it involved a demon negotiation rare item drop I didn't have that was Masukukaja in a can + get some clutch dodges off. Makes sense. Anyway, once you survive the first phase, it's mostly all downhill for that boss, although I suppose Joker could potentially require emergency coffee (I didn't).
* Palace 3... okay, the RANDOMS are badass as usual (I died a good number of times... surprise Angels blow you up with an Almighty Self Destruct OHKO if you let them get a turn... Orthus doggies are terrible death if you don't ambush them and have Fox in front... Onis can just Rampage hax with critz to take out Joker if you don't have phys nulling up against them... getting unlucky vs. mass-Rage is terrible... the super-high level dudes weak to Psychic are extremely badass if they get going or get a crit...), but the Palace boss was an absolute breather compared to the first 2 palaces. OK's topic claims that his Fear is 80%, but it didn't land in like 5-6 attempts, so either I was outrageously lucky or that hit rate is way worse. On the bright side for the boss, March of the Piggy is probably NOT physical, or else I made a terrible error... his first one I'm pretty sure I had the great phys-nulling Shiki-Ouji up and it still did normal damage (aka good thing he was debuffed AND everyone was guarding). Of course you'll never see any other Marches after the first if things aren't going completely to hell.
* Plot-wise, I was a little disappointed with the Palace 3 showdown too? I can tell they want to set up the Next Plot, but at the cost of the power of the entire idea behind the game. The Palace 1 boss was a knock-down, drag-out struggle that started in cutscenes before, during, and after the fight, complete with party members wondering if they should just kill Shadow Kamoshida and drive him crazy & call it a day, and having to slowly *convince* Shadow K to reform (on pain of getting killed, sure, but still). Palace 2 boss also had a highly personal confrontation that was a Big Deal. Palace 3... they just kinda vaguely talk about the mysterious intruder, steal the treasure, then call it a day? I want bitter, painful reformations and guarantees on threat of aikodoy doom here.
* Much like the rest of the Internet agrees, Makoto is awesome. Some great work there. I very much like how everyone can be abrupt and/or horrible with her as a convenient authority figure that isn't actually very powerful and thus take out frustrations on, which drives her a tad batty. That said, pretty weak Confidant Social Link so far? Just leave it at Makoto chillin' with Joker, which may or may not involve branching out. I also agree with Jo'ou that the stat wall is a little weird. It'd be *fine* if the Charm requirement was linked to Makoto herself not going to bother with any but the best (you are aiming high here, and don't have as much as an "in" as you might with Ann), similar to the Knowledge requirement, but linked to... some random idiot who you've never met and don't care about on some idiotic fake double date and isn't impressed by your picture or something? Wat. (Making the Charm be related to Makoto herself sells it as more "the steepest mountains are the most rewarding to climb" or the like.) That said, Jo'ou mentioned it being a solid take on the High Priestess arcana - how so? I'm curious. (I'm pretty sure that Pope Joan did not actually exist, and if she did exist, she was not a motorcycle.)
* The depiction of Tokyo is pretty good so far too (although I suppose Djinn would be able to say more). Related to the above, though, the bit in Makoto's Arcade trip where she was pleasantly surprised at the number of females there seems a little too true - maybe I hit the wrong arcades, but most of them seemed to be all guys, unlike the one in-game. And the Pachinko sections were all creepy middle-aged guys gambling to machines themed around anime middle schoolers while smoking. That said, their depiction of late-night Shinjuku seems entirely accurate, at least the part north of the station. That might be the only place in the world I've been propositioned for prostitution quite so openly.
* I also really like how the game's writing is smart in all sorts of ways to account for how the characters themselves would perceive events, including misconceptions. The 6th PC is worried that all your Crazy Hijinx recorded on your phone will be tracked. (It won't, because it's a mystic not-really-an-app, but this is ENTIRELY LEGIT a fear. I hope they're using Igor's app for their text message conversations, too!) The Principal of Shujin is baffled and annoyed at why something as idiotic and false as the Phantom THieves is getting pressure from up high to make him do something (very much a shit rolls downhill event, as mastermind -> ICU Director -> Principal -> Makoto in terms of who gets to make whose life miserable.) Our Hero sassing Sae for missing out on some details in her home life.
* Palace 4: Well this is a change of pace. Anyway, the randoms suuuuuuuuuuuucked here and I was worried the game was gonna roll over, and then I ran into the Tomb God miniboss. Rats & Megidos of doom that probably OHKO your team if he isn't debuffed, and do like 500 damage to rat'd PCs. And if it is debuffed, then you better hope you were healed up! This will be interesting. (I have a plan, though. Recruit random mask, Gallows the recently fused Principality, get the Media upgrade whatever it's called, Mediaran I think? We'll see. That and run Fox for this fight, ice-weak summons & all.)
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(https://i.imgur.com/abpRcTf.jpg)
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* Much like the rest of the Internet agrees, Makoto is awesome. Some great work there. I very much like how everyone can be abrupt and/or horrible with her as a convenient authority figure that isn't actually very powerful and thus take out frustrations on, which drives her a tad batty. That said, pretty weak Confidant Social Link so far? Just leave it at Makoto chillin' with Joker, which may or may not involve branching out. I also agree with Jo'ou that the stat wall is a little weird. It'd be *fine* if the Charm requirement was linked to Makoto herself not going to bother with any but the best (you are aiming high here, and don't have as much as an "in" as you might with Ann), similar to the Knowledge requirement, but linked to... some random idiot who you've never met and don't care about on some idiotic fake double date and isn't impressed by your picture or something? Wat. (Making the Charm be related to Makoto herself sells it as more "the steepest mountains are the most rewarding to climb" or the like.) That said, Jo'ou mentioned it being a solid take on the High Priestess arcana - how so? I'm curious. (I'm pretty sure that Pope Joan did not actually exist, and if she did exist, she was not a motorcycle.)
The way she's a good take on the High Priestess symbolism is mostly how her characterization - and the link itself to a less interesting degree - is entirely about her delving into her own otherwise unknown wants - the High Priestess is about awakening and diving into the realm of the mysterious, and, in Makoto's case, the mystery is her own self, her desires and driving forces. It's fairly similar in nature to Yukiko's link in P4, but it's attached to a much better character - whose symbolism link to the High Priestess itself is very spot-on. The events on the link are kinda weak, I agree? But the way she's characterized is a complete joy, one of Persona 5's strongest hits. I also love what I've seen of Hermit so far (going to R7 soon), also because Futaba is a joy to watch in action - and feels like an apology after the complete phone-in that was P4's Hermit link, compounded by the disappointment for following up on P3's Hermit link, which is simply wonderful. Other takes I really liked on execution are Sun (Toranosuke's likely the most on-the-nose take from the modern series, but also the most coherent), Death (nice little narrative about bookends and letting go off a fascinating character build) and Temperance (Temperance is seriously fitting and interesting, in spite of the horrible setup. Also helps that Sadayo is a very human character. She's not as FUN as Bebe in P3, but I really like the overall depiction. I'm still pretty sour on the bonuses she gives conceptually, as much as they're brokenly good in actual gameplay). Moon is pretty accurate, but Mishima can drown himself in a hole dipped with acid.
Also, the Tomb has an elemental weakness - almost certain there's a Bless or Psychic weakness there, and you should be able to fuse a Persona with Kouga or whatever. That should help you a lot. I handled that fight mostly by mass despairing the Lamias with Pisaca and abusing All-Out Attacks, rat + Megido spam are nasty.
NINJAEDIT:
(https://i.imgur.com/abpRcTf.jpg)
Yes.
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It's been over a month since I beat the final boss and I've come to accept that I'll probably never seriously tackle the bonus dungeon in FE Echoes; 10 floors + no save points/checkpoints just isn't the sort of challenge that I'm interested in at this point in my life.
I am almost done grinding out support conversations though, which I never even started with Fates; the short support list makes this a lot less daunting than it was in Fates or Awakening. I did get pretty much all the non-S rank supports in Awakening, but that was a time before I had mobile RPGs to scratch my itch for mindless grinding while listening to podcasts.
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hinode: The aftergame labyrinth isn't really my thing either, but it's not *quite* as sloggy as I feared. Most of the 10 floors are quite short, and many enemies are dodgeable on the map.
If you want a *little* bit of slogging to see what it's like, there's a fun set piece battle on the 5th floor with a dragon and its cronies. Then go to the 6th floor, get into a fight with the enemies there, have a good chuckle, then escape. (Oh these are Villagers?! Haha ez. wait. Villagers with 31 speed and ??? HP and Boots use on their terrible MOV? Game makes you respect the Risen and be scared of 'em again. I approve.)
I went down to the 10th floor myself but then skipped the final boss, which is supposed to be quite difficult without either some major grinding, getting DLC overclasses, or abusing certain busted weapon skills. (But not actually that difficult if you do get the overclasses so they seem to be a case of aftergame powers without much of an aftergame to use them on?! Ugh what a terrible idea.) I had a nice "safety valve" in that I Dread Fighter -> Villager -> Dread Fighter looped Saber (mindless grinding via solo-deploying him at the necrodragon spawning spot north of the Temple of Mila and pressing "skip turn" a lot), so he could hold off half the map if I got into a fight with 3 sets of enemies at once while the rest of the team worked on the rest. Certainly made floors 6-9 a lot more sane having a looped DF.
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Makoto is bae.
I didn't really like P5s cast as much as others, but I dug her character, even if her confidant story wasn't the best.
That said, I didn't max out a lot of the gang this go around.
I did max out my stats so chasing confidants in my 2nd playthrough should be easier.
I think the twins was the most useful with the cash grab mechanic they give you.
I might put this on hold as I still haven't beaten berseria yet.
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Magikarp Jump - I went back home and visited family so I have just portables and my phone and I have worked so much that I haven't even played the portables. This is literally all I have played for a week other than Hearthstone. I am up to the most current league, Eighth one. I am dealing with over 100 million JP and Koikings are jumping over 100 meters in the air.
You can lock eyes with a stranger and lose JP because he wanted to battle. Alternately he gives you candy. This game continues to be bonkers.
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I might put this on hold as I still haven't beaten berseria yet.
Speaking of,
Tales of Berseria: I decided I should play this because the main character is a chick with a ridiculous monster claw hand. Started up, played a couple hours. Did someone get Fromsoft in my animes or did somebody get animes in my Fromsoft? We're in a dying world where everyone is turning into monsters and the villain is named Artoriaus. Okay.
Between Velvet's underboob and Seres's cleavage, there's basically a full set of tits on the screen. The former kinda sorta makes blurry sense in the context of "You're patching together an outfit from crapped-up clothes confiscated from prisoners, yeah you're gonna look a right mess," but will make increasingly less sense as she continues to wear it for the rest of the game. Presumably she will be too torn between vengeance and fashion to replace it.
These aren't really complaints so much as things that are there? This sounds dumb but I was solidly in the mood for mindless JRPGness.
I have no good understanding of how the combo system works. I just hit buttons and numbers appear. Maybe this'll have to change eventually, I dunno.
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Did I hear chicks with ridiculous monster hands?
(http://i.imgur.com/77GVoQH.jpg)
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Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia: Beaten the game. I've got to say that this is my favourite out of the handheld titles in the series. The difficulty is excellent, the areas are well designed and the Glyph system brings the best of both the Summon system from the Sorrow games and the Partner system from Portrait of Ruin. It has the experimental value of the Summon system and the flexibility and convenience of the Partner system. The main new gripe which I found with the game was the final boss. Dracula is easy to take down, mainly due to that Judgement Ring which is near his doorstep, and there's that point where you have to use all of your Dominus Glyphs in order to prevent him from killing you in one shot. Who can figure this out without a guide? The post-Symphony Castlevanias have had these moments where you need a guide in order to win, although at least this one only has it during the final boss. Although this still means that the idea is bad game design. Other than that though, this game is a real treat and I look forward to the idea of replaying it in the future. Granted Symphony is still my favourite, even though this game is a tight second in my eyes. I'm hoping Bloodstained could be the one to finally top Symphony; but I'll just have to wait and see.
Pokemon Y: I'm on that part of the binge where I need to take on the 3DS titles. I'm currently at Route 8. Because of the weird algorithm within the Pokemon fanbase, it's XY's turn to be the game which is hated. I personally believe that the game is fine. The trainer fights seem to fight back more, without the Exp. Share on of course, and the selection has a lot to choose from early on. Although I can understand some of the issues regarding the game's pacing. Parfum Palace really could have been cut. The area is just one big fetch-quest with a rather lame price; a firework display and a Snorlax which has to face a ton of Rock-types.
Current team:
(http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/654.png)(http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/666-g.png)(http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/515.png)(http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/002.png)(http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/679.png)(http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/610.png)
Okami: Got this for my birthday. I've always been interested in the idea of playing this one. Thankfully I made some room in my backlog just to play it. I've just restored life into every tree within the Kamiki Village. This game is currently feeling like what every Zelda isn't for me; fun and fast paced. Amaterasu can do a proper run when travelling for a bit, the fighting doesn't feel like a dull mean to an end, and using a brush to cast spells is both a cute and awesome idea. The only drawback I have at the moment is that the game is picky in terms of the cutscenes which you can skip.
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Did I hear chicks with ridiculous monster hands?
Who in the world is that, Sopko?
You know, there's one thing I forgot to mention in first post that I distinctly appreciate on a quality-of-life level: NPCs have visual indicators to tell you when they don't have anything more to say. This is convenient if you are, as I am, stupidly obsessive enough to Talk to Everyone until they start looping dialogue. And if you're not, and if you only want to rush to the next bout of eating monsters, then you can just ignore everyone but the NPCs with the quest dialogue icons instead. Maybe it's a little immersion breaking, but so is button-mashing through dialogue I've already seen.
This party is so bizarre tonally, thus far. Velvet is 100% Rarr I Eat People VENGEANCE, but the moment she's out of prison she starts out hanging out a complete goofball who carries around weapons he can't use, a bubbly babbling witch girl, and Sad Katz (the game's nomenclature, not mine). I have no idea what to make of this. I'm just bemused.
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Shovel Knight - Beat Spectre of Torment. Pretty fun! It's honestly kinda amazing this was free since it really is a fully new game; the stages are redesigned to fit Spectre Knight's style of platforming, the bosses get redesigns, even much of the music is redone (though generally isn't as good sadly). I guess Yacht Club is trying to build up a good reputation for their next full game? I dunno, but I had a pretty good time. Lots of fun platforming to be had. Boss fights are a bit of a mixed bag since they often boil down to "airdash into them until you win" and this works way better than it should, especially if you use the OP healing move. The final bosses were at least kinda designed with this in mind and are a bit more interesting. There's no boss rush which is probably a good thing. Plot is back to Serious Shovel Knight Plot unlike Plague Knight's silly campaign which is definitely a net negative, but oh well, it doesn't matter much.
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Did I hear chicks with ridiculous monster hands?
Who in the world is that, Sopko?
The main character from the worst games made by Idea Factory.
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VVVVVV: Got this from a friend during the Christmas period, but I never found the time to play it until now. I've beaten the game, though I never went after the trinkets as I don't quite have the balls to perform some of the crazy stunts that are required to receive them. Just like Undertale, the game is much better than the price tag implies. The controls are precise, the gravity gimmick is fun and the difficulty, while extremely high, is pretty fair for what is almost the entire game. I say almost as there was an escort mission which the player is to perform with Violet which can fuck off. It isn't too bad to start, though the method of getting past 'Not As I Do' is almost impossible to figure out without a guide and just as difficult to execute as the player is to avoid letting Violet walk into spikes while also performing several gravity flips in order to get to the next step of the process. I had several painful moments where I managed to get Violet past the area, but I died due to failing one of the final jumps. Despite this mission though; VVVVVV is a pretty damn good platformer and the fact that you can trade pocket change in order to play it is the icing on the cake.
Pokemon X: Got to Route 8. With the previous Pokemon games, I was able to plough through them quite quickly as I was using the turbo button which the emulators provided me. With the 3DS games though, I have to use the actual console. However; since XY were the fastest games in the series in terms of battle speed at that point in time, I won't bother to complain.
As for my current thoughts; the game probably has the best start out of every title in the series as it allows the player to speed through the tutorials quickly and offer you a ton of Pokemon of different types from older and newer generations. Sadly, like Lemon explained, the period before the second gym is rife with padding. The player has to perform TWO fetch quests in order to explore Route 7; waking up Snorlax with the Poke Flute for the sake of nostalgia, and searching for a Furfrou at the Parfum Palace for the sake of a sappy fireworks scene with Shauna.
Despite these issues, I still believe XY are solid games and they don't deserve half the flack kids on 4chan and GameFAQs give to them.
(http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/657.png)(http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/666-g.png)(http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/025.png)(http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/005.png)
Fire Emblem Awakening: No one else on this forum (or anywhere else for that matter), will stop raving about this game so it's about time I tried it for myself. I've just got past Chapter 5. The only other TBS strategy game I've played is Pokemon Conquest, so compared to that FEA is already a masterpiece. I'm too early into the game to give any final thoughts on mechanics such as pair-up and the difficulty modes (I didn't go with casual, don't worry), though what I will say is that Sumia can fuck off. The tripping joke reminds me of Colette so that already makes me want smash my 3DS and her hobby involves baking pies, because patriarchy :P
I'm probably alone with my hate for her though. If Colette has a fanbase, why can't she?
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You're not alone; Sumia is lame (good PC though).
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I remember finding Sumia's lameness kinda funny, but it's been a while. Then again, I also thought most of the romance links in Persona games were funny. I might just be a bad person.
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You're not alone; Sumia is lame (good PC though).
Agreed. Sumia wrecks mages like they're nothing.
In terms of writing, several fans I've seen seem to hate Tharja. I've never met her yet, is this hate deserved?
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For what it's worth, I at least wouldn't condemn Casual. I only did a Classic run by my 3rd run of Awakening (I did Hard Casual -> Lunatic Casual with grinding DLC, so not Hardcore Lunatic -> Hard Classic), at which point I knew the reinforcements timing really really well.
I was fine with Sumia but she is absolutely part of an anime archetype that has enraged me elsewhere (I didn't like Colette that much), so not gonna complain too much. She takes her pie-cooking loopiness to funny rather than cringey levels IMO.
Tharja is... hmm. Interesting that the impression you got was hate, because there's a part of the fanbase that *loves* her, especially the Japanese fanbase. Doesn't hurt that she's extremely good in gameplay. I, SnowFire, like her, but similar to Sumia, she also shades a bit into an anime archetype which is very very terrible depending on presentation: the person who is totally obsessed with Our Hero(ine) and is a creepy yandere stalker. Now, Tharja makes it work IMO, as someone who generally doesn't like this archetype (the Avatar having lines, and also having an appropriately deadpan/skeptical reaction to her, helps a lot compared to other JP media where this is done to a blank slate cipher, or a really boring character) by being genuinely totally off-the-wall zany, and having other aspects to her personality, and generally having funny / interesting support conversations that include pleasantly surprising examples of both cooperation & rivalry with other party members. Now, Tharja proved popular enough that she's shown up elsewhere (sort-of FE Fates, FE Heroes, Tokyo Mirage Sessions), and I get the impression she's reduced a bit to fanservice outfit + obsessed with plying compliments to Our Hero, and that's pretty lame. So the backlash you saw was probably to that - she's too much a character aimed at buttering up the JP fanbase who loves hot women who love the player standin for no reason for their tastes. (Also, for fans into Yuri, Tharja x Female Robin is about as close as you're gonna get, although you can make a vague argument for Say'ri... if they hadn't given her a Male Avatar support after all.)
Also, fair warning, not sure what difficulty you're playing on, but Tharja is probably the most missable recruit in the game - top 3 at the very least (with Tiki & Cynthia). I didn't even bother in my Lunatic playthrough I believe and just murdered her instead. Good luck!
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Yeah Snowfire covers Tharja pretty well. I think she's pretty great myself! Play on and see for yourself. I think for some people who take Fire Emblem characters Super Seriously she is a bit immersion-breaking because she's a horrible person and the game is okay with it, but personally I think that's totally missing the point of Awakening's cast (you've already seen Vaike and Kellam). Also agreed that she works better in Awakening than her other appearances for what it's worth, although most of her other appearances don't have writing worth caring about. <.<
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but personally I think that's totally missing the point of Awakening's cast (you've already seen Vaike and Kellam).
*The Vaike. Not sure who you're even talking about with the other one.
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I finally beat Breath of the Wild! Not actually finished, mind, this game rules and I still want to at least find all the shrines, but I was exploring around Hyrule Castle, noticed some out-of-the-way Luminous Stones, and when I went over to them they were next to a mineshaft that leads into the castle proper. So I figured what the hell, let's do this. Ganon is a fun boss fight but not actually hard, which is par for the course in BotW, and the ending is very brief -- maybe/hopefully there's more if you recover Link's memories?
Also, it's Four Job Fiesta season and I haven't played a proper FF in ages, so that's happening.
First job: Black Mage. So my strategy has largely been to glass cannon everything until it explodes. If I try to spend any time in a boss fight healing, I usually end up with a wipe, so the winning play is to just cast my highest-level black magic constantly and pick up the pieces after the fight ends. This strategy has continued to be my mainstay even after the water crystal, because....
Second job: Berserker. Yeah. I've been keeping Faris as a berserker to build up points toward Equip Axe just in cast that gets to be handy later on, but I'm not exactly designing any strategies around indiscriminate axe-to-the-face. Luckily, spamming -ara spells is enough to crush everything up to and beyond the Fire Ship, and to clear out Walse Castle entirely with time to spare. It also makes for easy grinding on the wolves outside of town, so I can afford to stock up on elemental rods. And that brings me to my fire job!
Third job: Bard. Okay, now I've got some healing, at least. Mighty March isn't exactly good, but when my other option is Potions then FFV's piddly regen starts to look a lot better -- it's the equivalent of an AOE potion every couple of turns! Fira spam (and Blizzara for Ifrit) handles the Library of Ancients easily, and then I start the whole Crescent Island back-and-forth. Once I get to the desert I ignore Cid's advice to avoid magic and Blizzara the Sandworm to death, blah blah airship blah, adamantoise Blizzara spam blah. Ran through the northern cave for the Blitz Whip just in cast I can use it later (or sell it), and then faced off with the flying fortress. Thundara spam carried the day there, including getting me through the Soul Cannon with just Lenna alive and at 12 HP. Glass cannons!
I blitzed through the airborne dungeon because there's really not much there I need, and wiped a few times against Arcaheoaevis before finally getting a good strategy together: three black mages and one berserker (they're useful!), and kill each "form" with a rod break and an -ara spell before it can act (it got two shots in, but no Breath Wing, so I was at almost full health when it "died"). Once it revives, equip all the mages with Mage Mashers and attack attack attack, while Faris contributes most of my offense with axe-to-the-beak. Won with everybody alive, somehow! That brings me to....
Fourth job: Chemist. There we go. Some proper healing and stat boosting, !Drink secondary for anybody who needs it, and a second source of offense, as long as I stay stocked with mixing ingredients. On to world 2!
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!Drink? more like !CASUAL. !Mix or GTFO.
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Well, I could talk about games people here vaguely care about (e.g. Persona), but instead, let's talk obscura that only Sopko will have a clue about!
Chase: Cold Case Investigations - Distant Memories
Somehow, it seems ArcSystemWorks (BlazBlue, Guilty Gear) has bought up various visual novel properties (e.g. Jake Hunter), and this included some ex-Cing (RIP) people (Hotel Dusk, Last Window, Trace Memory), and decided to give them some money for artsy cool games that don't sell many copies. Well. SOME money. You'll see. Anyway it's totally a Japanese Kyle Hyde, complete with fuzzy mini-beard, for Our Hero.
It's good! But. Let's not bury the lede. You're only spending 7 bucks. After a pretty awesome case 1, it does one of those "NOW we show the intro with song & character portraits, and some credits, and... wait, this isn't the slightly-delayed opening. This is the ending credits." So yeah, it's just one case, and it's a case that's a bit of a cliffhanger too, so I wonder if they were seeing how sales were to try to convince their corporate masters to fund the rest of the game episodically? Maybe. Maybe they also realized that the 3DS was no good long-term in competition with the Switch, so better shove whatever we finished out the door ASAP.
Anyway, as per other Cing titles, it's a much more "realistic" mood than yon Phoenix Wright. Having it be a cold case is also interesting, since it's "uh I guess we can look at a photo of the crime scene from the file" rather than a real-life investigation. The main characters are both adults, which is a nice shift from Phoenix hanging out with bubbly 16-year olds. The game follows the time-honored pattern of having a cynical bastard as the lead character who is experimenting in ways to crush the spirit of his earnest and serious assistant, as she actually cares about getting some work done in a division that doesn't tend to achieve much. Example (roughly paraphased):
Nanase: Eh, I'm tired. You take the lead on this next interview.
Amekura: Uh, what? Really? Okay.
(animation of witness entering room)
Amekura: Ah, welcome!
Nanase: This isn't a store.
(In fact, maybe a little too much; I'd hope that in a full 4-case version he'd get a tad nicer. Just a tad.)
The gameplay is pretty nonexistent; the game asks for the player to answer or choose a line of dialogue a lot more often than PW does, but 90% of the time, it's reciting a plot element that you were just told a bit ago, not figuring anything out, so these extra prompts are kinda filler. BUT. All the wrong answers have some specific dialogue to them, and it comes off more as Nanase being a huge jerk rather than him being clueless, so of course the goal is to pick all the wrong answers anyway if you're me. (you can save anywhere and if you "lose" you just harmlessly restart anyway.)
Nanase: But something doesn't add up. Even though your daughter had been killed, you didn't...
(Player: "visit her grave yet")
Amekura: Eh?! Is that true?
Witness: I visit it every day.
Amekura: Sir! Please don't make things up!
I also like some of the Cold Case aspects.
Nanase: I'm going to ask you one last question. On that day... you had an argument with the victim. What was it about?
(dramatic pause)
Witness: I don't remember.
Nanase: Okay, you can go.
Good times! Go pay seven bucks in the 3DS eShop for a solid 90 minutes or so of visual novel entertainment.
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Nioh: UNLOCKED GIRL SKIN specifically Okatsu, who's cool AF
Now to still grind glory because the next DLC might have Maria as another unlockable skin oh god
I finished the game, almost finished the first DLC and am 1/3rd through NG+ levels.
Game is super long but takes the Diablo 3 approach of unlimited content: There are already NG + and NG ++ but DLC 2 released in two weeks is going to unlock NG +++ too. And each new level of difficulty is a good balanced interesting challenge instead of the Souls usual flippant approach.
There are also stupid postgame challenges like "Here fight 2 bosses at once, good luck lol" Oh boy.
DLC 2 will also have fucking tonfas as a new weapon type
I might just play FFXII in the meantime because I can't wait
Gameplay was super stellar, plot remained completely inane. The ultimate big bad guy doesn't even get killed, main guy blinds him Bunuel style and thinks that's enough.
Unlike Souls it feels like you can definitely steamroll bosses with some absurd moves and enough numbers, at least on Ng. I can't believe how good and accessible Sloth is.
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The FF12 remake looks dope.
Good grphx + job system + no more shitty spell queue + fast forward button.
Might spend too much time on it. I want to do all the challenges!
For the first playthrough I'm torn between just one class per character or a Time Battlemage SCC. I'm probably going with the later ?
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Shovel Knight - Beat Spectre of Torment. Pretty fun! It's honestly kinda amazing this was free since it really is a fully new game; the stages are redesigned to fit Spectre Knight's style of platforming, the bosses get redesigns, even much of the music is redone (though generally isn't as good sadly). I guess Yacht Club is trying to build up a good reputation for their next full game? I dunno, but I had a pretty good time. Lots of fun platforming to be had. Boss fights are a bit of a mixed bag since they often boil down to "airdash into them until you win" and this works way better than it should, especially if you use the OP healing move. The final bosses were at least kinda designed with this in mind and are a bit more interesting. There's no boss rush which is probably a good thing. Plot is back to Serious Shovel Knight Plot unlike Plague Knight's silly campaign which is definitely a net negative, but oh well, it doesn't matter much.
From what I understand, regarding the business practice, the way it works is this:
Shovel Knight bought before a certain date gets automatically updated to "Shovel Knight Treasure Trove" which is basically the main game and all subsequent released content for free. You can still buy this package now as a bundle, unsure if the price was changed though. Wouldn't shock me if they raised the price for later buyers due to the amount of content, and the changed business model, since it's not screwing over early adopters at all but no clue.
Then they released Shovel of Hope, Spectre of Torment and Plague of Shadows all as separate releases on their lonesome. You can buy any campaign you want by itself. Want to only play as Plague Knight and don't care about Shovel Knight or Spectre Knight? Then just buy Plague of Shadows! No idea about the other bonus content like the Gender Swap mode coming down the pipeline and how that'll work. Naturally, I suspect King Knight's mode will be handled similarly.
The combined 4 episodes bought separately naturally costs more than the bundle, which is pretty typical.
But yeah, Yacht Club games is giving legitimate options to the fanbase. If I had to guess, when making Spectre of Torment, they realized that Plague Knight only sort of worked in Shovel Knight's stages and trying to have characters with drastically different mechanics all acclimate to the same stage can be tricky, and thus started making a whole new game, in essence, for Spectre of Torment, leading to a change in the business model since they figure they have nothing to lose and may get a little extra cash.
Honestly, I have absolutely no problem with this, since they're clearly NOT screwing anyone over, just allowing more options for consumers to buy in hopes to get more revenue. Someone may not want to buy Shovel Knight for the price tag is now, nor care about any bonus content, but seeing it at a cheaper price may coerce a few impulse buyers, people on the fence, etc. into it.
But yeah, hearing interviews with the team (from Gamexplain) and such, Yachtclub games definitely holds Customer Satisfaction in high esteem, believing that if people like your product and you stay true to your vision, people will come back for it, and you don't need to resort to any kind of underhanded tricks. They could have cahrged for Spectre of Torment, treating it like a Gaiden Game/Add-on to Shovel Knight, but chose to stick to their original promise (Plague of Shadows...yeah, they couldn't pull that off outside maybe a small $2 DLC or some such like Protoman mode in MM9 was.) They sound like genuine guys, in any event, and it really does reflect in their work on the game.
Also I agree that Spectre of Torment's plot is kind of meh. At least Shovel Knight, there was an aire of playfulness in that "yes, it takes itself seriously, but we know the players won't" just didn't quite find the right level of cheese to make the pseudo-serious angle work (where as Plague KNight was clearly "ok, this plot is stupid, knows it's stupid, and is having fun with itself. EXPLOSIONS!!!") Think of it like Resident Evil 4 in that regard, except RE4 did the pseudo-serious stuff better. Spectre of Torment is surprisingly dark and doesn't really have any sort of comedic feel to it (the plot, that is, not the silly NPC HQ stuff, that's fine!) to give that impression, and thus the serious stuff has no impact.
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I expect they're going to go way into the silly end for King Knight's campaign, so Specter of Torment being self-serious feels fine on balance.
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I started playing ffx again just for the trophy support.
Why this game doesn't have a scene skip function is irritating to say the least!
Just got airship access. Time to grind!
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Trails of Cold Steel II
Finished, in the Epilogue now. A lot to say about it! But let's get to the important stuff: Rixia's character design. I think this might be the most scandalous character I've seen in a video game in some time, possibly ever. In Cold Steel 1, Rean comments (over text) that she's wearing incredibly little clothing in the fan magazine he found of her troupe, and the local hur-hur gurls are pretty type nods approvingly at pics of her (that the player can't actually see). Anyway, she & Lloyd get a cameo chapter after the game is over in CS2, and holy crap. She is not wearing any pants. Nor a dress, skirt, anything. Isn't Lloyd a police officer? Aren't there public indecency laws to enforce? Maybe they don't apply in the obligatory monster-infested computer server sewers, I guess. She also wields a sword as large as she is that I have NO IDEA where she is storing this thing, same hammerspace that Laura uses perhaps despite more form-fitting clothing. Anyway, this is important because it means she has way better range at attacking enemies than Lloyd does walking on the map, so you are incentivized to put her in front so you can watch as the swaying flap or whatever it is she uses in lieu of pants fails to cover up most of her hindquarters. It would probably be more respectable to be running around in a bathing suit, actually.
(https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/legendofheroes/images/6/6e/Rixia_Mao_Cold_Steel_II.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20141110134653)
Boss fight was pretty hilarious, too. I had Black Haired Boy taken care of and killer emotionless girl #457 down to very little life, and 100+ CP ready to go to finish, but was playing with my food, and then got S-Craft'd into death. Whoops. Bit of AI roulette once they get to low life, so it took a few more tries to blitz through without getting eaten by that.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4vIBijzg4w
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The FF12 remake looks dope.
Good grphx + job system + no more shitty spell queue + fast forward button.
Might spend too much time on it. I want to do all the challenges!
For the first playthrough I'm torn between just one class per character or a Time Battlemage SCC. I'm probably going with the later ?
If it's the same as izjs you can't change classes anyway. It works more like FF1.
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It's different, you get to pick two classes / character in this game
Anyway the install is so long
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Nier Automata: finished forest stage. As I'm playing this game I actually wonder if chip modification matters? I mean, I somehow sorta kinda feel like I'm almost midway and the way around modding is too easy to notice substantial differences. I imagine such mods/pod love would matter were I to play on a mode other than Normal. I'm not quite interested in 1HKO right now though. I was a fan of the machine village track but now it is grating.
FF Curtain Call: to replace my stolen Theatrythm. Now 3500 crystal-whatever-you-want-to-call-its.
Just bought BD2
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FFXII Zodiac Age: FUCK this remaster is good. Best FF?
Magic queue is gone. Job system is in. 2x / 4x speed is an option.
I'm going to Time Battlemage SCC this but first I want to go jobless until I get every party member, past Leviathan. For future optional challenges. If I can manage it.
Wish each job had a special in game outfits
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FFXII Time Battlemage SCC:
Oh my god, time battlemages don't even start with Haste.
Instead they have Slow, Immobilize, crossbows and heavy armor. Crossbow + Immobilize means we have some potiential for cheese against some enemies. For now though, Basch still keeps his starting sword because it's a sword. Fran also still keeps healing and Balthier keeps stealing too. Old habits.
Healing might become a nightmare later on. We only have potions with no potion lore, and Reverse later on. The idea is that if we're hasted, and the enemy is slowed, we can heal faster?
Still, though. We easily beat Nidhogg thanks to Slow, and Cuckatrice almost looks solvable even now thanks to Immobilize. (She's immune but not her chicks) We'll see where things go.
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Persona 5 - Currently in early December, so past the big wham plot thread and I have some issues with the whole thing as of now.
I -do- like the base cleverness of the setup, but holy shit what was the -point- in keeping it hidden from the player through stupid loldrugs narrative contrivance? And then 'oh shit i'm remembering' stuff. There was nothing narratively to GAIN from hiding that part, it actually makes it look LESS clever than it really is and mystery plot was never really the point of the game's overall arc. Sacrificing narrative coherence for the sake of an artificial plot twist is never okay for me, just makes me feel like they didn't trust the strength of that plot device enough. They really should have, it'd strengthen the feeling that you outsmarted the enemy.
Also, I remember Akechi being kinda odd in seeming to actually listening to Morgana more than once, so that was a nice Chekhov's gun, but, on the other hand, it does kinda feel like the game ends up bricking into Akechi being dumber than it wants you to think he is. I still don't feel quite convinced by the seamless real world => metaverse transition, since it does sorta rely on the user's UNFAMILIARITY with it, and Akechi actually has a lot more experience with it than the party does. The game sorta skims over this and it feels like this really does require a level of gambling further than the script acknowledges. Iunno. Also, wtf recommending the main to wear his school uniform after he went into hiding, what the hell are you people thinking? Oh dear god.
Makoto ended up being great at the end, mostly through the transition from reversed High Priestess to upright. Under that light, the Eiko plot thread -actually makes sense- and ties the symbolism quite nicely. Good stuff. Will muster some thoughts on some other confidant links as well.
EDIT: So, yeah. Since last time, I completed, besides Priestess, Strength (unlike Snowfire, I find this one of the -least- controversial things to allow DL-wise, mostly because wtf why -wouldn't- you FAQ this shit anyway, you should never be forced to bruteforce through Margaret-styled links. But FAQ-bait is much less of a factor to me than just straight in-game viability anyway) and Priestess. Strength, well. The link isn't too notable, since I'm not all that sold on Caroline and Justine as characters, but I guess I haven't been too into them since Elizabeth - surpassing her is a really tough mountain to climb. I'm also irrationally fond of the Star because the underlying themes of the particular arcana seep through the narrative in multiple layers, nice piece of work. I also like Hifumi's quirky, yet subdued nature, that works pretty well overall. I still loathe Mishima, but he of course makes tons of sense. Well-written, overall intelligently tied arc. Also, I HATE how Judgment skips three confidant levels straight. Feels very sloppy, though it can make sense given context, but it stands out pretty bluntly when the rest of the overall package is so slickly polished. I seriously don't know about that execution.
EDIT2: In the end, I really, really love the 6th Palace and everything about it. Execution, the setpiece, the whole thing. It's the most out there out of the metaphors used for the palaces and it makes for a pretty gripping experience, too. The boss... well, the gimmick is pretty cute, but it's an overall straightforward idea? She suffers -a lot- from mitigational stacking in P5 being so goddamn busted, Tarunda+Matarukaja essentially quarters her offense and Dekaja only helps so much when she's one of the few palace masters in the game to not double-act AT ALL. She's not entirely toothless, at least, but she felt very controllable in the way lategame SMT bosses generally do. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forfeit Ann on bosses just because of Tarunda, and Makoto also went seriously up in value ever since grabbing Matarukaja. Now that Morgana got Masukunda, I can't help but imagine he'll complete a busted-ass defensive setup here (Masukunda is -ridonkulously- potent and its multiplicative stacking with Masuku makes bosses suffer horrendously), but frankly, it also makes one of Tarunda/Matarukaja pretty unnecessary. I don't think buffs/debuffs have been this potent in Persona since like P2, it almost feels like I'm playing FFRK at times.
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Jo'ou: Setting aside the DL for a moment, I think that Strength has to be the worst gameplay idea that P5 has. Sure, Confuse-grinding money and stalling in battles against status'd randoms to let SP-Adhesives regen you back up are lame, but that's my fault for wanting to do dungeons in a day and solve money problems; playing more "normally" would mean doing less of it. Strength is just a chore if you FAQ it, and an even worse chore if you try and figure things out from trial & error (or just jump straight to the gallows roulette method), and is clearly "intended" to be part of the gameplay experience. Personally I've found it the least fun part of the game.
(Now, DL-wise, SECRETLY the issue is not having late-breaking equips make the cast look terrible IMO. Aka what OK is in favor of anyway, i.e. don't hold stuff like Nataraja / Judge of the Dead against the rest of the cast for surprise latebreaking +5 / +10 to stats. Strength 10 seems a convenient dividing line to draw that leaves that out that is at least some consistent standard. But who knows, I reserve the right to change my mind. Side comment: if I ever get really bored, I'd be curious to see what the WA4 stat topic would look like with storebought equipment only. Mildly more Jude hype perhaps?!)
Also, Star confident is... hmm. I think it's the most "vanilla SMT / JRPG-with-a-silent-main"y of the Confidants so far? I mean, don't get me wrong, I enjoy Hifumi and think she's a good addition to the cast, a nice intellectual version of Ann (high school minor celeb dealing with minor celeb problems, but for shogi rather than modelling). But those dialogues also stray into "awesome person talks to self, inexplicably shares secrets with silent main and credits them for success." I guess I'd really have liked it if they'd set things up for Joker to have a firmer role in what exactly he's contributing earlier, and why Hifumi is willing to hang out with him. (When a master plays a novice, it might be very educational for the novice, but is unlikely to be useful for the master.) Any of...
* Hifumi is friends with Yusuke and he sets the two up and participates in lots of the events.
* It's a big secret that Hifumi hangs out at that church (Rather than having random fanboys pass by), so she's fine with chillin' with Joker because she isn't having to turn down or accept hordes of people, and he's the first one.
* Joker isn't quite a novice - he was friends with some famous old Shogi master who taught him a bit in his hometown. Curious about how a disciple of this other guy plays, Hifumi is willing to continue his education.
(In reality: Charming complete novice fanboy has some mysterious aura around him. Maybe we'll chalk it up to fate.)
As is, Joker's a bit too bystandery. Nothing unusual for many other games who do this, but in general, P5 does a better job setting up some of its other Confidants I think. I guess it's tricky here because they clearly wanted "potential love interest of similar age who is not a classmate and is not a Phantom Thief" but phoned in the angle from her side.
Re gameplay comments... I'm still a bit before you, but yeah, I definitely feel like after the Fourth Palace there's a huge shift as the gameplay seems likely to collapse in difficulty, because that's around where you both get Marakukaja AND your (much less funny) replacement support also starts throwing random buffs & healing on the party entirely too frequently. It just seems really difficult to balance enemies so that they can be threatening when Tarunda, Marakukaja, and MT Healing exist, but not be complete bullshit before those are up.
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Persona 5 - Currently in early December, so past the big wham plot thread and I have some issues with the whole thing as of now.
I -do- like the base cleverness of the setup, but holy shit what was the -point- in keeping it hidden from the player through stupid loldrugs narrative contrivance? And then 'oh shit i'm remembering' stuff. There was nothing narratively to GAIN from hiding that part, it actually makes it look LESS clever than it really is and mystery plot was never really the point of the game's overall arc. Sacrificing narrative coherence for the sake of an artificial plot twist is never okay for me, just makes me feel like they didn't trust the strength of that plot device enough. They really should have, it'd strengthen the feeling that you outsmarted the enemy.
Also, I remember Akechi being kinda odd in seeming to actually listening to Morgana more than once, so that was a nice Chekhov's gun, but, on the other hand, it does kinda feel like the game ends up bricking into Akechi being dumber than it wants you to think he is. I still don't feel quite convinced by the seamless real world => metaverse transition, since it does sorta rely on the user's UNFAMILIARITY with it, and Akechi actually has a lot more experience with it than the party does. The game sorta skims over this and it feels like this really does require a level of gambling further than the script acknowledges. Iunno. Also, wtf recommending the main to wear his school uniform after he went into hiding, what the hell are you people thinking? Oh dear god.
The impression I got is that they weren't even trying here.
If anything, this twist is so obvious that anyone intelligible will be seeing it coming miles ahead. In other word, this twist in itself has no surprise value nor impact what so ever.
But yet they have to let this twist happen to move on the plot, so they sugar coated it with bunch of superficial stuff so the twist is going to look like something that's worthy of attention on the outside.
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Persona 5 - Currently in early December, so past the big wham plot thread and I have some issues with the whole thing as of now.
I -do- like the base cleverness of the setup, but holy shit what was the -point- in keeping it hidden from the player through stupid loldrugs narrative contrivance? And then 'oh shit i'm remembering' stuff. There was nothing narratively to GAIN from hiding that part, it actually makes it look LESS clever than it really is and mystery plot was never really the point of the game's overall arc. Sacrificing narrative coherence for the sake of an artificial plot twist is never okay for me, just makes me feel like they didn't trust the strength of that plot device enough. They really should have, it'd strengthen the feeling that you outsmarted the enemy.
Also, I remember Akechi being kinda odd in seeming to actually listening to Morgana more than once, so that was a nice Chekhov's gun, but, on the other hand, it does kinda feel like the game ends up bricking into Akechi being dumber than it wants you to think he is. I still don't feel quite convinced by the seamless real world => metaverse transition, since it does sorta rely on the user's UNFAMILIARITY with it, and Akechi actually has a lot more experience with it than the party does. The game sorta skims over this and it feels like this really does require a level of gambling further than the script acknowledges. Iunno. Also, wtf recommending the main to wear his school uniform after he went into hiding, what the hell are you people thinking? Oh dear god.
The impression I got is that they weren't even trying here.
If anything, this twist is so obvious that anyone intelligible will be seeing it coming miles ahead. In other word, this twist in itself has no surprise value nor impact what so ever.
But yet they have to let this twist happen to move on the plot, so they sugar coated it with bunch of superficial stuff so the twist is going to look like something that's worthy of attention on the outside.
Endgame Spoilers (Not for Jo'oueyes yet)
The general consensus is that the Akechi twist is just an obvious thing for the audience to focus on and get them to stop thinking about the possibility of the second, bigger twist regarding Igor. I do kinda like this idea, and it does make sense.
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Silent mains suck and they suck even harder in P5
Yeah, this is a truism plaguing the entire series. It feels particularly egregious in 5 - even moreso than 4. And also shows WHY silent protagonists need to go away. And honestly, it hurts -every single Social/Confidant Link- in the series. I end up entirely splitting the characters' worth from their base personality and writing, since they're -always- hurt by interacting with a paper plate with prompts. This said, I like Hifumi herself and her story (and that's where the symbolism brews). It's kinda hard for me to evaluate the actual rapport because there's almost -none- of it.
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Have been working on a full Persona 5 retrospective, so I don't want to say too much, but a few comments to add:
- STRENGTH is basically a test of if you can use the system. STRENGTH 10 is just if you want the cool stuff without level grinding Reaper (which...really isn't that bad, all things considered). Most (I think all but 1) personas can be fused through regular fusion with the skills you want (e.g., level them enough, fuse with the right arcanum, choose right skills, win), rather than relying on sacrifice (although the latter works fine), and skill cards can get you all of them as well. A little experimentation is enough, generally. I can see how it's annoying, but the benefits aren't necessary. Rank 1 (Group Guillotine) and Rank 5 (Boosted Guillotine) can get you everything in the game, since additional fusion techniques unlock as the game goes on automatically (such as Itemization). The Isolation and Special Treatment benefits are nice, but not necessary.
- YES SILENT MAINS SHOULD GO AWAY DAMNIT. Joker even talks a TON in cutscenes, what the fuck.
- Confidants...I generally agree with everything said already. The game does a really good job of following the meaning of the arcana, although I can't say I'm interested in all of them (Queen's was good on concept, I just wasn't interested in it). Hifumi is interesting, in that she was planned to be a party member, and that would have been cool, maybe added a bit more layer to her confidant. Be neat to see. But more comments in the future.
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OK: STRENGTH is a test if you like reloading saves a lot. It's about as fun as trying to bid on ZoneSeek & Golem at the auction in FF6 if you had to do it ~5 times rather than twice. There are a *few* of the fusions you get for "free", but not enough IMO. It'd have been fine if it had been solely "make X type of demon" and have said demons all require exotic combinations a la the Group Guillotine.
