Author Topic: What games are you playing 2014?  (Read 213996 times)

Fenrir

  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 2397
  • Social Justice Archer
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #775 on: March 28, 2014, 01:30:03 AM »
Fudo's PS3 has just gone hollow.

I know why I was a lot more panicked by the Sentinels than the other bosses in DS2. Boss track is boss. I don't know why I didn't notice it in game. It's like the only good music in the game too. (w/ the skeleton lords track)


As far as pre-castle stuff goes, only the Duke's left for me in my hex playthrough. Pursuers is a biiiit disappointing damage-wise, as it takes way too long to cast.


I think I'll try to ironman this next playthrough (no deaths period) for the great PVP ring reward. (And the challenge!)
Build would be VIGOR/Endurance/Vitality/STRENGTH, with a little Faith and Attunement.
Strategy would be hiding behind a shield at all times then bashing with said shield? Or some giant club.

The most dangerous part of the whole playthrough would have to be Old King That Might Be SPOILER OMG. The Gutter's not that bad in comparison. I'm considering using a Bonfire Ascetic and just fighting the Rotten twice instead of even attempting Lava Boy. (I don't want to fight NG+ Sinner or Freja)
« Last Edit: March 28, 2014, 01:31:37 AM by Fenrir »

Sierra

  • N I G H T M A R E E Y E S
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 5135
  • Go get dead, angel face
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #776 on: March 28, 2014, 02:27:22 AM »
Rec for LARGE CLUB. Main weapon on my first run, very satisfactory (have to get past Sentinels to find it...but still, S-rank STR scaling!) Heavy weapons in general are faster than they used to be and much more reliable for it.

Fudozukushi

  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 1552
  • Born to hunt Death Knights
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #777 on: March 28, 2014, 06:39:51 AM »
I wish it did go hollow, at least I'd have 50% of it working!

Before it did break I fought the Traitor.  Wow, it's just as what as as been said.  I guess the drop was stolen?  At least my poison caestus finally got a real use.

Great Club's off in the Gutter I think at least maybe.

AndrewRogue

  • Infinite
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 3079
  • Sadness
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #778 on: March 28, 2014, 09:45:25 AM »
Dark Souls 2: Met the Royal Rat Authority. I hate everything. RRA, Smelter Demon, Lost Sinner, and Freja all need to be beaten.

It really is bizzare how sprawling this game is. Every time I think I've exhausted all my paths, it turns out there's somewhere else I can go.

Temporarily retired from being a Sunbro to become a Bellbro. Being a Bellbro is hilarious and makes me feel like a terrible person.

Jo'ou Ranbu

  • Social Justice Steampunk Literature Character
  • New Age Retro Fucking Hipster
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 12987
  • Ah'm tuff fer mah size!
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #779 on: March 28, 2014, 05:19:26 PM »
The scene changes based on the order you do them in? Should have rewatched the scenes in my Mephilia (get owned) -> Artemia -> Mephilia sequnce of doing things, clearly.

Bravely Default - Chapter 5. Iiiinteresting. Also hahaha if you guys think Artemia and/or Qada are obnoxious in the DL, wait until you see the last C4 boss~ (Unlike them s/he's actually a pretty decent fight so I can't complain as much, but yeesh.)

Minus Strike variants: amazingly obnoxious. In-game, they're more of an annoyance than anything. DL-wise, they just get nuts. (QADA DEALING OVER 13X PC HP IN ITD DAMAGE AFTER LOSING 10% HP THIS IS SO VERY NOT RIDICULOUS RITE) It's particularly insulting in his case because ST OHKO with a telegraph turn is pretty whatever in a game with revival as accessible as BD's.

Quote from: Elfboy
For the Snows, I did beat one of the bosses on the vampire sidequest. Fun enough, but when I realised the second one I fought was going to be the same thing except forcing me to equip a statusblocker and with a less exploitable weakness I decided to move on with the game instead. Those fights can wait until 135k is less impressive.

That's pretty much the gist of it. The game could've stood to use less contrivances than they did too. I'd have been particularly interested to see your reaction to the asterisk-bearer fight itself, though, but its fundamental design change is just the boss' durability. It was a decently fun - if simple - fight to figure out.
[01:08] <Soppy-ReturningToInaba> HEY
[01:08] <Soppy-ReturningToInaba> LAGGY
[01:08] <Soppy-ReturningToInaba> UVIET?!??!?!
[01:08] <Laggy> YA!!!!!!!!!1111111111
[01:08] <Soppy-ReturningToInaba> OMG!!!!
[01:08] <Chulianne> No wonder you're small.
[01:08] <TranceHime> cocks
[01:08] <Laggy> .....

jsh357

  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 346
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #780 on: March 28, 2014, 06:22:24 PM »
Dark Souls 2: Met the Royal Rat Authority. I hate everything. RRA, Smelter Demon, Lost Sinner, and Freja all need to be beaten.

It really is bizzare how sprawling this game is. Every time I think I've exhausted all my paths, it turns out there's somewhere else I can go.

Temporarily retired from being a Sunbro to become a Bellbro. Being a Bellbro is hilarious and makes me feel like a terrible person.

The best thing about being a Bellbro is that even if you are losing a duel, you can just run off and wait until another bellbro invades to help.  I have gotten several hate messages.

