What Games are you playing 2015?

[Grefter]

FONV: I built a 10 Luck courier for the sole purpose of knocking out the gambling trophies. I thought getting banned from the casinos might actually take a while, but it turns out that you almost literally cannot lose at blackjack. Pity I only have 3 Endurance so there's really nothing to spend all this money on. (And the super expensive weapons are all irrelevant because with 3 Strength even Weapon Handling won't get me access to a lot of them.)

Yeah, it's hilarious isn't it?  Even after a level 1 run to the Clinic you can instantly never worry about money again.

The build isn't min/maxed enough to capitalise kind of the problem there.  You only really need 8 to win consistently at  the Casinos and you can pick up Lucky Pajamas for +1 luck, so you can scrimp a point or two of Luck to put into Endurance/Str.  Odds are you overinvested in Agi or Perception as well, outside of the Perk requirements they are not nearly as god stat as they were in Fallout 1/2/Tactics.  Perks are frequent enough and spiky in quality enough that it is worth thinking about picking up Training perk as well.

The only thing that surprises me is that you didn't already have those trophies.  All my dudez have always been decent Luck even before knowing the Casino thingo.

[Sierra]

I'm not sure I've ever even had Luck higher than like 4 prior to this. I've always made it the dump stat. And yeah, pretty close: 8 Perception/Intelligence, 7 Agility (was 6 before Small Frame). Implants went to Luck (started at 9), more Int for more skill points, more Agi for more action points (I have shitty aim okay). If weapon selection actually looks like it'll matter there's always stat upgrades from Old World Blues I think? In the meantime there's lots of energy weapons with low requirements and that was what I planned on maining so whatevs. And I never take Intensive Training. It feels lame when there are so many genuinely cool perks to grab instead (better stats or lesbian dialogue choices gee I dunno you guys). If nothing else I'm primed to get all those crits.

That said, I don't actually know how much of this run I'll complete. I love the game and all but I might be over actually playing it? We'll see. I still have the caravan trophies left and I have no idea how that game works. Otherwise there's just pickpocketing (easier to grab on a file with maxed stealth) and Gun Runner challenges.

[Fudozukushi]

Caravan is just the most absolute nonsense.

[Grefter]

Caravan is garbage and the reason I never wanted to 100% it.

If you are going Crits you want to get yourself some classy clothes and a good hat, because you are locked into a build that goes for Laser Commander and uses the Tommy Gun laser thing.

Not because it is good but because aesthetics are a moral imperative.

[SnowFire]

You know, I've gone a long time with 0 closely detailed lesbian high school seductions in my games, and then 2015 rolls around and I get two in a row.  WTF.

Gone Home: See El Cid.  This is not really a *game* but it's a solid experience.  I had trouble with the same safe, by the way, but Oscar's plot and the Internet's guess as to what was going on there is...  interesting.  Also Sam's taste in music is awful.  Ugh, punk bands.  I kept inserting cassette tapes in hopes of, you know, an eerie coded message, but it was all just awful music.

Corpse Party Book of Shadows: Hey, this game also has high school lesbians and a creepy large setting with rain outside...  definitely the Japan fanservicey version thereof, though.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

I've played FONV for over 200 hours and I've only played one non-accidental game of Caravan.

There's only one upgrade from OWB that increases your SPECIAL stats, though, and that's the spine mod.  You can either get +2 STR and +2 DT, or +1s and a torso that can no longer be crippled.  I always go for the +2.  Base 3 + 2 for OWB perk + 1 for T-51b armor (or 2 if you want to lose 2 AGI in the process) = 6, so you can use anything with a requirement of less than 8, which is literally every gun in the game but the Minigun and its unique variant.

[Sierra]

I don't like punk either, but that didn't really matter. The music wasn't there for me.

Caravan is garbage and the reason I never wanted to 100% it.

If you are going Crits you want to get yourself some classy clothes and a good hat, because you are locked into a build that goes for Laser Commander and uses the Tommy Gun laser thing.

