What Games Are You Playing: 2008

[Scar]

Mmmmmm FF4ds...

One day!

I popped FE8 in my GB and saw that I have 93% of the support conversations done, so I guess I will try to finally finish them up.

Innes is still a sexy beast. Sooooooooooo much better then Neimi. >_>

[DomaDragoon]

FF4DS: Picked this up today, just got Palom and Porom.

Very nice, actually enjoyable despite being related to FF4. Although the plot is still garbage, the gameplay has a ton of extra stuff added to it that makes playing it worthwhile. Faster battles, auto-battle for quick grinding, new ability system that allows for actual customization of characters [something I really disliked about FF4 was its completely static parties and gameplay, but now that's not so much of a problem], and some redesigned other stuff to balance the gameplay more.

This includes character skillsets, which have changed a lot in some cases.  Edward got turned into a wonderful support character, since you can decide what songs he uses with Sing, and Medicine can be used with several lower class healing items for full effect. Also, Dark Knight Cecil is an even sillier heavy in NR-type fights now, as Darkness has turned into a buff spell that lasts 3-4 turns that makes his physicals do doubled damage at the cost of 10% of his mHP per attack.

...

Holy spoon, you may have just convinced me to pick up another version of this game.

[Lord Ephraim]

Tales of the World: RM:

Is it just me or is the beginning really fucking hard?  You have like no healing items and these rhino things keep stomping all over my ass killing me in a couple of blows?  Either way, I went with a sexy red hair female thief for my character.  Hmm, needs more long hair.

[Fudozukushi]

Disgaea:  Grinding levels because I have nothing better to do.

Also, beat Prier.

[Niu]

Spectral Gene: Turned on, and yeah, typical IF mine. Probably won't come back to this until Lost Odyssey is finished.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Super Metroid - Replayed this for fun. Remembered why I love this game; the environment is terrific, and I can't think of many games that build on themselves better with upgrades. Racing through the world makes for a varied and very fun experience.


MMX4 - Beat, with Zero. Okay, yeah, the different take on the same game was great. Interesting how melee handles some things (mostly, Zero gets better reach above him compared to X) and range handles others (self-explanatory), though they even control a bit differently with Zero getting doublejump. X obviously has life easier on the bosses, though, although due to knowing their patterns I generally didn't have more resets this playthrough than last. For the most part, tough bosses for X were tough(er) for Zero, too, particulary Magma Dragoon, Storm Owl, and Cyber Peacock. Web Spider wasn't a joke for Zero like for X, either. General was so obviously designed for Zero. Iris (FEMALE MEGA MAN BOSS MY WORLD IS CRUMBLING) was tougher and more creative than Double by a ways, which is fun. Colonel is still a blast, ditto Sigma. Also FINALLY figured out what I was missing against Final Sigma's spew-debris attack... I think I could perfect him with X now, though not Zero.

Sooo yeah. MMX4 is officially confirmed as the best game in the series so far to me, and the gap is not small.

EDIT: Also "WHAT AM I FIGHTING FORRRRRR?" lived up to the hype. Brilliant. MEGA MAN PLOT. Nothing more need be said.


FE10 - Completezored.

Endgame party was:

Micaiah - Capped almost everything in Tier 2, which was nice. Rampant BExp abuse may have helped, who can say? This let her enter Endgame with 27 Speed, and, noticing how many Generals she was about to fight who were 24-25 Speed, I shamelessly Speedwings'd her. Smashed the Generals to bits on the last map and spammed Purge against obnoxious Red Dragons, and healed a lot, eventually wielding Fortify against the final boss. Worked very well. Mine was lucky, though.

Sothe - Micaiah surpassed him in every stat except Strength which... uh. <_< Is bad. RNG-screwed on Speed and couldn't really do damage, so he kinda failed besides getting the Matrona Staff and a few items as steals.

Ike - Ike was way better in this game than FE9. Instead of this unimpressive Eliwood type who got a supersword in the last two chapters, he was an Eliwood type with freakishly good Str/Def for a swordsman. Speed usually hovered around JUST enough to double non-Swordmasters, though he sometimes fell short. And he still got the super-sword! ... just way earlier, this time. Win. Crashed from awesome right at the end as his Def/Avo/Spd got less impressive and his crappy Res mattered more, but always solid. Probably second to Ephraim for best FE lord?