Fenrir

  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 2397
  • Social Justice Archer
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #781 on: March 28, 2014, 11:58:11 PM »
When two other people duel I always run in the middle and spam emotes.

I'm trying to get summoned for the Looking Glass Battle but it isn't working :(


I've won like 20 fights with no losses with this hex build in PvP.
(Except in fights where I fought two guys at once + fights with huge lag involved)

Equipment is that ring that boosts hex damage by like 40% and drains HPs after each hex + stuff that improves casting speed.
Spells are
- Affinity: Very slow very damaging homing spell that launches when the enemy is close
- Dark Fog: AKA Fog of POIZN.
- Dark Hail: AKA Dark Shotgun

Strategy: Affinity right away, then Dark Fog spam. Affinity forces the opponent to either roll or take huge damage, and the recovery time for either means the opponent gets hit by Dark Fog's DEADLY POIZN.

At that point the opponent usually panicks and either:
1) Runs away to estus, eats a few Dark Hails, and dies
2) Goes for the kill, eats a point blank Dark Hail, and dies

Hexes, guys. Hexes.
And I'm usually really terrible at making good builds for PvP, or for PvP itself.
« Last Edit: March 29, 2014, 12:02:35 AM by Fenrir »

dude789

  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 1284
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #782 on: March 29, 2014, 01:09:53 AM »
Dark Souls 2: Beaten. Sorcery gets a lot better late with Staff of Wisdom. Still feel that hexes are better, although being stuck across two catalyst types sucks. RRA was the only optional boss I beat. I tried the one at the end of Undead Crypt and then decided that figuring out his patterns would take way too long when every attack one shots me. That's probably the biggest problem I have with the game. Too many enemies rely on just doing obscene amounts of damage. As a result most of the bosses where really boom or bust and it really encourages going in with some helpers to grab the bosses attention. I admit I was running a frail sorceror build, but I ran one in DS1 too and I didn't find my self getting OHKOd too much outside of things like grab attacks or other attacks with significant windup. Final boss went down like a chump because I went in with two sunbros although there was a scary moment at the start when I realized that those orbs were very potent curse orbs.

Sierra

  • N I G H T M A R E E Y E S
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 5135
  • Go get dead, angel face
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #783 on: March 29, 2014, 02:21:24 AM »
DS2: My computer has 400 shades of lightning.

Got Lucatiel through her requisite three boss fights the only way I could see it being feasible: through horrific overleveling. Girl just gets herself killed too damn fast. So sunbro grinding to open up Sunlight Spear -> I can do five thousand damage in like ten seconds. Now I just have to find out where the hell she hangs out after all that's done! I...think Black Gulch is her fourth location? But I poked around there to summon her earlier (because trash boss is trash, bodes well for her chances of survival as opposed to Smelter Demon or Lost Sinner) but couldn't ever find her sign. And Benhart boss completion 1/3 so far. I'm so never bothering with these quests ever again once I get them done this time (if I haven't already fucked something up somehow).

I was almost capable of killing the gargoyles in one hit. Unfortunately, almost wasn't good enough. Briefly witnessed the horror of four of them being in the field at once! Then switch to Flame Swathe and 50% of the boss healthbar evaporates instantly. Christ what is wrong with that spell. I need to kill fast and lightning too slow.

Fenrir man you know you convinced me to never use hexing right.

Fenrir

  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 2397
  • Social Justice Archer
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #784 on: March 29, 2014, 03:08:15 AM »
Dude: Yeah definitely, needing both a staff and a bell is a pain. My bell is actually the only shield i can equip in the game, and the soul-consuming spells that use it do way less damage than regular Dark Orb from my sunlight staff.


Cid: But... Hexes!

One of the cat's ring supposedly makes enemies only target the players and not the NPCs.

You have to talk to Lucretia before she's available as a summon in the Gulch, and she's in what's probably the most hidden area in the whole game.
And you have to appreciate her for being the fastest changing tsundere of all time. The first conversation with her is like:
" >:-(  Leave me be.
... Wait why are you still talking to me? .... Thanks?
... YOU HAVE PIERCED MY HEART."

I am barely exaggerating there. You can all confirm.

Clear Tranquil

  • Garden of Innocence
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 2331
  • Your dreams shatter and burn! Punishing! Blossom!
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #785 on: March 29, 2014, 02:06:52 PM »
ToS- So I saw the scenes during the final return to the Tower of Salvation where all of the characters (except Zelos. Kratos and Colette because reasons) apparently "die"/sacrifice themselves to save Lloyd ... except not really! CT is not amused! Worse is I couldn't really have a proper emotional reaction because I didn't really believe they were seriously going to go/pull through with that and that Lloyd was going to have to fight the boss himself ;P All I've got is this was really just supposed to be some sort of character bonding thing, supposed to show just how much each member of the team had come to trust and believe in Lloyd, to the extent they'd put themselves in danger, in a position where they might be sacrificing themselves, while trusting Lloyd to carry on the torch and get the job done~l Still though~
"A Yeul that loved to sing. A Yeul who wished to travel. A Yeul that collected flowers.... Every one of them was unique"

Grefter

  • Villain.
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 10386
  • True and Honest. Smarter. More aggressive.
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #786 on: March 29, 2014, 02:28:31 PM »
You really shouldn't have spoiler texted that bit because that sequence is one of the single worst moments ins gaming history and should be openly mocked and degraded at every possible moment.  Fuck that bullshit moment in a game that is frankly full of bullshit moments.

