What games are you playing 2014?

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Um, that's ivory white, Fenny.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Fenrir's referring to the path that Yuna's path traces, which is indeed blue in that screenshot. It was clearly redone, though; in FFX PS2, the path traced was thinner and the same colour as the circle which indicates Yuna's current location, which is indeed white.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

I actually thought the paths were all the same color, hence my confusion.

[Luther Lansfeld]

Gameplay is of course a lot more antiquated now, but not horrible considering that Dragon Quest still uses the same damn battle system. *shrugs*

Remind me to never play this game

[Shale]

NSMB2: Picked this up on a Black Friday sale, 100% cleared three worlds so far (1, 2, and Mushroom). I'm not sure how to feel about the game's “fuck it, here's ALL THE LIVES” philosophy of challenge, but it's still fun to explore.

[Luther Lansfeld]

NSMB2's not a terrible game, but it feels like the weak link of the NSMB series. I had mostly forgotten the game a couple months later. >_>

Super Mario 3D World - Now this game is quite excellent. I obtained 1x Rosalina for starting the aftergame, and I just finished the first aftergame world, which is as douchey as expected. I really like that this game brings back the SMB2 mechanics of characters that vary in things besides outfits, but I'm still not sure what Toad's point is. Oh well. I've been using mostly Rosalina lately, she is pretty much Luigi but better. She has Luigi's hops, but in her tiny or Mushroom form she can spin attack, which can be used as both a double jump and an attack.

Super Smash Bros. Wii U - Trained the amiibos to fight in Smash, now I fear that Nintendo is letting us train a robot army that will kill us all. More seriously, it was fun to train them and the amiibos are cute. Thanks for the Christmas present Magey <3. I am mostly still training myself to get good at Smash. Actually won a couple of matches yesterday against Magey and Elfboy, which made me happy.

[Niu]

Chaos Ring 3 - I am really spending too much time on this game, yet I don't want to stop. I guess this happens when the game not only have bishies, but beautiful obasan as well.

But what is with this game and hiding important plot information in conversations with completely unrelated townsfolk NPC?
I mean, why is a cow hanging at the peripheral of the town telling me the relationship between the last bosses of Chaos Ring 1 and Chaos Ring 3!?

[Meeplelard]

Gameplay is of course a lot more antiquated now, but not horrible considering that Dragon Quest still uses the same damn battle system. *shrugs*

Citing Dragon Quest as a "defense" for something like this is often a bad idea.  It's kind of the most obvious example of a long standing jRPG franchise that refuses to really do much in the way of moving forward, so if anything, being comparable to Dragon quest is an example of a negative, in this regard.

Now yes, you can have a "if not broke don't fix it" mindset, but you need a strong base to work with, as well as be willing to find interesting things to add to it.  Both Pokemon and Fire Emblem illustrate this pretty well.  Dragon Quest kind of just clicks a few different tags and then calls it a day.  Earthbound being like that doesn't do it any favors.

[Cmdr_King]

It's not a good thing, no.  But it is functional, and in a game like Earthbound functional is tolerable because gameplay is not the focus of the game.  That it is still in circulation in various corners, most notably but not limited to the DQ series, just serves to remind us just how functional that system still can be.

[DjinnAndTonic]

It wasn't meant as a positive. It just kind of adequately described what it was. I should have mentioned that the battle system aspect was basically a non factor in determining the enjoyment I got out of the game. It was just kinda there to display silly text and give context to the crazy enemy designs. Not unlike the JRPG spoof boss fight in the SNES Kirby game...

"The Earthbound battle system exists. You earned 2 Happy Smile points. Congratulations."

[Cmdr_King]

Pokémon EXPAND THE LANDMASS IN GLORIOUS THREE DEE- Finished Episode Delta, so time for the wrapup.  Haven't explored the aftergame at all, but if I remember my Gen 3 properly it's mostly the Battle Frontier (especially since the Gen 3 legends are handed out outright for once) so probably won't be doing TOO much with it.

So I decided early on to basically run with the first six pokemon I caught, and as such had Team Scrubs by and large.  Team, in reverse catch order:

Rayquaza (L70, Relaxed, Extreme Speed/Dragon Pulse/Dragon Dance/Dragon Ascent)- So they force you to add it to the party at the end there because, y'know, space.  MORE STATS THAN GOD is more stats than god.  Of course once you get it you proceed to solo the dragonborn then OHKO Deoxys so oops.  Not actually relevant as such, but god damn.

