Games you're playing: The 2009 edition.

[Idun]

Put in Shadow Hearts From the New World. First impressions: I don't really like the art direction compared to the previous installments. Moving around feels a bit rigid, especially in the Upper West of New York. I dislike the voice actors. The humor and sarcasm is back, but I feel like some of it is just too mindless though I did giggle on Frank's crazy ninja rant. I'm currently not a fan of either Shania or Johnny, as Johnny is a detective but seems thoroughly childish and Shania is just some "exotic" indigenous person who needs to take her clothes off like Sailor Moon to release spirit powers and transform. Natan's all right, though he seems to be single-minded and I hope there's some development there rather being a blind protector. Frank is Frank.

Music? The battle music is pretty awesome, but otherwise I feel like Radiata Stories can do some of these tracks better (wait, what?). I am thoroughly disappointed at the Judgement System as I've fucking done these exact rings in Covenant and 1. YAY for being too bored to move the fucking zones around, battle developer. I suppose it's good for my Score since I've done the rings before and getting Perfects is easy-peasy [though a few times when I started to scratch my head I missed *and for combos*]    : b  

Story seems to be developing, but so far I'm just in the canyon. For someone who needs to pick up on clues, Johnny was certainly oblivious to the disheveled creature who came in inquiring for his first investigation in the game. . .  And god damnit, what is it with Shadow Hearts games? The font is thin as hell on a gradient blue screen with white font that makes my eyes rotate counterclockwise . .  and I dunno, this game seems to have a bit higher resolution though the quality is shitty since everything seems so big! I'm going to try to lure out Bigfoot once I'm done with this sidearc.

[Shale]

KH2: Beat Olympus Colosseum. I really liked what they did with it - I completely expected a retread of the first game's arena, and got actual plot and dungeons (although having Drive sealed for almost all of it was lame). "This is MY story" was as awesome as it was hyped up to be. Bosses were a joke again, and this time I wasn't playing them out of order to give them an excuse for it. At this rate the giant wrecking-ball Heartless is going to go down as the most damaging, durable enemy in the game.

Next up: Disney Castle? Awesome. And is that the Black Pearl I see in the next wave of worlds?

[Luther Lansfeld]

Idun, you know that you can turn off the animations for Shania's transforms in the options? It makes the game more playable

[Idun]

. . . . . . . . . . . .



Thank you. : >

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Natan's all right, though he seems to be single-minded and I hope there's some development there rather being a blind protector.

SH3? Having character development? You keep on dreaming, girl.

[Luther Lansfeld]

Natan's all right, though he seems to be single-minded and I hope there's some development there rather being a blind protector.

SH3? Having character development? You keep on dreaming, girl.

This is also very true!

[Hunter Sopko]

The humor and sarcasm is back, but I feel like some of it is just too mindless though I did giggle on Frank's crazy ninja rant.

Yeeeeah. Enjoy that. It's the only time he's ever even close to funny.

Mirror's Edge- Beat Chapter 4. I'll be fair, I need to be a little calmer when trying to do complex stunts and get better at the game. That said, the controls can suck a nut. Not that they aren't responsive, they're still pretty good, it's just that mapping almost everything to one button can be a little random. You run up to a wall and expect to wallrun, but instead you jump to your doom. Stuff like that. The story would be better if they actually explained why the city is some dystopian authoritarian big brother scenario other than "BUT THE CORPORATIONS!"

Mana Khemia- Up to Chapter 7 Week 7. Muppy is amusing I guess. Evil face is funny, but otherwise eh. Core cast is still enjoyable, and I like Anna and Pamela. Still using Vayne, Jess and Anna while swapping in Flay. I rarely use Nikki and never use Pamela unless I need to. Maybe I should try out Roxis...

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

You're missing out on Roxis (at least if you already got his Mana). His timed card skills are about the best attacks in the game. Three billion GT attack cards in a single go? Fuck yes. His card manipulation tricks are also neat and pretty useful, especially when the bosses start doling out the 3-4 cards that smack you for 3HKO damage each.

[Hunter Sopko]

You're missing out on Roxis (at least if you already got his Mana). His timed card skills are about the best attacks in the game. Three billion GT attack cards in a single go? Fuck yes. His card manipulation tricks are also neat and pretty useful, especially when the bosses start doling out the 3-4 cards that smack you for 3HKO damage each.

