Games you're playing: The 2009 edition.

[Fudozukushi]

Suikoden Tier: So fucking tedious...

[Bardiche]

Re-playing Pokémon Sapphire. Sometimes it does feel like the computer cheats, especially when it consistenly hits twice in a row after six Mud Slaps.

Currently at Norman, sporting the following team:

RICHTER, the male Kirlia. Level 24, with Synchronise. Knows Calm Mind, Confusion, Teleport and Double Team.
SHEDINJA, the Shedinja. Level 21, with Wonder Guard. Knows Flash, Double Team, Fury Cutter and Leech Life.
ZIGGY, the male Zigzagoon. Level 8, with Pick Up. Knows Tackle, Rock Smash, Cut and Growl.
WORM, the female Beautifly. Level 19, with Swarm. Knows String Shot, Gust, Absorb and Stun Spore.
QED, the Lunatone. Level 25, with Levitate. Knows Confusion, Psywave, Rock Throw and Hypnosis.
EGG, the Egg. Level 0, with Hatch. I have no idea just what the hell is supposed to hatch from this anymore.

Needless to say, Norman whipped my arse pretty hard.

[Sierra]

El Cid- oh, there's mass media.  Just, he was into cloaks and face masks BEFORE he was evil, and I doubt an ends-justifies-means warrior turned Sith Overlord grants many candid interviews anyway >.>

You'd think the jedi should know to take that sort of thing as a warning sign.

Anyway, ran through Tatooine. Probably there was a way to talk to the sand people, but I was tired of the planet and just killed them all.

[Pyro]

Probably there was a way to talk to the sand people, but I was tired of the planet and just killed them all.

There was. But you made HK-47 a happy droid, so all is right in the universe.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

ToL - Oh hey look it's a Jay. In other news, Tiger Blade kinda sucks.

[Sierra]

Probably there was a way to talk to the sand people, but I was tired of the planet and just killed them all.

There was. But you made HK-47 a happy droid, so all is right in the universe.

Actually, I haven't even found him.

[Cmdr_King]

*shrug* He was an idealistic young man taking action in the face of a war the government and the other jedi were unwilling and, really, pretty impotent to stop.  Soooo most of the Jedi and the Republic Army joined up to kill them some Mandalorians.  Why so many stuck around after the obvious Dark Side turn and beginning of the TAKE OVER THE GALAXY plot I dunno.  Aside from Revan's raw charisma maybe.  He's probably canonically like a 50 in it.

Edit- ... ohhhh.  You have to have HK to talk to the Sand People, I'm pretty sure.  The droid shop is near the exit into the desert in Anchorhead.  Even without that, go ahead and get him, he's awesome and if you have points in Repair, this is what they are for (the gameplay bonuses aren't enough to make him keep up with Jedi, but the stories are great.)

[DjinnAndTonic]

DQ4DS: My students are I'm still playing this sporadically. Currently fighting Balzack, but the bastard Fullheals long before I can smash him, and he has way too much MP. So it looks like my students I'll have to level up until I get Silence, of course.

Almost get to start playing the actual game.

CCFF7: Popped this into the old PSP and watched the pretty cutscenes. First impression: Reels are boring and suck. Everything else is pretty cool.

Arc the Lad: Already beat this, but I stumbled across the Let's Play for it and remembered why I like the series (or rather, why I like WD). It's got some great lines that make me smile ("It's nice to have an environmentally friendly megalomaniac for a change.") The Let's Play for it is also rather chuckle-worthy. Reading it is even faster than playing it...

[Sierra]

I figured I needed him for that, because someone in town mentioned there being a spiffy protocol droid around. I thought the jawas were going to give him to me for helping them out, though, and was rather confused when this didn't happen (I may have been spaced out when talking to the people in town and overlooked/not remembered relevant details; stuff like this often happens when I've been gaming for too long). I never actually stumbled into the droid shop, it seems. Will have to go back and fix that.

[Grefter]

You missed HK-47?  Restart the game, there is no reason to play the game without HK-47.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

You missed HK-47?  Restart the game, there is no reason to play the game without HK-47.

Grefter is correct. If you can't team with Canderous and HK-47 you might as well carry your testicles in a "European men's shoulder bag."

[Dark Holy Elf]

DQ4DS: My students are I'm still playing this sporadically. Currently fighting Balzack, but the bastard Fullheals long before I can smash him, and he has way too much MP. So it looks like my students I'll have to level up until I get Silence, of course.

You should have the Sphere of Silence in your inventory; use it to stop him from healing.

