What Games Are You Playing 2013?

[Dark Holy Elf]

Valkyrie mother****ing Profile, my good man.

[Cmdr_King]

But probably the first time you've like the same game that was released since the DL's founding.

[Sierra]

Dark Souls - So Iron Golem went from "this is frustrating it's kind of a long fight and sooner or later I make a dumb mistake and either fall off the cliff or get hit by his ridiculously strong grab attack" to discovering that the 2-handed heavy attack from my halberd all but stun-locks the guy. Um, lol? (Funnilly enough I only started using it because my light attack sometimes missed between his legs and that got frustrating.) Anyway I made friends with some demons who can now ferry me back and forth to some swank castle. Sure whatevs.

The stunlocking is deliberate. Hit him enough in the same spot while he's staggered and he'll fall over. It's actually possible to knock him off the roof this way. Vastly speeds up the proceedings! There's also an NPC summon around who can and will solo the boss with ease. The usefulness of NPC summons varies widely but Tarkuuuuuus! is probably the most broken of the lot.

[Meeplelard]

But probably the first time you've like the same game that was released since the DL's founding.

Don't they both have high opinions of Star Ocean 3 then?

[Fenrir]

Thanks guys.
Yeah I figured out how that speedh4xing strong enemies was excellent strategy, but I didn't think about using Gadgeteer's attack for that too. Man.
NEB how in the hell did you beat 1-14 with three guys? I very barely won on the first try, but mostly because the enemy did a few poor choices late into the battle.

[Dark Holy Elf]

CK: Star Ocean 3 as well, and beyond that I uh don't think we've played too many overlapping games since the DL's founding, although Cappy doesn't have an RPG Ratings list for me to stalk to verify this. We completely disagree on what makes a good SRPG of course (VPDS vs. FFT/FE) but beyond that I don't recall much quibbling with him.


Cid: Yep, he did indeed fall over. Do attacks have very different stun properties then? My one-handed light attacks in particular did nothing.


Fenrir: Yes, 1-14 was definitely an evil battle with three PCs. What I did:

Clarissa: Elementalist; Dandelion Shot OC, Dandelion Shot EQ (book/brooch)
High-MAG generic: Sacred Slayer; Elementalist OC, Geomancer OC
High-ATK generic: Sentinel; Fantastica OC, Geomancer OC

The most useful tools in dealing with that map are Shut Out (especially with Widespread, note the Sacred Slayer) and Sentinel's ZOC (especially effective at the opening to the left of the battle surrounded by a pit, where the Sentinel can heavy strike people into the pit). Elementalist and Sacrifice for smashy smashy since even with those tools enemies are very much capable of getting around them and you need to be able to kill them hard.

[Fudozukushi]

Cid: Yep, he did indeed fall over. Do attacks have very different stun properties then? My one-handed light attacks in particular did nothing.

Different attacks, different weapons, difference in boss stats, difference in boss weakness areas.  Quelaag for example, is pretty much stunned if anything hits her girly parts.

[Sierra]

Yeah, you can literally stunlock Quelaag to death if you've got a fast enough bow. At least, I've done this in co-op. But boss AI is always a little flaky in multiplayer. Most bosses can be stunned, but it's rarely a bigger deal than "Yay I get to regen a little stamina before Ornstein tries to stab my face in again."

I'm pretty sure enemies have a poise stat just like PCs do. What I'm not sure of is exactly how it works. Say normally two successive hits of the same attack will stagger you, but if you have a couple seconds of safety in between hits, it won't, right? I suspect poise operates according to a meter that decreases when you take hits, regens when you have a spare moment in between hits (so sort of like stamina between attacks), and resets completely when you get stunned, but I'm not aware of anything that documents the mechanic to quite that degree of precision.

[Fudozukushi]

Yeah, you can literally stunlock Quelaag to death if you've got a fast enough bow. At least, I've done this in co-op. But boss AI is always a little flaky in multiplayer. Most bosses can be stunned, but it's rarely a bigger deal than "Yay I get to regen a little stamina before Ornstein tries to stab my face in again."

I'm pretty sure enemies have a poise stat just like PCs do. What I'm not sure of is exactly how it works. Say normally two successive hits of the same attack will stagger you, but if you have a couple seconds of safety in between hits, it won't, right? I suspect poise operates according to a meter that decreases when you take hits, regens when you have a spare moment in between hits (so sort of like stamina between attacks), and resets completely when you get stunned, but I'm not aware of anything that documents the mechanic to quite that degree of precision.

That's more or less it.  The only thing more obscure than poise mechanics is Deflection, and almost nobody even knows the later exists.

[Sierra]

...?

The only guess I have is that maybe that's when you fail a parry attempt but take reduced damage anyway?

[Fudozukushi]

...?

The only guess I have is that maybe that's when you fail a parry attempt but take reduced damage anyway?

Deflection is a stat for shields that governs if weapons bounce off it or not.  It is not ever explained or shown in game at all.  For example, the famous Lightning Spear will bounce off the Silver Knight Shield but will follow-through it's entire attack against a Black Knight Shield.   It still won't do any real damage, but you also aren't staggered and open to attack.

