What games are you playing 2014?

[Sierra]

Distracting Manus is a perfectly valid contribution! (But yeah, Sif damage, so bad.)

[Cotigo]

I'm actually pretty sure that Manus never focused on Sif for the last round that I beat him. Definitely did once or twice on one of the tries beforehand, though, so I guess I should give him more credit.

Regardless, doggiedoggiedoggie.

[Sierra]

Alpha Protocol: No screen has ever held this much face.

I've decided to work through my game backlog alphabetically. Got this for a buck in a Steam sale a while back (cheap + Obsidian? Sure). Game chunks a little on my elderly computer, unfortunately. Playable but precision aiming kind of a problem. So I guess should just main shotguns since I am fucking terrible at stealth in everything ever. (I went Soldier because I assumed assault rifles would trump everything like they always do.) Stopped in the middle of the first real mission because ach I'm really bad at this. Not sure patience will keep up with computer-induced camera jitteriness, we'll see.

[Fenrir]

Grab a pistol or an assault rifle instead (Most people seem to prefer the pistol, I prefer the assault rifle) since shotguns (and SMGs, but especially shotguns) fucking suuuuck.
And melee is just not something you can always rely on.

Stealth becomes totally godly even if you suck at it. You get some crazy Cloak of Invisibility shit later on.
But you need a good weapon for bosses so you can't totally rely on it.


Good luck with Gwyn Zenny. LRN2Parry if you can't beat him properly.

[SnowFire]

Bravely Default: Still slogging through.

The Banner Saga: Finished.  It's a good game.  Vikingon Trail Emblem indeed.  Nice & short, which makes the penalties for perma-screw ups not quite so harsh.  Also the last battles are pleasantly extremely tough, especially under Poor (-2) Morale, which I was totally at for the end.

The battle system is interestingly different...  although I'm not sure I'd want to particularly hope other games adopt it, it was good for a change-up.  Basically the game has strict alternation between sides, unless a team only has 1 member.  So if side A has 5 members and side B has 3 members, the turn order would be something like A1/B1/A2/B2/A3/B3/A4/B1/A5/B2/A1/B3.  See how side B is magically "faster" and B1 can sneak a double-turn in on someone they're facing?  Then combine this turn order with the fact that health = damage basically.  Thus, unlike most SRPGs where you want to focus down one enemy at a time, and ideally lure a single enemy out, Banner Saga turns this on its head.  You want to keep as many enemies alive as possible (it isn't always), but then kneecap their offense by reducing them to their knees.  This makes their turn efficiency worse by giving turns to low-HP and thus low-damage units - who can still be a threat in a number of ways (armor-breaking, summon reinforcements, spells, special abilities, etc.), but it's better than more turns for the high-threat units.  The system also makes units who can't move and do something relevant to an enemy in range horrible dead-weight - so you the player have to be careful not to let characters wander off to nowhere-ville, and simultaneously try and set up the enemies to waste their turns closing with your force.  Turn-denial abilities also become incredibly powerful as a result, as well.  It's weird, but like I said, interestingly different.

I do have one minor complaint, although it may be more a quirk.  Renown functions as both XP (use it to level up your units) and money (you are a respected warrior, so fork over the artifact / food).  Rook's scenario tends to be direly low on food, at least if you're keeping your caravan population high, which is great for making you feel desperate and thus driven to do less-than-honorable things to get any food you can, but also has the perverse side-effect of encouraging you not to level-up your characters for fear you won't be able to buy up all the food at the next village.  Okay, one resource meter for everything is clean & neat, but I'd like to be both desperate for food and still able to level up my units, because stronger units are fun...  (heck, I still ran out of food anyway despite being VERY aggressive about buying it and doing some nasty things on the side.)

Final boss was a badass.  Alas I got the worse ending, and it was all my fault.  Sigh.  Nice job at making me feel like a character in a George R. R. Martin story, game.

Re Djinn's Trails hype: Unlike Elf apparently, I'd be pretty willing to hype the Trails character cast as "strong"!  They're certainly better than yon "average" VG cast to me a la Star Ocean 3, and they have their merits even over games I'd consider strong in the category like your average Suikoden.  I guess if you're all animed out give the cast a skip, but since everyone here loves WAXF's super-anime-trope cast (which is fine!), I don't think that's true.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Grab a pistol or an assault rifle instead (Most people seem to prefer the pistol, I prefer the assault rifle) since shotguns (and SMGs, but especially shotguns) fucking suuuuck.
And melee is just not something you can always rely on.

Stealth becomes totally godly even if you suck at it. You get some crazy Cloak of Invisibility shit later on.
But you need a good weapon for bosses so you can't totally rely on it.


Good luck with Gwyn Zenny. LRN2Parry if you can't beat him properly.

Pistol is really the go-to for killing bosses.  Hit chain shot and drop most of a magazine into the guy's head?  Don't mind if I do.  You don't even need a GOOD pistol, you just need to put enough points to... like the second tier chain shot, which gives you three rounds at a time.  If you wanna get real crazy with it, though, max that shit out because it goes to six.  Master chain shot is just "you walk into a room.  Time freezes.  Everyone inside dies."