Groudon- Didn't actually use, next.

Latios- Forced into the party, but never deployed.

Swellow (L47, Jolly, Guts, Aerial Ace/Double Team/Fly/Quick Attack)- Not really bad, but the limited move pool and peaking damned early on move power means it's not a serious contender after a point.  Situationally useful of course (my only reliable tool against fighting more or less) but not really great by any stretch.

Linoone (L32, Lax, Gluttony, Rock Smash/Slash/Strength/Surf)- I kept it's levels up just enough to take a hit or two in the middle gyms (Gym 6 in particular was nasty for my team) but after a point it just became the HM slave it was born to be, and was never a serious contributor to the team.

Beautifly (L45, Impish, Swarm, Air Cutter/Bug Buzz/Giga Drain/Quiver Dance)- Very yo-yo-y for usefulness.  Obvious Jeigan applications of course, but... even after that it would fall behind then surge back into usefulness.  Giga Drain made it reasonably good against various Water types which has obvious applications in Hoenn, and Air Cutter gave it a clear niche in 2v2.  It never really fell truly behind, and a couple tough fights were subjected to swap whoring followed by Quiver Dancing until everything died.  And of course those Wailmers/Wailords that insisted on coming out and being perfect setup pawns.

Mightyena (L44, Quiet, Intimidate, Crunch/Howl/Snarl/Fire Fang)- Basically the hero of many a gym battle.  Intimidate shenanigans, snarl to nuke SAtk?  Yup.  Cheap as fuck but fuck you.  It developed a bad habit of not getting any exp on good matchups due to opponents having offtype moves around gym 7, so its levels don't reflect how much Eph's Hero carried the team.

Metagross (L58, Quiet, Clear Body, Meteor Mash/Psychic/Earthquake/Hammer Arm)- Broken.  This thing is currently being handed out as a level 5 Beldum with a non-you OT.  Solos multiple gyms on typing, comes with its Mega Evo stone, and is still a 600 BST monster with a solid move pool.  It's why I did the Team Scrubs thing: I knew this thing would smash all comers if I decided I was getting pissed off with the other scrubs.

Swampert (L51, Sassy, Torrent, Mud Shot/Rock Slide/Earthquake/Waterfall)- Just as good as I remember it from Sapphire, except now I can teach it AND other stuff Earthquake basically as soon as it evolves.  Always good, even during that slight move drought early on.

So it's, y'know, good and all?  7/10 stuff really.  It lacks the spark X/Y had, but there's no particular fault with it except it's a touch too faithful to Ruby and Sapphire, although more particularly if it'd incorporated more stuff from Emerald it'd be a definite step up as well.

[Captain K.]

Also, Jim, when will you start Marvel 2015? You can beat up d00ps. Random boss affixes are the best. Nothing like playing Hawkeye and then getting a boss with Missile Protection.

If anyone is interested in starting this I'm giving my account away.  I just don't have time to keep up with it anymore.  Got high level Fantastic Four and Luke Fucking Cage so you can do the high level stuff, as well as several low level characters so you can experience the earlygame.  And a very well-geared Mr. Fantastic.  Pm me if interested.

[Fenrir]

Finished Portal 1 for the first time and played the first two chapters of Portal 2.

Portal 1 is pretty great and holds up extremely well. Portals themselves are still amazing to just watch and interact with, on a basic level. I also love how it tells a story through level design, Glados is one hell of an antagonist.

Portal 2 is surprisingly pretty bad so far. I can't stand Wheatley's Family Guy-ish overexaggerated eyelid related expressions. There's a focus on setpieces like a regular AAA game. Puzzles are nothing special so far. Even Glados is tired out now that she's not subtly passive aggressive and just plain aggressive. And she recycles some of her old jokes. Yeaaaah.

[Grefter]

Keep going.  It doesn't get amazing, but there is still some good Glados in there.

[Fenrir]

Ok I will!

Wheatley actually reminds me a lot of Pixar characters. He'd fit perfectly in Toy Story.
Pixar really bores me. I am too old for this shit. The only thing I dread when I go see my nephews/niece is drowning in Pixar merchandise again or having to like watch Pixar shorts again.
Man I really hope I never see Wheatley again (Yes I know it's not happening)

[SnowFire]

Fenrir has no taste I see.  It's okay, I forgive you for the unjustified Wheatley hate.  Some day, you'll realize the error of your ways.

