Games you're playing: The 2009 edition.

[Shale]

Ah. I didn't even notice that his wife had opened up shop, and I had a few lesser items in stock when I ended the quest, but nothing worth equipping in C5. Oh well.

[DomaDragoon]

Platinum: I am now champion. Final rival fight got Staraptowned, Aaron got fired, Bertha didn't have anything to really contend with Torterra, (Fire Punching Golem excepted), Flint couldn't contend with Rapidash's Flash Fire, Lucian ate a heap of Crunches, and Cynthia was unlucky enough to not take down Staraptor before she could get her DT/X Attack up and got swept. Final levels were Luxray 56 / Torterra 56 / Rapidash 58 / Staraptor 59 / Azumarill 21 / Zubat 5.

[Dark Holy Elf]

VPDS - Beat the SG. Only had one reset, but that's still more than I had in the entire A route! Gameplay feels improved in the SG by lack of Sin meaning you can actually be efficient, but you have less access to Tactics overall which is kinda unfortunate. It'd help if I hadn't wasted one of the Dash scrolls on a PC I dropped, granted. Gameplay balances out as better than maingame overall, but still not really worth playing for. As such, after getting a chuckle out of Gabriel Possessed, I am done with the game. SG at least was hilarious overall, though last two floors were forgettable.

Freya is ridiculous, but that's kinda expected. Monster ATK, 5 move, 2 range, flies (SG has a lot of gaps, so this matters a fair deal).

[Strago]

That, remembering how irritating some of Elizabeth's requests are, and the general shittiness of the plot (in other words, being reminded of everything P4 fixed) mean my rating of the game's going down. I think Soppy's assessment was pretty accurate: if the cast wasn't so endearing, the game would be beyond redemption.

I'm legitimately curious and not trying to be a dick: P3 has any endearing cast members not named Junpei?

[Hunter Sopko]

Yukari is nice (though she's... not quite all there in The Answer). Akihiko is generally cool when not interacting with Ken. The whole beach scene is awesome for both Junpei and Akihiko. Mitsuru's early S-Links are also fun as hell. Fuuka has that one shot where she's rolling her eyes that's just freaking awesome, and is generally also pretty good early and tapers off.

Ken and his associated baggage just kinda fucks up the whole dynamic though.

The funny thing is, for however much emo P3 has, the cast is generally very happy and well-adjusted. Meanwhile, the cast of P4 is very flawed and stunted in some way whereas the game is at the very least, not emo. Whee balance.

[Niu]

VPDS - Beat the SG. Only had one reset, but that's still more than I had in the entire A route! Gameplay feels improved in the SG by lack of Sin meaning you can actually be efficient, but you have less access to Tactics overall which is kinda unfortunate. It'd help if I hadn't wasted one of the Dash scrolls on a PC I dropped, granted. Gameplay balances out as better than maingame overall, but still not really worth playing for. As such, after getting a chuckle out of Gabriel Possessed, I am done with the game. SG at least was hilarious overall, though last two floors were forgettable.

Freya is ridiculous, but that's kinda expected. Monster ATK, 5 move, 2 range, flies (SG has a lot of gaps, so this matters a fair deal).

10 Cycles already???

[Clear Tranquil]

P4- Naoto + Speed + Mind Charge + Megidola mwahahahaha!

[Sierra]

That, remembering how irritating some of Elizabeth's requests are, and the general shittiness of the plot (in other words, being reminded of everything P4 fixed) mean my rating of the game's going down. I think Soppy's assessment was pretty accurate: if the cast wasn't so endearing, the game would be beyond redemption.

I'm legitimately curious and not trying to be a dick: P3 has any endearing cast members not named Junpei?

They're entertaining enough. Soppy mostly covered it. And the plot is just so damned bad that I was glad for whatever small graces I could find.

[Dark Holy Elf]

No, Niu, just one cycle. Doing 10 cycles would involve caring about the gameplay, and VPDS gameplay kinda sucks.