But yeah, stealth is really important.  Even if you want to kill everyone, having some stealth skills lets you attack from advantageous positions, split up enemies so you can pick them off, and so on.  It's not exactly Assassin's Creed where any time you get caught you can just kill twelve guys like it's no thing.

[Cotigo]

Dark Souls:

Priscilla and Dark Son Gwyndolin down. I thought I one-shot the former until I realized she just turned invisible. Two shot her, though. The latter managed to snag a kill off of me due to a missed roll and 4 homing soulmasses in a row. Both may have been interesting fights if I did them ASAP but this late they were both really easy.

Dark Anor Londo sucks. Anor Londo was the best looking part of the game BECAUSE it wasn't all fuckin' dreary and dark like a 13 year old's bedroom. I fucking hate that trend in "moody design", and it is prevalent basically everywhere BUT Anor Londo and a handful of other areas (Upper Undead Burg, Undead Parish, The Duke's Archives, and... the first part of the Royal Wood?) but whatever.

Taking out Our Fair Lady probably should have made me feel like a dick, but there have been so many other things I've had to do as a mandatory part of the game that were designed to make me feel that way so whaaaaatever.

[Luther Lansfeld]

My favorite character in Trails is Jill, some girl I met like ten minutes ago. I will remain hopeful that the good character work will come!

P.S. Not sure "everyone" loves XF's cast, particularly its PCs (which seems to be a focus of Trails)? I don't think any of them break even 8/10 to me. <_<

[Meeplelard]

Lightning Returns: The Return of Purple Wanker: Yes We USed Returned Twice Here!

Rosch: Lightning Returns, the story so far! ...wait, why am I here?
Lightning: I am God's Servant, I must do his will!
Hope: I'll watch you on GOD'S SUPER COMPUTER and help you from here!
Snow: SERAH!!!!!!!!
Noel: YEUL!!!!!!!!!
Vanille: FANG!!!!!!!!!
Lumina: ^_^!!!!!!!!!!
Lightning: ...what the hell was all that?
Hope: Uhh...God's Will?

*Lightning travels to the Wildlands*
Lightning: The Wildlands, people left civilization to live out in the open and be farmers and hunters, away from the Fal'Cie.  IOWs, there won't be much in the way of technology out here.  This is where the Chaos first came from too, which doesn't really explain why it's the only area of the world that i s green and filled with wild life still...
Female Voice: Savior, you must find the Angel of Valhalla!
Lightning: wait what? Where'd that come from?
Female Voice: Find the Angel of Valhalla!
Lightning: Hope, what was that?
Hope: What was what? You were having an internal monologue and then suddenly started shouting stuff.
Lightning: So I'm the only one who heard that?
Hope: Heard what?
Lightning: ...look, just tell me, what's the Angel of Valhalla?
Hope: Nothing appears on any records about it here, guess you'll have to find out the old fashioned way...
Lightning; Wait, you don't mean...
Hope: Yes...talking to random NPCs and get info!
Lightning: NO!!!!!!!!!!!

*one NPC later*
Lightning: What can you tell me about the Angel of Valhalla?
NPC: Angel of Valhalla? You don't know of the Angel of Valhalla? WHAT DID YOU GROW UP ON A FARM!?
Lightning: Evidently not, seeing as I don't live here...
NPC: ...touche.  Everyone here knows of the Angel of Valhalla, it's a PURE WHITE CHOCOBO (that technically has a little green on it but whose counting?) that runs around.  Only a few have found it! It is an omen that will portend the end of times, so we know the end is nigh!  That's a good thing because NATURE FINALLY CAN TAKE IT'S COURSE AND KILL US! IMMORTAL HUMANS ARE BAD!
Lightning: That's...more than I wanted to know...
NPC: THE ANGEL WILL BE THE MOUNT OF THE SAVIOR! IT WILL TAKE THE SAVIOR TO THE TEMPLE OF VALHALLA THAT APPEARED WHEN THE CHAOS APPEARED! but that stuff is not going to be relevant to you at all, what's more important is YES! THE WORLD IS FINALLY ENDING!
Lightning: Wait, it's going to be the mount of the savior? Ok, do you know how I can find this thing?
NPC: Well, Doctor Gysahl might know, he's been studying the thing...BUT THE HARBINGER OF DOOM IS AMONG US! PRAISED BE TO YEVON!
Lightning: ...yeah, I'm going to walk to that village now, hope there are no Behemoths in this area that will get in my wa-...
*Giant Behemoth appears as first encounter*
Lightning: ...God, if I'm really your chosen one, why do you hate me?

*At the farm*
Lightning: So Doctor Gysahl...where's the Angel of Valhalla?
Gysahl: It's in the North, that's where people claimed to have seen it!  If only I could see it!
Lightning: You could just...head north yourself, you know.
Gysahl: That's nonsense! I'm a DOCTOR!
Lightning: You're also over 500 years old, and the end of the world is coming shortly, face it, you have nothing to lose at this point.
Gysahl: IF ONLY I COULD SEE THE WHITE BIRD MYSELF!
Hope: Just go north and see if you can find the thing, Lightning.  Maybe you'll run across some ruins or something...