[Sierra]

Ahh. I always assumed that was related to stability (in which regard SKS > BKS) but I guess not.

[Fudozukushi]

Ahh. I always assumed that was related to stability (in which regard SKS > BKS) but I guess not.

Iron Round Shield's the best examplw of it since it's in the same category as greatshields for deflection, but can parry and is tagged in the medium shield range.

[Luther Lansfeld]

Terrible at posting in this topic:

Suikoden Tierkreis - Good plot, bad gameplay, gee, I've never seen this from the series before. I like the more religious cult twist on the villains and I enjoyed the big spoiler about 65% through. Characters aren't as good as Suikoden V's which makes it rated lower, but its gameplay is less frustrating due to load times not being a big deal. I like the main villain and Diadora in particular, and I like the main character's enthusiasm and positive outlook without being constantly told he is right like Shu from Blue Dragon. Liu is also cool, even if he's a sketchy bastard. The betrayal character has large supply of paint chips which he seems to eat at all intervals.

Fire Emblem 7 EHM - Kinda lame. Doesn't really add much relative to ENM.

Fire Emblem 8 Eph Hard mode - Completed. Ended up being crushed by defense-blessed Vanessa, who ended capping. Last Hope was still fun fun times though. Ended up watching most of the plot due to actually enjoying it well enough.

And since this last collection of updates will make Grefter cry...

Mass Effect: Just started this as an Adept. I am a Colonist! Ruthless! I immediately became a Renegade for telling my whiny subordinates to stfu, but I was nice to the creepy Spectre man. Did the first mission and generally embarrassed myself due to shear incompetence; I think I played like three hours of Heretic when I was eight and that is about my only experience playing shooting games. For some reason I can't get my magic to work with the button I told it to do though. I am told I should probably generally either always be nice or always be a douchebag for charm/intimidate.

[Grefter]

You know what the correct answer is (Be a douchebag only really shines in the sequel though... buuuut you will get a bonus to douchebaggery in carry over save if you are a big douchebag in the first game).

Edit - Oh and problems playing it, I found the gunplay floaty and casting spells interface in the X-Box version kind of funky.  Also make sure you get comfortable with the Y axis.  I think I set it to invert when I played on your X-Box so if you aren't used to that you will want to turn it off.  You really do just suffer through ME1 sometimes if you aren't super invested in the space opera bits.

Thank you for trying it

FF5 Mobile - I continue to be impressed with this port/conversion.  It is polished in some strange ways.  Dash works on a map!  Due to the touch pad interface not having a button to mash they made ! icons pop up when you can interact with things on the field.  That sounds minimal but it makes mash A to find items in pots gameplay far less irritating.  The new sprites are generally pretty good.  I got through Ship Graveyard so saw Krile's sprite which looks significantly less outright disturbing.  Still a massive downgrade, but eh, I will take a sprite that looks like a younger girl over GIANT ANIMU EYES FROM NOWHERE. 

Using Thief for Laggy Hype.  Might actually even main class Bard on someone for Tallychus.

[Luther Lansfeld]

Well, most of the other douche options seemed just bad. Tell Ashley it's her fault that everyone is dead? Just feels mean. <_<

[Grefter]

That is okay.  Being mean to Ashley is fun.  She makes fun of Andy all the time

(The point of being a douche is to do that.  It pays off when you start pushing people off buildings to save a bullet).

[AndrewRogue]

Bioshock: Infinite - Honestly, playing this game puts me in mind of visiting a really racist Disneyland.

So, visiting Disneyland. =)

Seriously though. Supes fun. I do have a few annoyances thus far. Checkpoint system is ass (I blame console here). When Elizabeth notes something and Booker comments, I wish it'd give you an indication of where what she's talking about is. Since dialogues run by themselves, it is pretty easy to miss them if you're in the wrong spot.

Seriously digging the game, even with the handicap of playing on console.

[Grefter]

Bioshock Infinite - Finished this.  The opening half or so of the game if fantastic and full of fun little references to stuff and exploring the setting.  It is the build up to a Noir story that is an exploration of faith and cult behaviour and all the fun things the game has on the surface.

The last half of the game man.  The last half of the game is full on Tarantino style plot exploration mashing up bits and pieces from all over the place in ways that are familiar themes but done again in a new interesting way (they are done fairly rapid fire rather than being an exploration of a few done in-depth).  I do highly recommend it just on the strength of the back half of the game although the front half is pretty goddamned great.

The only issue I have is that the gameplay has worn thin by the back half.  The gunplay etc really is a fairly stock standard shooter and at that point it is honestly getting kind of bland, but oh well I can deal with that.  Stock shooter gameplay is still gameplay I enjoy.

Also I had spent the whole game thinking that Execute was kind of worthless addition that was put in just to have it.  I think it now exists nearly entirely for a specific sequence later where ammo is scarce and you fight mobs of melee guys and going on melee heavy Execute spree is probably the easiest way to handle it without chopping and changing weapons.

I have heard grumblings about the way it is an FPS in such a plot heavy game (that I highly recommend to non-shooter fans), but I don't really think it would work told from another perspective.  A lot of the landscape and setting set pieces look fantastic and those are kind of the bread and butter of your FPS.  The plot and story really do work great told that personally as well.