Jo'ou: Well, Star felt the most glaringly obvious about it to me. Ryuji, for example, has a perfectly serviceable setup where Joker doesn't feel TOO awkward or out-of-place: he's hanging out with the bros and meddling with the track team, something that's perfectly reasonable at the school. Sure I buy it. Death... well, the basic excuse for the Confidant of "give me off brand meds corruptly" is fine (even if RIDICULOUS - maybe make it so Joker had a milder case of Fantasy Disease to explain why he's even a useful test subject?), even if the timing on people showing up at the clinic related to Takemi's past is awfully convenient, and the antagonist is a real moron (you... disgraced your subordinate by creating a scandal and inventing a death? How does that even work, and wouldn't such a death due to incompetence reflect badly on him too?).
Anyway, on the SMT note, for something done while not having access to a PS4...
SMT: Devil Survivor Overclocked
Was kinda Trails'd out in the Epilogue, annoyance at some plot elements continuing, so started this up. Pretty amusing. And interesting coming into it from having played DS2 first.
* No human deaths so far! ...is what I would have said yesterday, but just got thrashed by Beldr & his goons despite saving a crazed anime cosplayer and Game Over'd. Well that was an unpleasant surprise.
* I can see why Ciato was such a big fan of Yoohoo.
* I actually like not having the affection meter tracker that DS2 & other SMTs & JRPGs love these days. Let me just go do plot events and not worry that I'm not going to max out Fred's relationship level or whatever. I missed out on the side plotline for Airi's father in DS2 because a guide told me that it wasn't needed to max out relationships. My reward: having time to burn to get the likes of Keita to L5. Yeah who cares, nothing of value would have been lost, I regret following that advice.
* DS1 graphics definitely feel a mite worse, but whatever. Music, however, is pretty disappointing. DS2 didn't have amazing music that I'd nom in the Music Tourney or anything, but it had map & battle themes that ranged from decent to pretty great. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z96YXHUuGXU ) Which is really the only music you need to get right, it's what you do the gameplay to. DS1's music has really short loops and is okay at best. For example, from DS2... "Challenge to Fate" and "Battle of the Brave" are solid map themes, and Septentrione / Will of the Species, while simple, are appropriately epic. Break Out and Triangulum, meanwhile, are a nice switch up to rock for getting your face blasted off by the bosses.
* By reputation, physical damage dealers are supposed to get shafted in this game, but that hasn't happened quite yet. You get the Marksman / Anger Hit combo very quickly, and it's really solid - Anger Hit costing practically no HP. (Anger Hit is "50% chance of critical, 50% chance of miss.." Marksman is "Your team can't miss." And crits are good for farming Extra turns.) I suppose it's not until later that physical falls off.
* While I wouldn't *normally* notice or praise something like this, Trails of Cold Steel II made me appreciate it. There's a big scary L17 monster when you are wimpy L5 characters that gets chased off by an L20 NPC (who then departs). Two or three battles later, when you are still only ~L9 or so, you get to face it again, with no NPC to save you, and knowing that you're supposed to die horribly. But you win! (And not via cutscene, you win in battle.) Take that, computer-fortune-telling-fate-prediction! This is pleasantly rewarding. (How... how did ToCS2 fail at this very common video-game story beat so badly and so repeatedly.)
* Script is actually pretty decent so far. Hmm, this person doesn't seem super happy we saved her. Is it just that disaffected punk musician aesthetic at work?! <3 Only complaint was that they seem a little too eager to justify the title -"we survived!" "this can help us survive!" "if we don't do this we won't survive!" Yes game, I know it's "Devil Survivor."
* Also, vaguely amusing that unlike DS2, they bother to explain how humans can get clawed by demons & live, what with the Harmonizer. It's ludicrous but works to explain the HP scores, sure, and the characters are all properly surprised by "WTF why am I not dead."
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I think Overclocked introduced some (though not all) of the physical moves that DS2 had, so it's not QUITE as horribly unblanced between the two? Could be wrong.
The main complaint with not having SOCIAL LINK GO is that what endings you can access is 100% dependent on it- like 'you can lock yourself out of every single ending except the bad one if you miss certain events' kinda stuff. The game doesn't really hint at which ones are important and which aren't, so the complete lack of documentation definitely affects the final game.
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Yes. If you want any semblance of real choice regarding the endings, you FAQ or you go home. It's a pity, too, since DS1 is a lot better writing-wise than DS2.
EDIT: Also, yes, Overclocked's physical/magical balance is considerably better than the original, exactly because they ported a few skills over from DS2. IIRC, though, the imbalance rears its head later on, since physical immunity/reflection becomes very commonplace and the original didn't have good multi-hit physical skills like Multistrike, in stark contrast to the magical side where you get the dances hella early. At least, the game had the good sense to provide both physical and magical boosts/amps.
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Holy crap.
Young Scar must have spent 100s of hours grinding ffx for all this end game shit.
Wtf was I doing with my life back then?
I just got all my ap weapons customized and captured all the monsters in the game. Were dark aeons a thing in the ps2 version? I can't remember.
In any case, Tidus, Auron, and Rikku all have their celestial weapons. I'm still dreading the lightning dodging, but I have to suck it up and do it eventually.
Tidus is such a loser. Sheesh.
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Dark Aeons were only in the international version.
Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies – This happened.
Much better story-wise than Apollo Justice, but also by far the easiest Ace Attorney game in terms of puzzle-solving. Rare are the points where an internal (or external) monologue isn't holding your hand, there's a visual cue in investigation mode when your cursor is over something relevant, and there are some notable translation screw-ups that spoil solutions – e.g. character/evidence descriptions in the court records that outright tell you the detail about that item or person that you're supposed to be deducing. For extra anticlimax, the solution to the final puzzle rests on one of those. I realize many people see ridiculous obscure puzzles in these games as a negative, but I'm not one of them. Bring on another 1-5, I say!
Anyway, I still loved playing it and thought they did a great job having the returning characters develop naturally, while undoing the worst nonsense of Apollo Justice. Phoenix being an experienced mentor to Apollo and Athena (but once again a practicing attorney!) really works for the character, and those two each find their own voices pretty well – much more so with Apollo than in his own game. The rotating viewpoints gets a thumbs-up too – I never went into a new case and thought “Dammit, I wanted to play as [Phoenix/Apollo/Athena] instead.”
Also, good use of nostalgia buttons for the most part. Phoenix and Apollo's gameplay gimmicks get short shrift when they're remembered at all, in comparison to Athena's new emotion-reading toy, but that's par for the course by this point.
Definitely will pick up the DLC case soon. Spirit of Justice....sometime, probably not immediately.
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Will be looking forward to your thoughts on Spirit of Justice when you get around to it, particularly in terms of what it does with our heroes and how it sets up for the future of the series.
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I definitely agree that Dual Destinies is too easy / would be better-served by being more puzzly although I will strongly defend the cursor changing as you move over examinable locations as an excellent choice. There was at least one point in the original trilogy where I walled hard in the middle of a case because I had missed the correct pixel and had thus failed to examine something I thought I had examined. That's not a puzzle, that's an annoyance.
Agreed on the character stuff for sure.
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Oh yeah I totally forgot to mention I did a Four Job Fiesta this year, of course. I tried did #regpopular (chaos variant) and #krile (get a random fifth job which replaces the fourth job when you get Krile). My team was two Red Mages, a Mystic Knight, and a Blue Mage which became a Ninja. The fourth job was the most important, with Red Mage and MK providing enough utility to handle various situations otherwise. My only reset was on Catastrophe because I overestimated my offence and he blitzed me down faster than I could blitz him (or heal).
Also Ciato and I are playing LFT, doing a 4-unit run where we each control two people. Currently up to the final dungeon, made a detour to do the kolliery.
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Pixel hunts are bad design, 100 percent agreed, but the highlighting meant I could just sweep the cursor over an area and click whenever it lit up, without having to think much about what I was looking for at all. I'd much rather have the old interface and they just avoid making the investigations stupidly fiddly.
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Completed Tokyo Xanadu over the weekend. I have mixed feelings about this game. On one hand I found the game to be pretty good but not as good as Cold Steel. On the other hand, the two games share a lot of similarities, so it is difficult to understand why it feels worse. I think it comes down to a combination of factors, which is why it is hard to pin down. The biggest issue is probably game play related.
Let's go over what I do think is good - the basic premise of the plot and core game play itself are both pretty solid. That's not to say there aren't flaws, but what is there works. The plot itself is self containing so it doesn't leave on a cliffhanger and isn't crazy convoluted. Each Chapter essentially tells a miniature story that makes up a small part of the overall picture so when the entire thing comes together, it all clicks. The pacing is decent as a result, even though it is hampered slightly due to how uneven the Chapters are (notably early chapters + epilogue chapter are relatively short but the mid and late Chapter are significantly longer). As for the dungeons, they are pretty cool too since you get ranked on different aspects such as time, treasures discovered and combat efficiency. This makes it such that getting through a dungeon isn't just about surviving and adds some level of replay ability. Truly, the real challenge of them is to try and get a S Rank upon completion. The characters all play a little different as well, which helps to differentiate the cast and diversifies combat, giving you different tools to get through each area effectively.
What doesn't work then? As I noted, it seems to be due to a host of little problems. Problems that maybe on their own, wouldn't be as bad. However, when compounded together, it hurts the overall game quality. One example is the way shops are handled. The game takes place in modern Japan, so to go with that thematically, the game makes it such that you have many stores, each carrying their own different stock. Two equipment stores will be carrying different things based on that shop's theme, so a sports store may have goods related to sporting equipment (which can include armor and accessories). This can make it difficult to get your equipment since you may have to visit many different places just to get the newest gear. This goes not just with equipment obviously, but also with accessories and battle elements. To put it into perspective, it's like the way Mana Khemia 1 handled their alchemy forges and required you to run back and forth between two runs. If you want a more apt Trails comparison, imagine if instead of visiting George to grab whatever quartz you need, you need to visit like 3 stores. It's a small thing sure, but it's a polish issue that compounds on itself as more areas are introduced.
Another notable issue is the challenge. As I mentioned above, surviving the dungeons isn't really what those areas are about. I had enough fun with the dungeon trekking. The bosses those are where the game sort of flops. They act more like a mandatory necessity instead of feeling like actual fights. This is inpart due to a few things. For one, while you are ranked on your dungeon trekking, you are not ranked on how well you do on the boss. A second issue is related to how items can be used instaneously and there's no item cool down. You know how in Tales/Star Ocean, once you use an item, there is a period of time when you can't use another? Or how in like Kingdom Hearts, when you use an item, Sora stops temporarily and you are forced to set which items you have available. Tokyo Xanadu says that's too complicated, so you can just item spam with no consequence other than to your wallet. It's not like the fights are hard to begin with so this just ends up being not very interesting.
The story has some issues too. For starters, the opening chapters of the game feel too much like Persona 4. Someone gets into trouble, your dudes go to rescue this person and then they join the party. Then when the game starts taking off and things get a little more interesting, the twists just either fall flat or they just don't do anything with it. One example of this is in Chapter 8, where you find out Dojima (Gotou) was also affected by the Eclipses and is actually a military officer. Okay, cool. But what does that effect in the end? Pretty much nothing since the military then decides they will leave this large scale problem to a group of teenage high school kids :psyduck:. A large part of the appeal in the plot has to do with the little mysteries floating about, so when the reveals come and they don't play out, it is much more disappointing. The translation doesn't help as there's way too many typos and the game overuses "quotations" when describing "almost" "everything".
I would say overall, the game is either a low 7 or a high a 6. Low 7 is probably more where I think the game is around though. Compared to say, DQ8, it doesn't have one huge glaring flaw and the flaws aren't as compromising. It's just mired by a bunch of little issues which snowballs into larger prevailing problems.
Comments on characters:
Kou - He's the most versatile character as he can set any element to fill in gaps in your team. He's also forced in all the story dungeons, so you get used to using him. Kou's decent enough though. He doesn't specialize in any one particular area, but one strong point which he does have is attack range. He uses a shield bunker like weapon and it has pretty good range with good attack speed. His charge attack is also really good as it hits twice, swings in a circle and is pretty strong. His only weak point I would consider are basic aerial attacks - he only hits once for mediocre damage and attacks in a vertical line which leaves him open somewhat.
Asuka - She's balanced in both physical and magical attacks. No real strengths, but also no real weaknesses. Her base physical is kind of bad and has below average range, but its made up by having quicker strikes and better air physicals. She does cover a unique niche, which is important - she's the only one who can use Shadow type physicals unless you set Kou for it. This is relevant in some dungeons, so she has some use even late.
Sora - Specializes in mobility and base aerial physicals. She's held back by having the shortest range and isn't good when fighting a bunch of tank enemies together since she doesn't hit particular hard in the end. Part of this is due to being held back by having a small element grid. She has only 4 slots and since two of them are fixed, it limits her options more than the others.
Yuuki - He's a dedicated magic user, which in this game means being a ranged attacker or air dasher. Yuuki is much better at the former though because he has a unique property that the others don't - unlike everyone else, he can move around when using his ranged attack. This lets him strafe around while staying at a safe distance. It works much better since he can remain mobile while attacking. This coupled with his huge grid (tied with Mitsuki) means at end game, he's really good at what he does and then some. Kind of weak starting out but yeah, snowballs towards the end.
Shio - Awkward to use, but great once you get a decent feel. He uses a huge Claymore, giving him great range (probably the longest for melee) and he hits like a truck. Late game, having him use his power attack pretty much cleaves apart everything if he gets the full hits in. His problems come from having very slow attack speed (so you have start up your attacks from a range) and his specials cost a lot of your special gauge. Since his attack speed is so slow, he's also becomes very committed when he begins attacking, so you have to be sure you're hitting or you'll be a sitting duck until the attack resolves. Oh, he's also terrible in the air, so like Asuka, he's a little specialized. But the times when he is good, he's just so good.
Mitsuki - A specialized long range attacker. Mitsuki also has a unique special where she can deploy a barrier around her. This barrier can absorb one attack and gives her a few seconds of invincibility after it breaks. These two things when combined together makes her quite resilient and probably my game's MVP. She can solo some bosses taking no damage at all because of it. As if that wasn't enough, she also has the largest grid (tied with Yuuki), just that unlike him, she starts of great and only gets better as the game goes on. Her weakness lies in poor physical prowess (good range but slow and low damage) and her charge attack has very short range (although to be fair, you probably don't want to be too close - this is the attack that sets up your barrier).
Rion - Joins super late and is another aerial specialist. More specifically, she specializes in air dashes, which come out very fast, cost a very low amount of your special meter and feels like it has the longest distance. Her other attributes are less note worthy but her charge attack is also neat since she creates a small cyclone that travels a little bit forward. Just, the overall power of her attacks leaves something to be desired. Feels like a speedrunner's dream though due to how fast she can move.
Dojima - Last character to join and is basically playable for only about 15% of the game. Sort of wasted, but he's also really good. Hits hard and doesn't have any real glaring flaws. His most notable problem is that his base physical combo can be somewhat awkward because the range on each varies. So if you start from the apex of your range, you'll actually end up whiffing a couple of hits. His charge attack is really good though and is the main reason I used him a lot late.
Overall, performance looks something like: Mitsuki > Kou > Yuuki > Dojima > Shio > Asuka > Sora > Rion
DL wise, no idea. Cast has access to a full status blocking accessory at a reasonable cost, so right there, that probably puts most of them in middle. Kou and Shio may be able to swing Heavy. Kou from being versatile (and being able to swap resistances) and Shio from just sheer damage. Mitsuki is probably some form of High Middle thanks to her barrier. The others float around the division, probably dependent on damage.
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Dream Daddy - the puns are great, the daddies vary from hot to sweet to just funny to terrible. Checking achievements it seems the internet's taste in men is dead wrong.
Mostly though it is a sweet story about father and daughter.
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Tide, why did you play the incomplete Vita version?
Why?
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Elliot Quest: beat this over the weekend. It's an Zelda 2-like, with a cool world map, intriguing plot, solid puzzles, middling combat and platforming, and obnoxious XP loss on death. It could have been a very good game with a larger budget. Not required playing by any means, but if your idea of a good time is exploring a cornucopia of optional areas for loot, bits of plot, and upgrades, well this is a good game for that. If you like a world map where there are something on the order of 100 places you can enter, some big and some small, and you can traverse dungeons that are caves and waterfalls and the like to get to different areas, well it's a good game for that, too. Its weaknesses are 1: XP loss on death - fairly large chunk. You can't actually lose levels, and you'll hit max level comfortably before the game is out if you're poking around for secrets, even if you die a lot. Still quite a frustration. 2: each level you can select an ability from one of 5 trees. There are 25 abilities and 20 levels. This in and of itself is fine, but if you don't take all 5 levels of magic, the latter half of the game is gonna be a hassle. 3: movement is too slow. This isn't a balance issue - the game's bosses and enemies all work perfectly well in context. But it's kinda annoying. 4: the plot, which has a lot of promise, doesn't do much with it at the end (this one's subject to change, because there's a good, evil, and neutral ending, and I've only seen the good one.)
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Niu, how 'incomplete' are we talking? Wikipedia indicated it's just some post-game & side story stuff they added for the PS4 version. Being portable is a pretty huge boon for RPG playing, so I'd definitely prefer the Vita version myself if it's not completely crippled (e.g. SO3J vs. SO3 Int'l.)
Tide:
A second issue is related to how items can be used instantaneously and there's no item cool down.
Shades of Ys 6/7/Memories, here. I forget, have you played the Ys series? Ys I/II/Oath/Origin all have extremely, extremely rare item healing - as in, there'll be a single, once-per-game item that's a full HP restore on death you get in time for the final boss, and that's it. They added in more healing items in Ys 6, and while this COULD be fine, it ends up just awkward - e.g. there are some bosses in Ys Seven that feel kinda sorta balanced around item spam, but not really, such that no-iteming them is quite difficult, but doing it with 2-3 items (from your max of 10 per healing type...) feels trivial. Luckily, when XSeed released Ys 6 Steam version, they actually added in "Catastrophe" mode that removed all the storeable healing items for boss fights, and merely had dead enemies sometimes drop pick-up-and-instantly-heal-a-bit for sustain when dungeon crawling.
Anyway, the moral is to play Oath / Origin / Steam Ys 6.
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Anyway, the moral is to play Oath / Origin / Steam Ys 6.
Got to get 'em in before Ys VIII comes out in September!
(I'm working on replaying 6 in catastrophe mode this time, then Seven hopefully on steam, then hopefully enough time for Celceta. I've got a month and a half, I can make it!)
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Niu, how 'incomplete' are we talking? Wikipedia indicated it's just some post-game & side story stuff they added for the PS4 version. Being portable is a pretty huge boon for RPG playing, so I'd definitely prefer the Vita version myself if it's not completely crippled (e.g. SO3J vs. SO3 Int'l.)
PS4 version has one full additional chapter than the Vita one, and a couple of none important interludes that's there to set up for the new chapter.
The additional chapter is there to address something that's related to that Mythological Greed that started everything 10 years ago.
Also, Two more PC joins in the additional chapter.
And I can't believe they left those two out on the Vita version.
Want to play as those two is one reason I purchased the PS4 version.
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Trails of Cold Steel II
Still puddling about in the Epilogue, gonna make the most boring radio show ever. Anyway, for all my ragging on it, CS1 was a pretty great game, and CS2 is more in the Grandia II / FF8 mold of having at least SOME pretty awesome parts even if parts also fly off the rails, so note that the PC / Steam version is coming out soon! Check out shades Emma in this blogpost:
http://xseedgames.tumblr.com/post/163180020530/the-legend-of-heroes-trails-of-cold-steel-pc
(they got one of those framerate police modders to ward off the whining by pre-emptively doing a good optimization for PC. Nice, for all that I don't usually care about such things... good for people with weaker computers, for sure.)
Anyway, I'll make two side, silly rants.
* Time - So in the epilogue, it's cutting straight to people describing what they'll do after school, basically - go to some other academy for higher learning, take over government affairs, return home, etc. Fine, it's what I'd do as well if I was the writer, gotta add some mini-closures. Except... they're only graduating from their first year? Let's back up. The very end of CS1 seems to take place when graduation is imminent - the 2nd years are just sitting back and cooling off looking for jobs or higher education while the 1st years are sort of running the festival, so the assumption is everyone is out in a month, say. If we're following the Harry Potter model, that means CS2 should also take place over ~9 months or so and be the "2nd year." Instead they jammed a whole ton of traveling, fighting, exploring, and relaxing into like a month & a half long period, and then still extended the school year enough for it still to be their first year at the end...? I mean, whatever, but if they were worried about character models, they could have just had the 2nd-years still wear their uniforms as some sort of fashion statement, and basically never interact with the new class for obvious reasons and have them just be generic models if you do.
* Secret Gundams - So, this is unfair, because lots of games have one random line of dialogue that makes no sense, but I'm gonna call this one out anyway! There's a brief bit that goes something like this:
Witch: Just so you know, in the big civil war 250 years ago we like to talk about a lot, they actually used big Gundams, including the future Emperor.
Rean: That's crazy! How could using huge robots possibly be covered up? Why?
Witch: Oh, because (insert unconvincing & incoherent blather). Basically magic? Maybe?
Except... here's the thing. We see random giant robot artifacts from the "Dark Ages" all the time. There's huge statues of them people visit in Nord & Bryonia Island. Giant robot golems instantly identified as the type from the Dark Ages chase Rean around and attack whenever a rando-boss is needed (and... I still have no idea why. The bad guys never claim credit for this, and the plot likes to pretend they're a threat to nearby townspeople & villages, so they're probably not some kind of ancient hardcore training system set up for Rean.) People explicitly talk about how the modern Big Robots are based on a combination of cool recent orbal techniques & ancient Dark Ages versions. So... no! It wasn't covered up! Everyone knows that people fought using bigass robots in the Dark Ages! Why would it even BE covered up?
About the best explanation I can get is that the lesser Dark Ages robots weren't a secret, but the Emperor fighting in a "piece of the Great Power" super-robot was covered up. I'm not sure how, much less *why* - wouldn't he want to brag about this? And if it was witch magic or something, why bother? It's not like these robots appear to be "bad" or eat souls or anything. And I'm not even sure this stretch was implied by the statement.
So yeah, this is SnowFire way overthinking one throwaway bit of dialogue that's never referenced again in a game with 54678798 lines. But there you go. It's a dumb line!
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I'm pretty sure they do indeed confirm that this is the end of their first year, it's just that Rean's the only one finishing his time at Thors (seemingly on an accellerated program so he's available to Gundam at things? I forget if that's actually there or something I made up.) But they go out of their way to have the entire rest of the cast leave
so they can write them all out of the the third CS game if they want to emphasize how isolated Rean feels now that he Gundams. Some of these have good story explanations (tracking down Supervillains/Having to govern your province? Good reasons. Transferring to specialized schools to finish your education? Okay, that fits their character arcs. Leaving to... train? The fuck Laura.) Like a lot of CSII's endgame stuff it feels jammed in like they'd planned out the main game during CS1 but hadn't actually bothered to decide how they wanted to do a third game until a month before release.
The Secret Gundams thing... I suspect it ties into Lore. The implication is that the souls of the Gundams like Valimar are fragments of Erebonia's Sept-Terrion (or more likely, two of them: the impression I got is that Erebonia is home to both the Earth and Fire ones. Blood and Iron and all that.) As such, once they start crossing the line between myth and history, you get a lot of wheels of fate turning kinda stuff wherein the big guns of other nations start waking up too. Which is, y'know, what's happening in all of the games in the Present, but it's kinda apocalyptic stuff as a rule so secret societies trying to keep that shit under wraps just makes good sense. Don't want the world to end until you're ready for it, y'know.
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The empire indeed has two Septentrions.
The second cycle only quest confirms that.
BTW, the entire Class VII is confirmed to be back in the third game.
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I'm pretty sure they do indeed confirm that this is the end of their first year, it's just that Rean's the only one finishing his time at Thors (seemingly on an accellerated program so he's available to Gundam at things? I forget if that's actually there or something I made up.)
I believe that's right. Rean's on like a special program designed for him such that when he is called for a mission or whatever, it doesn't cost him any credits or something. Which is funny since he's the only person who remains in the academy at the end of both games. Like instead of making the others leave, you would think maybe it was more reasonable for Rean to leave.
But they go out of their way to have the entire rest of the cast leave so they can write them all out of the the third CS game if they want to emphasize how isolated Rean feels now that he Gundams. Some of these have good story explanations (tracking down Supervillains/Having to govern your province? Good reasons. Transferring to specialized schools to finish your education? Okay, that fits their character arcs. Leaving to... train? The fuck Laura.)
Yeah, the way they pull this off is weak writing and it feels like a case of isolating Rean (which is cool) but they just basically made up reasons. Like the list of reasons for each person is leaving is as follows (SPOILERS):
Alisa - Returns to Roer to follow in her mother's footsteps and take over the Reinford company
Elliot - Transfers to a music academy instead of continuing through a military one
Laura - Leaves with her dad to train (admittedly, her dad is like one of the best fighters in the world, and in the world of Trails, this actually means something lorewise)
Emma - Leaves to find her Vita
Jusis - Leaves to govern his province now that it now longer has a ruling lord
Machias - Transfers to an academy specializing in politics
Fie - Follows Sara and becomes a Bracer to search for her former boss and comrades
Gaius - Leaves to Protect his home land
Millium - Is recalled back to the Intelligence Division
Sara - Joins Toval in efforts to rebuild the Bracer guild in Erobonia
Of that list, the ones that make the least sense are Gaius and Laura. Why couldn't they just stay for the two years and then leave? Why is it so urgent that they have to leave immediately after the year? It's not like staying at Thors really hurts their overall objective. Most of the others are acceptable but again if the goal was to isolate Rean, I feel like doing it the other way around (where Rean is forced to leave and then the Epilogue is him revisiting Thors for example) would make more sense. it's like they started writing out reasons for the other members of the cast, got down to the last two, and then realized that they didn't have great reasons for either Laura or Gaius but have gone too far down that path to do any rewrites, so they just jammed some stuff that looks "reasonable" and hope no one looks too close. Unfortunately for them, "user" Snowfire is too smart to fall for this ploy.
It's like how in FF7, the party visits Rocket Town and asks to borrow the Tiny Bronco, which makes sense cause they wanted to travel to other continents to look for Sephy. But then for some reason, Shinra shows up to...also borrow it. Like wtf? I thought you guys OWNED the Highwind. Why do you need some dinky plane which probably can't even fit more than maybe two other people? I suspect its one of those "we still need to make Shinra relevant" moments so they just made up some BS.
Just don't look too too closely or you start asking a lot of questions which I'm sure the writers probably overlooked cause they thought the detail to be too small.
Like a lot of CSII's endgame stuff it feels jammed in like they'd planned out the main game during CS1 but hadn't actually bothered to decide how they wanted to do a third game until a month before release.
Yeah I agree. I think you mentioned before how CS2 really feels like it was supposed to be part of the same game as CS1, just that it feels way too big, so they split it into 2 games. As a result, they had parts of 2 already done and come out strong and then parts which feel disjointed.
I remember one of the things people speculated way back when CS3 was first announced, that it would be a game where you would get to play as multiple different factions. Like you would have Rean's team in Erobonia, then maybe like a Bracer team with Sara, a Crossbell team with Lloyd and then an independent team with like Oliver. Doesn't sound like that's they ended up doing, but I could see some secret Gundam crap being hidden for reasons like that so when the reveal is that this other faction also her their own GUNDAMN tm, it could set up some cool story moments.
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Not about Dream Daddy.
Disappointment.
I sort of decided to finish it last night. Enjoyed the story. loaded back up to date more dads. I don't regret with picking the Barista for my first end game over the hot dad though.
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It is pretty obvious they make Gaius leave so they can set him up with Balkhorn, if not outright make him join the Grail Ritter.
On the other hand they have a lot of explanation to do on Layra. They gave her this power up out of nowhere after she left. I will
I know she needs that power up to eventually deal with Arianrhod. But we really need a sensible explanation here.
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Niu: Actually kinda worrying about everyone in Class VII coming back to CS3. Pick some characters & focus on 'em. I'm all for cool fanservice & callbacks, but if CS3 wants to introduce a bunch of new characters, that means some old characters need to step aside and be NPCs for a bit. As for Gaius's super-priest mentor, CS2 is incredibly vague on what he's up too, merely indicating that he's an ultra badass, so eh. Seems the kind of character best left whispered of in rumor and not actually taking center stage.
Tide/CK, re graduation & time: Yupyup. Thing is, they could have done all of the little parting stories AND had Rean still at the academy at the end via the following crazy trick... just have the dates roll by a lot slower so that our intrepid students aren't doing 3 dungeon crawls & sidequests in a single day allegedly, and a town changes hands every month rather than every 5 days. Maybe the main game ends in June, rather than January, and then Rean is stuck on angsty superboss duty for ~4 months rather than ~2.5. Then have the Epilogue during the school festival of the next year (October). Everybody else did accelerated programs due to the war & all and are still graduating to go do whatever it is they want to do, but after they actually finished school. Rean, having missed almost the *entire* school year, is stuck having to do his 2nd year with totally new people, so he can be alone at the academy, and mutter something about either dying a hero or living long enough to become the villain. (I wish the "sadness" in the Black-Haired Boy's fighting style was due to becoming a puppet of the government, not at failing to save his robot bro. Alas, pretty sure it's failure to save the life of robot bro the game wants you to think for why he's sad.)
Honestly, I suspect it's just that they're terrified to let time advance too far, because that would mean having to give new character models to the likes of Tita or Fie, and that simply wouldn't do for certain JP fans. (Agate & Tita are in CS3, and while Tita is clearly older, she's now 16 rather than ~12-13 or some such. Clearly 18-19 would have been ridiculous I guess?!)
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On Grail Ritters, they kinda have to provide some explanation on what Dominions are up to during this game.
I mean, we have three of them in Erebonia/Crossbell now.
With Thomas looking into the Two Septentrions in the Empire, the church's stance is no longer just "Wazy helping out of personal reasons".
And if the theory that the vampires and church are really in alliance. Then there is a high chance that they'll have agenda against Osborne.
As for the Class VII, they have been confirm to be all PCs this time and all have relevance.
Elliot seems to be the only one who doesn't have any importance.
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Ff12 time battlemage SCC:
Well things have gone smoothly so far. I beat Cid.
The challenge is less interesting than expected because:
- past the super cool beginning, most bosses are immune to time battlemage statuses beyond Slow, and most randoms are too weak to bother
- time battlemages are fucking damage gods thanks to haste / berserk / strength nodes / crossbows (yes) so I down bosses super fast anyway
- crossbow darts that inflict slow
- healing was a bit of an issue but then I got Cure 2 from Adramelech. On top of haste.
This is still fun because New Ff12 is amazing. But I probably won't do another FF12 SCC. Might do one in FFT on my phone instead. What's best? Time Mage? Geomancer? Oracle? Mediator? black mage?
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Easiest is generally considered to be Chemist; Ninja is fairly easy and involves a lot of smash.
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Honestly chemist looks a bit boring and ninja takes too long to unlock?
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Geomancer is fun and fairly forgiving while still being very different from normal gameplay. Oracle too, though it has a "win boss fights free" button which you may or may not like. Summoner is an easy stomp if you're looking for that. Wizard is similarly easy for most of the game, but can wall at Altima when you realize you're underleveled and don't have enough MP to kill her with spells and argh.
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Wizard gets kinda frustrating late when everything starts having magic evade (obviously evade hurts other classes too, but wizard feels this disproportionately because of the way charge times work, and all the other charging classes have ITE options).
Both Time Mage and Oracle are very fun in their own way, good mix of things they smash and thing you'll have to think about. That said I forget how the phone version changes might impact Time Mage in particular, i.e. how viable Meteor is late.
Because you have 4-5 characters feeding each other JP I don't find unlocking jobs pre-SCC to be that bad (except Mime, never done that) but your milage may vary.
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iOS version is running on Japanese job unlocks is worth remembering, so Ninja really does take too damn long to unlock.
Pyre - the new Supergiant Games thing. Art is beautiful, story is a bit less intense this time, settting feels kind of pre-collapse Bastion? It is still about a society in decline, but Armageddon scenario hasn't hit yet.
Gameplay, it is Fantasy 3v3 basketball.
You are playing 3v3 basketball to free you party from a wasteland and to return them to a decadent collapsing Rome.
I have freed my first party member as well
(https://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/pyre.gamepedia.com/thumb/a/a3/Rukey.png/200px-Rukey.png?version=d971fed31acadae1fa18ef566c075876)
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For me, FFT SCCs were like this: (I realize it's highly subjective)
Most fun: Monk, Time Mage, Oracle
Monk is harder than you'd think due to having no hat slot, but its skillset leads to some interesting puzzles. Time Mage and Oracle are both broken and fun to exploit battles with.
Pretty fun: Archer, Geomancer, Ninja
Archer is interesting primarily because it's unlikely you used them much in a vanilla playthrough and they have some unique properties. It's a fairly tough challenge, though. Geomancer is cool in general, but most battles go about the same. Ninja is fun just punching dudes from invisibilty with.
Okay: Wizard, Priest
See Elfboy on Wizard; it can't be stated enough that MEvd makes the challenge a serious pain later on. Priest is kind of fun because it's a non-combat job that gets some cool options, but many battles are tedious.
Boring: Squire, Chemist, Lancer, Summoner, Bard, Dancer, Calculator (Crystal)
Lancer/Chemist/Summoner are too easy. Chemist and Calc take insane amounts of grinding for one reason or another. Bard is interesting but everything takes forever. Dancer is either one-dimensional or stupid hard depending on the battle. Squire is pretty tedious until you get to Chapter 4, then it gets kind of fun.
Kill it with fire: Knight, Thief, Mediator, Samurai, Mime
Knights are sooo slow and rely on breaks that have low% chance of hitting. Thief is straight up awful until Chantage is available, but ugh (Stealing is also a low% chance and required in a lot of battles). Mediator is interesting but really not built for this; if you want to go Mediator I would do the Mediator/4 Monsters challenge. Mime depends entirely on chance and can only attack physically anyway. Samurai has a horrible Chapter 1 and then you either need to rely on savescumming or prepare to spend ages grinding for money to spend on replacement Katanas.
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iOS version is running on Japanese job unlocks is worth remembering, so Ninja really does take too damn long to unlock.
*looks them up*
Oh wow okay yeah. For some reason I thought that FFTj didn't have different prereqs for ninja/samurai (though I knew about the higher prereqs for the prereqs), obviously was thinking of LFT. It's amazing how much that one change increased NA FFT's playability for me. Even going back to vanilla FFT after LFT is a bit hard, j/WotL version is ew.
EDIT: My SCC fun list is pretty similar to that of jsh, except that I enjoyed Dancer more (the differing ways of crippling enemies are pretty fun). Chemist I also enjoyed buuut that's a sort of catharsis; if you do a few tough challenges in a row then bending the game over your knee is enjoyable even if it's a bit slow; I wouldn't recommend it in isolation.
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I could do a Dark Knight SCC but the job requirements take long to unlock compared to Mime, or an Onion Knight SCC but that looks boring compared to Mime.
At least I get to see the Wotl translation again.
Thanks for the heads up, I'm still hesitating between geo and oracles, I've never really played with either too much,
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Persona 5
Palace 6 cleared, plot dump get.
The boss was... pretty disappointing. Look, game, you had a double-acting boss in Palace 1, and a quad-acting boss in Palace 2. Don't tell me you've forgotten how to make bullshit stick. Sure, Heat Riser MIGHT be threatening if the player completely neglected to have Dekaja or a simple storebought Kajaclear, but lol at that, and if you do, it's a single turn to undo it + 3 more free turns of doom. Checking OK's topic, apparently she has an uber-move of doom, but, uh, Oracle had given me a free MT Concentrate / Charge... because that's balanced... so yeah she got explode'd before she could use it. (At least for the Palace 5 boss, I only had ~5-6 minutes left on the timer, and could easily see things going wrong if you get on your back foot.)
Hilariously enough, I then proceed to lose to the solo fight of Sacrificial Pyrekeeper by hitting its ice weakness with Byakko, who sports a fire weakness, and gets 2HKO'd and One More'd by the boss. Oops! (I use a fire-nulling Persona in round 2, and the game thankfully doesn't send you back to the previous boss fight.)
Since people are getting there, I'll this important tip here:
DO NOT fight Casino's Shadow immediately after beating her Palace. Fight her on the last day.
You lose all free time if that month if you figure her early.
Responding to posts from April! Not sure if this is different from the JP version, but the game absolutely won't let you fight her any earlier, anyway. If you try you just get told nope, and it happens automatically after a team meeting on the 18th. So you can't "lose" any days.
I'll save plot thoughts for later. Pretty cool stuff, my main complaints qualify as "minor nitpicks" rather than "hey that doesn't work" so far.
EDIT: While surfing old WGAYP...
P5: this music
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MnHqMeGR-rE
Your link doesn't work anymore. What was it?
P5 - well that 5 minutes was a fucking roller coaster of emotions.
Yeah okay Ryuji is stupid but eh I am less frustrated by him than most people seemed to be at September.
Wait what the school that is worried about their massive case of Negligence from the start of the game wants to fuckong do WhAAt?
Oh you can buy a game from the retro game shop in Alohabara called Punch Ouch. K game we good again.
Wait, which thing the school did in September triggered the WHAAAT? (Tiny text it if need be.) There was something the bad guys did that was a little eye-rolly there, but the school itself...?
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Oracle is easiest to unlock of those options and you can turn people into chickens.
Edit - Fly students to a foreign country with Student Council members as chaperone to backfill Teachers is the September thing that I think is broad enough not to spoiler text.
Will edit in what I expect the track is.
Edit - https://youtu.be/KX5Jmfmkgx0 Beneath the Mask. Even after hearing it for hours I still had it in rotation for weeks. It really is just that damn good.
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It would truly be terrible if a second-year attempted to suborn the reliable third-year chaperones into neglecting their duties with an offer of tasty, tasty garlic shrimp and silent love. Or, Amaterasu forbid, a teacher.
Beneath the Mask is good times, yes.
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Can't sleep, so... nitpicking. (big spoilers post-November, but haven't done Palace 7 yet)
* Just to say so up front, I liked The Twist! While a tad too complicated for its own good, it is still considerably less Rube Goldbergy than the Phoenix Wright equivalents, and I appreciate the narrative owning that some parts were just gonna be plain out of their control, but let's hope for the best, balls of steel. I like that WAY more than "haha we had it ALL PLANNED OUT, even the parts that clearly we shouldn't be able to be sure about."
* This is definitely a nitpick, because it's explainable either way, but earlier in the game... the other Palaces have had a tendency to crumble or explode upon theft of the treasure, and you get informed you can't go back to them if you try. Maybe the "rest" of the cognitive world stays the same, I guess? I'd have been happier had they thrown in a line like "we didn't actually steal your heart, you changed it on your own," similar to Moon rank 7/8, and then add "besides we didn't really want to blow up that cognitive world yet."
* Okay, I buy that Futaba can get 'em both into the Metaverse via the nav (I liked her explanation about how she couldn't hack the Nav, but she could just make the phone think the button was pressed, so same diff.)? And I buy that either the Nav works across dimensions, or she was already in the Metaverse herself, and use that to get Sae back quickly and explain what's up. But... but... how did Black Mask get back to the real world? It'd have been hilarious if he was wandering around Sae's head thinking it was reality, and meanwhile in reality everyone is wondering about the mysterious disappearance of him, but nope, reality thinks he's fine. So... somehow he seamlessly came back on a timer and didn't notice?
* Related to the above, shouldn't Sae be freaking out for her own safety after the SIU Director dies? There's a psychopathic killer on the loose, she hinted she knows more than she should to him, they're tying up loose ends by killing loose ends, and her Shadow just got its ass kicked and has their secrets known. Plus, there's already precedent for Black Mask kicking a Shadow while it's down, in Palace 5! To a lesser extent, Sojiro as well. I'd have kinda liked it if the Party said "we are forcibly gonna try and awaken Personas in you for your own safety so that this trick won't work and you know where your Shadow is", or at least tried to figure out the equivalent of Shadow Witness Protection. Even if this totally failed, it'd have added a bit more tension.
* In the realm of things I totally buy: the conspiracy not noticing the missing bodies. Everyone assumes that some OTHER dark conspiracy member already cleaned the scene, problem solved. (The guard trusting Sae... that's a bit more of a stretch, but sure, the Thieves made a huge gamble.) The characters also correctly point out that people not freaking out about the suicide is still weird, and it should still be a scandal, so WTF, so I'll give the narrative that for the moment, weird things are fine as long as the characters agree it's weird.
* I don't fault the narrative for this at all because the plot that actually happens makes a better story, but sometimes simple is best? Why not just corner Black Mask in the Metaverse and surprise attack him, 7 to 1? He DOES go on to kill someone else later on, so leaving him alive longer has a cost, even if it makes finding the "master" harder!
* Jury's out on this, but Black Mask is making a huge error if he doesn't bother to spy on the other Thieves at least a little bit. A little tricky since the game doesn't show the other characters' escape, and maybe they all acted like they'll lay low for awhile, but surely he should be scared of them doing something desperate, even in the real world, after he shows his true colors publicly? Oh well, I'll see. If he really is just massively neglecting them because Joker was so critical, that's fine, just some massive arrogance-crossed-into-foolishness.
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Nah I actually linked to the best P5 music, Price
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pbwljew1UbE
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P5 - Yeah, beat it over the weekend. 8/10, I suppose. Failed to complete Hierophant (sadly, but goddamn, being walled by a hard time constraint, a 5-stat check AND a Memento request? Holy -shit-), Tower, Hanged Man (also sadly, it's my favorite Hanged Man thread in the series from what I saw) and Emperor. As for the game, it could've bended up higher if it didn't sorta sizzle out by the very last legs. The ending -seriously- sprawls for way, WAY too long and I'm not sure there was a need for that minidungeon at the end. The SMT angels reference was cute, I suppose, but the whole sequence was sorta... unnecessary? Yeah. Also, final boss was a wuss. Char Aznable wasn't great either, though pretty durable, but my assessment just remains entirely true: your mitigation is just way over the top in this game. Once I fused Trumpeter for Char (it's a L59 fusion? WELP, do NOT mind if I do), the game was pretty much over. I didn't even bother to fuse Yoshitsune, which would've cost a fortune (a postgame-levelled fusion that requires ANOTHER postgame-levelled fusion among its components? Are you -shitting- me? Yeah, I'm so not allowing it in the DL, I even ended up the game at lower levels than OK and I certainly didn't skimp on fighting trash. In fact, his levels all around for the topic are kind of slightly higher than I ended up at, but it was really no biggie. As I said, the mitigation is so -dumb-. Both Rakukaja and Tarunda halving damage is insane and, while Sukukaja feels less unbalanced than it was in P4, where it felt like it boosted evade by well over 40% (might've been a straight addition component rather than the 1.5x multiplier on base evade granted in P5, iunno), Sukunda is -nuts-, halving accuracy and stacking multiplicatively with Sukukaja - i.e. stack those and you're the wind. Hell, I rarely even bothered with Masuku because just Debilitate was GOOD ENOUGH. Regardless, some character gameplay thoughts.
Akira/Joker - Consistently felt like the best PC, but never felt gamebreaking like Yu or Makoto/Minato did, but maybe that was just because I never picked Yoshitsune. The fact the really stupid Personas are all past endgame levels also adds to this. Frankly, feels like a good move, it does emphasize the worth of your teammates a bit further. Could do everything well, including damage, but having the extra utility made him the best PC rather than just being overall stupid everywhere. Not being your -only- source of Tarunda also helped in the overall balance. Who'd thunk?
Ryuji/Skull - Kinda terrible in the early game, comes into his own in a big way late. In the beginning, his skills sorta suck and Thunder is consistently the game's worst element, being often resisted and not often enough hitting weakness. Hower, once he gets past L50, he just -soars-. Matarukaja is seriously godly as usual and he outpaces the -other- physical-reliant PC at that point. Ended up being the offensive backbone of my team endgame even though I never got God's Hand, Matarukaja and Charge alone led to some mean Megaton Raids. This is quite important now that the game doesn't punish PCs for staying on the bench. Took Atlus long enough to stop being dumb.
Morgana/Mona - Benchwarming heal battery. The Thunder weakness is terrible and the durability sucks. Wind also isn't anywhere near the god element it was in P4. Recarm/Samarecarm are nice thoughts and Sukunda/Masukunda also help, but on average it felt more practical to just carry Personas with those skills. Round robin revival was still pretty valuable for the Palace 4 boss, at least, that's quite possibly one of the toughest battles in the maingame (fights toe-to-toe for that moniker with Palace 2 boss).
Ann/Panther - Quietly arguably your best non-Joker PC for nearly the whole game. She's pretty much an improved Mitsuru build, running a Red Mage-like array of options off game-best MAG/LUC and a good element (fire's almost as good as nuclear and psychic for hitting weaknesses). For starters, having Tarunda from the first Palace master onwards alone earns you a spot on your boss-fighting A-team for pretty much forever and she, besides game-best magical damage (which gets boosts and amps earlier than everybody else's), she also gets status options for when fire isn't an option. I used Dormina (sleep's the least immuned status in the game and it's HORRENDOUSLY accurate. All ST status options are, but Ann stands out for being the only non-Joker PC to get accurate, spammable status options to play with) to control nasty single targets all the way up and -including- Palace 7. Tentarafoo isn't nearly as good (only 65% accuracy and a lot more enemies immune it), but it saw play in the midgame as well. She -does- kinda dwindle late, when Debilitate comes into play and fire isn't as useful as it is earlier on, but she still has the best backloaded damage (Focus off game-best MAG!) and Matarunda does have use because there are more relevant AoE fights than you'd think - heck, even the last boss is among them, though I didn't bring Ann there.
Yusuke/Fox/Inari - Man, talk about sizzling out. Yusuke starts out pretty great, with better physical skills than Ryuji off better speed and Ice is an amazing element early (and honestly always good, really). Problem is his skills start sizzling out later on and his buffing options are more defensively geared - not to mention Sukukaja requires Sukunda synergy to really shine. Fire weakness also sucks ass. I just stopped using him entirely by the time Palace 4 ended.
Makoto/Queen - In spite of learning her healing skills later than Morgana and not getting revival ever, Makoto's pretty much the reason the kitty doesn't really get to shine and ultimately bashes heads with Ann to decide who's the second-best PC. Game-best stat spread on a healer is really nice and nuclear's a great element to specialize in. She starts with Diarama (getting it earlier than Morgana!) and Dekaja is often oddly useful. By the time you get to Palace 5, though, she gets Marakukaja and holy shit is that skill dumb in conjunction with Tarunda. Marakukaja+Ma/Tarunda made me feel frankly -immortal- and stacking that on a PC with good stats and a nice dedicated healing skillset is just nuts. Getting the status healing spell for the nastiest ailments also helps. By the end, Makoto felt nearly SMRPG Toadstool-level good at keeping my party alive. Her only problem is taking a bit of a while for her damage to develop, but with that package, I'm not complaining.
