What games are you playing 2014?

[NotMiki]

You can't actually upgrade past 10 charges anyway until you beat the Catacombs, which as we discussed earlier is really obnoxious to do before Anor Londo.

Catacombs actually isn't that bad when you know what you are doing.  Upgraded mace, decent shield, and the knowledge that skeletons stop re-forming if you kill necromancers gets you most of the way through it.

I don't think there's really a POINT to doing it early, for all the reasons you said, but it's one of the dungeons with the biggest drops in difficulty from knowing how to do it.

[Cotigo]

I suppose that's true, but even if knowing how to do it makes it easier, it is still obnoxious to do... not difficult, but obnoxious. That said, I can see how suicide running to gank all the necros and then then doing it normal could significantly cut down on the time spent there. I guess I won't really know until I replay on a new character, though.

EDIT: OH yeah and probably even not suiciding but having a decent Divine weapon is probably good too. Divine club sucks but was basically free so whatevs.

[Sierra]

Sadly divine club is actually one of the better options there (skellies resist non-strike weapons). Divine weapons are always going to be kind of ass unless you just happen to be a cleric.

[NotMiki]

If you've been building STR, plain old club club will do just fine.  If you can take a skelly down in 2 hits, you can make it to the necromancers without wasting so much time that you have to be watching your back.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Child of Light - Full party finally, including the thoroughly underwhelming DLC character. The character balance is actually pretty neat here. Game continues to be notably good.

[Cmdr_King]

Penny Arcade 4- Done.  It does a few things just a teensy bit less interestingly than PA3 that while individually irrelevant add up to it feeling about half a point worse, more or less.  Mostly the Underhellmon just aren't as fun to use as PA3's pc cast were, and most of the game is spent with teams that are missing key components of skillset, or feel like they are.  7/10 overall.

[Cotigo]

Dark Souls: So over the last couple of days I beat the Demon's Ruins and Lost Izalith. That was annoying, particularly the centipede demon. It is a good thing my lightning Gargoyle Halberd is at +5, otherwise it would have taken even more tries. At least the Bed of Chaos was a nice change of pace from  "damage the boss before they damage you," and until the final boss I don't anticipate that I'll run into much fire resistance.

Did the Great Hollow and Ash Lake next. The Hollow Sucked and there wasn't much there except the end of Seigmeyer's story (and a titanite slab if I want to get that Iaito upgraded when I pump dex later... I guess), but hey it was pretty. Wrapped up Aramis' Painted World, too, though I'm waiting to fight the boss until I'm gonna have to sin next.

I think I have my final loadout for the first run through. Gargoyle Halberd +5, Ascended Pyro Fist +5, Giant Armor +5, Antiquated Skirt +5, Black Iron Gauntlets, Crown of Dusk, Bellowing Dragon Crest, Wolf Ring. It has me at the most stats for exactly 40 weight, so it works for me.

By the way, Cid: Darkmoon Invasion still sucks on PC. Perhaps it would suck less if they didn't limit you to the area you were in? I mean, they have to load you into the other player's world anyway... Oh well, I'll go dark wraithe after NG+ anyway and it will be good. Found a Red Soapstone Chisel but it probably sucks. Have other people willingly summon you into their world for fisticuffs? Sounds like getting ganked. I'd rather the odds be ever in my favor, thank you very much.

[Meeplelard]

Lightning Returns Abridged, Chapter Snow, because this game doesn't deserve numeric chapter titles!

WARNING: Since this covers several disjointed play sessions, my memories of this sequence aren't perfect so I might be making some instances up.


Chocolina: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13, the Story so far, choco-chocolina!
Lightning: People are dying because of a cult...
Hope: They all look like you too!
Lumina: CRYPTIC METAPHOR AND PLOT TEASES ^_^!!!!
Noel: THE WORLD HAS SUCKED FOR 500 YEARS AND YOU WERE SLEEPING DURING IT ALL! I'm killing you, FOR YEUL!
Lightning: We both know that's not what she wants...
Noel: Ok, sorry about the whole "Trying to kill you" thing!
Vanille: I'm contractually obligated to make a cameo in this section!


