What games are you playing 2014?

[Sierra]

ToB: So I kicked Demogorgon in the head(s) until he was dead, nyah-hah!

Hey, you want to be a god? No thanks, it didn't work out too well for the last guy. Game (re)finished, and this--

Monkspawn was the first time I played BG2, and I get the impression that it would be one of the easier solos in the game. I imagine it would be tricky at first but once Monks get going, they're nuts. It would help if you had old, cheesy version of the cloak of spell turning or whatever but as you say, you get close to magic immunity by the end of SoA. Naturally it would be harder to solo Ascension but I'm not sure if you're bothering with that.

--I believe would be very true. It'd be rough at first since at low levels you're basically just a quirky, slightly squishier Fighter, but the fantastic unkillability of a high-level monk is just terrifying to behold. And with EXP focusing, you'd get the good stuff a lot faster! With magic resist bonuses from BG2 endgame and Watcher's Keep and various equips (why would you ever NOT be using Ring of Gaxx?) all stacking on top of monk base, you do get genuine magic immunity; even before that happened, saves were good enough that I could reliably run right through crowds of status-spamming goons to harmlessly soak up all their spell charges before bringing in the rest of the team; Deflect Arrows bonus eventually gets so high that it is functionally impossible for ranged attackers to hit you; need to run away to heal up? You're faster than everything; and the raw AC! I hit -13 by the end of the game, optimally could've been -15 but I prioritized accuracy/damage bonuses with accessories. You'd easily hit level 40 in a solo to get that last boost, so maximal AC of -16? That is just crazy. And solo you might get immunity to normal weapons early enough for it to actually matter!

Honestly I started to just feel bad for the game after a while. I guess I could've turned up the difficulty! Past a certain point the only thing that could pose a serious threat was Imprison (because it ignores immunity) or non-magic instakill shit like mindflayers have.

And I haven't even talked about how astonishingly good you get at murdering the fuck out of everything. I figure endgame PC numbers should demonstrate that pretty clearly!

Io: level 35 monk!
Percentage of party kills: 43%. This isn't even due to carryover from BG1, the number held steady throughout individual chapters of BG2/ToB.
Most powerful foe vanquished: Bodhi. This is BS. I killed way nastier enemies than some random vampire who just happened to have a name! I do wonder how the game determines this. I guess it's just by raw EXP dump and since she's a big plot boss there's a lot for her? Also I figure game doesn't count stuff like Demogorgon or Irenicus because the enemies lapse into cutscene teleports rather than properly exploding like everything else monkspawn touched.

Jan: level 18 illusionist/level 23 thief.
Percentage of party kills: 2%.
Most powerful foe vanquished: Shade Lord. Yeah, that's right, the most fearsome thing he ever killed was the early chapter 2 quest boss. Jan, you suck at killing things. I know, it's also important having someone around to nuke enemy defenses, but seriously, you suck at killing things. Can't even learn Horrid Wilting!

(But with enough monkeys, anything is possible.)

Nalia: level 26 mage/level 4 thief.
Percentage of party kills: 7%.
Most powerful foe vanquished: Firkraag.

I actually totally ignored offensive magic and summons for broad swaths of BG2 just because it was so much less efficient than personally punching the shit out of everything. So Nalia mostly sat around chucking Fire Tooth a lot. The old standbys are good when there's a genuine horde to deal with, though.

Mazzy: level 32 fighter.
Percentage of party kills: 11%.
Most powerful foe vanquished: Ogremoch, elemental prince of drow linen closet. Seriously, what is he even doing there?

Jaheira: level 20 fighter/level 21 druid.
Percentage of party kills: 17%. A lot of this actually is BG1 carryover, she's not hugely efficient melee-wise.
Most powerful foe vanquished: Draconis.

Valygar: level 27 stalker.
Percentage of party kills: 16%. Respectable!
Most powerful foe vanquished: Saladragon! (The one in Watcher's Keep.)

Man Valygar has the charisma of a log. "Hey monkspawn, tell me about your dad." *Awkward evasion, what about yours?* "I had to kill him after my mom turned him into a zombie, thanks for asking." Was this a conversation we needed to have in the middle of fighting vampires?

Not having a proper cleric was pain sometimes. See: vampires, what do you mean druids don't get Restoration?! So I spent a lot of money on those scrolls. But in practice, everything died with such a remarkable speed to monk cheese that party longevity was much higher than it has previously been with more deliberately balanced parties. I have to say, it is extremely satisfying ripping through dragons, the prince of demons, and would-be gods basically naked and with your bare hands. (Take note, From Software: give me viable unarmed fighting!)

