Let's Play Some Motherf*$&ing Games: 2010!!!!!!

[Meeplelard]

I think you're underselling Danved a bit there.  He's honestly not that bad.  Sure, he's nothing special, but he certainly should be higher.

Also, Jill I'd consider "Unabashedly good"; she's certainly better than the Pegs, admittedly, gets Lances later, but getting her promoted isn't that hard, and raising from D is so much easier than E, it can't be stressed enough (Iron Lance and Javelin have 2 WEXP, so you get from D to C faster than E to D, and once you hit C, you're pretty good to go on a weapon since Steel opens up, and Forged Steel can last you a long time.)

I actually don't think its totally fair that assessment.  For example, Gatrie I'd consider outright good, ditto to Oscar (just he looks bad compared to his FE9 self, but unfair comparison); heck, I'd be willing to put both over FE10 Marcia, whose honestly nothing special (oh, she's a decent character, but I can't see her being anywhere near Nephenee/Haar level good.)  In fact, the jump between Unabashedly to "Decent w/ good availability" being half a point while Good to Bad being only 0.25 points feels kind of biased.

Really, I think the fairest way to look at it would be "What kind of viable, decent options do you have?"  Decent Lance user options would be pretty much everyone who can use a Lance in FE10 EXCEPT:

Meg: Starting with an E in a Weapon = No.  I explained above how much different E vs. D is, which is why Jill running Lances is far more realistic than Meg.  Not that Meg is bad, but I can't realistically see her using Lances (Brom w/ Swords has a similar problem for that matter.)
Fiona: Too much of a late bloomer to really work.
Astrid: Sucks.

I could see arguing Geoffrey due to lack of availability too for that matter.

Really, I think it comes down to is that FE10 is a little more balanced overall, where as FE9, a lot of the really good characters just happen to use Lances. 

...on a different note, maybe this should be moved to the FE10 rankings topic <_<

[Just Another Day]

I didn't know there was such a thing Done.

[Luther Lansfeld]

I think Marcia is better than Oscar myself. The flying is cool, and she stands out in her section a lot more.

[Yoshiken]

Adept's rate isn't high enough to really save Soren as being this overpowered Mage God if you ask me.

And soren struggles to use a good deal of Tomes without being weighed down until he promotes, and even after, he's still struggling.  His average Strength is 3.6; Thunder in itself weighs 4.  This means end game, Soren can barely wield a Thunder Tome without being weighed down, and likely won't be able to use Elthunder.

Adept and/or critical, though, is what clinches that for me. Odds are that either is killing whatever you're facing, and by endgame, he was easily getting either of these first turn at least 50% of the time.

As for using Elthunder, Soren honestly does not need it. That magic difference and Adept/criticals are more than enough to kill anything with Thunder/Elwind.

Soren starts weak/slow, but not underlevelled - he's still able to kill things, just needs them weakened first, like most units do when you first get them. Tormod starts out underlevelled to the point that he struggles to do anything, and this is directly followed by the 4-parter, which is where the majority of lategame experience comes from (for me, at least). Unless you've been stocking BExp specifically for him, odds are he's missing most of the experience here.

Calill... I can see the arguments, but by that point, Soren's generally got the speed/skill to kill stuff, and doesn't need the higher-level tomes to do so.

[Talaysen]

Pokemon Heart Gold - Beat up Whitney.  What a crybaby!

Team:

L12 Heracross
L9 Zubat
L9 Togepi
L14 Mareep
L18 Bayleef (was L17 before the fight)
L17 Butterfree

Heracross Rock Smashes Clefairy to death (2HKOs if defense busting kicks in, 3HKOs otherwise, but Whitney wasted a Super Potion the time that happened).

Heracross Rock Smashes Miltank to lower defense, gets only one off due to being 2HKOd.  Toss in Mareep.  Mareep uses Flash and with luck Static would paralyze Miltank getting rid of the berry (actually this didn't happen on the winning run).  Toss in Butterfree to try and get sleep hax going... and miss, of course.  Toss in Bayleef, use Poisonpowder, spam Synthesis until it's near death and then smack her with Razor Leaf and let poison finish her off.  Attract kind of screws with that strategy a bit though.

Bayleef MVP for that fight.  Probably due to level as much as anything else.

[Yoshiken]

Heart Gold: ahahahahahahahahaha oh my god I love the AI in this game ahahaha.

So, this beats the time that Karen's Gengar had the following happen:

* Yoshiken changes Pokemon.

"The foe's GENGAR used Curse! It cut its own HP and placed a curse on Shalequeen!"

* Yoshiken changes Pokemon.

"The foe's GENGAR used Curse!"

* Yoshiken head-desks.

This time round?
Karen: "Don't think I'm backed into a corner just because I'm down to my last Pokemon!"
"The foe's ABSOL used Perish Song!"

* Yoshiken head-desks.