Sanaki - Mine got speed something like five of her first six levels and... she still wasn't much. ;___; Needed Staves. Tended to fall short of doubling and was super-fragile physically. Gave her an Angelic Robe, and that was the only thing which prevented the final boss from OHKOing her. With the Rudol Gem. On a Def+10 panel. <_<

Kurthnaga - Pretty neat, felt like a "grow your own Laguz Royal". His accuracy kinda sucked (30 hit vs. the the final boss sub-parts) and the speed was a little shaky but his other stats were very solid, tank who hit decently hard (though low Strike rank held him back). Night Pool was of course his selling point. And he's broken in Endgame 3.

Ena - Well she couldn't deal damage, and wasn't as physically tanky, but otherwise, see Kurth. Blood Tide was sexy. Also, her Magic is WTF, so I gave her Imbue and she regenned over 40 HP per round. <_< Boon was also a big help in the status whoring map of Endgame. Neat support character. Can't be twinked to fuck up the final boss like in FE9, but better anyway.

Reyson - The heron of choice. No reason not to load up on Laguz Gems at Endgame. Celerity + permatransform = 10 move, Canto, 4x-refresh Heron. Broken. I couldn't help but notice that the final boss can OHKO him whenever she wants, but she never did. Probably has an AI injunction against that? Regardless, yay.

---

Mia - Vantage/Adept/Cancel. Didn't really reliably 2HKO, but tended to fuck things up anyway. Vague Katti, Tempest Blade, Wyrmslayer gave her some nice options. Ike support gave her some nice evade. Having WTF speed actually mattered for once in an FE, since she could double EVERYTHING when most doubled only some things. Solid Swordmaster throughout the game, misses broken Vantage from 9 but the stats are better for sure.

Nephenee - Wrath/Vantage/Adept. Like Mia, nerfed Wrath makes her sad. Still great, shared Mia's penchant for doubling almost anything (missed enemy SMs, mostly), and excellent overall stats. BExp abuse rounds out whatever stat weaknesses she might have had. Wishblade is a terrific SS weapon, to boot.

Jill - Shared Nephenee's tier for speed, and all her defensive stats were admirable, even her previous problems of Res and Luck. Super-tanky. Swung Urvan around, flew, etc. Best class in the game never hurts. With high Str/Spd and Urvan she was my best beorc damage-dealer, and as such she got Nihil. All things considered she was probably my best combat unit at endgame, though somewhat iffy Skill meant Tomahawak was way behind other 1-2 options of some PCs.

Elincia - Holy crap. What the hell happened to Elincia over the last three years? Probably the best human PC in the game. Amiti's killer power had her OHKOing Swordmasters, Ravens, and other hard-to-double enemies, while making life miserable for everyone else. She was dodgy with high Res, nulled enemy crit rates with her 40 Luck (capped Str/Spd too), had flight/Canto, was an awesome healer when that was needed, and was my only PC to hit max level. Awesome at everything frankly. Also had Alondite, and Nullify.

Rolf - Token SNIPAR. Yeah, these guys were way better this game, not that I'm a huge fan (they still fail at melee counters). Got slightly blessed in Speed which made him Shinon+. Double Bow was pretty kickass, though had some accuracy issues at ranges not 2. Low Luck sucked for his durability, though (fixed by Fortune). Still yeah, you want someone to use that Double Bow at endgame.

Calill - Token Sage! And the only one with enough speed to actually double average enemies in Part 4. Was great against the laguz chapter with the weakness-hitting, and Rexflame was nice for the speed boost later. Could even chip in with some healing, unlike Sanaki. Micaiah's probably the best magic user in the game because Thani is so broken and she actually has staves at tier 2, but Calill certainly has the best stats. Think she had Pavise as her skill.

Fiona - Bit of a surprising person, since Fiona is... likely around the 15th worst PC in the game or something objectively. But once she overcame the (terrible) start, and got some good stat luck + BExp abuse, she was really valuable to the Dawn Brigade. The important stats ended up high enough (capped Spd/Def/Res for sure), and the Earth support she contributed to Jill made the pair my go-to tanks, and mobile ones at that. Swung an invincible Brave Lance at Endgame and was never wonderful at offence. Skills were... Provoke/Imbue/Saviour.

