Games you're playing: The 2009 edition.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Grandia 2 stuffs

Everybody has uses for magic in G2, it's ridiculously twinkable (far more than physicals) and cost-effective. Roan is the best non-Millennia mage in the game, so drop him a decent Mana Egg for good measure. The egg setups, you may just play as you want, easy game is easy and you can MT OHKO randoms until like the last dungeon with twinked midgame spells. Also, this will hugely matter: elemental boosts -stack-. Abuse this for great justice and instant L4s.

[Cmdr_King]

The funny part is how you can completely miss that, because you OHKO everything with midgame techs.  Of course, you burn SP faster than MP, so it involves a lot more backtracking to the save points.  Magic is mostly more efficent.

[WanderingMind]

Riviera: The Promised Land

Finished last night, got the normal Rose ending.  Now taking on an extra dungeon.

[Yoshiken]

Started the fan translation patch of Mother 3. I'm only an hour or so in (about to reach the Drago Plateau as Flint, for those who know it) but I'm already loving it. The opening sections get you attached to the characters, slowly introduced to the gameplay and are still full of action. Plus, a hilariously awesome script. I'm hoping this quality carries on throughout (but it's a shame that I know story spoilers. ;_; )

[superaielman]

P4- Done! Final gametime was 75 hours. 9/10 game. Pretty much see my earlier comments. It really was a joy to play in spite of some stupid at points mechanics and the difficulty of maxing a couple of S-links.  Donno what's next.

L4D- Playing this right now. Versus mode is cool but not my thing. Normal mode is too much fun. More games need to have co-op gameplay like this.

[hinode]

SRWK replay:

[SageAcrin]

I like how you made Dune the girl.

[NotMiki]

Devil Summoner 2: up to chapter 4, so far so good.

Players take note: if you're about to get in an encounter with one of the horsemen, don't use Repulse Water.  I did, and although it didn't prevent the first encounter from happening, it DID reset the encounter level to 'about to fight a horseman' when it wore off.  Good times.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Devil Summoner 2: up to chapter 4, so far so good.

Players take note: if you're about to get in an encounter with one of the horsemen, don't use Repulse Water.  I did, and although it didn't prevent the first encounter from happening, it DID reset the encounter level to 'about to fight a horseman' when it wore off.  Good times.

Since it may be a long long time before I ever get a chance to play this game (and because I was such a fan of DS1), requesting more details in general. But especially want story spoilers on how it connects with DS1 and how the battle system differs (if at all). Also, what demons are you using?

Are there any non-Raidou human PCs?

[Meeplelard]

FM4: Back to Elsa's route!  That last map of Darill's...argh, cheap Grenade spamming whores!

DMC4 Hard Mode: Back to this! Just beat Mission 5.  Game is starting to pick up in difficulty, not so much cause enemies hit harder or what, but mostly the enemy formations its pulling out are unexpected.  Frosts in tight corridors are somewhat more dangerous than usual (not that they are slouches), and later they get paired with those HOODED SCYTHE DEMON FREAKS T%^*@^@*@&*@%

Oh, and the game hurls those Lightning Demons at you as early as Mission 4.  I've figured out how to deal with them, thankfully, but they are a nasty surprise.

[Dark Holy Elf]

FF6 Eviltype - Right, didn't mention this! Beat the FC, and AtmaWeapon. The former... erm yeah. As mentioned I didn't have the greatest party. Not sure I beat a Dragon legit though I easily could have if I'd set my mind to it. Behemoths needed Rasp + Phantom, but that owned them. Good enough elemental magic largely dealt with the rest as long as you poured it on faster than they could own you. Fun dungeon, I died two or three times right at the start then never again once I got my feet wet.

AtmaWeapon itself I had one reset on. Best way to beat him is totally to go for MP kills. Other than that, once I equipped Green Berets instead of Bard's Hats I was okay (normally I'd never recommend this against a boss with METEO, but it made the difference between being OHKOed by Flare/Land Slide or not which was kinda important). Relm and Shadow both halving the big three elements is huge. Besides that I hid behind Shell and Haste and Golem and tried not to get overwhelmed, though his doubleacting via Quick and his raw firepower made that hard.

EDIT: Also Slow is near essential, both initially and after he uses Haste.

Naughties were dispatched via weakness, Nerapa was more tense because I wasn't ready for Auto-Reflect but Gau's Giga Volt to the rescue. Relm's Rod attacks and AuraBolt deserve minor mention. Got out of the FC with over 30 seconds to spare despite wasting time on setup, an esper switch in the middle, and grabbing the X-Potion. That part feels well-balanced. FC was beaten at Level 24, though Celes was 21.

[Cora Meliamne]

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzonoha Vs King Abbadon.

Chapter 4. Fun, fun fun. Low level spells still work even into the 30s. All's well with the case files too... Except for fighting Titania and Oberon. DAMN YOU ETERNAL REST!

Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne (Maniax)
Just about ready to fight Matador in a restarted file. Also tandum working on some of the low level mutation demons like Lilim, Inugami and Nozuchi. Slow but fun.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3FES&4

P3FES: Nearly done summer break and working on social links.
P4: Restarted since I screwed up and saved on the last day to save Fisheyes. Also working on building Social links here too.