[Sierra]

You missed HK-47?  Restart the game, there is no reason to play the game without HK-47.

Or I could just, you know, fly back to Tatooine and get him. My repair skill is fucking horrible though (I have all of two ranks in it), so restoring his memory likely can't happen.

[Meeplelard]

CCFF7: Popped this into the old PSP and watched the pretty cutscenes. First impression: Reels are boring and suck. Everything else is pretty cool.

Reels are relatively minor beyond the leveling up factor.  Just think of them as "random bonuses you get throughout the fight."  The DMW Reels can only help you; the only case they'll hurt (if any) is in some really freaking bizarre scenario that comes up too infrequently (if ever) to matter. 

In fact, when you activate a Limit, if the enemies are attacking, you're immune to all damage and status until the limit goes off, which is basically after they finish their animations <_<

The game mostly thrives on Accessories and Materia; DMW is an attempt at Plot/Gameplay integration offering you arbitrary bonuses; the bonuses aren't insignificant...but they're still just that; bonuses.  You don't need them to win, but they're nice to have when they kick in.

[Bardiche]

RICHTER, the male Kirlia. Level 24, with Synchronise. Knows Calm Mind, Confusion, Teleport and Double Team.
SHEDINJA, the Shedinja. Level 21, with Wonder Guard. Knows Flash, Double Team, Fury Cutter and Leech Life.
ZIGGY, the male Zigzagoon. Level 8, with Pick Up. Knows Tackle, Rock Smash, Cut and Growl.
WORM, the female Beautifly. Level 19, with Swarm. Knows String Shot, Gust, Absorb and Stun Spore.
QED, the Lunatone. Level 25, with Levitate. Knows Confusion, Psywave, Rock Throw and Hypnosis.
EGG, the Egg. Level 0, with Hatch. I have no idea just what the hell is supposed to hatch from this anymore.

Needless to say, Norman whipped my arse pretty hard.

Updated this awesome team of win.

RICHTER, the male Kirlia. Level 25, with Synchronise. Knows Calm Mind, Confusion, Teleport and Double Team.
ARON, the female Aron. Level 25, with Sturdy Head. Knows Headbutt, Mud Slap, Iron Defense and Metal Claw.
GIOU, the female Wobbuffet. Level 18, with Shadow Tag. Knows Counter, Mirror Coat, Safeguard and Destiny Bond.
SWALOT, the male Swalot. Level 26, with Sticky Touch. Knows Sludge, Body Slam, Encore and Yawn.
ZIGGY, the male Zigzagoon. Level 15, with Pick Up. Knows Surf, Rock Smash, Cut and Sand-Attack.
QED, the Lunatone. Level 27, with Levitate. Knows Confusion, Psywave, Rock Throw and Hypnosis.

Ultimately beat Norman using only Aron, leveling her from 20 to 24 in one sitting. Iron Defense + X Attack + X Speed + Metal Claw/Potion spam = dead Norman. Felt cheap on one side, but expensive on the wallet side. Oh well, it was satisfying.

I've always overlooked Wobbuffet's awesome. I realise this now. Nothing is more amazing than seeing a level 15 Wobbuffet OHKO a level 29 Plusle. Godlike definitely. Awful defense, awful speed, awful everything except that SKILLSET and that HP! As a level 15, it had more HP than anyone else on my team. +5 HP/level is also very, very nice.

Damn, now I need to find out how to trade between Saph and the new series so I can trade Egg Wobbuffets and indulge in the win.

[Grefter]

You missed HK-47?  Restart the game, there is no reason to play the game without HK-47.

Or I could just, you know, fly back to Tatooine and get him. My repair skill is fucking horrible though (I have all of two ranks in it), so restoring his memory likely can't happen.

You can actually repair a fair bit of him just from buffs (Stim I think there is one?  Whatever the stat buff force power, Jolee should have it at least) and items (there is a belt with a huge buff to it on Dantooine, might be some others?) I think you can get a raw +10 to the skill that waywhich will push you through like... 3 of 5 repair sequences I think it is?

[Fudozukushi]

Suikoden Tier: Beaten.  Really bad game overall.  Combines everything bad about every Suikoden into one nice little package.

Final part was billy, C-Child, Freddy, and Manaril.  Final was annoying because of the randomness of the speed stat and formchaining.  Also for anyone else who's beaten it, was there a Save Point near the end?  I didn't see one, and the one before was halfway up the bloody dungeon.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Suikoden Tier: Beaten.  Really bad game overall.  Combines everything bad about every Suikoden into one nice little package.