 I say that as someone that genuinely likes a lot of the Tales series.
NO MORE POKEMON - Meeplelard.
The king perfect of the DL is and always will be Excal. - Superaielman
Don't worry, just jam it in anyway. - SirAlex
Gravellers are like, G-Unit - Trancey.

Anthony Edward Stark

  • Is that... Alcohol?
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 4347
    • View Profile
    • Modern Drunkard Magazine
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #787 on: March 29, 2014, 05:23:56 PM »
Why are you using spoiler text for a game that's roughly a decade old anyway?

Pyro

  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 1792
  • Mwahahaha
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #788 on: March 29, 2014, 06:08:44 PM »
The game just came out! Clearly it must be spoiler text'd.

Meeplelard

  • Fire Starter
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 5356
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #789 on: March 29, 2014, 06:18:52 PM »
From what I recall, Sheena's moment was actually legitimate, given the stance she was in was one that couldn't be simply "Why don't you just do this blatant action?" and she was also not in a position that she could be easily rescued too.  Cannot realistically defend any other characters though.  Genis is probably the worst though...

Lloyd: Ok, I got this plan, it'll totally work!  You do this, I do this, and then victory!
Genis: Ok.
Lloyd: On the count of 3! 1...2...3...!
*Plan enacted, Genis doesn't run through*
Genis: Your plan was good BUT YOU FORGOT THIS IMPORTANT DETAIL WHICH IS WHY IT DIDN'T WORK PERFECTLY!

Well, gee, Genis, why didn't you...I dunno...BRING THAT UP TO LLOYD WHEN HE WAS TELLING YOU THE PLAN?  You know...when the information would be useful?  Mentioning it in hindsight after it has already been too late is kind of completely pointless given I highly doubt Lloyd will ever be put into a comparable situation again (no, this isn't foreshadowing for ToS2; nothing like that happens in ToS2.)


ANYWAY, onto stuff I played, and less punching Genis in the face for being an idiot...

Super Mario 3D Land:  Beat this a while back, decided not to mention it because reasons you'll find out later!  Fun game, better than I was expecting.  Some claims I heard was that it's just small scale SM64, as well as uses the 3D on the 3DS Mechanic to be able to pull off things.  I found neither of those real; you can actually get a sense of depth without the 3D Mechanic in the rare instances it's necessary, so that part is a wash.  In the case of the SM64 parallel, it's not directly comparable.

SM64 was more of this big open world platformer where you run around large stages until you complete a task.  SM3L is more like taking the standards of a 2D Mario game and applying a 3rd Dimension.  It follows all the conventions of 2D Mario (get hit, you turn small, hit again you die.  Get Power Up, you get powers, one of this lets you through fireballs.  You know the drill), and puts in some of the 3D Mechanics like Backflipping and the side flip.  It really came off as "A standard Mario platformer in 3D" as opposed to this grandiose adventure like SM64, Galaxy, etc. tried to be.  Not that one is better than the other, more just illustrating that yes, 3D Land is something new.

It's hard to explain what I mean, but I guess it's mostly that 3D Land stages are all structured with a "race to flagpole" style that the 2D games have, while the 3D games clearly were not built like this.

Complaints?  Difficulty is a bit too low for me.  Some stages felt a bit repetitive (though most did keep things fresh at least), music just felt poorly done, and OVERUSAGE OF BOOM BOOM.  Ok, this I have to get out now, and you'll see why later as well, but it's especially big here:

There are 8 worlds, and naturally 8 bosses.  3 of them are Bowser (or Bowser-like), which ok, fair, it's Bowser.  So clearly the other 5 should be something original, right?  NOPE! It's 2 Boom Booms, 2 FEMALE Boom Booms (she's basically the same thing but throws a Boomerang, apparently her name is Pom Pom...), then the two of them together.  I don't have a problem with Boom Boom in general but my problem is simple:

He's such a basic and simple boss.  Which is fine...FOR A MINI BOSS.  WHICH IS HOW HE ORIGINALLY WAS.  In SMB3 AND NSMB/LU, he was the boss of forts, or mid-world castles, which is perfectly fine.  As a mini boss, I have no problem.  The issue is that for some strange reason, he is now a boss, and one used repeatedly.  It's like they couldn't be bothered to think of creative boss designs, or I dunno, use other pre-existing characters to make interesting.  I don't like Bowser Jr. but at least they tried to make his few boss fights in NSMBU different from the previous ones.  You have plenty of Mario characters who can be bosses, DON'T KEEP USING THE CHEAP MINI BOSS FROM SMB3 AS YOUR WORLD BOSS!  Especially when the only other boss in the game is Bowser, and he's done so much better, it just makes him look worse by comparison.

Ok, that's out of my system, the final stage is annoying because the Checkpoint is right before the boss, but right after a cannon that you CAN botch because of how awkward the set up is, despite how the game wants you to think it's basic.  The Final Boss itself is actually a cool platforming based boss that actually makes it feel like a legitimate battle against Bowser, despite not actually fighting him, more just avoiding everything he throws at you.  You'd have to see the fight to understand.