*City Ruins in the North*
Hunter on Chocobo: Well, you look capable lady, but be warned, THERE'S A CHOCOBO EATER FIGHTING THE ANGEL OF VALHALLA UP THERE!
Lightning: A Chocobo Eater? You mean those things exist in this setting?
Hunter: OF COURSE! There are Chocobo Eaters all over Spira!
Lightning: ...but this is Nova Chrysallis...
Hunter: CHOCOBO. EATERS. ALL. OVER. SPIRA!
Lightning: ...Hope, is possible for Chaos to infect people's brains?
Hope: Theoretically...yes...why?
Lightning: Oh, no reason, off to go kill a Chocobo Eater!
Lumina: Not without me interrupting you won't ^_^!
Lightning: ...ok, what is the point of you being here?
Lumina: Because you're going to the temple of Valhalla, duh! And you are going to use that bird to get there, DUH! ^_^!
Lightning: Yes, I know; this was already established; being cryptic is bad enough, but being redundant is far worse!
Lumina: DO YOU KNOW WHY YOU NEED TO GO THOUGH ^_^?
Lightning: ...you're not going to tell me either way, so I'm not going to bother answering that...
Lumina: You're no fun ^_^!

*Lightning comes across a wounded White Chocobo and Chocobo Eater, kills the Chocobo Eater*
Lightning: It's the Angel! It's badly hurt!  It needs medical attention, stat!
Hope: Lightning, who are you talking to?
Lightning: That Hunter guy right behind me who clearly was not there when I was talking.
Hope: Oh ok.

*short bit with Gysahl carrying the Angel of Valhalla back to the farm and giving him Medical Attention*
Lightning: Will he be alright?
Gysahl: Well, we slowed down the bleeding but he's still dying of starvation! He'll only eat FROM HIS CHOSEN OWNER!
Lightning: IOWs, the Savior...which is me by the way...let me feed him!
*Lightning feeds him*
Gysahl: My word, you weren't kidding! Ok, here's what he needs *Hands Lightning a laundry list of things to get*
Lightning: ...this is just a fetch quest to pad out this part of the game so it's not stupid short, isn't it?
Gysahl: Yes, yes it is! NOW GO GET THESE ITEMS!
*one fetch quest later that I'm skipping because no real plot relevant things happen, just a lot of gameplay*
Gysahl: Hey, the Chocobo is strong enough to stand! But it can't Fly yet...
Hope: Well, if you want to be technical, White Chocobos don't fly.  Traditionally, it's only been the black ones that fly, outside of those that live on Planet Gaia where it's the Gold ones that fly.
Lightning: Good, I'll be getting him healed through "Yeul's Flowers" that I was told about at the other village.  By the way, I have decided to name the Angel of Valhalla...BOBBY CORWEN!  But that's too long, so I'll just refer to him as Bob! Come on, Bob, let's go!
Bob: Kweh!
*a few flowers later, Bob loses his bandages and is fully healed, Lightning heads off to temple, we're skipping the interim stuff because it's all filler boring stuff no one cares about*

Lightning: So...Hope...what's suppose to be in there?
Hope: Unseen Chaos, the stuff you failed to stop 500 years ago when you fought CAIUS!
Lightning: Wait, I thought Chaos was everywhere already...
Hope: No, this is UNSEEN Chaos, that's totally different!
Lightning: But Chaos in itself is an abstract element that you don't really see, it just exists, doesn't that make all Chaos unseen?
Hope: IT IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT BECAUSE THE FILES ON GOD'S SUPER COMPUTER SAY SO OK!?
Lightning: Fine, I'll take your word for it...but something feels unsettling about this.  I can't put my finger on it...something evil and familiar approaches...
Lumina: Hi there, glad you made it ^_^!
Lightning: ...well, that explains THAT sense of forboding...
Lumina: So...yeah...Caius...remember him ^_^?
Lightning: How can I forget? HE LITERALLY IS THE ONE BEHIND ALL THIS MESS!
Lumina: It's pretty sad isn't? I mean, all that Chaos and all he could do is blow stuff up with it ^_^?
Lightning: No, it's not sad; the only sad part is that I failed to beat him and I have to live with this guilt.
Lumina: HA! GOT YOU! YOU ADMITTED YOU'RE A FAILURE !
Lightning: ...I loathe you...
Hope: But...you don't have emotions...
Lumina: Well, have fun in the temple, toodles ^_^!  Oh by the way, you can't use your powers in there because of all the Chaos, so you should turn around ^_^!



