What Games Are You Playing 2013?

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Sometimes, you almost redeem yourself.

[Tide]

XF has Edna Snow as a villain, I am okay with this.

Werd

[Dark Holy Elf]

Fenrir: Man, you weren't kidding about Seath. Took a couple tries because I couldn't figure out how to damage him but then I FAQed that and promptly beat him without healing. Easiest boss in the ga- *fights Pinwheel, goes in with 20% health left and no healing, wins* okay never mind.

Post-Anor Londo half of the game kinda 0/4 for good bosses.

[AndrewRogue]

To be fair, Pinwheel can be fought a lot earlier in the game legitly.

The main problem is that equip scaling really messes up the later game. The extra HP and damage makes the fights a lot less precision oriented on the whole, which makes them a little more mashy.

I generally consider it your reward for making it this goddamn far.

Surprised you had so little trouble with 4 Kings, though. Those guys were fuckers, ever as my nearly last boss.

[Dark Holy Elf]

I had some "trouble" with them (as in resets), they just aren't a good fight. Mash attack more = win, near as I could tell. I never learned how to dodge several of their attacks but more buttonmashing and just hoping they don't all decide to attack at once is a ticket to victory. Reminds me of SotN Drac except you can actually lose. The fight was stupid.

I'm sure you can fight Pinwheel earlier, but the randoms on the way to him are way, way better than he is (even moreso if you don't have a divine weapon) so uh respect not found regardless.

[Fenrir]

Pinwheel is supposed to be fought at lot earlier but he's still very easy then. He takes a lot of time to get going and has no durability, but he can at least smash low damage builds, which isn't something Seath can do in my experience!
The reward is worth it, you get 20 estus flask charges instead of 10 for bosses like Ornstein and Smough

For 4 Kings you have to learn their attacks in NG+ since they get a big stat increase (or with a worse build)
From very close range you actually get hit by the hilt of their sword and take very little damage. They can still be a pain with the purple laser and "Big hug" moves.

In a non NG+ game you can actually beat a few other bosses in the game by straight tanking and mashing with high poise / high def / low mobility equipment. In NG+ tanking stops being viable.

About the next bosses... I hope youre not hoping for much >_>
There's the worst boss (Centipede Demon) + one of the easiest bosses if you know the trick (and you know the trick) + Bed of Chaos (I actually like Bed of Chaos but I'm in the minority there)
+ Ceaseless Discharge if you haven't beaten him hahahahah


ZHP: Slowly doing the endless grind. I got a few more endings and finished a few more optional dungeons, getting my "shops" to max level + a whole lot of costumes. I also unlocked my whole body. (you can put stat boosts on your body)
Equipment fusion is still a mystery though.

[Sierra]

The Elf should totally do the DLC just so he can stop being disappointed in bosses. Artorias and Manus are bastards.

[Fenrir]

Hey the Chimera is pretty good too!
I have a special fondness for the gargoyles.  I don't think any other fight topped that one, but Artorias came close.

[Fudozukushi]

And let's not forget the sheer glory of Kalameet!

Or do because fuuuuuuuck that tail.

[Sierra]

C'mon, it's not that bad. Roll right when he does his diving attack, roll right again when he lands. This puts you right behind him, which will prompt him to slam his tail on the ground right next to you. Hit the tail. Repeat four or five times! Kalameet is more tedious than difficult.

[Fudozukushi]

Oh yeah, it's never difficult just tedious.  But whacking that tail until he's nearly dead and it's still attached and waiting a minute between each opportunity is bullshit.

[Luther Lansfeld]

ME1 - Finished. My general view of the game is that it is not good enough for me to replay, but good enough to play the sequel I am told is better. I think it is okay. Mako seriously compromises enjoyment of large stretches of the game by being terrible. The core combat is not great but workable once you have a lot of spells. Not sure how people tolerate playing as a Soldier -- the AI controlled PCs feel relatively limited due to their dopey AI. The plot is... mmm. There isn't a lot of core plot and what is there isn't great -- mind control spaceship is pretty hokey even on the scale of hokey things which games employ -- but I like most of the interactions with the Council and Saren when they exist. PC cast not really being part of the plot other than brief segments with Ash and Kaidan due to the non-linear nature of recruitment is particularly frustrating with this game because it has good character writing and there is no real PC choice other than the choice to get them or not, so making people optional feels pointless (as opposed to games with limits or restrictions on recruitment, like BG or whatever). Feros/Noveria gives you a feel for human colonization in space and its hardships and Virimire has some interesting plot stuff, and in the final dungeon you get the background information from the world.

