What Games Are You Playing: 2008

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

NxC - Stage 37 end, methinks! Also, rain, stones and shards may break bones and rend flesh, but they can never stop KOS-MOS from 2HKOing bosses.

[Grefter]

I had forgot the name of the accessory (Also note the obscure fact that character based accessories will boost your gear, which is another point against allowing them in the DL personally).  Power Magics on your gear help as well.

Honestly, Billy is better at it in every way for things that matter at end game, he just lacks MT for it which tends not to matter for gear battles after Elly has gone.

But if you do it right Elly can OHKO some of the gear bosses on Disc 1.  Think the last one she can OHKO is one of the things you fight in the ocean.  Disclaimer I may be remembering this wrong:  The thing to remember is that  Aerods is some kind of quasi elemental spell IIRC and that things with elemental resist kind of fuck it.  Key offenders being the Elements I think?

[TranceHime]

Fire Emblem DS: I finally decided to continue while I have lots of free time on my hands. I reached Chapter 3 and decided I will take a break there, my initial thoughts on this is this: WHAT. I'm just watching Abel and Sheeda just... kill things over and over >_>;; And then Marth gains RES on a level up with 2% RES growth. The RNG has a love/hate relationship with me here >_>;; It's screwing people like Gordon over and yet blessing Sheeda, Marth and a couple of others (I think Freyr got a few great level ups there). This is... fun. And then Xer told me about the online shop where you can get a boatload of kick-ass stuff using WiFi. Since I have WiFi...

You can imagine all the things I can get this early >_>;;

[Niu]

ToV- Gah, I am spending too much time on grinding for materials instead of progressing the plot, this is why I hate games with any sort of item synthesis system....

[Pyro]

Disgaea 2: Beat a bunch of maps near the end. I don't care for the characters even slightly, and the plot is uninspiring. Side note: are Axel and Plenair supposed to be funny? The geopanel whoring is rather annoying when all I want to do is finish the game...

It really feels like this game tried to copy Disgaea 1 and failed. The gameplay may be better (haven't noticed, honestly), but the loss of humor/characters isn't worth it. That was Dis1's selling point, and without it the gameplay/presentation isn't enough to keep it afloat. But I dunno, maybe the ending will turn me around. Rozy is pretty decent.

[Meeplelard]

FF7: Just got to Corel! Now to grind for 30k Gil so I can buy a Lifetime Pass!

...also, I had forgotten that Materia is bought on the spot instead of "select one -> select amount -> purchase!" so...this ended up with me getting hastey and buying 2 revives, thus wasting 3k Gil <_<;

Crisis Core: MORE BEATING UP OF MISSIONS!  Cloud still refuses to show me his one scene *shakes fist*
Also saw an Aerith scene that I was CERTAIN I hadn't seen before...but apparently, she's still have 90% so...

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

NxC - IT'S A BISON OHSHI-

[metroid composite]

Imperishable night: Huh, there's a boss at the end of normal that doesn't seem to be there on easy.  I replayed easy to check, and the character shows up briefly, but only for the optional final spell.

[Taishyr]

You should have gotten an option on Easy after your first playthrough to go face that second boss. But yes, there are two different final bosses. Eirin, the doctornursegirl, is more gruelingly patterned but easier once you catch them. Kaguya, maiden without any hair adornment, is more of a spammer.

[Hunter Sopko]

Chaos Wars- Started playing this again after putting it down for a while. Was able to level the people I needed and progress further. Just gonna peek at a FAQ to see if/when it happens in the future. Apparently I only have to worry about 1-2 characters, none of which are solo fights. Which is fine with me. Amusing thing is that three of my main party are forced characters for a battle during the last chapter (Yuri, Hiro and Okita). That'll be smash. The only one I really have to level is Zeonslit, as physical fighters aren't very effective at lower levels. Rin, on the other hand, is lucky mages are effective at most any level and I don't have to worry as much. At 8-2. Just beat Saigou and his gang. IZOU was aggravating as hell. Nothing like a boss that can Neutralize all physical attacks for 5 turns, counter and build up his S-Gauge easy.

Just learned that the game has a Man Festival for Joachim. Tempted, but seeing as how he and all the non-Yuri and Alice SH cast are still at their starting levels, ain't happening.

[TranceHime]

Fire Emblem DS: Hit Chapter 9. I'm not moving on til I can get an Elysian Whip from the Online Store, because I'm going to promote Sheeda to a Falcon Knight. >_>;; I recruited Banutu, but he died in the same stage I forgot to give him a dragonstone. >___<;;

[Pyro]

Disgaea 2: Finally got around to finishing.

What can I say? I didn't really dig the combat system because I am not and never have been a fan of geopanels. The tricks were cute in their own right, but just felt like something tacked on in place of more competent enemies. Geopanels made the last dungeon more of a (overly lengthy) puzzle game.

Plot and characters didn't leave an impression at all. Rozy's intensely one-sided verbal ownage of the final villain was pretty cool, but I don't feel a thing at the inevitable AdellxRozy pairing.

As far as the final went, he was pretty owning for me. Very durable (not like I was being skimpy on offense, either), liked to toss around MT 2HKO in a game with limited MT healing, and was pretty frustratingly evasive. Fortunately Taro is The Man and it all worked out. MVP of the game was Adell, who just led on offense/durability without any contestors. Well, Taro contested the durability, and he put up a good fight for MVP at the end there. Reliable durability and damage is a blessing, and the counter-whoring was cool. Yukimaru had damage/range, which was nice (but... never hurt the final boss because I didn't buff her enough, I guess). A few generics were good for me, including the healer. Mage had too much Accuracy concerns to be all that good. I generally kept the same generics throughout the game.