Power Up assessments...Fire Mario is Fire Mario, you know what to expect.  Boomerang Bros. Mario is a neat alternative, for all that it's rare.  Tanuki Suit Mario is disappointing; can't fly, can't statue, merely has slow-fall, and it's Melee is a little too close for comfort.  Of course, Tanuki Suit is better than no Power Up because extra hit + access to things you wouldn't have otherwise, so you don't complain when a Leaf pops up and you lack anything else, but generally always preferred one of the other two.

White Tanuki Suit needs to die though, or have an option to turn off.  If you die 5 times in a stage (which happened on like 2 or 3 times), a Golden Box appears, hit it and you become White Tanuki Mario.  This is PERMANENT INVINCIBILITY WITH TANUKI SUIT ADVANTAGES.  So if you avoid platforming deaths, you just cruise the stage.  I gt the "Failsafe for tough spots" mindset, but do it the way NSMBU and DKCR did with the "Automated character" concept.  Gets you through the stage, but won't get you any of the hidden goodies, which is a good compromise.  White Tanuki suit, I don't know what the penalty is for it, and in at least one case, it was placed in an obnoxious spot where I had to make a required jump to a platform on a rather narrow spot and it was placed right in the idea jumping spot.  Seriously, what the hell?

Though, in hindsight, SM3L does feel very...test runny.  Like they wanted to experiment with something new, so made it for a cheaper platform (that could use games at the time because 3DS was struggling bad pre-3D Land), as this game clearly doesn't use itself to it's potential and they didn't want a big major release.  I dunno, kind of wish there was a game that used the same engine but to a much greater effect...possibly on the Wii U because it needs more games...OH WAIT...





Yeah, beat this too; took me longer than I'd like for various REAL LIFE reasons, but shh!  Anyway, this game got immense critical praise and more or less lived up to it. 

First off, yes, it does play a lot like 3D Land; anyone who says otherwise is lying.  The difference is that while 3D Land kind of came up with the idea, 3D World perfected it.  The stages are pretty much universally better across the board, rarely feeling repetitive, the world map is open instead of just a straight line leading to actual branching paths like in 2D Entries.

And yes, there is a bit of a Cat Theme going on in the game.  Goombas and Bullet Bills are just two examples of things with cat-suits now, but 3D Land had obsession with Tanuki suit, so this is kind of expected.  What's cool about cat suit is, once you get your mind out of the gutter, is that the Cat Suit is actually a very neat power up that's fun to play with.  A more intuitive melee option, the dive-bomb attack is an interesting mobility trick, and climbing walls has obvious uses...just make sure you're prepared to resist hearing Luigi "Meow" because that is a thing that happens...

Oh right, that's the other big thing about SM3W:
FOUR PLAYABLE CHARACTERS WHO FUNCTION DIFFERENTLY.  That's never happened in a Mario game before or anything, of course, this totally new and...



...derp, nevermind.  Ok, while not the first time it has happened, it's nice that they brought this mechanic back after so long.  The four playables of SMB2 with all their gameplay styles return, and honestly, this adds an extra element of the game.   Worst case scenario?  You just play as Mario the entire game and it's basically a notably improved sequel to SM3L, which is not a bad thing in the slightest.  In any event, my thoughts on the characters:

Mario: Just good for familiarity purposes.  His speed and jump arc are what you're most use to, so he's good if you don't know what you're getting into on a stage.  It's pretty much what you expect for a Middle-Man character.

Luigi: Worst character in the game.  His jumps aren't appreciably better than Mario here even though they are higher, but with a number of things like Backflips and such, it compromises that.  The fact that his jump arc is slower actually hurts more than helps I find, as makes gauging where he'll land harder.  On top of everything, he has the trademark "lack of friction" making precision platforming all the harder.

Toad: He lost his SUPER SPEED VEGETABLE PULLS! ...and no one cares.  More importantly though, he's the fastest character in the game, which makes him great for some areas (especially low timed segments inspired by NSLU) and really good on many bosses because a lot of times, simply running is your best method of evading.  His low jumps are definitely a nuisance at times, as there are times where he'll just fall short of making a jump, and either you miss an optional star because no Cat-suit that anyone else could have gotten, OR he'll have to take a slightly longer route.  Still, I think he wins the award of Most Improved Character from SMB2 <_< >_>

Peach: She's about what you'd expect from SMB2, only floating isn't anywhere near as broken.  It's still good and lets her make jumps no other character can for some creative shortcuts, and lets her not need to use Long Jumps as much (which have much lower height) so she's still good in gimmicky ways.  What she's bad at, however, is Multiplayer, because being the slowest character means she has the hardest time nabbing power ups and such, which means she won't be lording that crown as much as other characters to troll the hell out of other players!

Also, for no reason whatsoever, ASSESSMENTS OF POWER UP DESIGNS FOR CHARACTERS:

Fire: Peach > Mario > Luigi > Toad
Peach's white + red combo actually looks better than expected and they even added the extra Pony-tail thing in as well.  Mario and Luigi are what you expect, and the White + Red > White + Green IMO.   Toad doesn't look bad just worse than the others.

Catsuit: ...no...
I refuse to do this one because seriously, I have dignity

Tanuki Suit: Toad > Mario > Luigi > Peach
Toad looks kind of adorable in the suit, honestly.  Mario fits into it better than Luigi does and Peach...uhh...there's no easy way to say this: THAT TANUKI SUIT MAKES YOU LOOK FAT!