GlaDOS isn't happy with Chelle, but I think there's a pretty darn good reason!  There's a developer comment that they actually had to intentionally play *down* her interactions with Chelle a tad, make it more of a slow burn with a "back to business while I 'subtly' insult you" deal.  I thought it worked well enough.

GLaDOS: Do you know the biggest lesson I learned from what you did? I discovered I have a sort of black-box quick-save feature. In the event of a catastrophic failure, the last two minutes of my life are preserved for analysis.
GLaDOS: I was able - well, forced really - to relive you killing me. Again and again. Forever.
GLaDOS: Fifty thousand years is a lot of time to think. About me. About you. We were doing so well together.

[Clear Tranquil]

Dynasty Warriors 8/XL -  Saw a demo from the series years ago, thought it looked interesting and also know peeps I'd seen talking about it before. Went for DW8 vanilla to see how much I enjoyed it, which was a lot and decided to upgrade to XL. Beat all the story modes/paths, historical and hypothetical including Lu Bu's and the stuff added to XL. Just have DLC stuffs to do if I want. Also did Ambition mode, fully upgraded my camp, all facilities, etc, got Cai Wenji to max level, working on clearing Ambition mode part 2, maining Zhou Tai now. Really enjoy it, Cai Wenji hype,  Diaochan hype, Zhou Tai hype, Sun Quan (and Sun Ce, Sun Jian, Sun Shang Xiang, ok pretty much the entire Sun family more or less) , Xiahou Ba hype, Liu Shan hype, Xing Cai hype, Li Dian hype, Wang Yuanji hype yaay~

Edit - Oh and Xu Shu hype, Guo Jia hype, Guo Hai hype,  Xiahou Yuan hype, Sima Yi hype, Zhang Chunhua hype, Zhang Liao hype, Xiahou Dun hype, Lu Bu hype, Chen Gong hype, Lu Su hype ... okay more or less the entire cast hype since I'm a CT and usually am more inclined to like than dislike, except probably Dong Zhao, Cao Pi, and Yuan Shu although Dong Zhao does get some incredibly cute costumes like the Tin Man, and Cao Pi got all sappy in Ambition mode~

[Fenrir]

Fenrir has no taste I see.  It's okay, I forgive you for the unjustified Wheatley hate.  Some day, you'll realize the error of your ways.

You sound like GladOS.
I don't really mind this kind of character (I still read Dinosaur Comics regiliously. Wheatley's a T-rex), he's just plain not funny so far. Like at all.

GlaDOS isn't happy with Chelle, but I think there's a pretty darn good reason!  There's a developer comment that they actually had to intentionally play *down* her interactions with Chelle a tad, make it more of a slow burn with a "back to business while I 'subtly' insult you" deal.  I thought it worked well enough.

GLaDOS: Do you know the biggest lesson I learned from what you did? I discovered I have a sort of black-box quick-save feature. In the event of a catastrophic failure, the last two minutes of my life are preserved for analysis.
GLaDOS: I was able - well, forced really - to relive you killing me. Again and again. Forever.
GLaDOS: Fifty thousand years is a lot of time to think. About me. About you. We were doing so well together.

Well yes it makes sense but that doesn't make it good? They could always have changed the story?
Portal's writing was pretty masterful; At the beginning of the game you see this AI as extremely insensitive because it's just an AI (and the dialogue was really funny in this regard) but then you slowly realize over the course of the game that she's actually a malevolent HAL type, and at the very end she turns (very binary) evil  in a comical way. The end was just right because the game didn't dwell on that; as you got like about 20 amazing minutes of psycho GladOS.

In contrats to Portal 2 which is totally super-dwelling. It's spread thin. It is Portal 1 fanservice.
This could all change and become amazing, I'm just surprised by how weak it is compared to Portal 1 ATM.

[jsh357]

I am inclined to agree with Fenrir on this (though kudos to Wheatley's VA if nothing else).  That said, I enjoyed the gel-based puzzles in Portal 2 a lot.  They were probably my favorite puzzles in both games.  The Cave Johnson section was fairly entertaining, but I felt the gameplay suffered.  I'm not a fan of the 'find the one tiny spot where you have to shoot a Portal' areas in either game, and that part had a lot of it.  I would give both games a 7/10 generally, but I feel one could just play Portal and get a complete experience.

[Shale]

I'd hate Portal 2 almost as much as Fenrir if the first act was the whole game, thankfully it's not. It's a very dedicated head-fake, though.

[Sierra]

I'm not a fan of the 'find the one tiny spot where you have to shoot a Portal' areas in either game, and that part had a lot of it.