I dunno. 5/10 game or maybe a little higher? It just didn't leave the same positive impression I got from Disgaea 1. The novelty isn't there, and I just didn't get attached to the characters at all. Marginal gameplay improvements don't feel like enough to boost it above the first.

So a decent enough game but it didn't leave as strong an impression as the first. As I said before.

[Shale]

Zelda OoT: Link grew up! Game's pretty fun so far except for Jabu-Jabu, whose gastrointestinal system makes for the worst dungeon in Zelda history. Tons of enemies that you can't hurt without taking damage (at least until you find the Boomerang in that dungeon), repetitive rooms, backtracking ahoy, and the princess is goddamned annoying in both gameplay (STOP DISAPPEARING) and dialogue. Ah well. Just got the hookshot in the future, so the Lost Woods are next on this list. Maybe by the end of those I won't be so confused at hearing Guy Shishio's voice coming out of Link.

[Dunefar]

FF4DS: Up to the Moon and I suspect I'll be here awhile between tail farming and some disinterest in the game. I could rant at length about this, but...I'll be more concise. It's not a bad game and the effort's good, but there is a generally poor implementation of changes and bad design choices throughout. 

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

NxC - A trail of villain corpses is left behind my path. Now, to slaughter Gnosis for probably the last time in the game. Wow, long game is long.

[Pyro]

Trapt: Cute concept. The Princess' father is murdered, and she is framed for it. Princess Alicia (Princess Alicias have a tendency to fail or rock. Little in between...) is forced into hiding in a mansion... that has a demon sealed in it. Who possesses her and forces her gentle-natured self to massacre intruders or face unjust execution herself. This could have been a cool game if the gameplay wasn't so poor. Bad camera angles, enemies move laughably, and the traps are overkill after a fashion because a simple combo available from the beginning works on nearly everything. Oh well. Maybe C11+ will make me eat my words but I doubt it.

Conceptually it is as neat as Ico but the execution is infinitely poorer.

[Shale]

It's weird that the gameplay is the weak link there; the series has had more than enough time to iron that crap out.

[Talaysen]

I dunno, dropping a GIANT ROCK on unsuspecting fools is pretty entertaining at least.

Also, KAGERO DECEPTION PLOT.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

The third game was the one with the better gameplay concepts, I think? All three were executed pretty haphazardly, though.

[Grefter]

Zelda OoT: Link grew up! Game's pretty fun so far except for Jabu-Jabu, whose gastrointestinal system makes for the worst dungeon in Zelda history. Tons of enemies that you can't hurt without taking damage (at least until you find the Boomerang in that dungeon), repetitive rooms, backtracking ahoy, and the princess is goddamned annoying in both gameplay (STOP DISAPPEARING) and dialogue. Ah well. Just got the hookshot in the future, so the Lost Woods are next on this list. Maybe by the end of those I won't be so confused at hearing Guy Shishio's voice coming out of Link.

I laughed.  Fuck you Water Temple.

[Fudozukushi]

Zelda OoT: Link grew up! Game's pretty fun so far except for Jabu-Jabu, whose gastrointestinal system makes for the worst dungeon in Zelda history. Tons of enemies that you can't hurt without taking damage (at least until you find the Boomerang in that dungeon), repetitive rooms, backtracking ahoy, and the princess is goddamned annoying in both gameplay (STOP DISAPPEARING) and dialogue. Ah well. Just got the hookshot in the future, so the Lost Woods are next on this list. Maybe by the end of those I won't be so confused at hearing Guy Shishio's voice coming out of Link.

I laughed.  Fuck you Water Temple.

[TranceHime]

Pokemon FR Touhou ver.: Someone linked this to me and I decided to give it a try. And damn, is this interesting. It apparently deviates from the traditional Pokemon typing and stats and even numbering. In the beginning the Touhou characters you can get are "Chibi" form, denoted by their overworld icon with a "CH". Sakuya, who replaces Squirtle, for instance, is Pure Ice and is rather well-balanced, except for Sp.ATK which is slightly lower. Medicine follows a tanky build with POIZN, as well. So... I'm going to be enjoying this.

[Idun]

Honestly, Billy is better at it in every way for things that matter at end game, he just lacks MT for it which tends not to matter for gear battles after Elly has gone.

IIRC since I just beat it, Billy ends up healing some bosses with his ETH ATK (Square button??) whereas Aerods did not. Either way, if you're going for brute force, Billy, Fei and Citan are the best ways to go - speed and strength and all. And yes, I found out the hard way that Aerods heals the Elementals, but... I remember that it hurt one - can't remember who. You just have to pay attention to who announces themselves first and remember their element. A hassle and totally not worth the time.

Emmy hype.

[DjinnAndTonic]

I moved to Japan and since I won't get my first paycheck until Thursday, I've had plenty of time to work on the games I brought with me.

Sat down with Grandia 3 that I finally picked up again after only about 4 hours before (back when I first got it), I got all the way to "Xorn's Castle in the Sky" on disc 2, so I suppose that says something about how well-paced the game is that I haven't lost interest yet. Or how short the game is. Or how easy it is to finish these sorts of things when I'm devoid of distractions and trying to save money.

I don't have internet access except  for these brief moments when I'm at work and I can't really visit game sites. Any idea how much longer this game is? Are there any outstanding secrets or tips that are easy-to-miss?

-Djinn

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

NxC - Beaten! I've actually been wanting to rant about this game for a while, but I'll leave that for later. Right now, I just have to laugh at Saya Ganeden for being single-handedly walled by KOS-MOS.