Nolan - A PC I really should have kicked for Caineghis, he mainly hung around as Micaiah's support (Earth is cool). His durability was pretty good, as was his speed, though the Power not so much. Not much to say with him. Wielded Tarvos as his primary.

Tibarn - 10 move, Canto, godly stats. Res was kinda low but beyond that you can't complain about this guy. Laguz Royals are sooo broken in this game and they get to show it off; Tibarn himself has seven maps he can be used in. He, Nailah, and Caineghis... might be the best pure combat PCs in the series? They do lack some variety, but sooo good out of the gate and those ridiculous stats which you can make such great use of in a game that actually demands it... Anyway. Nihil and Saviour. Royals getting Nihil is a "duuurrrr" if you've seen the endgame bosses. <_<

Nailah - 9 move, Glare, godly stats. <_< Mine even insisted on gaining Str every level up, although finishing her off with Bexp did help. So yeah, 40 Str/Spd doubled everything in the game for insane damage. Was front-and-centre for my boss offence, needless to say. Had Nihil and... something, I don't even remember, it doesn't matter. Absolutely awesome, no real statistical failings at all.

---

Other notables... hmm. Soren was good for a while once he escaped being underlevelled, but then the speed kinda caught up to him in Part 4. Haar RULED but Endgame didn't seem like it'd be his thing with the increasing exploitation of his low Luck and Res, and slightly decreased value of flight. Titania was Haar trading durability for speed and losing flight, shared the awesome power/mobility combo though. Mist was a serviceable enough healer but obviously isn't beating Elincia (though nothing says you can't use both, with a heron it didn't feel necessary). Aran deserves note for being a major cog of the Dawn Brigade - it needs Defence way more than other armies and he's the best at it. Laura also gets healer points. Oscar... ;_; nerfed, nerfed, nerfed. Earth is still good, but his damage sucks and the Speed cap holds him back. Boyd was nerfed even more, just unimpressive; get some speed. Ditto Kieran. Astrid's now one of the worst PCs in the game. Falconknights in general were worse in this game, but Sigrun and especially Tanith were good filler. Funny how the best combat PCs of 9 (except Jill and Nephenee) got raped so hard. Edward looks like he turns out great but isn't worth the trouble (ick Micaiah-level durability on a melee PC), Leonardo is similar but inferior. Makalov, Gatrie solid. Uh... going to shut up before I list everyone.


Endgame maps themselves... were fun. I either had a reset or DESERVED to have one on every one except maybe the second to last, which was certainly scary in its own right. The game, to its credit, manages to throw a whole bunch of crazy things you aren't expecting at you in the final dungeon. Swarms of teleporting mages, an army of 55~ attack monsters, MT attacks, etc. Final boss in particular is... well, actually a worthwhile final boss in an FE game for once. God help you if you miss the Fortify Staff, though.


So! Final time was 90 hours, or a little under. Kill leader was Nephenee with about 120 (having a strong role in every Part except 1 does that), followed by a decent drop, then Rolf, Mia, Micaiah, and Jill in that order. Longest battle was 2-Endgame at something like four and a half hours (wow), with the desert chapter and 1-Endgame hanging around about an hour back. 1-Endgame wins hardest map in the game award, probably, even with the help you get. The Authority and position advantage the enemies have combined with their extremely high level and solid equips for the time just makes it a nasty, uphill battle. Fitting plotwise too.


Now, general comments...

Okay, gameplaywise, this is the best Fire Emblem. Period. Doesn't even seem especially arguable. It combines the best features of 9 (skills, BExp, reasonably competent enemies) with previous games (creative map design, more general polish), then ups the enemies until they're on par with the PCs (something FE benefits from a lot), and presto, awesome, awesome game. The split paths were also a great idea - finally, you actually have a reason to use a large part of the dozens of PCs you get! A bit like S3 in that regard.

Plotwise... I'm not sure. The core plot ideas are excellent, especially with how they mesh with the battles. Part 2 in particular is nothing short of brilliant - centred around the point of view of the queen of a country undergoing a rebellion, you first fight a chance battle in the skies (mostly style here, for the aerial battle), followed by a battle between two retired soldiers staving off an insurrection in their farming town, followed by the queen's spymaster escaping a scene where she has gathered evidence in rebel territory, then a charge led by the Royal Knights against the rebels, and finally a defence battle where the queen is under siege and has to wait for the knights to arrive. Just... yeah. Ties together really well, shows off what the format is capable of.