I didn't like him too much, so I didn't get his Mana until this chapter. I'll throw him into the party and see what happens.

Edit: Has the added bonus of making Tal cry by throwing Pamela out of the party!

[Sierra]

WAXF: Ragnar is a moron. So is Levin. So is Edna. Felius flashback = lolwhat. ...Yeah. At least the lead character isn't a blithering idiot (a notable improvement over recent WAs).

Closing in on the end of act 2. Clarissa is mostly built as a utility character (spends a lot of time sitting in Excavator for the high RFX so that I can spam Encourage); Labyrinthia/Levin are cycling through the mage classes (of which Enigmancer is is currently standard just for having more balanced stats; sure, Elementalist has better offense, but the speed/movement are not cutting it for all these maps that require good mobility); Felius is Berserker/whatever other bruiser class the situation calls for; Ragnar is on Grappler because throwing enemies off cliffs is fun (though the class also has badass stuff like Accelerator and Red Zone going for it, yes); Tony is Tony.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

ET - This is a lot of fun. Reiji and Xiaomu joined, and the support system opened up. Also, Reiji -starts- with Soul? Off -that- base damage? What the. Meanwhile, I'm rather fond of Suzuka Trance. Really abusable against boss support in battles, although I tend to never use it more than once per fight, it gets risky as you shave enemies out.

Ouendan 2 - Cleared Easy, working on Normal. Unlocked Monkey Magic. This game is the ultimate portable drug.


EBA/Ouendan - Score-running junk on Easy. The statement for Ouendan 2 applies to these as well.

P.S.: HEY TALLY-CHU HOW DO YOU LIKE READY STEADY GO

[Idun]

I'm in love with McManus. A man willing to shoot me cos' he wants me so bad is such an illogical turn-on.


 . . . . .


Plus he has a distinct accent.

[Excal]

Playing a mix of stuff right now.

AG - Just started the third path split, so Chapter 18.  Accidentally chose the Turn-A route, so no G-Bits for me, which means I'll be picking all of the non-GX paths this playthrough since I'll be needing them for any hypothetical second playthrough if I do want the G-Bits (which I suspect I will, they are sexy).  Currently wondering who the heck that guy in the GP03 is, and when I can boot him out of there so Kou can get his mech back.

PW2 - Replaying this.  Forgot there was that totally badass dream sequence as well as Will Power's testimony freakout.  The way they jab at Phoenix's style in this case is the best they do it in the series.  Which, I suppose is a fair point really, given what the case is about.  Still awesome.

Space Empires 4, or whatever the real name of that game Tai ranted about a while back was.  Got it, played a game of it, pretty fun stuff.  Seems like it'd be better with multiple people, and is setup for netplay, sweet.  Sadly, default victory conditions (outside of the kill them all one I assume is implicite) make for a really short game.  But that's alright for a first game since it was mostly there to learn how to play and get a rough idea of which bits of the tech tree are worthwhile.  Second game should be far more interesting, especially since I'm hoping that a higher difficulty will let more than one alien civ expand beyond their starting system.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Currently wondering who the heck that guy in the GP03 is, and when I can boot him out of there so Kou can get his mech back.

No idea either, but I don't remember Koh being terribly badass in @G. If the weirdo has better stats, keep 'im inside the mech anyway, the Dendrobium is a pretty cool machine. Of course, you could just like Kou better, and I doubt he's bad enough to ruin the GP-03.

EDIT: Although picking up the non-G-Bits route by accident -has- to suck when you were trying to get them to begin with.

[Excal]

It did.  And since I'm playing on the PS2, it's not like I have a lot of spare save slots, so I couldn't double check.  Ah well, it's not like I had my heart set on it or anything, it's just a spiffy attack from a series I've never watched and doesn't seem as interesting as, say, the Xabungle cast.  Their fourth wall humour is a lot more appealing than Yet Another Gundam Cast.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Well, the main thing about G-Bits is that it's an attack -and- an extra pilot. Not to mention G-Bits is a slugfesting attack that has power comparable to a finisher. It ups the DX Gundam from "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh" to "what the fuck is wrong with this shit".