*back to the game*

Lightning: Ok, I guess I should go save Vanille right now.  I mean, she's right in Luxerion like Noel was.
Lumina: That's a stupid idea, go save someone else ^_^!
Lightning: Leave me alone...
Lumina: I can't leave you alone..."sis" ^_^!
Lightning: Seeing as you pop up completely randomly on your own terms, yes, you can.
Lumina: Awww, but aren't we friends ;_; ^_^?
Lightning: NO!
Hope: Umm...Lightning, who are you talking to?
Lightning: Just...thinking outloud?
Hope: ...anyway...I suspect Vanille probably won't budge from her current spot, so let's go save someone else, take the train to a different area!
Lightning: Alright, going to save Snow in Yusnaan then!
Hope: ...that's probably the dumbest idea you can do; didn't he try to kill you last time?
Lightning: Don't care, saving him now.
Hope: *sigh* Fine, let's do this.

*Yusnaan*
Lightning Monologue: Yusnaan is a place ruled by the Patron, aka Snow.  It's basically the polar opposite of Luxerion which was essentially the Vatican while this place is Vegas. I'm telling you this all now; what goes in Yusnaan, stays in Yusnaan!
Hope: So...Lightning...Snow's going to throw a big celebration in honor of the savior because he likes parties and people like celebrating, even though he's clearly anti-you.
Lightning: What's that go to do with me?
Hope: Because you're the savior and you want to save Snow?
Lightning: And...?
Hope: ...just go crash the party so you can get to Snow and save him.  Don't forget to save random people along the way if they need help.
Lightning: Oh, right, Soul Saving!
*Lightning grabs the souls of about 30 arbitrary people*
Hope: ...that's not what I meant...
Lightning: Hope, are you the savior?
Hope: Not really...
Lightning: Then shut up and let me do my job!
Hope: Ok, but we should get to saving Snow.
Lightning: And how do we do that?
Hope: Well the front gate is...
Lightning: Front gate, got it!
Hope: Wait! The entire city is on alert for you, how do you plan to get around unnoticed...
Lightning: Who said anything about being unnoticed?
Soldier Guy: IT'S THE SAVIOR!
Lightning: That's me!
Solider Guy: GET HER!!!!
*one guy with 2 flans attacks Lightning and loses horribly*

Hope: ...you didn't have to kill the guy...
Lightning: He'll respawn.
Hope: Ok, now, about the Front Gate.
Lightning: Already there, time to open it!
Hope: Um, Lightning, I'm trying to tell you...
Lightning: Be careful, I know!
*Gate is locked*
Lightning: Well, Gate's locked, guess we need to cancel this plan. Why didn't you tell me?
Hope: Tried multiple times; you kept interrupting me.  Anyway, there seems to be a smuggler trade route into the center, maybe you could find a way in through that.
Lightning: And how would I find about that?
Tour Guide: HEY LADY! YOU WANNA GET IN AND SEE THE FESTIVAL TONIGHT!? I CAN GET YOU IN THERE VIA A TRADE SMUGGLER ROUTE WITH A LARGE GROUP! JUST GET THERE BY 6 PM!
Lightning: How...
Hope: ...disturbingly...
Lightning: ...convenient...

*6 PM*
Tour Guide: Ok, everyone's here! There are a lot of monsters here, so YOUR LIFE IS IN YOUR OWN HANDS! Don't blame me if you die wanting to see Fireworks!
Lightning: I eat monsters for breakfast...
Hope: So does the rest of the world, technically...
Lightning: Wait, what?
Hope: See, Pandemonium, the last Fal'cie who basically makes all of the world's goods, makes it from manufactured Chaos.
Lightning: People are literally eating Chaos?
Hope: Yeah, mostly because that's really the only constant resource left in this world!  Well, there are farmers in the one nature preserve in the world, but no one cares about them...at least until we go there.
Lightning: Well enough talk about that Nightmare fuel, I need to get to Snow.
Hope: You know, you don't seem to be having much problems.
Lightning: I'm not complaining, this area isn't too hard.  I could get use to thi-...
Lumina: Hello there ^_^!
Lightning: I take that back, I want to get out of here, NOW!
Lumina: Awww, don't want me to taunt you with monsters and chaos and fun stuff ;_; ^_^!
Lightning: Who the hell could want that?
Lumina: You, of course ^_^!
Lightning: *face desk, despite no desk being there*
Lumina: Anyway, you're going to save Snow, right? But he doesn't want to be saved! Because he failed to save Serah ^_^! And blah blah blah Chaos blah blah blah Savior blah blah blah Serah blah blah blah ^_^...
Hope: Lightning, we really need to get moving...
Lightning: I know, I've been slowly inching away from her as she's been speaking hoping she doesn't notice...
Lumina: HEY! ARE YOU LISTENING!?
Lightning: No, I'm not.
Lumina: THAT MAKES ME SO ANGRY >_< ^_^! *Summons a giant Cyclops on Lightning through chaos*
Lightning: ...should have seen this coming...
*one boss fight later*
Lumina: Awww...poor baby, you know you're going to die, so you want to go out with a bang? That's fine, here's more power ^_^!
Lightning: ...you're kidding...
*ONE BOSS FIGHT LATER*
Lightning: Do that again and I quit this game forever.
Lumina: Fine, sheesh, but I can still BLOW UP THIS BRIDGE AND SEND YOU OFF YOUR PATH ^_^!
Lightning: ...well crap...
*Lightning falls off the smuggler path int some dump*

