What Games are you playing 2016?

[NotMiki]

Yeah, since I don't have ME3 at all yet, I'm thinking maybe I'll just buy the PS3 collection and call ME2 on PC a loss?  I will tell you what's not going to happen: me paying EA the rough equivalent of $5 in Biowarebucks just to unlock the option to rebuild my ME1 save after I lost it from a bad hdd.  But I kinda think it's dumb to play a shooter on controller, all things considered.  Iunno.  Considering its status as one of the greatest games ever you would think it wouldn't be such a pain in the ass to get the full experience without just pirating the damn thing.

[Cotigo]

EA

...  Iunno.  Considering its status as one of the greatest games ever you would think it wouldn't be such a pain in the ass to get the full experience without just pirating the damn thing.

yeah I think I found yer problem

[Cotigo]

Overwatch:  So I picked a good time to become a Symmetra main.  The buffs are outstanding.  The portable shield is decent, the shield generator is good, but the best thing is the range increase on her primary fire.  She can actually lock onto people long enough to build a decent charge now.  I get so many play of the games by sneaking behind the enemy lines and wiping the entire team with primary fire.

I'm playing her in all games, offense and defense and it's working beautifully.

Yeah, I can't really run away from her as non-tracer characters anymore, and running into a previously mostly safe room near the spawn can turn into instadeath if all 6 turrets are trained on me. They definitely made her a worthwhile character whereas she was kinda crap and frankly a worse pick than Torbjorn before.

[NotMiki]

EA

...  Iunno.  Considering its status as one of the greatest games ever you would think it wouldn't be such a pain in the ass to get the full experience without just pirating the damn thing.

yeah I think I found yer problem

Yeah at a bare minimum I would expect them to be...not competent but ok at least at shilling their product for money - in other words selling a complete version of ME2 with all DLC on PC at a price people are willing to pay.  I mean ferchrissakes the console versions are bargain bin games by now.  This is not rocket science.  Nope.

[Grefter]

Real question why is trying to play ME2 legitimately on PC such a damn hassle?

Sadly a tale of how hard it is to keep up support for old stuff when you have big changes. ME2 came out before the buy out from EA, so originally all the DLC was really just kept in Bioware's community page.  You could also buy the game on steam then.   Now everything needed to be ported over to Origin to align with EA stuff, but unlike Dragon Age it doesn't have an "Ultimate" edition that comes with everything in one place.  Last time I played ME2 I was still downloading an installer or 2 from the Bioware community page cause one or two wouldn't download automatically (which was a few years ago).

It could be worse.  If you are desperate for ME1 DLC for completeness' sake the only place you can legitimately get it these days is as part of Mass effect Trilogy on Origin (which to be fair I think might be cheaper than buying all the games DLC separately because DLC pricing doesn't always depreciate like base games do, which is bad).


Ciatos, w. H. Y.

[NotMiki]

I think it's kinda hilarious how the Mass Effect Trilogy page on Origin doesn't even say what DLC is included.  I did not know you could be this bad at maintaining a brand without being literally Konami.

[Sierra]

I played the PS3 version of the ME trilogy and didn't have any problems with it, mechanically speaking (I don't really get the "Shooter + console = bad" equation, but I also just rarely play shooters in any format). And it does come with some (but not all) of the DLC. The real problem as I see it here is not having an ME1 to port and over and/or replaying ME1 just to have a save to port over. (ME1 not great times.)

[Grefter]

For what it is worth, the ME1 DLC isn't much of anything in the grand scheme of things (it was early days of DLC like as a thing), it is a fairly plotless VR combat training thing like ME3 Citadel introduced and the introduction to Batarians through the use of an extremist terrorist cell trying to crash an asteroid into a planet (kinda CoD levels of "ummmmmmmm awkwardly on the nose").  There is some minor carry over to 2 and maybe a nod in 3?   But introduce Batarians in 1 DLC, use them as trash mobs in 2 and then blow up their major population base in the final ME2 DLC.  GG no re Batarians.

ME Trilogy iirc is all the content for all three games.  I think that is how they want you to buy it now.  The only reason not to deep six the other ways to purchase is consumer backlash.

Re: Ciddy.  do u even quickscope bro?  (Seriously is fine if you are used to it I guess.  I tried playing ME3 on the 360 at Ciatos place and was kind of 2 steps away from tearing my head off and frisbyingdisc golfing it across the room.  Going from reflex aiming and correcting to headshot to having to use auto weapons and bullet hosing in the general direction of enemies is pretty drastic.

[Sierra]

I instantly concluded that sniper rifles were unusable.

[Grefter]

Yeah in 3 on PC for me it is like, play engineer, grab SMG that weighs 0 and either a Pistol or this or this and have a blast.   The Incisor firing in burst is kinda blech but it get so much damn ammo.  The Viper is sick for just no scoping trash dudes in a swarm.

Fuck I want to play this again now and I don't have time.

[NotMiki]

ME Trilogy doesn't say what it includes, but internet forumz seem to think it's basically only got the DLC of the "deluxe" versions of each game, rather than all the DLC (so ME2 misses out on Shadow Broker and a couple other things, probably, and 3 misses a lot).  And that the DLC it has is different on PC and PS3 and 360.

