What Games ya Playin' 2012 - Suplex a Train Edition

[Niu]

Adol's only 1/3 in drowning and Dogi is 2/3 in wall-breaking

Impossible, I could not have miscalculated.
I am pretty sure Adol had drown in all games with the exception of Y's 3 and Mask of Sun.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

I feel the same way, but for people caring about FF13 plot or expecting resolution from a game that tells you to buy DLC to get plot resolution.

[SnowFire]

Jo'ou - It is my punishment for shooting an albatross at a liberal arts college.

Niu - Yeah, no drowning in Oath / 3, which is weird because Adol arrives by boat & then takes a boat trip later.  Ys II...  I really can't recall any drowning, unless Adol got launched into a puddle when he landed in Ys at the start.  (Since it's functionally the same as Ys I - Adol washes up in a new land, ready to take heirlooms and upgrade swords.)

Rob - I'm playing on the hope that the remaining set of Square-Enix writers who know their craft were let out of their prison cells to do at least some of the script of FF13-2 before being herded back in and forced to perform circus tricks for their rations.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Fuck are you in for some disappointment. It is the most hollow, blatant cash grab since horse armor.  Or SW Episode 3, whichever is more recent.

[Meeplelard]

FF13-2...  I'm less concerned by time travel than usual because the gaping, gigantic, massive unresolved plot thread the characters inexplicably ignored in FF13 was WTF happened to Pulse, so maybe we can do something Xenosaga 3 Disc 1ish here.  That said we seem to be looking the wrong way - I don't care about the future, I care about the past.  You better hook me up with some resolution, Serah, I'm counting on you.

Believe it or not, FF13-2 very explicitly tells you what happened on Pulse before the game.  I forget if its eluded to in the normal events of the game, but I do know one of the Paradox Endings spells out pretty much exactly what happened on Pulse.  And no, Paradox Endings aren't DLC; they're just extra endings you get for basically replaying certain parts of the game with a certain skill equipped (one you get for literally finishing the main game), for the most part.  Though this is less of an ending, more of a "narrative of events that already happened", but whatever.

If you're really curious and don't wanna bother with optional endings and such...

In short, people of Pulse got into a Civil War with one another, related to the whole Ragnarok and Cocoon incident.  This led to the Fal'cie getting involved and basically branding them all l'Cie, and eventually, they all turned into Cie'th and well, you know how it goes.  This also explains why Oerba is filled with Cie'th everywhere; its because pretty much all the citizens were turned into l'Cie who failed to fulfill their focus, as puppets for warring Fal'cie, and those that weren't transformed were slaughtered at the ends of the huge army of raging Cie'th. 

It is NOT because the nature of Pulse murders everyone eventually, and humans are doomed to die like people were claiming for FF13.  That is not supported in FF13, and FF13-2 just further confirms the claim is bollocks.  Furthermore, FF13-2 shows that, if not for Caius, the people of Cocoon would have been perfectly fine in colonizing Pulse, and it states the Fal'cie and humans basically stopped dealing with one another entirely, and humans have become independent as a result, so the people of Cocoon were unlikely going to meet the same fate as the people of Pulse.


So yeah, its there.  You have to look for it, granted, but its in the game and does clear up that much at least.

[Niu]

Rob - I'm playing on the hope that the remaining set of Square-Enix writers who know their craft were let out of their prison cells to do at least some of the script of FF13-2 before being herded back in and forced to perform circus tricks for their rations.

Square having good writers is nothing but a delusion, because they all left.
Well, Kawazu can write, but that is a moot point.

*Niu goes back to be bitter about Fal'cie=Cactaur didn't make it into the 13-2 main game.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

That's not what I was referring to when I said you had to pay for plot resolution. more that whole Lightning thread that's supposedly a big motivator for the supposed main character we supposedly care about and then at the end it's "hey this doesn't get resolved. Give me more money and it might."

[DjinnAndTonic]

I didn't care about Lightning, but I actually thought Serah was a genuinely likeable person, and was occasionally funny. So the ending we got was poignant enough for me. I feel like FF13-2 taking a step back and not trying to be so serious made it a lot more fun than most of the modern FFs. I think the only other light-hearted ones are like... FF9 and the Ivalice spin-offs. Since S-E writers fail at serious plot, I find myself greatly preferring the fun stuff like FFTA2. FF13-2 does a pretty good job of spinning a time-travel story without getting bogged down in the emo (despite Caius and Lightning trying their damnedest to ruin it).

