Right, I occasionally play games.
Recently tried Dragon Age. Did the Human Noble beginning, or at least most of it. Ended up stopping because the company that was expected arrived, and there were better things to do at that point. I could see myself playing it, but it seems like yet another WRPG in the Bioware/Bethesda model. I know most of the battles I was in mostly consisted of smashing A a whole heck of a lot. Maybe it gets better, but I'm not inclined to think so. Especially with the ever present commentary I was getting from the fans that I was not playing a mage, and therefore was playing the game wrong. Then again, the anti-fans cancel them out, so yay neutrality?
Also got in a brief unmentioned Blue Dragon session. I like this game more than Dragon Age, but for some reason I can't make myself want to play it for anything more than brief sessions. I suppose this is technically a good thing, but it feels like a flaw. Especially since later on I know it'll turn into not wanting to play it at all. And I can't put my finger on why. Probably something to do with the battle system, which feels like a cross between FF3, 5, and 10, and poorer for it. Toriyama art also does not help, since... yeah. The guy can't draw anything different to save his life, and the guy's overdone. Then again, not being able to play more than once in a blue moon may also be part of it.
Now for things which I am actually playing as opposed to just sampling and tossing out thoughts on!
RotTK7 - For those who don't know, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a strategy game set in the same time period as Dynasty Warriors (came first, though seems to be far less popular). Bought this ages ago, but finally got on a kick to just up and beat it. So, for the first time ever, I did do just that. I think the option to skip fights that your character isn't personally involved in does a lot to speed things up when you get to the point where victory is a foregone conclusion. (China is big. And when you own 3/4 of the map, nothing is going to stop you, but there's still a lot of map left to get!) Started up a new game where I actually try out starting as a ruler, because some of the new ruler mechanics are interesting, but working your way up usually means you get to that stage way too late for them to either still be in play, or for them to be feasable in any way except as fine tuning the automation they give you.
Which does bring me to the main reason why I prefer this version to the others in the series. Seeing as it lets you play as a specific officer, they need to give officers autonomy as well as have ways to make you have to rely on your officers when you have power. What does this mean? It means that when you rule, not only can you not give every officer you rule orders, but you don't have to. They will actually do things on their own if you leave them be. While you just focus on getting the big things done. So, if you set the right orders along, then your people will do their thing and you save a lot of time in telling Blow Joe to train his troops, again.
Also helped that recent playthroughs helped me learn some of the aspects of the system I had never run into before, which gave me a bit more appreciation for the combat itself. In some ways, this makes the early bits far more enjoyable, since now if I'm having issues, it's because I'm being an idiot and I know how to fix it, or at least mitigate it. Though, it does mean that later on, combat becomes boring, since the CPU has lost its only edge.
Growlanser II - The Scent of Justice
After a short stint of barreling through this, it got derailed briefly by the dual threat of Three Kingdoms and Mega Men. Currently at this annoying battle that comprises magic spam and dissolving floors. That said, my last try almost beat it, and I suspect it'll only take one more push to get through. Only really notable character is Hans, who seems to have gotten a proper Working Designs treatment. Wait, right. Whatshername died, and there was much rejoicing. Fortunately, the potential wangst got rapidly smacked out of Wayne, and it will hopefully stay that way.
Megaman 10
Yeah, playing through this. Only beaten around half the bosses, and having issues with figuring out which weapon works on which boss. Figure this will be necessary given that I'm having issues with the patterns so far. Oh well, at least I can beat most of the levels that aren't Commando or Solar in nature now.
SRWJ
What's this about being consistant about what I play? Anyways, just beat map 47, on the Earth Route, because I always choose the Nadesco route when these things present themselves. Not really much to report, except that the Mazinger pair is stupid on damage, and the Aestis are a good secondary source now that they all have combos. Though, to be fair, those are also among the units with the most cash pumped into them. I would like to apologise to all those who said the B. Brigandi's MAP attack rocked, and I scoffed. I mean, it's no Psybuster, but it's close. And it at least comes on a unit with EN Regen. Another neat thing I've noticed is that the random attack the Aestis gained ignores barriers. I'll need to see anyone else comes with stuff like that, but it's a nice quiet upgrade. That said, so looking forward to actually just beating this thing so I can shelve it until the translation patch comes out.