Unless it has S4 sailing, it's still better than S4.

[OblivionKnight]

Suikoden Tier: Beaten.  Really bad game overall.  Combines everything bad about every Suikoden into one nice little package.

If it does not have S4 sailing, it's a pile of crap and far worse than S4.

Fixed

[TranceHime]

I've always overlooked Wobbuffet's awesome. I realise this now. Nothing is more amazing than seeing a level 15 Wobbuffet OHKO a level 29 Plusle. Godlike definitely. Awful defense, awful speed, awful everything except that SKILLSET and that HP! As a level 15, it had more HP than anyone else on my team. +5 HP/level is also very, very nice.

There is a pretty good reason why Wobbuffet is in Ubers.

Awful defense is precisely so it can capitalize on its skillset >_>

[Anthony Edward Stark]

I would not eat at a WoB Buffet.

[Ultradude]

Finished another SRWOG2 playthrough. Just because.

Top killers were Kusuha because the Choukijin are freaking broken, Katina because Giganscudo Duro and Wildwurger L play to her glass cannon stats so well, and Masaki who got like 1/3 of his kills in the last couple of maps when I decided to spam Cyflash and Zephyr Sword chain attacks on the grunts to clear them out faster.

[Sierra]

KotOR: Finished Manaan, onwards to Kashyyyk Shadowlands. Hopefully they are less troublesome than WaDF Shadowlands. Also, Malak's apprentice is a lamer.

[Cmdr_King]

YOU DARE MOCK DARTH BANDON?!  YOU WILL REGRET THIS!!!!!!!
(Man, the loser Dark Jedi randoms are strong than he is.  At least THEY annoy the fuck you of you with stun more.)

[Twilkitri]

TOMI Spinner Cay, Leviathan, Trial -

Good times all round. I ended up looking up help for the fishing in Cay, but did not require any external assistance for the latter two.

Mouse-walking seemingly becomes a tad easier to use when the game is full-screen, but it's still not something I would inflict upon myself by choice.

Sadly they went the most obvious route when it came time to resolve the major storyline question. Ah well, it was the most obvious one for a reason.

I'm going to say that Trial spent a little too much time with non-trial related things, and that the concept of the feast was kind of inane.



Myst -

All this game really had was prettiness and atmosphere. These days the prettiness doesn't really hold up, and the atmosphere is ailing. Most of the puzzles are thoroughly arbitrary and saved from becoming enraging by the very little you can actually do. Example: the compass in the Stoneship Age, with buttons around the edge. You need to hit the button that corresponds to the direction a lighthouse is from a telescope, neither of which are situated above the compass, and are only linked by the fact that they're both directionally based. Not to mention the fact that you need to pick out the direction of the lighthouse in particular is only given by the fact that it's almost the only thing you can see through the 'scope that isn't scenery. In any case, doing this turns on some lights underwater for you which you will need elsewhere, but you probably didn't know you needed and you certainly didn't know that you were interfering with the compass to cause to happen, you were just interfering with it because it let you.

Finished it in a matter of hours, which was fortunate because saving was broken.



SRWK replay -

Went into this directly from my SRWW replay. The drop in quality from W is fairly readily noticable playing it so soon. It also feels really slow for some reason. Up to episode 21.

Somewhat saddening that you lose all your unit upgrades in replays considering how much they cost. In the meantime Hatbot is making me upgrade the regular GSD Murasame ._. At least you keep your kills this time, so I was able to swap my unit selection criteria to lowest-killers instead of having to use lowest-level again unlike W. One improvement at least.

Got Mr. Motivational Speaker and I am going for Ken/Blade Gainer.



SD Gundam G Generation Wars -

In my mission to apparently put off FFX for an undetermined reason I have swapped into this. Only done the one map so far. Not a big fan of choices and it is being kind of overwhelming in this regard. Ended up spending my money on a GM Sniper and Aina so I shouldn't have enough money to worry about this for a while. I'm somewhat afraid that Aina will be intermittently unusable due to enemy team obligations at the current time however.

Has some strange functionality such as being able to remodel and combine units into other, unrelated units? What is this madness.

Unhappily there don't appear to be any Astray units (aside from the M1 Astray and potentially the Stargazer Civvy Astray). Sadness.

Not sure what I was expecting from Wars Breaks. But I wasn't expecting them to cause Rau The Cruise to show up during the 0079 generation. Will be interesting to see what they cause in later maps.

Probably have to play more than just the one map to get much in the way of a good feel for it.