Boomerang Bros. Suit: Mario > Luigi > Toad > Peach
Turtles with staches > turtles without staches, and again, Mario just works better than Luigi here.  Toad still has an element of adorableness, but looks a tad underwhelming at the same time.  Peach, while getting the Ponytail thing, it just kind of clashes with the outfit.

Bosses...well, Boom Boom and Pom Pom return AGAIN with multiple fights, and it's annoying when they do, but it's less times, and there are legitimate bosses intermixed that are new and creative, so it's not as annoying here, which allowed for Mario to have a boss rush of sorts late game...well, more like refighitng all bosses in a matter of 2 worlds, and the bosses are improved, but it still was a neat thing to do.


I could go on and bore you, but I think I'll sum up what SM3D is in a paragraph:

It looks at the past 30 years of Super Mario games, particularly the 2D entries, and combines all the favorable elements, and makes the most of them. ( I think the only thing it's missing is the SMB3 style inventory, but it does have the SMW "Hold item" which I don't think the two were ever used at the same time, so yeah.) IOWs, for those not checking, it means the following:

-Engine of Super Mario 3D Land (while not BETTER than other engines, its also not worse, and probably fit the design better than standard 2D platform style)
-Playable characters of SMB2
-Multiplayer that destroys Friendships of the console NSMB games
-SMW's Item Stock idea
-Stage design creativity that the series in general is known for
-A Mario Kart themed stage (...yes, this deserves it's own mention)
-A few low timed, High Obstacle driven stages that are similar to New Super Luigi U
-Bowser beating up Fairies.  No, this isn't in previous Mario games, but it SHOULD HAVE BEEN

I emphasize it this way because apparently some people were expecting a REVOLUTIONARY EXPERIENCE ala Super Mario Galaxy, but SM3W was clearly not trying for that, but rather, make a game built on older elements from previous games, and make sure they are used appropriately and thoughtfully so they all add to the experience, and frankly, I can think of anything questionable they put in...except Luigi meowing...

Oh, if you're wondering, I played the game entirely on Random Character select, to keep things fresh.  From what I can tell, the game will never choose the character you entered the stage with on Random, so it insures you will always be alternating characters, which was neat.  This led to I think Toad being the one to blow up all of Bowser's Trains (there are 3 or 4 of them), and Peach beating up Bowser in a non-spin off title for like the first time ever, I think.

I did unlock Rosalina, and played as her for a stage and...good god I can see why people say she's the best character.  Always has a melee move (which seems better than the Tanuki Suit's variant...by the way, Tanuki Suit in this game basically gives Peach's hover to every character, as opposed to "Slow Fall"), double jump, and her jump height seems way better than everyone else.  She is really slow...I think slower than Peach even...but they had to try and balance her somehow.
She also gets a Black Cat Suit, which was unexpected...then again, Mario gets a yellow one for some strange reason.

And with that, I end this rant with the best part of the game by far:

The Bowser Pimp Mobile (image too big to post here)
[21:39] <+Mega_Mettaur> so Snow...
[21:39] <+Mega_Mettaur> Sonic Chaos
[21:39] <+Hello-NewAgeHipsterDojimaDee> That's -brilliant-.

[17:02] <+Tengu_Man> Raven is a better comic relief PC than A

Anthony Edward Stark

  • Is that... Alcohol?
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 4347
    • View Profile
    • Modern Drunkard Magazine
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #790 on: March 29, 2014, 06:40:32 PM »
Not killing off Genis for real was the cruelest fake-out imaginable.

SnowFire

  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 4960
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #791 on: March 29, 2014, 09:31:31 PM »
Ys Memories of Celceta has something equivalently dumb to the Tower of Salvation bit from ToS, except playing the melodrama from a slightly different angle.  It's at the very end though so I'll spoiler text it in case people care about YS PLOT. 

Toward the end of the game you're essentially trying to toss an artifact into Mt. Doom because...  it's really stupid, but because it'll save the world, natch.  The game wants to have a dramatic final duel between Adol & the villain - fine, I actually approve, 1 on 1 fights are great in a system like Ys.  However its excuse is that evil distortion shadows crop up on the way to the volcano, and the other characters / everyone you ever helped in the game conveniently show up to fight 'em.  Similar kind of "Thanks Adol, let me handle these losers, you do the awesome thing!"  Except...  what.
A) It's not like I'm trying to secure supply lines or something.  There's absolutely no need to guard areas that Adol is not directly on top of. 
B) The Princess with a Flying Giant Robot is one of the people who stop by to say hi than fight some shadows off-screen allegedly meancing Our Hero.  Did I mention it was flying, and the bad guys don't fly?

Just...  have there be such a horde of bad guys in *front* that everyone else carves a path through the horde while Adol goes through the breach to fight the villain, rather than dropping off people to fight nowhere in particular.  Or, if you want to actually make sense, have Adol get on the Flying Robot (which he is canonically established to have done once even!) and drop the artifact into the volcano from there!  That sounds safer anyway...

