What Games Are You Playing 2013?

[DjinnAndTonic]

But that's like plot and gameplay integration or something!

[Grefter]

It is and that is fine, but VP poison sucks and Llewleyn has integrated Pokemon. 10/10 use him all day every day.

[Fenrir]

Jesus type with a gun that shoots arrows =/= Boring

[DjinnAndTonic]

Integrated Pokemon?

...does he get some bow that shoots pikachus? Cause that is pretty cool.

[Grefter]

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0419760/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Like this.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

That's why you use Jessie Mystina.

[superaielman]

That's why I deserve Taco Bell and Tequila.

Lufia 3- Finished! 7/10. Gameplay's good, writing is hilariously bad, polish is bad. It's a game that could desperately use a port/cleanup along the lines of what Dragon Warrior 4 got on the DS. The gameplay has crazy amounts of potential with even a few small improvements.  If the game's going to use rando dungeons, it could have used better designed ones as well- the dungeons got pretty repetitive late.

Guard Daos was very respectable, as was the final boss. They were both fast and had a lot of damage/status.

[Grefter]

Set that bar for failure and Super will not only meet it but exceed it with flying colours.  I suppose if you have to be good at one thing you may as well strive to be the best.

[Sierra]

BG2: 2/3 of intended party in place. I'm tempted to rush to Spellhold as soon as it's financially possible just so Imoen doesn't get behind on levels (I hate this). Tackling the Underdark with basically starting gear would be pretty ugh-worthy though. Evidently BG:T mods ensured she was carried over to BG2 as a pure thief, which I'm fine with...although it still didn't stop her from cutscene casting and getting arrested for it! For long-term planning purposes, I'm not really clear on precisely when/how Sarevok becomes available? (I don't give a damn about spoilers.)

I forgot to mention, best part of BG1? Walk into random store in the city, immediately see this message twelve times in a row:

*Rabid chicken - attacks Imoen*

[Grefter]

Trilogy continues to be completely inferior I see.  There is mods that handle Imoen XP scaling if you are interested.

Sarevok doesn't become available until Throne of Bhall proper starts.  It will be after the climax of BG2 where you go to Suldandesellar (NOT SURE ON ELF SPELLING).

BG2 plot structure is Irenicus Dungeon -> Athkatla DO THINGS for cash -> Athkatla DO THINGS for thieves/vampires -> Then a huge break for Spellhold/Underdark adventures-> Athkatla DO THINGS to Gank some vampires -> ELFTOWN -> Internal demiplane representation of hell.

Any point where DO THINGS is specified you are free to fuck around and do whatever.

[Sierra]

I am kind of hesitant about modding the game while in progress because I broke BG1 doing that and had to replay the intro because of it (waugh). Oh well, thieves level faster than everyone else anyway.

[Grefter]

You could be paranoid and copy your game folder before modding.  Also Weidu is pretty flexible and will let you roll back changes.

[Fenrir]

BG2: Did Chapter 3. Well that was fast.
Bodhi has a very nice swimming pool.


Elminage Original: Wizardry-like for the PSP
Rarely have I seen a game live a lower amount of fucks about the player in any way.
There are like 20 classes and no explanation about any of them in the game. Pretty much everything else is the same and there's no balance and obscure mechanics are everywhere.
The manual is all "Uuuuh if you're having trouble go to the inn I guess? KTHXBYE"

Also it is hard as hell.
I played 7 hours nonstop.

I went with a Fighter/Valkyrie/Hunter/Bard/Bishop/Alchemist.
- Fighter (Yattaf) gets the Flamberge early on, and goes do 2x the damage of everybody else combined right away. This is the most unbalanced weapon since that crazy shit in Dragon Slayer Gaiden. Best HP and AC too.
- Valkyrie is dual wielding for decent damage, plus she gets to learn some priest spells.
- Hunter can hurt the back row, and sometimes gets a random double attack at the end of the turn. Good early, starting to lag now. Also he's a dumb lizard.
- Bard is pretty subpar but every party needs a bard. I made mine a 50 year old werebeast that looks like a lion. He does the thief stuff like opening chests, and can use his harp to put one enemy to sleep.
- Bishop gets mage and priest spells at an absolutely appaling rate. I turned him into regular priest and gave him two shields because this just wasn't cutting it. He has a cool hat and his nickname is "Boss"
- Alchemist's spells are ALL about status. I don't think I've ever seen status effects being more useful in a game? Spellcasters get spells at a crazy rate in this game, so the alchemist gets access to stuff like MT paralysis pretty fast. Lately though she's gotten a Flame Rod, which item casts Flamberge level damage on a whole row for free. (The fuck?) I maybe should give the rod to the Bishop and continue to status things.