*in the Temple*
Lightning: So this came from Valhalla and the Chaos brought it here.  So what am I suppose to be looking for here? Chaos that can't be seen?  You know, I probably should have gone over the itinerary a bit better before jumping in here...
Caius: Perhaps I can help you with that.
Lightning: ...and by help, you mean attack me and try to kill me, don't you?
Caius: Nonsense.  I would never kill you directly; I prefer cursing you and watching you fail slowly to pain!
Lightning: ...so...you're basically just being a super villain...
Caius: The Chaos demands it!
*Caius blasts Lightning, she falls through a hole, now has a big black glowing spot on her*
Lightning: Well, this isn't going to be easy...am I suppose to save his soul?
Hope: I...uhh...er...we can at least solve the mystery?
Lightning: Where do I need to go?
Hope: To the top...by the way, you're at the very bottom.
Lightning: Figures...wait, how can I use my powers here? Lumina said the total opposite.
Hope: Oh, well, by "not use your powers" she really meant "you'll gradually lose Health at a very slow rate that won't be notice-able", because Caius cursed you...which only works in this dungeon...who makes these rules anyway?
Lightning: Well, better start getting to the top...
*part way up*
Female Voice: You must save Caius, his soul begs for it!
Lightning: Ok, just show yourself already, I have enough issues with that black dressed bimbo parading around in my sister's likeness.
Yeul: I'm sorry, but it was me who did it.
Lightning: Oh, it's the seeress...wait, what are you doing here?  Aren't you suppose to be dead...several hundred times over...and finally not revived?
Yeul: I am here because I am part of the Chaos.
Lightning: I'm not going to bother questioning that.
Yeul: I am also here to make platforms for you to continue in the dungeon. Please save Caius!
Lightning; Oh, hey, thanks!
*Lightning continues on*
Lightning: Oh, Yeul, you're here as well...how did you get here before me? That doesn't make sense...unless this is more Chaos shenanigans.
Yeul: I am not the Yeul you just talked to.
Lightning: Oh, right, there are many of you and-...wait, didn't we do this EXACT SAME PLOT DEVICE in the previous game, with my sister stuck in that void?
Yeul: You must kill Caius!
Lightning: ...didn't you just tell me to save him?
Yeul: Caius is suffering, only in death can he be freed!
Lightning: ...you're giving me mixed signals here.
*Next Yeul*
Yeul: Save Caius!
Lightning: By killing him, thereby letting him rest in peace?
Yeul: No, you must convince him to let you have his soul so he can be part of the new world!
Lightning: ...seriously, you're not making any sense.
*Next Yeul*
Lightning: ...save or kill?
Yeul: It matters not what I say, because there will always be disagreement between us.
Lightning: Ok, finally we're getting somewhere!  Can you maybe explain what's going on?
Yeul: Half of us want Caius to be saved, but the other half want him to be killed; we're constantly tugging at both sides.
Lightning: Ok, so do you like or hate him?
Yeul: All of us wish the best for Caius, and want to be by his side.  At the same time, we want him be able to move on with his pain.
Lightning: I guess that makes sense, but how are you part of the Chaos exactly?
Yeul: I am the Unseen Chaos.
Lightning: Wait WHAT!?
Yeul: As each of my lives die, my soul goes into the Chaos, and the grief helps it grow.  Every life I lose feeds the Chaos and makes it stronger...
Lightning: So what you're saying is you're a manipulative bitch who basically made Caius destroy the world because you're a whiny little brat who just wants to be in the arms of a big strong man?  Because seriously, that's what I'm hearing...
Yeul: ...you do not know my pain...
Lightning: Look, just create platforms so I can deal with Caius, alright?

*At the top*
Caius: So you've managed to reach here, Savior.  You truly are God's servant.
Lightning: Caius, I've come to save you! Why, I don't know; you did destroy the world...except that now I learned it's really Yeul's fault...but you still did kind of push the proverbally BIG RED THREATENING "HISTORY ERASER" BUTTON, so you're at least 37% to blame for that!
Hope: ...your math makes no sense whatsoever.
Lightning: SHUT UP HOPE!
Caius: I cannot be saved.  I am cursed to forever wander with the souls of those lost in the Chaos who will not be reborn.  That is my punishment for my crimes.
Lightning: ...the sympathy angle doesn't really work when you did that knowingly and enjoyed what you did, you know...
Caius: THE YEULS DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY WANT OF ME! SOME WANT ME DEAD TO BE WITH THEM FOREVER! OTHERS WANT ME SAVED SO I CAN MOVE ON! Tell me Savior, what decision can you make?
Lightning: I'll save your soul AND Yeul's!
Caius: ...that's stupid, you can't save a soul that's part of chaos!
Lightning: Yes I can because...uh...you're stupid!
Caius: ...can we end this charrade and just get to finishing that duel we started in the previous game?
Lightning: Ok.
*one Duel later*
Caius: It seems you're serious savior...but alas, I cannot accept being saved.  It is as I said; I must be there to guide the souls lost in Chaos.  That is my punishment.
Lightning: Well, if you do not want to be saved, then there's nothing I can do.  Good bye Caius and Yeul!
*Lightning leaves, somehow gets big stat bonuses from saving a soul she didn't actually save*
Lightning: Well, that seemed like a waste of time...seriously, what did I accomplish?
Hope: We did learn that Caius is still alive...except I'm not sure how that helps us...
Yeul: Thank you for helping us, Lightning.
Lightning: ...you were the Yeul who called me, weren't you?
Yeul: Yes, I saw this moment, and wanted you to come here.  The Angel of Valhalla wanted you to come here too!
Lightning: Yeah, that Angel isn't really a Chocobo is it?
*Odin appears near the White Chocobo*
Lightning: ...that was one hell of a disguise, good to be back with you old friend.  And judging how you're acting, I'm assuming you're the Yeul who was with Noel, which is to say, the only Yeul that can be something resembling a decent human being?
Yeul: That's...one way to put it, yes.  I am the last of the Yeuls.