Grefter

  • Villain.
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 10386
  • True and Honest. Smarter. More aggressive.
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #792 on: March 29, 2014, 09:39:09 PM »
Even if you take a specific one of the character's sacrifices as "okay" they still have then teleport to the top of the tower and then do absolutely nothing in the plot.  They piss away your time with a shitty fake out that ultimately gets you nowhere at all progressively taking away your party members until you only have LLoyd left in a game where you can change who you are playing and has 4 player multiplayer during a dungeon that was set up to be the climax of the game.  The only thing of value that happens in that entire sequence is a fight with whichever of the split path characters you didn't pick and that happens as soon as you enter the dungeon.  The rest of it is a slow boring waste of time.
NO MORE POKEMON - Meeplelard.
The king perfect of the DL is and always will be Excal. - Superaielman
Don't worry, just jam it in anyway. - SirAlex
Gravellers are like, G-Unit - Trancey.

Twilkitri

  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 1207
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #793 on: March 29, 2014, 10:04:46 PM »
Super Mario 3D Land:  [...]

There are 8 worlds [...]

On the off-chance that you missed it somehow (or were thinking that the second set were just harder copies of the first, which is sometimes the case but not always), there are actually 16 worlds in SM3DL.

Sierra

  • N I G H T M A R E E Y E S
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 5135
  • Go get dead, angel face
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #794 on: March 29, 2014, 11:08:20 PM »
You have to talk to Lucretia before she's available as a summon in the Gulch, and she's in what's probably the most hidden area in the whole game.
And you have to appreciate her for being the fastest changing tsundere of all time. The first conversation with her is like:
" >:-(  Leave me be.
... Wait why are you still talking to me? .... Thanks?
... YOU HAVE PIERCED MY HEART."

I am barely exaggerating there. You can all confirm.

Summary is 100% accurate.

I did ultimately find her after jumping off random cliffs until I hit land! Girl what are you doing down there. How did you even find this place. Tracked down her final appearance (much) later and aw man she's gone all Kang & Kodos on us. Tears. Wondering if this changes the invasion in Aldia any? Find out later I guess. Her gear is totally snazzy but regrettably this is Not!Saint cosplay run, my wardrobe is spoken for.

Oh yes, I also tried to shoot the queen in Drangleic Castle this time. Nothing happens. The game registers her as scenery.

Finally, scrotum zombies. Because how has this passed without mention? Because scrotum zombies.

Meeplelard

  • Fire Starter
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 5356
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #795 on: March 29, 2014, 11:09:12 PM »
Even if you take a specific one of the character's sacrifices as "okay" they still have then teleport to the top of the tower and then do absolutely nothing in the plot.  They piss away your time with a shitty fake out that ultimately gets you nowhere at all progressively taking away your party members until you only have LLoyd left in a game where you can change who you are playing and has 4 player multiplayer during a dungeon that was set up to be the climax of the game.  The only thing of value that happens in that entire sequence is a fight with whichever of the split path characters you didn't pick and that happens as soon as you enter the dungeon.  The rest of it is a slow boring waste of time.

You'll note I don't defend the rest of that sequence at all, and pretty much for the reason you labelled:

They FF4 it up by the end of the dungeon.

Yeah, there are other games that do this too (Wild ARMs 2 Brad comes to mind), but at least they make good on it.  The whole point of the Lloyd sequence was basically to get him alone in a "OMG NO HOPE AND YOU'RE ALONE!" moment, which could have been done in a bunch of other ways, and pretty much all those other ways are far less time wasting.

It's a dumb sequence nonetheless and I don't think I've seen anyone defend it.  Even when the opinion of ToS in the DL was higher, no one realistically defended that sequence, because it is just that stupid.

I was mostly playing Devil's Advocate noting that Sheena, at very least, had a half decently written section that made sense in the context, and didn't feel like "I gotta do this because reasons" "can't do this other idea instead and take like 3 minutes longer but you'll live?" "NO! HEROIC SACRIFICE IS THE ONLY WAY!"
[21:39] <+Mega_Mettaur> so Snow...
[21:39] <+Mega_Mettaur> Sonic Chaos
[21:39] <+Hello-NewAgeHipsterDojimaDee> That's -brilliant-.

[17:02] <+Tengu_Man> Raven is a better comic relief PC than A

Anthony Edward Stark

  • Is that... Alcohol?
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 4347
    • View Profile
    • Modern Drunkard Magazine
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #796 on: March 29, 2014, 11:26:45 PM »
I always liked Brad's return.  He just shows up running across the desert and now he has a giant fucking gun.  They didn't really bother giving a fuck and it was hilarious.

Dark Holy Elf

  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 8159
  • Well-behaved women seldom make history
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #797 on: March 30, 2014, 12:28:45 AM »
Xenogears: The Solaris arc, part one. Ahh, it's good to be back.


Hour 36: "I'm coming, Solaris! Seibzehn and I shall be the dark wings which carry you all to your deaths!!"

Wow, Maria, that's a little dark, there. And also auspicious.

Anyway, Seibzhen flies the party through the weakened Solaris barrier. Fei, Elly, and Citan land at the docks, and the rest of the party flies off to investigate separately, including Hammer, who is (he will remind you) good at this information-gathering thing. Also, the party is now upside-down as per reversed Solaris gravity. Elly just says "We don't have time to explain" regarding it. XG translation isn't good enough for me to be sure if this is the writers winking at the player or not.