[Shale]

DQ4r: Beat the Marquis. Had one run at him where I got completely slaughtered, even after spending a while touring the world and leveling up, so I was resigned to grinding like mad for an hour or two before another attempt. Then Kiryl gained one level and learned Kabuff. That changed things a bit. He still managed to kill Kiryl and Maya (or was it Meena? The offensive spellcaster) the turn after the extra defense wore off, but I did enough damage before that, thanks largely to Sap, that I could win the fight by healing every turn with Solo while Alena handled the offense. So now I've got the full party together. Next up....uh.....hm. Wander the world aimlessly for a while, I guess? Ragnar didn't really give me much guidance, and Canalot Castle, which seems to be the next major plot hook, is still inaccessible.

[superaielman]

Stagger Kabuff uses. Use it every.. three or four turns? Long as you're refreshing it, the buff won't wear off.


Visit Alena's home castle and grab the Magma staff, it's the next key item you need.

[Meeplelard]

Aria of Sorrow: Completed.

Beat the game yesterday...then decided to actually get the good ending.  Was a bit shaken when I learned there was an OMG NEW CASTLE! thing like SotN did...but soon realized it was more akin to one more section of the castle, rather than SotN's stunt of "hey, redo the same thing before, but UPSIDE DOWN JUST TO MAKE THIS GAME TWICE AS LONG!!"  Also, getting the good ending was a lot less obscure (figured it out more or less on my own, just used a FAQ to A. Confirm I was right and B. make it easier to find where the enemy was.)

Overall, game is solid enough.  Like I said before, this game shows that they figured out what made SotN good, and tried to adapt that...but at the same time, attempted creativity rather than just rehash the old game in a new dungeon.  It overall worked, as it did a lot of the same things right SotN did, but had its own flavor of uniqueness to keep things fresh in comparison.  Definitely much better than CotM which was mostly just "Generic Castlevania game in the new Metroidvania format!!! ...oh, yeah, there are cards, but the balance is so out of whack, 90% of the combos you'll just never use." 

Soma is probably the most fun character to play as in the series.  He seemed to have more variety than Alucard, due to the Soul system, and weapons were generally more varied in AoS than in SotN (SotN, I seem to recall using the same weapon for most of the game, swapping rarely cause you'd rarely get genuine improvements.  And no, I'm not talking about Chrissagrim; I'm more referring to Shield Rod which even without its gimmick, it ends up stronger than most weapons in the first half, provided you equip a shield); removing Sub Weapons and just making Souls deal with everything made things smoother as well.  The only thing AoS really lacked compared to SotN is some polish issues and general fluidity of the gameplay, but otherwise?  Yeah, solid game overall.

Ok, so about its plot?  Uh...I'll do it in the style of a Half Assed Abridged sequence!  Spoilers and such.

Soma: Time to meet my female friend during this Solar Eclipse in a temple and...wait, where the fuck am I?
Arikado: Right on Time, welcome to the Time Rift Castle of Dracula!  Oh yeah, I'm definitely NOT Alucard! (Phew, for a second there, I think he might have figured me out, good thing I dyed my hair black!)
Mina: Oh no! How are we getting out of here.
Soma: Wait, I seem to have these awesome powers, maybe I can use that to explore!
Yoko: You use Dark Powers! ...yes, I said they're dark, NOT EVIL, see? There's a difference! Just don't get eaten by them.
Graham: Hi, I'm this scientist dude who wants power!  Oh, I'll be ni-...wait, you have power? NOW I WILL BE EVIL AND EAT YOUR SOUL!  Also, I will become Dracula.
J: I'm just some guy stuck here who lost his memories...though, its clear I'm related Dracula's death somehow...
Soma: Man, I have no clue what's going on anymore...
Arikado: Don't worry, stuff will make sense soon enough!
Soma: Seriously?
Yoko: No, it won't; he's just trying not to be cynical for once.
Soma: Damn.
J: HA! I remember who I am! I am...JULIUS BELMONT!!  Which of course means I kicked Dracula's ass, sealed him in another dimension, and did it with a whip.  Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to get this whip!  Oh yeah, that guy Graham is evil, but everyone else already told you that.
Soma: Ok, so Graham's my enemy, time to go kick his ass!
Death: I'm just in this to be an obligatory plotless boss so I can be here, like I am in most Castlevanias!
*Soma reaches Garaham*
Soma: Die Monster, you don't belong in this world!
Graham: It was not by my-...wait, no, we are NOT spoofing out own damn series!
Soma: Ok, whatever, can we just fight so you can die and thus preventing Dracula's ressurection.
Graham: OK.
*Graham dies*
Soma: Wait...the fuck? I'M DRACULA!? This is heavy...
Arikado: Great Scott! Ok, let me explain.  yes, I knew you were Dracula, and I didn't want you to come here...but you came by accident...cause its destiny.  Basically, I kept you here cause your powers would revive regardless, but so long as you're here, I can use my powers to ward off Dracula!  Why do I care about you? ...
Soma: So...what do I do?
Arikado: Just go to the Chaos Realm and fight your INNER DEMONS, and you should be fine.
Soma: Ok, but wait, wasn't there a Bel-...
Julius: AHA! Now I know you're Dracula! EAT WHIP YOU VILE MONSTER!
Soma: OUCH! That hurt! I'm not evil yet damn it...though I am feeling different...BUT THAT'S NOT THE SAME! To prove it, I will go beat my inner demons!
Julius: FINE! But I'm so killing you if you turn evil.
Soma: Noted!
*Soma kills his inner chaos demons and stuff*
Mina: Ooh! Castlevania's exploding! I'm sure this has never happened before like in every other game in the series!
Soma: So I'm the hero? Ok, now to go back to my mundane life of...say, what is it I did anyway?  Whatever, I'm sure my adventures are done!
Arikado: On the contrary, you still have a sequel to take part in on the DS!
Soma: ...great...