The PC cast is decent overall with a couple of misses. Garrus has great voice acting and is in general a badass. I may have fostered some mistrust of the Council into him on accident ;). Tali is probably my favorite character objectively, but I just love Garrus's style. Tali is great as well! I liked the stories of her culture and in general the stuff about the gypsy lifestyle they have. Definitely hope she features prominently in the next games. I also like Liara and Ashley, although not quite as much as the other two. Asari life isn't as interesting as quarian life, and Ashley is pretty much just an action girl with some decent character work. I was disappointed about the lack of Garrus dating; even with a creep face I'd still have bedded him. I decided to mate with Liara instead.

Wrex is terrible. The krogan are a hilariously bad racial stereotype in a game that generally portrays its races as non-stereotypes, which stands out. I remember speaking to someone upon starting a sidequest who told me that there was a "grumpy and violent krogan" to deal with. I laughed, as every single krogan in the game is the same character -- grumpy and violent. Not sure why this caveat even needed to be made.

Kaidan is boring. Booooring.

I killed Wrex both because I hated him and because it seemed thematically appropriate to do so. Considering how insane krogans are on a good day, pissing one off and keeping them in your party feels stupid. Kaidan also died at Virmire.

Shep is great, actually. I love the femShep voice acting and rather than the DA1 style of press option, get talked at by NPC, press option, you get organic dialogue with NPCs. Except the recurring characters "I have to thank you, Shepard." "GOODBYE!"

The biggest problem with the cast is that they mostly just build backstory rather than interacting with the story.

I think the game's setting pretty great; very sci-fi but I like that well enough.

I charmed the second to last boss into shooting himself.

Couple other nitpicks -- the game throws way too many useless weapons at you lategame -- just give me money, please! Or Omni-Gel. As Cid mentioned, a lot of the generic worlds are very boring. The armor availability is very weird as well -- is it random?

5/10, I could definitely see a improved sequel of this game going much higher (improve the combat, remove the Mako, tighten up the story significantly, integrate the cast into the plot better) because the building blocks are clearly there. ME2 will definitely be played at some point.

[Grefter]

Loot is almost purely random.

Glad you enjoyed some parts of it!  Pretty much spot on all round on gameplay stuff.  The only reason to replay 1 is to carry over to 2 really.

[Captain K.]

FE13:  Brady with Galeforce and Rightful King.  This is the way.

[Pyro]

The Legend of Grimrock: Playing this because a coworker gave me a copy.

Running the default team because why not and stat topic hype or something. Game's intro is fairly cool, and it does various stylistic thing nicely (the shared dream sequence gimmick, the occasional earthquake, and a general feeling of foreboding). The gameplay is a little flawed, relying too much on movement and not enough on actual setup early. But I'll just truck on and see what I can do with the builds I have.

The game's difficulty is significant, but the save-anywhere function mitigates that enough as long as you remember to save often. I have 4 deaths by F3... 1 to a swarm of mushroom men on the first floor. They were behind a gate that I could open and close (so I could fight 1, win, close the gate, rest, open the gate...) but one of them got a lucky crit and offed my minotaur PC and it went downhill from there since I didn't have access to revival yet.

The second was a trap room on floor 2 that pretty much screamed (TRAP!). Stepping on the switch closed the entrance and opened three doors with skeletons behind them. I thought I could take them but I didn't maneuver properly and was cornered, with 2 being able to attack my team at once. The second attempt I bumrushed one of the cubbyholes as soon as it opened, killed the single skeleton there, and occupied the cubby hole so that I could fight the other two 4v1 at a time.

Third death was on a Mushroom men section on the second floor. Entering that area and clearing it out, I thought I was good to hit a switch I found and continue one with the intention of retreating if need be. I didn't realize the switch I hit opened up a compartment towards the entrance of that section with enemies in it. I ended up pincered and game overed.

Fourth death was a skeleton trap on B3 that I knew was coming. I didn't get a chance to bumrush a cubby this time and so I died even with better stats/gear. Funny, that.