Hope: So...Lightning...we still have half a day left to do stuff...go do God's work!
Lightning: Ok, time to look for that Moogle Village everyone is talking about!
*Lightning finds it at night*
Lightning: Hi Moogles, what's up?
Moogles AH! MONSTERS ARE ATTACKING! KUPO!
Lightning: Well, that's certainly an inconvenience...
*Lightning kills the Dryads*
Lightning: There, anyway, as I was saying, HI MOOGLES!
Moogle Chief: You saved us, Kupo!
Lightning: YOu seem...familiar...
Moogle Chief: we've never met, Kupo!
Lightning: ...hi Mog...
Mog: Kupo! Who are yo talking about!? ...was it really that obvious, Kupo?
Lightning: You think I'd ever forget a friend like you?
Mog: No, Kupo! Leave!
Lightning: Why?
Mog: I failed to protect Serah, Kupo! I don't deserve to look at you, Kupo!
Lightning: Mog, you did your best, it's not your fault; Serah's not dead anyway, we'll see her again someday!
Mog: We will? OH LIGHTNING! THAT MAKES ME SO HAPPY KUPO!
*Mog flies towards Lightning's chest, gets punched in the face...yes, this really happens*
Mog: Ow, Kupo! Same old Lightning, Kupo!
Lightning: Same old Mog too!  Anyway, time to explore the one area of the Wild Lands I didn't explore...THE NORTH SIDE!

*in the North section, she comes across an Airship Wreck*
Hope: Lightning, there's apparently a crazy old man in there, be careful, I wonder who it could b-...
Lightning: It's going to be Sazh.
Hope: Wait, how do you know that?
Lightning: Face it, we've met everyone else thus far outside of him and Fang, and Fang isn't a man.
Hope: That's some flawed logic.
Lightning: Bet you 500 Gil I'm right.
Hope: You're on.
*Lightning walks in, Sazh is sitting there*
Hope: ...well, guess I'm down 500 Gil, hope God pays well.
Lightning: Hi Sazh.
Sazh: Go away, got nothing to say.
Lightning: Oh come on, can't I help?
Sazh: DAJH HAS BEEN ASLEEP FOR 500 YEARS! ONLY THIS BOX CAN SAVE HIM! LUMINA SAID SO!
Lightning: Uh, yeah, I think I can help more than she can, what's wrong with him?
Sazh: His soul is shattered across the world!
Hope: So...yeah, it's going to take a long time to fix this, Lightning.
Lightning: Look, I promise I'll get Dajh's Soul back, ok?
Sazh: I hope you can do it.

*6 Am occurs, Lightning goes back to the Ark, sees Serah*
Lightning: Serah, I'll save you, I promise!
Serah: I know you will, even though you don't show it; that's so like you to not show your emotions! You've been that way since we were kids.
Lightning: You know me too well!

*Totally NOT SACRED PHASE TIME!*
Hope: It has been a long time, Lightning.  Our current situation is as follows!
*Yggdrasil grows a leaf, +2 Days til end of the world*
Hope: Our Current situation is...Yggdrasil is routing the Chaos! If all goes well, we will be ready for God's awakening!
Hope: Would you like to learn the status of our previous characters?
*Lightning selects Mog*
Hope: Would you like to know his status?
*Lightning and Hope discuss Mog.  Repeat this for Caius too*
Hope: Lightning, about your performance...IT IS MAGNIFICENT!
Hope: This is all the Eradia Points I can grant you at this time!
Hope: The Lord Bhunivelze is pleased, he begs me give you these artifacts!
*Lightning gets items*
Hope: Lightning, I have a request for you: Finish finding our friends so Yggdrasil can blume! May Fate Guide your hand!


NOTE: I've already done most of Sazh's quest in my playthrough, but holding off on that stuff til later in the Abridged series.  This is going on too long.

[SnowFire]

Ciato: Actually I'm not a fan of WAXF's PC cast, but whenever I brought it up before I seem to recall getting shouted down by Elf / Jo'ou / others.  (the XF villain cast, sure, there's some quality there.)  For Trails, I saw your earlier posts, we'll just have to agree to disagree.