Besides that, yeah, the story the game tells is one I have no problems with. My problem with it, if it is a problem, is that the game seems out to tell it in as few scenes as it can conceivably get away with. There's not oodles of characterisation here that there really could be; it's all straight to the point. At times this feels refreshing; at others, shallow. Certainly, the game doesn't go into the greater depth 9 did, but ultimately, I'm not sure it matters. The game continues its tradition of fine surface character work, with the Info conversations being brilliant on average and a source of plenty of humour. Support conversations are missed somewhat, even though I was never a big fan.

Characters... generally solid enough. The lords are uninteresting, again, but the supporting cast is nice. Ike leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, since he was actually pretty interesting in his story growing up in 9, but he was this incredibly boring uber-paragon that the game spent too much time gushing over in 10. Just rubbed me the wrong way, especially some stuff right near the ending (he kinda becomes the CHOSEN HERO TO SAVE THE WORLD despite it making no real sense for him to lead the final army. Eh). Zelgius and Sephiran were both neat ideas who needed a bit more time. Yune was terrific. Micaiah... kinda generic but promising followed by wasted potential as the spotlight moved to Yune and Ike at the end. Pelleas was great in his role, though. Seeing more of him strikes me as one of the selling points of NG+.

So yeah, that's it! Good enough for 10/10 overall? Probably. The SRPG gameplay is just way, way too good. I didn't think I had 90 hour RPGs in me any more but FE10 was just a joy from start to finish.

[Sierra]

Suikoden: Neclord is such a lamer.

[Twilkitri]

Necromium: I seem to have actually managed to hit the second multi point before my account dies from inactivity. Wonders will never cease. In any case, multid to Druid. I miss my demon shields already.

Suicarden: Seems reasonable enough. Currently in Coronet on the way to South Window. I'm somewhat surprised that there doesn't appear to be any patches for this game.

[Fudozukushi]

WoW: I doubt there's anything more depressing, besides from actually playing WoW of course, then being knocked off into the Twisting Nether because you went afk on a floating rock and another floating rock knocked you off.

[Crystalgate]

Tales of Destiny II: Why the heck does Farah have more strength than Reid, but get weaker weapons? Is it due to flavor reasons?

Anyway, the world map looks a lot worse once I started flying around with the aerial board. Unfinished would be the word to describe it. Also, comboing seems harder than it should be. It's ok when they are interrupted by enemies, but the button pressing timing is way to stingy and a bit awkward as well.

On the plus side, the game has done quite a good job with the characterization so far. Also, poor combo system aside, battles are still enjoyable. I'm currently in the gnome mine playing "let's run back and forth".

[Dunefar]

Community Chest 3:

This is a Doom 2 megawad, full of contributions by various authors. Since I haven't been playing anything else but San Andreas, here we go!

Map 1: Ventilator

This is a standard overrun tech base design with a lot of water elements.  Most of your battles are against imps, zombies, demons and occasional revenants, often from above via numerous cliffs and overlooks. The challenge level is moderate, most of the difficulty coming from revenants. It's not bad, just unremarkable despite the interesting name. 6/10

Map 2: Ion Storm

Yep, more techbase. This time it's a massive, cramped struggle versus hordes of zombies, imps and barons of hell. The challenge level takes a spike here, partly due to high enemy density. The other reason is that the secrets are both essential(Especially the SSG) but often incredibly painful(Also the SSG). I'm not really a fan of this level, it goes on a few sectors too far and has a few too many cannon fodders for my taste. The level design is also very unappealing, a typical base texture setup. 4/10.

Map 3: Mineopoly

The techbase theme takes a hike this level as you have to go down an abandoned Phobos mine shaft. The monster count is low and the passages are twisting, but a few heavy fights lurk within. There's a particularly bitchy archvile and two revenants that can get a few deaths out of you, especially if you're low on health going into that door. For the latter part of the level, you end up in an underground installation inside the mine. Decent level with a different flavor than the first two. 5/10.

