Playin' any games today, Flying Nun? (WGAYP - 2011 Edition)

[NotMiki]

So they finally got Dr. Seuss on board for Pokemon, eh?  Awesome.

[Grefter]

http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/5665/1283741738355.gif

Gods what the fuck.  I was going to rock out as a chick because I wanted to feel pretty.  That is not pretty.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Nice to know what Japan thinks Pokeworld:USA looks like... right down to the stripperific clothes our elementary schoolers wear...

[Fenrir]

Ephraim: Oh my god. What's his name? I might have to get this game even if I know it's the same game as always.


Dragon Age: Turned the werewolves back into humans (this means I side with elves?? What the?) and helped templars kill some mages (and one party member in the process) Fighting can finally become interesting again.

You see, after the opening of the game you have to go to four different places and do a series of quests there, getting allies from around the world. This seems to be about 70% of the whole game.
There's one problem: Enemies don't scale with you, and the four places are roughly equal in challenge (all adapted to a level 10 party that just finished the opening of the game, aside from a big ass optional dragon)

So the first place you go to is challenging enough, the second is kinda boring, the third and fourth are "You can auto battle everything even in nightmare mode". Bad design, here. Bad design. (To be fair, the Fade was nice at least, but only because it's a solo section and my main character is a weak archer)

The FF6 World of Ruin, for example, was handled much better (without having to add awful level scaling either); you take a look at Locke's dungeon or Fanatic Tower, get your ass kicked then choose to do some other things before coming back. As a bonus, these dungeons will feel like intimidating challenges to overcome for the rest of the game.

Also slept with Leliana. I don't want to have to break up with her or Alistair, so I'm not going to talk to them ever again.Sigh. I should never have left Zevran for some guy who's basically Chandler from Friends.

[Meeplelard]

I can't tell if he liked it or not.  O_o

I'm pretty sure the rating he assigned the game at the end of the post is the only part of the post that isn't complete (and awesome) bullshit.

Pretty much <_<

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Ephraim: Oh my god. What's his name? I might have to get this game even if I know it's the same game as always.


Dragon Age: Turned the werewolves back into humans (this means I side with elves?? What the?) and helped templars kill some mages (and one party member in the process) Fighting can finally become interesting again.

You see, after the opening of the game you have to go to four different places and do a series of quests there, getting allies from around the world. This seems to be about 70% of the whole game.
There's one problem: Enemies don't scale with you, and the four places are roughly equal in challenge (all adapted to a level 10 party that just finished the opening of the game, aside from a big ass optional dragon)

So the first place you go to is challenging enough, the second is kinda boring, the third and fourth are "You can auto battle everything even in nightmare mode". Bad design, here. Bad design. (To be fair, the Fade was nice at least, but only because it's a solo section and my main character is a weak archer)

The FF6 World of Ruin, for example, was handled much better (without having to add awful level scaling either); you take a look at Locke's dungeon or Fanatic Tower, get your ass kicked then choose to do some other things before coming back. As a bonus, these dungeons will feel like intimidating challenges to overcome for the rest of the game.

Also slept with Leliana. I don't want to have to break up with her or Alistair, so I'm not going to talk to them ever again.Sigh. I should never have left Zevran for some guy who's basically Chandler from Friends.

I seem to recall the game scaling up some, though it spikes big time at the endgame.

If you took the options to make them both hardasses, you can just have threeways instead.

[Nitori]

Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne: Ice snake vs. ice snake in a prison, and every dude I know has a hat, unpolished (for today's standards) SMT best SMT

Okamiden: Glorious puppy cavalry, although man that chain to get Cherry Bomb again was pretty tedious, at least it had a MORAL, MORALS are important

[AndrewRogue]

Dragon Age 2: Clearly a contender for Andrew's Game of the Until Mass Effect 3 comes out at this point.

Have acquired 50 gold with which to become partner in expedition too make the money.

Everything I say still continues to apply. Game is just a hell of a lot smoother than Dragon Age and flows fairly seamlessly from event to event. Fights are much faster and more enjoyable to watch. Still dislike the behind back view, but I'm used to it. They really should have kept it for PC.

Cutscenes, what with their slightly more dynamic angles and occasional character movement are a lot less tedious.