Futaba/Oracle - Best party navigator in the series. The random MT buffs/healing/SP healing come in REAL handy and they proc often enough to matter (you'll always see it at least once during boss fights, often twice, and they feel quite rigged in your favor - she seems to actually consider which buffs you -already- have in your party. MT Charge AND Focus gets simply ridiculous). The random Hold-Up at the beginning of a fight is also great and saved me from quite a few resets.
Haru/Noir - Looking at the skillset from the stat topic, I thought pretty long and hard "how does she end up not being kinda trashy?" and welp, who'd have thunk, she's quietly oddly -good-. Psychic is a good element to have and she's actually the hardest PC to wall due to having two solid offensive options. She's also silently your best physical slugfesting PC due to being the only character (besides Joker) who gets phys-boosting passives and having a great mult on her gun attack - oh which also happens to be MT. Triple Down is a bit of a risky move due to sketchy accuracy, but it pays off on average and its main downside is easy to mitigate on boss fights with Sukukaja/Sukunda. IF you want, you can also synergize it with Sukukaja against randoms, but that feels kinda unnecessary. Later on, One-Shot Kill is -amazing- and can pump up really shiny numbers with that crit rate and random baton pass strings (because I obviously gave it to Akira too, of course. In hindsight, I should've used Revolution in tandem with it more, four-character baton pass shenanigans with zero weaknesses involved can get downright NUTS). Tetrakarn and Makarakarn are niche in use, though Makara felt invaluable against Forneus on Palace 7 (it reflects status spells!). Finally, her status healing also saw -a lot- of play. Ended up being one of my best PCs against randoms and very solid against bosses too.
Igor's weird as fuck VA being a PLOT POINT was pretty much the most hilarious thing in the overall arc. Clever and in-your-face at the same time. THIS spoiler was really cool, even though the gameplay execution sorta meandered too much.
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Jo'ou's thoughts look pretty good as to character balance, although I'd hype late-game Yusuke slightly more (for all that lategame barely matters) and Ann slightly less (not having Tarunda for the first boss fight when I did it, durability woes even if better than the cat's). Pretty minor though. Oh, and if Joker counts as "more balanced" as a main, I don't even want to imagine what P4 Yu was like. (I already know that P3 Protagonist was insane, at least, although that was in a game with uncontrollable AI, so having all the power be in the one character you can rely on makes sense.) Certainly all of Palace 6, if the entire rest of the party could do nothing but defend & join in AOAs, just having Joker go first and hit all the enemy weaknesses so you can set up an AOA generally wins the fight on the spot, or use Down Shot on the rare enemies without a weakness (e.g. Norn) and THEN AOA or demand money or whatever. And that's without setting him up with Auto-Matarukaja, which is just insane overkill.
And yeah, Tarunda + Marakukaja is absolutely insane. Rakukaja alone has niche use, and making it MT is just insane. Both of those could have been nerfed to half effectiveness and they'd still be useful (and then hit Palace 1 boss's damage a bit since holy shit taking him on without in-game Tarunda, bad times).
Oracle is honestly a bad game design thing IMO, I wish they had flat removed the in-battle effects. I respect that they wanted to make the character feel useful, but roulette wheel super-buffs is, like, reverse SMT bullshit - surprise good luck that instantly wins the fight rather than surprise bad luck crits that lose you the fight. If she only had dungeon sustain, emergency shift moved to like an L2 Confidant ability (it's cool and a reasonable guard against SMT bullshit), and Final Guard kept as an L10 Confidant reward, it'd be fine. (Also, I liked Morgana better as a shot-caller anyway.)
I didn't find the Palace 4 boss THAT bad, don't recall very many deaths, so revival is eh whatever (+ Death's revival items are starting to get very affordable at that point). That said, that is Morgana's final shining moment of competence, since that boss sports Wind attacks (resisted!), MT damage (MT healing!), and MT dizzy-infliction (Me Patra!), so pretty much designed to make the cat fat.
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And yeah, Tarunda + Marakukaja is absolutely insane. Rakukaja alone has niche use, and making it MT is just insane. Both of those could have been nerfed to half effectiveness and they'd still be useful (and then hit Palace 1 boss's damage a bit since holy shit taking him on without in-game Tarunda, bad times).
FUN FACT: In Persona 4, Tarunda and Rakukaja were slightly above half the reduction in damage compared to Persona 5 (29% damage reduction each). This made them quite good, but not completely broken, and quite honestly, the game's bosses were also better for it. I have no idea what the hell Atlus was thinking when they buffed both Raku and Tarunda the way they did. Maybe they were trying to compensate for the Sukukaja nerf? But then, Sukukaja+Sukunda are still completely obscene. You can count the amount of relevant ITE attacks in the game with a single hand.
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Also...
I didn't even bother to fuse Yoshitsune, which would've cost a fortune (a postgame-levelled fusion that requires ANOTHER postgame-levelled fusion among its components? Are you -shitting- me? Yeah, I'm so not allowing it in the DL, I even ended up the game at lower levels than OK and I certainly didn't skimp on fighting trash. In fact, his levels all around for the topic are kind of slightly higher than I ended up at, but it was really no biggie.
Yeah, sadly, much as I am in favor of random Makoto favoritism, Judge of the Dead is looking real expensive too and not likely to make it to DL legality for me. :( I already blew 500K on the Roland Medal and don't have tons of reserve cash lying around, and JotD requires an L77, L78, and L81 component for an L87 Michael Persona, which you then immediately throw away rather than use on Joker? The hell? I'm not THAT bored to be willing to Confuse-grind Mementos bosses forever just to kill lategame challenge even more.
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Also...
I didn't even bother to fuse Yoshitsune, which would've cost a fortune (a postgame-levelled fusion that requires ANOTHER postgame-levelled fusion among its components? Are you -shitting- me? Yeah, I'm so not allowing it in the DL, I even ended up the game at lower levels than OK and I certainly didn't skimp on fighting trash. In fact, his levels all around for the topic are kind of slightly higher than I ended up at, but it was really no biggie.
Yeah, sadly, much as I am in favor of random Makoto favoritism, Judge of the Dead is looking real expensive too and not likely to make it to DL legality for me. :( I already blew 500K on the Roland Medal and don't have tons of reserve cash lying around, and JotD requires an L77, L78, and L81 component for an L87 Michael Persona, which you then immediately throw away rather than use on Joker? The hell? I'm not THAT bored to be willing to Confuse-grind Mementos bosses forever just to kill lategame challenge even more.
WELP, that's ANOTHER thing I'm not allowing in the DL! Ryuji's Auto-Taru stick is pretty simple (sacrifice a Hanuman, which is trash you can find in both Palace 7 and Mementos, so it's essentially free) and Mona's Killer Collar has the decency to be storebought, at least. I'll also have to check the reqs on Ann's Snow Queen Whip.
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Snow Queen Whip's a Casino shadow, so I have it already! Not so bad. (And even if it wasn't, it's ~L50ish, so cheap to fuse.) Like all electric chair stuff, it's possibly a tad obscure, but that's it as far as legality issues. Certainly makes Ann happier facing ice mages in the DL.
Really I think the Fair / Unfair split I proposed is still gonna work decently - stuff that requires Electric Chairing >L75 Personas, even if POSSIBLE due to Strength 10, is going to be very expensive and difficult to kit your entire team with. OK does have a pretty cool chart of estimated costs for certain Electric Chair items in a late reply in the topic, although note it's only the last fusion in the price, and there's often a big expense in getting the components, and it's assuming you're only fusing it when you're L75, which means that getting the pickup more rapidly huuuuugely inflates the price.
Edit: Levels for item creation Personas:
http://www.rpgdl.com/forums/index.php?topic=6888.msg194147#msg194147
Prices:
http://www.rpgdl.com/forums/index.php?topic=6888.msg194624#msg194624
Edit #2: Does the game remove the once-per-day electric chair limit in the final dungeon? It'd be mildly annoying if you can only get a single late-game item, since I know that dungeon 8 is in a very short timeframe after palace 7.
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I haven't tried, honestly. I don't even know if you can access the Velvet Room after the big spoilers happen and you drop into the real real final dungeon. For equips, I'll go for the baseline of "no equips from Personas above L75" and likely no personas above L75 that require -other- personas above L75. Also, most likely my limit for personas is going to be at around L80, anything that takes over 100k yen to fuse feels prohibitive to me. The cast overall likes this interp (well, Makoto -not so much-, but she gets by with the whole "tanky healer with decent damage and solid speed" deal. Akira isn't very happy over losing OHKO-level damage on the first turn, but like I'm going to take pity on post-2000 Persona mains.
EDIT: Ann doesn't like losing the Despair gun much, but she still gets insanely accurate Brainwash anyway - which is as good as death running off her skillset if the enemy immunes Sleep but not Brainwash. If the enemy -doesn't- immune sleep, god help that poor soul, technical hit Focus'd Blazing Hell is like 1.5x PC HP.
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VH2: The game's mostly been a breeze since mid-chapter 3, and coincidentally that's when the plot's kicked up to being pretty interesting. I have to keep going back and checking that this game was actually made 2 years AFTER FFT, because in many ways the plot, gameplay, music, and even map design sometimes is very reminiscent of a proto-FFT. Instead it just ends up being a FFT-ish game that clearly didn't have the budget for it. But man do the graphics throw me.
The last two maps have been very fun but mean. End of Chapter 3 has a map with 3 boss characters... and a random faceless unit in the very back out of the way that you can't afford to bumrush. It will proceed to resurrect said boss characters when you kill them, and has enough MP to revive two of them. They only revive to half HP, have no healing, and once they run out of MP the bosses themselves aren't too bad, but they are pretty scary until that point. This is the first SRPG I can think of that will actually revive bosses.
First map of Chapter 4 has the classic "MC is isolated in one corner of map, must meet up with rest of force. MC death = game over" setup. VH2's particular combat system makes it different enough to be interesting though.
Glad I finally went back on track to finishing this. It's not gonna get above a 6/10, but it's certainly been worth playing
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Does the dl have a server they play on in ff14?
Seems the missus wants to play. We have friends on adamantoise so we started a free trial on there.
Well, one of us gets to play. We need a pc so the other can play alongside the other.
So far it's fun!
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I'm on Ultros, but have barely been playing lately and will likely unsubscribe soon.
The DL presence is mostly on Excalibur, though I think Laggy and maybe some others recently migrated somewhere else (I forget where).
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Tal, Kappa and myself are on Balmung, but it isn't open for transfers. It's on the Aether data center.
I dunno who's on Excalibur nowadays other than Meeple.
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Mei and I are also on Excalibur.
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Is Excalibur even open for transfers? I remember back when I had an alt there I could only get in by logging in right after maintenance at like 5AM. (This is when I wake up anyway.)
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Dang. Everyone is so spread out!
I think I'm on the aether data center at least.
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VH2: Right before the end sequence of fights now. The game's been easy enough that I said why not to getting the Vandal Hearts. Then I looked at the requirements, adding 18 more fights to my list... ugh. Eh. Whatever.
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Fire Emblem Echoes - god lukas is so gorgeous, too bad he's an armor knight
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Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap - Beat the remake for the PS4 over the weekend. The graphic and sound revamp is simply -wonderful- and the base game aged amazingly well. Real nice little romp (and holy shit this must've been REVOLUTIONARY in 1989, it's essentially a Metroidvania running multiple characters with quite distinct playstyles and surprisingly great design, ESPECIALLY considering when it was made), I'm currently just doing the dragon refights now that I got all the Charm Stones so I can have the money to buy Crystal Gear. And FAQ where the hell is the equip I missed so I can have a complete file. Afterwards, I may play hard mode.
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VH2: Finished. I'm... rather impressed? The way the game climbs from a borderline 5/6 game to solidly 7/10 in the last two chapters is amazing. It really does devote time to everyone's motivations, goals, etc, even if they're petty or dumb. Everyone has a reason to be acting in the war, from the various NPCs to the other nations you only hear about. It's all wrapped up pretty tight honestly and I'll give them props. Hell, during the credits, every single PC gets an epilogue consisting of 2-3 paragraphs detailing what they did after the war. It's shocking. I can think of only three major NPC characters associated with the party that are kinda left hanging, but I can understand why they're left out (since they can die during the game based on your decisions). Their arcs are pretty much complete anyway.
The battle system also tips around the same time the plot starts taking off, so while I was a little uninterested in the game at first, once I hit that point I ended up finishing it in a couple weeks, rather than the 5 months it took me to get to it (Granted, interrupted by P5). It actually becomes pretty fun leaning the AI and trying to outsmart it. The learning curve is a little frustrating at first, since while it's not difficult, the penalties for getting it wrong can be steep (Whoops, I whiffed and the enemy moved and killed the MC, giving Game Over).
Getting the best ending involves getting the Vandal Hearts sword, which adds about 10 hours to the game. THAT is rather batty in it's obscurity, but it's actually not as annoying as getting Vandalier in VH1. FAQs make it pretty easy, just gotta grind it out, and a lot of the maps are pretty fun, since they're mostly reached in the second half of the game. Otherwise it just comes down to answering two questions right during the game.
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D5C: Yay! I finally start posting about games I'm playing...and I need to finish P5 and a hundred other games. Darn my ADD. Anyways, it's my VERY first Disgaea game (note not my first NI game. that was Rhapsody and was a horrible mistake). So far in game, I have gotten to chapter 2 then spent an hour trying to kill myself to get the first bad ending. Also decided to do the DLC from D4. That...that was fun. And painful. Mostly painful, but I beat the first part of the scenerio! Dear gods save me from my stupidity. If there was a harder mode, I'd force myself to do death runs.
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Tales of Maj'Eyal orc campaign: beat. The deadpan comedic writing masquerading as Very Serious High Fantasy was a delight. Tinker generics are a blast. Sawbutcher was pretty fun. Gunslinger was too aggravating and micromanagey to get going. Psyshot's ability trees make my head hurt just looing at them. Bet it's very cool, but hard to grasp.
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Hmm, still have P5 wrap-up to yabber about, but in quicker updates...
Shovel Knight - Beaten. Well, the Shovel of Hope campaign at least. It's good! I have caught up to 2014!
Per Fenrir's comments years ago, if I have a complaint, it's that enemy damage isn't high enough. It was pretty rare to die to damage. Everybody knows that the REAL way to die is gonna be pits & spikes in these NES-esque games, so there's no particular harm in cranking up enemy damage some. The only time I repeatedly died to damage was the True Final Boss, which destroyed me 7 times before I figured out vaguely what you were supposed to do in it. (Ah, the wonder of death counts:
https://goo.gl/photos/j8kr9sHUhidqguRJ9
)
A quick glance at the speedrun seems to show the "older" and slower speedrun being kinda cooler, with lots of item tricks, key invulnerability transitions, etc. The newer speedrun is much more optimized run right a lot and just shovel your way through so you don't even need to buy stuff. Alas.
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I found that bosses could do enough damage to win, but generally agreed as far as mid-stage damage goes. Hard Mode amps up enemy damage for what it's worth (and makes healing items less common).
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I think I died once to Specter Knight, Tinker Knight, Black Knight 2, one of the rando-bosses, and Kratos. Oddly enough, I never died to Polar Knight, who apparently gets hype on the Internet as one of the tougher ones. Everyone else died on the first attempt. (Which is not to say I'm super-awesome or anything, the boss challenges wrecked me, and I died plenty to the stages.)
Their damage is better, sure, but still not enough - maybe I will have to try NG+ after all, although that'll be after Plague & Specter Knight's campaigns.
Also, in the realm of other updates...
Devil Survivor 1
Finished Gin path, and finished the original Naoya / Kaido path and started its Day 8 that was added for the remake. Also made a stat topic! Which was comparatively easy after doing the DS2 stat topic. Check it out. (For all that it has the FF7/8 problem of "characters who can be equipped with brutally powerful skills in-game, but since everybody gets them, hard to parcel out fairly in the DL" issue.)
Anyway, the game feels like the endgame is just a tad short...? Maybe I shouldn't complain that they didn't pad it out with filler, but it doesn't feel quite as epic as it could. While it was *ludicrous*, DS2 has a second-to-last day where, with reality on the verge of blinking out, all the PCs decide to fight it out in some ego-measuring contest and ignore the presumed massive despair and riots and death in the background, then fight a last guardian who SURPRISE you knew before, then have a multi-part fight with the final which includes the obligatory shadow clones of yourself out to kill you. DS1 just says "yup, time to go kill the other demon lords, you win."
Gameplay-wise, there's something else I largely prefer about DS2 to DS1, although DS1's take is interesting: DS1 has much frailer bosses, but they often have some sort of regen-per-skirmish passive attached that restores 10% or 20% of their HP every fight. So if you're underlevel or not hitting the right element, you just aren't getting anywhere, and the boss gets free healing if they can snipe someone from out of range. OTOH, get the right slugger in the boss's face, and they die *fast*. This is a lot swingier than just giving the boss double HP but no regen.
Also... yeah, quite the difficulty spike on Day 7 that necessitates some grinding, for cash if nothing else because holy crap are both auctions & the compendium expensive in this game, especially late. Belzaboul in particular is a rude surprise; when I did Day 7 again, he wasn't SO bad (because I knew exactly what to save money for), but doing him blind without knowledge of the fight mechanics? Yowch.
(Gameplay spoilers if you didn't play it: if you kill 2 squads or attack the boss, all the other squads turn into evil flies, and the boss unlocks a new move, Spawn. All the flies have it, too. Spawn deals Almighty damage and, if you aren't defending, gives you the fly status. Which is horrible. Fly status activates really fast, pretty sure it's either "squad's next turn or Belzaboul's next turn, whichever comes first", and deals a bunch more Almighty damage (probably enough to kill you) and spawns a fly. If the squad leader was killed, it'll spawn flies for every member in the squad, i.e. 3 more. Oh, and it's a boss that has 6 Range and regens 10% health every skirmish, even ones where he's just sniping you from afar. The Flies are not THAT dangerous, except if they get even one turn, they're tagging your characters with more fly status. So... yeah, aggro the boss early and watch as you face 3 fly mobs rather than just 2, and if you don't have lots of status healing, you're going to die horribly and have your graves replaced by swarms of flies that finish off the survivors. You need to make sure that every squad can heal status, basically, to have a fighting shot at this fight.)
Anyway. Good times. I do like a lot of the cast of DS1 better than DS2's cast, especially the "minor" cast. DS1 seems to recognize that randos and non-joining-PCs exist much better than DS2, where they existed solely to die in cutscenes before the fight to prove the danger was real. We'll see how Naoya Day 8 goes...
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Polar Knight is competent enough but it's all because of spikes, not damage, which kinda goes along with your original point. Propeller Knight's the one I'm most surprised you beat on the first try if anything. I had a few more boss deaths than you IIRC (definitely had multiple against Spectre and Propeller; a few of the derpy Kickstarter bosses gave me some definite trouble as well), probably more than I had in stages overall. But it's not a super-hard game or anything.
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I know I died multiple times to Specter and Propeller as well, I think I got the rest within 1-3 tries, yeah. I also tend to play reaaaaaaally yolo aggressive in platformers, so that may have bitten me in the ass against a few of them.
Specter was definitely the one that got me the most, though. Not sure if it's because he was just harder, or because he's early and by the time I got to Propeller I was better at the game.
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Specter Knight is legit, one of the tougher-but-fair bosses in the game. Also helps that he's before massive Gastronomer chowdowns. Along with Black Knight, one of my favorite boss battles just in terms of sheer coolness.
Propeller, I think the trick is getting downstabs off safely without being ground up by the propeller. Not sure if it was dumb luck or what, but was pretty good at downstabbing him without getting cut to ribbons.
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Sure is quiet around here...
Plague of Shadows
Beaten! Propeller Knight stage was somewhat less hellish than I expected, although not a cakewalk. Tower of Destiny 2 was brutal, but the real Plague Knight death simulator was the final. Sure, it's "fast" as the lives scroll by, but both Enchantress and Corrupted Potion were insanely badass - 17 deaths apparently, many from cheerfully Screw Attacking to my doom. Took awhile to figure out the proper bomb to throw at the final final, too, to be able to get in a lot of hits at once, the key to upping my offense (since I wasn't gonna perfectly dodge all that stuff).
Plot was still LARGELY amusing and some funny sprite work (could you recruit any of the OTHER wanderers? I only got one of them), although I dunno about the back third of the game switching to Yandere simulator after buying out Mona's stock and fighting Black Knight 2. Oh well. It remembered to be funny in the VERY end at least!
Devil Survivor 1
Also beaten! Again! (Well, Naoya/Kaido Day 8. And from reloading my end-of-day-6 save, no need to kill the challenge AND take more time by NG+ing). But I didn't watch the ending, plugged my 3DS in, and then it went into its "get super hot and reverse charge and drain the battery and turn off" mode it sometimes does, so I guess I dunno what happens afterward. Everybody rejoicing to live under their benevolent demon overlord, I guess.
I complained about it before, but Metatron (the final) is another dude with super regen every skirmish. He DOES sport 2 elemental weaknesses, but still. Some of my squads would literally heal him, or barely scratch him, every skirmish, and if you wait too long he puts up a Barrier and then heals some by attacking you. But get your one Unit of Doom going built to his weakness extremely hard and null his element, and he can get splatted in 2 skirmishes. Questionable design decisions here.
Naoya is weirdly deferential to Our Hero considering how he's played in N/K Day 7. Whatever the Overlord says, etc. Kinda odd. Oh well. Also, on the "good" route, all the ladies who rather reasonably opposed the plan to "become demon king" gets proven wrong and has to lick their wounds and rejoin the party. Granted, if you pick "good" this is the scenario where Our Hero genuinely became demon lord to save everyone, I guess, but there's still a reasonable position that this is a bad idea! It's especially weird for the girl you fought then kidnapped in N/K Day 7. Oh well. (At least KEISUKE of all people knows what's up and isn't rejoining you. That's something.)
I ran Black Frost as my 4th member after Naoya & Kaido, because of course you should. Style points if nothing else, and solid reaosnable dialogue from our frosty friend.
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Birth By Sleep:
Still the best KH game I have played. Seeing a bit of Fragmentary Corridor (which looks amazing) made me want to play it.
I like the melding system. It allows for customiazation and experimentation while lasting just long enough to get to the end of it by the end of a single game.
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EU4- finishing up a game as Spain. Fuck the French idea group, they have a obnoxious amount of morale.
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Sure is quiet around here...
Well, I for one just haven't played much new stuff this year! (And I can't contribute to Shovel Knight discussion becauuuse I didn't like the first one and didn't play the others.)
I have been playing Sonic Mania, though. It's quality work. If you took the best design aspects of the Genesis Sonic games and handed that material to an American development team who probably grew up on this stuff in the 90s anyway, this would be what you'd get. Some zones are recycled from Sonic 1-3, but in the best sense of the word: old material is reused for new purposes. You start out recognizing a level from its aesthetics and first couple screens, then almost immediately get lost in an entirely new layout. I've done both a Sonic run and a Tails run so far, and the game really does reward repeat visits. Level design is rife with alternate paths, to the extent that some stages felt like a completely different experience the second time through. It may have helped that Tails plays differently from Sonic: you don't get to use the novelty shields' special abilities, but you can fly. It's a nice re-do button for missed jumps and exploration (and there's plenty of vertical areas I dunno how you'd even reach without flight). Will probably go back and do a Knuckles run before shelving this for a while.
I could gripe about a few things (Mecha Sonic is an annoying fight, the last level takes too long and gives no indication I could see that you're supposed to be looping back to the hub repeatedly), but it's overall a very satisfactory platformer fix. Intricate level design, varied boss ideas, gotta go fast. What else is there to ask for with a Sonic game?
The chaos emerald levels get brutal very quickly. The best I've managed across a single playthrough is three out of seven, and I doubt I'm doing any better next time.
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I don't finish things at the moment so that's why quiet from me.
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Birth By Sleep:
Still the best KH game I have played. Seeing a bit of Fragmentary Corridor (which looks amazing) made me want to play it.
I like the melding system. It allows for customiazation and experimentation while lasting just long enough to get to the end of it by the end of a single game.
Also KH Monopoly
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Handheld: it's been long enough so I'm playing through Knytt Underground again to have a good non-rpg loaded up on my Vita for when I don't want menus.
I found a secret area, Figure Space! Dying terribly getting through some areas, but I get through eventually, good times.
...until...suddenly advanced Ball Tether rooms. And you know what I learned? The vita version has a bug that makes the ball tether not always work right. Won't always release when I let go of L, will sometimes just change me back to the sprite and send me plummeting to my doom despite the fact that I did not press R. Getting through the section where it's 2 rooms of fast moving ball tether swings, sure I got it eventually. Getting through the section where it's 5+ screens of precision tether movement? Cannot do. Kind of frustrating. Thankfully very few things in the maingame require long term precision tether movement, so it's just bonus areas that are not doable.
Console: grabbed OB64 on the VC to play through since I was randomly in the mood for it again. Trying to use more monster units this time, especially golems since I basically never use them. Also trying to do as much as I can without referencing an FAQ, though getting Dragoon or Princess I'm sure will require me to check one. Still early, on chapter 6 or 7, and despite 3 sessions of "lets try to find some neutral units" I can't get a single hawkman to join up. Found several! They just fuck off instead of joining every time. I did get a young dragon to stick with the dragon tamer the game started me with at least, so that's good.
Playing this is making me want to play one of the TO games again as well, but I'm 90% sure my memory is lying to me about having fun with Knight of Lodis, and my rants on TO PSP are well documented by now. Alas.
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D5C: I feel I need to work alongside Magic on this, since he's doing the story faster while I work on the DLC content a bit first. (I plan on doing 5 of them so I can use them on stream when I stream next.) I don't hate the story by any stretch of the means, I don't know. It's more interesting to do the DLC atm.
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I don't finish things at the moment so that's why quiet from me.
You played War of the Chosen yet?
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Persona 5:
Beat this. Akechi is a good and nuanced, well-implemented character. He is not a bargain-bin Light Yagami.
Everything else about this game is great. Even the grindy bits were more fun than usual. I actually got all the first-run super-personas.
Adults in the Persona universe are shitty, but no one is more illogically shitty than the main character's own unseen parents. How dare he stop that rape from happening! It's poor choices like that which are causing the downfall of our youth. I like that the happy ending is that your friends are like "your parents suck, we're basically adopting you instead."
Disgaea 5:
A time for 5s it seems. This is basically the Netherworld version of the French Revolution. It's sadly not as funny as that would seem. Disgaea 4 still the best game in the series, but the gameplay additions in 5 are pretty great. The absolute worst part of 5 so far is how it managed to make Etna/Flonne's DLC boring. The most horrible sin of all.
For someone who thinks Disgaea is better when it isn't being humorous (Dis2, Phantom Brave), this might be the Disgaea for you. Personally, I'm just kinda underwhelmed, though Red Magnus essentially being the Overlord version of Dwayne The Rock Johnson is keeping me engaged.
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Persona 5:
Beat this. Akechi is a good and nuanced, well-implemented character. He is not a bargain-bin Light Yagami.
Everything else about this game is great. Even the grindy bits were more fun than usual. I actually got all the first-run super-personas.
Adults in the Persona universe are shitty, but no one is more illogically shitty than the main character's own unseen parents. How dare he stop that rape from happening! It's poor choices like that which are causing the downfall of our youth. I like that the happy ending is that your friends are like "your parents suck, we're basically adopting you instead."
uhwut on EDIT:Akechi.
As for his parents... we never really get the sense of how they felt about it. They sent him to away until the story died down, sure. That's not really an awful reaction. We're never told that his parents did it out of spite or anything. We're also not told much positive stuff about them, but we're not told much of anything about them at all. It's a weird gap there they should've filled. Granted, MOST of the adult figures had that whole reaction, so it's not a far cry to assume the parents did too.
EDIT: Although I'm recalling we do get some bits from Hierophant at the beginning, but... it's hard to tell if he's being serious or just ballbusting. He is kindof a dick in the beginning
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Soppy, I think you mean Akechi.
Birth By Sleep:
Still the best KH game I have played. Seeing a bit of Fragmentary Corridor (which looks amazing) made me want to play it.
I like the melding system. It allows for customiazation and experimentation while lasting just long enough to get to the end of it by the end of a single game.
Have you try KH DDD on HD yet?
Hihghly suggest that.
Outside the stupid drop system, DDD has the best control among all the KH so far. Solely on the battle gameplay, it probably rivals KH2FM.
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Yes I did. FIX'D
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So yeah, as Mei mentioned, I'm playing Disgaea 5 as well, albeit on the PS4 instead of the Switch like she is.
Just got up to chapter 5 last I played, and I've been going through Item World and grinding for Statisticians. Also agreeing with Djinn that this game is too serious, and Disgaea 4 is the best game for cast because Valvatorez is the best MC.
Killia - As said before... He's like like Overlord of Maximum Edge. His only real quirk is... He likes to eat a meal before fighting. I know I don't have his full story, but he seems kind of bland as an MC so far. He starts with fists and can use swords - which is good - and his first unique is almost exactly like Blade Rush. Still, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with him once aftergame rolls around. If there's no limit on his unique Evility, he may actually be my choice to go after Damage trophies. Got him leading the Boot Camp, and he's already my second-highest level unit... Right behind my Heretic, who has sailed past him in levels just healing.
Seraphina - She uses guns... Which makes her a terrific user for the Stealing Hands I wind up getting. Outside of that, first chance I had, I put the Megaphone on her, since it's my strongest Gun for a while. She's anti-male in both her unique Evility and her Overload, which has saved me a few times. She's in my Interrogation Squad, which... I've since gotten tired of her voice from just that.
Red Magnus - Let's super do this! What can I say, I find his occasional verbal tic amusing. Anyway, he winds up being the best of the cast in personality so far, and his equivalent in battle isn't too bad. Axes means he can hit HARD though with no range, though lances (if I ever built those up with him) means he can get some distance if need be. I have him in my Capturing Squad, so points there between hitting hard enough to capture consistantly. Evility means he ignores a lot of defense, which is great early on... Somewhat. Super Olympia is super fun, even though it locks out everything that isn't a unique skill.
Cristo - Okay, so... He comes with both bows (A) and staves (S). It's very tempting to go bows with him most of the way, but he gets a lot of passives that build up his INT, so staves is probably the better choice, assuming you can throw a few spells on him. His Unique evility wants him standing next to allies most of the time (which means it's useless when he's alone), but his Overload seems nifty, even if I haven't used it a lot. Still, he's going to be very, VERY useful because of that evility, and what it might allow me to do.
Usalia - I just got her. Seems like a generic monster - no overload, high general stats and move power, can't lift - and her verbal tic is unoffensive since she's so quiet. Evility is another one that relies on standing next to people, and seems more situational than Cristo's. Gonna have to figure her out.
Generic Overlords:
Logan - He lifts, he throws. He lifts, he throws. Sit him next to the base panel, and all my other units get basically +7 movement on turn 2... Outside of Prinnies. Overload means he can... Throw twice times as far for three turns. Okay.
Geese - My first monster Overlord. He's a chimera. His overload is to give himself seven turns of Regen, and he lowers all enemy stats by 5% just for being there. His physical is Range 3 and bases itself off his good INT, so he's never not been useful.
Hedler - Insta-poison to all nearby enemies (5 panel range) as his Overload. Outside of that, he's a Mothman, which is a plus in Item World runs because flying. Only unit that really outshines them is Blue Tink back in Disgaea 2.
Erynder Z - Overload is an all-ally heal. Evility is anti-female, but he seems less good at that than Seraphina's anti-male (Charm > Paralysis).
Generics (that I've used regularly):
Maid - The fact that the one you're given uses bows (though she'd be better with a gun despite Seraphina being there) and the fact that her Evility lets her have a free item use per turn (which means she could use two items per turn) means she's Thief v0.8. Not good for damage, but good for that one niche.
Thief - Is a thief. Doubled stealing rates, Create Box. Uses Bows and Guns. You all know the drill by now.
Clergy - Isn't as strong a healer as a Cleric, but is more useful, because Espoir is attached to all his heals.
Martial Artist - To be honest, I was only using him long enough until I unlocked Thief. He's still useful, he's just... Yeah.
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X-Com 2 - I started up a play on super easy with a save scum mod (WHY WAS THIS NOT IN BASE GAME? Those options added to EW were greeeeat) because I am not doing a proper X-Com brain but yeah. I am too early to have encountered any actual WotC changes, but I am doing DLC I haven't encountered before. Stopped just on the pull of Viper King from Alien Hunters DLC, I am soooo reloading back a turn and killing that SOB first encounters. Frost Grenade going to have to be busted out for the kill and not the opener like I did first try.
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Sure is quiet around here...
An endless stream of tears from WoW and HotS aren't very interesting from me.
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To be fair, a lot of us have been here and there with stuff, so we haven't been up and around on the boards often. The mIRC however, has been a bit more active. Oh wells, back to
dying working on Disgaea 5 Complete. That bug that can crash/corrupt the game is worrisome though.
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Persona 5:
Beat this. Akechi is a good and nuanced, well-implemented character. He is not a bargain-bin Light Yagami.
Everything else about this game is great. Even the grindy bits were more fun than usual. I actually got all the first-run super-personas.
Adults in the Persona universe are shitty, but no one is more illogically shitty than the main character's own unseen parents. How dare he stop that rape from happening! It's poor choices like that which are causing the downfall of our youth. I like that the happy ending is that your friends are like "your parents suck, we're basically adopting you instead."
uhwut on EDIT:Akechi.
As for his parents... we never really get the sense of how they felt about it. They sent him to away until the story died down, sure. That's not really an awful reaction. We're never told that his parents did it out of spite or anything. We're also not told much positive stuff about them, but we're not told much of anything about them at all. It's a weird gap there they should've filled. Granted, MOST of the adult figures had that whole reaction, so it's not a far cry to assume the parents did too.
EDIT: Although I'm recalling we do get some bits from Hierophant at the beginning, but... it's hard to tell if he's being serious or just ballbusting. He is kindof a dick in the beginning
Yeah, Sojiro is pretty awful himself. He just gets enough screentime to improve. Creepy mad doctor, drunken reporter who pretends to date someone underaged, and the teacher who moonlights as a maid masseuse for her teenaged student are right up there in the 'nope, you're pretty terrible adults' category. Some of them have legitimately interesting social links, but they're always constantly brought down by these unsavory pederastic relationships they have with Akira.
I think the only adult in the game that was genuinely a good person the entire time was the Politician. Strange.
As for Akechi - I think his actual backstory and motives are fine. I think the writers' attempts at making him seem genuinely innocent for most of the game, and then sympathetic once they do the poorly-handled reveal is what gives me such distaste for him.
Like... basically the first line of the game is about how 'one of your friends betrayed you.' And then basically from the moment Akechi appears on screen it's like... 'Oh it's you. It's so obviously you, it's written all over your trope.'
Adachi he is not.
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Sure is quiet around here...
An endless stream of tears from WoW and HotS aren't very interesting from me.
Replace with FFXIV and DS3 replays and that's me first half of the year. But I don't have either of those things anymore!
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Sure is quiet around here...
Well I mostly play mobile games, so that's gonna fly over people's heads unless they happen to play the same ones.
Gumballs and Dungeons: Was able to beat the Elemental Continent event for the first time, although I think they lowered the enemy stats a bit. Currently at 1.1m on my Canas airship, with 5 statues built.
Devil Breaker: They brought Astaroth back! Woot. Now I can finally get her to 6-star. Also close to getting Gunther to 6-star, so my team is coming along swimmingly.
Overwatch: I am too good at Symmetra, so I've started playing Zenyatta to give my enemies a chance.
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Persona 5:
Beat this. Akechi is a good and nuanced, well-implemented character. He is not a bargain-bin Light Yagami.
Everything else about this game is great. Even the grindy bits were more fun than usual. I actually got all the first-run super-personas.
Adults in the Persona universe are shitty, but no one is more illogically shitty than the main character's own unseen parents. How dare he stop that rape from happening! It's poor choices like that which are causing the downfall of our youth. I like that the happy ending is that your friends are like "your parents suck, we're basically adopting you instead."
uhwut on EDIT:Akechi.
As for his parents... we never really get the sense of how they felt about it. They sent him to away until the story died down, sure. That's not really an awful reaction. We're never told that his parents did it out of spite or anything. We're also not told much positive stuff about them, but we're not told much of anything about them at all. It's a weird gap there they should've filled. Granted, MOST of the adult figures had that whole reaction, so it's not a far cry to assume the parents did too.
EDIT: Although I'm recalling we do get some bits from Hierophant at the beginning, but... it's hard to tell if he's being serious or just ballbusting. He is kindof a dick in the beginning
Yeah, Sojiro is pretty awful himself. He just gets enough screentime to improve. Creepy mad doctor, drunken reporter who pretends to date someone underaged, and the teacher who moonlights as a maid masseuse for her teenaged student are right up there in the 'nope, you're pretty terrible adults' category. Some of them have legitimately interesting social links, but they're always constantly brought down by these unsavory pederastic relationships they have with Akira.
I think the only adult in the game that was genuinely a good person the entire time was the Politician. Strange.
As for Akechi - I think his actual backstory and motives are fine. I think the writers' attempts at making him seem genuinely innocent for most of the game, and then sympathetic once they do the poorly-handled reveal is what gives me such distaste for him.
Like... basically the first line of the game is about how 'one of your friends betrayed you.' And then basically from the moment Akechi appears on screen it's like... 'Oh it's you. It's so obviously you, it's written all over your trope.'
Adachi he is not.
Akechi should not be sympathetic in the first place. That's where the problem is.
You should not even attempt to pity someone who has that many death counts in his hand only because he angst too much.
And how the plot try to write him as reliable to the thieves is just outright bullshit.
Having a bad dad is one thing, but thinking it is okay to kill is another.
BTW, I thought pederasty refers only to sexual relationship of two males only.
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No, but it is definitely part of the queer fear people have with gay men. It is easily the most frequent context you will have seen it in.
Also you don't me to dig at DJ's horrible taste in video game men (IRL he is batting high though).
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But I said I liked Sojiro? He's just fucking awful at first.
And anyone who pairs Curry with Coffee isn't actual dating material.
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He's Just a Friend. Bangable from Scene 1 tho.
The sequence is coffee, mineral water, curry. Palate cleanser then the mountain of flavour (disclaimer even I haven't)
Edit - and yeah way way more about Akechi and Adachi other than the memes (Sojiro is my personification of an aspect of my personality and I am not your type, but I think "Fuck Me" all the time). My opinion of them is much more inverted, Akechi made me eye roll at his drawn out reveal and Adachi I was playing Golden where his social link is hanging out with Sopko.
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Hm. Sure. I've played some games.
Persona 5: Cleared this out a couple weeks ago with Ashley. This was pretty much our lives for about 3 months. Good game and well worth the wait. Still definitely Persona, for all the positives and negatives that carries with it. I think I ultimately land in the position of liking this better than 3 & 4, but I'm going off pure memory. Ultimately there are definitely things those games do better, but I think P5 is just the better, cohesive package. Still could use a bit of a more engaging gameplay update as most of the cool stuff in 5 was about making fights faster.
Nier Automata: One of the most exciting gaming experiences of the year. It definitely has some seriously rough edges between Yoko Taro jank and Platinum jank, B Path is really meh, and some other oddball issues, but, honestly, the experience is pretty much unparalleled. The game kept me guessing every step of the way and I was never quite sure what was going to happen next (including that INCREDIBLE midgame twist). Just so much cool stuff in actual narrative design and the weird mechanics/story marriages. Plus, that ending is beautiful. Still need to clear sidequests out, though. Probably my game of the year currently.
BlazBlue: Central Fiction: The story of Ragna za Bloodedge draws to a close in a really, really, really long visual novel. It was BlazBlue. There was a lot of fun stuff, and a lot of "OH MY GOD STOP REPEATING YOURSELVES." A few characters kinda dropped off plot more than expected, but the overall story was pretty satisfying. I think. Maybe. Pretty sure I understood it. Mostly. *sighs and goes to look at a wiki* Also actually playing the fighting game a bit. Not too hard, but messing around and finding some mains to play.
Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero: I think I liked this better than Pirate's Curse, but it has a lot of problems - primarily that the transformations are like, criminally underused and that while it FELT a bit more platformer to me (which I liked), I did miss having the Metroidvania map for backtracking. Beautiful fucking game though. Gorgeous, gorgeous sprite/vector work. Just... yeah. Wish you got way more use out of the transformations. Will probably go back and beat the DLC.
Project Diva Future Tone: Currently working my through every song on hard (85 remain) and starting to tackle low Extremes. Can only handle 7/.5 stars erratically at that level.
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He's Just a Friend. Bangable from Scene 1 tho.
The sequence is coffee, mineral water, curry. Palate cleanser then the mountain of flavour (disclaimer even I haven't)
Edit - and yeah way way more about Akechi and Adachi other than the memes (Sojiro is my personification of an aspect of my personality and I am not your type, but I think "Fuck Me" all the time). My opinion of them is much more inverted, Akechi made me eye roll at his drawn out reveal and Adachi I was playing Golden where his social link is hanging out with Sopko.
It's mostly just the borderline child abuse in the first couple months that soured me on Sojiro. Seriously, just because he's on probation, it doesn't mean he deserves living in a Japanese attic. (Filled with the olfactory assault of coffee and curry constantly...) He's just constantly acerbic to this child he's never met. And I would accept that for the first -day-, since he's aware of the alleged assault case. But they make it clear that he's heard Akira's side of the story too. You can argue he's skeptical since he doesn't know Akira well yet, but it's still no way to treat an at-risk child, much less a generally-agreeable child like Akira.
When he eventually calms down on the 'You're a burden to everyone in your life' bit, he's actually a cool guy. And I get what they were going for, since the player can 'win over' Sojiro, the relationship is more satisfying and dynamic.
But as someone whose primary job in life revolves around childcare, he's kinda tainted by a really poor first impression, even if the character ends up in a very endearing place.
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Posts, huh. Feels like my tastes have gone wayyyy off from most other folks here, but sure, have some recaps:
My Twin Brother Made Me Crossdress As Him And Now I Have To Deal With A Geeky Stalker And A Domme Beauty Who Want Me In A Bind!! or, Ladykiller in a Bind (http://ladykillerinabind.com/)
Christine Love, author of the also-excellent Digital: A Love Story, Analogue: a Hate Story, and Hate Plus, finally finished came out with presented ... uh... that much-hyped visual novel she spent years working on, people can buy it and read it now. Actually, that's been the case for several months now, but I dragged my heels on posting about it due to its somewhat rocky release. But it's out, available on Steam and Humble Store, gone on sale now and then, and looks to be in a stable version.
And it's very, very good! The game's raked in several major awards so far, is on course for more, and they're very well deserved. A recent reread only increased my regard for the title. While not without its faults, Ladykiller pushes the boundaries of the modern VN market, indie games, game writing, and counterculture fiction in truly remarkable ways. In the posts right above this one, we can already see some of its effects: Dream Daddy wouldn't be on Steam or in the public eye if Ladykiller hadn't broken the ground for it.
But I haven't talked about the substance of the game at all yet. What, exactly, is Ladykiller? ... uh. Well. It's. Hm. Uh. That's a good question. Let's see.
It's a character-driven comedy/drama, styled vaguely after Persona series social links and Shakespearean comedy, about romance, relationships, sex, more sex, society, kink, geek culture, good alcohol, anime, Instagram, and how to come out as transgender to an annoying ex. In the day segments, take your free choice of several colorful characters to interact with. Make friends, shoot hoops, get the Nerd started on Spock vs Kirk! Mix, mingle and pursue their various storylines as you wish. Every night, you can choose your major romantic route (or less romantic, if you prefer) between the titular Domme Beauty, Geeky Stalker, or both. Of course, you're here impersonating your rich brother, so you'll have to decide who to tell and step carefully to avoid ruining his social life!
It's also a high stakes game of social politics among the next generation of Canada's elite, wherein you can flatter, bribe, lie (a lot), tell the truth, orate, persuade, backstab, blackmail, extort, seduce, be seduced, fake being seduced, prostitute yourself, prostitute others, steal secrets, hack phones, pull cons long and short, perform hostile takeovers of billion-dollar media conglomerates, get wildly rich, burn five million dollars out of pure spite, and give it all up to ride into the sunset on a kickin' rad motorcycle. Of course, you can also ignore the politics, but your brother might've had his fingers in a lot of pies...
Oh, and all of the above actually happened last week, and now, you're narrating it to your radical terrorist interrogators as you sit tied up (in the unsexy way) at gunpoint in the cold depths of an abandoned oil rig. (Except riding into the sunset, that only happens if you survive.) Hope you picked up some tips on how to deal with a genre swap into Metal Gear.
If you're turned off by visual novel formats, know that Ladykiller is exceptionally user-friendly. Unlike most games, which present you with set dialogue choices at set intervals, here you're given time- and context-sensitive options to interject, which appear and disappear independently as the conversation flows. Including, in most cases, the option to say nothing and just go with the flow. Lines are marked for tone, always show you if they'll unlock further options or other mechanical consequences (like raising suspicion that you aren't your brother), and options will grey out to let you know when they're about to disappear. The sexual content is all clearly marked with appropriate warnings and opt-outs. Mechanically, it's hard to go back to other VNs afterwards. Every game should have systems this good!
The writing content, as you might have gathered by now, is simply fantastic. It's so good that it feels almost transgressive - not only in the subjects it deals with, but how it deals with them. Love's particular blend of humor, melodrama and emotional seriousness might not be for everyone, but it's a pretty big hit for me, and I suspect the same would be true for many people on this forum.
That's not to say it's perfect, of course. One particularly controversial scene was outright removed shortly after the Steam release, which disappointed me and somewhat tampers the whole "fearless and uncensored, queer developers presenting authentic queer experiences" hype it had going on. Folks are also quick to point out the inherent contradiction in a game that supposedly advocates sexual consent and good practices thereof, but is based around bangin' hotties while lying to people about your identity. The developer's line on this is "we handwave that particular point as part of the comedy-fantasy aspect; obviously it would be a total no-go IRL, but nobody could actually pull off this Hollywood twin swap in reality, so we're okay with presenting it as a fantasy." (And every character you can sexually interact with either already knows the truth, is told before anything happens, or finds out on their own and is okay with it.) For me that's enough to not be objectionable, but opinions on such sensitive topics will vary.
Anyway - Ladykiller in a Bind may or may not be people's cup of tea, and is definitely for mature audiences, but I highly recommend at least checking it out.
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Pocket Mirror (https://astralshiftds.itch.io/pocket-mirror)
RPGmaker fantasy not-quite-horror adventure, high production values. Some folks I know had hands in this, it's no Ib but still very good for the genre.