Hope: Well, that idea seems like a wash.  Either we wait another 24 hours and do it again or we find another way into the quarters, like scaling the wall or...
Lightning: Hey look, a gate key among this decomposed corpse!
Hope: ...or that works too!
NOTE: Yes, you actually do find a convenient gatekey in that exact manner.  This is an exaggeration, dialog aside.
*Lightning walks through front door into the celebration area*
Lightning: Ok, so the Palace is still blocked off...I can bust in though!
Hope: It's too heavily secure, and this it not Final Fantasy 7 meaning that "Busting in" is not the right option ever.
Lightning: Wait, you mean this franchise ISN'T the new Final Fantasy 7? Has Square-enix been lying to us the entire time?
Hope: Just because they say it doesn't mean it's true.  Anyway, the best idea I can think of is...
Lightning: Scale the wall and sneak in, right?
Hope: No, I was going to say blow up that giant statue of Bhunivelze through usage of a lot of fireworks during the festival and get in during the confusion.
Lightning: That'll kill hundreds of people, won't it.
Hope: We need to save Snow, a few casualities for God's work isn't a big deal.
Lightning: I thought god wanted me to save as many souls as possible...this kind of goes against his mission statement...
Hope: WE'RE GOING WITH PLAN B AND THAT'S FINAL!
Lightning: And if I refuse?
Hope: I'll start playing this convenient Album "The Best of Julia Heartilley" into the com system until you do.
Lightning: ...so about blowing up that statue...
Hope: Go talk to the Director, tell him your idea!

*at the director*
Director: *sigh* These festivals are getting dull, doing the same thing for 500 years, whoever would have thunk it.
Lightning: Why not just make more Fireworks, about 3x as many and blow the entire house down.
Director: THAT'S AMAZING! GO TELL MY TECHNICIAN YOUR IDEA SO HE CAN GET PREPARED!
Lightning: Well, that was easy...
*at the Technician*
Technician: I can do it, but I need more Fireworks...by the way, the Director's insane.
Lightning: Where can I get them?
Technician: You can get them from other Technician's throughout the town.  there are other means as well, if you know what I me-...
Lightning: I am not doing THAT to get Fireworks.
Technician: ...I just meant talking to random people who may have some and fulfilling deeds, like the Chocobo ladies!
*about an hour lady*
Chocobo Lady: HAVE A CHOCO GOOD TIME! SHOW US YOU CAN DO SO.
Lightning: Meow Meow Choco Wow...
Chocobo Lady: OMG KAWAII DESU KA!!!!! *gives Lightning Fireworks*
Hope: ...I can't believe you just said that...
Lightning: WHAT GOES IN YUSNAAN STAYS IN YUSNAAN!
Hope: Yeah, you might want to get Fireworks from the other Technicians.

*First Technician*
Lightning: Can I have Fireworks?
Technician: Here you go!
Lightning:  Well that was easy...
*2nd Technician*
Lightning: Can I have Fireworks?
Technician: Woe is me, life is worthless, why do I even bother.  FIREWORKS ARE SYMBOLIC OF LIFE ITSELF! IT IS ALL AN ILLUSION!
Lightning: So...I got this rare alcoholic beverage here...
Technician: WHAT!? LIFE HAS MEANING AGAIN! TAKE THESE FIREWORKS! I promised them for a kid but he died and I felt bad about using them, but NOW WE WILL HONOR HIM WITH THESE!
*3rd Technician*
Lightning: Give me Fireworks.
Technician: PLEASE TAKE THEM! I HATE FIRE! WHY DID I BECOME A PYROTECHNICIAN!? THE LESS FIREWORKS THE BETTER!
Lightning: O...k...
Technician: By the way, you can get more at the Coliseum right there!
*Coliseum*
Receptionist: WE ARE GIVING AWAY FIREWORKS HERE BECAUSE PLOT CONVENIENCE! DO YOU WANT TO WIN SOME!?
Lightning: Yes, yes I do.
Receptionist: Ok! Go beat that easy enemy and get some!
*Lightning gets Fireworks, FF Victory Fanfare plays*