[Dark Holy Elf]

For what it's worth I (=the biggest XF fan here) wouldn't regard XF's PC cast as super-strong and a reason to play the game; they're okay certainly. Trails is a surprisingly good analog (female main character, her stoic blue-haired "brother", older woman who functions as a bit of a mentor, comic relief secondary male PC, obnoxious "tough guy", and a noble-hearted princess!), with XF pulling ahead a bit for me because Clarissa is notably better than Estelle as far as I'm concerned (the situation she's put in of having to play a fake princess act I find more intriguing than Estelle's struggle with living up to the name of her obnoxiously perfect father). Trails gets some points for Agate talking less than Ragnar, though!

[I'd actually be inclined to put SO3 above either because there is some really interesting stuff involving Fayt/Cliff/Nel but eh maybe not because (a) this dies off on disc 2 and (b) the rest of the cast tops out at "kinda decent". Then again I don't think either of the other casts are anything to write home about by the time we're talking about their #4 PCs either...]


FF5 Four Job Fiesta - I may have a problem. Doing a standard one this time, so far have WM/RM/Geomancer. The latter two are a first-time for me on fiesta so yay to that, hopefully I will get something besides Dragoon from the earth crystal! This playthrough I have decided to only fight randoms I think I can one-round. This means I ran a lot with four white mages (only fought undead) but red mage has since made things more reasonable. This makes me a bit underlevelled but not grotesquely which suits me fine. Levels so far were 3 Wingraptor/Karlabos, 5 Siren, 6 Magisa/Garula, 11 Liquid Flame, currently 13.

[DjinnAndTonic]

I think Trails strength comes from it's characters and world taking into account things that normal JRPG convention just ignores. Like coming up with a plan that isn't brainless, or actually having objections to child soldiers. Characters actually talk to each other and don't go around hiding things for the sake of drama and the overall plot beats don't feel forced.

Tl;dr: Just a general lack of Idiot Ball makes the game better than 90% of the competition. And the quality is in the little details that make a lot of the "usual dumb cliches" into logical decisions.

[Clear Tranquil]

I'm almost kind of sad Meeple isn't abridging some of the NPC quests since I found some of them entertaining enough and Meeple would make them entertaining to read about (maybe just try to do a recap of getting each of Dajh's soul fragments at least?)~

About Yeul, yeah there was a lot of theory floating around back in the day about "Chaos/Black Haze Yeul" and whether or not Yeul would actually be evil or something, guess some people kind of called it, really she's just a selfish child, well at least half of the Yeuls.

Murdered Soul Soul Suspect- I already beat this and got the platinum for it. Story/characters/town and it's history were interesting enough. Gameplay could have maybe done without the demons. Cats were awesme though. Also totally cliche ending, was hoping they weren't going to go that route. Not sure it was worth the full retail price.

[Cotigo]

DS: Fenrir, you're kind of an ass. You made me a little nervous about going in to face Gwyn thinking that my pyromancy would be worthless, and he died in 5 hits.   Admittedly, killing all those NPCs (and sucking their humanity dry beforehand!) brought me up to 8 Soft Humanity and so my chaos stuff was still working great.

Oh yeah, took out the hellkite dragon, too. Since I'm at 30 DEX now my archery is actually p. good and it was easier than I thought. I don't know how you would do that fight melee but whatever. Went and upgraded my Uchigatana to Chaos 5 and it is an acceptable substitute for my Lightning Gargoyle Halberd. Probably better for PVP, but worse for PVE. Having a good bow will also help with some tricky situations for NG+ I think.

So Sassypants destroyed everybody then destroyed everything but there is a time loop or something blah blah blah I'm gonna go kill more bosses.

Thoughts on the first runthrough of the game:

Easiest Level: Undead Asylum lol. Really though, there aren't really any EASY levels in this game, but Painted World of Aramais comes really close. Nothing there was really ever a threat, even the dragon. Sure, I did it at the end of the game, but not *that* much changed between the time I could first access it and the time that I did, at least not in terms of damage I could deal. For non-optional levels, it's harder to say, but maybe the Duke's Archives. Once you know how to get to the end and open up the shortcut it is easier than just about any other level.

Hardest level: Catacombs, hands down.  Being swarmed by enemies is by far the biggest threat in the game, to the point that even facing two enemies at a time instead of one can be the difference between life and death. The Catacombs is a level where enemies don't die unless you have a divine weapon or kill a room's necromancer, which is easier said than done.

Most fun level: Either Undead Burg or Anor Londo. Undead Burg is such a solid first level, that is really good at teaching you a lot of the skills you'll need for the rest of the game while not being a cakewalk either. It also had the most fun shortcuts, perhaps because they were the first I had access to. Anor Londo, on the other hand, despite not liking the platforming in this game AND THAT ONE FUCKING SECTION HOLY FUCK FUCK YOU, the rest of the level was really well designed and it was nice to look at. After actually entering the cathedral, you're presented with a labyrinthine mansion to explore and everything about it was a lot of fun.

Easiest Boss: Iron Giant. No boss was really hard after I got my Pyro fist to Ascended +5, but I faced the giant BEFORE I got overpowered and he still sucked. He didn't even hit me once.