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Open Sorcery (http://www.abigailcorfman.com/Home/OpenSorcery)
I think I hyped the original web version of this a while back. It's been expanded and improved. Strong stuff, very entertaining. I don't think I can do a better job describing it than the site does.
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Touhou 16: Hidden Star in Four Seasons
Took a bit of adjustment, but it's a pretty good game. Good music. Slightly disappointed in how few new characters it has, but eh. Gameplay's on the more unusual side for the series, a "flash bomb" system at lower difficulties that at higher levels becomes a self-sustaining "shield" type mechanic, similar to games like Mars Matrix, Samidare and Alternative Sphere. I'm a little lukewarm on bullet-eating systems that make Lunatic clears arguably easier than Normal ones. Not sure how much I'll be coming back to this title in the future, but it's certainly not a bad experiment.
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Friday the 13th: The Game
Haven't been playing this so much as watching it, but it seems quite fun.
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Layers of Fear
Good horror game. Standard haunted house fare, look triggers, stuff based on P.T., all that. Not much in the way of choices or secrets, more of a linear thrill ride, but it brings the spooks.
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Outlast 2
This game sucks. Takes everything that made the first Outlast good and throws it out the window. No attention to detail, no carefully cohesive atmosphere, no environment design. Just falls into the exact pitfalls that made people hate generic horror games of the '00s.
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Link to the Past Randomizer (http://vt.alttp.run/randomizer)
Randomizers are fantastic. This one in particular grew very popular, and deservedly so. It turns out that LttP has very good metroidvania-style design, it just doesn't put it to any use in the vanilla game.
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PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (aka PUBG)
The latest and greatest in the genre of Battle Royale inspired mass survival FPS. ~100 players get dropped on a large, lovingly detailed island map, with weapons and gear scattered around. Find stuff, wander around while an electric death field slowly constricts the play area, snipe people, don't get sniped, try and be the sole survivor.
Iyashikei FPS (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Iyashikei) seems like a contradiction in terms, but that's really the best encapsulation of what these games bring to the table for me. Other than the starts and ends of rounds, most of the playtime is spend patiently wandering the beautiful deserted landscapes, interacting with others as little as possible and generally at a great distance. PUBG in particular has rain rounds which are just the best thing. Great balance of tension and relaxation.
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Well yeah Sojiro is terrible to this stranger kid he barely knows especially at the start because the theme is that adults are fucking horrible. If they hadn't made the motions of Sojiro being a womanizing piece of shit only out to chase tail who hates kids you might actually sympathize with an adult for the first 1/4 of the game! I get your sentiment and personal experience is always going to colour your taste in characters, so yeah that all makes sense. Like I said though, the non-joking part was way more about Adechi and Akachi (seriously they needed to not go with a name that literally rhymed).
I thought everyone would have heard of Ladykiller in a Bind at least by name, but *shrug*.
You solo queueing in PUBG Alexchan or done groups? Groups is a different dynamic entirely. None of it is for me, but groups makes it way less tense moment to moment and way more hanging out with the boys.
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Persona 5 - Played this, not as good as I'd have hoped for since it still -is- nuPersona with all the questionable gameplay decisions involved (though at least it has less of them than P3/P4 did since Atlus -finally- stopped huffing their own farts where party swapping/leaked EXP is concerned and combat is generally faster), the cast isn't quite as good as I'd have liked it to be since while it hits some high highs (nthing Makoto hype, Sojiro/Futaba end up p. good as well) it has some pretty low lows (nthing Ryuji dislike, nthing sentiment that Mishima is human garbage) and man does it fizzle out by crawling up its own ass in the end (but then, what SMT game doesn't at some point), but still pretty good speaking as someone who kinda hated P3 and didn't really like P4 either.
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It's mostly just the borderline child abuse in the first couple months that soured me on Sojiro. Seriously, just because he's on probation, it doesn't mean he deserves living in a Japanese attic. (Filled with the olfactory assault of coffee and curry constantly...) He's just constantly acerbic to this child he's never met. And I would accept that for the first -day-, since he's aware of the alleged assault case. But they make it clear that he's heard Akira's side of the story too. You can argue he's skeptical since he doesn't know Akira well yet, but it's still no way to treat an at-risk child, much less a generally-agreeable child like Akira.
I wonder if there are really any Japanese RPGs at all that treat teenagers as kids instead of as miniature adults?
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Djinn:
Re the parents: Eh. It's an important narrative tool to either get the parents out of the way, or else actually own it and make them major characters who have influence on Our Young Hero's life. There's a reason why so many heroes are orphans, or else have their father be some grand adventurer who disappeared on some last quest! But that has a tragic note that you don't want overshadowing characters in many stories, and is also kinda cliche, so... yeah. The parents don't appear even enough for the player to have strong opinions of them because it isn't what P5 wants you to think about, it wants to have Our Hero, abandoned and alone, against the world as a miniature adult. It would almost be worse if they had the parents a LITTLE involved but not much, with some kind of bland phone call every month. (Trails of Cold Steel has a variant of this problem with the Rean - Elise relationship... we're supposed to believe they have this Strong Sibling Bond, but Rean blatantly never bothers to say hi to his sister for months at a time despite her being an hour train ride away, but the plot doesn't "own" this and imply they've gone their own ways and are Not Actually That Close anymore. Well, they own it as far as Elise whining about this fact, at least, I guess, but not from the Rean side.)
As a side note, something that made me far more interested in P5 than other Persona games was how ludicrously hostile the entire world was to Our Hero, at least at first. The constant instant adoration that slightly bland main characters get in various Japanese media makes this a very welcome change of pace, so even if the parents are horrible, that's great. (And heck, even then, there's stuff like "Our Hero gives all of the cast a Personal Pep Talk and revitalizes their fighting spirit!!1!" which rubs me the wrong way, so there's more progress to be made here.)
Re Akechi:
Something I liked about Akechi which does set him a bit apart from a Light type character is that he's a bit of a fraud. He isn't ACTUALLY a master detective in high school. He's cheating via indirectly COMMITTING crimes via superpowers then "solving" his own mess. His own motivations are far less rational than you might expect, too. I thought that was kind of cool, that the game sorta tears him down after building him up as this coldly competent and rational sort, lol no he's an angsty kid who copes with it less well than Our Heroes.
That said, I agree with Niu about how he's played far too sympathetically toward the end. I still never did my P5 wrap-up post, I should save that for there.
An endless stream of tears from WoW and HotS aren't very interesting from me.
I'm surprised there's even time for HotS salt, the games end so fast. I remember queueing with metroid composite, whose ELO was way higher than my scrub level, with the result being something like "lose 3 objective fights in a row -> huge death timers, base in flames -> gg." League of Legends, you can sometimes get stuck in situations where it's totally over but it takes 15 minutes to clean up (which is great if there's a comeback, less so if the team starts sniping each other for losing lane or not ganking enough).
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BlazBlue: Central Fiction: The story of Ragna za Bloodedge draws to a close in a really, really, really long visual novel. It was BlazBlue. There was a lot of fun stuff, and a lot of "OH MY GOD STOP REPEATING YOURSELVES." A few characters kinda dropped off plot more than expected, but the overall story was pretty satisfying. I think. Maybe. Pretty sure I understood it. Mostly. *sighs and goes to look at a wiki* Also actually playing the fighting game a bit. Not too hard, but messing around and finding some mains to play.
Stop, no, why?
Why look at the wiki filled with false info when I am right here.
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Pyre - the new Supergiant Games thing. Art is beautiful, story is a bit less intense this time, settting feels kind of pre-collapse Bastion? It is still about a society in decline, but Armageddon scenario hasn't hit yet.
Gameplay, it is Fantasy 3v3 basketball.
You are playing 3v3 basketball to free you party from a wasteland and to return them to a decadent collapsing Rome.
I have freed my first party member as well
(https://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/pyre.gamepedia.com/thumb/a/a3/Rukey.png/200px-Rukey.png?version=d971fed31acadae1fa18ef566c075876)
I really like this game. I actually didn't connect 100% with the other Supergiant games for some reason. I always like their art design and music but something didn't quite click with Bastion. Transistor I liked more but the narrative cohesion wasn't really there for me. Here, there is a really good integration of story and gameplay. Like Gref says, it is basically like fantasy basketball with some combat aspects since you can banish other players, and the game has a really varied roster where all the characters are viable and useful after you get used to their playing style. I gravitated towards the speedsters (Rukey, Gilman, Ti'zo, Pamitha) and enjoyed blitzing, although that likely works better against the AI than it does against human players. Like with other Supergiant games, there are interesting gameplay choices between the two skill trees and they are fairly well balanced.
The main crux of it comes in the Liberation Rites, where two teams play to compete to escape the underground. You have to choose amongst your most three experienced players and it becomes an insidiously difficult choice because those are the ones who you likely have a good deal of familiarity with and who you've used the most throughout the campaign. So if you succeed, your character is sent up and you cannot use them ever again and your team will become weaker. But there is also the concept that winning may not be the best option. There are some opposing teams that are fairly sympathetic and have good cases that they deserve liberation as well (or your characters have personal interactions/relationships with them where they secretly hope that your opponent will win), and throwing matches will allow them to ascend instead and you never face that team again.
The Oregon Trail aspect of it actually isn't as well fleshed out as it could be, but I can understand that to some extent because your roster is so flexible.
I really recommend Pyre. It's relatively cheap and there isn't anything like it in terms of gameplay or style.
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X-Com 2 - I started up a play on super easy with a save scum mod (WHY WAS THIS NOT IN BASE GAME? Those options added to EW were greeeeat) because I am not doing a proper X-Com brain but yeah. I am too early to have encountered any actual WotC changes, but I am doing DLC I haven't encountered before. Stopped just on the pull of Viper King from Alien Hunters DLC, I am soooo reloading back a turn and killing that SOB first encounters. Frost Grenade going to have to be busted out for the kill and not the opener like I did first try.
If you're going to save scum it, you can execute rulers IIRC. The WOTC expansion looks really well done. The developers were inspired by the fan mods, they took a lot of ideas from them.
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The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky The 3rd- And thus I am as caught up on Trails as Xseed allows me to be.
I think this might be the first time a final dungeon in a Trails game has been one of my favorite parts in a gameplay sense. Each little mini dungeon scales exp really nicely so it really gives you a good sense of "okay just do whatever and see what each character can really do." Helps that none of them are really soul-crushing. I did have one reset/offset on the final, which actually came down to not realizing until then the silly thing had Faint attached to it's physicals (Grail Sphere does that), then making a really big derp that got the only character not caught up in it dead.
Kevin's story's pretty alright. It loses something from the shift in format I feel like, but it does make sense since he doesn't have the whole coming of age aspect woven into it.
But really the game is kinda a sendoff to (most of) the Sky cast, although of course any of them can (and some do) return in the later games they had already decided to make at this point. To that end, we're actually going to mostly talk about the Doors.
Moon 1- Orbal Gear?! Erika Russel is the most anime thing in this series. That is impressive after things like Alisa R., Agent of Mystery and all things Millium.
Moon 2- How Shera met Aina. The content of the moon doors relative to the other ones is strange to me. I mean, with one exceptoin they are the only ones with particular gameplay content, but it's largely wandering about. Just kinda odd.
Moon 3- Misadventures of a Liberlian Schoolgirl. While Kloe's the narrator and she does get some development here... nah, this is a vessel to introduce Lechter. Honestly the degree to which Falcom seems to love the guy says to me the totally off the wall fan theory that he's like Anguis IV or whatever is extremely plausible. Falcom is waaaaaay too into their supervillain organization.
Moon 4- Joshua's First Week. There are threeish Doors that would justify the writing in the game even if they'd completely fumbled Kevin's story in the main plot (they don't, it's good, but). Baby Estelle is the best.
Moon 5- I don't have anything pithy for this one. It's debatable how literal the meat part of the story is meant to be taken, although it's certainly plausible. Actually I kinda like the suggestion that this is one of the most direct suggestions of how the metaphysics of Trails works, but deliberately obscured by the child perspective. It's an interesting idea, although I can see where people wouldn't like it since the series does generally ground stuff in science before adding mysteries on top of it rather than just diving in.
Gonna skip the Sun doors. Sun 1 has a brief epilogue for Josette, but who cares about Josette.
Star 1- Julia's Fanclub. Oh hey, a straight comedic bit. Okay not entirely, but y'know, entirely.
Star 2- Report: Pillars of Salt. Mostly here to add a twist to the knife from the villain's final demise in SC... although it does add some fuel for further Church stuff later down the line I suppose.
Star 3- SC's Farewell Dinner. Second of those ones that justify the game. I really adore how Kloe ends up character wise in the games, and at its core this is her being herself. It's also the first time in the game you're likely to have lines from Estelle, and damn if I didn't suddenly realize how much I was missing her as a viewpoint character when she came in.
Star 4- Trails of Nested Vipers: Chapter 0. Basically the only Zin-centric content in the game, and he's still not really the main character of it. Funny that.
Star 5- Cuteness IS Justice.
Star 6- Did you learn how to play the game. It's sorta no wonder they only use Agate in the context of the Russels and their abuse now: he's just kinda boring on his own, even through the lens of people that we've never seen much of.
Star 7- Report: The History of Science. Unlike the other foreshadow-y ones, this doesn't directly touch on the likely direction of future events, but it does create some terminology for later use. It's also probably the only one where I suspect this is from the existing series bible at this point, rather than written for 3rd.
Star 8- Trails of Cold Steel: Chapter 0. This one is mostly interesting because we actually DO have existing Cold Steel games now, which I've already played, so there's a whole other dynamic to it. Osbourne's general acceptance of challenge and potential treachery is already here fully formed, rather than just setting him up as invincible schemer in his first real appearance. Way better than the more ambiguous setup for Calvard material.
Star 9- No you weren't just imagining it with Anelace. Although I think she pulls it off waaaaay better than Angelica.
Star 10- Report: Fighting Super Robot Prototype. This one plays into Crossbell more than anything else from what I can tell, which I don't have direct experience with. It does however gain a few extra layers in light of the backstory of the prototypes pilot.
Star 11- Report: Who IS Blueblanc.
Star 12- Okay so we need SOME Richard content. They do allude to some crossbell stuff (like without future knowledge, you'd probably pick up by this point in the game that Crossbell, rather than Erebonia or Calvard, was the actual next area of interest), but mostly it's a way of wrapping up his story beyond basic "well he was pardoned so sure, hurray" stuff.
Star 13- Report: FC's Great Off Screen War. Like I think the only thing they were saying here was "no, we AREN'T making the What Cassius Was Doing in FC game, stop asking".
Star 14- FORESHADOWOLOGY. aka Meet Ouroboros, Starring Campanella. This one is a lot of fun to come back to because we actually have faces and real names to put to three of these Anguis, and the degree with which they get across the personalities of those characters in just a handful of lines in this game is rather amazing. I do wonder if they actually have series bible entries for the other three, wild theories about Lechter notwithstanding, but I think it's safe to say that yeah, they did have some pretty good notes about Abyss, Professor and Steel even at this date.
Star 15- MINDBREAK. Nah we're keeping that name. So Dissociative Identity Disorder has always fascinated me, possibly because Xenogears is a defining aspect of my worldview. So use of it here was kinda immediately apparent, especially with the visual cues and all. But I can't remember a time it was used as a device... and then FAILS. Like, causes problems because creating a personality that exists to be tortured tends to make an unstable violent personality, yeah. But no, in Renne's case the actual alternate personalities all dissolve at the midpoint of the story and leave it back to just her. I don't think I've ever seen that before.
I am... genuinely stunned they actually used that splash image in the actual game.
As noted this also adds some layers to the Pater-Mater door. Essentially, whatever the precise mechanisms, the robot is another personality of Renne's, which is embodied in the robot. Also suggests some horrible things about some of what I know about Crossbell, but of course Crossbell IS basically the mad science edition of the Zemuria Saga soooo.
But yeah, a few scenes here and there actually got me, which I didn't expect all told. 9/10.
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Haven't played 3rd yet, but...
Star 3- SC's Farewell Dinner. Second of those ones that justify the game. I really adore how Kloe ends up character wise in the games, and at its core this is her being herself.
Good to hear, since Kloe was one of the few really notable dropped balls in SC. I get that it's a super-long game already, but it felt like they gave her the beginning of a plot arc then had absolutely no idea what to do next. "I am having doubts about my ability to lead" (for no particular reason, just jitters) -> ??. Granted, I was worried for a bit that was going to end with "I've decided to renounce my claim on the throne to go be an adventurer!" or the like which they avoided at least, but doing nothing instead was odd. (Okay, they threw in some affirmation that royals Really Are Special due to hailing from scientist Amaterasu or whatevs, but that doesn't really count.)
Star 9- No you weren't just imagining it with Anelace. Although I think she pulls it off waaaaay better than Angelica.
A very low bar to clear, but that's something!
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So I broke up with Hearthstone so now random weird phone games are my new best friend.
Egglia - I jumped straight into this. It is a bit pricey, but is a pay all at once no microtrabsaction game that uses some standard mobile game stuff well. Your companions (two people you bring along to dungoens just regret random loot)have stamina meters to pace your play, but you have enough stamina on one companion to do 3/4 maps with them and there is tons of companions. You plant things and wait for them to hatch to get items and to pull spirits Gacha style, but it is weighted in your flavour heavily and you more just progressively pull from better pools.
Gameplay itself is a pretty mindless grinds get items, unlock stuff, build a town while dumb jokes are made. The jokes are pretty smile out loud at how dumb they are, but it works. Dungeons are simple 5ish minute jaunts where you roll a D6 to move. Higher rolls also mean you do more damage if you attack something. You can cast spells based on spirits you have equipped, usually 4/5 mana and you gain 1 mana per turn. Honestly sometimes just ignoring enemies and dashing for loot is better unless you want food items. The only complaint I have is that I wish you could see enemy stats so you could make more informed decisions. Going in blind is a total crapshoot.
So it is a light breezy expensive phone game, why do I bring it up other than liking someone getting the pacing mechanics I like in phone games without the F2P economics?
It is a total spiritual successor to Legends of Mana. It takes the build you world map thing that LoM did and runs won it. That is the core concept of the game. It also has the off beat art style and humor and story that goes with it. I don't even know who it is for, but hey if you would throw down $8US for a more laid back mobile spin on LoM, check out Egglia: Legend of the Redcap.
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Microtransaction-free Smart Phone game sounds so nice I am willing to pay for it. Being Legend of Mana-based is just icing.
Who's the dev team, by the way?
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMM.com
Is the publisher
Googling for it a bit says it was developed by "DMM’s Powerchord Studio and Brownies" with some ad copy of "Shinichi Kameoka is the head producer and character designer, who’s also done design work on Mother 3, Sword of Mana, Legend of Mana, and more. At the same time executive producer is Michio Okamiya who produced Romancing SaGa 3, and the soundtrack is composed by Yoko Shimomura of Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy XV fame." mentioned in a few articles.
I picked it up based on the review on Touch Arcade (http://toucharcade.com/2017/08/16/egglia-legend-of-the-redcap-review/) because they tend to do decent reviews, even though as big as it is. It is where I go after I don't find anything interesting on Board Game Geek.
Edit - Tons of edits to make sentences less fucked up.
Edit 2 - Also a heads up that the game is super lightweight and doesn't have much substance to it, which I know you like a bit in your mobile gaming DJ. It isn't as fairy floss as Magikarp Jump is, but it is also less outright bonkers. If it was F2P I would say try it without hesitation, but with a cost to enter I am just tentative on saying you should try it out of hand, but that is just the byproduct of the horror that is modern mobile game markets. If it was like half the price I would say yeah go ahead no stress but *shrug*. I think you will dig it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is something you play 3 times and then it drops to the bottom of your list of things to do when out of Stamina in other games while shitting.
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Speaking of Star 15, did they keep all the content or they censor the child prostitution?
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From what I understand, the version on Steam is based on the PC version: it does have the full content of the door rather than cutting to Loewe and Joshua's rescue (I'm told that's how the PSP version handled it?) If there's a more censor-prone version than what I played I'd rather not honestly, any more than the splash image of Renne's state prior to rescue would be in astonishingly poor taste and ruin the scene I think.
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Yakuza 0 - I have fallen into sidequest hell. It's fun though, I keep spending more time on it than I budget for playing in any given span which I suppose is a good sign.
The fighting styles have good variety as well, definitely keeps it interesting. For Kiryu, Brawler style has counters and the most ways to try and deal with a single strong opponent, Rush style is...not my cup of tea but has tons of defensive and evasive tricks and at least looks really damn cool.
And Beast style...well...
(http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/361/214/69a.jpg)
Beast style is the best.
Majima's stuff is good too, and not just a copy of Kiryu's with different names. I don't have his third style yet(though I know it's basically Eddy Gordo/10, to quote Jim), Thug style is low base damage with devastating Heat actions and really shows how much meaner and dirtier Majima fights on average than Kiryu does. And his other one is Slugger style. He just goes ham on dudes with a baseball bat. It's pretty great.
In chapter 3, though at the very end of it. The best part of the game so far was probably the ch3 intro, also being Majima's intro. It just took what the series is best at, being over the top in all the best ways, and ran with it beautifully. Also having seen some of the other games, Majima managing to successfully pose as a suave managerial type is just great, considering when left to his own devices he's about as far from anything resembling 'respectable' as you can get.
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Shovel Knight: Spectre of Torment
Fin. Good stuff.
Pretty decent, great level design as usual, but... a little too easy? And missing a Final Final Boss a la Plague Knight? Based on an interesting interview with Yacht Club ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdAvWOW4QHE ), they basically said that they found out after release that Plague Knight was waaaay too hard for many of their players based on usage / completion statistics - that there were lots of players for whom the very first screen's "bomb blast then double jump" was already at about the top of their multitasking, and adding in enemies and moving platforms and such sent 'em home. Which, sure, I get that it's hard, casuals, but Plague of Shadows has pretty generous checkpointing, so just try again until you get it right. As people here know, I liked Ori & the Blind Forest a lot: have some *really hard* platforming, but with save everywhere, so death ain't no thang. While the level design is absolutely COOL and interesting, I didn't die very often until the Tower of Destiny.
Also, Troupple Acolyte backstory. Who would have known.
Side note more related to Plague of Shadows: Know what the 2nd worst stage in that was for me, in retrospect, after Tower of Destiny 2? Not Propeller Knight. Not Tinker Knight. No... it was the FISHING POND. Which I assumed I needed some fancy fuse / bomb combo for awhile at first as I couldn't clear the second crank, returned with max 4 bars of magic (for a stage you could hypothetically do right away!), eventually figured out bait could do it... and had to hard-reset the stage several times after losing money permanently in a fun bonus stage. Holy crap, there was some evil design that even having 2 Vats wouldn't save you from there. Maybe I'm just weird.
EDIT: I also should have mentioned that Spectre's Curious were totally busted. In general I'm fine with the "Relics/Curios/etc. optional, you can do this with base" design philosophy the devs had, but the Curios were unusually potent to the point where I kinda wish they had designed around assuming you had them. Whee, Hover Coin / Judgment Rush skipping an entire sections, etc.
Also also. How appropriate that the best music in Spectre of Torment is for the Lich Yard. I really liked the remix they came up with for it, it felt much more awesome than the original.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTtrxKMF3Yc
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In which slowpokeFire plays PSX games released back in 2001...
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Grefter said this is a very strange game, and he's right. It's a mix of cool, weird, underwritten, and player-hatingly-obtuse.
Of course, I've walled where everyone else who played the game walled: Joker Noriko at Club Zodiac. Holy crap game, talk about a power upgrade on the bosses. Of course it took like 30 minutes to actually lose (maybe even more) because she starts unloading at critical HP and my offense is way too puny to blitz through it. Went something like Maha Aques - Absolute Zero - Absolute Zero - Maha Aques - Absolute Zero at the end, there's noooo way to survive that at my levels if the freeze procs from Absolute Zero kicks in basically ever on a healer. Checking OK's topic, she has 1200 HP. Katsuya's the only person who can deal damage with 50 off Single Shot. Ulala has Magnus for like 18-20 which is better than nothing. Baofu fails forever at damage (but hey, Soothing Melody) and Maya's Aqua is heavily resisted, even despite the TEC-heavy build. Of course, Katsuya is also weak to water, so keeping him alive is always a little interesting and sometimes requires just straight-up gambles that I get some good luck. Maaaybe Tower Inferno could help blitz, but that requires Baofu's turn, which is often required on setting up healing and/or setting up for a fusion risks getting interrupted by Old Maid or the like.
I was L19 on Maya, L18 on Katsuya/Baofu, L15 on Ulala. I *guess* I could farm some cards for new personas (still using only starters), except I really hate the negotiation mechanic in P2, and I'm not sure any of them would help anyway... I'm not seeing any of the Media upgrades for better MT healing in ones I have access to at the moment. The main one I might want (Iris, for Ulala?) I apparently permanently missed the material required for it from GOLD gym. Sigh. I guess it's just grind time! At least (after checking the Internet) I might possibly get Maia Custom from grinding, but so it goes. At least I knew from my old college roommate's bitter experience that when I still didn't have an armor shop for the club, I knew it was time to FAQ up what I missed. So I'm not also woefully underequipped on defense.
Also, the whole idea of rumors becoming reality is both powerful but also poorly done. "Pay some guy who claims to be a rumormonger 3000 yen, magic happens" is about the lamest possible way they could have picked to do this. Also, a lot of the "plot" rumors kind of make sense to me, but too many of the in-game ones are lame. Use this emblem to protect yourself from supernatural threat, cross to a vampire style? Yeah, that makes sense. A blimp nobody looks at can really fly? Weird, but sure. Here are new rules on who becomes a Joker, announced on live TV? I get it. These all fit. But things that are "hey you, other person, you actually work for the mob and sell stuff" seems like the kind of thing that rumors shouldn't override, there's way too much reality shift involving boring normal stuff to make it work. It's also not really interesting, and just a trap (like missing out on the armor shop). Rumors like "there's a monster called Tek-Tek secretly prowling Kasugama High" make a lot more sense, as it's involving the supernatural AND it's talking about something that might have been in the shadows until now. Or if you could make rumors to try and get Coolest to sell more magazine copies, that'd be way more neat than rumors about... magazine turn-in prizes? Oh well.
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My wall moment with P2 first time through was the regenning monster boss late in the game (subway tunnels, I think?), because I didn't have the firepower to consistently outshoot his healing (also this was the point where the emulator's grinding hatred of the game just finally became utterly unmanageable). Bring fire, lots and lots of fire.
My recollection is that level-ups in P2 full-heal, so grinding is at least a somewhat practical option when you're stuck in a dungeon. I don't remember anything about good personas or how to get them other than that Maia Custom rocked for most of the game.
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Did you play some version of Innocent Sin first?
I've never tried playing EP in a vacuum. But I remember bawling like a baby at the end of it and it definitely required the setup from IS to make that deeper connection for me.
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PERSONA 2 HYPE YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahem.
Yeah, Noriko is the toughest fight in the game, generally. Kind of a wake-up call in using the system. A couple things that could help:
- Were you nice to Ulala at the end of the GOLD? If you were, you can summon Maia Custom, by using Maia in fusions to end battles until she gets the modification ability. Maia Custom is level 31, with Mediarama, Recarm, and good defenses (especially given her level). Maya can basically solo the fight on auto-battle by that point. Maia Custom doesn't require grinding - once you unlock her, you can use her immediately, even if you aren't normally a high enough level.
- A couple good personas to get if you are able include Iris (for Ulala, although you'll need to have found her material card in GOLD - she's permanently missable if you didn't get it then), Hel (for Baofu - tons of elemental skills, no weaknesses), and Matsuo-sama. The latter has Wall of Water which invalidates Maha Aques, but requires you to get the modification ability, since she's a minor arcana (easiest - get Pixie, use in fusions to end battles until she learns it, morph her to Matsuo-sama). Jack Frost is also awesome from a defensive perspective, and from an offensive perspective (Sonic Punch and Bufu - Noriko doesn't guard Ice, only Water, so you can do ice fusions if you need).
- You can win this with starters (I've done starter challenges before), but you would hopefully have enough mutations (parametre up, mostly) to keep the stats high enough. Since you mentioned Soothing Melody (Odysseus's mutation spell), I assume you've been doing that. It's a good idea to end battles with fusions to force mutations. The problem is that their spell list just doesn't keep up - high TEC is good, but the higher level spells make the biggest difference in damage from the higher multipliers, so you really need to upgrade.
- Be careful with fusions. You can reset turns and basically get yourself lapped and smashed if you're not careful. It may be easiest to just use single actions - the battles are turn-based, one action per round per character, but if you keep ordering fusions, you can start negating turns and get behind on actions (it can be really confusing).
- If you're having trouble with the negotiation system, you can FAQ it, but it shouldn't be too tough to figure out one or two demons that are common encounters. Get them to sign a contract, and then keep contacting them in future battles to get blank cards. Try for the highest level demon if you can for the most cards.
- Equipment is kind of not vital to buy yet. What rumours did you spread? You'll get some later about stores where you can only spread 1 or 2 rumours, and some are bad ideas. You don't get special defense boosting armours until later, and the defense bonuses are minimal right now, so you can wait a bit. The defense helps, but the persona makes a bigger difference (stats and affinities).
- Have you thought about which path you'll follow?
I've been working on updated the P2 topic as well, although that's going to take a while! Cool stuff I've learned I want to add to it :) P2:EP is my favourite in the series, and I still have most of it memorized (but a replay is due - I had to look up some stuff recently!).
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I do still play games, though work and life has kept me busy.
XCOM 2 - Very fun even if it's also frustrating in about ten different ways. Anyway I finally have a good feeling for most of the game's macro systems and also finally got armour so I can stop getting my troops injured for a million years every time an alien sneezes at them. The key improvement of the game over 1 is certainly the fact that way more missions press you for time so I don't have to feel bad that I'm not doing the optimum-yet-ridiculous-boring strategy of slowing advancing with everyone on overwatch. In fact missions are more varied in general, which is cool. There are certainly a few other ways that the game could have improved on 1 but didn't, but so it goes; not gonna argue with what we got, and replay(s) are a definite with this one.
Undertale - So the game has a built-in challenge run of doing no items and initial equipment on Neutral, I figured I would try that, because apparently I enjoy having a bad time. I'll probably get the Pacifist ending after because why not, which of course has implications on how I play too. Minor spoilers I guess, I doubt the few people reading this who haven't played Undertale will care.
Papyrus - 1 reset, hey this isn't so bad yet.
Mad Dummy - 2 resets
Undyne - Almost won on my second try! ... then like a dozen resets. :(
Muffet - 5 resets
The final fixed encounter in CORE against Madjick/Astigmatism/Whimsalot - 5 resets
Mettaton - 6 resets
Anyway after that I walled super-hard on the the fire mage boss of Neutral path. I get 4HKOed and it takes well over 30 rounds to win, and a lot of his patterns are way too hard, I never even get through half his health through like 25 resets. I decide to give up on the initial equipment part and equip the apron which regens 1 health every other turn; crucial because the boss is a big ol' softy and none of his attacks can kill you unless you're at 1 HP (this is not typical of many other enemies), so the regen ensures that if you take only one hit per 2 rounds you'll win. Getting a better weapon also helps a little but not as much as you'd think because his defence is actually -30 in a subtractive system, still going to take over 25 turns probably. Anyway I've made it up to the 22nd attack once (like most bosses he's very patterned so I've gotten used to counting to know what to expect) so it'll come, but yeah it has been tough. I don't expect Flowey or Asriel to pose nearly as much trouble.
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Elf: Did you get the Alien Hunters DLC or the War of the Chosen expansion by any chance? Mods do help a lot with changing small things that are wrong with the game; and to Firaxis's credit they added a lot of those fixes into the expansion. One thing off the top of my head: In War of the Chosen, how long a soldier is wounded is tied into how badly they were hurt. In the game when it first came out, it was random. It also adds things like the tiredness system so you rotate troops, and fixes the dumb shaken mechanic.
Civ 5- Playing the Incas right now. Terrace farms are cool.
EU4- Playing with custom countries. Turn it up to 800 points allowed in the custom menu, watch the world explode. It's still fun though.
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No DLC/expansions yet (I feel less into those than most gamers, generally; in the specific case of XCOM games, there are a fuckton of moving parts to learn and I always fear an expansion would pile more on). Most of my complaints about XCOM2 are in areas like polish/interface/loading times so I dunno that DLC would help with those much, but glad to hear good things about 'em anyway.
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Sundered: I went on PSN to get Night in the Woods and wound up grabbing some stray Metroidvania with it. Sundered is a visually stylish platformer with good combat, several questionable design decisions, and some absolutely ruinous technical problems.
It shouldn't be any surprise by this point that item #1 above means I personally put it in the file of "worth experiencing in spite of its flaws."
We're on...another planet? Another dimension? It's not entirely clear. But humans visited and fucked everything up, as humans do. Now there's just insane robots and Lovecraftian horrors left, and one player character trying to get the hell out. You have a black lightsaberish thing for melee, a BFG for ranged, and the usual Metroidvania suite of movement abilities in double jump, air dash, wall climbing, and grapple-launching. Movement is very fluid and you can stay in the air pretty much indefinitely once you've got all powers (and for the last zone's bosses, you pretty much have to be able to do this). The mechanics are fundamentally solid and fun. There's a skill tree that's robust enough to allow for distinctly different builds on separate playthroughs (you're not going to get anywhere close to learning everything without putting in solid days of grinding). Dying is basically Dark Souls death plus. You go back to the hub, but all your exploration and progress remains, and you don't even lose your level-up currency. (The real penalty for dying is something much more insidious. We'll get to that later.) Creepy alien narrator voice is also suitably creepy.
The visual design is fantastic. I will link the first two boss fights here, both because they simultaneously demonstrate what is good and what is bad about the game, and also because that is some of the most metal fucking spritework yet created by humans:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BauWQj7FIJo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpnrQLfA2bQ
All those red orbs are enemy-spawning portals. All of them. Look at them, they cover the screen!
I'm playing on normal difficulty and have largely found it brutally difficult. Those bosses took me 4-6 tries and each victory ended with mad flailing at the last target in a spasmodic fit of "ohgodohgod I'm at 20% health and I'm out of healing and every inch of the screen is coated with enemy sprites please just die already!" I have no remote idea how the third boss is feasible on my build. I can't even make it halfway, and having looked up what happens at halfway, oh fuck me. I'm feeling like I made some serious tactical blunders after looking at other videos. All the cool kids ignore HP and just pump shields, apparently. I beelined for anything that would boost melee damage and didn't pay much attention to what I needed to go through to get that. I wound up with an epic health bar but shit healing, shit armor, and shit shields. Turns out playing LoT Komachi in this game isn't a healthy combination. I've also almost completely ignored the cannon. Most of the game I made up for all these problems with parasitic healing, but that isn't cutting it anymore.
I guess I'll fiddle with perks and see how much of that HP I can convert into shields. Either that or I have lots and lots of grinding ahead of me. The only other things I have unfinished are: the self-cloning miniboss that's also a platforming challenge over an instant death pit with wind effects in play; the flying keepaway boss with regenning shields; three totally apeshit endless hordes zones. None of these feel practical either.
I also may have screwed myself by declining Nyarly's generous offer of corruption. There is a pathsplit sorta thing with abilities, in that you can turn in your boss drops for enhanced skills or you can throw them into the incinerator for almost no apparent benefit at all (this also effects final bosses/endings). So you look at a video and see the bat gliding and the teleportation and the crazy purple shield, well, I don't have any of that shit. I am just going full human because science. I suspect doing this is actually stealth hard mode.
But I mentioned some...problems, right? Some maybe, just a teensy little bit, crippling technical problems?
Okay, first and most obviously, it's the load times. Oh my gooooood why is this happening in a game released in 2017. It's worse than Bloodborne at launch. I keep a book next to me for something to do after every death. It's that egregious. The game also drops frames like a motherfucker. And that isn't even a consequence of the screen being loaded up with mindboggling numbers of enemy sprites (that actually doesn't seem to cause any slowdown no matter how much crap is onscreen at once). It just...happens, periodically, throughout every stage of play, for no discernible reason. It isn't slowdown from visual effects onscreen, it's just some persistent behind the scenes fuckup that noticeably occurs even when nothing's moving onscreen but the PC. You lose like a full second of action when this recurs, and this has caused me a couple totally avoidable deaths while platforming over lethal drops or overwhelming crowds of enemies. I really do not understand how a self-respecting developer could release a game with technical problems this glaring. EDIT: maybe worth noting this is on PS4 and not PC, so could just be a shitty port, but still.
On a less technical level, there are also some disappointing design decisions in the mix. One, all enemy spawns are random. This does mean you don't know what to expect any time you head back into an old dungeon, but it can be intensely frustrating when you're just trying to revisit an old area to unlock a wing you missed before and are suddenly inconvenienced by yet another occurrence of forty fucking enemies dropping right on your face at once holy shit (this is not an exaggeration; Sundered loves to shove literal hordes of enemies on the screen at once just to prove that it can). Two, as might be surmised from the above, lor' there be backtracking, which is probably expected for the genre, but Sundered's levels are so sprawling and confusing that it can just be too much even if you aren't having to retrace your steps from constant death. There's no fast travel except in the last zone (where practically speaking you need it least due to having all the movement abilities by that point). Three, the level design itself is sub-par. The visual aspects of the levels are good (and the background vistas are impressive enough that sometimes I do just have to stop and say Wow), but the physical layout of the rooms suffers massively from copypasting. The last zone sorta gets around this, since by that point your mobility is supreme and the level was obviously built to encourage exploitation of all abilities, but the first two zones are just full of cramped, twisty, lookalike corridors. Couple those issues with high difficulty and egregious load times, and respect for player time is not at a premium here.
So, pretty game, mechanically fun to play, but undermined by a lack of technical polish and some ill-advised level design philosophy. Can only recommend if you're as hard in for the combination of exploration + Aesthetics Are a Moral Imperative as I am.
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So I ordered undertale on my ps4. It's coming in December!
I also bought the Mario xcom game. It's fun!
I am also attempting to build a pc so I can play ff14 alongside my fiance.
Weeeeee
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Sonic Mania- Cleared out the main game. I'm nowhere near completion on Emeralds, so the special final boss eludes me. Honestly it'd probably be faster and less frustrating to clear out blue sphere stages until I could just do Debug mode, considering I barely saw any special stage rings playing normally and have no idea where to go to mine them quickly. Also I am balls at UFO chase.
Then again maybe they have a safety flag that doesn't let you go to the special final if you don't have all the emeralds on a save file. Wouldn't surprise me.
Anyway so... hm. Somewhere between Sonic 2 and base Sonic 3 I think? I imagine playing some more to find stuff would improve my opinion a bit, but it sorta alternated a lot between cool stages with fun bosses and chaotic messes where I had no idea what even. I did have to run the last zone a lot to actually beat the boss, since I kept getting there with just one life left and all, and once I twigged to the layout of it Act 2 wasn't TOO bad (if still kinda unfair, buuuut last zone, of course it's kinda unfair). So likely most of the game is like that, especially the original stages. Well, except act 1 of the desert zone, no saving that one except on pure style points.
So on that note, 6/10 I suppose.
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You can revisit levels on a cleared file, which I guess is how you get all the emeralds/unlock frue final boss if you're not hardcore enough to get all of them on a straight run to the end (which I'm sure as hell not, those UFO levels are awfully rude).
I think I liked it more on a second run because yeah, there are bits where it's just 100% WTF do I even do, which don't hold you up on a replay. (At least not as much, Mecha Sonic fight is still dumb, Oil Ocean boss still kills me way too much.) You also get more appreciation for how complex the level design is when you find yourself taking completely different paths. S2 > SM > S3 probably a good ranking (I didn't dig S3 much).
Sundered: it turns out the answer to all problems is just massive overlevelling. I didn't really set out specifically to do this! I just grabbed the treasure hunt upgrade (lets you see where all the goodies are--worth the pickup, good tip, Jim) and then made a sweep through the map to get them all. I wound up almost but not completely clearing the skill tree and getting most perks to rank 3 in the process. Not all of them, because perk upgrades annoyingly seem to be random drops, but I got the ones that mattered. Which are: 1) convert HP to shields; 2) shields regen constantly; 3) turn healing flasks into shield boosts (also you get 2x the usual max, what the fuck); 4) some offense upgrade, raw ATK or crit boost are probably equal for effect by endgame considering they have the same downside.
Stack those things onto nigh full stats and you are virtually unkillable. I went back to the third boss and didn't even have to heal. I felt bad for cheesing it, because it's a cool fight. I don't feel bad for cheesing the final boss, though. He still got me a couple times--there's just too much knockback and too much tracking shit going on near the end of that. Hope you upgraded the cannon! I was thinking I may do a corruption run at some point because hey easy platinum but then I remind myself trophies are a dumb reason to do anything. I dunno.
The elder shard fragment in the Holy City is just the most obtuse, how-did-anyone-find-this thing (hidden room that the treasure hunt upgrade doesn't show you) and it's blocking true final bosses/endings. Cute, guys.
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Yeah, I reran Green Hill to explore for giant rings (and build up lives in case I did want to play more seriously) and only found 1. But I dunno if that's because they didn't install very many new places to hide them and later levels have more, or if I'm bad at this in my old age and should just focus on the Spheres completion.
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I am pretty sure there's one giant ring per level, they're just hidden well enough that your odds of consistently finding them on one run through a stage are not high.
Over two and a half runs (haven't finished with Knuckles), I'm at a little over 75% silver medals on spheres. Pretty sure the remainder are all too tricky for me. I unlocked debug mode, though! I have no idea how to use it.
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For those of you that liked Final Fantasy Tactics for whatever ungodly reason, you might enjoy Alchemist Code on mobile. It's pretty much a straight
ripoff homage to FFT. The global game is only soft launched in Sweden at the moment, but you can download the .apk and it runs fine. https://apkpure.com/the-alchemist-code/sg.gumi.alchemistww
Characters have a total of 3 jobs, and they can mix and match skillsets from those. The difficulty is surprisingly high for a mobile game. Enemy mages hurt a lot. Letting Ramza Logi die is a game over.
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For those of you trash babies that like FFT here is my leftovers. #FF5LIFE
I am offended.
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Peasants.
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The art direction is so far below FFT though
FFT Oracle SCC: Chapter 3
I've never used oracles in FFT before, really. Now they're my favourite class
FF5 Knight SCC: Just autobattled past Byblos. He didn't counter?
This SCC is the purest autobattle smash thing there is, I've only had to stop autobattling for Liquid Flame
The iOs version looks so awful, and the worst part has to be the animations - they worked for small FF5 sprites, but look completely wrong when they're on those larger filtered ugly sprites
Every cutscene is terrible and I want sceneskip + the ability to speed up text
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For someone who doesn't even know what an apk file is before googling it, can you actually run that on a normal Android phone or do you need to use an emulator?
Unless they changed him in iOS (which is possible?), Byblos never countering with Protect is super-duper-lucky. He has a 1/3 chance to use it every time you hit him until he falls below 18% HP at which point he starts having a 2/3 chance to counter with Drain instead.
I got Steam FF5 last summer though I forgot I had done that when this year's fiesta rolled around and ended up playing on the ol' GBA emulator instead. I personally think it looks a hell of a lot nicer than SNES/PSX/GBA but that lack of speedup is going to be a doozy for fiesta runs.
Undertale - Beaten both of the main two endings with items. Gameplay notes (and some story comments, so spoilers):
Asgore was something like 30-40 resets after the 20+ where I tried without the initial armour. I discovered eventually that talking three times is overall worth it; fight took around 23 rounds. Towards the end I finally started to be able to dodge the hardest-to-avoid attacks over half the time which helped, but yeesh. Obviously the big roadblock of the run.
Flowey was beaten without any resets! Only boss of the playthrough this is true for, besides Toriel. I spared him this time, since I didn't on my first playthrough. I don't really think sparing him makes good narrative sense to be quite honest but the game may disagree since it gives you a hint towards Pacifist if you do. Sans acknowledges my no-item playthrough with a "did you ever grab a bite to eat?" Wonder if he still says that if you eat the food he gets you at Grillby's.
I had something like 3-4 resets on Lemon Bread (one of the almagamates). I died around 7 times to Asriel, though your milage may vary whether those count as resets or not, given the way the fight works.
XCOM 2 - Game's definitely gotten easier as I'm more on top of it now, as tended to happen with XCOM 1 as well in my experience. Starting to get the third tier of weapons, though I don't really have enough supplies at the moment. Fortunately my current weapon tier is sufficing pretty well at the moment. It remains to be seen if the lategame enemies will have the push that Sectopods and Ethereals had in the first game.
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For someone who doesn't even know what an apk file is before googling it, can you actually run that on a normal Android phone or do you need to use an emulator?
Yes, just download it and it should be in the Downloads folder on your phone. You can open it and it'll install itself there.
@Fenrir: I know, they have noses, wtf?
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For someone who doesn't even know what an apk file is before googling it, can you actually run that on a normal Android phone or do you need to use an emulator?
You would probably need to change a setting on your phone to allow it to install, but it would run on a normal Android phone. apk files are basically just what the device downloads from Google Play or wherever to install things.
Changing the setting requires you to go into Settings, then Security, then find something that mentions allowing installation from unknown sources. The wording on the setting is different on different devices but you should be able to find it.
Once you've got that done, what Captain K said basically.
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Holy shit Yakko lives.
I tried out Alchemist Code and while the gameplay is pretty obviously FFT-inspired it suffers from other issues that prevented me from getting into it. Combat pacing is really slow, though that may just be my phone, but it's slower than FFT which wasn't already fast and I tend to want quicker gaming sessions on mobile. Also as Fenrir noted the aesthetics aren't similar and it is also annoyingly anime as fuck, in the cutscene/dialogue sense.
Gameplay definitely looks neat but those things prevented me from garnering much interest in getting farther than a couple of story fights.
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Disgaea 5:
So I'm on the final chapter of the maingame story and the gameplay continues to be quite engaging and the quality of life upgrades are still keeping the game exciting for me.
But my feelings on the narrative are extremely bitter. As a long-time fan of Disgaea and N1 in general, D5 really misses the mark for me. I know N1 can do good serious stories like Soul Nomad and Witch+100Knight. And I know they can do funny like Disgaea 1 and Makai Kingdom. And I know they can do comedic adventure stories like La Pucelle.
Disgaea 5 tries to be a little of all of these and fails at all of them in the process.
At the outset of the game, some of the characters vaguely resembled Disgaea-style characters. Quirky, deeply flawed, but loving it, or at least over-the-top enough to keep it interesting. It's notable that most people cite the more subdued Disgaea characters as the weakest (Yukimaru, Almaz, Artina, for example). Disgaea 5 STARTS with a cast of subdued characters, and by the endgame literally all of them 'overcome their flaws' (AKA, the only thing that made any of them stand out, usually not even much of a flaw to begin with).