I've found the mage to be useful for fighting the 2x2 formations of skeletons, since MT damage just makes it go so much faster. Not that it would be difficult with the boring strategy of "Back off/strafe from enemy, wail on them as they move into adjacent square, back off again before they can attack". I think I have found that my Throwing-knives rouge girl is a better damage dealer than my front row fighters on account of the fact that she does not ever miss, whereas standard melee attacks have poor accuracy.

As far as builds go, I was hoping to make the human fighter a swordsman, the Minotaur fighter a mace-user (because he started with points in it), the rouge a missile/throwing weapon user with Dodge, and the mage a Fire mage because Pyro.


Fun little dungeon crawler.

[AndrewRogue]

Loot is almost purely random.

Glad you enjoyed some parts of it!  Pretty much spot on all round on gameplay stuff.  The only reason to replay 1 is to carry over to 2 really.

Enjoying how stupid Lift is is another good reason.

But yeah, I pretty much agree. 2 demolishes 1 in quality.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Wrex is terrible. The krogan are a hilariously bad racial stereotype in a game that generally portrays its races as non-stereotypes, which stands out. I remember speaking to someone upon starting a sidequest who told me that there was a "grumpy and violent krogan" to deal with. I laughed, as every single krogan in the game is the same character -- grumpy and violent. Not sure why this caveat even needed to be made.

Did you not explore his dialogues?  There's a ton of stuff about krogan and why they are how they are.  It all comes from being a race that's doomed, Children of Men style.  If you'd met Wrex a few hundred years ago, he'd have been a totally different person, but the more he saw, the harder it got for him to feel like fixing krogan society was possible.  Dude's a failed leader in the last years of his nation, he's got the right to be bitter.

Also by killing Wrex you've doomed the galaxy.  I hope you are happy.

[Sierra]

Yeah, most of the interactions I've had with Wrex so far have mostly been him lamenting how screwed up his people are, not celebrating it. I figure that's a decently redeeming distinction? Also I don't know how you can't smile when the dude offers "We need to focus on breeding" in all seriousness as the solution to the Krogan dilemma. Clearly he's just an old hippie at heart. Make love, not war!

Anyway, Councillor Troy is down. I let the queen alien go. Normally I'd be down with alien space bug genocide, but it's a little harder to support when the alien space bug is capable of saying, "I know that we screwed up, do what you must." Ender's Game what up. Murdered the everloving fuck out of the mushroom king, though. I don't know if it was even an option to let that thing live, but I wouldn't have taken it anyway.

So Cerberus I guess is the Umbrella Corp of the Mass Effect universe. Create horrifying, uncontrollable monstrosities -> ??? -> profit!

[Luther Lansfeld]

Oh, Lift is indeed glorious. As is Singularity. I really liked the control that Adept has. I will probably just play as an Adept throughout?

The krogan backstory is definitely an important part of the setting. It makes you definitely double-take at the morality of those who did it(even though I kind of get why) and adds an interesting ripple to the Virmire arc. Wrex's dialogue tree certainly added to the player's understanding of the genophage. Tali also took a swipe at Garrus about it in one of the elevator scenes which I thought was an interesting touch. I am ready to see what they do with the variety of races in the new two games!

Dooming the galaxy is acceptable as long as it's interesting ;)

I forgot to mention that I managed to get the Completionist trophy. I know it doesn't require too much, but it's more than I usually do, which is a good sign? I liked the quests because they were short and worth it.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

<Ciatos> THIS GAME IS BLEMISHING MY MINIMALIST TENDENCIES GKJFKYSKFLASKRMOETGK

[Sierra]

Mass Effect: Well that's done with. The finale was pretty satisfying in its cheesy Hollywood action movieness. Like Ciato, I brought Garrus along because I told him he could shoot the bad dude, and Tali because she is the coolest (the quarians' situation reminds me of the Syreen in Star Control 2, except not all Buck Rogers amazons). As far as key decisions go: Against my better judgement, I saved the Council. I suspect they will waste little time making me regret this in Mass Effect 2, but at least it got Anderson in with them. Which is also conceivably not a good idea just due to him not at all having a high official's personality, but at least it means I report to someone who will actually listen to me when I tell them ancient robots are coming to kill us all and I know this because of a dream I had. While I can mostly understand the Council being skeptical about someone citing visions as sufficient cause for galaxywide military mobilization (although I would've at least expected the Asari councilor to entertain the notion), they totally did not need to give you the finger and lock you down after Virmire. Dick move there, guys. I also let Kaidan die instead of Ashley, although that wasn't really the plan going in. Kaidan says he's so pinned down he'd be dead before I got there? Okay, I'm saving Ashley. You have to present it as a tactical decision if you want me to let you make a heroic sacrifice, girl. I generally played Shepard as a total square except when people were being insufferably stupid.