[Dhyerwolf]

Jeanne D'Arc- Can't remember if I mentioned that I was playing this. Up to chapter 4. Shockingly better than I was expecting. Solid enough (it not particularly inspired) SRPG gameplay + interetsing use of history. Good use of plot twists which are well supported by historical data which makes you care on some level despite the game not going too deep into character. I also like that they made Jeanne have a stereotypical bone-headed RPG main character type that is enough attached to male main characters...and then making it work far more with her situation. At this point, it's at worst a 6 game (which again, is higher than I was expecting).

[AndrewRogue]

If it's of any use, I found silver knights to be one of the easiest enemies to practice parrying against due to the predictable rhythm of their combos (well, silver sword knights at least; silver spear knights are just dicks who I can only backstab after blocking their spinny slash). Shield bash + thrust = parry thrust, three-hit combo = parry second hit. Don't really need lightning reflexes to parry when they telegraph their moves so clearly.

Giant knights I just run past. Or shoot with arrows from the stairs if I want to safely summon Solaire, they don't even react or bother to heal up if you stay out of aggro range.

Yeah. It really is just impatience combined with the fact that they can two-three hit me making things a little annoying.

Giant Knights are just because I'm summoning Solaire. Unfortunately, I do tend to be in aggro range because lulz magic. Maybe I'll try sniping them just to end the irritation.

[Meeplelard]

Nier: Finall did B ending.  While seeing the extra scenes with Shades and such was nice, I can't say it really added anything to the game.  Kaine's novel stuff felt more tiring than actually meaningful because it wasn't as well written as Lost Odyssey stuff and it just kept dragging on as there are 4 of them in quick succession; maybe if they were legitimately spread out, that'd be one thing.  The Tyrann thing seemed completely pointless given how underused he was; could have been a neat addition if he was consistently there, but instead we just have an extra snarky voiceover during fights that isn't as amusing as Weiss.
 
Also the gameplay is even worse on this because you're just overpowered and cutting through everything effortlessly, redoing the exact same things you saw before.  Also because you are overpowered, you tend to kill bosses too fast before you can see their own dialog you missed in A Ending, so it legitimately clashes.

I dunno, still not impressed with the overall quality of the game.  I can see why some people like it, but to me I found a bland hack and slash with some good music and occasional decent moments, but overall not a very engaging experience, and B Ending did little to change my opinion.

[Dhyerwolf]

Jeanne D'Arc- Just beat C24 (The fight with Superba). Very nasty but well setup fight. Had 1 reset because my PCs just didn't have the steam at the end to take him. Obvious flashbacks to the FFT Gaffgarion fight, for all that it didn't play out that way.

[Fenrir]

3rd birthday: Chapter 4.

WTF is going on??
Seriously what is going on.
I don't understand anything at this point.
Also I guess there was a boss battle that was cut at the last minute at the end of Chapter 3?

Also. Maeda. Is this for real?

 
Game on hard is true survival horror. I'm running from every enemy I can go past. Troops/Meatbags/Health points are dying left and right. Music is appropriately scary.

If it weren't for random Haste activation at exactly the right time (during Liberation) I'd have never been able to get past that 6 or so Snatcher battle in Chapter 3.
Slackers are the only non dangerous enemis, except nevermind, even slackers can be dangerous.

This game would have a delightfully hellish atmosphere if not for all the nonsense.

[Meeplelard]

Pokemon Soul Silver: Mandy is holding me at Kyogre point to replay this so I can get her a Groudon (which I accidentally transfered to later games) such that she can get Rayquaza.

Started with Totodile, because only Gen 2 Starter I never used, and Fera's actually good in Gen 4+, so why not?  Dunno what else I'll be doing from here.

I did start the game twice because first I saved after getting Totodile, later realizing it was Timid Nature (+Speed, -Attack), which is just BAD so I reset, got a Naughty Nature (+Attack, -SDef), which I'm totally ok with!  Just beat Falkner, in Ruins of Alph, early game options are bland as usual in Johto (well, early Geodude, Gastly and Bellsprout for some typing variety, but still kind of :\)

[Niu]

3rd birthday: Chapter 4.

WTF is going on??
Seriously what is going on.
I don't understand anything at this point.

Welcome to Toriyama's writing. 3rd Birthday's plot is the most disastrous thing I have seen since Chrono Cross.
No, it is exactly like Chrono Cross.
After studying the plot thoroughly and read all the supplemental material... the end result is that it is making even less sense.