This might not be so bad. After all, technically every Disgaea game has the characters growing a bit from their original impression. The difference is that none of the other Disgaea games felt the need to constantly point it out. It's almost like the entire cast is Flonne, except boring. And no one calls them out for being a little too touchy-feely.
For contrast, Laharl was mostly a joke for the entire game, but they squeezed in a few moments of in-your-face growth with the holy Pendant that burns anyone with an evil heart. At first, he's burned by it, complains, but is happy that 'his heart is still evil'. By the end of the game, he picks up the Pendant and it doesn't burn him. They don't LINGER on this. They don't sit around the campfire congratulating him on 'overcoming his weak heart'. It just happens, and he's too caught up in the action going on in-game to really reference it. The significance of it is really clear without the kumbayas.
Disgaea 5, on the other hand, has each of the protagonists overcome 'bragging', 'depression over saying something mean to her parents', 'self-centered-ness', 'lying', 'self-doubt', and 'fear of being poor'.
First of all, what petty problems for a Demon to have, especially in a series like Disgaea, where these are usually considered 'normal' Demon traits, and it takes something much worse on the Moral Event Horizon to bother needing to change oneself.
Secondly, each of these problems takes up a whole 5-part chapter unto itself, where the beginning of the chapter starts with something like 'I wonder who's gonna learn a lesson today' and ends with 'My HEART has grown!' (It's like some phantom thieves invaded their palace or something...)
It just doesn't fit with how Demons/Netherworlds have been portrayed in all the previous N1 games. I could have accepted ONE character like this (either Killia or Usalia play this part well), but the whole cast are basically the most cut-and-paste JRPG protagonists ever when they are supposed to be over-the-top hams and mischievous devils.
Pardon the Steven Universe reference, but the issue is that I signed up for Disgaea and instead I got Crying Breakfast Friends.
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Pardon the Steven Universe reference
how dare u
Egglia - Secretly I should have spent in game money and bought food stuff and got some spirits. Would recommend instead of levelling the base ones for ages.
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Project Diva Future Tone: All songs cleared on hard.
Doki Doki Litearture Club: My heart indeed went doki doki. A lovely little visual novel - and totally free too!
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Doki Doki Literature Club (http://ddlc.moe/)
Very nice VN, free, made by a professional Smash player. Well written and strongly designed. Took me about 3 hours - I read quickly though so maybe more like 5 for those not familiar with VNs. It has a poetry writing minigame. Cute and sweet at the start, although it does go into some heavier themes and earn that warning at the bottom of the page later on. Best experienced unspoiled beyond that. Probably a solid 8/10 with some nice touches that spoke to me personally (and I think Andrew liked it even more than I did!)
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Well, except act 1 of the desert zone, no saving that one except on pure style points.
I finished Knuckles mode. Funny thing, Knuckles gets an entirely different zone and boss for Mirage Saloon 1, just because he can't be arsed to fly the damn plane (and who can blame him for that?) Also a different act 2 boss for lava caves; not sure if that's always true or if I just blundered into it by pure luck (it's in a shaft the other two can't climb). I'm also up to 28/32 silver medals for bonus stages. After rerunning those remaining four so many times over three runs through the game, if I can't get 'em by now, I doubt I ever could.
I was thinking I may do a corruption run at some point because hey easy platinum but then I remind myself trophies are a dumb reason to do anything. I dunno.
Obviously this is a thing that I am doing now. Game is much easier and much faster second time through, of course. I am at the final boss now and I don't even what the hell am I supposed to. Tried it twice, ragequit for the day. Is the dive attack always an instant kill or did he just drag me into the death pit? The entire arena is over a death pit and I don't think there are any platforms to stand on. You have to be able to stay airborne the entire fight. Okay, I am going to go have another grind session to max damage so I can at least minimize the amount of time I have to be perfect platformer. Also how is the final boss massively more grotesque on the path where you're working for the Lovecraftian deity?
Anyway, corruption mode is pretty different. Science mode opens a whole different sector of the skill tree at the bottom, which includes a fourth perk slot (which is a huge bonus and goes a long way towards balancing things out). The tradeoff as eldritch horror's lackey is mostly better mobility (which is why the corruption final boss is a 100% platformer challenge). Also just noticed that corrupting abilities rewrites the flavor text on the skill tree, which is a nice touch.
Still a clusterfuck of a game, but damn, those sprites.
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XCOM 2 - Game's definitely gotten easier as I'm more on top of it now, as tended to happen with XCOM 1 as well in my experience. Starting to get the third tier of weapons, though I don't really have enough supplies at the moment. Fortunately my current weapon tier is sufficing pretty well at the moment. It remains to be seen if the lategame enemies will have the push that Sectopods and Ethereals had in the first game.
You have a lot of options late; definitely felt like the early game is the hardest. Though that said, you do not want to fuck around with Gatekeepers or Sectopods, they will wreck you if you let them get turns. (Mimic Beacons are your friend)
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Alchemist Code: Although it's a poor use of premium currency in the long run, I gambled and did the full 3-step summon while the summon pool is still small. It paid off as I got two copies of Chloe. The second let me limit break her to the Lanceman job. I learned the skills from there and swapped her back to Holy Swordsman. So now I have a heavy class that can attack and counterattack from two spaces away.
Since the game doesn't have actual weapon and armor switching, the way it handles cross-class skills is interesting. Whenever you use a lance skill as a swordsman, your character just pulls a lance out of their ass and attacks, then shoves it back and goes back to sword.
Other than that I'm currently limited by my player level for advancing. You only gain about one level a day from quests, but once I hit ~45 I'll be able to equip quite a few more things.
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Night in the Woods: If only I could die anywhere else.
I panicked and bombed the moment the rhythm section threw a huge mass of notes at me at once, but looking at a video, I realize they're all just sixteenth notes. Oh well.
Game is immediately charming in a way that I don't encounter often enough.
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Ys VIII: Lacramosa of Dana: I'm about 95% of the way through the game, but that doesn't mean I'm close to being done, apparently. This is a long game. Fortunately it's also a very good game! I'll have a lot to say about it once I finish, but for now: It's an action RPG using basically the same system as Ys 7 (and, I am informed, Celceta), but you can jump (and eventually, double jump) and you get witch time when you dodge, and that is super awesome. Like so. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euOED2tl_9c&list=PLQVUmR5fzZdHHJjxg7BwfPxMZHUvFrRdE&index=3) The combat is very good. The music is exceptional. The worst of it is above average, the best of it is godly. The plot is basically two things at once: heartwarming tale of castaways on a deserted island coming together to survive and escape, and a traditional Ys story of an ancient adversary that threatens destruction. I'll have more to say once I actually finish and can reflect on the totality, but there could have been a number of ways the game put those two ideas together, and the way they chose to do it is very interesting.
There are ps4 and vita versions of the game. Play the ps4 version if you play it at all. It's got a lot of extra content, and that extra content is good stuff.
Tsundered: if/when I finish this, I will likely agree with everything Cid said about it. Great animation, epic boss fights, interesting ideas, execution had serious issues.
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Belated, but: Djinn, I haven't played Innocent Sin, but I am roughly familiar with its plotline, as I am to EP. While normally I'm not a fan of being pre-spoiled, P2 is jagged and uneven enough that knowing which characters are previous Persona fanservice, which dark intimations are talking about P2:IS, which ones are relevant to the plotline of this game, and what's just totally random blather is useful.
Also, I beat Joker Noriko, then quit the game for a bit. Eh. (Joins Trails of Cold Steel II in the unfinished category, although CS2, to its credit, it's just the aftergame that's left - I saw the dang credits roll.) Instead, I started...
A Rose in the Twilight (Vita/PS4)
From the horror puzzle game genre. It's pretty good.
There is zero dialogue in this game. None. Characters sometimes wordlessly mouth to each other, so they're talking, but beats me what they're saying. You can generally get a sense at least. Luckily, in classic horror game fashion, you can dig up notes, journals, & history books to explain some of WTF is going on. Anyway, you wake up in a dungeon, you are stuck with a magic rose, you quickly befriend a giant, and I guess you're bored or something so the two of you get to puzzle solving to explore a castle totally wrecked by evil thorns? Is the main character the one writing the notes you find (they seem to be really specific to her current situation), or someone in a similar situation? Is she the princess of the castle? Random girl? Aberration built as a copy of the original princess? Not sure, at least at first, and still not entirely sure later. Luckily, while being quite killable (especially from, grumble grumble, fall damage... Mario she isn't...), the curse of thorns just resurrects Our Heroine constantly to take another shot at the puzzle du jour. This does have the side effect of somewhat sapping from the occasional grindhouse horror sides... no matter what horrible deaths the game imagines for our cute lil' girl, she just shrugs it off afterward, and even the bad ending has that problem of "why should I be that worried about this." Oh well.
One thing of note that the game does really well is color design. You know how Persona 5 has a Red, Black, & White color scheme thing going on in its design, loading screens, etc.? Well, they take that to the next level in this game. Absolutely every damn thing in the game is black, white, red, or a shade of grey. Rose herself has more of the sharp blacks & whites & reds, but the background is a greyed out sludge, with the interactive and "lively" bits being red. This is truly a plant vampire camera: everything that has vitality appears as red, you can suck the red out to change the color of Rose's rose, then put it into other objects for one of the main puzzley interactions the game has. Don't expect to see any blues or greens until the credits roll. While a bit wearing at times, and sometimes annoying for not making it entirely obvious that oh these grey thorns are background thorns, these lighter grey thorns are foreground and thus deadly, it's very impressive in its dedication to that aesthetic. (Also, our Heroine is "Rose" = red, and there might possibly be other characters with non-English color-names...)
There is the occasional puzzle that is BS enough I had to look it up, and the final dungeon & boss fight is rated S for sadistic (definitely feel free to look up some of those solutions), but it was pretty cool overall. Not too long either, which I like. Strongly themed subsections of the game that don't overstay their welcome in general before mixing things up with a new gimmick.
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Tsundered: if/when I finish this, I will likely agree with everything Cid said about it. Great animation, epic boss fights, interesting ideas, execution had serious issues.
Speaking of issues: if you didn't roll entirely human or entirely corrupted, don't expect to get one of the frue final boss fights. Mix & match and the game basically just laughs at you in the end. Platinum got, by the way. Evil mode final boss is rough, but I respect it for being a different kind of fight and forcing you to leverage every mobility advantage that your abilities give you.
Night in the Woods: I failed at shoplifting until the game gave up on me trying, then I had a dream about a giant bear with laser eyes. I like this game.
This is definitely some of the most endearing comedic writing I've seen in a game in the past several years. It's also--and this is maybe what makes it so effective--clearly rooted in the realities of 2017 America without explicitly saying so. We're in a dying, Nowheresville rust belt town where the only employment opportunities appear to be in the food service industry or telemarketing, the local mall is an empty shell of its former perceived grandeur, and nostalgia never turns out to be the reassuring or empowering force that we might want it to be. None of the young people in our protagonist's circle of friends seem to know how to get out, and she appears to have been sucked back in just from gravity and personal flakiness (indeed, Mae's entire "Hi I dropped out of school for no reason and came back home without any plan" intro is perhaps too personally familiar). Parental relations are friendly while also potentially fragile; there is a lot of obvious maneuvering around things that no one's comfortable talking about yet. Also all of this occurs in a bizarre parallel world where people are anthropomorphic cats and alligators and bears but there are also pet cats how does that even work.
What I'm getting is that while it is very funny, it is often sad-funny, but there's a place for that so it's okay. Based on what I've seen so far, I definitely recommend it for folks down for a minimal gameplay, maximal dialogue experience that principally cruises on an excess of personality.
EDIT: I think this about sums it up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2UUFFMGcgY
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Snes classic.
Letting wifey take the lead in Secret of Mana since she never played it.
The adventures of Lionel, Tutu, and Roger have begun!
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Ys VIII: Lacramosa of DanaThe plot is basically two things at once: heartwarming tale of castaways on a deserted island coming together to survive and escape, and a traditional Ys story of an ancient adversary that threatens destruction. I'll have more to say once I actually finish and can reflect on the totality, but there could have been a number of ways the game put those two ideas together, and the way they chose to do it is very interesting.issues.
And a total paradigm shift of the entire Y's series.
The direction of Y's will never be the same ever again after this.
Y's effectively has been transformed into a mythology from an adventure.
It also makes you wonder what Edel was really doing this whole time, and what had happened in Agartha when the refugees moved southward during the ancient time.
You can really ties the dots in Y's 4 & 7 together now.
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I'll let you know what I think of that after I beat the game. I decided I'm not going to use healing items ever, and the final boss in Dana's extra dungeon is giving me some trouble. (Not as bad as the minotaur guy, somehow. He was rough.)
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I'll let you know what I think of that after I beat the game. I decided I'm not going to use healing items ever, and the final boss in Dana's extra dungeon is giving me some trouble. (Not as bad as the minotaur guy, somehow. He was rough.)
Make sure you did everything possible so you can get the true ending.
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Cid: That was a pretty awesome song. You made a sale... well, the next time a Steam sale rolls around, anyway. Reminds me that I need to finish the OTHER graphic adventure game with moody 20-year olds, though...
Niu: Ys has always had a mythology, it's just always wildly inconsistent with itself. Or, in fairness, it's the kind of mythology where when you're in location X, their local mythology is totally true, but its power also doesn't extend beyond the borders at all (not that they tell you this in-game) such that for the next game, you can safely forget and ignore everything that happened earlier. I mean, this is a game series where magic is totally extinguished from the world at the end of Ys 2... please ignore all of the magic-esque things that happen later... I guess it was just Black Pearl-based demon magic that got zapped or something.
Also, not very far in, but boo hiss if they're bringing Ys 4's stupid-ass backstory back. The complaint about the goddesses in Ys I / II is arguably that they are "too weak" to even qualify as goddesses; they don't do a lot. Eldeel has the reverse problem of being too powerful; you're telling me that this one flaky idiot was responsible for all human technology and advancement, and great scientists are just random people who got a special trip to visit his place?! No, that would be stupid.
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Cid: That was a pretty awesome song. You made a sale... well, the next time a Steam sale rolls around, anyway. Reminds me that I need to finish the OTHER graphic adventure game with moody 20-year olds, though...
Niu: Ys has always had a mythology, it's just always wildly inconsistent with itself. Or, in fairness, it's the kind of mythology where when you're in location X, their local mythology is totally true, but its power also doesn't extend beyond the borders at all (not that they tell you this in-game) such that for the next game, you can safely forget and ignore everything that happened earlier. I mean, this is a game series where magic is totally extinguished from the world at the end of Ys 2... please ignore all of the magic-esque things that happen later... I guess it was just Black Pearl-based demon magic that got zapped or something.
Also, not very far in, but boo hiss if they're bringing Ys 4's stupid-ass backstory back. The complaint about the goddesses in Ys I / II is arguably that they are "too weak" to even qualify as goddesses; they don't do a lot. Eldeel has the reverse problem of being too powerful; you're telling me that this one flaky idiot was responsible for all human technology and advancement, and great scientists are just random people who got a special trip to visit his place?! No, that would be stupid.
Technically no, Ys story with exception of Ys7 and Ys 8, are just mythology at first glance but turns out to just be super science.
The whole wingly race turned out to be just another race that lived on the planet, just their Emerase Tech are so advance that other race begin to treat them like gods.
Magic wiped out? When? Black Pearl are wiped out in Ys region and... that's it? Not to mention Black Pearl is not the only Emerase that can produce magic. Wait, Black Pearl was not wiped out during Ys2. The Ark of Napshitim is still around at that time.
There are also magic that's unrelated to Wingly's civilization. Say... the alchemy based magic from Kefan in Ys 5.
But Ys8 escaltes the series into a whole new level with Lacrimosa and the Three Pillar Gods.
The existence of Lacrimosa actually make Edle's descent into insanity sensible.
How could he not go insane if he knows all his effort to make human history better will hit an unavoidable dead end no matter what he does.
I wouldn't even be surprised if he had been using the Mask of Sun to delay the Lacrimosa through Akashic Record hacking.
Consider the time gap between Ys4 and Ys8, I am seriously believing that Lacrimosa got boot up because Edel is no longer around to suppress it.
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I'll let you know what I think of that after I beat the game. I decided I'm not going to use healing items ever, and the final boss in Dana's extra dungeon is giving me some trouble. (Not as bad as the minotaur guy, somehow. He was rough.)
Make sure you did everything possible so you can get the true ending.
If I can figure out what I'm missing with Licht (the medical student) I'll get it.
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Cid: That was a pretty awesome song. You made a sale... well, the next time a Steam sale rolls around, anyway. Reminds me that I need to finish the OTHER graphic adventure game with moody 20-year olds, though...
Niu: Ys has always had a mythology, it's just always wildly inconsistent with itself. Or, in fairness, it's the kind of mythology where when you're in location X, their local mythology is totally true, but its power also doesn't extend beyond the borders at all (not that they tell you this in-game) such that for the next game, you can safely forget and ignore everything that happened earlier. I mean, this is a game series where magic is totally extinguished from the world at the end of Ys 2... please ignore all of the magic-esque things that happen later... I guess it was just Black Pearl-based demon magic that got zapped or something.
Also, not very far in, but boo hiss if they're bringing Ys 4's stupid-ass backstory back. The complaint about the goddesses in Ys I / II is arguably that they are "too weak" to even qualify as goddesses; they don't do a lot. Eldeel has the reverse problem of being too powerful; you're telling me that this one flaky idiot was responsible for all human technology and advancement, and great scientists are just random people who got a special trip to visit his place?! No, that would be stupid.
Technically no, Ys story with exception of Ys7 and Ys 8, are just mythology at first glance but turns out to just be super science.
The whole wingly race turned out to be just another race that lived on the planet, just their Emerase Tech are so advance that other race begin to treat them like gods.
Magic wiped out? When? Black Pearl are wiped out in Ys region and... that's it? Not to mention Black Pearl is not the only Emerase that can produce magic. Wait, Black Pearl was not wiped out during Ys2. The Ark of Napshitim is still around at that time.
There are also magic that's unrelated to Wingly's civilization. Say... the alchemy based magic from Kefan in Ys 5.
But Ys8 escaltes the series into a whole new level with Lacrimosa and the Three Pillar Gods.
The existence of Lacrimosa actually make Edle's descent into insanity sensible.
How could he not go insane if he knows all his effort to make human history better will hit an unavoidable dead end no matter what he does.
I wouldn't even be surprised if he had been using the Mask of Sun to delay the Lacrimosa through Akashic Record hacking.
Consider the time gap between Ys4 and Ys8, I am seriously believing that Lacrimosa got boot up because Edel is no longer around to suppress it.
Y'know, I've played all the Ys games. But there are so many proper nouns in this paragraph that my eyeballs rolled back into their sockets...
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So Dragon's Dogma got a PS4 transfer. If no one else ever played this, it's a fine entry in the Good Dumb Fun category. You climb around on giant monsters and stab them a lot, it has probably the most robust character creator I've seen*, and there is CAPCOM SERIOUS PLOT that results in one of the most laughably nihilistic cosmologies I've ever encountered in a game and I doubt the game's actually aware of that (although the optional superboss seems to be). It's highly entertaining fluff when you're in the mood for open world hack and slash.
(*Which one of these things most contributed to me picking it up again? Look, with FFXIV and Souls games out of the picture, my quota for designing a female alternate self and playing dress-up hasn't been met lately.)
Night in the Woods: Mae's dreams got real eldritch all of a sudden, in that a giant space cat showed up to warn me about literal giant space fleas (in language sharply reminiscent of the Arilou warnings vs. the Orz in Star Control 2), but I'm unsure how plot-critical this occurrence is since it unlocked a trophy that apparently only 2% of PS4 players of the game have picked up (I'm not at all clear yet on how much dialogue choices and decisions on how to spend your evening influence events in the long run).
I bombed that last song so hard. I'd guess I landed something like 20% of the notes? I'm told there's a trophy associated with perfecting every song. I'm guessing that's one of the 0.1% collected LOCKED TROPHIES in the list.
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Cuphead - Holy shit, this game -rules- and Elfboy must play it, it's the kind of platformer that'd be right up his alley. I'll have to buy a controller to play it, though, it's slightly awkward to play on keyboard.
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If we're going to force Elf to play games that Jo'ou has played, he should pick up Ys Origin now that it's no-longer Steam exclusive and on PSN for EZ controller access, so that he can get SF / NotMiki / Otter / etc. cred simultaneously. I'm sure he'd be thrilled by the scintilating philosophical discussion of animu characters about the morality of infusing demon magic into yourself. (also awesome boss battles.)
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I don't think Elfboy has a PS3/4, though...
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Good point. Alas.
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Nah he has one 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
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Besides, Cuphead has Elfboy's name written all over it. Insanely difficult platformer/shooter with obscenely charming graphics, emphasis on multilayered boss fights with memorable patterns and designs, tight controls and a simple, interesting equip/weapon system and scoring measures to reward skill and speed. They didn't spend over three years slaving over the game for nothing.
EDIT:
Nah he has one 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
what the fuck is this shit
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Nah he has one 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
Grefter trying to lure Elf to Australia with the promise of using his gaming consoles, I see. Scandalous.
I'll believe Elf actually has one when we see evidence of that here.
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btw anyone who isn't planning on actually playing Cuphead should spend an hour watching this video. These bosses are gorgeous. Spoilers of course.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjdbhClke1g
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Snowfire organized one as a group Wedding present. Those X-Com 2 posts are played on PS4.
Edit and as I was posting The Man Himself judges that they have something else to be playing for an hour.
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I'm not so sure, Grefter. Maybe they picked up the Steam version. It's entirely possible that PS4 is sitting in an abandoned box in Vancouver right now, alone, surrounded only by hip bubble tea, ramen, and cannabis shops.
If Elf & Ciato ACTUALLY kept it, there'd be proof. Musical proof, if you know what I mean.
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Ys VIII: Still working on the postgame dungeon superboss (I'm playing on hard, and decided I'm not going to heal during boss fights, which is silly but I've come this far!). Anyway, I figure I've seen enough to talk about this. Ys 8 is a good game, and also a very long one. It starts out with a shipwreck - washing to shore seems to be one of Adol's favorite modes of transport - on a deserted island. So our hero sets out to find the other castaways, and as they gather one by one, they create a castaway village, with the goal of surviving long enough to find a way off the island. So, like prior Ys entries, there's a very small cast. But Ys 8 really takes this further than Oath or Origin - there are a boatload of sidequests and gifts you can give to the villagers to increase their approval of you and get stuff built, plus events and the like for every castaway. The game goes much further than prior ones in the series in fleshing out the whole cast. Regrettably, a lot of the cast is laaaaaaame and the game is laden with anime tropes. When it works, it's great! But when it doesn't, it's pretty groan-worthy. Mostly, though? It works. And villagers are admirably incorporated into the exploration aspect of gameplay. Adol's role in the village is to explore the island and look for more castaways and more information, and there are obstacles like landslides and boulders that you need a certain number of villagers to clear. Additionally, sometimes the village is raided by wild beasts, and you need to defend it in somewhat tower defenseish combat - and when you do, villagers will help out with various effects. It's fun. There are places to revisit and flesh out, and a few optional areas, but it's fairly linear overall - more than you might expect for a game about exploring an island. The first half of the game could have stood to be less linear overall. The island is geographically split by a great ravine and a tall mountain, and so's the plot. Once the mountain is traversed, the plot begins in earnest, and it's by necessity a lot more linear (and the linear nature feels a lot more natural). So while all this is going on, Adol is having recurring dreams where he relives the experiences of Dana, a girl who, it seems, lived on the island in the past, and became the Maiden of the Great Tree, the high priestess of her civilization. Aaaaaand the second half of the game relates to Dana, Dinosaurs, and the Demise of her civilization. This is a deserted island, after all. If there were people, what happened to them? Why is Adol having these dreams? How do the events of the past relate to the present? What the hell does the game's subtitle Lacramosa of Dana mean? Find out next time on Ys 8!
So that's the plot, or as much of it as I want to give away, anyway. Let's talk about gameplay. It's awesome. Hey that was easy. So this game is a lot like Ys 7 (and Celceta, or so I have been told) in that you have 3 party members you can switch between at will, each with their own movesets and special attacks. The flow of combat is you refill your SP gauge by hitting enemies with charged normal attacks, then use SP to perform special attacks. For tough bosses this often means you're employing a hit-and-run tactic of keeping your distance and looking for a time to come in and hit it to replenish your SP gauge, then back off and use long-range specials. Some characters have short-range specials that encourage a more aggressive approach too - Laxia's best move is a charge that pauses movement for a bit when it hits, giving you time to decide when or how to dodge if necessary. Adol's best allows you to ram into an enemy, which if you do it at a slight angle (yes really) keeps you safe from an enemy's frontal attack. Another key element is that if you dodge or block just as you are about to be hit, it activates a witch time-like slow motion bonus where you can wail on the boss and use your specials without fear. The timing on it is fairly generous but the game still makes you feel like a complete badass when you do it. Reading enemy tells and flash dodging or blocking then retaliating is at the heart of combat, and it enables hit-and-run tactics on bosses that sometimes seem like they're never truly safe to get close to. It's a lot of fun, and bosses are very well designed for the system.
Did I mention that the music is excellent (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07trJ-RexPg&index=44&list=PLzFTGYa_evXhrBY7GXJ5O4CxfIE6-csuw)? It's excellent (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVydgPgAIRo&index=19&list=PLzFTGYa_evXhrBY7GXJ5O4CxfIE6-csuw). It's never bad, and it's usually very, very good. Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvBla5NUlvk&index=5&list=PLzFTGYa_evXhrBY7GXJ5O4CxfIE6-csuw)'s some overworld music. Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K4Ad5XCxlI&list=PLzFTGYa_evXhrBY7GXJ5O4CxfIE6-csuw&index=29)'s some more. It's all like that: energetic, powerful and melodic. Boss themes do (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzVvqcUHbhk&index=50&list=PLzFTGYa_evXhrBY7GXJ5O4CxfIE6-csuw) not (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07trJ-RexPg&index=44&list=PLzFTGYa_evXhrBY7GXJ5O4CxfIE6-csuw) disappoint (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz9yQ-qzWiM&list=PLzFTGYa_evXhrBY7GXJ5O4CxfIE6-csuw&index=54). It's great, and really sets the tone for the game.
One other thing worth mentioning is that all the village side quests, all the areas you want to explore, all the treasure chests, all the locations on the map where an event will happen - ALL of that is easily checked. This is a game where a bunch of stuff is permanently missable, but you may never need an FAQ because the game does such a good job of communicating it to you, even telling you when your window to complete a quest is about to end. I got 100% of everything and the only thing I ever looked up was one gift item I'd missed and the location of a couple fish. It should be noted that the game has a true ending, and getting it is dependent on completing most of the sidequests (not sure if it's 100% or not). And the true ending is worth getting.
Hokay SPOILERS:
Mostly some random thoughts here:
WTF is up with Hummel? I assumed he had some foreknowledge of the ship crashing on Seiren but it doesn't really seem like it. Has there ever been a character that seemed like they were important to the plot that turned out to be so irrelevant? I appreciate that the game points out what a self-serious goofball he is but...maybe you could just not write that sort of character? And that hat is just awful.
I thought the way they handled Dana in past and present was really great overall - as long as you don't think too hard about the precise mechanics of changes in the timeline, which you should not. Works for the narrative of the game, I'll take it.
Has there ever been a better fake final boss fakeout? That was incredible.
Relatedly, was there really a point to fighting the Origin of Life? Maia says after the fight that we can see Dana now because we've "touched" it, implying that no, there really wasn't a point. I'll take it, though. That was a fantastic final boss.
That whole sequence with Maia was a little demoralizing. I get that they're making an analogy to Reah and Feena sleeping so as to prevent the Black Pearl from causing problems, but making (apparently) the entire world dependent on a sleeping goddess is a dramatic escalation.
What destroyed the civilization of the people descended from dinosaurs? Climate change following a catastrophic meteor impact. Checks out. I love that this is a plot point in a fantasy game. I hate that somehow I did not predict meteors.
The whole thing with the Great Tree turning out to be a harbinger of disaster and calling meteors to destroy civilization really has an FF7-in-reverse kind of vibe. Not sure if that was intentional but it did kinda make Dana feel like Aeris to me. I thought Sarai would turn out to be Sephiroth but it was not to be, alas.
Speaking of: not having any real villains (other than the doctor, who is too lame to care about) was an interesting narrative choice. Guess you don't need 'em when you face the existential horror that the world itself exists in a state that is hostile to continued civilization, and that the only one who can change that is the goddess for whom the world is a figment of the imagination.
Speaking of: whatever the original term in Japanese was, the souls or ideals or hopes of prior civilizations were localized as "notions." WTF NISA. Also Archeozoic Big Hole. WTF. They kept "I am the King of Bees" though. Jesus H. Christ.
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Ys VIIIHokay SPOILERS:
Mostly some random thoughts here:
WTF is up with Hummel? I assumed he had some foreknowledge of the ship crashing on Seiren but it doesn't really seem like it. Has there ever been a character that seemed like they were important to the plot that turned out to be so irrelevant? I appreciate that the game points out what a self-serious goofball he is but...maybe you could just not write that sort of character? And that hat is just awful.
I thought the way they handled Dana in past and present was really great overall - as long as you don't think too hard about the precise mechanics of changes in the timeline, which you should not. Works for the narrative of the game, I'll take it.
Has there ever been a better fake final boss fakeout? That was incredible.
Relatedly, was there really a point to fighting the Origin of Life? Maia says after the fight that we can see Dana now because we've "touched" it, implying that no, there really wasn't a point. I'll take it, though. That was a fantastic final boss.
That whole sequence with Maia was a little demoralizing. I get that they're making an analogy to Reah and Feena sleeping so as to prevent the Black Pearl from causing problems, but making (apparently) the entire world dependent on a sleeping goddess is a dramatic escalation.
What destroyed the civilization of the people descended from dinosaurs? Climate change following a catastrophic meteor impact. Checks out. I love that this is a plot point in a fantasy game. I hate that somehow I did not predict meteors.
The whole thing with the Great Tree turning out to be a harbinger of disaster and calling meteors to destroy civilization really has an FF7-in-reverse kind of vibe. Not sure if that was intentional but it did kinda make Dana feel like Aeris to me. I thought Sarai would turn out to be Sephiroth but it was not to be, alas.
Speaking of: not having any real villains (other than the doctor, who is too lame to care about) was an interesting narrative choice. Guess you don't need 'em when you face the existential horror that the world itself exists in a state that is hostile to continued civilization, and that the only one who can change that is the goddess for whom the world is a figment of the imagination.
Speaking of: whatever the original term in Japanese was, the souls or ideals or hopes of prior civilizations were localized as "notions." WTF NISA. Also Archeozoic Big Hole. WTF. They kept "I am the King of Bees" though. Jesus H. Christ.
Hummel worked for me, personally.
He feels likea Disgaea character and end up as my cup of comedic relief.
When it was revealed that he was searching for Thanatos not because he has any foreknowledge on the Seiren Sea but simply being too serious on his job as a deliverer, I cracked up laughing, it totally feels like a Disgaea moment.
On the history altering mechanic... it is a bug, simply put.
Say, assume Maia's dream is a computer programe. If it is left around for too long without , it'll start to bug out. That's when Theos de Endrogram gets boot up and wipe out the bugged data. It was "Eternian" back then, and it is "Humanity" now.
In other words, Adol's dream the affected the past is also meant to serve a sign that indeed, yes, the humanity has bugged out and they needs to be wiped out.
Though, the key thing to take notice on was after the Lacrimosa hit the Eternians, Dana lead the refugees "south".
Directly south of the Eternian Regime is the Agartha region. It was said in game that the climate change is less harsh in the southern region, and recall what does the land of Agartha has?
It is a land of Galttios faith, who is also one of the Three Pillar Gods like Maia. The land is also governed by, although it is much weaker than Theos de Endrogram, a "Law".
Though, Maia feels more of a analogy to Azazoth to me.
Like a Azazoth, the world is just her dream. And like Azazoth, the world that's dreamt by the god is innately hostile to its inhabitants.
The only difference is that Maia is still somewhat of a benevolent diety.
And after you find out she really is Little Parrow all this time, the bird's whole conversation with Adol on someday the dream has to end and how she wants Adol to stay with her on the island suddenly has a totally different meaning now.
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Dragon's Dogma: I messed around a little with hard mode. Here are things that kill me in one hit:
-Cyclops
-Wolves
-Any dude with a sword
I only expect this list to grow.
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XCOM 2 - Finished! Took around 210 game days, actual time... unknown since neither the game nor the PS4 has a game clock, WTF? I'd guess 40-50 hours.
In most ways it's an improvement over the first game:
-Much greater variety in mission objectives. Fewer missions are just "there are aliens somewhere on this map, kill them". There was enough variety that even later in the game I was still seeing some for the first time (didn't see "capture an enemy VIP" until over 2/3 in). The lategame FE-style defence mission is pretty great.
-Time limits are cool. One of the worst things about original XCOM is that the optimal strategy is to be super-slow and turtly so you trigger enemies only rarely and that when you do, you're ready to pounce on them either with an overwatch barrage or just the 4-6 remaining turns of your soldiers. Timed missions force you not to play this way, which is liberating. To be honest when the game had no time limits it often felt worse. To some extent this is arguably a band-aid to some bigger problems the game has, but still a welcome one.
-Classes feel more balanced, mostly that Heavy/Grenadier feels more useful. Grenades in general felt much more useful, partly because they don't destroy your spoils, partly because there's a better interface for using them, and partly because there are more upgrades for them. Support/Specialist's non-healer options were also more interesting, though they still ultimately feel like a healer first (but that's fine).
-Enemy variety feels better too? It's not a huge thing, but a few cases like Thin Man being replaced by Viper are a clear step up in terms of having interesting enemy types. Archons are neat and don't really have a XC1 equivalent, same with Shieldbearers. More melee enemies (with the distinct ways of defending against them) is fun. There are also more status effects, though that could be frustrating sometimes (especially Unconscious, which I could do without).
-The way the game handles reinforcements is great. You get a warning and then they appear at the end of your turn and can't act. More reinforcements at a bad time is tense, but very fair. More reinforcements at a good time is satisfying as you can set up an ambush.
-While the plot is still a thoroughly mediocre affair about some aliens whose motivations alternate between needlessly cryptic and moustache-twirling supervillainy, the concept of starting you off in a world where you lost the first war is probably the only interesting plot idea the writers have had across the two games, so props for that (of course I've seen gamers whine about this because "it undermines your achievements in the first game"; fuck gamer culture).
Anyway all that adds up to quite a lot. The game was certainly enjoyable, and even having finished it I immediately want to replay it, though it won't happen that soon as life doesn't leave me as much time for gaming as I'd like and I have plenty of other things I want to get to. That said, I do certainly have some problems with the game that are still holding it back from true greatness:
-Holy crap, the load times are just awful. If I was saved right before a battle (my norm), it would take nearly 5 minutes from powering up the console to getting into the battle, because loading the initial game, any save file, and a battle all take forever. Given my preference for playing games in smaller chunks (around an hour), this is a huge pain. XCOM 1 had bad load times too, but this is a step further. Are they this terrible on PC?
-Incredibly tiny text in some cases. In particular, the text that shows up to indicate what the reward for searching a site is (e.g. "Intel", "Alien Alloys", etc.) is freaking microscopic, but plenty of the rest is fairly bad too. This is just a pain in the ass to read; don't do it. Maybe it's okay if you have a 60" TV or a 20" monitor and I'm just too much of a casual for this shit. (I've had this problem with other western games too, as well as a few Japanese ones like Mana Khemia 2, but this is worse than normal.)
-RNG is still a bit too large of an element, since enemy damage is high and you kinda just have to count on cover working properly some times. On one memorable occasion one of my soldiers was just 2HKOed from long distance in high cover; basically nothing I can do about that! To be clear, good strategy is still far more important, and of course crucial to what makes XCOM so fun (important moment-to-moment decisions). But sometimes you can play perfectly and still get punished, and while that's kinda by design in XCOM, it's not much fun.
-"Avoid triggering more than one group of enemies at once" is still way, way, way too important. Nothing is worse than accidentally moving someone mid-combat to a place where they can (somehow) see new enemies, who immediately wake up and can take turns that enemy phase. These enemies would otherwise have just ignored the neighbouring firefight they can obviously hear, I guess. This is inane. It's somewhat a product of procedural map design, but at this point I think the biggest thing XCOM needs is more thoughtfully-crafted rates of enemy engagement.
-The game badly needed an "evacuate all" option when you have defeated all enemies and are in range of the evac point on certain maps; manually moving and evacuating 6-7 units (sometimes over multiple turns) is super-time-consuming for no reason.
-Actual good plot/character work would be nice, but hopes aren't high here.
XCOM 2 improved on enough things that I definitely have hopes for this series going forward. I've read enough people who share my complaints about the way enemies spawn to hope that maybe we'll get that one fixed too in the next game? A fun time regardless, I criticise because I love. Probably an 8/10.
Next up is Nier Automata. Proof to Snowfire that we actually own a PS4 will come after that. :)
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(of course I've seen gamers whine about this because "it undermines your achievements in the first game"; fuck gamer culture).
This doesn't strike me as a particularly silly complaint - It's always a little annoying when you beat some plot boss you were supposed to lose to, but the game won't acknowledge your win. This isn't so far from that.
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X-COM2 does though. You just weren't winning what you thought you were. Every game of X-COM 1 is combat sim data the aliens use after the captured the Commander. Congrats, you won, this is why the aliens conquered the planet and so successfully suppressed the resistance.
(Also I agree with Elf. There is zero point to series including branching narratives in games and still having sequels if we can't accept that there is going to be an official timeline sometimes. Otherwise every story has to be a continual chain of Winning and if you do branching stories with player choice then those choices being soft and ineffectual. I will sacrifice that for some games to keep player expression and let not every game have to be Mass Effect on steroids)
Load times just as bad on PC, no evacuate all is bad, but you can cycle between people during the Evac animation and spam it, I forget that every time. There is mods that help with both on PC and I believe the patch with WotC helped load time slightly. The worst thing about the load times is either most of it is faked and there for "mood" or loading the assets for the load sceens is fucking slow. They are still obvious with the mod, but way way quicker and more tolerable.
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Cuphead - Continues to rule face and my general performance after buying a proper controller has improved considerably! Ribby and Croaks are a nonsensical work of art and they're like the THIRD boss. I'm about to face HILDA BERG in my first planeshooting skirmish and got my first super move. Also bought Smoke Bomb, which is obscenely good - invincible dash is godlike for managing some of the insane patterns going on in the run 'n gun stages and makes a lot of boss patterns less brutal as well (it borderline trivializes Goopy Le Grande entirely if your reflexes aren't entirely braindead, for instance. Of course, Goopy is the -second boss-, so it doesn't say much, The Root Pack doesn't deal with it that much better when it's relevant, but it's not -always- relevant in that fight).
Elfboy still needs to play this.
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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people who do."
Finished Night in the Woods. This was amazing. Where do I even start? There's a very good chance that this is the best-written game that I've ever seen. (Still debating this mentally; Planescape: Torment still exists, but they're doing very different things.) My sister's summary was, "It had me vacillating between nihilism and optimism the entire time," and that does seem to be the intent. Relationships with friends and family are complicated and conflicted while also being sincerely affectionate. There's a satisfying sense of history to this dead-end town and everyone's love/hate relationship with it. It's also a sterling primer on how to write a protagonist of questionable mental stability. It's extremely rare to find writing this emotionally affecting in a game. Certain endgame events had me asking, "Oh god, what did I do wrong? How do I fix this?"
Replays are gonna be necessary in order to see everything. There's six points in the game where you decide which of your friends to spend the day with. I'm not sure whether the events that you get per person as a result queue up in the way of Persona's sequential social link scenes or whether each friend has isolated scenes tied to each specific day. My sister's said you need three runs through the game to see everything. I went Beatrice/Gregg/Angus on a 3:2:1 ratio and the game gave me a trophy for "proximity friendship" with Bea, so that sounds right.
Hanging out with Bea makes you feel an awful lot like Walter Sobchek.
As for endgame plot, well, I'm just gonna spoiler-text everything.
I know this was in development before 2016 happened, so I can only presume that the writers had on their minds a lot of the same things that have preoccupied me throughout my creative life. Your common Cidgame antagonist is usually mired psychologically in a past era, unable to conceive of a future that could or even should be any different from the past, warping everyone and everything around them to try to hang on to some illusory golden age. Iron resistance to change, as a point of view, has enraged me as long as I've been old enough and aware enough to have opinions about anything. Living in the past only means you don't have a future. The gentler version of this affliction is called nostalgia.
And yet the good old days are exactly what Mae thought she was going home for. She's just smart enough to realize that it's bullshit.
So when most of the strangeness in Night in the Woods turns out to be the work of a cult of older citizens making sacrifices to an alien voice in a black hole in a dead mine under the town because they think it's the only way to bring back the town's glory days, and they communicate this in language starkly fitting in tone to 2016 election bile...well, you know, if you want to posit that Trump is the black goat of the woods, I'm right there with you.
"You killed Casey?"
"We don't use that word."
Of course you don't! (I actually had to shout this at the screen.) Men like you never do. Makes it easier to do it, right?
So there is a supernatural force at work, and the climax is more chilling than almost any other confrontation I can think of in a game, but the real terror is rooted in human behavior. In the awful things we can convince ourselves to do if we're desperate or alienated enough, and the pathetic hollowness of the excuses we tell ourselves to justify it all.
tl;dr this is maybe the most CK-bait plot that could possibly be written by humans?
Highest possible recommendation. I do not possess vocabulary sufficient to express how much you goons should be playing this.
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And after you find out she really is Little Parrow all this time, the bird's whole conversation with Adol on someday the dream has to end and how she wants Adol to stay with her on the island suddenly has a totally different meaning now.
Yeah, really. Wis I'd paid more attention to the parrot as a general matter.
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Dragon's Dogma: I messed around a little with hard mode. Here are things that kill me in one hit:
-Cyclops
-Wolves
-Any dude with a sword
I only expect this list to grow.
-Ogres
-The drake (duh)
-Explosive bolt ballista snipers in the Shadowfort
Okay yeah hard mode isn't really playable on a first run. You have no alternative but to get through every encounter with a boss monster without taking a hit. I only beat the first ogre because he ran off the ramp in the Everfall (fun fact I forgot: you take no fall damage if you're holding an enemy at the time). The drake has eight healthbars so I immediately gave up on that (he's optional anyway). But the Shadowfort looks legitimately impossible. There are two cyclopes who kill you in one hit and there are two ballistas firing at you from about a mile off the entire fight that will also kill you in one hit and there's a horde of hobgoblins on the ground who will only do like 75% of your max health in one hit. Try getting through all that insanity without getting clipped even once! One time the ballista snipers failed to spawn, so I climbed up by the main gate and used one myself, figuring I could cheese the fight this way, and it seemed like it would work until the quest NPC died in the melee below. And then the quest failed. And the game autosaved. ARGH.
Okay, so, this was clearly only meant to be done on NG+. I dunno why they even made hard mode an option at gamestart if that was the intent. The flip side of all this insanity, though, is that enemies drop more money on hard mode, and this bonus is no joke. Common enemies like wolves and goblins somehow explode into moneybags bigger than they are. I've built up like half a million gold and do not presently have anything that I can even do with it.
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Load times just as bad on PC, no evacuate all is bad, but you can cycle between people during the Evac animation and spam it, I forget that every time.
Oh man, that makes sense and I wish I'd thought to try that.
Jim: The specifics of XCOM 2 are already covered, but in general I feel like whenever a game (a) makes the player character wrong, or (b) makes them lose, or (c) lets bad things happen to them even if they win (or think they win, as is this case), there's a lot of whining about it, no matter how it's done. I feel like a certain vocal minority of gamers needs games to stroke their egos and allow them to win and be right all the time. Which I could dismiss as idiots being idiots on the internet except that it is actively making games worse by increasing player worship.
For your specific example, I would like the game to acknowledge you winning the plot fight, but I have no problem with this also being accompanied by the game's narrative nullifying the "achievement", because sometimes the player characters will be in situations they can't win narratively (Chrono Trigger and the golem fight is a decent example of this, as are many occasions in Suikoden 3). This is much closer to what XCOM 2 does.
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I thought Suikoden 3 handled plot fights well. XCOM2 seems pretty egregious to me, though, because it's not just telling you that here's the new official timeline. It's telling you, the player, that if you had any emotional investment in your own story from 1, we're making a fool of you. More of a point and laugh than an antiseptic revision. Like you were an author, and the guy who took over your series went out of their way to crap on your run. (Lookin at you, Warren Ellis)
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(a) I definitely don't feel XCOM 2 is making a fool of the player.
(b) Even if it were, that's okay. Authors can make fools of their own characters, and in fact I'd argue that they should every once and a while (even clever people make big mistakes sometimes). A character representing the player should not be immune to that.
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That rings a little hollow in a game where players are encouraged to craft their own narrative. It's not their writing they're diminishing, it's the narrative they gave you the tools to write on your own.
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I rather liked XCom2's plot conceptually. It's exploring the bad ending path from Xcom1 (IE you get wiped) and it makes for an interesting setting. The game makes it sound like Earth got smashed pretty quickly.
It's the best AAA title game I've played since... goodness. I guess Civ 5 if that counts, otherwise I'd have to go back to the PS2 era.
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The stories still happened, everything there still happened. Just not in the way you thought of it. It is just Ender's Game stuff without it being as much of a dumb power fantasy (because a dumb power fantasy main plot of X-Com 2 instead).
Like.... I don't know how to sell you on it but clearly I am not doing it right, literally the whole reason the aliens win and oppress the planet is because of the player surrogate and the whole of the community that played the first game.
Regardless, if it is the narrative framework we had to take to strip back the super militarized set dressing and methodical Over Watch spam room clearing gameplay of X-Com 1 and get guerrilla warfare with stealth missions and setting up ambushes of X-Com 2, I will happily take that shift. The changes in pacing of gameplay to X-Com 2 are fantastic on making a sequel that still looks and feels like it plays by the same rules but stands out from the original without really having to try to supersede and go above and beyond the original (though I do think as a whole just the better unit balance probably makes 2 play better).
Edit - Oh yeah Golf Story - This is a golf RPG. It is dumb and great. Cute little indie game on Switch from an Australian developer. I am digging it for all that it is generally pretty simple and easy.
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http://gematsu.com/2017/10/nis-america-apologizes-quality-ys-viii-localization-fix-due-end-november
So, due to some combination of player criticism and, presumably, Falcom's dislpeasure, NISA is going to retranslate and re-voice act parts of Ys 8's English script.