Playing games~

Lost Odyssey: Last Disc! Slow game is slow! Cooke and Mack are getting less and less screentime so the game is invariably getting better! Doing some of the side dungeons that have decent rewards. Despite all my complaining, I just did Gongora's Magic Experimental Laboratory, and not only was it a quick dungeon with barely any random battles (2 total!), it ended with the most challenging boss fight since Disc 1 (fun!), a really good set of rewards, and some optional backstory fleshing out our main villain and his relationship to the main characters and their pasts. Doing it right for once, Lost Odyssey!

Now, if only the goddamn load times weren't so long...

[Anthony Edward Stark]

I don't care for her any more than I do anyone in that game except Sazh, but the fact remains it's presented as a major motivation. At times "omg lightning needs help somehow we must save her" is your only goal, vaguely defined as it is. Telling people they need to buy DLC to resolve the ostensible main character's motivation for doing things just boggles my mind.

[Sierra]

Painted World explored. Woman with tail and scythe told me everyone there was friendly. My experience with the fire breathing toxic bastards disagrees. Still, she is sorta cute, so I spare her.

Good man.

Replaying Fallout: New Vegas because it sounded more fun than any of the unplayed games I have sitting around. Mostly running the same build as last time because I am lame, otherwise mainly looking to: actually complete companion quests this time (did almost none before); see the other endings (except Legion because I hate them too much to even consider it, can't get past the absurdity of my female MC siding with a faction that sees her as a walking pair of ovaries, also did I mention I really hate the Legion); use explosives more because they were largely neglected last time. Anywho, mostly Freeside sidequest slog today. Recruited Arcade and immediately made him watch me get fucked by a robot. I love this game.

I still wish you could hand Vegas over to The King.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Well that's the beauty of the Wild Card ending. Who's to say you don't?

[Tide]

Grandia 2 LLG -

Crimson Tail x2-
Random boss on the reef. These things hit really hard. I ended up underestimating them originally, no thanks to RICHARD.

<Tide|EphisGrandia2plot> boss is right now
<Tide|EphisGrandia2plot> See
<Tide|EphisGrandia2plot> GIANT ENEMY CRAB
<@Richard-GrueWorldProblems> lol
<@Richard-GrueWorldProblems> like these guys are a threat

Anyway, Scissors Storm deals 980 damage or so to my 1400 HP party, and Phantom Echo deals about 500 LT and always adds -1 Defense on a clean hit. I get caught with one that hits everyone once, followed immediately by a Scissors Storm leading to instant death. They only have 9800 HP each though, which is key, since one Crimson Tail by itself is a bad joke. We conserve Icefang stones even though we have like 99 of them as it will be a while before we get another restock. Thankfully, we have other forms of adequate offense for the job. From Elena's Whirlwind Staff (about 550), Burnflame from Tio (around 600) to Mareg's physicals (about 600 as well). I lose Tio once and Elena once, but the rest of the fight goes downhill for the boss once I get one Crimson Tail out of the way. If I had treated them more seriously from the start, they probably wouldn't have died. Overall, pretty good.


Melfice -
Big upgrade point with all coins remaining at this point. I consult with RICHARD and our plan ends up being as thus:

[21:07] <@Richard-GrueWorldProblems> Here's the plan:
[21:07] <@Richard-GrueWorldProblems> SC:
[21:07] <@Richard-GrueWorldProblems> Cancels to level 3
[21:07] <@Richard-GrueWorldProblems> Work on getting SUPER ITAMS after that
[21:07] <@Richard-GrueWorldProblems> MC:
[21:07] <@Richard-GrueWorldProblems> Try to get reasonable levels in Cold and good heals
[21:07] <@Richard-GrueWorldProblems> Heal is no longer worth it
[21:07] <@Richard-GrueWorldProblems> Whatever else you think you need

Unfortunately, Item Recovery costs a ton of coins, so I only invest up to level 3 for now. Act gets another level moving it to +40 ACT now. Tio, Mareg, Ryudo get their techs pumped up to Level 3 while Elena's sits at level 2. To open up Item Recovery, I invest in levels into Abandonment (+Evade) as well as Defensive (reduce IP damage on receiving damage) as well. For magic, Alhealer gets maxed 3/4 levels into Healer is invested. This is given to Elena. Cold is opened up on one of the eggs and given to Ryudo. Soul Egg starts with Healer and I upgrade that to levels 3/4 and pump up Cold to at least level 3 here as well.