While investigating the docks, Fei ends up being lost and funnelled into a third-class citizen area of Solaris, filled with Lambs doing manual labour. One of them speaks out against the slavery they are being forced to do and is promptly and unceremoniously executed as a security robot picks him up and drops him to his death. The rest of his comrades grumble about his outburst, since one bad apple like that spoils the entire block's chance at promotion. You can talk to his roommate, who complains woefully that thanks to his buddy's actions, he will probably be 'rearranged' (which you later learn means re-educated/brainwashed). As you leave his living quarters (with him still in it), there is a scene of the block he is in being dragged off to some unknown location. Kinda creepy.

After some wandering, Fei meets up with Elly. Elly explains a bit about where they are. She rather casually mentions having come on a "field trip" to this place before, a touch I find oddly effective. The difficult part, of course, is getting out since the area is under guard.

Fortunately a solution opens up pretty quickly, as they meet up with a guy named Samson, who looks an awful lot like Fei's old friend Timothy. Samson is a labourer Lamb like the rest, but has a plan to sneak out. Since he remembers Fei from the Aveh tournament, he decides to let him in on the plan (figuring probably that Fei could beat up some dudes on the way out if need be). Sadly for him the plan doesn't work too well, as once the party reaches a security checkpoint, he tries to cross it and is vaporised for not having recognised DNA. Well. I certainly hope that system doesn't have any bugs in it. Fortunately, Elly does have recognised DNA and is able to cross, although she reveals afterwards that she was scared that she'd been named a traitor and might have been vaporised anyway. Yikes. She then gets Fei across by keeping him close to her, which seems a bit unlikely but who am I to question the sci-fi.

This takes us to Etrenank, the actual city of Solaris proper! This place is great. After all the dark nastiness of Solaris we've learned about and seen, this place has, by contrast, an upbeat, impossibly peppy piece of background music. Citizens obsess over toys, the latest fashion, and the news about those evil barbarian Lambs destroying the gates and threatening Solarian way of life. I love this place, but I am a sucker for these types of settings, and the music really sells it.

While in the city, Fei and Elly learn about an announcement the Emperor is going to make, which all the citizens are really interested in. They head to the square to see it. Cain appears and makes his announcements: that Solaris had planned the destruction of Solaris gates! It was all part of their plan to reach "God's paradise", Mahanon. All with lots of fireworks! The crowd applauds constantly. Then Krelian (whom Elly notes is the real leader of Solaris) shows up, and generally seconds Cain's words.

Seeing Krelian, Fei has a sudden flashback in which he (named Lacan) and Krelian were buddies. Lacan has already been mentioned, but this is the first confirmation that he looked just like Fei, I believe. In the flashback, Krelian is portrayed as an avid learner.

Back in the present, Krelian also announces that yes, some stupid Lambs have taken the opportunity to sneak in, but that they have already been caught! He shows a displayed image of the non-Fei/Elly/Citan party members.

At this point Fei picks up the idiot ball and starts freaking out and yelling that WE HAVE TO GO RESCUE THEM. In, of course, Lamb language, because it's all he knows. In a public place. Elly tries to shush him but to no avail. They are chased by security robots, but luckilly are able to escape into a sewer until they lose them.


Hour 37: Fei and Elly emerge from the sewer in front of a big mansion. Elly explains that they are now in the first-class-citizen district. She opens the gate and walks into the property. Fei tries to stop her, before she assures him that this is her house.

Upon entering, they come face to face with Elly's mother, Medena. Medena is understandably overyjoyed to see her daughter alive, having only been told she was MIA. She asks who Fei is, and Elly smoothly lies, saying he is a recently promoted third-class citizen now serving as an officer of Gebler, who helped her return from the surface. Fei unfortunately is not so smooth, so before her mother can get too suspicious, Elly hurries him off to her room.

There, Elly decides to take a shower. They chat meanwhile. Fei says to Elly that her mother is "very pretty... but you don't look much like her" proving that his game is somewhere in the negatives. Elly reveals her suspicions that Medena is not her birth mother, and that Elly is half-Lamb via her father's fraternizing with a third-class serving woman who lived in their household (Dominia had alluded to this rumour about Elly earlier). Afterwards, Fei takes a shower and gets really defensive about making sure Elly isn't peeking which I find amusing in a role reversy way.

Elly then resolves to figure out where Bart and company are being held by breaking into her father's computer which has access to that sort of information. After a couple guesses she figures out that his password is her name backwards (which IIRC in the Japanese is something like "Miang" with a couple letters stuck on the end, which in hindsight of course is very amusing foreshadowing). They locate where their friends are being held, and a way to get there (through the third-class area they first arrived in) but at that moment, Elly's father Erich gets home.

As a high-ranking member of the Solaris administration he is uh needless to say not so pleased at discovering his daughter and some Lamb breaking into his computer. He calls security, draws a gun and threatens Fei. Elly tries to argue with her father, but he insists that he can protect from any treasonous allegations as long as Fei is captured, and that he is just concerned for her safety. Elly angrilly yells at him and accuses him of just caring about his own position, just like he has always been ashamed of his half-land dweller daughter. At this Medena runs out of the room and Erich slaps his daughter, demanding how she dare make such accusations.