Should be pretty interesting. Even without reference to the original, there were aspects of the game you could tell they made some questionable loc choices.
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ARCHEOZOIC BIG HOLE.
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http://jp.automaton.am/articles/newsjp/20171006-55650/
Apparently it was noticed in the Japanese blogosphere, which probably prompted all this. It's notable that a few localization issues stem from localizing stuff that was in English in the Japanese version into less comprehensible English in the English version. "Crevice of the Archeozoic Era" becomes "Archeozoic Big Hole". The boss named "Mephorashm" in English in the Japanese version, and now it's "Mephorashmoo." Like. That's...not good. (I thought it must be some joke about cows but I couldn't make it out...)
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Literally the only things I liked about Xcom 2 are the things everybody complained about, including the plot following the Xcom 1 bad ending and all the time limits
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http://jp.automaton.am/articles/newsjp/20171006-55650/
Apparently it was noticed in the Japanese blogosphere, which probably prompted all this. It's notable that a few localization issues stem from localizing stuff that was in English in the Japanese version into less comprehensible English in the English version. "Crevice of the Archeozoic Era" becomes "Archeozoic Big Hole". The boss named "Mephorashm" in English in the Japanese version, and now it's "Mephorashmoo." Like. That's...not good. (I thought it must be some joke about cows but I couldn't make it out...)
I suppose this is what you had in mind. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psDnjWvbLjA)
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Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor: Killing all the Uruks. ALL OF THEM!
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http://jp.automaton.am/articles/newsjp/20171006-55650/
Apparently it was noticed in the Japanese blogosphere, which probably prompted all this. It's notable that a few localization issues stem from localizing stuff that was in English in the Japanese version into less comprehensible English in the English version. "Crevice of the Archeozoic Era" becomes "Archeozoic Big Hole". The boss named "Mephorashm" in English in the Japanese version, and now it's "Mephorashmoo." Like. That's...not good. (I thought it must be some joke about cows but I couldn't make it out...)
I suppose this is what you had in mind. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psDnjWvbLjA)
Is this the point where we both take off our human costumes and turn out to be cows?
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why not
Cuphead - Played this a bit more, beat Hilda Berg and Cagney Carnation along with handling the Treetop Terror run n' gun stage. Why does Hilda turn into a unicycle-riding blimp that turns into hostile zodiac sign beasts after sneezing? More importantly, why wouldn't she? Nice Contra Hard Corps reference there. Also bought the boomerang frisbee shot with the extra coins, and it honestly feels like it does the chaser's niche better than the chaser? It allows a similar level of aimless shooting freedom to focus on dodging, only with much better damage and an excellent close-range EX. It's a good weapon. Smoke Bomb continues to be the king of charms, though.
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I can't believe we're going to lose Mountain Pass with a Fine View
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Nier:A. Started this. Boy howdy it is good. I'll let you know how good later.
(Did I ever review Nier? Played it earlier this summer. Boy howdy it was good, except for the gameplay part, which was bad. Not THAT bad, even, but not great.)
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Egglia - I think I got to the end of the main quest, so all that is left is perpetual grind. Will keep going since the perpetual game is pretty okay. Recruit new races to your town. Build more buildings. More unlocks after the core 6 when you finish it. There was no big boss fight in main quest, there is some in optional areas. Dragons of each element. I put them off until now which was wrong, should have done when they unlocked, I thought hey were end game, but they are just relevant to the time of unlock.
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Cuphead - Almost done with World 2 on Inkwell Isle. Baroness von Bon Bon I smashed on the first try, so I imagined the rest of the ride wouldn't be TOO bad. Boy, was I wrong beyond all reason. Beppi The Clown is anathema to all that lives and Funhouse Frazzle is a brutal run n' gun stage. Nice set of references to Castle of Illusion, though! Djimmi the Great was pretty rough too until I somewhat figured out how to deal with the lasers, but that phase is -nuts-. Everything else is a matter of getting used to the patterns. Wally Warbles, by comparison, was actually less problematic. The fight is absolutely hilarious and surprisingly dark in really bizarre ways, though!
Also, Charge Shot is -ridiculous-.
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Shadow of Mordor: Bruz is a chipper lad, I like'em.
Orc freakiness has been dialed up ten-fold or so. Currently running around with a literal two-faced orc as my bodyguard.
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Nier Automata T-shirt! Shit! Square Enix! which I have been spending basically all my free time playing since I beat Ys 8: beat. It was really, really good. I'll have more to say about it later.
The E ending was perfect, and I've been crying on and off for the last couple hours.
2017 has been a hell of a year for me for playin vidjagames.
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I am also playing Nier: Automata (about 10 hours in) and indeed it is extremely enjoyable. Really my biggest complaint at this point is that the gameplay, while far better than the first game and honestly rather a lot of fun (as you'd expect from something which obviously draws from Bayonetta), doesn't really provide a particularly interesting challenge because you have nigh-infinite instantaneous items (and the game even freezes for half a second when you get hit so you'll get time to use 'em). The game would be way too hard if I swore them off entirely (or played on the OHKO difficulty mode), so that's not really an option. But whatever, this is hardly a major complaint.
It's much more difficult to talk about all the good stuff the game is doing well (the most non-spoilerful thing I can say would be the way the game manages to marry a dark tone and setting with a certain delightful whimsy) but there is a lot of it. And is doing more still which is merely promising, but the reviews the game has gotten makes me hopeful it makes good on said promise.
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Agreed re: healing. The ease of it is an unexpected weakness for a game with such great combat on paper. It does paper over a weakness in the game that combat, while always excessively pretty, can be hard to see at times. I think lower enemy damage and less access to healing would have worked better overall. I still had fun with combat all the way through, though.
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Dragon's Dogma: beat and re-beat. I smashed hard mode in a single afternoon coming in with endgame levels and gear. Even so, with mostly dragonforged armor and 2k+ HP, there were still things that could kill me in one hit. Flipside: if I got a chance to attack (even while leveling mage, not my main class), it was probably getting stunlocked to death. So NG+ hard mode just turns the game into rocket tag. Worst thing is not even dragons. It's just the bandit archers on the way to Bluemoon Tower. Holy shit those guys. They're bad in a normal run, but they definitely killed me more than anything else this time. Why is some schlub with a bow the most dangerous adversary in a game filled with giant wandering boss enemies?
I still wonder if the game even realizes how completely nihilistic its cosmology is.
FF1o: It's been a few years and this bad idea bit again. NES classic is in the picture, so I am going all the way back and kicking it old school this time, buggy programming and all. Black belt and mage trio party. It is not a good party, because there is no fighter. But there's also not a thief, so it could be worse. I was looking for something middle of the road as far quality goes. I wasn't entirely expecting to go multiple consecutive rounds of combat vs. randoms with the entire party missing physical attacks, though, but here we are.
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Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Fun little tactical RPG with turn-based combat and a heavy emphasis on plot and story. Finally beat it, clocking in somewhere around 100 hours. Lots of stuff to mess around with, and I had a great time with it. Going to give it a small break then jump back into it. One of the best parts is that there is an insane amount of customization, up to and including the main cast who, while having set appearances, if you want to play as one of them as your main character you can still edit their appearance. Also the fact that every playstyle seems incredibly balanced.
The downside is that the ending seemed... not great. The epilogue was the exact opposite of what I was aiming for, which might have had something to do with the character I was playing as? Unsure. That's part of why I want to replay it and see how things change.
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Nier: Automata.
I think it will be difficult for me to talk coherently about the game. There's so much to say! But I'll give it a shot. Spoilers follow. This isn't a game to spoil yourself on, so if you haven't played it, I'd recommend not reading about it.
First of all, the trailer that plays from the title screen. It is comical how spoilery it is. There's one clip from the A/B route aaaaand it's the early part of the Eve fight. Other than that, 100% aftergame territory, including clips from both the C and I believe D endings AND a voice clip of Emil from his superboss fight. Like. Those sure are some spoilers.
The sound design is about as good as I have ever encountered in a video game, the overlaid audio tracks fading in and out worked very well all game long, and never better than in the E ending when the chorus comes in. It was such a beautiful moment.
The game feels like a multimedia project condensed into videogame form. The various sorts of interludes and ways information are presented, the frequent changes of perspective - the storybook style backstories for the robots, and the stilted back-and-forth of the pods and allowing the player to control characters like Pascal and the oil-carrying robot kid. All great, weaving the threads of plot and changing perspectives to explore different aspects of the themes of the game. The ending fakeouts and the presence of multiple endings and a chapter select feature also help in that regard. Like, you did the plot, now let's finish exploring these ideas more selectively. Integrating the screen and volume setup into the plot at the beginning, then going straight to the self-destruct feature, sure was a thing. I loved that the game remembered what I did there during 9S's route.
On that note I also really liked a lot of the sidequests, which were a great mechanism for exploring different perspectives. One robot feels guilty about all the androids it killed, so commits suicide by jumping off a tower, leaving the question hanging of whether you, 9S, feel guilt for all the robots you killed, and what you are going to do about it. (Though it must be said, 9S, that if you jumped off the tower, you would survive the fall.) Another robot presents a "treasure hunting" quest as a pretext to get you to murder robots it didn't like. It has no remorse. Do you?
The game does a lot to integrate its themes into the mechanics. Even hostile robots typically have very short aggro ranges. Harmless unless you get too close, and maybe you don't know that at first but you quickly learn. You can spare them easily, if you so choose. 2B's ability to self-destruct on command, the ability to commit suicide by removing your OS chip, make continuing to live a choice rather than an assumption. "To be" indeed.
One thing I was thinking as I was playing the B route was that I was really disappointed that the game does not explore the idea of 2B and 9S's different perspectives and memories at that point. I thought it was a missed opportunity, because I assumed that 9S knew more than 2B did - that's what the narrative flow would suggest, and that's how Nier worked, with Kaine's story. The later reveal that the opposite was true - that 2B was the one with the secret perspective which 9S was ignorant of - was a beautiful subversion. The latter half of the game, which was about a lot of things but to me mostly about whether 9S could be saved, reminded me a lot of Tsukihime, where in the final route you, the player, know everything there is to know, and the game shifts from being about uncovering the truth to finding (as the back cover of the final volume of Gunslinger Girl puts it) a faint ray of light.
The E ending is a beautiful answer to that question, and is something that could only be accomplished in a video game format. I thought it worked much better than the (very good!) ending to Nier, because Nier:A creates some separation between the player and the characters, especially in the C route. In Nier, you sometimes are made aware that Nier has a different perspective than you do (during one sidequest he says that any villager he suspected of being a shade he would kill without hesitation, to keep the village safe for Yonah) he's still something of a stand-in. And that limits, I think, how much you can care about him as a character. Not so in Nier:A. And just when you think you're struggling to save the characters, the curtain is pulled back, you get help from other players. You have the opportunity to help a complete stranger. To affirm that just as you mattered to someone else, they matter to you. To affirm that the characters of the story deserve their happy ending. That it matters. It's so beautiful. I cried, a lot.
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Nier: Automata.
I think it will be difficult for me to talk coherently about the game. There's so much to say! But I'll give it a shot. Spoilers follow. This isn't a game to spoil yourself on, so if you haven't played it, I'd recommend not reading about it.
First of all, the trailer that plays from the title screen. It is comical how spoilery it is. There's one clip from the A/B route aaaaand it's the early part of the Eve fight. Other than that, 100% aftergame territory, including clips from both the C and I believe D endings AND a voice clip of Emil from his superboss fight. Like. Those sure are some spoilers.
The sound design is about as good as I have ever encountered in a video game, the overlaid audio tracks fading in and out worked very well all game long, and never better than in the E ending when the chorus comes in. It was such a beautiful moment.
The game feels like a multimedia project condensed into videogame form. The various sorts of interludes and ways information are presented, the frequent changes of perspective - the storybook style backstories for the robots, and the stilted back-and-forth of the pods and allowing the player to control characters like Pascal and the oil-carrying robot kid. All great, weaving the threads of plot and changing perspectives to explore different aspects of the themes of the game. The ending fakeouts and the presence of multiple endings and a chapter select feature also help in that regard. Like, you did the plot, now let's finish exploring these ideas more selectively. Integrating the screen and volume setup into the plot at the beginning, then going straight to the self-destruct feature, sure was a thing. I loved that the game remembered what I did there during 9S's route.
On that note I also really liked a lot of the sidequests, which were a great mechanism for exploring different perspectives. One robot feels guilty about all the androids it killed, so commits suicide by jumping off a tower, leaving the question hanging of whether you, 9S, feel guilt for all the robots you killed, and what you are going to do about it. (Though it must be said, 9S, that if you jumped off the tower, you would survive the fall.) Another robot presents a "treasure hunting" quest as a pretext to get you to murder robots it didn't like. It has no remorse. Do you?
The game does a lot to integrate its themes into the mechanics. Even hostile robots typically have very short aggro ranges. Harmless unless you get too close, and maybe you don't know that at first but you quickly learn. You can spare them easily, if you so choose. 2B's ability to self-destruct on command, the ability to commit suicide by removing your OS chip, make continuing to live a choice rather than an assumption. "To be" indeed.
One thing I was thinking as I was playing the B route was that I was really disappointed that the game does not explore the idea of 2B and 9S's different perspectives and memories at that point. I thought it was a missed opportunity, because I assumed that 9S knew more than 2B did - that's what the narrative flow would suggest, and that's how Nier worked, with Kaine's story. The later reveal that the opposite was true - that 2B was the one with the secret perspective which 9S was ignorant of - was a beautiful subversion. The latter half of the game, which was about a lot of things but to me mostly about whether 9S could be saved, reminded me a lot of Tsukihime, where in the final route you, the player, know everything there is to know, and the game shifts from being about uncovering the truth to finding (as the back cover of the final volume of Gunslinger Girl puts it) a faint ray of light.
The E ending is a beautiful answer to that question, and is something that could only be accomplished in a video game format. I thought it worked much better than the (very good!) ending to Nier, because Nier:A creates some separation between the player and the characters, especially in the C route. In Nier, you sometimes are made aware that Nier has a different perspective than you do (during one sidequest he says that any villager he suspected of being a shade he would kill without hesitation, to keep the village safe for Yonah) he's still something of a stand-in. And that limits, I think, how much you can care about him as a character. Not so in Nier:A. And just when you think you're struggling to save the characters, the curtain is pulled back, you get help from other players. You have the opportunity to help a complete stranger. To affirm that just as you mattered to someone else, they matter to you. To affirm that the characters of the story deserve their happy ending. That it matters. It's so beautiful. I cried, a lot.
Sooooooo....
What'd you choose to do?
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Sooooooo....
What'd you choose to do?
Contributed my save file to my fellow humans. Even if it turns out to go to someone I hate!
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You make back up first!
Either way, NieR IS a multimedia project. Yokotaro is still publishing novels and writing stage plays for the franchise as we speak.
You kninda can't get all the perspective without going all of them.
A lot of fun will be missed to, as in "Yokotaro mind rape his audience" type of fun.
Most notable is the 5 live conceter/stage voice drama from a few month ago. In which the drama script were given to all audience, even the scripts of the drama in concerts of later dates.
The entire NieR/DoD fan community were plunged into pure despair soon after, as in the script of the post ending-E story of the drama, 9S is totally dead and 2B had her mind completely broken. The fandom soon regrets believing that Yokotaro would give them a break after watching the ending-E. After all, that man is known to spare no one.
So the fandom kinda exploded in the concert hall on the day of the 4th concert, when the actual drama deviates from the script and hands off a happy end instead.
The fandom had the biggest meltdown ever since the fall of the Mother Angel into Shinjuku. With their minds broken not by the usual tragedy, but by a fucking good end.
BTW, anyone play the DLC? If you beat all the DLC tournament, an extra story arc will open up at that TV pile in the amusement park.
The story arc for "Inochi ni Fusawashi".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiNKk3fPed8 (This video has subtitles)
Oh, one last thing. Remember one of the picture book scene in the 9S route?
You know that one scene about the god of the robots rise out of the mountain and tell them to find the meaning of life?
That god is P-33, you know that bot in NieR 1 you fought in the trash mountain?
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Agreed re: healing. The ease of it is an unexpected weakness for a game with such great combat on paper. It does paper over a weakness in the game that combat, while always excessively pretty, can be hard to see at times. I think lower enemy damage and less access to healing would have worked better overall. I still had fun with combat all the way through, though.
The part about being hard to see is absolutely true, especially because you often have a partner dressed very similarly to your PC (and occasionally enemies as well). Though at points this felt very deliberate.
Got to Ending A.
That snuck up on me surprisingly abruptly? The robot church felt like Just Another Dungeon (this is not meant as criticism) and then boom, endgame. Very little closure on a lot of things! Far more than the first Nier, playing for other endings seems -needed- for the game's narrative (rather than just an excellent idea)), and I'm amused that Square Enix agreed enough to basically write me a polite letter saying as much. I don't have too much to say about Ending A itself except that it was nice to see 2B let her guard down.
Anyway, game clock's at a bit past 12 hours. Excited to see where the game goes from here.
Oh yeah Mage's post reminded me that I tried playing the first Divinity: Original Sin this past summer and I don't think I ever posted about it. It wasn't bad but nor was it really engaging me on anything, either writing or gameplay? Gameplay's really as good as I had hoped for given the genre, but the setting that we saw was just so generic so far, zzz, and pretty much every NPC felt like a D&D trope of some sort. Man do I have trouble getting into WRPGs. I may go back to it at some point but since obtaining the PS4 and Switch it's gone waaay down the list.
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FF1o: It's been a few years and this bad idea bit again. NES classic is in the picture, so I am going all the way back and kicking it old school this time, buggy programming and all. Black belt and mage trio party. It is not a good party, because there is no fighter. But there's also not a thief, so it could be worse. I was looking for something middle of the road as far quality goes. I wasn't entirely expecting to go multiple consecutive rounds of combat vs. randoms with the entire party missing physical attacks, though, but here we are.
That party is awful, dear god. Black Belt is barely better than thief. It has the same durability woes and the offense is also bad early on.
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Yeah, I figured he'd be the frontliner, but it turns out that has to be red mage. Defense is just too key in FF1, you can't HP tank.
This team needs soooo much money before I can even think of walking to the Marsh Cave, too.
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Agreed re: healing. The ease of it is an unexpected weakness for a game with such great combat on paper. It does paper over a weakness in the game that combat, while always excessively pretty, can be hard to see at times. I think lower enemy damage and less access to healing would have worked better overall. I still had fun with combat all the way through, though.
The part about being hard to see is absolutely true, especially because you often have a partner dressed very similarly to your PC (and occasionally enemies as well). Though at points this felt very deliberate.
Got to Ending A.
That snuck up on me surprisingly abruptly? The robot church felt like Just Another Dungeon (this is not meant as criticism) and then boom, endgame. Very little closure on a lot of things! Far more than the first Nier, playing for other endings seems -needed- for the game's narrative (rather than just an excellent idea)), and I'm amused that Square Enix agreed enough to basically write me a polite letter saying as much. I don't have too much to say about Ending A itself except that it was nice to see 2B let her guard down.
Anyway, game clock's at a bit past 12 hours. Excited to see where the game goes from here.
Oh yeah Mage's post reminded me that I tried playing the first Divinity: Original Sin this past summer and I don't think I ever posted about it. It wasn't bad but nor was it really engaging me on anything, either writing or gameplay? Gameplay's really as good as I had hoped for given the genre, but the setting that we saw was just so generic so far, zzz, and pretty much every NPC felt like a D&D trope of some sort. Man do I have trouble getting into WRPGs. I may go back to it at some point but since obtaining the PS4 and Switch it's gone waaay down the list.
For what it's worth I agree with you about the first one. It was generally quite bland, and for everything that was interesting or good there was something equally bad. The second game, luckily, does not require having played the first one (all it really does is reference it, but not for plot purposes) and it also polished itself quite nicely. So if you're to play just one, I would suggest skipping the first one.
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Shadow of War: Act 3 was some serious absurd shit. iloveit
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Fire Emblem Warriors - wtf i love fire emblem now?
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Nioh - playing this after two high-speed infinite-dodge roll action games is one hell of a mental adjustment.
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Fire Emblem Warriors:
So far the story is lackluster. I did stream a bit to Meeple (on Friday) who made a comment about Carmilla (they "REALLY" made sure to show off her assets.)
Also f 2 force battles forever. Hoshido and Nohr fighting and taking bases before the two kill each other. I hated that back in HW, I still hate it now. So much hatred. At least I got the memento, though I will have to go back...again to get the treasures. Why. I hate that, game.
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Nioh - playing this after two high-speed infinite-dodge roll action games is one hell of a mental adjustment.
Played more of this. Getting back in the swing of it. Chain & Sickle still the goofiest thing. This is way more of a stealth game than I'd remembered. Or maybe I'm just too much of a glass cannon to deal with difficult scenarios like "any time there's more than one dude aggroed." I'm kinda curious what sort of experience I'm missing out on not going with something more traditional.
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More Nioh. I like the combat in this game, but the dodge rolls are way too stiff, frankly. You're rooted in place for a bit after you execute one, and it makes combat much more dangerous than it otherwise would be. I feel like they balanced some of this stuff around PVP then forgot to add PVP. (Do they have it yet? iunno.) Chain & Sickle and ninjutsu still goofy af. It's amazing how OP sloth talisman is. How have they not nerfed it? It reduces enemy action speed to, like, 1/3 of normal? Bosses don't seem to resist it (unlike paralysis) and you don't need much of an investment in magic to get it. I'm thinking of investing another 5 levels in magic JUST so I can get another 2 shots of it. You start with 2, and if you can manage to hit a boss with the first one (not a given) you can do stuff, reapply, then pop living weapon and that's usually enough. The casting time on it is slow and roots you in place, though, and bosses deal somewhere between 90% and lolOHKO damage to my frail build, so boss fights are often decided in the first second, me mashing the cast button and hoping it connects and that the boss decided to do something with a windup.
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Nier:A - Beat. Enjoyed a lot overall, but at the same time, I felt it did lose some steam towards the end.
None of endings C/D/E really worked for me at all... E is supposed to be some big emotional thing about people helping you get your good ending but man I don't get it. You break the fourth wall like that and all I feel is how pointless beating a video game is.
I thought the game was going to end up super-great some time around the end of route B / start of C but I don't think it really retained that level; it killed off a few too many of its interesting characters (and lategame replacements A2 and Red Girl largely were disappointing, particularly the latter). C had some good stuff though, the scenes surrounding 2B's death and the humour right after with A2 and 042 is stellar; so is 9S's descent into madness; so is the agony of Pascal (although it would have worked better if he hadn't talked about cores like 5 seconds earlier; no reason you can't make that part of the setting work earlier in the game); so is pretty much every novelization sequence. So there's a lot to like even though some big things fell flat.
Music is obviously amazing. Writing is good and is trying to stay stuff, A+ want more video games to do this please. Gameplay is still a weakness due to aforementioned issues but it was fun enough, Bayonetta minus isn't the worst place to be.
I don't even have the first idea what to rate it right now. Highly recommended despite the reservations.
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Congratulations to Elf for reaching the "this feel meaningless" conclusion.
And if you look harder, there are a lot more factors in the ending that were made to make you feel meaningless.
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https://kotaku.com/the-french-on-ys-viiis-vita-box-is-literal-nonsense-1819981754
Um.
Also, Nioh: beat. Plan to do the DLC but I may take a break first. This is a long game, and comes by it honestly.
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FF1o: Marsh Cave stomped. I might've been overleveled? Went in at 12, memory says 10 would've been sufficient. Didn't mean to, just held off until I'd bought everything I thought I'd need. Spell costs for this team, yikes. (For all that the silver sword was the official shitwrecker throughout all that preparation; that thing makes such a huge difference.) Even so, overpreparing might've been necessary. RNG said I should get four wizards, and one of them got a crit round 1. Ow ow ow. Rune (the red mage--yes, it's a final PSIV party) lived through this at like 10% HP. Then Astos got two-rounded. Rub missed! Synchronous leveling still intact thus far.
It took until about level 10 for black belt to start justifying his existence in the party, which is pretty much what I remembered as far as unarmed attacks becoming viable. Even then he's only a ghettofabulous fighter, but at least I can mostly rely on him to OHKO any random mook by this point (and nearly Astos, with Haste in play).
Sold all the mystic key loot except the silver armor. All those fancy "Hit enemy weakness" weapons, none of them do anything except let me afford Fire 3.
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Level 12?! I was level 6 when I went in there yesterday. Granted I was playing the PSX version and using a two fighter and two mage team. Just finished the replay. Temper abuse is a thing, I did over 2000 damage to Chaos in a single attack.
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C A S U A L
Destiny 2 - Beat the main plot on the weekend. it is dumb. Doing grind stuff every now and then. It was fun and worth the money, but I am not going to sink hundreds of hours into it I think. Like to the point where I am going to play Season 12 of Diablo that starts this week (and sink hundredsd of hours into that instead).
Bastion - Replayed this the other week. It is really good still.
Fire Emblem Warriors - This is very much like Hyrule Warriors, so if you liked that take on Musuo then this will work. I think maybe DQ:H 2 might actually tweak the formula a bit more in interesting ways? But whatever. I am beating my head up against some of the history maps. Some of the maps just really spike in difficulty even at "low level". Also a genuine complaint, I kinda don't like how the game forces specific PCs into uncontrolled AI slots. I don't mind map conditions restricting people, but forcing like say Lucina on the field using your levels and your gear, but you can't control her, is kinda shitty. I wish those slots were selectable as well.
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wut. Grefter playing Destiny 2? PC or PS4?
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Valkyria Chronicles- Beaten! Vyse just massacred the final boss so badly (Attack Up+Double Attack+Awaken is a nasty combo...albeit only really for that one battle). Very fun game; I didn't do too much scout rushing, which generally made it challenging. The trench warfare aspect really fit the plot so well and really illustrated the horrors of war (I also wonder if this is the type of battles that FE are trying to invoke?). The plot did start losing steam near the end, but was still mostly entertaining. I ended up at L20 with all classes (except the useless Snipers) thanks to Super doing a bunch of skirmishes for me.
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Vyse is probably the best trooper in the game, but I suspect I just use him the most because he's Vyse. He just seems like he's having so much fun, you know, murdering the shit out of everyone. Snipers are rarely if ever crucial, but it can be nice in maps where there's a good vantage point right by the opening camp to have one expend all their bullets headshotting officers first round.
Scout rushing mostly emphasizes how broken the game's scoring system is. Speed bonuses outweigh whatever extra you'll get from downing officers/elites/etc, so blitzing every map so you can get extra points is in the long run more advantageous than being thorough and careful. Guess which approach is more my style? So that's a little annoying, but I still love the game, even though the plot does, as noted, get a bit squiffy near the end.
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In general, I'm a fan of "scoring" based on time, but VC scout-rushing also felt not very satisfying is the real problem. Like, if Solid Snake breaks into the enemy base and blows up the supplies causing the enemy to retreat without firing a shot, fine, that's cool. If Aika or Alicia just zooms past the guards and waves a flag around at the enemy HQ... so what? We're skipping the part where the invading Scout gets shot to little pieces by the like 10 guys still manning the base camp she just ran past that logically comes next?
Basically there should have been some objective - kill the boss, plant the explosives in the three weak points, hold the HQ for 2 turns uncontested. Merely arriving at the enemy flag is unsatisfying; prisoners can do that!
Anyway. This reminded me that a new VC game came out just recently!
http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/valkyria-revolution
...oh. those reviews. they are not good. Damnit. Dear Sega: just do VC1 again, but bigger and with better difficulty control.
(also EDIT: Well PSX FF1 and FF1o are different beasts! I think lvl. 9 was generally considered the level where going to the Marsh Cave isn't a 4-way suicide pact, at least if your plan wasn't "run from everything.")
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PSX FF1 is the one version which is about the same as FF1o, actually.
And I'm definitely closer to Super on this one. If you're Level 12 you're gonna roll the Marsh Cave real bad; it gets its reputation from what it's like if you don't stop and grind in Elfland and/or Pravoka. There's nothing between Garland and the Marsh Cave except some overland trekking and the Pirates, so you won't be getting all the way to 9-10 unless you stop and grind (which is your choice, but certainly not necessary unless your team sucks). Level 6 is a good minimum for leaving Elfland because that's when your Black Mage gets two L3s and your Red Mage gets one, which is hugely valuable for the Wizards.
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Am I thinking of Easy mode or something? I thought PSX FF1 gave the mages way, way more spell charges, like triple their count from NES.
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It's been a while, but I think the only things PSX FF1 did was up HP for the fiends & Chaos and allow attacks to retarget if the original target died. Almost all of the original, buggy coding was still in there.
Anyway, my team does suck, I admit to no shame to grinding cash until I had overwhelming firepower. The wizards still came remarkably close to melting the party "tank" round 1.
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PSX FF1 had a bunch of small bug fixes, one massive bug fix, and memo saving in dungeons to go along with doubled boss HP. It might have also tweaked the PC HP average. It also had revival in battle/a dash button/auto target, all of which can be turned off.
Memo saving is cool but I largely consider it good for countering bullshit ice cave deaths. Not something you have to use of course.
FF1 fixed temper and saber. This more than offsets the gain in HP the fiends get, especially if you run more than one black magic user. My black mage with no attack run in Dawn of Souls drove home how nuts those spells are.
E: unless you do the block puzzle in the PSX version you have to do at least a little leveling for the marsh cave, just during to needing money for pures. But yeah I would say L6 is around where I go with a decent team.
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Getting ambushed by spiders and spending more on poison cures than you get for killing them: a bad feeling that should feel bad.
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I'm starting bravely default. Citra, so I can't use any of the features that require internet.
Should I do normal or hard?
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You can change difficulty and encounter rate in the main menu, so it's not a big deal either way. I find the game fights back somewhat on Normal myself, but I'm also a wuss, so depends if you want "bosses might take a try or two" or "get good or die".
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I've only played on Hard myself. Hard is definitely on the difficult end for the type of game it is, though still very much "fair" and you'll most likely never need to grind. As CK notes you can adjust this in the menu midgame (and there's no penalty for doing so) so don't stress the decision too much and figure out what you're in the mood for.
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I'd at least start the game on normal. The back end allows for some serious degenerate combos, but in the beginning when you only have a few jobs to work with, some bosses just dish out too much damage for hard to be fun.
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A big MMO or FPS release? Yeah I play it a little Sopko. PC.
Wolfenstein 2 also forgot to mention this was amazing. Klan are featured way more in optional content than the main game and even that is more Nazis. So there was less edge on that point but goddamn does this game do a lot of things.
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FF1 randomizer- played this some, blame chat. Had roughly two dozen deaths so far (just beat vampire). Imps had scorch and frost, which made the beginning game hell. The L1 magic level was utterly useless as well, no healing or mt. Pirates we're awful as well, they had trance, stone and fire 2. The only reason I don't have 50+ resets is that I got s lucky ribbon from matoya's cave.
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Nioh: holy shit is this game long. neeeeeearly done with the DLC. probably.
Maria of the Astral Clocktower was very difficult, as was centepede dude. Both could one-shot me with most of their moves. Date Masamune was a fascinating departure from the games' other human bosses. Slow, approachable, blocks a ton, nearly impossible to run out of ki. Probably not bad for most builds but kryptonite to mine. I had to use a guardian spirit that had a passive ability to make 20% of damage go through blocking even to dent him.
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FF1: Lich got one-rounded. Fire 3 -> Harm 3 -> done.
First Ice Cave trip for the Floater was relatively painless. Had one Mage encounter, with a single enemy. He Rubbed out Chaz, so synchronous leveling is no longer a thing. The sorcerers waited to put in an appearance until I came back to loot the place. Holy shit who thought this was a balanced enemy. First legitimate, no-way-out reset (though I reset a few times for Ordeals because the first encounter kept being "Get mobbed by medusas first encounter, someone instantly stoned" until I remembered how random spawns worked and fought something outside to throw off the sequence). Even overleveled, some obnoxious shit can happen. Damage variance is just so absurdly swingy. Fighting the red dragon in the volcano, and his spell does more damage than Wren (black mage) has for max HP. Game, what.
Probably Mirage Tower for loot -> sea shrine -> Tiamat for the remainder. Second half of the game is a pretty steady, unbroken dungeon chain with all the grinding frontloaded for Marsh/Earth Caves.
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Dragon's Dogma: Re-platinumed. That part took a while, I don't recommend it. I don't know why I did this other than the game just being a very satisfactory Girl Cid simulator. Anyway I just mention it at this point because I maxed out all the classes this time and got a lot more enjoyment out of one of them than previous (spoilers it isn't Warrior. Warrior is still zzzzz). It's Sorcerer, which last time I only used long enough to get the MAG++ augment (passive bonuses transferable between classes) and then abandoned. That was a mistake because Capcom wanted there to be a Ye Shall Be As Gods class and Sorcerer is it. The high level spells are so absurd, just on a visual level, that they're a joy to use even if they sometimes turn out to deal not so much damage as you'd want them to (and it gets exponentially dumber, in the best way, if you can coax a party of pawns into synchronous casting of the same spell; I had to check videos to see this actually happen, but holy cronkers that's broke when it works). The casting times are murder, but the right spell can also sometimes immediately end a fight, so decent risk and reward balance with the right spell loadout. I didn't mess with the status spells much, but the damage spells are some of the most spectacularly grandiose attacks in gaming:
Bolide: I wanted this spell to be good, because it looks so amazing, but it's the most unreliable in the lot. I mean, it's Meteor Swarm, you float around dramatically in the air and then flaming death rocks rain from the sky. That's awesome! But it doesn't seem to be aimable at all, and the later bolts tend to hit a mile off. Usually I'll see the first one or two impacts squarely hit the nearest large enemy, then every other landing point is totally random and usually doesn't hit anything at all. Good for hydras since they're gigantic and weak to fire, but most of the time this means it isn't worth using at all for anything but the incredible visceral effect of flaming death pummeling the area.
Gicel: Probably the most useful just by virtue of being the most aimable. Giant ice spears lance out and shred everything. If an enemy's fast enough to dodge the first one, the others will still get it. Also only way I could stun Daimon as a sorcerer when he did his bullshit black hole attack. Maybe the simplest visual effect but still incredibly stylish.
Fulmination: It turns you into a walking Tesla sphere the size of a house. This is amazing. The A.I.'s kinda bad with this since you need to maintain the charge instead of just firing it off in a blink, but it's stupidly good in competent PC hands. If something can be stunned, it automatically loses the fight. It doesn't matter how many healthbars it has. Here, I made an accidental instructional video for this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM1DDK-n5js
Three giant undead wolves, three not!Taurus Demons, a buncha birds -> no survivors. Okay, the stupid cyclops knocked me out of the animation near the end and I had to cherry tap the last Eliminator, but still, downing six miniboss enemies with one spell is pretty fantastic.
Seism: Earthquake. It's pretty good? It's reliable at incapacitating and heavily damaging anything within range when fired, but the range could be better and it's centered on the caster rather than being aimable. But if it even is elemental, nothing seems to resist it, so solid 7/10 spell I guess. I got a ring that unlocked the third tier variety so I may be overrating vs. normal version of the spell.
Maelstrom: You don't like being able to see what's happening in your game, right? Then this is the spell for you! Maelstrom's hilarious, but I really can't tell if it's any damn good at all. If you use this in close confines, you really will not be able to tell what in the goddamn hell is going on in your game for an extended period of time. It seems to do its best damage by tossing enemies in the air and letting them hit the ground, which also doesn't work with a low ceiling. Also anything larger than a garm likely won't go airborne, though it probably will get stuck at the center of the vortex for the duration. Also it doesn't seem to do much of anything against giant enemies. But it is almost definitely the most ridiculously grandiose visual effect I have ever seen a game let you perform, and that counts for a lot. They really wanted Sorcerer to be the "I am become death, destroyer of worlds" class, and the animations sell it amazingly well. Verdict: only effective when it's overkill, but it is pretty damn satisfying to watch an entire mob of enemies get sucked in from across an entire floor and get hucked a mile into the air.
Flipside, if an NPC ever succeeds in casting this spell, you should just quit and reload your game. It's faster than waiting for the spell animation to finally stop juggling your corpse so you can reach a gameover screen.
I thought I was done here but there's a ring that enhances unarmed damage so I might do a fist-only speedrun just to see how stupid it is.
The endgame plot is still like someone read a Cliff's Notes of a Cliff's Notes of Nietzsche.
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Undertale (PS Vita): Finished. Neutral route. Murdered all bosses (well, attempted to for Napstablock / Mad Dummy), spared all randos and forced encounters (e.g. Snowdin Dog Squad).
Yeah, I'm late, but I blame the DL. You all have terrible taste a different sense of what is humorous in the game than me - like all the hyped screenshots were of the lines that fell the flattest for me. Valley Girl Crocodile being SO hyped for the destruction of humanity is lame, skeleton fish politics, etc. Luckily, while the writing can be a bit hit-or-miss, there's plenty that was authentically humorous, and the drama / meta aspects of the game were shockingly good, so I'll take it. The only major character that I didn't really like was Dr. Alphys, who was maybe supposed to be clingy and annoying, but a little too good at being annoying.
Losses... I did lose to randos in both the Ruins and Snowdin while trying to puzzle out how to fashion police the Ice Hats and the like. The only bosses that caused a reset for me were Mettaton and the Frue Final (Which barely counts since you lose very little). Undyne did tax my healing reserves to nearly the limit, forcing me to eat the Snowman piece I had promised to carry to the end of the world. Whoops. And I had saved the Butterscotch Pie for Asgore, which helped there of course, it'd surely have been multiple resets without it. (And it's an awesome fight, maybe the best in the game mechanically. Does the game take pity on you, though?! I thought I was about to lose, until I randomly won with a hit that dealt the entire last third of his health bar). That said, Pacifist seems like it'd be exciting, since it'd be at lvl. 1 the whole time...? Unless there's some sort of invisible balancing to have you take less damage in that route to compensate for the lack of LOVE.
I'm curious how 8-4 handled the Japanese translation of the game, since so many of the rando monsters are English puns. I guess you could just call it a "Shy Siren" and translate that at worst, but it'd not quite be the same.
Thanks to the Internet, I see that Temmie Village actually exists and isn't just a sign trolling you. I did like how all the shopkeepers have a sell option that they then proceed to refuse to use.
Vita/PS4 has a nice dynamic border around the game if you want that changes based on the location, if you're curious. And typing an essay for Mettaton is obviously more annoying. There's also PSN trophies which seems a little against the spirit of the game? I wonder if they'll ever backport them to Steam achievements. Only super-obvious changes I could detect, though.
As to your final question, Sans, I did it because I can't Pacifist route the first time through anyway, so I get to see your reaction and that of all the townspeople. You might not like that answer, though.
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Asgore does indeed always lose the last chunk of his health that way, though it has nothing to do with you being about to lose.
There's a gravity component to Undertale damage when you're above 20 HP so extra LOVE ends up not as useful as it looks, though all things being equal LV 1 will still make things harder than LV 10 or whatever.
Japanese has an extremely high potential for puns in general so hopefully the translators knew what they were doing, Ace Attorney-style.
I'm with you on skeleton fish politics but Bratty and Catty are great. I do agree that the humour can be hit or miss (though this exceeded my expectations as Earthbound was close to 100% miss, and Undertale obviously draws inspiration from it) but that's okay because it isn't actually the strongest/most important part of the writing.
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Alphys misses out on a lot if you aren't reloading after the normal ending to see the true pacifist ending. I had pretty much the same response before looping back for ultimate good time feels ending.
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I'd definitely recommend going for the pacifist ending. Well worth your time.
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I thought Alphys was pretty great even before Pacifist (one of the times the humour of the game was definitely "on" for me) but yeah that route definitely rounds her out as a serious character.
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Oh hey, I can answer this! I actually have students that like Undertale.
Apparently the game developed an underground Japanese fanbase loooong before a translation was planned. The Japanese online community noticed all the weird Western fanart and videos and music and got intrigued.
Of course, Undertale's whole premise is Anime As Fuck(TM), so the transition to Japanese is incredibly easy for the most part. The jokes don't translate exactly one-to-one, but Japanese puns make for decent substitutes. Oddly, the most contentious parts of the official translation come from the more serious parts of the game, where there's still unanswered questions here in its home country, and the translators might have missed some key details that might inform the mystery, or added misleading information in the transition. Stuff like how Sans refers to himself apparently was a big deal, but translating wordplay was no problem. *shrug* Frisk/Chara's gender was apparently decided to be female in the translation, too (despite Japanese being a much easier language to obscure gender!). Stuff like that.
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Toby Fox was apparently intimately involved in the translation-to-Japanese process, fwiw. He posted a while back that the item descriptions that were abbreviated in English wouldn't be in Japanese because that wasn't a thing Japanese RPGs did since they needed fewer characters.
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Danganronpa V3: I finished this, this is the best game in the series and I ended up mega addicted but I still wanted to punch the writers half the time.
The ending has a plot twist to end all plot twists, showing even less respect for the other titles in the series than, say, Star ocean 3 or Chrono Cross. Mad respect for this.
There is a weiiiiird RPG / board game mode unlocked after beating the game which must have taken me like 30 hours. 100 floors with difficulty ramping up considerably in the last 40 or so. I enjoyed it. There’s a boss that can only be beaten by POIZN.
Sundered: What has been said by El Cid isn’t wrong. I am playing on hard and it feels frankly almost impossible, I’m currently stuck against a very basic, pseudo invisible miniboss and have instead chosen to wander into a murderous area with purple fountains and terrifying looking basic mobs.
I am having a different approach with this game, just accepting deaths and careying on. Exp beingg kept upon death helps.
It’s hard to play well when 60 enemies are on screen at a time, and I could see it being frustrating, but being overwhelmed like this is on par with the lore.
Wonderboy the dragon’s trap: I didn’t expect this remake to outright use the same exact code. You can press a button and the game graphics revert to the original’s immediately. It’s frankly magical. Wonderboy controls are slippery and archaic, I still enjoyed my time thanks to the world building and graphics.
Wuppo: Is absolutely delightful so far, with just the right tone. I am craving those film reels that show lore videos on shmekels and others.
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Pokemon Sun:
Hey, I finally finished this. Just in time for the new one to come out!
I'm actually quite impressed with its story. Surprising. Like, Pokemon doesn't even NEED a story, but I guess it's nice that after 20 years they finally figured out basic narrative rules. The story isn't particularly deep, but it has a beginning, middle, and end, and there's some emotional investment surrounding Lillie, Gladion, and Lusamine. The side characters all have at least one personality trait, too! Which is a LOT more than previous Pokemon characters! So... progress!
Z-Moves are really cheesy and I love them so much. Pokemon figuring out Limit Breaks are a thing in most RPGs after 20 years is nice.
Overall, it's probably the best Pokemon game so far? I know it's easy to say that about every new Pokemon game that comes out, but that's probably a good sign. Means Game Freak is actually improving steadily.
In another ten years, it may even have a -Good- story~
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Pokémon ever having plot that isn't completely nonsensical
(https://i.imgur.com/85PgYR0.gif)
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Hey... it surprised me as much as anyone!
They even allowed Red to age beyond 12 years old or whatever. Continuity! In a Pokemon game! Who would've imagined?!
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Djinn, question.
In Japanese Undertale, how did they handle the hidden content that involves manipulating hidden values that's only possible on PC, like the Gester related stuff and those hidden NPCs.
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I dunno, I haven't dug into the code for Undertale in English OR Japanese. And I doubt the 13-year-old Japanese students who like to talk about it will have done that either...
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Night in the Woods- Fin.
Hm. Y'know... I'm not sure how to process this as a game. I may need to just go through personal reactions for a bit?
I live here. Okay so this is probably Pennsylvania, since it's mines? So we don't have spooky caves here. But swap out the major industry for automotive parts plants and yeah. This is very much where I live. There's a main street, half the stores are empty. Giant empty parking lots, the cracks showing, grass coming back in, never to be filled again. Those that can leave do, those that can't...
Not sure if Mae or Bae. Both oscillate wildly between "It Me" and "Girl what are you doing stop that". Like a LOT of Mae's casual discussion of the inevitable doom of all things and parsing out upsides thereof is very It Me. But oh my god her capacity to not catch when to drop it or subtext is hard to sit through sometimes.
Bae's not quite as strong an association, but crushing obligation man. Crushing. But I also have trouble being that callous to people, even if I'm mad at them I think?
Yeah I dunno. It's unusual for me to identify so strongly with a set of characters. Like sure, likeable and charming and stuff, but I can think of casts I like more or find better written or more compelling. But for "It Me?" Yeah.
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Trails in the Sky SC- Beat the towers. The Enforcers were mostly sad bunches (Luciola was especially trashy, having your 5HKO at best damage be MT is not a trick). The game's writers also just seemed to acknowledge that Kloe's princess hair makes no sense.
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Okay so this is probably Pennsylvania, since it's mines?
It's where two out of the three writers on the game grew up, so yeah probably (for all that the only real location ever specifically named in the game is Hungary of all places).
Glad that you...enjoyed it, from the sound of things?
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Cid did you finish the videogame within a videogame about that dying badass cat
I was super involved into filling that notebook with Mae’s drawings
Sundered : In the third area
I am destroying all the elder shards, so at least I don’t get the obvious bad ending, and will get some less obvious bad ending instead. The fancy losange is really super pissed at me for this.
The first area is like a lategame JRPG dungeon, the second area is like the final dungeon, and the third area is the postgame impossible one. It is super vicious, but also the perfect representation of the sublime, vertical and grotesque architecture it’s meant to convey? It is completely stunning. Maybe the elevator that turns you into a eyeball is a bit OTT.
Difficulty is a bit easier now but I still die a whole bunch. I made some fatal build mistake at the beginning I corrected pretty fast: I focused on the big nodes and didn’t really care about the little nodes on the way. The problem is that all the melee damage upgrades but one are on little nodes. Everything went much more smoothly super fast once I took a little detour to grab a few strength nodes. (and once I realized you could re-jump in mid-air if you hit an enemy, staying airborne for really long at times)
I think I went with a pretty good build: Past the beginning I completely ignored the gun, health and energy, and focused on damage, shield, luck, and miscellaneous orbs. + crits lategame. The gun is really cool but has too many drawbacks – might make a gun build on a replay.
Now that platforming is king in the third area and bottomless pits are everywhere I am focusing on energy upgrades to keep that air dash rolling.
I really love it when the game goes DING DONG TIME FOR DEATH and I just know resistance is futile and I now have to grab as much treasure as I can before my inevitable next death
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Re: NitW minigame, nah, I didn't make it very far. Like two floors in before deciding I was way more in invested in the game's writing than any gameplay that diversions might offer me, so I just ignored Demon's's's's Tower from there on out. I definitely wanted to fill out as much of the sketchbook as possible, but still wound up with some blank pages. I gather you just can't see everything on a single run, since there's a fixed number of Choose Your Own Event days and more iterations of friend + day than you have time for.