Hardest boss: Capra demon. Dark Souls throws the hardest boss at you 3 hours in the game. This asshole caused me the most resets every single time I restarted. The boss isn't even very hard by himself, but you're in a closed space that you can't really dodge well in, you don't really have good armor yet, your endurance gauge isn't maxed out so you can't block indefinitely, AND you're swarmed by the dogs and the boss at the same time. It's actually a well designed encounter, but fucking hell it was so hard. Admittedly, it also comes before you can access your pyromancy merchant, so I have to wonder if he gives any other class as much trouble as Pyromancer. You can access sorceries immediately before the boss, and you've had access to miracles from the start. I can see Dex-heavy melee characters having fits, too, though.

Most fun boss: Knight Artorias. Dark Souls is at it's best when it gives you an enemy you will crumble before until you learn its moveset, and then you can perfect once you know what move is being telegraphed and how to deal with it. I wish more bosses followed this formula, but alas.

Most wasted potential: Bed of Chaos. Bed of Chaos was the most *interesting* fight, because it wasn't just "wittle down his HP before he wittles down yours", but it was greatly hindered by the size of the boss. There's just too much going on at once that you're expected to watch for but can't because the camera won't fuckin' zoom out enough. It doesn't help that BoC, like all Lord Soul bosses, is 5 minutes away from the nearest bonfire, so it's not like you can just jump back into the fray immediately like you could... well, basically every other boss EXCEPT the last 5. That was really the worst design choice DS made, and thankfully the DLC didn't have that problem (they were far away, sure, but you could easily get there in 1-2 minutes if you opened the shortcuts and knew what you were doing).

Anyway, NG+ and "Resist buying DS2 at full price" time.

[Meeplelard]

I'm almost kind of sad Meeple isn't abridging some of the NPC quests since I found some of them entertaining enough and Meeple would make them entertaining to read about (maybe just try to do a recap of getting each of Dajh's soul fragments at least?)~

About Yeul, yeah there was a lot of theory floating around back in the day about "Chaos/Black Haze Yeul" and whether or not Yeul would actually be evil or something, guess some people kind of called it, really she's just a selfish child, well at least half of the Yeuls.

I'll be doing the Dajh things, don't worry.  I held off on doing them now because it was getting too long, considering I covered the entire Caius arc, beginning of Sazh stuff AND Mog.  I covered the beginning of Sazh because the nature of the quest comes off as "do it concurrently with other quests" even though I've sort of gotten 4 of the 5 things just by casually running around areas <_<;

As far as the NPC things, there's too much to do, I had to trim fat.  Maybe dedicate an episode to where I have her spend an entire day doing nothing but that because that's something that happens in this game.


In regards to Yeul, that's typical for fan theories.  It was noted by TV Producers that they don't have an entire season or series planned from the beginning, so some fans will guess plot twists about characters way in advance, even before the developers came up with the idea.  Like if two odd ball characters are going to hook up at the end of the season, that idea may have been thought of mid-season by the developers, but Fans would speculate it from episode 3.  I feel the Yeul case is similar, as nothing in the Lightning Saga actually feels appropriately planned, just kind of winging it.


But glad at least one person is reading and enjoying these in any event

[Sierra]

No expression of mind-numbing terror for the Ariamis basement, Zenny? (I didn't die there either my first time through the game but ohmygodohmygodohmygod.)

Magic Shield is a godsend for Capra if you can use it. It's basically limitless stamina for blocking early on. (Dodging is still better.)

Most of NG+ should be a total breeze. Even with amped up boss HP, nothing in the first half of the game will be scaled for the kind of fire damage you can put out by now (except Quelaag* because lol fire immunity). Centipede Demon even more of a clusterfuck, though! I ultimately skipped him on pyro NG+, legit couldn't beat him with just my crappy lightning claw.

(*Might want to give Quelaag's Furysword a shot whenever you get back to Anor Londo. The rare elemental weapon that actually scales with DEX, counts as a chaos weapon so scales with soft humanity too, damage weighted much more towards fire than physical damage. Most boss weapons are frankly pretty useless, but this one's outstanding and thematically appropriate. It's also totally fucking metal you guys, best-looking weapon in the game.)

[Meeplelard]

Oh derp, thanks to Toriyama's Unfathomable obsession with Lightning, I forgot I am playing 2 other games!

Mega Man 5: 6 Stardroids down, 2 to go.  I'll refrain from commenting until the game is finished, though don't have too much to say because...well...only so much you can say about Mega Man!

Kirby and the Amazing Mirror: 4 Shards down.  Starting to get a hang of the map and what each thing means.   Most notably, I've discovered that every area you enter, they do show you WHERE the map is, just a case of finding the path to it.  Amusingly enough, in trying to get to the Map of Area 5, I stumbled upon the boss instead, so no complaints!

