What Games Are You Playing: 2008

[Xeroma]

Look at my final party Niu. My best multihit spammer was Ilia. >_>

[Pyro]

(Caution, FE10 spoiler-like substance)

What? He's like, the main villain.

I know his role was pretty important prior to part 4, but the way the plot shifted focus... he felt like he was only there to say "Oh yeah and you get to kick this guy's ass and solve that other problem too." I suppose it would make more sense if the second-to-last boss used him with the explicit intent that he gets killed, though.

[Grefter]

Arena being as prominent as it is has negative effects on the health of the game.  They do not however epitomoise mindless repetative stupid grind for nothing by doing the same repetative 5 things over and over again for hours.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Fallout. Fucking. Three.

[Grefter]

Let me know how shit it is.

[Taishyr]

Yeah, Gracia is arguably the worst character in the game.  And that's *with* her infinite wall trap and being rather good on a horse.  The rest of her moveset is that bad.

Also, apparently that flamethrower move of Zhang Jiao's has a pretty high damage multiplier.  So that helps him a lot.

Imagawa's worse. Zhang Jiao has an argument but he can't attach Ice which would be about his only way to make that flamethrower useful since otherwise they get knocked around a lot by it and... I dunno, the capability to quick-kill officers, no matter how shoddy, tends to outweigh what feels like generic eh.

[Meeplelard]

Technically, douche bag villain guy of FE10 (avoiding spoilers) IS in FE9, just he has like 2 lines total.  FE9 has a lot of characters in FE10 who you don't realize were in FE9 cause their role was practically zilch.

A less extreme example, but shows the point well enough, is Zelgius.  Plays a minor role in FE9 as just the guy who brought Begnion's army to assist Ike and has like all of two scenes, etc, don't really need to explain how much larger he is in FE10; the first 6 chapters of Part 3 or so alone see well to this.

[Niu]

I don't think Zelgius would be a good example, cosider who he turn out to be.

[DomaDragoon]

OoE: One doggie Glyph down, two to go. Got my very first boss medal, too. Woo. Wow, the automatic regen powerup sucks this time.

Fallout 3 - Um, I own it, I guess. Haven't manage to play it because my brother's been playing CoD4 for four hours straight... again. As I'm probably not too far off in my guess that Rob's first character is going to be gun-oriented, I'm going to try a positive karma melee build with S/E/I emphasis.

[Hunter Sopko]

WA:XF- Back from the past... Nightstalker continues to glee. Once I master it he's probably going back to Secutor for killer ATK.

TotA- Back to Baticul, about to head off on that Ambassador errand. Luke's a tool, but it at least makes sense given his background. Liking the game so far.

[superaielman]

DQ4r- Hey Zenny, Dragonriders still suck. *Gets jumped in the Zenthian Armor cave, Brey gets one rounded* Fuck.

Baalzack was.. .tough at first but ultimately managable. Having two healers who could take a hit made it managable, along with Kiryl kicking his usual amount of ass. Funny thing: Nara has a very brief section of the game where she's better than Cristo, and that's from Cristo joining till he gets midheal.. so less than one area. Fail, Nara.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Let me know how shit it is.

Honestly, other than VATS being too prevalent, it's really quite good. You can actually have Fallout-type conversations instead of the TES information spreadsheet bullshit. The art direction and such are brilliant, as is the fact that equipment actually breaks down now. When my assault rifle's condition drops below a certain point, for example, not only does damage go down further, but it takes longer to reload because the top round in the mag doesn't sit straight.

My main gripe so far is that I've found one town, and then heard of Rivet City. Other than that, every town I get to doesn't have anyone I can sell shit to, which means I have to carry nine Chinese Assault Rifles back to Megaton.

[AAA]

NG2-Chapter 10. Fuck you, rocket launcing ninjas. What kind of ninja uses a rocket launcher anyway? The scythe is a pretty fun weapon, slow but hits hard and is good for stunning bigger enemies. Haven't gotten the chance to try the Tonfas out yet, will do so soon. Also got the Flail fully upgraded, which just leaves one weapon left to fully upgrade! Bosses have actually been pretty simple as of late. The last one was pretty tough simply because of all the support it could summon which led to a lot of projectiles flying through the air. Not to mention you have to shoot it with the bow which means you have to stand still and charge. Aggravating!

[Meeplelard]

I don't think Zelgius would be a good example, cosider who he turn out to be.

My point is that the name "Zelgius" is something I could see being totally forgettable in FE9.  Yeah, he's there...but his role is so superficial, it was just a tease and "The Bengion army is here and this guy is their general!"  FE10, however, its hard to forget him since his role is so much larger in Part 3 alone (main adversary, not so much a villain since he's clearly just taking orders, but he's the guy openly confronting you)

There are several other characters I could have used to note that they existed in FE9 but as mere teaser NPC roles that were much larger in FE10; Izuka and Kurthnaga are others, for example.  Heck, FE9 even references Micaiah at one point or another (Sothe talks about how he's looking for someone, if nothing else.)

[DomaDragoon]

Fallout 3: The Wacky Adventures of Doma!

Well, my life gets off to an auspicious start, as I (at the tender age of 1) read Baby's First Stat Distribution Book, and wind up with an extra three points in Intelligence, 2 each in Strength and Endurance, and a weak Perception. Next comes my birthday where Obligatory Female Love Interest gives me a comic book, some crazy old bat gives me a poem, and my old man gives me a gun. Thanks, Dad.