[Grefter]

Wow okay that is a million times shittier than I expected.

[Fenrir]

Romancing SaGa 2 is still awesome. RS3 looks like a real letdown after this one, they just removed some of the things that made 2 special and added nothing! (But good graphics)
This is a game in which you control the empire and can whenever you're feeling low on cash just go to the treasury and refill your wallet with taxpayer money. Why hasn't this mechanic be reused in other games.


I am pretty far along, as far as seven heroes go I beat up the first one, the PUPPETMASTER, Rocbouquet and Noel. Fun fact: Noel is a french name that means "Christmas" and it was definitely weird seeing the badass honorable swordsman have such an unthreatening name
I went up to beat up Wagner in his final dungeon and he went "bye lol" and just flew away in his real ultimate castle. No idea how to get there.
There's also another hero underwater, I probably need to get another breathing potion but fuuuck that sidequest
I don't think I ever even heard about the last one.

I have to say the seven heroes haven't been very evil so far? Douchebag sorceror on his island that you wake up in his bed to beat his ass has done far more evil than the others. In 700 years now, Wagner and the first one have both invaded a castle/city, underwater dude has destroyed a small bridge. I think that's all the evil they've done. I think we can live with them a while longer instead of triggering whatever inevitable world threatening thing that's going to happen at endgame by beating up all seven heroes.

I'm unreasonably happy that the game has the axe skill Reverse Delta (best axe skill from Unlimited Saga)
It rules as usual, and I have it on my pirate.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Romancing SaGa 2 is still awesome. RS3 looks like a real letdown after this one, they just removed some of the things that made 2 special and added nothing! (But good graphics)

Not to disparage any SaGa game, particularly not one with mechanics as unusual as RS2, but RS3 lets you make a party with a walking talking Lobster, the Hindu God Ganesh, and a sentient Snowman that has taken a liking to the main character. I feel like there's definitely some weirdness of worth in it.

RS3 has a lot less weird mechanics, apart from its "Leader mode" battles that make something of a return in SaGa Frontier 2, still not quite polished. Also, Mikhail has a weird side game scenario going on in his storyline that sounds similar to some of the mechanics you're describing. SaGa is constantly cannibalizing itself.

Speaking of, SaGa Scarlet Grace came out on a console this week! I have no idea what to expect from it!

[Luther Lansfeld]

The Boy Who Was Too Stoned to Vote - got to Romero Flint, where all of the girls were kidnapped by an evil wizard and the water is poisoned with zombie juice.

After being given a Dragon Quest 1 choice about rescuing Winlaners, I save the day. I get paid with being told to save more people, because fuck this place, no one has any goddamn gratitude. Then we go to the racially segregated towns of I dunno probably somewhere in the midwest and meet some wolf people. I think there are two fake mayors of the human village, one who sits at the mayor's house and one that is in the dungeon to trick me. Bo shows up and saves me, which I guess is the extent of his compelling plot arc.

[Fenrir]

Yeah RS3 adds more weird shit (though I still have a mermaid as my empress in RS2 do that's something) but I meant more mechanically.

RS3 does admittedly do some cool stuff (the Thomas capitalism minigame is another) but it's relegated to the sides and not at the center of the game

I really want a Scarlet Grace localization but it's probably not happening? From all accounts it is very Kawazu

[Sierra]

Momodora 4: Is one of those games that screams Cidgame from title on down.

-Awesome pixel art.

-Metroidvania exploration.

-Everything kills you in two or three hits.

-2nd boss is an anime witch with huge boobs.

Playing on Normal because I'm not Fenrir. First death was, "What happens if I jump into water in this game?" "YOU DIED." "Okay." Last boss I beat was the pardoner. Four or five deaths, win, turn back, get blown up by the one enemy between me and the last save point. Thanks, game. So I got a bow upgrade from that, and I guess that's neat, but I don't see how it helps me advance the game. Swear I've looked everywhere I can access a couple times, all the doors are locked and the last boss didn't drop a new key. Guys?

[Niu]

Romancing SaGa 2 is still awesome. RS3 looks like a real letdown after this one, they just removed some of the things that made 2 special and added nothing! (But good graphics)
This is a game in which you control the empire and can whenever you're feeling low on cash just go to the treasury and refill your wallet with taxpayer money. Why hasn't this mechanic be reused in other games.


I am pretty far along, as far as seven heroes go I beat up the first one, the PUPPETMASTER, Rocbouquet and Noel. Fun fact: Noel is a french name that means "Christmas" and it was definitely weird seeing the badass honorable swordsman have such an unthreatening name
I went up to beat up Wagner in his final dungeon and he went "bye lol" and just flew away in his real ultimate castle. No idea how to get there.
There's also another hero underwater, I probably need to get another breathing potion but fuuuck that sidequest
I don't think I ever even heard about the last one.

I have to say the seven heroes haven't been very evil so far? Douchebag sorceror on his island that you wake up in his bed to beat his ass has done far more evil than the others. In 700 years now, Wagner and the first one have both invaded a castle/city, underwater dude has destroyed a small bridge. I think that's all the evil they've done. I think we can live with them a while longer instead of triggering whatever inevitable world threatening thing that's going to happen at endgame by beating up all seven heroes.