Making the eldritch voice pissed at you in Sundered is actually pretty satisfying. You can safely ignore gun for most of the game, but be warned: if you're going pure science, there is one fight where using it will be absolutely required. At the least, pick up the bottom quadrant gun upgrade when it opens, the one that does something stupid like up its damage by 60% or whatever. Pretty sure it's the last science upgrade unlock. You may also want to look into converting everything to shields later on, as I've found that far more viable than relying on health once endgame perks turn up and you have awful awful awful Endless Hordes zones to clear in the cathedral.
Figuring out that hitting an enemy mid-air resets your double jump changes everything about combat. You legitimately can stay airborne indefinitely as long as there's still something else to hit.
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Sundered : In the third area
I am destroying all the elder shards, so at least I don’t get the obvious bad ending, and will get some less obvious bad ending instead. The fancy losange is really super pissed at me for this.
The first area is like a lategame JRPG dungeon, the second area is like the final dungeon, and the third area is the postgame impossible one. It is super vicious, but also the perfect representation of the sublime, vertical and grotesque architecture it’s meant to convey? It is completely stunning. Maybe the elevator that turns you into a eyeball is a bit OTT.
Difficulty is a bit easier now but I still die a whole bunch. I made some fatal build mistake at the beginning I corrected pretty fast: I focused on the big nodes and didn’t really care about the little nodes on the way. The problem is that all the melee damage upgrades but one are on little nodes. Everything went much more smoothly super fast once I took a little detour to grab a few strength nodes. (and once I realized you could re-jump in mid-air if you hit an enemy, staying airborne for really long at times)
I think I went with a pretty good build: Past the beginning I completely ignored the gun, health and energy, and focused on damage, shield, luck, and miscellaneous orbs. + crits lategame. The gun is really cool but has too many drawbacks – might make a gun build on a replay.
Now that platforming is king in the third area and bottomless pits are everywhere I am focusing on energy upgrades to keep that air dash rolling.
I really love it when the game goes DING DONG TIME FOR DEATH and I just know resistance is futile and I now have to grab as much treasure as I can before my inevitable next death
I am using the hell out of the elder shards, mostly because the native crystal people are such a bore. Elder shard powers are all over the map in terms of utility. I built in a general manner, ignoring gun's but pumping everything else. Guns, especially late, are troublesome because using them cuts down on your immediate mobility. The trade's rarely worth it when the chips are down. Anyway, building that way has been working fine, though since I'm using shards I can't directly compare how hard the game is. If I'm ever inspired to finish my playthrough then do it all again I suppose I'll find out. One word of advice though maybe you've already got it: if you don't have treasure sense yet, prioritize unlocking it - it's tremendously useful and will pay for itself many times over. One of the things I like the best is being in an endless hordes area and making a mad dash for treasure chests. It's a ton of fun but you can't do it without knowing well in advance where they are.
Ys VIII: intend to replay this on inferno but NISA just announced they've rewritten basically 100% of the script, including rerecording basically all the voiced lines in the game. Seriously. So I'll wait til that hits next year.
Dark Souls III: After a couple false starts, playing this in earnest. Just beat Wolnir, who was cool af but not that hard. Thoughts: through the first few zones I was carefully, methodically making progress. Then, the swamp hit and that stopped happening. It's amazing they have found new ways for a swamp level to be horrific, but fighting dudes who can curse you in an area where you can only walk and fatroll does the trick. It did kinda make something clear, though: this game is not as unforgiving as its predecessors. This swamp level, despite everything, is way tamer than DS1's (did DS2 have one? if Shrine of Amana counts then it's tamer than that, too) or Demon's. DS3 catacombs also very tame! Maybe there are catacombs later that are awful? Bonewheels: not the murderwheels I have come to expect! Not even close to as bad as Nioh Wheelmonks, even!
I'm going with a pyromancy/dex weapon build. seems like a good, somewhat complementary balance. and it's got the utility, but splitting stats has created some problems. it seems like whether it's fire or weapon damage, every enemy has been calibrated so that it survives my attacks with like 1% health, as if the game is laughing at me for multiclassing. Even so, still seems like the best choice - even without great stats, pyromancy's getting me through some tough spots (getting Great Combusiton early surely helps this a lot). It has been a weird mental adjustment after Bloodborne and Nioh to remember to block all the time. Nioh there are builds that can get a lot out of blocking, but I didn't build that way, and the penalty for running out of stamina while blocking in that game is severe. DS3 even having ignored all the stats that would make it a good idea, blocking is still very powerful. One final thought: so far as I have discovered, the game is very linear, at least in terms of what zones you do when. I guess 5 bosses in is not very far, but I kinda expected to have more options by now. Even ignoring the key in DS1 you had a lot more freedom by the time you got 5 bosses deep. Bosses have all been pretty cool. I'm sure there are folks who can't stand the big tree boss but I liked it.
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-Shrine of Amana counts as a swamp level because it is bad for all the same reasons that swamp levels are bad. That said, DS3's swamp zone is probably least awful to traverse in spite of the many things noted that make it objectively seem like it'd be the worst. Maybe in part because nothing's ever going to top Valley of Defilement in this regard.
-Like the swamps, the bonewheels get the nerf stick every iteration. DS3's are shockingly feeble. We'll never know that horror again.
-Splitting stats can work! Depends on what you're going far. You can still hit soft caps by endgame if you're minmaxing properly and not dumping levels on shit like, I dunno, VIT. Worth noting that the two coolest of the unique-and-obviously-meant-for-pyromancers melee weapons have DEX requirements (which you've probably already met if you're using the uchi).
-DS3 is strikingly linear compared to the rest of the series. It's one of the things that makes if kind of a drag on replays, because there's a lot less planning routes to fit your build and get the swag early / work around bosses that might be a wall with a different playstyle. There are a few junctures in the game where you can choose between going to two different zones, but you have to do both of them before accessing the next phase of the game anyway so it's kind of academic in the long run, still feels like a fundamentally straight path through the game.
-I dislike the tree boss but it's still not the worst gimmick boss in the game.
-I've never used shields in DS3 for anything but an accessory (Grass Crest still exists), since DS2 and BB broke me of relying on blocking for anything, but I have to admit that they probably have more merit here than I'd suspect, just because even after entirely too many replays, there are still plenty of enemy attack patterns in this game that I have no earthly idea how to dodge properly.
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Pyro works fine, either go an elemental stat or Raw. Especially early game Raw is Actually Really Good tm.
Carry a Chime in your offhand. The skill on Chime is the best costed healing in the game, it is slow, so meh in boss fights but it will top you up between pulls while you wander around.
Since you have a Chime and Faith it never hurts to learn Gnaw or Dorhy's Gnawing to keep in your back pocket on bosses where bleed is good (aka all of them).
Disclaimer: I haven't played in over 12 months, advice might have since been nerfed into the ground because that's what From did with DS3 did with fun.
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Shield, or at least blocking, I am finding particularly useful for 2 reasons. 1: getting jumped by unseen enemies. 2: how easy it is for enemies to interrupt you while you're chugging Estus. Even taking far less damage than, say, Nioh, it's very easy for a hit or two to spiral into disaster as you back off and try to heal. (From Nioh, since I high stanced most of the time, the idea of chaining dodge rolls is something I need to remind myself is a thing)
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FF1- Finished randomizer run, or at least enough of it to be worth caring about. Neat concept at least.
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Wild Guns Reloaded - Having more free time due to shorter work hours led me to trying this remake out. Everything I loved about the original with better synth, better graphics still in line with 16-bit aesthetics and a playable dachsund? Sign me in.
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I rely on shield but health is still important.
I could definitely not pull off the perk that turns all your health into shield!
Sundered has maybe the best sphere grid I’ve seen? It’s nice to see the concept perfected. It’s tight, gives you a lot of options, and expands throughout the game.
I’m a bit disappointed with the grappling hook, which is like entirely lifted from Castlevania OOE but feels ten time worse. Of course there’s a boss battle that’s all about navigating with the hook over an instant death pit
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Two, if you're going full corruption!
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I’m a bit disappointed with the grappling hook
Grappling hook is a very good argument for corruption, which replaces your air dash with an omnidirectional teleport
Dark Souls 3: started on Cathedral of the Deep, which is a bore and I'm glad I'm overleveled for it. Why am I overleveled? Because I did most of Ariandel, which was difficult but manageable, before the boss kicked my ass so hard I gave up on it.
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Friede is one of two DS3 bosses I was never sufficiently competent to solo. Holy shit what were you guys thinking.
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I got past phase 1 once! It was enough to convince me phase 2 ain't happening for a while.
Also? Boss is cool af. Once I am done with the game, definitely ranking bosses based on how awesome they look.
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Didn't have any problem with Friede using generic summon guy. But my build is mighty.
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All the horror stories of Friede make me half-glad that the DLCs were beyond me at the time.
My dude would probably run alright though.
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Can’t believe I still haven’t tried the DS3 DLC
I finally got the hang of the grapping hook in Sundered. You need to always press the trigger all the way through and longer than should be necessary. Directing the joystick towards the thingy also helps.
I’m back and beat all mini-bosses.
Gun related boss is going to fuck me up though
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Dark Souls III:
Fromsoft's House of Jumpscares The Jail was amazing. Fromsoft has a wicked sense of humor. I can only imagine how they plot this stuff out. "Ok this room is going to have two unreasonable enemies that can snipe you. They'll try and make a run for it around this corner, so let's put a hole there. They'll panic and fall down this hole, so let's put...a giant rat at the bottom. With some smaller rats? Yes, of course smaller rates too. But put the giant rat right beneath the hole so they can down attack it if they're quick enough. Ok if they make it through all that we'll give them some breathing room." (That's from the Demon Ruins but same idea)
Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!/10 would Oh shit! again
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GBF- Today is a very bad day. The Limited Light version of the Psycho Lesbian entered the gacha today, and she pretty much is who I need to replace Ferry in my light team for long HL raids.
So I used a minimum amount of gacha tickets, small enough that I won't deviate from my gacha plan for December, to try my luck.
........Titan showed up.
NO
WHY
WHYYYYYYYYY!!!!?????
I don't want to grind Baal!!!!! UGHHHHHH!!!!!!!
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Games are not for fun
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Overwatch: Got Symmetra's teleport 20 people in 1 match achievement on Gibraltar defense. I usually put a shield gen on the last point but I already had 14 teles so I said fuck it and it worked.
Terraria: I die too much. I made a cross-continental rail system. Idk wtf I'm doing.
Monster Cry: Interesting new mobile game. "Card" game in the loose sense of the word, although there is a nice deckbuilding function to it. Nice aesthetics also.
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Dark Souls 3:
https://media.giphy.com/media/d9R336VHxE29q/giphy.gif
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Eien no Filena (Eternal Filena):
An old (1994) SNES RPG that was never ported over to the US but has an english translation. A minute or two of playing reveals why: The story can be summed up as "Lesbian power couple liberates the world"
So Filena is a female gladiator in a provincial capital of the Evil Empire (TM) that has taken over the world. Trained in both fighting and pretending to be male by being beaten up by her loving grandfather since she was 6, she is now 16 and ready to fight to the death for the amusement of the decadent imperial citizens. No one can know that she is a female however, lest she be executed.
But of course even the Evil Empire is willing to show pity on the soon-to-be-dead gladiators on their last night. So they give them concubines! Filena for obvious reasons refuses the generous offer, but the concubine assigned to her (Lila) hunts her down rather than be whipped for failing to properly entice Filena. After Lila INSISTS they go to bed together, Filena relents and they do... cue lila bugging out on discovering that Filena is actually a woman (how she found out isn't really left to the imagination).
Filena swears Lila to silence and they talk for a while, then Filena goes to the colloseum and kills another gladiator to the cheers of the crowd. Hurray?
Filena is set up with a house in the poor non-citizen (Clechia) quarter of the town. She is given a wife too (Lila) who is... surprisingly cool with the arrangement. The citizens of the empire (Devis) have the nice places in the city. They are also assholes almost to a person. That's nice.
Filena trains with her grandfather and fights another arena battle, killing another gladiator who was a bit of a jerk. Then she gets to kill two gladiators again, one jerk and one... not-jerk who wished his wife Sara a good life as he bleeds to death for the amusement of the crowd. You can talk to Sara afterwards who is depressed but doesn't hold a grudge against Filena.
Then for DRAMA the colloseum battle-scenario writer, Nest, writes that Filena is to kill her long-lost brother in the arena. Nest is a miserable guilty wreck at the local bar and willingly tells Filena that the scnearios are of course fake and that she won't be killing her brother. Everyone still refers to Filena as a man even though the name and sprite are pretty dang feminine.
So Filena effortlessly kills her 'brother' who confesses that he was just fighting because if he didn't his wife and kid would be executed. Oh and for bonus points the wife and kid are sitting right at the entrance to the colloseum watching. So Milika (the wife) and Fis (the kid) swear vengeance against Filena for slaying their beloved husband/father. The crowd cheers of course.
Filena is comforted by her wife Lila, but when she goes to see her grandfather the battle trainer, she finds he has been replaced at the training ground. And of course her next fight is against her own grandfather in the arena. Cue dramatic music and sorrow as Filena slaughters the man who was like a (somewhat abusive) father to her. As her grandfather bleeds out on the colloseum dirt, he hands Filena a special crystal and tells her to get it inspected at the imperial information borough (like a high-tec library).
Filena, as a non-citizen Clechia, can't go into the library, but the battle-scenario writer/local drunk Nest can, and feels guilty enough to help her. So they go to the Information Borough/library and get her magic info crystal analyzed. It reveals that Filena is actually the heir to a long-lost (by 16 years) sea kingdom and that she was raised by her grandfather as a gladiator because... well that isn't very clear. But her path becomes clear: she is to travel to the imperial capital and meet with a man named Uto who has a magic sword named "Filena" that will do... something.
Suddenly the library alarms go off, and it alerts the empire to forbidden knowledge being accessed. This triggers the super-secret-ultra assassins/special ops of the empire to target Filena. The first (of many to come) Black Devils assaults Filena and her friend Nest on the way out of the library. They kill it (1). Then Filena escapes to her home to scoop up her wife Lila, only Milika is there and throws poison in her eyes! Now Filena will be blinded for the next 1/3rd of the game. This has shockingly minimal effect on her combat efficiency even though she has a perpetual 'blind' status.
Turns out Milika has nothing against Filena in particular, but had to do that because the empire has her son hostage. After killing another Black Devil (2), Filena, Lila, Nest, and Milika escape through the sewers of the battle arena training grounds. Two more Black Devils pursue them and die in a fire (4). In a nearby town at the other end of the sewers, Filena consults a doctor who tells her to go to a nearby cave and get a special herb for her eyes. They do so and Filena has an operation on her eyes to stabilize them... it works! But she's still blind.
So Filena, Lila, and Milika dress up as religious dancers (Meemez) to get out of the city and make their way toward the capital. Nest goes his own way because he's a guy and can't join them on that plan (he's figured out Filena is actually a woman). So Filena pretends to be a man pretending to be a woman dancing... Milika and Lila bond over Miliak's flute playing and talking about her son and how she wants to see him (Death Flag). But the Black Devils catch on to their plot. They lure the three girls to a bridge with the intention of blowing it up. But Milika is able to knock down the Black Devil that plans to blow up the bridge (5). Only Milika falls off too and dies. Whoops.
After much boo-hooing over how unfair it was that Fis would never see his mother Milika again and how sad they were to lose her right after they had gotten to know her, Filena and Lila move along. They come to a frozen mountain that is home to a bandit group. Only it turns out the bandit group is in rebellion against the empire. Right around now two Black Devils attack the rebels and Filena. They get offed (7). So Filena and Lila make their way through the mountain to the secret village of the rebels. After talking with them and getting to know them, they are given access to more herbs to help with Filena's eyes! She's still inflicted with Blind. The blind status outlived the chick who inflicted it by a fair bit.
They are then tasked with helping one of the rebels, Laris, sell herbs to black market dealers. Laris isn't the usual guy, since that guy was killed in the earlier Black Devil ambush. Laris is also A) not terribly bright and B)Confused about his attraction to the 'male' Filena. They make it to the deal area, where Laris gets taken for a fool by the buyer who gets the product and scrams before paying for it. Whoops. Oh well. Laris has learned a lesson.
Karma being karma, the guy who ripped them off is promptly murdered by a Black Devil hunting Filena. Not before blabbing about the Rebel Village and Filena of course. Then the rebel village is attacked and Filena/Lila/Laris have to escape via some mine carts. Filena at this point tosses off her bandage and is FINALLY CURED OF THE BLIND STATUS, YAY! On the way Laris slips and fondles Filena, finally realizing why he had the hots for her despite her manly disguise (which, it should be mentioned, isn't much of a disguise). Laris bravely and stupidly decides to 'buy Filena and Lila time' by trying to fight two Black Devils by himself. He is tossed aside like a rag doll, presumably killed (and yeah he really is dead because he never comes back). Lila and Filena escape in a mine card, chased by two Black Devils in their own mine carts. One falls to his doom on a turn (8). The other crashes into Filena's mine cart and tries to fight Filena and Lila. They kill him (9).
Filena and Lila wake up in a cottage nearby and decide to go on towards the capital by going to a nearby port. They sneak onboard a ship (their actions still being monitored in passing by agents of the Black Devils). On the ship, Lila decides to get in the same bed as Filena because Lila is pretty much head-over-heels for her 'husband' Filena even though she knows Filena is a woman. 100% dedication and all that. Filena seems okay with it.
After landing in the next port, Filena and Lila come upon a mining town. After (a lot) of talking around, they pretend to be miners and go through the mines to the weapons factory at the other end. After more talking in THAT place, they come to an old abandoned mansion that has a path out of the region. But wait! Fis, Milika's son, shows up after being rescued by the same doctor that operated on Filena's eyes. But before they can explain much to him the Black Devils attack! One sets the house on fire and kidnaps Fis again. Then another meets them at the exit of the tunnel and tries to kill them. He fails and they murderize him too (10).
At this point, the power couple are in the wilderness and set out towards the capital. But not before going to a nearby misplaced black market and buying overpriced stuff that turns out to be endgame armor, helms, shields, and weapons. So yeah.
The couple come upon a woman on the beach, Amalda, who is rather pregnant. They also come upon her dog Hunter. Hunter is awesome. Just keep that in mind.
They follow Amalda back to her campsite where she and 'wandering Clechia' refuse to be turned into the empire's slaves, living instead off of the land and hiding from the "Clechia hunters" that want to turn them into said slaves. Of course this being a game the clechia hunters attack pretty much as soon as Lila and Filena show up. Cue both Amalda having her kid and IMMEDIATELY GETTING UP AND FIGHTING OFF THE HUNTERS. Dude... Dude.
After everything settles down over the corpse of the hunters, Lila watches the baby and gets some baby fever herself. She may need biology explained to her as she seems to want to have one with Filena, whom she knows (uh, intimately) is a woman.
The duo moves on to a hut near the capital and gets smuggled inside on a cart full of hay. They make there way around the capital and come upon the blacksmith they are looking for... who reveals himself as a fellow sea-kingdom filoseran, gives Filena the sword 'FIlena' she is searching for, Tells her to take it to the sea of Filosera, and then is promptly killed by the Black Devils who have tracked down Filena AGAIN.
Filena escapes through a secret passage AGAIN, is confronted by another lone Black Devil AGAIN, and adds to the count (11).
More to come...
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Quite apart from any of the content, that sounds like a shockingly lengthy/in-depth plot for a 16-bit game. I think of FF6 or Chrono Trigger as being about as plot-heavy as those games get but either you're embellishing a fair bit or that game's a fair bit more plotty. Sounds interesting anyway.
Fire Emblem Warriors - Yeah nobody is surprised I played this I'm sure. It's fun! Somewhat surprisingly I do have to conclude it's not as good a game as Hyrule Warriors. The strategy elements are improved (because you can give your allies direct instructions which they actually follow out effectively, and also switch between which ally you control directly), and the weapon triangle is a good addition, much more intuitive than HW's secret system of elemental weaknesses. The action elements though are a clear step back; you no longer really have to learn how to fight bosses effectively and counter them when they drop their guard after certain attacks; now you can just combo anything to death pretty effortlessly. There are lots of ways in which the game is easier, too; some welcome (like some of it is just an artifact of the fact that you can be in multiple locations at once essentially), some I'm neutral on (gold skulltula hunting gets a trivial replacement), and some unwelcome (easier opponents as noted, only rarely does the game really try to overwhelm you on multiple fronts like HW did, and the rankings for History Mode are generally super-ridiculously lenient; you're allowed to take up to 320% damage in fights where you have four controllable units and this is insane).
The plot is also super-dumb. Probably to be expected but still kinda disappointing. I don't think the Warriors setup works that well for me when you're fighting humans instead of monsters (only Ganondorf fought humans in the HW story as I recall and it was effective because you're playing as a supervillain) and the game does way too many incredibly dumb excuses for fights. It also stonefacedly recycles plot points from the FE games it draws from. But hey it has Niles volunteering to strike from the rear, Odin being amazing, and Camilla mocking those who treat her as fanservice so it's not all bad.
As far as the cast goes... obviously I like the playable cast more than HW from their source material, although the actual fighting styles can't be as varied because well, so many infantry swordsmen add up. Random unit comments:
Swords:
-Ryoma has innate Astra which is the best skill in the game, double speed on attacks is even more broken than it sounds because not only is it essentially 2x offence, but it means being 2x better at breaking the stun gauge for critical hits. I have no opinion on him outside Astra but it makes him top-tier automatically.
-Astra is the broken skill, but Chrom's Luna is probably #2 since it just raises damage a bunch. Chrom's pretty smooth and easy to control but isn't exceptional at anything. Lucina is similar, minus Luna (though Awakening is good too), but attacks a bit faster which is nice.
-Rowan and Lianna are the sword-users with staves. Staves are great. The game doesn't tell you they can use staves. Lianna gets Live to Serve which allows staff users to heal themselves and is therefore good. I find their skillsets a big sluggish/not too impressive overall but the C4 which both shows stun gauge and has a decent AoE is a solid enough bread-and-butter move.
-Xander has great mobility, his basic X attack can be used on the run which is great for mowing through enemies when trying to rack up KOs. Not much to say otherwise.
-Corrin mixes in some dragon attacks with her sword work but her skillset mostly just feels kinda sluggish and not very impressive.
-Lyn and Marth are kinda there. Some people seem to think Lyn's really good but I dunno, she doesn't really stand out to me. Don't have Celica yet.
Lances:
-Well all three pegasus knights are basically the same character! They have staves so they're automatically worthwhile. Past that they are pretty effective at tying up single officers or even groups of them with their ability to juggle them in the air for a while. Can be a bit awkward sometimes. Flight is great, high move AND can fly over enemies AND can fly over certain gaps in the map. Arrow weakness is awful on paper but y'know it's an action game so you just learn how to not get hit; matters more when you're not controlling them.
Axes:
-I haven't really used Lissa too much; I found her a bit weird. Have watched Magey play her and he seems to get a lot more out of her so at some point I will try more.
-Frederick is kinda Xander minus, both his move stat is lower and his attack while moving is much more awkward. He does tie individual officers up better though.
-Camilla is basically the AoE queen, I thought her giant fireball was the best AoE move in the game then I discovered her wyvern stomp (X while dashing), nobody is better at racking up KOs. High Str means she does heavy damage to officers too, though her combos are a bit slower than most (nothing Astra couldn't fix!).
Bows:
-They kill fliers really well but they can't gain weapon triangle advantage otherwise which is unfortunate. I've not used Takumi too much due to not really caring for him, Sakura's... okay. She can use staves at least but unless fliers are around I don't really find her "worth it". The Topsy-Turvy skill (makes her attacks run off magic) does help giver her a niche, she becomes rather mage-like with that.
Mages:
-All three have an attack which breaks guard immediately, which helps make up for no WTA. They also kill armours well as you might imagine, though anyone can with the right skill. On the other hand they're really awful at damaging mages (and there's no weakness-hitting skill for them) so you have to make sure you bring someone else who can take care of those. Robin's got the smoother and more effective combos, while Elise gets staves and a horse. Leo seems kinda like an inferior version of Elise, sadly; lower magic AND no staves? I still use him plenty because Leo (and having a horse really is useful in this game), but yeah.
Tiki:
-Is Young Link, which means she's hot garbage outside of Awakening Mode but better than most in that (and can convert her special gauge to Awakening to get it more often). I don't find this that useful because everyone wrecks face in Awakening Mode anyway and I don't find that wrecking things slightly harder makes up for no WTA + being generally terrible outside it. But I'm sure there are some situations where all you need is a quick Awakening mode blitz and she's useful.
Ryoma ~= Camilla > Pegasus Knights > Elise > others probably works as my super-tentative ranking; I'll be interested to see how others feel.
Anyway I've done the main plot, gotten a bunch more of the art, completed some of the history mode maps (gotten Lyn, female Robin, male Corrin, not that I'd be caught dead using male Corrin). Will probably play at least long enough to finish more of History Mode and then we'll see.
Invisible Inc. - Played a little of this too although it can't really compete with FEW for me, which isn't really a criticism, but still must be noted. Anyway, mm. In some ways it feels like a game I should like a lot, strategy map (it's so number-light that I hesitate to call it a SRPG) with meaningful decisions and is non-random. I do find myself frustrated with the procedural design, though; I once drew a map that I thought just completely dicked me over (nearly linear, more enemies than I had units, the exit point was right by the starting point; I had to reload that mission and don't really see a way I could have done it better besides not do it). And I don't care for the game's kinda roguelike feel. I feel like the game could have been really great with some carefully-designed puzzly maps to get through, don't think what we actually got is gonna work nearly as well for me. But it's interesting enough to make me keep at it.
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Dark Souls 3: beat. Still have the Ringed City DLC to go, but I've done basically everything else. the Twins were a fantastic boss. Friede was amazing. Final boss very strong. Nameless King was a diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick and made me wish the game had Bloodborne style dodging. Dragonrider Armor too, but less so. Consumed King or whatever his name is also good. Really liked how he freaked out mid-boss fight - it was super thematically appropriate to be able to stand back and say, "man this dude has lost it." Game is cool, Fashion Souls is VERY strong, especially the profusion of boss weapon special abilities. Visually the game is fantastic, and the level design is excellent. The plot kinda underscores how tough it is to make a sequel to Dark Souls where it feels like there's meaning in what is going on. I'm not sure they could have made a game matching the epic scope of Dark Souls and in the same world as Dark Souls and had it turn out better than it did, though. Once I've done the final DLC and looked up the very, very many things I'm sure I have missed, I'll reevaluate that.
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Eien no Filena always sounded 100% like a "Why the hell hasn't Cid played this?" game. Why the hell haven't I played this?
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Eien no Filena is super cool, but I seem to recall its first fan translation was kinda rough? Has it been updated since 2006 or whenever it was I played it?
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Pimping another mobile game. Spell Chaser came out yesterday, and it's very groovy. You don't collect characters, you collect skills and equip them to generic characters. Lots of character design fun and good aesthetics. End result reminds me a lot of Blade and Soul, which is very impressive for a mobile game.
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Sundered: Finished the resist path on hard, now trying corrupt on insane
I’m a bit disappointed that there were only 3 big bosses + the final one. Even if, admittedly, they were all kind of a mess gameplay wise. They all got so awesome and impossible near the end!
I’d think that this is purely a Get Bigger Numbers And Win game but that isn’t actually true. Replaying on insane, I’m actually having a much easier time even with no corrupted ability yet.
It’s a bit disappointing there’s an happy, if bittersweet, ending. I know I shot for this one but I still wanted it to be bad. It’s like playing Drakengard: you want a good ending but actually you want a bad ending.
Also I can’t believe Nyarlie ended up being a mere pawn to some shiny losange from nowhere
I like md this game
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I'd definitely recommend going for the pacifist ending. Well worth your time.
Took a shot at this, but it just went from too easy to yeowch. I pacified the Ruins & Snowdin just fine, with the bosses being surprisingly wimpy in a Pacifist route. (Was kinda hoping for a Toriel not pulling her punches, since she blatantly refuses to kill you in Neutral.) I liked Papyrus's reactions though (he justifies not using the bridge gauntlet of DOOM to save it for Undyne who'd appreciate it properly). No puzzles to slow you down in Waterfall which was nice. That said, it's too bad you have to to stay on the good ending you have to take on MK, he's my ledge-hopping bro and can serve at my side if I was in charge, but so it goes. Anyway, I got completely wrecked by Undyne the Undying. Maybe I should have picked up the extra invincibility gear earlier? Not sure, the def hit seemed bad. I can sorta deal with the bullet spam, but once the bullets start teleporting around to the other edge, graaaaah noooo death. Clearly needed more weird rhythm game practice from NotMiki to do this right.
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True peace is built on the corpses of men, Mr. Snow "Hauser" Fire.
Anyway yeah part of the point of Genocide is that hey you powergrinded like a crazy person, now you get to OHKO all the bosses don't you feel special. (Undyne the Undying is literally the only exception, though there's an asterisk to my statement there...) I imagine it might have annoyed me if I'd played Genocide blind (I generally do not enjoy bait-and-switch into a joke fight as a rule) but y'know that's probably one of the lighter things that keeps me from playing it, and is honestly part of the point I think.
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Elf: Yeah, I'm familiar with Mr. Atk 1, Def 1, weakest enemy in the game.
On a slightly different note...
Trails in the Sky SC- Beat the towers. The Enforcers were mostly sad bunches (Luciola was especially trashy, having your 5HKO at best damage be MT is not a trick). The game's writers also just seemed to acknowledge that Kloe's princess hair makes no sense.
I think I've whined about this elsewhere, but aside from Kloe's portrait hair, Kloe's SC plot is a little weird since it seems unfinished...? There's a (dumb, IMO) plotline where she's having doubts about her ability to be a good ruler, and Dunan has inexplicably reformed himself while under house arrest, and then this leads... precisely nowhere. (Well, some unrelated revelations about the origin of Liberl's royal house, I guess. Convenient nobody overthrew it in a thousand years, yeah, right, Japan.) Considering that the likes of Agate have a full plot, it's weird that they apparently left a JP fan favorite hanging.
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http://www.siliconera.com/2017/11/23/romancing-saga-2-headed-westward-ps-vita-game-consoles-december/
Soon...
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Dark Souls 3: finished the DLC other than the dragon boss, who is hilariously resistant to anything my build can do, thanks in large part to being locked out of advanced sorceries due to beating Abyss Watchers before heading to Cathedral of the Deep. Not amusing, game. I may respec and give it a go with dex or str weapons, we'll see.
Future Tone: started this up again because my roommate bought a new TV that doesn't lag like the old one did. Most games you compensate mentally for lag, but for rhythm games at a high level it's just not doable. At least, not for me. My current goal is to perfect all the 7.5 difficulty songs on extreme. 12/31 so far, but it's gonna be a long road with the likes of Meteor and Necomimi SwitchStay With Me holy shit how are you even supposed to do that section in the mix.
Odin Sphere remake: beat this. It's Odin Sphere, but with gameplay! Cool game, but it doesn't address the biggest issue of the original, being that it is really dang long and items are fiddly. Combat in the remake is an absolute joy. Anyway, cool game.
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I’d say the biggest issue with Odin Sphere is that so many attacks come from off screen
Sundered: Embrace path boss is almost impossible on insane mode. I can deal with the first part but then I’m screwed for the second. The embrace abilities were amazing.
Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen: I loved this game when it had like 10 FPS and I love it even more now
Playing as a mage -> sorceror for the earliest Maelstrom unlock
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What were the improvements to the gameplay? I was always interested in the original OS but what I watched of the gameplay didn't grab me.
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The changes amount to a complete overhaul of what characters can do other than their basic attack combo. Basically they add versatility to each characters' basic moveset, plus entirely retool special skills. Spells and skills are now usable with shortcuts so you don't need to open a menu. Characters can do a lot more to keep combos going, and have superior mobility options, which is good because (at least on hard) enemies hit hard if they hit at all. So for example Gwen now can execute a series of midair swoops she can combo into a dive, all as part of her regular moveset. That's all from being midair and holding attack and the direction you want to swoop. It feels great, really sells that she's a midair fighter preying on those on the ground. Probably the best improvement. Mercedes has a couple ground-based skills like one that arcs over an enemy in a semicircle in front of her while firing, doing damage and (hopefully) getting out of trouble. Oswald has a normal move that allows him to throw his sword forward then teleport to its position. Cornelius is still boring, etc. Additionally, there are some new miniboss fights and they're all awesome - they really demonstrate how far Vanillaware has come in terms of gameplay. Anyway, look up some gameplay videos - it's probably better to see for yourself.
Also: Gwen's ultimate skill is the most blatant Nieblung Velasti ripoff you will ever see. It's great.
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It's Odin Sphere, but with gameplay!
I don't believe you.
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Path of Exile - I did race, got a level 40 Witch without ascending. The Exp gain in this league is bonkers. I am probably looking at playing next League, will anyone else be interested?
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It's Odin Sphere, but with gameplay!
My interest is piqued.
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I had a lot of fun with it!
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Niu enters the topic, and Niu is surprised.
Why is there a discussion of Eien no Filena here?
No, I mean how did DL found up of this game? Or have I underestimated DL's lesbian lust?
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(http://lpix.org/1831185/finale.png)
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It's beautiful...! :'(
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WGAYP post from DJinn, expect it to be a post about Battle Chef Brigade. It is not. Disappoint. I will just have to play it and post about it instead I guess.
Fire Emblem Warriors - I still play this every now and then. It is good but I could really go for some of that DLC hitting soon because the map grinding is a bit slow. I need something to really let me push someone into the mid 70s or so because holy fuck that Anna map is brutal.
Path of Exile - Did the recent race, got something to 40. 35 guaranteed free microtransaction loot box, 40 gave you a chance for some dumb cosmetics I will never use. Enjoyed it, will play next season I think. MIght try mapping in end game in the new patch that hits next week.
THat's about all I have done in a while though. Some mild poking into Watch_Dogs 2 and Assassin's Creed Syndicate. Some Baldur's Gate. Same starting replay of Pillars of Eternity, but not much for more than a single play session.
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I don't have access to a Switch at the moment, Shun has it at his family's house. So no Battle Chef Brigade for me. Yet.
I am going to play the shit out of it soon.
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Dark Souls 3: beat for reals this time. Here's the summary of a conversation on chat:
<Me> Oh I can't beat Darkeater Midir. 3hrd5me.
<Cid> Here let me casually drop this video I have of me beating that boss without getting hit.
<Me> Oh. Yeah uh. That sure looks like it would work.
*Me beats Darkeater Midir in, like, 5 or 6 tries from then.
Didn't do it exactly the way Cid did - I relied on this strange Souls technique called "blocking" which is a way to cheat past moves without having to dodge them. It's really amazing! This "blocking" thing. The moral of the story is that Cid is a better resource for DS3 advice than the internet.
Dark Souls 3 I liked a lot in the end. It's not revolutionary like Bloodborne. It didn't keep me up at night wondering about its implications. What it DID do was give me a solid slug of the most polished, highest-quality Souls gameplay you could want. It was very pretty. Its bosses were solid at worst and spectacular at best. Its stage design was exemplary. Did I mention it was pretty? The DLC has a few run-ins with the dragon boss I mentioned before you actually fight it, and it rorrs and blasts you with gouts of smoky flame and it looks *awesome*.
Its sidequests were annoying. Like exotic plants you foolishly bought despite living in colder climes, they die to the merest brush. Sometimes they die without you even touching them. Frail things. Also some older dude put 5 dark marks on my body that would never heal - without my consent! And then his sexy protege or whatever tried to hook me up with this dude(?) It was kinda skeevy. Lapp's questline in the DLC, though? Perfect. Absolutely perfect. A finer send-off for the series I could not imagine.
To come back to the plot...I think Dark Souls kinda poisoned the well for its sequels because it starts with the premise that baaaaaaasically nothing that has happened for the whole of human history has any lasting impact. So the strivings of Man that are on display here feel muted. DS1 this doesn't matter much because the game's plot is, at its core, an archeological adventure in which you discover the fates of the gods, and gain some understanding of how the world came to exist in its disjointed state. SOME of it has impact, but not a lot. The Consumed King is great, and surveying item descriptions for details relating to his reign is a rewarding endeavor. Lothric, too. His history not quite as interesting but punctuated by a superb, and superbly creepy, boss fight.
I haven't yet given DS3 lore a deep dive. Perhaps my feelings on it will change when I do. But the sprawling, unfocused nature of the world, plus the fact that most of the really big stuff we already understand (to an acceptable degree, anyway) makes it fall short of the impact of DS1 or Bloodborne.
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Lapp's questline in the DLC, though? Perfect. Absolutely perfect. A finer send-off for the series I could not imagine.
I think this might actually be the highlight of the game. Most cutscenes I skip on a replay. But *spoilers's* farewell, I watch that every time.
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Now I'm trying to remember other cutscenes. I guess the game must have had them, but Lothric and Lorian is the only one that comes to mind. And that one's awesome.
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Nier Automata: Play prologue -> ignore game for nine months -> it's a healthy baby boy!
See, this is the kind of thing I do avoid spoilers for.
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And here you thought the cheekiest achievement would involve looking at 2B's butt
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What. Is this really a thing.
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(http://www.rpgdl.com/wiki/images/3/3c/Xcom_soldiersavailable.png)
Hospital Ship Simulator 2035 X-COM2
Started playing this. Was worried that the game would be too easy by reputation, and... hmm. Turned out harder than expected, but not for the reason I would have thought. If you go in with your "best" team, the game is fair enough. But the D&D-esque HP inflation means there's a much starker difference between Rookies and Vets than in the 2012 X-COM, and certainly vs. the original 1994 X-COM. And you can't always deploy your best team, because they are healing from the horrible injuries they sustained last mission. And while I suppose it is REALISTIC that your soldiers have to take long timeouts after getting blasted by plasma cannons, this can mean big problems in just plain having enough troops to deploy. I pretty much always get a "Troop understrength" warning after every mission. I'm currently slightly stuck because I have a retaliation mission to handle, I'm very low on supplies due to constantly having to feed Rookies into the meat grinder (oh how I wish I hadn't wasted Supplies on stuff like longer drop timers or an extra scientist when now I don't have enough to buy better armor for my squad), and 2 vets + 3 rookies are not really handling Mutons with tanky officer & thin man/snake backup. Stun Lancers feel like a particular issue for rookies; they just run straight at them and murder them. (But if their damage was less, they couldn't even pretend to threaten vets?! Moral: nerf their damage but give less HP on promotions.) Maybe I should just reload the Geoscape and ignore the mission while waiting for my teammates to feel better? Ugh.
Random comments stuff:
* Why is everyone Spider-Man? Climbing buildings ain't no thing in the future. You don't even need the spider-suit, vertical movement, especially vertical movement up, seems way too cheap in this game. You'd think that being on the third floor of a building would offer some modicum of safety, or at least warning, but nothing like Stun Lancers cheerfully running from far off up pipes/ladders to zap your snipers up there. Then a MEC tossing a grenade that blows up the roof and sends everyone plummeting to their deaths on the first floor from fall damage. (It'd be sorta okay if only PCs could do this, or if soldiers on Overwatch automatically got a crit on enemies trying to scale ladders near them.)
* Mind control is still really brutal. It's okay if only a Rookie bites it (Serra murdered Priscilla in a fit of jealousy over her being the better healer, I can only presume), but (in events I reloaded) I've totally had a vet wipe out two other vets while mind controlled. That kind of roll going badly seems really centralizing on an Ironman run or something.
* I like how Canadian Amelia got a single kill, then died from a Stun Lancer running straight at her. Very much honors how training up recruits works in FE8.
* I love the trolling in the metaplot. "That first time you played X-COM, got stuck, and restarted? That was the real campaign. The next 6 times you played X-COM? That was you controlling the ALIEN side while thinking you were controlling humans." A good way to make the Commander seem like a badass for authentic reasons rather than "everyone loves you just 'cuz" too.
The current roster of the Fallen (Ignore Peter & Ana, the prologue mission forced deaths, and Charlie was a rando dude as a mission reward). I think it's missing two people who didn't get saved properly due to the Internet being out at the time, but I forget who.
(http://www.rpgdl.com/wiki/images/9/91/Xcom_fallen.png)
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What. Is this really a thing.
23.0% of people who played it on ps4 could tell you the answer to that question.
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What. Is this really a thing.
Yes. But hey you can buy it if you don’t want to try and force it but want the Platinum.
Is that base game Snowfire? WotC adds in a fatigue mechanic as well where troops Will drains over successive missions. They really push rotating your team in 2.
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XCOM2 base. Oh, the troops rotate alright. They rotate from 1 mission directly into a hospital bed to sit out the next 2 missions or so. (And I've got a troop who's Shaken, so that mechanic sorta exists in base too... I think that happens if you get wounded repeatedly too often. Look, girl, it was a freak long-range crit when you were on a roof under cover. I dunno what to say other than you've got bad luck.)
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Shaken is more due to harm and stress in the mission, expansion just has straight up participating in combat being fatiguing. But yeah it is an expansion of the same system.
Base game it is taking damage or team mates taking damage/dying that triggers it.
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Hollow Knight - replaying this because Gate playing it inspired me and because it is awesommmmm. Platforming and combat is as tight as I remembered, and both provide impressive challenges in the lategame. The sheer number of routes you could conceivably take through the game is honsetly kinda staggering. There are ways into and out of zones that imply an order of picking up movement upgrades that is technically possible but so far away from what you yourself have done that it's honestly kinda crazy. (Just one example for those who have played it - you can get to Resting Grounds for the first time using the Tram Pass instead of falling into it from Crystal Peak. Raise your hand if that's how you did it. Put your hand down, you liar.)
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What. Is this really a thing.
Yes. But hey you can buy it if you don’t want to try and force it but want the Platinum.
Knowing me, it'll happen anyway.
Nier/A: Another day, another boss where I have no idea what is even happening on my screen right now, jesus. Hacking too much time! I just mash a lot of buttons and item spam and this seems to get me through so far, but sooner or later I should probably figure out how equipment upgrades. Also how did that boss theme die round in the music tourney, seriously.
I met an inventor robot who asked for all my money for unspecified future rewards. Gambled 10k gold to find out How Yoko Taro Is This? And the answer is Yes.
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You will be happy to know that that boss has by far the worst camera of the lot
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Nier Automata: Of course Eve is a shirtless bishy, because Yoko Taro.
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What an odd thing to say...
It's not like Yoko Taro is known for ever having a shirtless bishy before.
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(http://images.sgcafe.net/2017/08/Eve.png)
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Nier Automata: Of course Eve is a shirtless bishy, because Yoko Taro.
This is actually tame compare to brother Nier's shota prostitution.
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Xenoblade 2
All the good guys are designed by a hentai artist featuring a "Furby that talks like Jar Jar Binks with a sex slave robot" and most of them have British/Scottish/Welsh/Australian accents. All the bad guys are designed by Tetsuya Nomura, looking like rejects from a Kingdom Hearts game and all of them have American accents. Feels like two very different asethtic directions were going on at the same time and they don't clash very well in cutscenes.
Also I bet the pope is the final boss, AGAIN.
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Xenoblade 2 looked like trashy anime from the moment we first saw it. I don't know why they decided to go this direction. They had a perfectly acceptable non-trash anime aesthetic going on before.
This current style is like... Nowi-level terrible.
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Xenoblade 2 looked like trashy anime from the moment we first saw it. I don't know why they decided to go this direction. They had a perfectly acceptable non-trash anime aesthetic going on before.
This current style is like... Nowi-level terrible.
One problem that Monolith has right now, admitted by Takahashi, is that they lack a well known recognizable artist for their character designs.
So he fetch people from outside to make things work.
And I guess Takahashi just made the logical decision in his choice. Because you know how players in Japan when they see large eye moe girls.
As for Nomura, Takahashi knows the guy, which is why. And having a recognizable artist working on the design is Takahashi's original goal, so Nomura is like a very obvious choice.
So basically, Takashi wants a brand and a style that can appeal to the masses. Simple as that.
And how disagreeable you may be on his choice... it DOES work in attracting the players.
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I dunno... looking like everything else doesn't seem like a great plan for creating a recognizable brand...
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What an odd thing to say...
I just assume any statement in the format of "Of course [ridiculous thing X] happened, because Yoko Taro" is automatically explicable no matter how ridiculous X is, because Yoko Taro. Hasn't felt out of place yet, doubt it's gonna.
Anyway. Muscled through ending A, vaguely annoyed at unfinished sidequests being cut off by The Dark Colossus Destroys All Most, but apparently it doesn't matter in the long run. Stopped for the night after accidentally getting ending G twice in a row because it's not terribly clear there what's out of bounds. The physical inconvenience of being a Fisher-Price robot are keenly felt, game. I also forgot to mention how much the dead aliens reminded me of the claymation space iguanas from Laserblast (which Leonard Malten thinks is a better movie than Nier: Automata).
Is there anything in this game that item spam doesn't work against? So far it's compensated ably for my incompetence at action games.
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Is there anything in this game that item spam doesn't work against?
NOPE
Item spam is your friend.
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So basically Xenoblade's character design quality now matches it's battle and system design quality?
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So basically Xenoblade's character design quality now matches it's battle and system design quality?
Savage! I guess if XBC's vaguely "ATB w/ free movement" system doesn't appeal to you, then... No. Still no. Even if you abhor XBC's battle system and MMO-like exploration, they aren't openly trashy like XBC2's character designs. (And reportedly XBC2's battle system is a bit more refined, so if anything the gameplay is -better- than before.)
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I actually think XB- minus graphics and to a lesser degree music and exploration- basically has nearly the worst of everything of all the RPGs I've ever played. That said, I really should have said that the character design now matched the quality of the writing, because that was really my biggest beef with XB.
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My post wasn't really serious at all but Niu basically sums it up. Xenoblade 2 is a product much like Fire Emblem Awakening/Fates where they needed an artist(s) to appeal to the masses because they didn't have stable recognizable brand.
My joke was all the main characters are cute anime girls while all the bad guys were bishie pretty boys.
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Why aren't people mentioning that XB2 has a garbage of user interface?
It also has bunch of tiny annoy user unfriendly scattered all over the place as if it is a unpolished game from 2 decades ago?
The core system is okay I guess. But it totally fails at optimization to the point that Takahashi is preparing a patch to fix them.
And the plot in XB2, oh god. It is almost a chimera. Takahashi clearly wants to do a philosophical and melancholy filled story XG style. Yet for some reason he tries to force that into a cute and colorful anime motif, thus ends up half baked on both ends. I feel like banging my head to he wall whenever game can pulls a super depressed apocalyptic revelation a moment before and revert to some happy go lucky anime stuff jusr a few moments later.