Characters are a bit weaker than normal, but they feel like they are falling into place? Character dynamics are pretty good. Do hope they do something with the idea of the characters living  around the city. Good for general immersiveness, although could be done a bit better. Character reaction to the main feels a bit more realistic as well, which probably works decently with the Friend/Rival system which means you can get a PC to dislike you and not SUFFER for it. Do miss the camp though. Wonder if something like it will come up again?

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Well, the Hanged Man is basically your camp, just not everyone is there ALL the time.

[DomaDragoon]

MORALS are important

Lies, all lies.

Pokemon Black: In Nimbasa City, I do a little exploring and find two stadiums with a single trainer in each. There's also a subway for battling and a battling instruction place, but I skip those for now. After all, MC suggested I go to the theater. Why not? I'd like to see their rendition of The Merry Wingulls of Windsor.

...
...
...

WHAT.
THE.
SPOON.

This has got to be in the top five crack moments in gaming. Hell, this makes XS plot seem rational and decent. I kid, of course. (Nothing can do that.)

After witnessing the soul-crushing WTF that is an otter wearing a top hat and glasses twirling a tennis racket for a paying crowd, I leave and see that MC and her dad are having a little heart to heart. Since morals (as stated above) are lies, I feel no shame in eavesdropping on a private conversation. MC's dad is upset with her lifestyle choices, which is a little disappointing because you're supposed to love your kid no matter... oh, you mean the "Pokemon trainer" choice. My bad. Boy, won't he be shocked when he finds out about Iris... I want to help MC, but since I'm a mute main (the only good kind of main, testify Meeple!) I can only sit idly by. Fortunately, a Gym Leader none of us have ever met comes by and convinces MC's dad.

I continue with the plot by heading to the Worst. Amusement park. EVER. I mean, seriously, it's got a giant Pikachu statue or tent or whatever, a roller coaster you have to get off and on and fight people to board, a single ferris wheel, and two staff members whose sole purpose is to cheer on the previously mentioned rides. That's it. I'm hear to track down Old Man Jenkins and his smuggling ring Team Plasma.

So I run into N(iu) at the entrance. Totally innocent, no way I could be suspicious of this. Sure, I'd be happy to have your help tracking Team... er, you can let go of my hand, N. Yeah, seriously, I think I just saw them over there. Oh, the Ferris Wheel? You want to ride with me in that cramped cart as we look around from the air. Um... is this a date? I'm flattered, but you see it's not you, it's me and I need to get my hair done and... I need an adult!

(I would like to take a minute to go through an explanation. You see, with Poke Black I'm playing near blind, knowing next to nothing about the area, plot, or characters. When I use DLers as nicknames for characters, I do it based on first impressions of the characters. Bianca was a young girl (MC) who seemed to me to be the most likely to be the rival (Meeple - I've named my rival in at least one playthrough of the past 4 gens Meeple mostly because I like saying Meeple. Meeple.). Cheren is boring, so he deserves no nickname. N... well, Niu/Neph/Nitori are the only N users I could think of, and he seemed to fit Niu better on the first appearance. I mention this now because I don't want to give people the impression that I think negatively of any of you or that the character traits that I mention or exaggerate in any way for the purpose of entertainment and snarkiness reflects the way I really think of you. The fact that N came across in this section extremely creepy is entirely due to N (and my utter lack of social skills and sanity), not Niu.

Oh, and if Iris has any more of a part in this game, I'm calling her Idun. Moving on.)

Gasp and shock! N is a part of Team Plasma! Not only that, he's the king. I didn't vote for him. He gets stomped, but lets the Team Plasma goons escape, then he invades my personal space and tells me to get stronger and that's he'll be the champion. Good for him. I save right before fighting the fourth gym leader.

New Catches:
Minicino - Bandito
Trubbish - Glad
Gothita - Visi

Current Team:
Cottonelle (L26 Cottonee - PoisonPowder/Leech Seed/Razor Leaf/Giga Drain, Miracle Seed)
Bert (L27 Tranquill - Roost/Air Cutter/Detect/Quick Attack, Scope Lens)
Freddy (L27 Munna - Psybeam/Moonlight/Rock Tomb/Hypnosis)
General (L27 Dewott - Tackle/Fury Cutter/Water Gun/Razor Shell, Mystic Water)
Tien (L27 Sawk - Leer/Retaliate/Karate Chop/Low Sweep)
Grilla (L28 Pansear - Scratch/Bite/Dig/Flame Burst)

[Fenrir]

"I seem to recall the game scaling up some, though it spikes big time at the endgame.