Hope: Why is that it took us 3 games to finally get that song into the game?
Lightning: The same reason there was a poster of Warrior of Light at the Coliseum, and a random guy playing Battle on the Big Bridge on the streets.
Hope: That doesn't really answer my question...
*At the Director*
Director: Aha, you got the Fireworks, give them to the Technician now!
Lightning: Why can't you do that?
Director: Gameplay padding.
Lightning: Ah, ok.
*Lightning gives them to the Technician then returns to the Director*
Hope: Lightning, you need to get yourself as part of the performance.
Lightning: So I should e a stage prop or something?
Hope: I think you need to star as the Savior.
Lightning: WHAT!? I'm a soldier, not some sort of opera floozy!
Hope: Good thing this isn't an Opera then, right?
Lightning: Is there really no other way?
Hope: We could ask Lumina for advice...
Lightning: ...right, Opera Floozy it is!
Hope: It's not an...ah hell with it.
*At the Director*
Lightning: This is going to be dangerous, you should probably change actors so they don't get hurt.
Director: BUT WHO WOULD PLAY THE SAVIOR!?
Lightning: You're looking at her!
Director: NOT DRESSED LIKE THAT YOU WON'T!
Lightning: But this is how the Savior dresses!
Director: GO TO THE COLISEUM AND GET A DRESS FROM THERE, PRONTO!
*Lightning does exactly that*
Director: AHA! NOW THAT'S A SAVIOR!
Lightning: I don't think a Savior would run around in a maroon, strapless dress intended for a ballroom...
Director: IT'S ALL ABOUT STYLE! PEOPLE WANT A PRETTY GIRL! NOT ONE IN ARMOR!
Lightning: Whatever...
Hope: Psst! Wrong main character!
Lightning: Anyway, I won't just act as the Savior, I'll AM THE SAVIOR!
Director: Right...by the way, I made some modifications to the show.  Now no one will die, BUT THE STATUE WILL STILL EXPLODE! THIS WILL BE GLORIOUS!
Hope: Huh, sounds like the Director came through for you.
Director: THE SHOW MUST START! LET'S GET THIS OVER WITH!

*insert the FF10-2 Opening here.  No really, that is an accurate way to describe what is going on here*
Lightning: And we're in, with minimal casualities! Now what could go wrong?
Hope: Um, Lightning, yeah, forgot to tell you but there's a lot of Chaos resonating from here.  Best case scenario, it's just a huge giant monster.
Lightning: Sure that's not the WORST case scenario?
Hope: Worst case scenario would involve Lumina...
Lightning: ...ok, what's the 2nd worst case scenario?
Hope: It's a Cie'th.
Lightning: That requires l'Cie to exist, which they haven't since we destroyed Orphan...except for Snow...who is in that tower...oh...
*One dungeon later*
Soldier: Aha, you're the Savior!
Lightning: Are you seriously going to stand in my way? Do you know how many nameless mooks I've taken out in the past 24 hours?
Soldier: No, I'm not, I'm here to help you! But I'm useless against Chaos things but I conveniently have a lot of supplies I can sell you!  GO SAVE THE PATRON PLEASE!
Lightning: How convenient...

*Lightning reaches Snow's office*
Lightning: The Door is frozen.
Hope: Burn it down then!
Lightning: NO! THIS IS SPECIAL ICE! I CAN'T DO THAT! IT'S MAGIC!
Hope: But...you can make magical fire...
Lightning: It. Is. Magic!
Hope: *sigh* Fine, guess we'll have to convince him to get in, go search his room for a clue or something.
*Lightning gets to Snow's room*
Lightning: It's Serah's engagement Pendant...THIS MUST BE THE ANSWER! IT'LL GET US IN!
Hope: Um...how is that suppose to work?
Lightning: It just will, OK!!?
Hope: So this is a complete crapshoot. great...
*Lightning opens door with Pendent*
Hope: ...well, guess I'll eat crow now, where's that damn tengu that's been bothering me?
Lightning: Time to beat up Snow!