No clue when I'll get to playing that Sequel.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Enjoy the smooth DS TO STYLUS TRANSITIONS on DoS when you play it. It's the game's problem from what I played. If you're interested in more Metroidvania eventually, Portrait of Ruin is also neat.

[Xeroma]

Those only happen during bossfights though. It's not -that- big a deal.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

They happen mostly only after bossfights and it's not a big deal, but it is annoying, particularly because the stylus drawing recognition is crappy. It's inconvenient, and I'm glad they forsake that kind of idea later on.

[Shale]

DQ4: Baalzack is complete bullshit.

[Dark Holy Elf]

You might be fighting him too early? Can't speak for the remake, but in DW4o I fought him after the Bakor arc. Wouldn't shock me if they buffed him out of respect for that.

[Shale]

In that case I blame Super for telling me to fight him now.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Blaming Super is always the answer.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

You people make Dune cry happy.

VPDS - Hrist is ;_;? I'll be damned.

EDIT: I also suddenly realized that the whole scene gains a distinct layer when you keep in mind that Hrist is NEB.

[Strago]

Exit Fate - Just entered Gaia's Heart. Oh, great, another inane difficulty spike requiring me to grind my ass off. I think I'll just play Suikoden II again.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

I decided to wait until someone makes a utility to edit save games. I'll just shoot some eSteroids in to my key party members or something.

[Clear Tranquil]

P4-L58. Kunino-sagiri. I run out of SPs and then I lose. Yay~

[superaielman]

You might be fighting him too early? Can't speak for the remake, but in DW4o I fought him after the Bakor arc. Wouldn't shock me if they buffed him out of respect for that.

You're supposed to fight him before Bakor's arc. He's not hugely different in the remake IIRC, just generally damaging and can put pressure on you.  Though yeah, if he's being a bitch (And he can be if he's cute and spams ice attacks), come back later. He's doesn't have a ton of HP. You may be able to silence him too? That might only be  Arsene Lutrin/Bakor though!
/

[Bobbin Cranbud]

Wii: Wii Sports Resort.  I may as well stop mentioning this because it will be on here for the foreseeable future.  I expected to be hooked on swordplay, but archery is, I think, the best game in here.
PS1 (emulated): LFFT.  Still playing this, but I'm behind on my AAR.  Currently at the sluice gate.  Chapter 4 has been more like what I expected after Chapter 1, rather than the cakewalk of Chapters 2-3!  Awesome.  But...
PSP: Metal Gear Acid 2.  It's a collectible card game that doesn't cost any money!  (Well, it cost me something like $8 initially, but whatever.  New packs don't cost money.)  Already on my second playthrough.

Exit Fate - Just entered Gaia's Heart. Oh, great, another inane difficulty spike requiring me to grind my ass off. I think I'll just play Suikoden II again.

Wow, I don't remember needing to grind very often in Exit Fate.  Certainly not for levels.  The only thing I was ever really short of was money (and that lasted until the final dungeon).

What kind of party setup are you using?