If you took the options to make them both hardasses, you can just have threeways instead."

I don't know, the game got easier and easier even though I got nearly no equipment change. I guess games don't have to be as retarded as Oblivion about it.

From now on I think I'll just be a douche to everyone and then give infinite cakes (part of some DLC) to people to win back approval. This sounds far better. I just wanted to make the first playthrough feel more authentic.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

The game certainly gets easier, but I think that's a function of unlocking prestige classes. My rogue always started whooping ass after I unlocked Duelist.

And you don't even have to lose approval to make Alistair and Leiliana hardasses, if you do it through persuasion and not spite.

[Shale]

MvC3: Hi there, Shuma-Gorath!

[Meeplelard]

MvC3: Hi there, Shuma-Gorath!

[VySaika]

MvC3: Hi there, Jill Valentine!

>_>

<_<

* Gatewalker flees~

[Meeplelard]

*hits Gate with Chaos Dimension*

WASTE OF FLESH.

Everything begins and ends with Shuma-Gorath/Meeple!

[Shale]

Apparently Morrigan has a unique win quote against Shuma. I don't want to know, but I'm going to get it anyway.

[Meeplelard]

Apparently Morrigan has a unique win quote against Shuma. I don't want to know, but I'm going to get it anyway.

I've seen it on GFAQs.  All I'll say is that yes, it is exactly about the kind of topic you'd think a succubus (...who can produce tentacles of her own...) would talk about having just met a tentacle monstrosity.

[Captain K.]

MvC3:  Finished beating the game with all characters/unlocking all artwork last night.  Only five achievements left to go, although I think I am cursed not to ever get 5 Ranked wins in a row.  Had 4 wins so many times before losing the 5th.

Have to kick my kid off of Blazblue before I get to play with tentacles. 

[Tide]

Wild ARMS ACF:

So after around 3-4 years, I finally decided to finish the Abyss off in this game. Between the Ambushes and the annoying as hell warp lifts, I'm not sure which version of the Abyss is more infuriating. Probably this one, since WA3's is more boring than anything, although you can get it done and out of the way quickly. Anyway, the whole point of doing this was to fight FRUE RAGU in this game, so expect some notes about him soon enough so Neph can use him for the dungeon. As a sneak peak, this version of Ragu can quadruple act up to four times  at the end of his active turn, each time hitting you with MT Non-elemental damage. It is basically the ultimate in dickery and gives him a randomized "I win" button in most cases since it deals around a 1000 damage each time and no one but the Sheriff Star'd PC is likely breaking 5000 HP.

[DomaDragoon]

Apologies to Gref, since I still haven't gotten a chance to play more Dangerous Girls. Also an apology to everyone who actually likes reading my Pokemon walkthough, since this one may be a little sparse because I couldn't make notes through much of this.

Pokemon Black: Lots of stuff to cover, starting with the fourth Gym leader. With a lack of super-effective moves to use and a lot of weaknesses, I barely eked out a victory. Stupid electric flying rats. I head on to the next city, catching things and levelling and basically deciding it's time to start an overhaul of my team. I think I run into MC and the other guy a few times (and the other guy earns the nickname Grahf since he doth seek the power). I get Fly, backtrack and catch Victini, then fight the fifth gym (not necessarily in that order, of course). Clay goes down hard since I have two who hit his weakness, though I'm a little concerned about the minimal safety railings on elevators which go down hundreds of feet. In the forest, something magical happens - I catch Pokerus! Huzzah! The Prof outright hands me a Lucky Egg, too. Game's gonna get broken.

How you know this is the US edition of Pokemon:
-among the new pokemon are a trash bag and an ice cream cone
-side by side, a McDonalds joke and "nuggetaboutit".
-the gym leaders to date have been a set of waiters, some guy who thinks it's a good idea to have a gym full of honey, an artist, a model, a texan cowboy with chaps, and a jet pilot.

N shows up again, but he's still the same "I just want to be friends with Pokemon emo snarky whine", so it's not important.

Sixth gym gets utterly crushed by my newest addition (see below), though that's not what gets me - cannons? Really? I'm beginning to think that MC'd dad was right with the whole journey thing... Get surf, save for now.