Fei of all people diffuses the situation. Not wanting to see the two fight, he offers to escape and leave Elly alone (noting to Erich that if he tries to stop him, he'll put up one hell of a fight), saying he can't bear to watch the two fight. He also tells Elly that she shouldn't say those things in front of her mother, whatever the truth of her biological birth. Erich agrees, using the gun to break the window and then calling security to let them know the intruder escaped that way (Fei leaves via the door). Fei makes one last appeal to Elly, asking her to leave the army just as he did the last time the two separated.

Honestly this is probably one of my favourite Fei scenes. He can be a bit loserly at times and I definitely don't care for him now as much as I did when I was closer to his age, but I respect his decision there, doing the best thing for the safety of his friends and Elly's security despite his feelings for her, and also I very much approve of the comments regarding Elly and her mother, biology be damned.

Anyway, Fei makes his way back through Etrenank (amusing thing to note here: all the NPCs speak gibberish, as Fei doesn't actually understand their language) and heads to the third-class citizen area. As he enters, he is accosted by a guard who pulls him aside... and who turns out to be Citan! Oh that lovable spy. The two of them cross into the third-class citizen area, with Citan protecting Fei here just as Elly did. After they cross, Fei is suddenly surprised that Citan was able to cross safely. Citan just laughs nervously and says he figures they never deleted him from when he was in the military here years ago... an oversight, he is sure. He's obviously a bit uncomfortable perhaps knowing how flimsy this excuse sounds for one like him to have just walked confidently through a DNA scanner which vaporises those it doesn't recognise, but Fei dutifully picks up the idiot ball again and believes him. Or perhaps doesn't want to doubt him, since at this point he really can't afford to!


Hour 38: Fei and Citan make it back to the third-class district and jump in a dust chute. Once there, they are... trapped! They need a security card to go further. Fei is pissed off because he trusted Citan had a plan and Citan is all "nope". Not one of his more badass moments!

Luckilly for them, Elly shows up! She relates what has happened. After Fei left, her parents saw how despondent she was and encouraged her to go after him, with her dad giving her a keycard. Before she could leave, though, the imperial guard showed up and tried to arrest Elly. Erich refused to turn her over, even despite threats to him and his position, and Elly was able to make her mistake. It's a bit of a heart-warming moment considering Elly's doubts about him a bit earlier.

Regardless, the keycard turns out to be just the thing to allow the party to advance further. The party walks around in the dust chutes for a while and then find themselves in a factory, the Soylent System. There is some packaged food there, so a hungry Fei and Elly stop to eat it. Citan politely declines.

Proceeding further into the factor, the party discovers the food they just ate being produced here. Moving through the dungeon takes them further and further back along the production line, and they see the food at its various states of preparation, until finally they one last door remains. "Wait, Fei. You ate that food. Consider the fact when you open that door." (Spoilers: Citan is a bit of a dick.)

Behind the door lies the horrible truth: the first stage of the production is dead human carcasses. Elly and Fei both understandably freak out (with Fei having a sudden flashback to a traumatic memory in another part of the Soylent System). Citan explains to Elly that the humans seen here are all waste from Krelian's experiments, previously mentioned by Jesiah and Dominia among others. Holy shit that's a lot of experiments. He also reveals that Erich had also been involved, but hated being part of the project, so had requested to be transferred from it. But the guilt from it caused him to try and protect as many Lambs as he could as servants. This explains some of Elly's previous comments, although the game remains forever ambiguous on the subject of Elly's biological parentage (something I am honestly quite happy for).

"Now get up, Fei. Get up and look it over."
"Could... this be true...? Doc..."
"This is reality. Let's go."

<3

The party continues through the factory and into Krelian's labs. This part is pretty creepy. First of all, we see where memory cubes (save points!) are manufactured! While it isn't quite clear what these are used for in-world (although some Solarians mention that you should use them), their purpose for their makers is clear, as Solaris uses them as a big spying network. Not my trusted save points!

Besides that you meet various people in various stages of experiments. Most of them turn into monsters and fight you. One or two are even people you've met before and have since been captured, or are connected to those who have been. The whole area is quite disconcerting. I have some issues with Krelian the character but I'll give this section one thing: it really makes you ready to go and punch him in the face.


Next time: More Solaris goodness, and the big Citan reveal!

Erwin Schrödinger will kill you like a cat in a box.
Maybe.

Grefter

  • Villain.
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 10386
  • True and Honest. Smarter. More aggressive.
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #798 on: March 30, 2014, 02:45:55 AM »
Oooh save points again, reminds me I meant to chime in with it last time the overlap came up with XG originally being planned at some point as a Chrono Trigger sequel.  It is cool to see the save points being both an in game thing AND used by not nice people to do not nice things in both games.  It is probably a direct rip of the idea in to CC, but I am fine with this.  It is used differently in each one and is pretty good both times (XG does it better with Soylent System in play too of course).
NO MORE POKEMON - Meeplelard.
The king perfect of the DL is and always will be Excal. - Superaielman
Don't worry, just jam it in anyway. - SirAlex
Gravellers are like, G-Unit - Trancey.

Captain K.

  • Do you even...
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 2176
  • ...lift books bro?
    • View Profile
Re: What games are you playing 2014?
« Reply #799 on: March 30, 2014, 04:17:40 AM »
Finally, scrotum zombies. Because how has this passed without mention? Because scrotum zombies.

Their running animation is hilarious.  They're trying to move fast but not rack themselves at the same time.  Fantastic design.