Not because it is good but because aesthetics are a moral imperative.

I forgot to mention that dedicated gambling gets you a swank hat and dress that I've never seen before. Totally worth the time and I would rock this wardrobe anytime survival doesn't dictate otherwise. That said, once I've got Boone's beret I never, ever take it off again.

J.U.L.I.A.: Also forgot to mention I finished this. Called it but still neat: the rogue A.I. killed the crew because its mission prerogative was peacefully contacting sentient aliens and it became obvious that this couldn't happen with actual humans representing it. When confronted about this, it defends its actions as the most moral choice available, which is neat because murderous A.I.'s are a dime a dozen but ones attempting to operate on an ethical basis (however warped) are not. Game kind of wore out its welcome before it was complete because I've never been a fan of point-and-click adventure interface (even though I grew up with that kinda thing). Still, it did some neat stuff.

[Fudozukushi]

The Spine Upgrade is a bonus like equipment, so it won't count for Perk minimums despite essentially being permanent.  Learned that the hard way myself...

[Ranmilia]

Re: Gone Home

People expecting it to be a first person horror game who were blindsided by the "SJW agenda" or whatever did not take well to it at all.

I expected it to be a horror game, was blindsided by the actual content, and still liked it!  The better horror games are well over 50% walking simulator anyway, so I suspect these reactions have more to do with general homophobia, unfortunately.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

The Spine Upgrade is a bonus like equipment, so it won't count for Perk minimums despite essentially being permanent.  Learned that the hard way myself...

Perk requirements no, but weapon requirements yes.

[Grefter]

SUikoden 4 - Finished.  Game is just a pile of mediocrity and trying to make a more generic JRPG (lol even convert Jizo Clocks into Phoenix Downs, I had forgot they went that far).

That said it was still not a terrible thing to do to remind myself that it isn't that it is the worst game in the world and just that it is a terrible sequel and massively bland.  Has one of the best villains of the series though because Graham Cray is literally OK.

Response to every single scenario in the game is   about to kill someone   About to commit treason nearly get crushed by a giant falling pillar   trolling former mentor with the fact that will take secrets to the grave   going crazy and talking about wanting to get the Rune of Punishment back and hear sweet sweet memories

I assume when he was cutting his own arm off to ditch the rune in the first place all he did was

[The Duck]

Re: Gone Home

People expecting it to be a first person horror game who were blindsided by the "SJW agenda" or whatever did not take well to it at all.

I expected it to be a horror game, was blindsided by the actual content, and still liked it!  The better horror games are well over 50% walking simulator anyway, so I suspect these reactions have more to do with general homophobia, unfortunately.

Well, I think the subversion of the expectation you have coming into the game will provoke a strong emotional reaction by the end which could be positive or very negative. For me it was a relief and a pleasant surprise but for a lot of people, it just wasn't the story they wanted to see. Whether that stems from homophobia is up to the individual but I think this is a game that by its nature will garner polarizing reactions.

Also, I'm not into riot girl punk either but Sam is a disaffected teenager. So first off, teenagers have godawful taste in everything (I cringe at some things I used to like) but more importantly, the choice of punk works because she feels like an outcast and going to shows and being into punk is a way for people in her position to feel meet  people who are similar and for them to feel like they're a part of something, gaining a sense of belonging and community. I wasn't into punk myself but I had friends who were, and it is that very sense of having a sense of place for the first time in their lives that drew them to punk. The music may suck and Samantha may outgrow it as soon as the next year, but that's not the point. It has a very particular meaning to her at that moment in her life and that is what is significant here.

[The Duck]

So Grefbro did you play S4 for any reason like a Suikoden Tactics save or do you just hate yourself.

[Magetastica]

Fire Emblem Awakening - Decided to start a least-used playthrough, so I'm running a +LCK/-HP Robin, and trying desperately to use Virion, Vaike, and Miriel, since they're the ones I always dropped the quickest. Stahl and Kellam are also in the running, since they get dropped pretty fast too. It was going well, until Chapter 5, when the enemies start swarming and getting serious, and the lack of Frederick (whom I always use here) as well as decent levels for my PCs, means I'm suffering real bad here. Miriel and Vaike have both gotten two HP-only levels so far, and I'm cringing. The endgame may actually prove quite difficult at this rate, as opposed to laughable.