New catches:
Ducklett - Psyduck
Karrablast - Alex
Deerling - Bambi
Victini - Victory!
Ferroseed - Acorn
Klink - Colonel
Joltik - Tweak
Drilbur - Mogu
Tynamo - Eel
Litwick - Lumiere
Elgyon - Scanner
Emolga - Rocky
Basculin - Grumpy
Frillish - Ursula
Cryogonal - Special

Current Team:
Cottonelle (L36 Cottonee - PoisonPowder/Leech Seed/Razor Leaf/Giga Drain, Miracle Seed)
Grilla (L36 Pansear - Acrobatics/Bite/Dig/Flame Burst)
General (L36 Samurott - Slash/Revenge/Surf/Razor Shell, Mystic Water)
Tien (L37 Sawk - Bulldoze/Retaliate/Brick Break/Poison Jab, Amulet Coin)
Tweak (L39 Galvantula - Signal Beam/Electroweb/X-Scissor/Slash, Lucky Egg)
Mogu (L29 Drilbur - Slash/Metal Claw/Dig/Hone Claws, Exp. Share)

[Grefter]

It is okay, I honestly haven't sunk much further into the game than you have.  My understanding of the mechanics was far more flawed than it needed to be to get further than the town area.

Dragon Age 2 - I am still in year 4 (so second act of the game), I got a bug where I couldn't do Fenris' companion quest and it was kind of bumming me out, so I just restarted the chapter, only lost 4 or so hours of play, so no biggy.  It wasn't because I like Fenris particularly much, it is just that I walked into it (Fenris area doesn't force you into his party like others do, so a scripted bit might be broken).  So yeah catching up to where I had done.  The reason I don't really mind was I got to do Aveline's character quest again which was fun and I get to do Varric's again which was absolutely fucking amazing.  He decides to lie about it and say he was a cowboy.  It is awesome.

POKEMANS Platinum - Same as above, but not a bug, just forgetting to save before I stopped playing for weeks.  So um had to remember where the fuck it was up to and then recatch Mesprit/Uxie/Wingull/Azelf.  Otherwise up to where I was before.

[Excal]

Just finished Mass Effect 2, just have to say I love what they did with the final dungeon.  Didn't have everyone survive, but I can see how that mechanic works.  Wound up playing as straight Paragon, though if I go through the game again, likely to go Renegade.

That said, given it's gonna be several months before 3 comes out, I might give 1 and 2 another go before that happens.

[Magic Fanatic]

Wild ARMS ACF:

So after around 3-4 years, I finally decided to finish the Abyss off in this game. Between the Ambushes and the annoying as hell warp lifts, I'm not sure which version of the Abyss is more infuriating. Probably this one, since WA3's is more boring than anything, although you can get it done and out of the way quickly. Anyway, the whole point of doing this was to fight FRUE RAGU in this game, so expect some notes about him soon enough so Neph can use him for the dungeon. As a sneak peak, this version of Ragu can quadruple act up to four times  at the end of his active turn, each time hitting you with MT Non-elemental damage. It is basically the ultimate in dickery and gives him a randomized "I win" button in most cases since it deals around a 1000 damage each time and no one but the Sheriff Star'd PC is likely breaking 5000 HP.

It's battles like these that make having FP Advance on Cecilia almost a requirement (or a Sheriff Star) and (near) Fire Immunity on everyone.  My first turn was spent with Jane's Follow Me into Emma's Anti-Magic Zone and Cecilia's...  Protect?  Shield?  Whichever one reduces Magic damage, I honestly forget which is which.  You have a wide array of options to follow that up with, at least.

[Tide]

You only really need Fire immunity on one PC. Your attacking PC should have the Sheriff Star and your 3rd PC will be defending more than half the time after you set everything up. FRUE Ragu is also the only time singular buffing is way too slow and the risk of dying is way too high. You need Protect on at all times due to his possible quadruple act. I didn't bother with Anti-Magic Zone; you can't cast anything else after it even though it reduces Ragu's offense. And you just deal so little damage unless you set up that it's worth the risk just running Protect.

I just Great Booster'd twice, casted Permanace, then played around with other buff spells such as Command Replay, Brave Seal and Holy Man Sorrow. OTD really only got me once; when I wasn't set up to block it. Afterwards, the damage it deals is survivable even with follow up as long as you're careful.

There's other ways of winning it though. Like abusing Full Carrots while Cecilia casts Cosmic Cog over and over. Whatever floats your boat.