[Meeplelard]

This is why you STAY AWAY from supplemental materials.  If they're not in the game, you can assume they're not canon, and in cases like this, it makes things better. 

Well, ok, they're fine for behind the scene info and maybe cute little tibits, for extra plot details?  Yeah, "if it's not the in the game, I am going to ignore it" is the best way to approach it.  These are the kinds of things that can be changed on a whim in more public sources...not that I expect 3rd Birthday to get any follow up for a number of reasons...

...and no, I am not defending 3rd Birthday, for all that I don't think the plot (AS THE GAME PRESENTS IT) is as bad as many (though it certainly is a big middle finger to fans of Aya.)

[Cmdr_King]

Honestly I think Chrono Cross is better written.  I mean, in that game you go from one objective to the next and it makes sense until you look at the game as a whole and think "wait, what the hell is this suppose to accomplish".  3rd Birthday dumps you in the middle of a story and every moment of the game is "what the christ?  Oh god monsters gotta kill them twisted going to eat me".

[AndrewRogue]

Fallout: New Vegas - Remembered I was playing this and opted to tackle it instead of Dark Souls last night for a break. Finished up in Novac and got Boone on my side, did the whole Repconn thing, and made it all the way to New Vegas. Boone is lethal. As am I, now that I have a Plasma Rifle.

[Sierra]

Boone can and will murder most overworld randoms before they can enter your sight range. Your plasma rifle is irrelevant.

[Niu]

Honestly I think Chrono Cross is better written.  I mean, in that game you go from one objective to the next and it makes sense until you look at the game as a whole and think "wait, what the hell is this suppose to accomplish".  3rd Birthday dumps you in the middle of a story and every moment of the game is "what the christ?  Oh god monsters gotta kill them twisted going to eat me".

This is Chrono Cross
Create a stupid plot hole out of nowhere so we can have things to do -> We are made to do things that's meaningless because or else there won't be enough content to make a game -> Stuff even more meaningless was thrown in to make the meaningless things we do to look meaningful -> repeat indefintily

This is 3rd Birthday
Create a stupid plot hole out of nowhere so we can have things to do -> To cover the said plothole, another plot hole was thrown in to let us work on -> yet another plot hole was toss in to cover up the previous one - repeat indefinitely

They are essentially the samething, just CC is less stupid on the surface.

[Grefter]

I prefer goat shit to dog shit personally.  YMMV though!

PS:T - Evil play through is hard.  Writing too good.  I sold Dak'kon into slavery and now can't easily swap back to Mage from Class Changing.  That is going to get annoying a little I think.  Ignus can't train you in that, so fuck that guy.  I was banking on that a little.  Oh well, that means I get to use Nordom at least.

As much as I try to pick Lawful options where I can, Lawful and Good options group together and Chaotic and Evil tend to a bit more than I expected, so I keep bouncing between Neutral Evil and Chaotic Evil.

At least I finally got to use Tome of Pestilential Thought.  Ask it for advice.  Every piece of advice gets written to your Journal.  Updated My Journal.

I was listening to a podcast that played this a while back.  They talked about how the combat is annoying and pointlessly difficult.  My too much knowledge of the game errors because you have thousands of Copper super easy just by the time you get to the Underground Village and Blood Charms heal 18 HP for 36 Copper each and game pauses in inventory.  You can buy a hundred of them super early and they will last you the entire game.

[Cmdr_King]

They are essentially the samething, just CC is less stupid on the surface.

Pretty much what I meant, yeah.  CC looks okay until you think about it, 3rd birthday is all crazy all the time.

Although there's something about infinite plot hole recursion that makes me smile.

[Grefter]

THE MULTIVERSE BREATHES. IT GROWS. IT STAGNATES. IT FORGES ITS CHAINS AROUND THE PLANES LINK BY LINK. IN TIME, EVEN ENTROPY MAY BE CHAINED.

[NotMiki]

This is Chrono Cross
Create a stupid plot hole out of nowhere so we can have things to do -> We are made to do things that's meaningless because or else there won't be enough content to make a game -> Stuff even more meaningless was thrown in to make the meaningless things we do to look meaningful -> repeat indefintily

Tales of Chrono Cross.