*inside*
Snow: Hey sis! Guess you are the real deal since you figured out my puzzle!
Lightning: Wait, this whole thing was a test?
Snow: Yep! Had to make sure you were the real thing.  That's why I attacked you last time; thought you might be an imposter.
Lightning: Couldn't you have just asked a simple question that only you and I know the answer to...
Snow: Nope! Had to be a convoluted puzzle with the pendant.
Lightning: So...can I save your soul now?
Snow: No, I need to go DESTROY THE CHAOS BEHIND THIS DOOR!
Lightning: That's going to either kill you or turn you into a Cie'th...
Snow: Yes, and if I turn into a Cie'th, I expect you to kill me.  ONLY YOU CAN DO THIS!
Lightning: You're running from your problems again...
Snow: NO! FINALLY I CAN BE USEFUL AFTER FAILING TO KEEP MY ONLY PROMISE TO SERAH!
Lightning: No, Snow, don't do it!
Snow: TOO LATE!
*boss fight where the two fight because Snow is suppose to be a Cie'th even though he looks human and is apparently in control of himself...but hey, Blinded by Light plays, so who can argue?*
Snow: Good, KILL ME NOW LIGHTNING! I CAN'T STOP THE TURNING!
Lightning: No, Snow, I WON'T LET YOU! SERAH WOULDN'T WANT THIS!
Snow: YES SHE WOULD! SHE WANTS THE WORLD TO BE SAVED BUT SHE'S DEAD!
Lightning: YOU'RE THE ONLY THING SERAH EVER WANTED! HOW CAN WE BE A FAMILY IF YOU'RE DEAD!?  SERAH WILL COME BACK!
Lumina: Aaawwww, just kill him already ^_^!
Snow: Come on, Light, KILL ME!  *Turns into a Cie'th*
Lightning: NO! *Punches Snow in the face* I WILL SAVE YOU SNOW! LIVE DAMN IT! SERAH WANTS IT!
Hope: Umm...Lightning...I thought God removed all emotions from you...how the heck are you getting...
Lightning: NO SNOW! *Bursts out crying* I WON'T LET THIS HAPPEN! SERAH WOULD NEVER FORGIVE ME!
Lumina: Awww, lying about a dead person are we? You pretend to know what Serah wants, it's cute, but you're still lying tee hee ^_^!
Lightning: COME BACK TO ME SNOW! *Punches him some more*
Lumina: It's pointless, kill him ^_^!
*Snow comes back*
Snow: What? I'm...alive? Thanks...sis...
Lightning: I'm not your sister...yet...
Snow: Heh, I've been given a second lease on life, I'll do my best to be there when I can finally be reunited with Serah.
Lightning: You better!
*Lightning gets Snow's soul*
Lumina: Well poopy, this is stupid >_< ^_^!
Hope: Mission Accomplished!

*back at the Arc*
Lumina: Well, that was interesting ^_^
Lightning: What are you doing here?
Lumina: You still lied about what Serah wanted ^_^!
Lightning: Go away.
Lumina: But don't you see...Serah's not dead! And I don't mean this "oh, she lives in all of us!" I mean she's still alive ^_^!
Lightning: No, seriously, get the hell out of here.
Lumina ^_^!

*The usual*
Hope: It has been a long time, Lightning.  Our current situation is as follows*
*Yggdrasil grows and +1 day added onto time*
Hope: Our current situation is...we are routing the Chaos! If all goes well, we should be prepared for the new world in no time!  Would you like to know the status of your past companions?
*Lightning talks to Hope about what he remembers of Snow*
Hope: Lightning, about your performance...IT IS MAGNIFICENT!  These are all the Eradia Points I can grant you at this time.  The Lord Bhunivelze is pleased with you, he begs me give you these treasures!
*Lightning gets new abilities, weapons, etc*
Hope: Lightning, I have a request of you.  GO SAVE ANOTHER ONE OF OUR FORMER COMPANIONS! May fate guide your hand!

[Excal]

FFX - Managed to get through the Bevelle Arc, missed the last chest, but didn't really care by that point.  Now hit the Calm Lands and managed to capture one of everything.  Debating staying behind long enough to also get ten of everything, but the Marlboroughs have been proving difficult to convince to show up.  Probably will anyways, just means I'll wait until I feel like doing this to pick the game back up again.  Until then...

SRW:AG - Managed to finish ABAYO, and have enough Mastery Points to have myself locked into the True ending.  Also, Kamen Kamen seems to have not gotten any better despite being left alone for thousands of years.  So, three of him were dead easy to dispatch, and got the Mastery without even trying.  Sanger showed up and I had to beat on him with my juiced up team.  This was agreeable.  Sadly, he ran at 30% HP left, but I saw the mastery list for all the stages, I know he'll be back.  And I'll be waiting.  Oh yes, I will be waiting.  >

Also started up the following level, which is the last grasp of the GX plot, aka emo boys want to destroy world to show their version of post humanity is better than New Types.  Complete with that Turn A guy who wants to rule the Moon AND the Earth.  Dude is continually getting offered the chance to just settle down and accept a decently large chunk of post-apocalypic North America, complete with the fact that a lot of the local power structure has just been taken out...  by the PCs... so, y'know, if he just took the offer he'd be a pretty damn powerful guy.  But no, he feels the need to take on the guys that have taken out the Moon Race Military Caste after their badass leader got his Apocalypse Event Powerful mech, And took out every Innocent Base they came across, including most of their strongest ones.  So, he's kinda failed the Lemming test, and thus earned the sweet, sweet death he's going to be dealt. 