I'm starting to think it's not all the AI, just Karen. >_>

In other news, levelling up a Technician Scyther so that I can use it as a False Swipe whore. Just beat Karen, and it's gone from Lv 1 to 30 with the Exp Share. Having never played a Pokemon where the Gyms/E4 change before, I really love the boost these guys get. >.>

[Rozalia]

Well, I would say there is still Gabriel outside Remiel in being sensible angels.

I'd forgotten about Gabriel due to her being part of the group of fail, but yeah she is pretty sensible in SMT2 where she never goes all judge mode on you like the other angels do.

Persona 1 - Pcking this back up now that I've finished SMTSJ and have thus far gotten up to the part where you have to go to the castle. Average game but its good to know there are two very different paths you can take which happen early.

[Grefter]

ToV - Did low level challenge wheeee.

Fable 2 - Threw this in just because, slow start.  Snooze.

[DomaDragoon]

Heart Gold: Tore through Sabrina like she was tissue paper, 1HKOing each of her Pokemon (granted, Zam was due to a critical hit, but...). Misty's Starmie got a few kills, but she wasn't that hard. And for all of my worrying about Surge, I only needed two Pokemon to off his whole team. All that's left to do is get to Blaine and then Blue, and then I can start collecting GL numbers.

Borderlands: Went though the Zombie Island DLC, hooray for sales. Decent enough.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Crack Quest - This game has a Minololigothtaur. Are you fucking kidding me.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

A new version of FOOK is out, and that means I'm gonna play some more Fallout 3. Maybe even grab the handful of achievements I never got.

[Nitori]

Enhanced Platinum: Maybe I shouldn't forget that Plat does day/night and spend a hour looking for something that can't show up, Chikorita will forever haunt me. At least I hit the 1% Mankey in Oreburgh Gate without looking for it.

L14 Gible
L16 Ivysaur
L16 Charmeleon
L16 Wartortle
L16 Grovyle
L14 Makuhita

[Rozalia]

Alone in the Dark Inferno - So Edward Carnby has to take on Satan? Pfft, Edward has taken down Ninja Pirates, Gangsta Pirates, Pirate ghosts and Zombie Cowboys so what threat could the devil possibly pose?
Anyway the game has been great thus far even though I've heard nothing but bad things about it. The Chase between Edward and the Devil is one of the most kickass sequences ever.

[Yoshiken]

Heart Gold: Man, I need to stop killing Kyogre. I don't have an easy way to deal with Aqua Ring, and I'm trying to get a good nature. About 60 tries later and I'm still here, using Spore, switch, weaken, switch, Spore, switch, False Swipe, switch, Spore, start catching. If there's an Aqua Ring in there, I have to rely on Leech Seed and pray I catch before it kills. Fun times. -.-

[Taishyr]

Strange Journey:

...

asdf bomb status

no, you do not put Freeze status in a game with main dies=game over

not without giving him immunity

fuckers

[AAA]

Deus Ex-Thank you Steam sale! Going through on Realistic, of course

So, this playthrough I'm going for a pacifist run. No kills, unless I get really frustrated at some section or another. Went Advanced on melee, Trained on Pistols. Got Trained in Computers after taking out the NSF. Probably gonna go Microfibal Muscle with the augmentation cannister.

Not sure what else I'm gonna do, besides nabbing Regen to avoid staring at the game over screen. 

[Anthony Edward Stark]

All collapsible riot baton, all the time?

[Rozalia]

no, you do not put Freeze status in a game with main dies=game over

You always go first if you use an item so it shouldn't really be a problem unless they attack you the very turn they status you. Who was it by the way that bombed you?

[Taishyr]

Picasa, and I was indeed hit the very turn I was bombed. It was how I even -learned- what the status did.

EDIT: Or Pisaca or whatever. 4th area, toothed tentacle vagina monster.

[AAA]

All collapsible riot baton, all the time?

Wait, the baton's non-lethal? I mean I know it is in real life, but I figured it would kill them anyway.

[Rozalia]

Picasa, and I was indeed hit the very turn I was bombed. It was how I even -learned- what the status did.

They come in groups of 3-4 right? Yeah I'd skip those fights to avoid it happening again. You'll be glad to know there is only like 3 or so enemies that use bomb in the whole game. You possible to actually go through the whole game without seeing it.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Mega Man 10 - Beat the game as Protoman, and doubled it as a buster only + no items playthrough. The boss rush level was certainly nasty, but I'm better at all of them now as a result. Wily Machine drove me up the wall until suddenly I just got in a groove against him and he became fairly easy. Final Wily isn't too impressive, although was better than usual.

Then decided to play Easy Mode since that unlocks some challenges. ... wow. This game's easy mode is amazing. First of all, everything does half damage, and well over half of pits are now covered by platforms. And there are more powerups everywhere, including two of those "fully restore all HP and WE" items from MM1 per level. But really, this sums up MM10 Easy Mode best.

<Elecman> Solar Man: projectile has a new "tiny" default size which can be upgraded to normal the way it used to be upgraded to large. He is slower, attacks about a third as often, never attacks twice per jump, and the projectile is like half speed.
<Mega_Mettaur> this isn't easy mode
<Mega_Mettaur> its Butchered mode


Metroid Fusion - 1% run! Storytime.