I also looked up the reward for 100%ing the game; just a Boss Rush mode and a "Hey, you 100%ed the game!" indicator at the end.  Makes me feel better because 100%ing a game like this (eg Metroidvania) can be a real chore, more so than most because a lot of areas can only be accessed with certain powers, and this game runs off Kirby's Adventure "take one hit, lose power" rules, and it's hard to avoid damage, so it's nice they didn't hide the FRUE FINAL BOSS!!! behind a completionist wall some Kirby games do (mind you, some Kirby games like RtDL and K64 did it half decently, so not so bad there; this is more me raging at Dreamland 3 <_<)

[Cotigo]

No expression of mind-numbing terror for the Ariamis basement, Zenny? (I didn't die there either my first time through the game but ohmygodohmygodohmygod.)

You mean the Phalanxes? Yeah I had a moment where I went "Goddamn that's a lot of enemies" and burned through my Chaos Fireball charges, but afterwards I realized that they were slow, and like everything else if you kept moving they wouldn't hit you, so you could just circle around and it was actually a pretty good farming spot.

Will checkout the Furysword.  There's an achievement for getting all those weapons, and now that consuming souls no longer really gets me to where I wanna be for the next level up, meh to that, I want achievements. I don't care if nobody will see them because GFWL is shutting down next month.

Speaking of:

Going through NG+ in a really weird order. Quelaag, Puppypuppydoggie, Gargoyles, and Iron Giant. Quit for the night. Quelaag was the hardest of them for obvious reasons (This time around she completely negates fire instead of just resists it. Yaaaaaaay!). Going through in this order feels like I'm doing something really naughty even though it's probably what you're supposed to do on a replay, and that is cool. Gonna get the Lord Vessel before fighting the Four Kings... I need the warp points too much, and I was already in town.

Have been using the Gold Tracer, it's kind of nice. Overall my Lightning Gargoyle Halberd and Chaos Uchi are still flat out better (kinda goes without saying both are upgraded fully but the Tracer isn't, plus my DEX is only at 33 now), but it's a nice change of pace and it eats through enemy's guards quickly enough. Youtubed the alternate Syf intro. Good job on that for making me feel like more of a dick than when I was murdering every NPC.

[Crystalgate]

FTL: Beat the game both with Engi Cruiser B and Federation Whatever A. It was on easy though, but the perma-death makes me hesitate to play a harder difficulty.

The Engi ship relied on massive firepower to destroy the flagship. I had 13 potential hits I could unleash at once, two defense drones to stop the triple rocket launcher and mind control to defend myself during form 3. I had no effective defense against the power surges, but the flagship was destroyed before my ship was.

The Federation ship relied on hacking to disable enemy shield so I could gradually punch out the threats one after another. I had enough energy to power both fully upgraded engines and shields, so nothing besides the rockets did pose a credible threat. That is, unless the enemy mind controls the pilot or the engineer. It didn't happen too often though. The artillery was a cool idea, but in practice, it occupies a slot that I could have used for say mind control.

I now got the Zoltan ship and Zoltans are great since they allow you to have more power during the final battle. I may try normal difficulty now.

[Fenrir]

Hey Fenrir: 2GUD4U

Now do a Broken Sword only SL1 NG+ game, the true Dark Souls starts there, you haven't REALLY played the REAL game before that


Anyway Cid was probably talking about the skeleton wheelies, you might have skipped them. Most dangerous place in the game for me for sure.

Cid: I prefer Great Club w/ Charcoal Resin

[Cotigo]

Hey Fenrir: 2GUD4U

Now do a Broken Sword only SL1 NG+ game, the true Dark Souls starts there, you haven't REALLY played the REAL game before that


Anyway Cid was probably talking about the skeleton wheelies, you might have skipped them. Most dangerous place in the game for me for sure.

Cid: I prefer Great Club w/ Charcoal Resin

Oh, THAT PLACE. Fuck that place. I had FAQed by that point and was forewarned about them, but if I hadn't I probably would have taken a few deaths there. I don't think that takes away that I think the level is the easiest in the game, but it definitely bumps up the difficulty of the area.

Also lol u first.

[Fenrir]

Painted World can be pretty tough when done right away! Poison zombies can overwhelm, crows can OHKO, skeleton wheelies are bastards.
Ash Lake, Undead Asylum, Undead Burg/ Parish, Depths, post patch Lost Izalith, Darkroot Garden, Duke's, Chasm of the Abyss are all way easier I'd say.

[Luther Lansfeld]

Xenoblade Chronicles - Three party members! Cool, I guess. Shulk has made me smile a few times already.

[jsh357]

Yeah, Painted World is really rough early on, especially without magic.  You have to worry about a ridiculous density of enemies that hit fairly hard, Toxic, Bone Wheels and those freaking crows.  I generally skip the place entirely unless I want some item in there.

The easiest area for me (aside from ones without bosses) is New Londo Ruins.  The ghosts don't hit too hard, Darkwraiths are jokes if you know how to backstab, and you can skip most of the area on the way to Four Kings.

[superaielman]

FF5: Doing the Fiesta challenge. Got a Knight/RM/Ninja/Dancer squad. In early world 2, trying to figure out/remember where to go. Decided to replay it for the hell of it and see if my opinion of the game has improved. Had several resets. Two in the library from ID, a couple from random bosses, and some from Titan/the bombs at the end of W1.