The other SMT games: Got a translation patch to work properly with SMT1 and am finally playing that... SMT2 is being a bitch and won't work with it's translation patch... IF... STILL lacks one. so I'll be forced to use a walkthrough. ~_~

Devil Summoner 2: up to chapter 4, so far so good.

Players take note: if you're about to get in an encounter with one of the horsemen, don't use Repulse Water.  I did, and although it didn't prevent the first encounter from happening, it DID reset the encounter level to 'about to fight a horseman' when it wore off.  Good times.

Since it may be a long long time before I ever get a chance to play this game (and because I was such a fan of DS1), requesting more details in general. But especially want story spoilers on how it connects with DS1 and how the battle system differs (if at all). Also, what demons are you using?

Are there any non-Raidou human PCs?

The Game deals with Luck. More or less. There are points in the game after chapter 2 that deals with the overall Luck of Raidou, if the game tells you that you're suffering from Bad Luck, when the moon cycle resets at NEW, there will be a prompt in dungeon fields that tell you that You sense a power force. Then you'll fight one of the 4 riders.

Story related: As said, the entire thing deals mostly with Luck. I mean heavily, when bad things happen in story, or when good things happen, people will talk about how lucky or unlucky they are.

Mechanics: You don't have to Pokeball demons now, you can talk to them, barter for their services or items. Several demons are fusion only too.

Fusions are still the same, but during certain moon phases (new) and on certain fusion counts ( every seven, every doubled number 11, 22, 33 etc.) and if you're Lucky (two red arrows up or two blue arrows down on your status bar), you'll be prompted by Victor about "surgery" which requires gems you collect. What happens with them are either (New moon with good or bad luck on double number fusion) Fiends, Evil (monsters from Soulless army) or (New moon with multiple of 7 fusions) mods to the demons you're fusing ( stat boost, extra passive slot or a special passive ability).  You also get a new Mitima fusion, on a full moon when you fuse with a Mitima the entire skill list is randomized.

The game makes some relations to the first game. But it's a stand alone aside from transfer which is Hard mode out the gate, and new demons that automatically join when you meet them.

[Fudozukushi]

P4: Restarted since I screwed up and saved on the last day to save Fisheyes. Also working on building Social links here too.

Uhhh, if you run out of time to save anyone then the game will shunt you back a week.

[VySaika]

A whole lot of Melty Blood. Tohno Shiki and normal Akiha are prolly my best two chars right now. Kouma I like as well, but I need to learn something besides REKKAKEN RUSH. Don't have very high hopes of doing this, mind. I kinda play by instinct and REKKAKEN RUSH entertains me~

[Cora Meliamne]

P4: Restarted since I screwed up and saved on the last day to save Fisheyes. Also working on building Social links here too.

Uhhh, if you run out of time to save anyone then the game will shunt you back a week.

I know, I hate it since I lost the levels and the persona I got. Also, I always run out of Yen to pay the fox.

[Fudozukushi]

P4: Restarted since I screwed up and saved on the last day to save Fisheyes. Also working on building Social links here too.

Uhhh, if you run out of time to save anyone then the game will shunt you back a week.

I know, I hate it since I lost the levels and the persona I got. Also, I always run out of Yen to pay the fox.

Ahhh, that sucks mon.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

A whole lot of Melty Blood. Tohno Shiki and normal Akiha are prolly my best two chars right now. Kouma I like as well, but I need to learn something besides REKKAKEN RUSH. Don't have very high hopes of doing this, mind. I kinda play by instinct and REKKAKEN RUSH entertains me~

Hey, REKKAKEN RUSH is a bread 'n butter for Kouma, so it's not bad. Speaking of which.

MBAC - Also been playing this a lot. Nero is a barrel of monkeys.

[WanderingMind]

P4: Restarted since I screwed up and saved on the last day to save Fisheyes. Also working on building Social links here too.

Uhhh, if you run out of time to save anyone then the game will shunt you back a week.

I know, I hate it since I lost the levels and the persona I got. Also, I always run out of Yen to pay the fox.

Don't use the fox.

It drains a lot of money you could use to get equipment for all your characters at the same time, items, and Personas.  Even when I sold all my materials at the weapons shop, I didn't feel like I had enough money to cover whatever I wanted to buy if I used the fox the day before.  A better alternative to the fox is to get the upside Judgment and Death cards after battles, both of which restores your party's MP.  The only difference between the two is that upside Death drops your party's HP to 1 and teleports you outside the dungeon.  Don't worry if your MP is low while you're trying to find those cards.  Just fight a bunch of Shadows.  If they're giving you trouble, try earlier dungeons.  It may take you hours just to find either card and have it turn upside.  Look at it this way: you'll earn a lot of yen and materials along the way.  You can get to the end of a dungeon in one day just by relying on Death and Judgment cards for MP restoration.

The only time when you want to use the fox is as a last resort, and that's only when you max out its Social Link.  By the time I maxed out the fox's Social Link near the end of the game, I had an ability that restored 5% of my party's MP after every battle.