Also, that was the eightiesest credits music I have heard since the eighties and I approve.

Okay game is okay. It is half of a terrible game fused onto half of a decent one. The shooting is fine, not all my thing but it gets the job done as a timewaster. I barely ever gave my squaddies direct commands and they generally pulled their weight. Liara was pretty good about chucking dudes into the air for me to shoot, although really assault rifles get so nuts if you focus on them that almost nothing in the game can stand up to half a second's sustained fire. But mainly I'm really baffled that anyone thought the Mako was a good idea. It's awkward and no fun to use and the jumping thrusters just send you in random directions and do crazy things to your inertia and what what what. I look forward to a sequel without Ragdoll ATV. It was honestly funny to me just how dumb it was, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt.

There was a lot of that low-grade silliness that just made me laugh about things no one really thought about in this Very Serious game. Like the way every place you might conceivably see combat is loaded with helpfully destructible canisters whether it makes sense for them to be there or not. I know that's kind of a shooter standard practice, but you just have to shake your head when every single (copypasted) warehouse/freighter you step onto is stocked up with volatile/toxic/flammable materials every five feet or so. Or the way NPC models always seem to roll their eyes when they walk away at the end of a conversation, random strangers walking up to the elite special agent to get their mundane problems solved. Just little things, people behaving in mildly artificial ways that just reinforce with a rueful chuckle that oh yeah, I'm playing a game.

Speaking of, there is a Dragon's Dogma expansion out now and I may or may not hit that before Mass Effect 2, assuming my connection actually manages to download the former in all its bulk.

[Luther Lansfeld]

I was also a square, although I think I was a smarmy jackass to Joker due to him generally deserving it(he is awesome, but...). I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THE CREDITS MUSIC! I laughed and laughed at how eighties this was. (Still better than most game vocals!)

[Fenrir]

Adept is the nicest ME1 class but Vanguard is waaaaaay better in ME2/3. (Especially 3) Gameplay changes a lot between the first two games.
Renegade starts becoming way too awesome in ME2 too.
Seriously I played a few non-Vanguard non-Renegade (and non-Female) Shepards before, but I'm never coming back.

ZHP: Finished all the Dengeki dungeons and got Asagi. Levelled up to 9999 in her dungeon with an Iron Spear.
There are only 3 insanely long dungeons left!!

Megaman X Maverick Hunter: So I did a level with Vice, went up to the boss, then realized none of the three weapons I had chosen out of 16727 available were fit from him.
Vice mode is only good for people who already know everything about Vice mode.

Instead I started Hard mode with Megaman, which was absolutely impossible for me until I just went and got the leg+body upgrades and beat the eagle. Then Storm Tornado Storm Tornado Storm Tornado and nothing was a challenge until the very last boss.

[Luther Lansfeld]

How does Vanguard work in 2/3? I like them the best thematically, but I was told that they were hard to play as in 1 so I didn't.

[Fenrir]

Vanguard is mostly about Charge. (and it sucks until you level up Charge)
Pick the best target, use Charge, shoot the flying body (preferably with a shotgun), find cover and repeat. Charge recovers shield when used so you can easily go on a good streak if you're good.
ME3 gets more crazy with Nova, which is a very damaging close range move, with invulnerability frames, that can be chained right after Charge.

The other classes all are about the usual kind of long range sniping from cover you'd see in this kind of game (Uncharted, Gears of War) without that much variety.
In ME1 this didn't matter because ME1 wasn't a game where cover really amounted to anything, unlike ME2/3. So running around lifting + throwing people was pretty great. In ME2/3 you die in a few seconds if you're not behind cover, so you're just staying behind cover and pointing on the very tiny enemy head on the screen until it turns red if you chose a boring class.


You can watch a youtube video of a Charge Vanguard to get the feel of this class.