In closing, if this was Ken Levine's response to his crippling depression after Bioshock 1 and the critical success it got as "best shooter evar" (which I don't agree with) then well good fucking job.  This manages to completely one up Bioshock 1 in every department.

[Fenrir]

I kinda liked Bioshock but can't really garner any interest for Infinite somehow.
Bioshock 1's fights were decent fun but run of the mill, and the plot was... unique? But ultimately not very clever, with cr4zy plot twists and the subtelty of a sledgehammer. I don't really get why it gets major credit for stating the obvious (-> Stop listening to Ayn Rand. Ok, it's not obvious to Paypal's boss, but he's not listening)
Infinite says racism is bad and has Robot George Washington.
Points for not making the past look wonderful, at least.
(Bioshock 1 was remarkable for its horror aspects but they seem completely removed from this one)


Knytt Underground: Finished. The ending was what I should have expected. I have to admit that the characters and storyline really grew on me, but the exploration wore thin because of everything I've already said. I felt like I was exploring just to fill the map at times.
I got 0 achievements. 0. That's actually pretty great!

Ys 2 Chronicles: Finished on nightmare. This was a lot easier than Ys 1, proving that nightmare mode was programmed with feet.  Oh well.
The beginning of the game was similar to Ys 1, but with very NESy mazes.
The midgame was a drag, with even huger mazes and having to stay still most of the time waiting for HP to refill. There really is no alternative method to heal.
The lategame has the craziest maze of all, but Timestop is super uber broken and awesome. At this point randoms all die but bosses still get to be pretty fun fights.
SSH made the music for this game, right?

Ys 3 Oath of Flegh... Filgaia: Ys games, so breezy.
I hate to say it but they're also way better (if more generic) with Adol having learned how to use a sword.
I started on nightmare there too and cleared the mines.

Wild Arms XF: Oh come on Charlton, will you kill Edna already??
I unlocked the next set of classes, and they all look underwhelming. I can't say no to Widespread'd Protect though.
2-2 was the hardest battle so far, it drew me crazy. It's that one where you need two sentinels on one switch then another person on another switch just to activate the one elevator to the enemies. You need 3 climb to even get to that elevator. Then, SURPRISE REINFORCEMENTS.
It got a lot easier but still annoying once I realized mages could target a few enemies from below.

[Nitori]

Mario Kart tier list:

Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed (super fast, no blue shell, online, neat courses, sonic > mario for kart racing this is the twilight zone)
Super Mario Kart (for high IQ individuals)
Mario Kart 7 (portable true online)
Mario Kart Double Dash (character unique items, why do these not exist anywhere else)
Mario Kart DS (Missions aw yeah)
Mario Kart Super Circuit (p. alright)
Mario Kart 64 (not Mario Kart Wii)
Mario Kart Wii (good luck trying to unlock anything)

[Anthony Edward Stark]

The past not looking wonderful is the entire point of the story. It's really not a game about racism except in the most superficial read of it. It's about guilt, repentance and white-washing.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Wild Arms XF: Oh come on Charlton, will you kill Edna already??

Haha, if you're already saying this now...


Nitori Mario Kart tier list is pretty legit


Star Ocean 4 - Mega Man beat Galaxy Man Kokabiel and got Black Hole Bomb. Black Hole Bomb is awesome, no shock there. Myuria/Bacchus/Reimi/Sarah is shaping up to be my final party. Morphusupremacy. Currently in the final dungeon.

[Sierra]

Knytt Underground: Finished. The ending was what I should have expected. I have to admit that the characters and storyline really grew on me, but the exploration wore thin because of everything I've already said. I felt like I was exploring just to fill the map at times.
I got 0 achievements. 0. That's actually pretty great!

I got a whole one on my first run through the game. How anyone even found the super-sadistic bonus areas is beyond me. Nifflas went a little overboard on the secrets with this one.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Wild Arms XF: Oh come on Charlton, will you kill Edna already??
I unlocked the next set of classes, and they all look underwhelming. I can't say no to Widespread'd Protect though.

Edna is WONDERFUL and I will not hear anything to the contrary.

Regardless, that set of classes is pretty interesting, I think the hows just haven't sunk into you yet. Berserker's movement gimmick is really neat if used correctly, and it has both the strength and speed to run decent physical builds. Enigmancer is a very good mage carrier class, sporting a very cool base skillset and the best stat spread of all mage classes (I think only Elementalist has higher MAG than Enigmancer, and it has both actual speed -and- 4 move. Durability is trashy, but what can ya do). Devastate is horrifyingly effective if you have people spamming Rush on your Enigmancer. Also, Strider OC should be passed around like candy to your physical classes for Drop Kick alone. Trail, Swift Shock and Mesmerize aren't bad either. The class itself could be better, but it's at least accurate and has plenty of range. The worst class of the bunch is really Grappler, and even that one has some interesting applications (Grappler OC+IFF make for hilarious positioning manipulation shenanigans and Accelerator can be kinda busted for how little CSP you need to invest for it).