For equips, Ryudo sticks with the Silver Freeze and has Bonds of Trust as his accessory. Elena has Bonds of Trust as well and the Glass Slippers. Tio has a +40% evasion set up. Mareg doesn't get anything notable for equips. Holy Egg is given to Elena, while Ryudo gets the Soul Egg and Tio gets the Chaos Egg. Mareg, doesn't really matter. For skills we have Ryudo with Skilled Item Use, Item Recover and Life Up. Elena has Life Up and Skilled Item Use. Mareg has Defensive and Strength. Tio gets Life Up, Zapfire Chant and Abandonment.

The battle strategy is simple. Debuff Melfice down, take out the Regenerator so it can't heal (or rebuff the parts) and ignore the Sword. In fact, the Sword helps out because once you cripple their move, Melfice ends up running on the spot for basic physicals, meaning he ends up wasting his turn. For offense, we stick with the 90+ Icefang Stones in my inventory and everyone throws those at Melfice and his different parts whenever the chance permits. For Freeze, Cold, Stram (Move/Act/Attack debuff), we have Ryudo and Tio. Elena has Diggin to help buff up defense. Mareg has nothing really, but it doesn't matter. With the debuffs stacking up rapidly, Melfice is eventually slowed and he ends up wasting a lot of turns attempting basic physicals. This in turn gives us lots of open opportunities to nuke him with items. Spread out to avoid taking collateral damage from GT spells and cancel out Demon Horde Slash when possible. Even with +5 Defense and some attack debuffs, it still deals 800+ damage to 1500 HP at most. So we cannot afford to give him many chances to actually hit us. Thankfully, with this strategy, he doesn't and after about half an hour, he falls.

Level after are 23/22/24/23 for Ryudo, Elena, Mareg and Tio respectively.

[Niu]

I don't care for her any more than I do anyone in that game except Sazh, but the fact remains it's presented as a major motivation. At times "omg lightning needs help somehow we must save her" is your only goal, vaguely defined as it is. Telling people they need to buy DLC to resolve the ostensible main character's motivation for doing things just boggles my mind.

This is also discounting the two novels, which you'll have to buy if you want to find out how did Lightning end up working for Fal'cie=Etro in the first place, or how Snow became a L'cie again. Or many other stuff here and there.

[Fudozukushi]

Dark Souls

75. Blue phantom, netcode.
76. Blue phantom, netcode the revenger.
77. White phantom, jackass black phantom.

Pretty much no playing on Bobstein today, only got a single ear, and no playing at all yesterday.  New character rush has me all giddy.  DIE CAPRA DEMON DIE!  480 DAMAGE STRAIGHT TO THE GRAVE HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!

[AndrewRogue]

Figured out what to do with the Lordvessal. Killed a Zombie Dragon (in melee, bitches). Decided to head to New Londo because I wasn't sure what else to do at the moment (didn't want to try surprise doors in Anor Londo or Demon Ruins). Accidentally discovered the Four Kings (didn't think I'd be thrown straight into a fight with them). That is prolly 40K souls I won't see again.

Suffering from the problem of needing Haval's Ring for my equip load, but having the Ring of Favor and Protection equipped. Looks like I'll need different armor for the 4 Kings fight.

[Fudozukushi]

Figured out what to do with the Lordvessal. Killed a Zombie Dragon (in melee, bitches). Decided to head to New Londo because I wasn't sure what else to do at the moment (didn't want to try surprise doors in Anor Londo or Demon Ruins). Accidentally discovered the Four Kings (didn't think I'd be thrown straight into a fight with them). That is prolly 40K souls I won't see again.

Suffering from the problem of needing Haval's Ring for my equip load, but having the Ring of Favor and Protection equipped. Looks like I'll need different armor for the 4 Kings fight.