Currently halfway through the map, though given the intro, I'm almost half expecting to have Mycenaean forces popping up after I deal with these mooks, so I'm saving on SP and Energy (The Ra Cailum can refill Ammo easily enough).

Bravely Default - Just hit Chapter 6.
This...  Just, this...

[Cotigo]

Dark Souls: Lololol. I stumbled into the 4 Kings battle with:

A) 5 Soft Humanity
B) 40000 unspent souls
C) A PVP Pyromancy loadout with half charge on most of my useful moves
D) 3 Estus flask charges

and kicked their ass. The pyromancies I had just happened to be the ones I needed, and I could chew through the last one with my Halberd. Actually probably could have taken these dudes first pretty easily, since the only thing that changed about my damage output is that I have Fire Tempest now... which actually did take down the last king, so hey.

Playing around with pyromancies. Acid surge seems too... uh, telegraphed to be worth the trouble in PVP. Kinda like Toxic mist that doesn't completely fuck your opponent up.  Fire Surge is nice when assholes don't stop blocking but I think combustion is better for PVE. Fire tempest actually does enough damage to be worth the huge casting time and low charges, so it has earned a place in my roster, esp. now that I have poise worth talking about... and completely obsoletes Chaos Storm, perhaps making CS the worst spell in the game. Less damage than Fire Tempest (950 or so vs 1150 or so), takes up 2 attunement slots, seems to cast slower, AND you have to blow 30 humanity on the Chaos Servant covenant to get it. In exchange it leaves the lava piles, but those aren't guaranteed damage. Seriously, contending for Poison mist and Chaos Fire Whip (and by extension Fire Whip) for "Why the fuck would I ever use that?"

Except all three of those are way less expensive. Really, though, what I want is more Chaos Fire Ball charges, or more Great Combustion charges. Too bad that's not happening (maybe in NG+?)

Not really seeing the point right now in getting more attunement slots. Instead of pumping Dex I think it is about time I get all my armor to +5. Shit's expensive, so much twinkling titanite needed.

EDIT: Oh, yeah, I got lucky with a dark hand. Hell yeah free humanity points from npcs. Never be ugly again.

[Sierra]

Never be ugly again.

Why I go out of my way to be human all the time. (That Dark Hand drop's a lot less exciting when you're trying to farm titanite chunks, though.)

Yeah pyro's great for 4K. You can never get another hit of Great Chaos Fireball, though (covenant spells are one-per-character, no way to ever obtain a second scroll). Shame because unlike most fireball spells (which are obviously telegraphed and easy to dodge) it has some genuine use in PVP since people always forget about the lava. You can buy a second round of Great Fireball on NG+ at least? Not sure how obvious the game makes it, but any spell with Chaos in the name ramps up in damage with soft humanity just like chaos weapons (maxes at ten; damage bonus may just enhance the lava aftereffects though, can't recall). Most useful pyromancy for PVP in my experience has been Black Flame, found near the end of the DLC. Slightly weaker Great Combustion that deals a ton of stamina damage. So if dudes try to block through your charges they just get staggered and then you can nuke their face while they're stunned.

My PVP loadout was very straightforward: Great Chaos Fireball, Chaos Storm, 2x Black Flame. Usually all I needed was the latter (though Chaos Storm was occasionally nice given the chance to burn through the wind-up while someone obliviously rounded a corner. Best place for it? Midway up the buttress leading to the Anor Londo snipers).

At least you can actually buy twinkling titanite in DS1.

[Fudozukushi]

Even Twinkling Farming in DS1 isn't that bad.

[Cotigo]

DS: Nito down.

The Tomb of the Giants wasn't that bad, actually. I don't have any bloody idea how you'd deal with Skeleton Dogs without Pyromancy or some other one hit KO attack, but hey. Nito was pretty easy. I almost lost because I got surrounded but Fire Tempest saved the day again.

All my equipment is fully upgraydded now so pumping DEX.