Map 4: UAC Checkpoint

Techbase represent! This level is more of the same - a mix of map 1, map 3 and it's own flavor for monster distribution. While there are a few fancy special effects to be found, the majority of this map is cookie cutter. I'm rather glad for it in light of map 5, try to exit with a lot of health, armor and ammo if at all possible. Solid but not one you'll remember much past playing it. 5/10.

Map 5: Living Hell

If you played the original Doom or Doom 2, you know there is a certain flow to how levels are arraigned. You go from human flavored areas to eventually the heart of Hell itself, with appropriately rising monster and weapon selections throughout. This level bucks that trend, dropping you into a sadistic blend of Doom 2's map 8 and 28, with challenge above and beyond both of those. You'll be facing all the worst Hell has to offer and trying to find the weapons to do it with. It's even more complicated than that, however, as the entire level is set up around one certain path and knowing where all the secrets are. If you deviate from this path or don't know where the secrets are, you'll find yourself in completely unforgiving situations. This level is in short a poorly designed gimmick, mistaking challenge for 'how hard can I screw the player over if he doesn't do things my way'-ness. Also, handing the player a BFG and plasma rifle on map 5 can unbalance the next few maps. I don't know why this ill fitting level is here and not in a slot far more deserving of this sort of challenge. 1/10.

Map 6: Forgone Destruction

This level returns to the previous, with a brick and techbase scenario much like the previous levels. The design is decent and the monster selection is acceptable, but it's a rather forgettable if refreshing affair. The real matter of note is the author who did this wad - it doesn't feel like Tormentor667's previous efforts at all. 5/10.

Map 7: Simple Complex.

Yes, that's a play on words. Remember Doom 2's map 7, Dead Simple? The one with the mancubi and arachnotrons? Due to the special switches that can be used, many map 7s go that route. This map is a parody on that, with a deceptive and trap filled base to work your way through. I like this on paper, but the execution sucked it long and hard. There's too much propensity on ensnaring you with traps that will likely maim or kill you the first time you see them. Shotgunners and chaingunners are at a premium, making any haste through the level ill advised. This slowed the gameplay to a crawl, diminishing my enjoyment enough to skip most of the level. Bleh.

Simple Complex wasn't fun to play and that's all there is to it. 2/10.

Map 8: Impure Liquids.

Finally some mixup! This level is designed around a whiterock river, with a techbase situated in the middle. Your goal is to fight through to the other side and the portal at the end of the river's flow. The design of this level is very, very good - it focuses around using hordes and hitscanners right - you often have to fight a lot of them from a medium distance, taking advantage of positioning and monster infighting to conserve your ammo. One can play it slow or try to rush it, the health in the level arraigned so that you'd have a fighting chance. My only complaint is the lack of a backpack, since you get a large ammo surplus near the end of the level. 8/10.

[DomaDragoon]

Grandia 3: Just beat Kornell, Violetta and their toys. Hooray for abusing orbs and eggs for great profit! Party is Ryu 5 at 23, NeoElfgirl and Bitey at 22, and DDahna at 21, but about to level up.

[Cotigo]

Suikoden 5:  So, I restarted because I had no fucking idea where to go because I wasn't paying attention.  I got... maybe an hour in before deciding "Fuck that."  God this game's intro is shit.  But I should play more before giving up entirely...

So I FAQed where to go.  Back to Rainwall, I guess.  Hey, didn't they just tell me I had to go to some dam and bring water back to Lordlake or something?  Oh well, maybe I just misremembered.  Going through this confusion is still better than listening to the intro (Agh, the expository dialogue there was terrible).

[AAA]

Battletoads-Volkmire's Inferno done with no deaths. Fuck Yeah. Intruder Excluder doesn't look too bad, and then...the Terra Tubes.

[Niu]

Characters... generally solid enough. The lords are uninteresting, again, but the supporting cast is nice. Ike leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, since he was actually pretty interesting in his story growing up in 9, but he was this incredibly boring uber-paragon that the game spent too much time gushing over in 10. Just rubbed me the wrong way, especially some stuff right near the ending (he kinda becomes the CHOSEN HERO TO SAVE THE WORLD despite it making no real sense for him to lead the final army. Eh). Zelgius and Sephiran were both neat ideas who needed a bit more time. Yune was terrific. Micaiah... kinda generic but promising followed by wasted potential as the spotlight moved to Yune and Ike at the end. Pelleas was great in his role, though. Seeing more of him strikes me as one of the selling points of NG+.