Oh, and I'm refusing to recruit Donnel this time around, since he is my #1 most used PC by far.

Dragon Age: Origins - Started this up so I can replay through it and get around to DA:I since I've heard too many good things about it to be able to pass it up. Should hopefully finish DA:O and DA2 by Feb 5, so I can have a little birthday present to myself of DA:I~

Playing a female city elf warrior who wields 2-handed weapons, who's main priority is eliminating racism and creating an equal society... but if someone badmouths her, her race, or her friends, she will cut the bitch up. So far I'm just lolligaging in Lothering while I pick up PCs and figure out what I want to do for my party.

Smash 4 - Playing this with friends online and off, and training up against amiibo. Not much else to say, besides I'm starting to main Robin now because Robin is best <3

Pokemon AS - In Delta episode, but taking some time to train up some new pokemon instead of rolling through with my team from the maingame. Also because I figured out you can get Zorua from route 101, and that is in my top 5 list of most adorable pokemon.

[Fenrir]

Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles:
Now available on the Vita. Pretty cool. I love 2.5D!

This was surprisingly really easy for an old school Vania, I used my first credit against Dread Pirate Death which is pretty close to the end. The only dificult part is the boss rush, but all four bosses are pretty easy honestly. I still haven't gotten halfway through Bloodlines or 3, in comparison. Richter just has a pretty damn huge life bar. I think even 4 is harder, though I'd have to try it again.
I got the worst possible ending, everyone dies and Dracula escapes with Shaft. Wooo

Since Soulsphony of the Night can be unlocked in this, I want to try a Celsius only playthrough of it. Then finish the game with Maria. Maria was totally overpowered in Portrait of Ruin and seemilngly the worst character in Harmony of Despair, I wonder how she'll fare in Rondo / Symphony.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Maria's pretty OP in Rondo, I thought. That double-jump.

Yeah, I didn't think the game was too hard, although I don't have much of a frame of reference; it was the second Castlevania I had played for more than like half an hour (and the first was SotN, so lol). I really should go back and try one of the older games at some point. 4's generally considered the best?

[Sierra]

PSP SotN Maria isn't HoD-level nerfed, but she isn't particularly good either. She's very mobile (moving faster than Alucard is always a relief), which I appreciate, but then so is Richter.  Some of her item crashes are decent, but generally her offense I think is markedly worse than the guys. It's almost like SotN got a challenge mode, really.

I like using her anyway just for infinite air-dashing and bird-tossin'.

[Grefter]

Series replay has been ongoing thing for a few months.  Slow, but I am getting there.  I had a save for I could use for Tactics already.

[SnowFire]

+SKL / - SPD Robin the most hardcore option, I think.  +SKL / - DEF wouldn't be far off.  HP is pretty harmless to drop, especially if you're interested in doing the aftergame, as HP caps the fastest of all stats.

It's certainly interesting to imagine if Gone Home had actually gone for horror straight-up.  The note about "you can use my room since I won't be needing it anymore" definitely had me wondering if I'd find Sam hanging herself in the attic, rather than merely being a drama queen.  Of course it's possible it would have ended up as Tragic FanFiction With a Serious Message had it gone that route, so I'm happy it merely had some trappings thereof.

Dracula X Chronicles is indeed pretty awesome.  I found Richter mode reasonably difficult but I guess I'm not Fenrir Dark Souls trained.  The hypable thing for Richter is mostly that the cross/boomerang is kinda nuts and can get stuck in bosses for multiple hits still.  Maria gives you better mobility and hax birds so yeah she's better, definitely best to play Richter mode first so you aren't spoiled by double jump bailing you out of trouble.