[Excal]

P4: Restarted since I screwed up and saved on the last day to save Fisheyes. Also working on building Social links here too.

Uhhh, if you run out of time to save anyone then the game will shunt you back a week.

I know, I hate it since I lost the levels and the persona I got. Also, I always run out of Yen to pay the fox.

Don't use the fox.

It drains a lot of money you could use to get equipment for all your characters at the same time, items, and Personas.  Even when I sold all my materials at the weapons shop, I didn't feel like I had enough money to cover whatever I wanted to buy if I used the fox the day before.  A better alternative to the fox is to get the upside Judgment and Death cards after battles, both of which restores your party's MP.  The only difference between the two is that upside Death drops your party's HP to 1 and teleports you outside the dungeon.  Don't worry if your MP is low while you're trying to find those cards.  Just fight a bunch of Shadows.  If they're giving you trouble, try earlier dungeons.  It may take you hours just to find either card and have it turn upside.  Look at it this way: you'll earn a lot of yen and materials along the way.  You can get to the end of a dungeon in one day just by relying on Death and Judgment cards for MP restoration.

The only time when you want to use the fox is as a last resort, and that's only when you max out its Social Link.  By the time I maxed out the fox's Social Link near the end of the game, I had an ability that restored 5% of my party's MP after every battle.

Alternatively, when you aren't in the dungeon, do what you can to max out the Fox as quickly as possible, and use him as necessary.  Items are dirt cheap after a few months, and equipment generally isn't worth the cost as you'll be able to stay current with Rare Chests, and skill/party setups are worth far more than what you're wearing for the most part.  Same with Personas.  No doubt you have your own way of using it by now, but it is possible to get through the game generally using it to save good skillsets and have quick access to good skills.  Well, and boosting S Link gains, but you can do that with trashy bottom tier Personae for pennies.  As for Death, I'd actually recommend avoiding it if you don't have the guaranteed positive Arcana Chance effect in play, since that one going against you reduces your SP to 1, which means either a) you pay the fox through the nose, b) you cannot go near any current dungeon, c) you burn up SP restoration items, or d) you're done for the day.

So, yeah.  The fox is a huge time saver, whether it's in game time by not having to leave the dungeon, or real time, in not having to spend hours in obsolete dungeons hoping to get a Judgement/Death to go your way.  As such, I heartily recommend using it whenever you feel the need.  Especially once you hit Lvl 6 or 7, and a Golden Shadow will go a long way to covering the costs.

[Xeroma]

Actually Kouma's BnB involves mid-air flame kick, not rekkas. Rekkas have their uses, though Kouma really just wants to get into your face and throw your ass.

[Sierra]

Bioshock: So yeah, got this for the PS3. Started it up and played through the first Big Daddy fight, which was pretty hardcore. Not much else to say right now, other than that the game does atmosphere pretty well.

Setting people on fire seems like a pretty winning battle plan so far.

[Ultradude]

PKMN D: Just got to Eterna City. So far my main team consists of Monferno, Geodude, Kadabra (soon to be Alakazam), Buizel, and Staravia. First gym was easy with my Abra having Fighting type Hidden Power and a Geodude with Rock Smash. These also helped with that surprisingly nasty Purugly used by Mars, who couldn't overcome Geodude's typing and defense to 2HKO it like it does everything else.

Still looking for PKMN #6, probably go with... whatever I happen to come across that looks good! Lol planning?

[superaielman]

Alternatively, when you aren't in the dungeon, do what you can to max out the Fox as quickly as possible, and use him as necessary.  Items are dirt cheap after a few months, and equipment generally isn't worth the cost as you'll be able to stay current with Rare Chests, and skill/party setups are worth far more than what you're wearing for the most part.  Same with Personas.  No doubt you have your own way of using it by now, but it is possible to get through the game generally using it to save good skillsets and have quick access to good skills.  Well, and boosting S Link gains, but you can do that with trashy bottom tier Personae for pennies.  As for Death, I'd actually recommend avoiding it if you don't have the guaranteed positive Arcana Chance effect in play, since that one going against you reduces your SP to 1, which means either a) you pay the fox through the nose, b) you cannot go near any current dungeon, c) you burn up SP restoration items, or d) you're done for the day.


So, yeah.  The fox is a huge time saver, whether it's in game time by not having to leave the dungeon, or real time, in not having to spend hours in obsolete dungeons hoping to get a Judgement/Death to go your way.  As such, I heartily recommend using it whenever you feel the need.  Especially once you hit Lvl 6 or 7, and a Golden Shadow will go a long way to covering the costs.

Taking advantage of enemy weaknesses is a huge part of saving money. MT physicals (This is why Chie is usable even during her bad period)  combined with this means you should be able to only swing one fox trip a duengon. That is managable within the game's money system.

[Cora Meliamne]

The primary reason I was complaining about wasting Yen on the fox for fisheye's dungeon is because of the Hag shadows, that always get first move and always SP drain Souji.

[superaielman]

Void quest, right?