For Ike, you get to dig more about his relationship with Senelio and Sephiran in NG+ if you go for the true ending. Though, the true ending kinda made Se[hiran's character more confused than it already is. Never feel Ike is much of a uber paragon though. Found him to tbe the traditional Chinese novel war hero character model done right. His rivalry with Zelgius issimply hotblooded.

TAnyway, the world map looks a lot worse once I started flying around with the aerial board. Unfinished would be the word to describe it. Also, comboing seems harder than it should be. It's ok when they are interrupted by enemies, but the button pressing timing is way to stingy and a bit awkward as well.

There is no such thing is timing actually. Just smash the button for the second skill as soon as the first skill is excuted. You can't possibelly fail. Don't tell me you actually wait until the end of the attack animation then press the button..... ToE is just another button smasher.

[Nitori]

Summon Night 2: Finished, yay~

It seems overall worse than the first, but that's probably since it tried to shove in a "rar, evil" plot from the beginning than the way SN1 did it (which is "Hey, here's a tournament. Win it. Oh wait, rar evil."). The reason this is overall worse is because "rar, evil" is the most original plot ever that we so totally haven't seen Zenny million times. Also, random SSJ doesn't work as well as well as it seems it does. Neither does random lesbian sex, but the first game had that too so there is no complaining.

Aside from that, it just did everything a bit worse. FAQbait puzzles, cliche puzzles (slippery ice, conveyor belts), insane fetchquesting that is the main plot (Find four gems to get the ubersword...oh wait there are four uberswords), and incredibly pointless Niu-bait NPCs.

On the other hand, there is actually something resembling challenge (although it is in the sense that Ar tonelico 2 was announced to be a harder game than Ar tonelico 1).  Part of this probably stems from the fact that weapon breaking is both harder (much higher boss DUR) and less worth it (the item you get for it? Shows up on the fishing prize list almost immediately). The fact that the first boss was harder than the last boss from the first game says...a lot.

The new forging system is pretty good, although I got so obsessed with building up TEC that I ended up dropping everything but Sword/Drill lategame. No more spear awesomeness. ;_; Otherwise, it beats SS1 due to actually seeming like a unique form of IC, unlike SS1's utterly generic model. Fishing can completely break the game if you do it enough, although the Fine Fishing Rod is a trap bigger than Bridget.

PC Eva- Oh wait.
Weapon Evaluation:

Sword: I hate the generic stabby thing, but it's probably overall better here. Overall decent in all categories; decent air and spammable three hit strings means I was stuck with this for most of the game.

Axe: Worthless as always. Too slow~

Fists: Yay spamming hits and jumping all over the place. Fun weapon that ended up ultimately not being used since I really hate the immensely short range on these things.

Spear: Kind of downgraded due to having worse anti-air and no Varil's Spear (dear god that thing was broken). Otherwise, pretty nice weapon that was pretty much a constant third in my weapons slot.

Drill: Weapon breaking is sexy and Down+A absolutely destroys anything that can be stunned (which includes a lot of things.) Constant second to Sword since I wanted a weapon-breaking weapon (The other choice was Axe. Yeah no).

Overall it is a tiny bit worse than the first game since there's less interesting things you can do and the plot is somehow worse than SS1....it can hang out with FF8, sure. Also, RyougaAll for Godlike *nodnod*

[Niu]

and incredibly pointless Niu-bait NPCs

How dare you.

[Meeplelard]

FE10: Just beat End Game 3.

Ok first off, I'm an idiot and accidentally saved AFTER getting the weapons blessed...which led me to have the following weapons blessed.