[AndrewRogue]

57: O&S
58: Invader
59: O&S
60: Silver Knight and now I'm out of humanity. Guess trying to beat O&S is over for the moment. I'm kinda annoyed, which leads to...
61: Silver Knight
62: Giant Knight
63: Snakeman at the base of the shortcut cage
64: I finally stop being annoyed enough to actually make it back to Firelink Shrine. Which leads to a death from Stray Demon. His explosion attack straight up murders me through blocking after I land.
65: Same thing.
66: Same thing. I finally wise up and roll TOWARDS him after landing after this.
67: Bloated Hollow fireball murder.
68: Crow landed on my headed and pecked me to death.
69: Bonewheels are the devil.
70: Toxic after I run out of magic to kill the bloated hollows.
71: Those javelins from the baby Phalanaxes hurt like a bitch.

But whatever. This detour got me Velka's Rapier, +8 soul levels (42 -> 50), and enough souls to upgrade Velka's and shore up my spells. Hopefully that'll see me through O&S.

I'm not optimistic about Artorias of the Abyss.

[Twilkitri]

Stealth Bastard Deluxe - Beaten

When I first started the game some time back, it was suffuse with slowdown and half-unplayable. I recently checked to see whether that had been improved at all and found that it doesn't seem to have any slowdown at all any more (unless it was all in the first world or something). Nice nice.

Anyway, it's fairly entertaining. Similar to the Oddworld platformers in some ways, which was what caused me to buy it in the first place, but sadly not really up to the standard of Exoddus. Doesn't have mind control in case anyone was thinking that might be involved, and you also rarely ever need to save anyone else (actually I was unable to progress for a short while the first time you had to because I didn't even consider the possibility). You do get to push things around a lot though. Sigh.

Ending was pretty great. I had no idea where the game was going, but on balance I guess I should have had.

Had 411 deaths all up. Didn't collect all the helixes in any world, didn't completely S-rank any world. Not sure if I actually got any S-ranks outside the first world for that matter.

[AndrewRogue]

72: O&S. Then, with the power of prayer and the sun, I beat them.
73: Derp. Fang Boars hit hard.
74-87: Sanctuary Guardian

Sanctuary Guardian takes no damage from anything. My life is pain.

[Fudozukushi]

72: O&S. Then, with the power of prayer and the sun, I beat them.
73: Derp. Fang Boars hit hard.
74-87: Sanctuary Guardian

Sanctuary Guardian takes no damage from anything. My life is pain.

And he probably has the lowest defense in the DLC.

[Sierra]

You're running a sorcerer, right? Given how high boss defenses are in AotA, multi-hit spells like Homing Soulmass are especially worthless so don't even bother with those. Your rapier's not going to see much use either given how badly AotA boss defense nerfs elemental weapons, so just stock up on the best single-target spells you have and totally twink out your magic power before walking through any fog gates. Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring + Crown of Dusk + either Oolacile Catalyst or Logan's Catalyst (depending on INT, latter best at high INT) = optimal sorc output. And try to avoid spells that keep you immobile for too long (I never use the Heavy Soul Arrow spells).

You might also want to clear out the rest of the base DS endgame before hitting AotA, just for the extra levels (not to mention Rite of Kindling). The bosses only get meaner after Sanctuary Guardian.

[Fudozukushi]

You just reminded me of my near victory over Artorias that turned into a lose because my rapier broke mid-battle.

[jsh357]

I just beat Sanctuary Guardian for the first time last night--the only way I was able to do it was memorizing his patterns and taking 1-2 safe swings.  When he does the swooping ram attack, wait until he's close and roll backward.  Sometimes I could get 4 hits on him after that one.  The problem with getting greedy on him is he can counter with that poison tail swing, which you really don't want happening.

[AndrewRogue]

You're running a sorcerer, right? Given how high boss defenses are in AotA, multi-hit spells like Homing Soulmass are especially worthless so don't even bother with those. Your rapier's not going to see much use either given how badly AotA boss defense nerfs elemental weapons, so just stock up on the best single-target spells you have and totally twink out your magic power before walking through any fog gates. Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring + Crown of Dusk + either Oolacile Catalyst or Logan's Catalyst (depending on INT, latter best at high INT) = optimal sorc output. And try to avoid spells that keep you immobile for too long (I never use the Heavy Soul Arrow spells).

You might also want to clear out the rest of the base DS endgame before hitting AotA, just for the extra levels (not to mention Rite of Kindling). The bosses only get meaner after Sanctuary Guardian.

Oh riiiiiiiiight. Wow. I don't know why, but I have totally forgotten about upgrading my Catalyst. I should do that.

That aside, though, Homing Soulmass actually deals the second most damage out of my spells if it connects fully, oddly enough. Soul Spear beats it cleanly, but it definitely beats Great Soul Arrow and possibly Heavy Great Soul Arrow?