[AndrewRogue]

Planescape: Torment: On Grefter's advice, I went looking for Nordom.

It has not gone well.

Finally got TNO into Wizard. I'm kind of tempted to use THE PORTAL, but my team feels really under built at the moment (hard constructs stomp holes in me).

[Sierra]

Don't worry about it. The modron cube is like the only place in the game where the enemies really try. And everything after that you can solo with Nordom kiting and sniping so it's so worth the bother (also because he's Nordom. "The situation no longer equals total logic.")

[Grefter]

Hard constructs not representative of expected difficulty level.  If you want to skip it and jump through the portal things will be easier than Modron Maze

[AndrewRogue]

Well, to be fair, Larval Worms wrecked my face too. I did manage to handle a bunch while Morte was on like, 9 Clot Charms and healed whenever they attacked him, but after that wore off...

Anyhow, I'll prolly take another shot at trying to find Nordom today.

I might have to bust out a pen and paper for this one.

[Grefter]

If it helps, it is always on an 8x8 grid and you always start along an edge.  You can totally run past constructs as well, PS:T doesn't do "You must gather your party before venturing forth.", so you only need one person to run to an exit (IIRC Annah in Stealth will do the job especially well if you don't get a room with a 3 spawn since they won't see you as you enter the room).  It is also worth noting that you probably do want to farm some dudes in the dungeon though since they have randoloot for Nordom and Optix is hands down the best Lens for him.  Normally get it if you clear the dungeon on Hard.

It is definitely one of the places that is easier as a Mage since Cloud Kill is amazing for the dungeon, but Cloud Kill is amazing for everything in PS:T.

[AndrewRogue]

Yeah, I figured out some of the trickery for running through the dungeon. The main problem is dudes hit really hard and I don't have a ton of HP on anyone, meaning too many 2/3 spawns (especially if they end up poorly positioned ) and I'll start losing runners.

[Grefter]

Only have one dude do the run then >_>  You click the exit and everyone will charge for it.  Select everyone but your runner and tell them to run away from the fuck machines.

Also from memory if you have Annah stealth before transition she will be prestealthed (but need to reactivate) when you zone in, so that can help.  You do need to be out of combat of course, so it only works if you have ganked a solo guy or something.

Remember that you can always back out and rest up.

[AndrewRogue]

I was doing the one runner thing once I figured it out. :p Just especially with 3 automaton rooms (or when I need to backtrack) the single runner can get cracked a time or two, which adds up way quickly. It isn't awful, just a bit tedious, especially since I wasn't using graph paper at the time.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Lollipop Chainsaw - what is this i don't even

[Grefter]

My only response to that other than (WHY ARE YOU PLAYING THIS.  OF COURSE YOU ARE PLAYING THIS) is so when are you getting Bayonetta?

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

I have Bayonetta, but I'm still getting back into the "playing games" gear. I'll probably give it a spin once I'm done with Lollipop Chainsaw, which seems really short.

EDIT: Lollipop Chainsaw also triggers so many conflicting impressions in my goddamn head I can't even begin. It's like the game manages to be both crudely chauvinistic and cleverly empowering at the same time. I'M SAYING THIS ABOUT A GAME WHERE THE BARELY LEGAL MAIN CHARACTER POLEDANCES WHILE TOTING A CHAINSAW TO BEHEAD ZOMBIES.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

And yet one of the villains literally uses the word "bitch" as a weapon and the male lead exists purely to do things for the female lead.  It's like Suda51 was making fun of genre conventions BUT HE NEVER DOES THAT DOES HE???