Obviously, the Laguz had their weapons blessed, you don't really have a choice there granted!
Ike: Ragnell.  Probably would have blessed it anyway since it sounds like it doesn't ignore Mantle inherintly?
Mist: Florete. Wanted Alondite Blessed, though I have a feeling she won't ever actually fight a boss, so this is probably minor and just "Mist's Florete can't break now!"  She's been playing the role as healer, so minor loss.
Elincia: Amiti. Ok, here's one I did correctly!
Nephenee: Killer Lance. Wanted Wishblade blessed -_-
Jill: Forged Hand Axe w/ +5 Might and +15 Crit. Um, yeah, wanted Urvan or possibly the Brave Axe blessed.
Rolf: Killer Bow. Wanted Double Bow blessed.
Mia: Steel Blade! Wanted Vague Katti.
Micaiah: RexAura. Ok, here's something I blessed successfully!
Illyana: Thoron. ALMOST Rexbolt, but not quite. Eh, could be worse.
Sanaki: Arcwind. Like this.  Complete waste, wanted Cymbeline or Rexflame (either would have worked.)
Soren: Arcwind. Ditto. Wanted Blizzard (Unbreakable long range attacks, YEEEES) or Rexcalibur.
Sothe: Peshkatz. Ok, not so bad, but wanted Baselard.  This...might be a blessing in disguise (no pun intended) the long run though, as Peshkatz does have range and I wouldn't be surprised if I never throw Sothe into close range combat anyway.

Think that covers my mistakes! Um, yeah, if I had known what weapon you had equipped at the moment was the weapon being blessed, rather than "Choose a weapon in each character's inventory!" I'd have not gotten into this situation. I'm tempted to replay this section of the game after I finish it, do it correctly, and have fun with my unbreakable legendaries.  As it stands? Eh, shouldn't be TOO bad, given it sounds like Caineghis, Ike, and Naesala are going to be doing most of the big damage anyway.

Endgame 1 was your standard "Overwhelming numbers!" map that FEs always toss at you in the last stages of the game.  Nothing special about it, just one of these tough it out and what not.  Hardest part was the beginning; after the 2nd turn, things started cruising fairly easily.

Endgame 2 was cool.  The Duel was handled MUCH better than in FE9 ("Ok, both sides have Nihil, all Ike has to do is make sure he stays on a defensive panel, and keep his HP up!" works much better than "You have a healer, and 5 turns to win, if Aether doesn't kick in, YOU FAIL!")  The complete free range terrain with a bunch of enemies to fight for the rest of your team was good for some EXP and such.  Had a reset on this when I didn't look too closely at my enemies, and turn 1, a Sniper had a Critical on Naesala...um, yeah, I'll let you figure out how THAT went <_<;

Endgame 3...um, wow, the beginning is pretty insane.  You're surrounded by enemies that if any gang up, you can lose just about any PC.  Even Caineghis didn't feel immortal here, since those White Dragons can actually do quite a number on him.  Thankfully, there are 2 PCs who are literally invincible on this map, barring one rarely used move.  I abused the hell out of one of them, and got him to have an S in Strike!   No, its not maxed, but that boost to Hit and Power is still welcome! Pity the other can only hurt half the enemies on this map (pure stat thing; White Dragons are crappy on defense, and Red Dragons are crappy on Res...she hits Defense so...yeah.)
The Boss felt like he was the FE7 Dragon, trading in 3 Range for...better everything else?  The fact that even Caineghis could randomly get a haxed death (if he doesn't have Nihil like mine doesn't) if you aren't set up properly says everything.  The Regen was also rather significant since you could have 0 Progress.  Again, thank god at least 2 PCs are completely immune to his noteworthy move (his big MT move...isn't scary enough, so long as you remember to heal from it. Impossible to OHKO and all that.)

Looking forward to the last 2 chapters.  The Boss of Endgame Part 3 is like...better than any other FE Final I can think of, really.  He's the standard "Big Tank with powerful ranged damage!" only thanks to a few quirks (like Ire ;_; ) he's actually genuinely scary and a strategy of "Sit there and heal!" doesn't work.

Mega Man Powered Up: Bought this on Monday, finally decided to start it.
Beat Oilman, Timeman, Bombman, Cutman, and Gutsman in that order.  Doing New Style mode cause, well, I feel like playing a newish Mega Man game, not just "Same game, NEW GRAPHICS!!" and such which Old Style mode is.

...game really is rather different.  Obviously, 2 new RObot Masters should hint that.  Timeman's weapon is lame; slows time down, but lets you swap enemies...and you have like 2 uses of it! Um, pretty crappy really. Oilman's weapon is kind of cool; shoot an oil shot on the ground, then run over it, it creates a Surf Board, and you can use it for random platforming stunts.  Use seems awkward until you realize that it actually improves your jump range if used properly, so yeah.