....But I somehow can't blame him on this. What he wanted to do already failed him twice, while what he should do to maintain sales is something that's so distant away from how he feels.
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Well the menu button doesn't open the goddamn menu. This isn't the Wii, put the goddamn menu on the X/Triangle button.
Also to powerup the steampunk KOS-MOS character you have to play a shitty 8 bit mini-game that kicks you out every you fail or win. You have to play this minigame around 20 or more times to get any real use out of her. So all the time loading back into the minigame adds up over time. She's also your primary tank character so you kind of need to if you don't want a shitty team comp.
If you miss any tutorial, too bad because there's no way to view it again. If you want to understand the gameplay mechanics, you either have to learn by brute force or watch a youtube video.
The longer you play, the worse the texture pop up gets. There's a serious memory leak that can crash the game after extended periods of time. There's no auto save, so you can lose hours of progress.
All of this shit can be fixed with a patch, and I like the core gameplay and characters. Of course I'm not triggered by whacky anime hijinks or out of place boobies. There is a dick joke in the game so Grefters beware.
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I actually think XB- minus graphics and to a lesser degree music and exploration- basically has nearly the worst of everything of all the RPGs I've ever played. That said, I really should have said that the character design now matched the quality of the writing, because that was really my biggest beef with XB.
Okay. I get it. Something about XB ticked you off. Still, I doubt that an overwrought version of The Hero's Journey, no matter how cliche or boring, is somehow worse than this:
(http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/024/824/IMG_20171205_082142.jpg)
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Her waist is an ostrich neck.
EDIT: I'm not shrinking the picture, you're dealing with this fucking giant ostrich.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dk-find-out/image/upload/q_80,w_1920,f_auto/DCTM_Penguin_UK_DK_AL520967_o5r5lz.jpg)
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I have no issue with a giant ostrich.
Savage! I guess if XBC's vaguely "ATB w/ free movement" system doesn't appeal to you, then... No. Still no. Even if you abhor XBC's battle system and MMO-like exploration, they aren't openly trashy like XBC2's character designs.
I don't have a big problem with the writing (not that it's a huge point in the game's favour either; as time goes by it's pretty clear Takahashi either just got lucky with Xenogears or had some other clever writers on his staff) but I'm with Dhyer here: the original Xenoblade's battle system is that bad. You call it "ATB with free movement" but the movement of the game is a complete joke, as it's basically all an illusion. The mechanic where you can't hit something that outlevels you is awful, and the mechanic where the game interrupts the battle for like 10-15 seconds to tell you "WATCH OUT THIS DAMAGE IS COMING", which is the game's signature mechanic, is a pointless waste of time 9 times out of 10. I think it's pretty easy for a bad battle design to be as bad as, if not worse than, a bad character design, because the former is just more impactful on a game.
Similarly, while I don't personally think Xenoblade's writing is that bad, it's easy enough for a game with bad writing to have that bad writing be more important than any bad character designs.
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Hey, don't forgot the mechanic where when you fight a really tall enemy, the camera pans upward so you can't see your allies...in a game where you have to be standing basically right on top of an ally to revive!
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Hey, don't forgot the mechanic where when you fight a really tall enemy, the camera pans upward so you can't see your allies...in a game where you have to be standing basically right on top of an ally to revive!
We Camera Souls now?
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Fortnite - I doubt anyone else cares about this thing, but some patches have helped it a ton. I am still a bit burned out, but brother is enjoying it so have that and we got some more people playing so there is likely going to be people to play with so I guess I grind forever.
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Nier Automata: I am lost in sidequest land. Most of what I have left right now, I don't see any map indicators to complete, so I guess I should move on with plot (just unlocked fast travel to make the grind easier). The Comb the Desert sidequest that I've completed hopefully 2/3 of can go jump in a pit of burning fire that burns, except I guess it did prompt me to find the graveyard of giant Emil heads so maybe that's something.
Parasitic healing + the "don't get hit for a couple seconds -> get sustained passive healing" skill is just a stupidly good combo.
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We ain’t found shit?
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I knew it. I’m surrounded by assholes.
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Ludicrous speed...GO!
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So on Jim's recommendation I picked up Hollow Knight on sale a bit ago. At first brush, I did not like it. The starting two zones were too large, movement was too slow, combat was too bland with no real options or tools to work with. And the game handed out upgrades with the disdain of a miser being asked for change. One at the end of the first zone that didn't even help exploration or movement. One at the end of the second zone that did(a dash which can in fact be an air dash) but the kicker there was that you couldn't use that to get somewhere FROM the second zone. You had to go back to the first and take a different way out of there. Remember, huge zones with slow movement right now.
Then in the third zone you can do, the game cracks itself wide open and remembers that games are supposed to be fun. You get the wall jump and from there you can basically go anywhere. With that wall jump in hand(or perhaps on foot) you can go to the place you get a weapon upgrade! You can go to various places where you can finally get your HP upgraded, or your MP upgraded, or more charm slots(and, you know, more charms to put in them) so you can have actual options.
Once the game really gets running, it's one of the best metroidvanias I've played. But those first two areas are slow, large and kinda bland, like the game is making you pay a boredom tax before it lets you get to the good shit. I will absolutely recommend it to anyone who likes metroidvanias with the warning that the start is slow, so if that's a deal breaker then stay away. But the platforming is fun once you have the tools for it, and the boss fights are pretty much all in that "rough but fair" zone that is kinda ideal for these types of games. Very few bosses have I beaten try 1, I usually lose a couple times, turn the game off for a bit to take a break, come back and beat it first or second try on the next play session.
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Nier Automata: Cruising toward B ending. Reuse of material is a mainstay of Yoko Taro games, so I'm hardly surprised to see that the B route is mostly the A route with a different perspective, but it's nice how at least all the later boss encounters have been substantially different scenes than they were first run. Also, the big twist was expected, but no less consequential for it:
After the aliens turned out to all be dead, it seemed a given that all the humans would be too. Not solely because Papa Nier's actions essentially doomed humanity to a slow death, but more principally because the symmetry of having two camps of artificial lifeforms fighting pointlessly on behalf of dead creators was too clearly appropriate for the game's themes. How was a game so obsessed with existentialism not going to have your mission be hollow by design? None of this is criticism, because far from there being anything wrong with the audience figuring something out before the characters do, it can be a powerful source of drama if properly exploited. It's genuinely sad to see people start to figure out that their entire mission was a lie perpetuated solely to give them a reason to live.
Also I think I got spoiled at some point on the last boss being another android or something. I can only assume it's the commander, because we already fought A2 and she was a pushover.
Map is cleared of sidequests other than Speed Star, which is 100% fuck that race. I already FAQed your quest, guy, you don't give me a weapon so go to hell.
The soundtrack selections in the tourney mostly had me thinking "This is okay but the original Nier soundtrack was so much better," (other than A Beautiful Song, which was just how in the hell are you mooks not voting for this?) It's a testament to the effectiveness of music in context that I am starting to reverse that position.
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30+ hours and two (real) endings in, the game gives me a title screen like we're just getting started.
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South Park Phone Destroyer: Not sure what to compare this to. Closest analogy would be tower defense? You play characters from your hand and then they waddle autonomously towards the enemy leader to punch them to death. It's almost all PVP, which I usually don't like. But it's amusing me for the time being.
Dragon Project: This is unashamedly a mobile MMO Monster Hunter clone. Except there's no chasing monsters across maps for hours, so it's less tedious. Controls are good, and the Fashion Souls is strong.
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30+ hours and two (real) endings in, the game gives me a title screen like we're just getting started.
El, after you finished watching all the endings. Let me know.
If you are reading into it thus much already at this point. I am sure you'll be interested in the Fire of Prometheus, as well as Yoko Taro's out look of life in all this.
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Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Went back to my replay of this recently, which I'd stopped in Chapter 3. Am attempting to get maximum Achivement collection (despite Nintendo not saving achievements in a braggable location) of getting Fire Emblem (Hard Classic, 0 losses) and the LTC award (spend 500 combat turns or less total before the final boss). Of course thanks to Mila's Turnwheel abuse, this is a very reasonable game for doing Hard Classic, and I've allowed myself a little cheaty DLC in the free gold & 2 Villager's Forks. (The forks went to Kliff and Gray... Kliff went Mercenary-> Mage so he'd get a massive speed boost in C1. Gray waited until C3 as a Merc->Myrmidon, then is going Archer-but-with-super-speed-and-HP. Tobin went Merc route, but with a Lightning Sword, so his bad Str is irrelevant; Faye went Cleric route.) LTC means keeping random encounters to a minimum, but I think there's room for including SOME - especially for hitting some key promotion thresholds which makes later plot battles way more sane. Just make sure you try and 2-round the randos and draw in at least 2-3 enemy mobs in the rando-battles.
Anyway! Time to rant about an exceedingly minor plot point in Echoes. So in Chapter 3, there's some nebulous plan to flood Zofia (the good team's country), and we have to go to the border and open the Sluice so that the water drains. Okay, sure, whatever. EXCEPT! Only members of the royal family are allowed to open the gate. The officially extinct royal family.
Let me add here that this isn't some mystically-bound holy waterworks that only opens to royal blood. That would also be stupid, but at least gods & goddesses don't necessarily have to play by human logic rules. No, there's a guy on staff, he knows how to open the sluice, he could open it, and he's all "go away, I ain't doing nothing unless the royal family orders it." To the extent this is a Hint For Go Finish A Plot Point First, it's a plot point in the same exact location that requires no further battling or exploration, so it's not like it's much of a gameplay-required plot gate anyway. I can only imagine the alternate scenario where Celica's mom's friend doesn't show up with a convenient royal circlet as proof of her noble birth. "Yeah, look, I *could* have saved all those people who drowned and got their homes washed away, but rules iz rules. That sluice ain't never opening again if the royals are all dead." (Followed by the Sluice guy being beaten to death by the angry mob of refugee townsfolk.)
Also, (in)conveniently enough, there's another gatehouse where you have to pull the switch that Alm's team is at. Sheesh! That one at least has a solid plot-gate excuse.
So why is this plot point even in the game at all? As best I can tell, it's because that this allows Alm to figure out that Celica = Princess Anthiese. Since he noodles it over and thinks:
* Hmm, Celica's group went to the east, so obviously if anybody hit the Sluice gate over there, it'd be her group (rather than, you know, the Temple of Mila staff).
* And of course this guy I never met running the eastern sluice gate is SURELY an insane stickler for the only-royals rules.
* And if Celica's group did it AND the dude enforces the royals-only rules, it'd def be Celica who's the royal-in-disguise. (Rather than, say, Genny actually being the Princess, or the Prince who got burnt up in a fire somehow surviving and going around wearing a cool mask.)
The thing is: Alm & Celica are going to develop the ability to have telepathic remote chats halfway into Chapter 4 anyway, where he can find out the truth that way. What's the hurry that he needs to know now?! Ugh.
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Nier Automata: Last night's plot in a nutshell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIgDOehIoS0
I must be making progress, because I've reached that inevitable part in every Yoko Taro game where everyone starts dying everywhere. The big questions is just who the heck is doing all this shit with the shirtless duo gone. Do those Route C scenes differ depending on who you choose to play as? I went with prototype girl first, because new (aesthetically at least) PC, and when I switched back to hax0rs, it was clearly after all that tragedy occurred, not an "And this is what was happening elsewhere at the same time" sequence.
"I am a desert test unit designed to wipe out humanity." Sounds like Hegel to me, right?
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Do those Route C scenes differ depending on who you choose to play as?
They do not. Scenes are exactly the same, the choices determine nothing other than which order you want to play them in.
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Nier Automata: Last night's plot in a nutshell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIgDOehIoS0
I must be making progress, because I've reached that inevitable part in every Yoko Taro game where everyone starts dying everywhere. The big questions is just who the heck is doing all this shit with the shirtless duo gone. Do those Route C scenes differ depending on who you choose to play as? I went with prototype girl first, because new (aesthetically at least) PC, and when I switched back to hax0rs, it was clearly after all that tragedy occurred, not an "And this is what was happening elsewhere at the same time" sequence.
"I am a desert test unit designed to wipe out humanity." Sounds like Hegel to me, right?
This is really the point I want to tell people to stop playing and go watch the play first before they continue.
A2 simply simply isn't as relate-able of a character without prior knowledge.
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Got a Switch finally.
Immediately downloaded Battle Chef Brigade.
It. Is. Amazing.
Anyone who has a Switch or Steam should check this out.
The gameplay takes most of its cues from the Atelier series. The main character, Mina, is training to be a fantasy battle chef. There's combat sections, and cooking sections, and puzzle missions, and requests from townspeople and the like.
However, the big highlight of the game is how all of these different systems come together in daily GRAND COOK OFFS! Iron chef-style matches, only the chef has to go out and hunt their own ingredients during the match, and then bring them back and do all the cooking system puzzling within the time limit.
You eventually have to prepare 3 separate dishes, one for each judge, in a single match. It's hectic and crazy, and there's all kinds of different monster fighting patterns to learn (including how some monsters will EAT others), as well as different ingredients that monsters will drop that will have a significant impact on how you cook.
The whole package is topped off with some incredible-looking 2D hand-drawn animation and a really unique pseudo-medieval setting. The characters are all quirky anime stereotypes, but the game seems to be made by a western company, so the dialogue seems a lot more natural than usual. (It's possible it's just a really good localization, but I suspect it's originally written by an English-speaker.) Can't say much for the plot yet, but the zaniness alone is worth the $19.99.
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Got a Nioh for Christmas, so I tried that out before going to bed last night. Figured oh, I'll just knock through the first real mission, it can't be that long, but wow was that ever the confusingest peasant village I've ever had to visit. First boss took 7-8 tries? It was an educational experience. I started out with kusarigama + axe, have no long-term plans for levels and have just been taking whatever is immediately advantageous, which so far is ninja power because it boosts kusarigama attack, and also HP is good.
Will definitely finish Nier: Automata before digging into this, but looks promising. I love the cutscene after the first boss, if only because a ninja casually reaches into his shirt mid-discussion to pull out a cat, consult it like it was a pocketwatch, then shove it back in like this was a thing normal people do all the time in a conversation.
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Nioh lets you respec 4 cheep so don't sweat stats and just try whatever weapons you want. Other thoughts coming from the likes of DS3: Nioh enemies have short aggro ranges and stealth ninjutsu techs are very powerful. Also, ranged headshots do ridiculous damage. Sense Enemies is extremely strong (hard to come by early in the game unless you chose Isonade as your starting spirit, but it's a spirit shark so I assume you did. Are you remembering to use Living Weapon? I was constantly struggling to remember it. May just be me tho. Too much of a Dark Souls mindset to remember to go super saiyan. Its activation gives you i-frames so it's great in many situations.
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Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - So I dusted off my GBA emulation folder and found this lying around? I'm liking it better than Hollow Knight as of now, at least. Currently frolicking around the Chapel, beat the second boss by spamming unlimited Skeleton Archer arrows. The Soul System is pretty fun.
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Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice - Very mediocre so far. :'( I'm in the middle of Case 2 right now, and the game is a combination of two things I don't care for much: AA4 and Spirit Channelling. The first case is very very dull, especially the defendent who is very apathy inducing which makes Phoenix's motivation make no sense, and the second case seems to want to wrap up AA4's plot, which would have been better to throw in the trash heap.
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I think SoJ picks up considerably as it goes, but if you don't like spirit channeling I got some bad news for you...
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Nioh lets you respec 4 cheep so don't sweat stats and just try whatever weapons you want. Other thoughts coming from the likes of DS3: Nioh enemies have short aggro ranges and stealth ninjutsu techs are very powerful. Also, ranged headshots do ridiculous damage. Sense Enemies is extremely strong (hard to come by early in the game unless you chose Isonade as your starting spirit, but it's a spirit shark so I assume you did. Are you remembering to use Living Weapon? I was constantly struggling to remember it. May just be me tho. Too much of a Dark Souls mindset to remember to go super saiyan. Its activation gives you i-frames so it's great in many situations.
-Many DS gameplay habits translate here, in other ways it's doing its own thing. Main lesson is ki pulse all day every day, it should be automatic closure to the end of every attack sequence, running out of stamina here is a lot more likely to be fatal than it tends to be in DS. Also, at least from first boss, full run is often a more effective evasion strategy than trying to get perfect dodge timing down. Enemy attack tracking isn't as strong.
-I picked bird familiar.
-I mostly use Living Weapon for oni instead of actually learning how to fight them. I find this is hard to employ in any disciplined manner, which you kind of have to because you're not actually invincible while it's on, you just feel like you are, then you get hit and lose time from the meter. The temptation to spam attack is strong! Successful boss run didn't use it at all, meter wasn't full.
-The inventory bloat in this game gets totally insane, doesn't it.
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Well, Spirit is literally in the name, so I am not surprised, per se...
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XCOM2 - I've been hacking away at this game over the past week or so. It is very fun times, better than the original, but still nitpicks about the line of sight and other things. I feel like the dominant class in this game is Ranger, whereas in the previous game it was split between Assault and Sniper. I’ve gotten through the mission where you kill the Avatar, and it’s been a little hair ever since because most of my best people got injured trying to do that mission and my B team is definitely not up to snuff.
I like a lot of the new out of battle mechanics - the Avatar project timer adds just enough tension that you can’t meander indefinitely, but it is not too threatening overall. I also like the moving from place to place grabbing allies instead of fine balancing act of losing countries that are on your side. The game has more of an underdog feel than the first game which is actually kind of fun. I feel like a few different things about the game are more streamlined.
The text is very small! I don’t really understand why the text isn’t a sensible size. And the load times are a freaking disaster. What is this, 1998?
Twilight Struggle - I downloaded this game and the Turn Zero / expansion pack on my iPad.
Turn Zero feels overall pretty irrelevant, but can add some extra spice to the game if you’ve played it too many times.
There are six events, and each player gets a two +1, one +2, and one ‘cancelling’ event that you can play on one of the six events. Three of the events are US slanted, and three are USSR slanted. Each event has four outcomes depending on the dice rolls. Two events are good for the country that the event is slanted toward, and one event is good for the other side. The fourth event favors neither.
Probably the nastiest single event is rolling a 6 on the Yalta and Potsdam; it causes the US to automatically get a powerful, high-Ops card in their hand AND lets them go first on turns 1-3. This feels very crippling as a USSR player because it mitigates a huge advantage that they have; that they usually can coup before the US does. I don’t feel like any of the corresponding USSR events are as nasty. Losing Ussuri is pretty rude but not as game warping.
One interesting this is that one of the US events than can happen in Turn Zero is the Europe Scoring card can be changed so that control is the same bonus as domination (rather than instant win). Not that it comes up all that often, but does that benefit US more than USSR?
The new space race is… interesting, but most of the cool bonuses are too far in to really care about. USSR in particular really doesn’t want to chase the space race because of all of those nasty 2 op US cards.The rerolling one coup result per turn is really great, but you have to get 6 boxes in to get it! I hardly ever do.
The expansion cards … most of them feel irrelevant or boring. Who Lost China and Don’t Wait for the Translation are both cards that feel very niche (I guess an attempt to make MilOps more relevant?) As someone who prefers playing as the USSR, they feel (rightly) slanted against the USSR, but sometimes in annoying ways. For example, Berlin Wall is a ‘USSR’ card in the mid-war that gives you 2 influence in east germany and if you tied or behind in the space race, you go ahead one box. But if the US gets this and plays it, I don’t care much for influence in EG and I am forced to go ahead in the space race against my will! First Lightning is a USSR card but the DEFCON-suicide potential is strong for both sides. I’m not really convinced that the game needed more DEFCON suicide options, to be honest. At least the USSR can usually use this card on their first action of the round, but blah.
Kremlin Flu is a game warping card that feels out of line with the general philosophy of player autonomy that the game has, especially after the removal of the dreadful Original Aldrich Ames card. It has the potential to either a) give US back to back actions b) makes USSR play a scoring card at a bad time and c) is a defcon suicide card for the USSR after Fidel is played or any other mid-war battleground. Just an awful card. What were they thinking?
I will likely continue to play with the Turn zero part but not the extra cards or space race.
AA6 - Finished case 2! I actually ended up liking the case pretty well, even if it starts kind of weak. Lots of good PW humor with Apollo, Athena, Sahdmadhi, and the players in the case. I feel like the actual plot of the murder doesn’t make that much sense, but the killer is stylish and fun so who cares.
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Nioh lets you respec 4 cheep so don't sweat stats and just try whatever weapons you want. Other thoughts coming from the likes of DS3: Nioh enemies have short aggro ranges and stealth ninjutsu techs are very powerful. Also, ranged headshots do ridiculous damage. Sense Enemies is extremely strong (hard to come by early in the game unless you chose Isonade as your starting spirit, but it's a spirit shark so I assume you did. Are you remembering to use Living Weapon? I was constantly struggling to remember it. May just be me tho. Too much of a Dark Souls mindset to remember to go super saiyan. Its activation gives you i-frames so it's great in many situations.
-Many DS gameplay habits translate here, in other ways it's doing its own thing. Main lesson is ki pulse all day every day, it should be automatic closure to the end of every attack sequence, running out of stamina here is a lot more likely to be fatal than it tends to be in DS. Also, at least from first boss, full run is often a more effective evasion strategy than trying to get perfect dodge timing down. Enemy attack tracking isn't as strong.
-I picked bird familiar.
-I mostly use Living Weapon for oni instead of actually learning how to fight them. I find this is hard to employ in any disciplined manner, which you kind of have to because you're not actually invincible while it's on, you just feel like you are, then you get hit and lose time from the meter. The temptation to spam attack is strong! Successful boss run didn't use it at all, meter wasn't full.
-The inventory bloat in this game gets totally insane, doesn't it.
I did not think the game was well served by diablo loot. I wouldn't sweat it too too much for a while. Late in the game there are rare affixes to really look out for. Early, just be on the lookout for enemy/treasure/kodama sense. Until you're very late in the game, weapon affixes matter way less than raw stats. On the topic of loot, the gravestones of other players you can touch to fight an AI with their loadout? Drop that player's weapon/armor at a high rate. Very much worth your time.
So there are a trio of samurai skills, one per stance, that say they allow you to use ki pulses while dodging. This is incorrect - they actually make it so that whenever you dodge you automatically ki pulse. This is Good. They are a shared skill that unlocks for every weapon type at once.
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Oh, and in amusing notes for XCOM2 than only a couple people will find funny, my best character is named Carrie Price and is from Canada.
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Fire Emblem Fates - Doing a Lunatic Conquest run, currently up to Chapter 19. It's pretty enjoyable, though on Classic it's brutally unforgiving. Every death is 100% your fault but there's a lot of stuff to remember and plan for. It's a lot like Hard - enemy stats aren't actually any higher - but with a few key extra enemies and extra skills which can make a big difference. Status staves are more common to punish overreliance on single units but at times that's still the way to go. Different formations are better handled with dual strikes or pair up, as usual, and different tanking builds are rewarded in different situations, too, which is nice. Not much to say, if you've played Fates you know how this works; I'm rather impressed that it keeps the basic fairness of the design.
Cosmic Star Heroine - Started this up. Has a very clear Chrono Trigger meets Phantasy Star 4 feel. The game feels a little less open with its information than past Zeboyd titles but still seems like it has pretty enjoyable gameplay so far.
I also finished Invisible Inc and Fire Emblem Warriors (well, FEW isn't finished as such, but I feel like I've done enough at least for now), I'll probably say more about them with my year-end reviews at this point.
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Nioh lets you respec 4 cheep so don't sweat stats and just try whatever weapons you want. Other thoughts coming from the likes of DS3: Nioh enemies have short aggro ranges and stealth ninjutsu techs are very powerful. Also, ranged headshots do ridiculous damage. Sense Enemies is extremely strong (hard to come by early in the game unless you chose Isonade as your starting spirit, but it's a spirit shark so I assume you did. Are you remembering to use Living Weapon? I was constantly struggling to remember it. May just be me tho. Too much of a Dark Souls mindset to remember to go super saiyan. Its activation gives you i-frames so it's great in many situations.
-Many DS gameplay habits translate here, in other ways it's doing its own thing. Main lesson is ki pulse all day every day, it should be automatic closure to the end of every attack sequence, running out of stamina here is a lot more likely to be fatal than it tends to be in DS. Also, at least from first boss, full run is often a more effective evasion strategy than trying to get perfect dodge timing down. Enemy attack tracking isn't as strong.
-I picked bird familiar.
-I mostly use Living Weapon for oni instead of actually learning how to fight them. I find this is hard to employ in any disciplined manner, which you kind of have to because you're not actually invincible while it's on, you just feel like you are, then you get hit and lose time from the meter. The temptation to spam attack is strong! Successful boss run didn't use it at all, meter wasn't full.
-The inventory bloat in this game gets totally insane, doesn't it.
I did not think the game was well served by diablo loot. I wouldn't sweat it too too much for a while. Late in the game there are rare affixes to really look out for. Early, just be on the lookout for enemy/treasure/kodama sense. Until you're very late in the game, weapon affixes matter way less than raw stats. On the topic of loot, the gravestones of other players you can touch to fight an AI with their loadout? Drop that player's weapon/armor at a high rate. Very much worth your time.
So there are a trio of samurai skills, one per stance, that say they allow you to use ki pulses while dodging. This is incorrect - they actually make it so that whenever you dodge you automatically ki pulse. This is Good. They are a shared skill that unlocks for every weapon type at once.
That's awesome, because there are times when the window between Player Attack -> Enemy Response is just a little too narrow to get off both a ki pulse and a dodge, with occasionally lamentable results. I'm getting the general impression that low stance is the hit-and-run mode, middle stance is the standard good-for-blocking mode, and high stance is just SMASH (and maximum reach on kusarigama, which is golden). I also don't fight many revenants--tried a couple in the first mission, didn't get a ton out of it, second one almost massacred me, now not taking risks unless I guess maybe they're really close to a shrine.
"That wall is looking at you funny," says the cat-clock (even William calls him this). Okay, good info. But could you have maybe also been more clear and stated "Wall will smash the fuck out of you if you poke it?" The second story mission was owning me so badly that I had to bail and go do the bandit side mission instead.
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Your assessment of stances is pretty much correct. For kusarigama, though, the attacks are unique enough that it's mostly "what specific attack do I want to use." High strong/weak, Mid weak, Low strong all have unique applications, and if you stick with that weapon you'll need to get the hang of mid-combat stance changes to get the most out of it. When I played I didn't get a ton of use out of the advanced skills you can learn (other than passives and the skill that allows you to trip an enemy with the high/strong attack).
Btw, not sure if it's even an option for you yet, but it's not really all that clear so: ninja/onmyo skills that give you consumable items, when you get a second or third level of the skill you can equip the skill multiple times so you have a larger stock of them (so equip horoku-dama up to 3 times for 6 bombs, etc)
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That isn't an option yet, but item spam is pretty much how I beat bat girl, so good to know.
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FF15 Episode Ignis: Completed both paths. I actually appreciate the "What if" storyline being a far superior outcome to the canonical one, since it is nice to establish that things COULD have been better. FF15's ending was fine and had a bitter-sweet ending, but the alt ending is basically "Heroes win, PERIOD." Normally alt endings have some kind of catch to them but no, this was "Heroes win, several people who should have died survive, and everyone is actually happy."
The 3 character DLCs were nice. Gladio's didn't really do a whole lot other than give us some back story for Cor and explain why Gladio went missing, Prompto's did finally establish some key things because Prompto has this character reveal completely off screen otherwise and it's resolved as fast as it is covered, so he really needed that arc (and it was nice to see more of Aranea too), and Ignis...holy shit.
Also, they addressed probably one of the biggest Non-Chapter 14 story criticisms in FF15 in Episode Ignis by actually having Ravus be a big part of it, because there was a character who was seemingly important OOOPS, he's gone, we dropped him. Why? ...because we ran out of time. I say Non-Chapter 14 because Chapter 14 still feels like it's from a different game (Probably why they had a time skip @_@ )...and in many ways it is, because it's all the v13 stuff they didn't have a chance to remove/repurpose.
Also, toyed around with character swapping main-game. Neat how they actually just took the combat systems of the 3 Episodes, and shoved them into the main game, with a repurposed UI to make everyone look like they're from the gameplay.
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Many moons ago I beat Bloodborne. I liked it a lot. I wrote a review of it. The review was long and rambly so I didn't post it despite Laggy pestering me to. Um now it's like 8 months later, so here goes.
Bloodborne:
Bloodborne is a staggering success, both as a game and as a work of art. I like it so much that it's hard to talk about it in anything but superlatives, but I'll try.
Comparisons to Dark Souls are inevitable, so let's just jump right into that. In Dark Souls, the game is content to have its plot unfold almost entirely environmentally, and the game rewards attention to detail and rumination over the meaning of it all. Bloodborne is similar on both counts. Quite unlike DS, though, everything is connected in Bloodborne. The threads can be tied together. You can figure Bloodborne out. It's discrete. The majority of questions you will have can be answered. And it's glorious. I hope future From games operate at this level of specificity. Dark Souls didn't and was better vague, but that's a trick that works best the first time (ok, works best the second time, because Demon's Souls is a mess. but you know what I mean.)
So what's it like to actually, y'know, play the game? Combat is awesome, but I don't have a lot to say about it. It's Dark Souls but faster and you can't block and you're encouraged to be aggressive and trade hits. Works really, really well in practice. Exploration in this game is special, even compared to the likes of Dark Souls. The tension is admirable and organic. You don't want to die and lose the souls you've collected, and on your first time through an area you especially don't want to die, because if you can clear out an entire area of enemies, you can relax a bit and take the time to understand where you are, to get elusive loot in the distance (have I mentioned what a fantastic design decision it is for loot to be easily visible from far away?). The game is designed with this in mind, with enemies positioned to get the drop on you if you're not careful, and with occasional traps to make you paranoid (no mimics though! open all the treasure chests you want!) When I first was exploring the Forbidden Woods - a remarkably difficult, twisting environment it's impossible not to get lost in - I had fought through what I thought was a mostly distinct area. I was fat with souls blood echoes and I stopped, to think about what to do next. Press on? Try to build on what I'd done so far? or go back. I thought to myself, "I shouldn't take one more step forward" and thought about it for a minute, worked up my courage and took a single step forward. Triggering a log trap that knocked me on my ass and wiped out 80% of my health. You have never seen someone teleport their ass out of a zone faster than I did. Awesome. This is a bit silly, because if you think about it logically, you lose very little by dying. You keep whatever loot you found, you don't lose any Insight (the Bloodborne equivalent of Humanity). All you lose is the blood echoes you've accumulated and the enemies you've slain. As an aside, traps in this game feel very fair - that log trap was identical to one that you'll probably trigger right after the save point at the entrance of the area where you lose essentially nothing even if you die - so if I'd been more observant of what the trigger looked like the first time around, I could have avoided the second.
Something that feeds into that in a big way is the game's sound design. So enemies jump out at you a lot, and you get paranoid that they're around every corner, or that corpse is going to rise up and attack you from behind, etc. Because you're always on alert, you're always listening for sound cues that you're about to get ambushed. Bloodborne sound is filled with false positives, and you're hearing them all the time. How close is the source of that voice? That growl? Something's out there, and it wants to kill me. Where is it?? Where is it??? It's great, and I would be convinced it's unintentional except that Dark Souls 3 isn't like that at all.
for all the frenetic combat and "oh shit" moments, though, I found the overall Bloodborne experience to be, at its base, slow and contemplative. The heart of the game is in the quiet moments where you step back and try to make sense of what you have seen and heard, take all the pieces of information you have gathered about the world, and sort out just what you think is going on. Dark Souls felt fundamentally the same, but the Dark Souls was apparently modeled after the Norse eddas, works that give an impression of a world of gods and men but are tantalizing and incomplete. So it was a wide-ranging, fundamentally ambiguous story. Bloodborne is much more focused and condense. In this game, everything connects, the contours of the plot fit together, so that if you take the time (and look up some stuff you missed) you can see the whole take form. Certainly there are unanswered questions, but broadly, you know what happened, you know the players, you can learn how they interacted, and you may come to know why.
Some of the most fascinating bits, though, are quite well hidden. Eileen the Crow's questline has perhaps the best-hid and most fascinating bit of dialogue in the game. If you help her survive Henryk but anger her by hitting her too much (or maybe by waiting too long to do the final leg of her quest - not sure) you end up fighting her in the cathedral. If you do, and if she kills you, she says this: "You still have dreams? Tell the little doll I said hello..." In just those few words she's telling you she knows about the Hunter's Dream, probably resided there in the past (and other dialogue of hers confirms this) and somehow escaped from it. She's also confirming the fundamental nature of the game. The player dies, the player returns to the dream, the player sets out once again. Well Bloodborne's a video game, so of course when you die you come back. Eileen is telling you that that video game mechanic is known by denizens of the game, and understood, at least, by her. Bloodborne is about as immersive a game as I have played, and that little line, tucked into an unlikely scenario, is the best example of why.
Also: the game has a sense of humor! Deadpan, understated in the extreme, and funnier for it. My favorite bits are these:
So when you start Bloodborne the first thing that probably happens is you run into a werewolf and try to fight it and die a quick and bloody death. As possibly a joke on the most efficient way to play a DS game, you can ALSO just...run right by the werewolf. it's entirely optional.
There's a school auditorium with a bunch of spectres of dead(?) students. It's a good place for farming exp so you probably go there multiple times. You may notice that there's one dude that just does not aggro with the same range as the rest of them. you have to be right on top of him. Fucker's sleeping through class YOU'RE PROBABLY NOT EVEN ALIVE SHOW SOME GUMPTION. Like, who takes the time to program that?
Not to say the game isn't without flaws.
Father Gascoigne is too damn hard. He's the first mandatory boss of the game, and he is a motherfucker. Probably the most difficult mandatory boss, though there are (wrong) dissenting opinions about that. He alone makes the game a bit hard to recommend to anyone and everyone. Dark Souls, for all the talk of it being a diffiicult game, has nothing so hard so early. He's a true bottleneck to boot, and the runback to him is long.
The camera for boss fights with large enemies is awful. <= I originally wrote this sentence before fighting the headless version of Bloodletting Beast. That may be the worst camera in Fromsoft history.
There's an optional quest line and the second part of it you only get a single chance to get right, and it's fucking hard.
There was no need to make healing items and bullets consumable resources, and running out of them is a real hassle.
The game's weapon balance is really good - you can use starting weapons for the entire game if you want. And the movesets on weapons are great and varied. The gripe: a lot of them come very late. And good dex weapons come late. Also if you are a crazy person and try to get that one bloodtinge weapon as early as you can you're gonna have a bad time. But no one would be so foolish. Also, there are very few weapons with natural elemental damage, so if you want fire or lightning damage (and you frequently do) it's a bit of a hassle.
Here is one other random and extremely cool thing I couldn't fit in anywhere else: Gascoigne's music box plays the same tune as the boss music for Mergo's Wet Nurse. Damned if I know what the exact implications of that are, but it's true.
tl;dr play Bloodborne
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Final Fantasy Dimensions 2:
This game keeps surprising me. It's actually doing a time-travel plot that doesn't suck. Without the gacha bullshit, this game manages to be genuinely fun, despite having all the aesthetics of a mobile cashgrab. I really hope it does well enough that it inspires Square Enix to release its other F2P offerings as a normal game, excised of microtransactions.
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Gifted a game for the holidays so now I have words about:
Mega Man Anniversary Collection
I already have 4 of the games but it is convenient to not need to dig out the console to play them on. Sometimes even remember to use the real-time weapon switching. There is no announcement when secrets are unlocked. The autosaves only store what a password would.
Mega Man:
It does save which robot masters have been defeated. Wily stages need to be taken out in one sitting which is quite the challenge. Died twice getting to Gutsman, beat Cutman, got to Elecman's door with one unit of life on my last life. It would have been a total clutch moment had I managed to beat him but I got to close to a zapper and died without reaching him. On next attempt, died once when I tried for the trick strat and failed.
Next game over was on Wily 3. I beat the yellow devil honestly for the first time ever. Did try the pause trick but the game would have none of that so pushed into do or die. Wily 2 had one death on Elecman redux but otherwise a successful outing with smart special weapon usage. Flubbed Wily 3 boss because I wasn't paying attention to my life meter. After game overing, won after another death there. Wily 4 is the other wall. Four bosses in a row and no pause trick to use as a crutch. I can handle Bombman and Iceman without damage most of the time. Fireman, I suck at and end up eating 2-3 hits. Had quite a few attempts get to Gutsman with a near empty energy meter. And the first time I make it past that gauntlet, I'm on my last life with 30% energy so the Wily machine has an easy kill.
Wily machine 1 falls fast to Fire Storm. Still worth making the effort to dodge the shots since the following form is trickier. I work out that form 2 aims it's circling shots at my position but still lose several times trying to work out a consistent way to dodge them. Seems walking towards Wily when he's about to shoot works best for me. I use Rolling Cutter for offense since all weapons that can hit do 1 damage and it's best for landing multiple hits per shot. Success, wow this was hard.
Look up strats on GameFAQs after winning and most of the ones I scout advocate the pause trick. Well dang, that's not really helpful here.
Mega Man 2:
Used a password to go straight to Wily since I just want the unlocks. Repeatedly pausing to phase through projectiles no longer appears to work. In fact, i find it detrimental to pause at a bad time as Megaman is a sitting duck for a few frames when unpausing and I end up getting smacked by the shot I was trying to evade. Crash Bombs appear to have a slightly different explosion range. One bomb takes out two walls if they're right next to each other which I don't recall being the case in the NES game.
Was worried about messing up at the dragon but nailed it first try. Did poorly at Wily 2 boss, using 2 E-tanks. Spiky death got me once in Wily 3.
First trip through Wily 4, I get to the boss with 2 units of energy so just try to take out barriers before dying. The first moving platform room is an easy place to farm for weapon energy. Stand on ladder, Metal Blade anything that spawn above, and let enemies from the right hole drift towards you. When one reaches solid ground, shoot with buster. They all come from the right side if shot one at a time so it's easy to refill whatever is needed.
At the boss, I try the trick shot to take out a barrier and a cannon at the same time but miss it. At some point, I reach for an E-tank and wait a sec...? Did the game really remove my E-tanks on death? Oh that's just cruel. How did it happen since I started with 4, use 2, and pick up the next 2? I do barely beat the boss but now the next stage looks hopeless. This is not helped by getting hit at the wrong time at Woodman and whiffing a charged Atomic Fire in the wrong direction. Wily machine destroys me. Continue after losing remaining lives. Mess up with Atomic Fire at Woodman again. Wily machine is dealt with buster for the first form as I can consistently dodge its shots. Second form I use Crash Bombs and it's a damage race. Was a relief to win that one.
Last stage. Turns out running to the right only works if one is holding right for most of the fall. This is much faster than carefully dodging acid drips only to die at the boss and do it all over. I'm already at 0 E-tanks, a few more deaths won't set me back too much. Well, I would only take one shot at a time and pause to reload so I didn't consume weapon energy. Needed to time pausing well to not get smacked by a bullet coming out of the menu. Pull it together eventually and another game down.
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Pulling out a few points from Jimpost to respond to:
Father Gascoigne is too damn hard.
The camera for boss fights with large enemies is awful. <= I originally wrote this sentence before fighting the headless version of Bloodletting Beast. That may be the worst camera in Fromsoft history.
There's an optional quest line and the second part of it you only get a single chance to get right, and it's fucking hard.
There was no need to make healing items and bullets consumable resources, and running out of them is a real hassle.
The game's weapon balance is really good - you can use starting weapons for the entire game if you want. And the movesets on weapons are great and varied. The gripe: a lot of them come very late. And good dex weapons come late. Also if you are a crazy person and try to get that one bloodtinge weapon as early as you can you're gonna have a bad time. But no one would be so foolish. Also, there are very few weapons with natural elemental damage, so if you want fire or lightning damage (and you frequently do) it's a bit of a hassle.
-Beat Pops G on the first try. I have no idea how. My nerves were destroyed afterward. I was literally shaking and had to stop playing for the night. He's maybe too hard for a first boss. Definitely not too hard for the game, though. (I'm looking your way here, Orphan.)
-First it seems like Cleric Beast would have to be the worst camera, then you realize, no, it has to be Darkbeast Paarl, and then...then you meet Headless. It isn't a coincidence that Bloodborne's best bosses tend to be on a more human scale.
-Which quest is this? EDIT: OH, duh. Eileen. Chuck a bunch of poison knives at Henryk before Eileen arrives, then range him down so you don't hit her by mistake. Should consistently be able to wear him down before he kills her.
-Going back to Demon's's's's's Souls healing was awful after From had already found a better way to handle it in Dark Souls. This was my #1 complaint when I first played Bloodborne. Running out of resources wasn't an issue on replays, but the mere possibility of having to stop between boss runs to farm up more supplies grated on me hard first time through.
-Fighting Logy ASAP for blood katana is indeed the supreme bad time. As noted, it's also very difficult to make anything like a functional arcane build anywhere in the first half of the game. Making either approach functional reasonably early basically equals a challenge run as you do things out of usual order.
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Nioh: cleared the first region of the game. Dropped some money on respeccing because I have tons of money and nothing else to do with it. Mostly just wanted to reallocate a few dead levels that I'd dumped early on stuff I realized I didn't need (for some reason I assumed that Body was the HP stat, probably because it's at the top of the list and Souls instincts die hard). Afterward I discover, oh wait, armor has stat requirements for those passive abilities and I don't meet them anymore. Oh well, the reqs are fairly low, it's just a couple levels to make those work again. I've put in enough time at this point to be pretty clear on what types of weapons I like just based on moveset and to have an overall build direction. My priorities right now are basically this:
-Dexterity because kunai are the only way I know how to deal with anything difficult (also powers up kusarigama)
-Whatever bare minimum of Spirit will unlock all the passive traits for whatever familiars I have
-Minor in Magic to try out Onmyo stuff
-Heart for more ki + scaling for swords (and I guess bows are a bonus)
Was going to take some Stamina too for more carry weight, but that looks like kind of a waste now since I'm unlikely to be using much heavy armor--as with Souls games, I prefer to dress light and dodge more (I mostly just run around in the ninja outfit). The Raikiri I got from the last story mission is stupidly good and I've discovered I like the single sword moveset a lot*, so likely maining that + kusarigama. (*EDIT: the attack + automatically backstep at the end of a combo skill is amazingly good.)
Boss death tally for the first area:
-I'm the [Tutorial] Boss: 0 because plot kill
-Big Balls: 7-8
-Batgirl: 4-5
-Derpface dog: 1
-I Think I'm a Clone Now: 3-4
-The real Tachibana stands up: 8-10
Latter was dealt with 100% through ranged damage (had to burn a couple Shinobi Boxes to have enough firepower). Despite almost being the same fight as the dungeon before him, I couldn't deal with this at all. He'd almost always kill me in one hit and the arena gave you even less cover. So I ran away a lot and threw all the kunai in the world, never tried a single melee attack, and got the title for beating him without damage. Honorable samurai strats! This is basically my approach for most things where it isn't immediately obvious how to deal with it close range. Storm kunai too good vs. fatties.
Going to put this on the shelf a bit and finish Nier: Automata before really getting sucked in, because wow that is definitely going to happen if I keep going, but some general observations so far:
-Story missions are looooong. There's not an interconnected game world like in Souls games, but you can tell they took a lot of level design lessons from Souls games.
-One thing I'm glad to see not carried over from Souls games: WEAPON DURABILITY.
-Also nice: NO JUMPING PHYSICS. Seriously. And if you have to drop down to an imposingly narrow ledge to grab an item, the game's pretty generous about subtly tugging you onto a safe landing spot if you're at least somewhat on target.
-Tried some co-op to see how it worked here. I haven't tried summoning dudes, and probably not gonna because being on the other side of that equation it seems like it would make things way too easy, but working as a guest: seems nice that you have some capacity to rescue each other, and as a guest, you get healing items refreshed when the host finds a shrine. Flipside, your consumables don't refresh, so there's still something you have to think about rationing out during the course of a level; alternately, the other guest option lets you refresh your skills but not your healing items--which is fair since enemies will drop healing items, though flipside as phantom is there's no rescue if anyone dies. Interesting way to balance it. Other Dudes remain totally OP vs. bosses, but I guess that's going to be the case in every game like this.
-Kappa are just the worst. The worst!
Shaping up to be a solidly recommendable action game.
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Crash Bombs appear to have a slightly different explosion range. One bomb takes out two walls if they're right next to each other which I don't recall being the case in the NES game.
It depends. If you stand beside the wall and shoot a bomb into it, it will destroy two. If you're further away, the bomb latches onto the edge of the outer wall and usually only destroys one. I think it occasionally can destroy two even then, probably depends on how many pixels into the wall the bomb flies. The behaviour is the same on both NES and PS2 MMAC, haven't played any other versions.
Always fun to see other people's experiences with the games, hope you post more if you keep going!
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Final Fantasy Dimensions 2:
When did this happen! Why did I miss this!
Edit - “The game uses a turn-based battle system, similar to the one used in Final Fantasy X.”
Put it inside my veins.
Edit 2 - that is a really Tales of Eternia ass intro sequence with some Tales of Eternia ass sprites too DJ, you could have given me some warning. (This is not a bad thing)
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One last post for 2017 so rushing it a bit:
More Mega Man Anniversary Collection
Mega Man 3:
Played all the way through instead of using passwords (not in one sitting, was split up by autosaves). I know my way around the game for the most part so not many surprises. Mostly usual deaths from missed jumps or getting to bosses with a near empty energy meter. I intentionally tried to use special weapons more rather than my old habit of using the buster on everything outside bosses.
Got a better feel for dodging Snake Man now to where I could realistically dodge him for 3 minutes pacifist if I wanted to.
Doc Quick is the most memorable source of Game Over for me as I didn't want to spend an E-tank. I find him easier to hit with Gemini Laser so used that rather than the more plentiful Search Snake. Wasn't this the one where direct contact hurts a lot and the boomerangs very little where in MM2 it was the opposite? Stage itself was no trouble. Scrolled zappers in second half offscreen. Second giant spring enemy is greeted by me sliding after some Search Snakes followed by a few more for a quick kill.
Doc Wood is still a pain in the ass followed by the game refusing to drop energy in the second half of the stage. Brute forced Doc Crash with Hard Knuckle; didn't do much dodging.
Flubbed it at the Rock Monster, used one or two E-tanks. With the Mega clones, the vulnerable one always starts at the top. Didn't make it up fast enough to one-shot it with Top Spin so got the kill with Search Snakes. Tried to experiment with special weapons on the boulder tossers in Wily 4, paid the price in losing a life at the refight teleporters. Was a bit clumsy and ran into multiple shots at the last boss though still won without using an E-tank.