I'm unreasonably happy that the game has the axe skill Reverse Delta (best axe skill from Unlimited Saga)
It rules as usual, and I have it on my pirate.

Lies, RS3 had commander mode that made everything more fun.
Subier does not show up until you do Sunken Ship.
Unicorn Whale is the one who destroyed the bridge. But don't fight the whale. It makes Subier stronger if you do. You can speak to the whale if you have the item bought from the herder child.
You do Wagnus flying castle by either making a helicopter or do the board's instrument quest. That quest makes the birdmen joins you. Also, birdman's village leads to a hidden town with good chests. But you have to beat Wagnus first the path to hidden town to open.
Bokhon clearly is the most evil of 7
He is some super drug lord, and he is the one behind the events in Cumberland.
BTW, keep your emperor's HP below 512.
The heroes go super mode if you do.
Especially Wagnus, he blast you with four digits damage fire spell.

[SnowFire]

Unicorn Whale is the one who destroyed the bridge. But don't fight the whale. It makes Subier stronger if you do. You can speak to the whale if you have the item bought from the herder child.

"Fenrir, don't do this thing.  You get an awesome boss fight that's super tough if you do.  You'd hate that."

FTFY.  I dunno if your advice will have the intended effect, though.

[The Duck]

I have recently learned that Baldur's Gate 2 EE has a hero bear as a PC so I am due for a replay.

[Cotigo]

Momodora 4: ...

Playing on Normal because I'm

The end of that sentence is actually "a fucking casual"

I only have a vague recollection of boss locations now but if you beat the pardoner you should be able to go from the first save point in the area straight down by jumping down a hole in one of the rooms. I thiiiiiiiiink it was a couple rooms left of the Exposition Witch, and I think I remember the platform you drop down the hole from being pretty obvious once you know what you're looking for. Following that path will get you to the next couple of bosses. You're kinda going backwards at this point but IIRC doing it this way should net you most of the shortcuts anyway.

[Sierra]

Yeah, Alex told me what I was overlooking: the ladder that leads underwater. I'd figured, "Hey, last time I jumped into water, I died, so there must be some underwater powerup I need to get later in order to climb down this ladder." Turns out that, no, you just need to climb down like any other ladder and you can mysteriously breathe underwater here but not in any other area's water, all of which just hides dead drops. Okay then.

So I got cat power and then I did comprehensive backtracking with the scanner accessory equipped to find all the items and then game finished. Short, but hey, indie production, no big surprise there. There are worse things you can say about a game than "I wanted more of it because it was good." And it is good! Fun gameplay, excellent pixel art environments and characters, and moody music. Game is cool and dudes should play it. If Symphony of the Night, Touhou, and Dark Souls had a menage a troi, I could believe this being the resulting child of questionable parentage. Lots of cute little touches--church lady's cats will meow at you while you're in cat mode, there's a self-poisoning accessory for Fenrir crazy people who like to play in Red Tearstone Ring limit mode all the time, and did I kill that one prisoner NPC just by talking to him? Also I actually felt a little bad for beating up the imps at the beginning.

Steam says I got the "True Ending." Okay. I'm not at all sure what the qualifications for this might have been! (I said Yes to both of the NPCs that asked me questions, if that means anything.) I know there are some things that I definitely missed in spite of an attempt to thoroughly explore everything. Notably: 1) there's a brick wall in the underwater crypt area that I'm sure is destructible, and the radar confirms there's a secret there, but I don't know how to get through; 2) the locked door in the monastery just at the start of the long ladder shaft; 3) the other locked monastery door in the upper right corner that just says, "??????," when you approach it. Guessing this is a bug unlock or something--I only found 18 out of 20.

I also spotted a Not!Jim in the credits list of Patreon backers. ^.^

[The Duck]

I have recently learned that Baldur's Gate 2 EE has a hero bear as a PC so I am due for a replay.

For some reason the bear's name is Wilson.

[Sierra]

Oh yeah, Momodroa 4 asked me after the end whether I wanted to overwrite my file with a NG+, or something along those lines. I said no, because the final boss was pretty easy so I might as well keep a save file at the end to double back on things I missed later. But what does this option actually do? The game did suggest vaguely that things might be different.

[Cotigo]

The locked door in the church at the top of the vertical drop room you're talking about requires the tissue item you get... either from the pardoner fight or after, I forget how exactly, and unlocks the secret boss fight. The other locked room in the area is the developer room you unlock after reaching 100% map exploration. The brick wall in the underwater section, if it is the one I'm thinking of, is just a shortcut to the save point to make the run up to the penguin dude fight quicker. You blow it up using the attacks of one of the enemies in the room adjacent to it, there's some sort of bomb enemy on that screen IIRC.

The conditions for the true ending are just that you upgraded your leaf after getting the wind box from the second to last area. If you didn't do that, you'd automatically get the bad ending after the final boss's second form.

I don't quite remember what NG+ actually does since the only NG+ style unlock I cared about was playing on Insane difficulty.