And with that, all four of the Lord Soul Keepers were taken down, and it was time for little Sassypants to take on Gwyn and step up to become the new god of the world. But wait, what's this? Dusk has disappeared and in her place is a time portal. I sure hope whatever shenanigans lie beyond that don't make her go crazy, start sinning and kill everyone before fighting the Lord of Cinder. That would be bad, eh? So bad. On the other hand, if it DIDN'T happen I would be missing out on content, so hey.

Oh, yeah, I also have no idea how to deal with the Hellkite Dragon, so that will probably be the last thing I do this playthrough. Y'know after all the sinning and murdering saints and all that.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Finished up Trails in the Sky. It is a great classic JRPG (that came out 3 years ago... or 6, depending on which version?).

[13:55] <LoveBracerDjinn> Andy, you should play Trails in the Sky, I think it's your kind of JRPG. It's plot-heavy and character-focused and kinda feels very much like something -you-, personally, would write. I think you'd enjoy it. Having an extremely well-written female main character is just a bonus.
[13:56] <LoveBracerDjinn> the only disparaging thing I can say about Trails is that it's not wildly inventive on the gameplay front, though certainly not bog-standard generic.
[13:56] <LoveBracerDjinn> it does integrate every single gameplay function with some kind of story explanation too
[13:57] <LoveBracerDjinn> so there's that going for it
[13:57] <LoveBracerDjinn> I guess the other disparaging thing you can say about Trails is that it's -wordy-, by sheer volume of text in the game... but honestly it never feels that way. The dialogue is all very quick and natural.
[14:00] <LoveBracerDjinn> there's a metric shit-ton of available world-building stuff in optional side stuff like quests, library areas, a database, and it's got its own novella you can read in-game, just for flavor. The game really feels like it has a living breathing world and the main characters are just people living in it and not having the world revolve around them. It's pretty brilliant from a pure world-building standpoint.

May also apply to other people who care about JRPG plot, like Gate, Tal, and Jim.

[Grefter]

Only thing I would note that I would suggest waiting for the PC version for a Steam release.  Both for the inevitable price drop, ease of availability and the fact that the sequel is expected to port and transfer data.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Yeah, even without the sequel, it's still a fine game. Obviously, having the sequel would be better, but I feel like I could be satisfied without it just based on the first game's merits.

The weird thing is that the Steam release was already slated to have been released by now... I really wonder what the delay is. I suppose they could be waiting for the sequel's localization to be done first and then release them both together?

[Sierra]

The Tomb of the Giants wasn't that bad, actually. I don't have any bloody idea how you'd deal with Skeleton Dogs without Pyromancy or some other one hit KO attack, but hey. Nito was pretty easy. I almost lost because I got surrounded but Fire Tempest saved the day again.

All my equipment is fully upgraydded now so pumping DEX.

If you can't one-shot them (jumping attack with any decent strength weapon is sufficient if you don't have high-end magic) you just run past them. It's actually surprising how much mundane combat you can skip in DS1 once you know the level layouts well (this works less well in DS2 because in that case goons can still shank you while you're traversing fog doors).

I was going to read through this afternoon but I think now I can only retire for a double dose of pimpin'.

[Luther Lansfeld]

Mario Kart 8 - Finally got three stars on all of the courses on 150 cc. Definitely glad to see that, between MK7 and MK8, that the series has gotten some momentum back after the uninspiring Wii game. MK8 is definitely a slower game than 7, but hmm. Not sure, but it kinda feels like the portable ones might be designed for a more hardcore audience? Just a guess though.

New Super Mario Bros. WiiU - Got through the end of World 4 and then a SMB3-style ship world appeared! Sweet! I like this game. Less overpowered powerups than a lot of the previous games (SM3DL was like this as well) and the stage design is more inspired than NSMB2. Three players is pretty hilarious as always because you are often in each other's way. The silliest moment was when all three of us were standing in a "safe place" and all realized that the place was somewhere we would be smashed as we all died in a row. I played as Luigi and mostly spent my time yelling at Toad and resenting my brother for being better at the game/life than me.

Trails in the Sky - Definitely teetering between just quitting the game and continuing to play it. It's boring and relatively uninspiring in every way, but doesn't really do anything too bad, so I've just been chipping away in my spare bussing time. The game is trying to win me over with Jill and Joshua's crossdressing, though.

Kid Icarus Uprising - I'm really not very good at these kind of games, but I'm giving this one a try. It's decent so far, snappy dialogue and the ground gameplay is pretty fun. I find the shooter portion a little boring though.

Super Mario World 2 - Beat this game. The final boss is kind of odd and not overly enjoyable, but it is GIANT BABY BOWSER so I forgive it.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Trails has good world-building but I wouldn't say it has especially strong plot or characters. So... depending on which one is more important to you will determine your opinion on the game a lot.