Although the sentiment about the Xabungle cast kicking ass is something I can partake of. Also, the Walker Gallier is -very- good.

[Ultradude]

Xabungle and Turn A being awesome do make up for the lack of G-Bits, which I also missed out on. Will get on my Hard Mode playthrough.

While Garrod is actually a pretty interesting main character for Gundam and Jamil is pretty neat http://instantrimshot.com/, the rest of the cast and mobile suits are unimpressive.

As for Dendrobium... well, I gave it to Harry Ord for the image of him yelling UNIVERSE while doing Point Blank Beam Cannon... hm. Was it another UC Gundam character who jacked it? I can't remember...

[Shale]

I just realized Pyro didn't post his account of the weekend's gaming highlight: the unending fail of The Last Remnant.

Things started of with a really, reaaaaaaallly long fight outside a castle. None too difficult, but time-consuming, especially because the enemy gets six or seven waves of reinforcements. After winning that, he's thrown, with no chance to save, into a boss fight against two sisters(?) who have a chance, every turn, to use a full MT attack that deals 2HKO damage. Unless they crit, in which case it's OHKO. And if they use that attack, they also get their regular turns. Miraculously, they never crit, and Pyro's mighty forces manage to get both of them to critical HP. This takes...what would you say, 15 or 20 minutes?

Anyway, when both of them are near death and their support is all dead, one of them uses the spell "Second Chance." As we all sit there, wondering what it does, the other boss gets fullhealed. Cue prolific swearing from Pyro. But never fear! It's just the bosses left, and one of them's almost dead - just mop-up, right? Even if it takes longer, it's not that hard anymore. And indeed, the boss who's still at low HP goes down pretty easily.

Then the remaining boss starts charming PC squads. The move is high accuracy, apparently impossible to protect against with spells or equipment, and does not wear off. Oh, and PCs deal high 2HKO damage to each other. The second charmed squad (out of five) was enough to end the fight. Cue far more prolific swearing, and Super and me giving the game an honorary 0/10 ranking. Huzzah. I still don't see why we didn't hit the disc with a hammer at some point.

[Taishyr]

Excal: Slight note on SEIV: first, the AI tends to be more comfortable on larger maps, I've noticed. Secondly, if the flag is just one color with some slightly darker parts on top and bottom, it's an immobile empire. Those don't get past their own system no matter what, because they lack warp point use technology (which, implicitly, all the mobile groups have).

[Hunter Sopko]

I still don't see why we didn't hit the disc with a hammer at some point.

Because I wasn't there.

Mirror's Edge- Beat Chapter 5. Slightly less stress inducing than last chapter, since I did lot better at doing some of the stunts. Now you just get to do them while under fire! Whee! I think I've got the L-Turn down, but Wallclimb-180-Jumps are still the bane of my existence.

[Shale]

It would have been in homage to you, though.

[Hunter Sopko]

As long as it's not in effigy.

[superaielman]

I'd just like to chip in that Last Remnant makes Hoshigami look like a wonderfully balanced game and that those responsible for forcing that blight upon humanity need to be shipped to the nearest war zone.\

Edit: It was closer to 30-40 minutes to get one of the bosses to critical HP. They had pretty damn scary HP as well. Also of note: You have no direct control of anyone in LR, so your damage and healing can be severely hampered that way. The only reason Pyro did as well as he did during that fight was because he got a super move to trigger on turn two and got a shitload of Morale out of it.

[Pyro]

Shale: You forgot the part where the last remaining sister used a move that makes her quinta-turn ON COUNTERS so that by attacking her with enough Unions you can wind up decimated.

In fairness to LR I'm not very good at setting up parties (although its not like the 360 version gives you a horrible lot of leeway in this regard, what with limiting plot PCs. I tried to balance squads with healing/status healing/revival). I didn't abuse the formation system as much as possible either.

That said I'm never touching it again.

[Ultradude]

So yeah, blitzing through FE6 again to mess around with a few different characters and actually get all the Divine Weapons this time. Also, savestate arena abuse for frue easy mode.

Yeah, mostly updating how happy I am that Lou OHKOd Narshen with Forblaze.