Yeah, I hated when the game resorted to this. That said, Old Aperture was still the best part of the game for me because exploring forgotten rusting superstructures = doubleplus Cid points. Also I can forgive almost anything for Cave Johnson.

Wheatley had a lot of excellent lines and the VA was spot-on. I dunno, Fenrir.

I enjoyed Portal 2 a lot more on a replay because I was no longer laboring under the unrealistic expectation that it could be compressed awesome like its predecessor.

[Meeplelard]

Alpha Sapphire: Got the Aggronite.  Does anything else I did in this game really matter? I CAN GET MEGA AGGRON IN LIKE 22 LEVELS!!

[hinode]

Alpha Sapphire: Beat Delta Episode a few days back, then took a look at the E4 rematch levels. L70+ teams vs my L54 group? Yeah, not happening. Might as well just toss all my stored-up rare candies on Kyogre then let it, Mega-Raybroken, and Deoxys handle them.

Team thoughts, since most of them are largey done now.

Sceptile (Giga Drain, Dragon Claw, Earthquake, Leaf Storm)- Most interesting starter Mega since there's times where the added Dragon type is a liability so you're better off staying in base form instead of being a strict upgrade. Giga Drain and Leaf Storm are both really nice upgrades over gen 3 Leaf Blade and had distinct uses. Dragon STAB is helpful considering how many things resist Grass, though being stuck with physical Dual Chop/Dragon Claw isn't ideal. EQ I used over Focus Blast because 70% accuracy sucks and the higher power isn't really needed in-game.

Swellow (Boomburst, Brave Bird, Fly, U-Turn)- Faded from earlygame godhood since Boomburst only 2HKOs most things instead of OHKOs, plus the low durability is increasingly noticable. Still held its own weight in the team, strong moves off middling attack stats plus great speed is workable enough in-game.

Manectric (Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, T-wave, rotating filler move)- Take bog standard Electric type, add fire moves for coverage and a Mega for better stats+Intimidate. Really good but not particularly interesting.

Aggron (Rock Slide, Iron Head, Earthquake, rotating filler move)- Same Aggron tanking, now with significantly better STAB options. Rock Slide at L25 and Iron Head at L22 do wonders for Aron's offense. Defensive typing walled a bunch of stuff, including allied Boombursts in double battles. I tended to stick to the base form for Rock STAB, but the Mega was still a good option for water-logged routes.

Heracross (Close Combat, Megahorn, pick two of EQ/Rock Slide/Shadow Claw/Swords Dance/False Swipe)- Getting Megahorn at L37 instead of the 50s for once is really awesome, and Close Combat was only pushed back to L43 to compensate. The last two slots were constantly mixed and matched based on the situation. I never used the Mega form since I didn't like the -10 speed drop, it got outsped ocasionally as it is and isn't bulky enough to not care about going first. Got the second most use vs the Elite Four due to some favorable type matchups, even though Sceptile and Manectric are probably better overall.

Kyogre (Surf, Ice Beam, Thunder, Water HM move/Calm Mind)- Same old Kyogre, now with even higher stats thanks to primal reversion. Probably still better than Groudon in-game due to more immediate firepower, so at least it has something to commiserate about now that's been so badly dethroned in ubers.

[Fenrir]

My problem with touch d-pads can be seen here

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-12-05-video-touch-control-rage-with-tomb-raider-2-for-ios

Obviously this is a waaay bigger problem with Tomb Raider 2 than Final Fantasy Dimensions. (Tomb Raider 2 also already having difficult controls to begin with so a port to iOS was just a recipe for disaster)

[dude789]

Some more quick notes from BoF3 magic challenge.

I'll probably go into more detail once I'm done, but Gaist was by far the hardest fight in this challenge so far. Big defense and magic resist made him incredibly difficult to damage, especially since I didn't find the Icicle shop until after the fight.

Angler was tedious, but not too difficult. He has no weaknesses and decent enough defenses especially since Garr is pratcically a non factor on offense, but he's still not bad. Just tedious. The team really wants the third level spells soon.

Also, I don't know if this is mentioned in the stat topic, but I'm pretty sure BoF3 healing spells get some kind of agility boost. It's not huge enough for Ryu to outpace someone with a significant agility advantage, but it's enough for Ryu to do something like going after an enemy who is consistently faster than him normally but slower than Nina to being consistently faster than the aforementioned enemy while still being slower than Nina. Seems like it could be a nice boost to Momo especially.