Elf: Super Castlevania 4 is probably my least favorite Castlevania, but what do I know.  I played it emulated and generally found the play control total crap, which was very frustrating - lots of dropped input and the like, which didn't come up with emulated SNES Dracula X (slightly different than Rondo of Blood / DXC - most notably in that Dracula is insanely hard in this version).  The Sega Genesis CV Bloodlines might be my recommendation for an old CV game to try, actually.  NES Castlevania III is also good if you're okay with the hardcore old style - no screwing with your jump in mid-flight, enemies do tons of damage on hit and knock you into a pit, etc.  (You can also be impressed at how far Alucard came in SotN, since he is pretty bad in C3!)  Disclaimer: I played C3 on an actual Nintendo w/ NES controller and circa 2003 emulators had real trouble with C3, hopefully that has changed since.  EDIT: There's also Castlevania Chronicles, conveniently available over PSN as a download.  It's a remake of Castlevania I with updated music, stages, options, etc. and is in general pretty fun, and has an epic werewolf boss fight.

[Fenrir]

I think the game just gets easy once you get used to having to commit to your jumps, but this can take a long while. Compared to other Castlevanias there aren't too many bottomless pits. (or at least dangerous bottomless pits)
By the way Richter kind of has of a double jump! He can backflip in the air! I realized that after finishing the game!
The cross was really good but honestly I think I like the axe even more.


Castlevania 1 still holds up really well, it's one of the true NES classics. 2 doesn't. 3 I feel is a little overhyped, as in they just added more stuff to Castlevania 1 and not necessarily in a great way.
I really like Castlevania 4. It's ugly and weird with crazy mode 7 effects. It's generally considered the easy Castlevania, because you have that omnidirectional super-whip and the game is not really be balanced around it.
I don't really remember Snes Dracula X aside from the cool first level and the utterly ridiculous final boss fight Snowfire mentioned.
Bloodlines looks thematically interesting buuuut Genesis music + limited continues = I feel the core values of Castlevania are shattered.


El Cid: Sounds awesome

[Fenrir]

Um wow, Maria makes Richter look like a complete dork in Dracula X Chronicles. She doesn't have to commit to either jumps or regular attacks since she can double jump / move while attacking.
lol
That's like playing as Megaman in Bionic Commando or Doom Guy in River City Ransom

[Dark Holy Elf]

Sounds about like the reaction I had, yeah. (And I did figure out Richter's doublejump, but I found that rather clunky.)

Final Fantasy 7 - Up to Junon. Been using Tifa and Red XIII so far. Translation is pretty terribly awful by modern standards, but I think we all knew that. The game has been pretty enjoyable otherwise, though.

[Fenrir]

Yeah I just destroyed the rest of the game with Maria

Symphony of the Night challenge:
I tried starting a fist only challenge but the big problem with Symphony of the Night is that Alucard is too much of a tank.
So I restarted with new rules:
- Barehanded or fist weapons only 
- No armor except capes. Capes are cool don't question it. I want a pink cape eventually.
- No magic
- No items
- No subweapon
- No damage through alternate Alucard forms

This is pretty awesome and does make Symphony of the Night feel like Cestus only 2D Souls. I died many times already, especially against Doppleganger (this is the only time ever where Doppleganger has better stats than Alucard)
I bought an Elven Cape afterwards and it almost looks digustingly powerful here.

[superaielman]

Disagree completely with Snowfire. I loved Super Castlevania 4. It changed up the mechanics of the series some (Whipping in several directions, etc) and I found the controls fine.  I think it's the one to play out of the classic titles.

[Meeplelard]

Pretty much agree with super on Super Castlevania 4, yeah.  And yes, Maria is kind of way better than Richter.  I remember someone tried to defend Richter because "better sub-weapons!" but the only sub-weapon of Richter's I really found worthwhile was the Axe (some of his item Crashes were good of course), and maybe the Cross.  Compare this to Maria's far better mobility, as well as her ability to hit a better vertical tolerance than Richter, she's clearly way better. 

Also the backflip got me killed way more often than it helped, I found.