Beat all those bosses with the Buster so far, hence, I've unlocked each as playable characters! Tried out Cutman only so far.  He's basically just got a forced Rolling Cutter with unlimited ammo, can fire 2 at a time, and has Wall Jumping abilities (not...quite the same as MMX though; its the style of jump on wall, then make a long jump off it, rather than cling to wall and climb up style.)

[Dark Holy Elf]

Probably would have blessed it anyway since it sounds like it doesn't ignore Mantle inherintly?

No, it doesn't. Ragnell was already blessed, yes, but it was blessed by the wrong goddess as far as beating the endgame bosses is concerned. Think about it.

The Boss of Endgame Part 3 is like...better than any other FE Final I can think of, really.  He's the standard "Big Tank with powerful ranged damage!" only thanks to a few quirks (like Ire ;_; ) he's actually genuinely scary and a strategy of "Sit there and heal!" doesn't work.

Yeah, I'm inclined to agree. FE10 really goes through a long period of crap bosses (at times worse than randoms due to immobility), but at the end things get really serious. Mm, endgame spikes.

[Meeplelard]

No, it doesn't. Ragnell was already blessed, yes, but it was blessed by the wrong goddess as far as beating the endgame bosses is concerned. Think about it.

Figured that was the case, but wasn't completely sure.  Either way, its not like Ike is going to be using any other weapon (and really, beyond using Axes to get him to SS if you are like me and want him to use Urvan for whatever reason, and possibly Hammer vs. Burger King, is there any reason TO have Ike use a nonRagnell Weapon that late?)

Yeah, I'm inclined to agree. FE10 really goes through a long period of crap bosses (at times worse than randoms due to immobility), but at the end things get really serious. Mm, endgame spikes.

Well, there are also those bosses are just total douches with the "You get close to me? Rewarp! BWAHAHAHAHAH!" and such.  This doesn't make them hard, just annoying.

Lekain especially so, cause I wanted to feed him to Naesala, if only to see his Boss Conversation and he kept going into "2+ Range Only attack!" spots.

[superaielman]

MMX4 had excellent overall production values. I really liked the anime cutscenes, though god does the VA not hold up.


HoI2- 1943. Brazil-USA alliance is fighting the Japanese in the Phillpines and on various pacific islands. Due to the US not being in the allies, they never actually declared war on the Germans. Germany's fared much better than they did historically. They're slowly but surely pushing into Russia and have had no problems beating back the British.

Japan is completely fucked in spite of making good headway in Asia. They're to India now, but.. they're running up against the Brits who can pummel them and through bad land which slows them down. They're also staring down two industrial powerhouses with no support from the Germans. They're fucked as soon as the US gets a fleet good enough to crack their carrier fleet.

Though oddly, the US hasn't done any research in nuclear power yet.

[Talaysen]

Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time - Got the second shard thing then the damn game pulled a Skies of Arcadia on me.  Hate.  Then I got eaten by some monster and have to save some useless Yoshis.  Bleh.  At least battles are fun.  Enemies can be really threatening if you don't learn to dodge well, at least.

[Dark Holy Elf]

MMX4 had excellent overall production values. I really liked the anime cutscenes, though god does the VA not hold up.

I suppose. I hated the Zero/Sigma flashback fight because it is typical shounen crap, but otherwise I have no real complaints.

Zero seemed to get way more plot than X though. Game's obviously more designed around him, but it still gets points for doing the two character thing well overall.

[superaielman]

X4 was the first real game where you can fully control Zero from start to finish and he doesn't utterly suck, so that makes sense. Meep was right- the game is built around him in general.

[Niu]

Random info on X4. It was a anniversary project originally, and was the highest budget X game until then. And the game was known to be the fans favorite along with X2. But, the sales didn't live up tot he expectation. X4 sold 200000, which is just not enough for the huge project that is x4. And then X5 come by, which well, isn't half as goo das X4. But guess what, X5 sold 200000 copies as well. I think what message Capcom got from this is quite obvious. It is no wonder they start making bad X games when they see the bad one sold the same as the good ones. Oh, and the fact that X8 sold less than 100000 made Capcom lose all hope.