Surprise doors are so very much less scary.

That ring situation traps a lot of people.  At least until you find your one true love in the Dark Wood Grain Ring.  Well, not like you can use it in the Abyss.

[Sierra]

See Fudo. I basically never ever take that ring off.

[AndrewRogue]

Maybe I will go to other places then. 4 Kings seem kind of like jerks.

[DjinnAndTonic]

I don't care for her any more than I do anyone in that game except Sazh, but the fact remains it's presented as a major motivation. At times "omg lightning needs help somehow we must save her" is your only goal, vaguely defined as it is. Telling people they need to buy DLC to resolve the ostensible main character's motivation for doing things just boggles my mind.

This is also discounting the two novels, which you'll have to buy if you want to find out how did Lightning end up working for Fal'cie=Etro in the first place, or how Snow became a L'cie again. Or many other stuff here and there.

<SquareEnix> I wonder why the Americans don't like our games/business practices? It is a MYSTARY.

[Shale]

OMD: Finally finished Nightmare mode in anticipation of the sequel coming out today. (Everybody buy it! And play co-op with me and Super and Uno!) It was...shockingly simple, really. Run in the direction of the door that the orcs are busting through, lay down some arrow walls, a couple of paladins and a swinging mace, use thunderstorm to thin out the horde until you can afford to put maces everywhere (and ice for the ogres, of course). Four-skulled it on the first try.

I also started the Penny Arcade games because I had them lying around from a steam sale and the third one is supposed to be good. Episode 1's entertaining enough, and the battle system takes after Panzer Dragoon Saga which is a plus. Slow, though.

[Meeplelard]

I don't care for her any more than I do anyone in that game except Sazh, but the fact remains it's presented as a major motivation. At times "omg lightning needs help somehow we must save her" is your only goal, vaguely defined as it is. Telling people they need to buy DLC to resolve the ostensible main character's motivation for doing things just boggles my mind.

And you're just kind of wrong here.  The game explicitly states WHY Serah, Noel and Lightning are doing what they are doing.  The only additional plot you get from DLC is what happened to Sazh (which is ultimately meaningless.  FF13-2 does actually outright state he's become a victim of paradoxes himself, if you do optional stuff.  A cop-out, sure, but at least its an explanation.  His DLC just clarifies exactly what events transpired with him.), and Lightning's PoV during the final battle, and all that does is clarify Lightning's exact fate (which is unchanged from the game's ending, but this explains why she's in that state.)

I SUPPOSE Snow's DLC tells us exactly what happens to him, but given the massive tongue-in-cheek nature of the DLC (Sazh's, despite being pure mini-game, is overall serious in tone), I wouldn't be surprised if they just say its Non-Canon or something.

Really, Lightning's DLC is just a massive teaser for FF13-3, not much else.  The game is actually complete without her stuff...or any DLC...they're literally exactly what they're advertised as:

Bonus stuff for people who want to spend money on them.

[Luther Lansfeld]

FF8 - Dramatic organ music played. NORG appeared. Garden turned into a flying ship. A platform raised like 100 feet in the air from the basement to the 3rd floor. The truth is, I don't really know what's going on anymore.

[Niu]

I SUPPOSE Snow's DLC tells us exactly what happens to him, but given the massive tongue-in-cheek nature of the DLC (Sazh's, despite being pure mini-game, is overall serious in tone), I wouldn't be surprised if they just say its Non-Canon or something.

Just to let you know this part is canon.
Has to do with the fucked up remnant of what is left of Yuel wanting someone to help her.

[NotMiki]

Playin' some games from the steam sale.

VVVVVV - lived up to the hype.

Super Meat Boy - did not.

Legend of Grimrock - not bad, but suffers from klunkiness.

Portal - Guys!  The cake is a lie!

Incidentally, browsing the Steam sale while studying for the bar exam is exactly as good an idea as doing your grocery shopping directly after being released from a cell where you had nothing but bread and water for a month.

[Meeplelard]

FF8 - Dramatic organ music played. NORG appeared. Garden turned into a flying ship. A platform raised like 100 feet in the air from the basement to the 3rd floor. The truth is, I don't really know what's going on anymore.

Its FF8.  If you know what's going on after like Mid Disc 1, then there is something wrong with you.