Samus: Well we know the beginning will be easy. Hardest part is avoiding getting an upgrade by mistake. Oops, fuck. *reset*
Arachnus: rar, you have half normal HP for me oh wait I still suck.
Large Core-X and Zazabi: Yeah us too.
Serris: RAR I AM COMPETENT. Memorise my pattern or eat 4HKO and die.
Samus: Well I've finally caught Serris down... oh fuck if I make any mistakes against his Core-X at the end I fall in the water and die.
Serris: Hahaha. Too bad there are no other competent bosses in the first half of the game!
Samus: Dum de dum, well, nothing else in this level is going to kill me, but I'll go save anyway since I'm paranoid.
Missile upgrade in pump control room: HAHAHA HAVE FUN JUMPING OVER ME.
Samus: Good thing I saved. *reset x2*
Adam: Go to PYR and get some Super Missiles so your damage with your puny missile supply will actually be enough to count. Oh, and get an unavoidable missile pack on the way there so this is a 1% run instead of a 0%.
Samus: Lame. Can't I get an energy tank instead?
Adam: No.
Security Robot: RAR.
Samus: Whatever, I've learned how to perfect you. Good thing too, you probably 3HKO me.
Security Robot: I'll be back to make your life miserable lategame! Just you wait!
Samus: Now on to NOC... wait, blue X 2HKO me? Fuck. Need Varia Suit. Hey, bitch, give that back!
Big-X: Hey I'm less incompetent than usual because getting hit by me actually matters.
Samus: Wow, never noticed you only did 20 damage before.
Big-X: Shut up. Here, have my upgrade and I'll go back to pretending I don't exist.
Blue X's: Sweet, let's chase after Samus and near fullheal her repeatedly!
Samus: Thanks dudes.
Adam: Someone set up us the bomb.
Samus: Oh shit those purple snakey guys in walls 2HKO me now, and there's no way to recover or save while shutting down the boiler room.
Wide Core-X: I still suck. But you'll face me twice because the randoms on the way back from killing me are still deadly!
Samus: Yay, my beam doesn't completely suck now. This may be handy for when I actually need to start using it in boss fights that aren't Big-X.
Adam: Here, do a bunch of stuff that doesn't involve fighting bosses.
Samus: Snore.
Adam: Okay, okay, let's get serious. Go fight some Space Pirates who need 3 missiles to die and 2HKO you. Oh, and there will be no save point between fighting a bunch of them and the SOUS.
Samus: Spiders of unusual size? I don't think they exist.
Yakuza: LOL OHKO. *repeat x5 or so*
Samus: Yay finally learned how to not die to the first form!
Yakuza: Kay I'll go all unpredictable and still manage to 3HKO you. And of course you have to fight all the space pirates and my first form to even see this! *another bunch of resets*
Samus: DIE YOU STUPID FIEND. Okay, at least I won't have to worry about another boss OHKOing me until-
SA-X: LOL OHKO
Samus: Oh right forgot about you. *freezes and runs away*
Nettori: Haha you actually have to learn how to dodge my spores in form 1 now! Bet you weren't expecting THAT! Fortunately my second form is still bad. But it takes ages since you have to use your beam, and if you screw up the Plasma Core-X fight which is easy enough but potentially deadly you'll be doing alll of this over again!
Samus: *twitch* Well, at least now my beam does real damage. And hopefully there won't be another boss who forces me into using it.
Nightmare: You raaaannnng?

To be continued. I was worried at first but this run has settled in to being suitably hard. It's good practice for the bosses too, although some of it isn't too useful in normal runs... for instance, I now know how to fight Nightmare's gravity form without taking damage (not 100% reliable at it yet, 'swhy I haven't won the whole fight) but in a normal play it's easiest just to camp under him, take the odd hit, and blast away.

[Grefter]

Baton, prod, Tranq darts, all your non-lethal stuff to work with.  Suffice to say with those three a Pacifist Run is really not -that- much harder than normal.  The worst part is probably the MIB in the lift in Area 51, and you can use Cloak to bypass that entirely.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

All collapsible riot baton, all the time?

Wait, the baton's non-lethal? I mean I know it is in real life, but I figured it would kill them anyway.

Nah, it's coded almost exactly like the blackjack from Thief, but it has a much more fun animation when you draw it.

[Taishyr]

Picasa, and I was indeed hit the very turn I was bombed. It was how I even -learned- what the status did.

They come in groups of 3-4 right? Yeah I'd skip those fights to avoid it happening again. You'll be glad to know there is only like 3 or so enemies that use bomb in the whole game. You possible to actually go through the whole game without seeing it.

The group I died to was one of them, two Ghouls and a something. Yeah, now that I know, they're my first target. It's just... augh -what-. First major bullshit death of the game, suppose it's a SMT but still, it'd been -good- on that shit up until then!