FF5 Four Job Fiesta - Beat as BM, WM, two thieves. No resets ultimately but dealing with low thief offence was pretty frustrating certainly. At least they can run away easily and make what resource issues FF5 has go away. WM and BM cover all the necessary bases though so things went pretty smoothly. Level 33.

Child of Light - Started this up, HM. Seems cute so far.

Suikoden Tactics - I'm warming up to this game a bit, the combat is quite fun. Not top-tier SRPG fun by any means, but enjoyable enough. The plot is... well, better than S4 certainly. I like how they explain plot points of S4 that really should have been in the game itself, like anything related to Graham Cray or what the fuck that giant tree was.

[Luther Lansfeld]

I am enjoying Suikoden Tactics voice acting. >.>

[Cotigo]

Cid: Yeah, I can see that. A lot of my time spent refighting Bed of Chaos was running through and ignoring enemies, so I imagine it can work pretty well.  But, like... them souls. How you gonna get them souls? You need to farm rite.

Anyway

DS: DLC beaten. This is DLC done right. By that, I mean I didn't have to pay extra for it, thank you Steam Sale.

It was pretty reminiscent of midgame Dark Souls and that was the best part of the game so it is good. I feel like once you got the lord vessel Dark Souls made a lot of poor design choices, specifically with the distance between the Lord Soul bosses and the nearest Bonfire. Luckily, with the build I chose, it really only mattered for the Bed of Chaos and Seath, but that doesn't make it any better. The shortcuts between bonfires and bosses in the DLC were much, much shorter and therefore better.

It seems like they may have listened to feedback from fans of the game while making the DLC. They certainly were listening to my mental feedback. In addition to the previous example, we have:

1) Less "Massive hard to tell which attack they're doing because the camera literally doesn't fit the whole of the boss onto the screen" bosses, more bosses where you're actually paying attention and trying to figure out what move is being telegraphed.
2) There's a multiplayer arena so actually all the covenants are useless but NOW there is actually a set way to find multiplayer that (HOPEFULLY) other people are using.
3) We need more puppy
4) This time we don't KILL the puppy, we SAVE the puppy
5) Doggiedoggiedoggie

Good DLC. Best friend.

Unfortunately, doggiedoggiedoggie died while fighting Manus, and while Sassypants came out physically alive, she was griefstricken beyond belief. Also there was some dark influence there? Sure whatever. Anyway she's crazy now and is going to go kill all the NPCs who don't directly benefit her, then kill Gwyn and get an ending whatever dark souls plot.

EDIT: Oh, yeah. The last hit on EVERY SINGLE BOSS was Fire Tempest. This is mostly because I had run out of Chaos Fireball and Great Combustion charges and Tempest deals the most damage and I can usually find an opening by that point in the fight. But really, I wonder how much use I'd be getting out of the spell if I just had another 8 Great Combustion charges. I imagine not as much.

I kinda want to replay the game without NG+ but with the same build just to see how annoying Kalameet would be without Gough crippling him. But I will not do that. I will probably do a DEX build if I replay from scratch and don't just buy DS2.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

TWD Episode 2 is on sale right now.  They're up to Chapter 3 so far.  The use of Clementine as a player character has left me playing much more opportunistically than I did as Lee since, you know, ten-year-old girl and all, so you gotta take what you can.

[Fudozukushi]

Nobody uses Battle of Stoicism.

[Sierra]

The real Battle of Stoicism is called Undead Burg.

Zenny: I have never actually seen Sif die against Manus, he literally has like ten thousand hit points. I guess you took your time learning how to dodge? Oh, and fighting Sif after doing the DLC changes the pre-battle cutscene to make you feel like even more of a horrible person than you already are, so I recommend doing that on replay/NG+ (or just Youtubing it since you lock out Darkwraith covenant by doing this). DLC is probably the best part of the game? That or Anor Londo. Kalameet is fucking awful as a pyro though, goooood he just takes forfuckingever to die. His tail's a pretty boss weapon if you can use it at least. Unfortunately From didn't entirely learn that lesson about bosses too big to fit in the camera, there's definitely worse in that regard in DS2 (god Giant Lord is such an idiotic boss design).

Personal favorite DEX weapon if you replay on that mode: Balder Side Sword. That is some excellent reach for a light weapon.

[Cotigo]

Sif did not actually die during the fight. But he also contributed nothing to the fight, so that may as well be like dying, right?

I'm still killing every NPC and you can't stop me.