Six years pass and I'm now in the career aptitude test from hell, and I find that my future job is Priest. Yay me! Tag Barter, Medicine, and Melee (I think). Hah hah, bully boy's a barber.

And I'm being shook awake by OFLI... hey come on baby, I'm not a machine... what? Everyone's trying to kill me? Darn it, you told your dad about us, didn't you. Oh well, I've got a baseball bat and some heads to crack. Long story short, everyone's dead except for my eventual father-in-law and OFLI.

Boy, the world sure is bright... and brown. Wander around the junk filling up to capacity until I find a big hunk of junk called Megaton. Meet the mayor/sheriff ("Hey, it worked in Blazing Saddles."), accidentally say the wrong thing to the wrong person, and now the deputy's got a promotion.

Along the way, I level up to 2 and take Swift Learner. Yum, extra experience.

[Meeplelard]

Magna Carta: Just fought Astal...twice...was annoying cause he kept nearly OHKOing characters and I didn't have Calintz + Healer out like I usually do (fighting weak randoms = oh yay I can use OTHER CHARACTERS!) but I ultimately pulled through...used up most of my A Heart Reborns though.

...this game still refuses to show any signs that it may end...

[AAA]

NG2-Chapter 12! Fuck you, exploding shuriken throwing ninjas with your ability to spam me with said shuriken so I get stunlocked into exploding while you cut me up with your claws while other ninjas start attacking me and fffdaks;lghksag;lashkg;sdlakhg;lsadghal;sdgh;lsadhgl;sakhgls;dahgl;sadhglsakgh;lsakdhg;lashgsldakhgSO FULL OF HATE

Probably had the hardest set piece so far in Chapter 11. You see, you fight the first boss. Three of them. Along with the explosive shuriken ninjas, 7 or 8 at any given time. Did I mention that the first bosses can all do a grab move that knocks off a good half of your health bar, are basically impossible to stun, have a projectile attack of their own that is spammable and deals about a fourth of your health bar, AND you have to dodge that and the explosive shurikens and whatever happens to be nearby trying to ventilate your insides?

And then I get to the boss and kill it on my first try. Well, that's life.

[Dark Holy Elf]

FE10 - I've gotten up to 3-5. Team looks something like this:

Ike: Level 15 or so. Is getting RNG raped hardcore, he has gained 0 str / 1 spd / 0 def / no more than 1 point of anything else except HP. He's still good because his bases are so stupid. ... as in second best beorc on the team? Nah, probably closer to fourth.

Titania: 25 Exp from promotion, so she'll get that as soon as I parcel out this round of Bonus Exp. 29 Str / 26 Spd / 9 Move doesn't sound broken to me right now, not at all~ MVP of this part so far.

Haar: ... because the two people frequently better than her have not been getting good stat gains! Already gone over Ike, and well, Level 17 Haar has gained all of 1 speed (and he only just got that). So he's not impressing anyone offensively.

Gatrie: Capped most things that matter. Maybe not Def yet? Whatever. Gave him Celerity, which cancels out his big weakness and makes him a pretty badass unit.

Mia: Speaking of badass units, capped HP/Str/Skl/Spd already, has Adept, so she's doing well. Supporting...

Oscar: His stats could be a little better but he's still very solid all-around.

Shinon: Melee counters suck, Str isn't great, but can have some crit luck and is very fast.

Ranulf: One-rounds most things, godly durability while transformed, mobile. Raw Atk isn't quiite as good as it could be, no range is always bad, and cat transformations suck, but he's certainly a worthy addition to the team, thanks to the near-infinite supply of Olivi Grass and healthy supply of Laguz Stones I have by now. Going to be using three Laguz on the Greil team this time.

Heather: Steals.

Healers: Are barely worth deploying.

Brom: Filler. Better than the other options at it.


MM9 - Getting tired of this, but might as well beat it four more times for the Thirty Clears.

[Rozalia]

Dragoneer's Aria

Irritating moments: Main villain going from Evil dragoon man to Evil Dragoon women. Evil Dragoon man vanishing into thin air in his death scene. Mr I hate human's opening scene. Most dragons being wimps. Everyone saying Euphe has blue hair when its green.

Gold moments: Anyone calling Valen a women, a pansey, wimpy and a pretty boy. Hell even random goblins call him a women. Euphe threatening to spit water at Valen if he didn't leave her alone. Frost dragon being a good dragon and laughing at Evil dragoon women. Mr I hate humans trying to be nice to one and getting it spat back in his face for being a prat.

Current plot: Must find evil dragon orb to save world. Valen's friend getting evil thoughts about using the evil orb.
My thoughts: Yeah best friend is so going to become evil. That or he'll join the party but I'm betting he'll just become evil.

[Grefter]

Along the way, I level up to 2 and take Swift Learner. Yum, extra experience.

I was going to say that is a bad start because Swift Learner is shit and then remembered Fallout gives perks every level instead of every 3.  Character defining bonuses at their best.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

And I'm being shook awake by OFLI... hey come on baby, I'm not a machine... what? Everyone's trying to kill me? Darn it, you told your dad about us, didn't you. Oh well, I've got a baseball bat and some heads to crack. Long story short, everyone's dead except for my eventual father-in-law and OFLI.

Hard to be a love interest when you're in the game so little. S'all I'm going to say.

Also, you didn't kill the Overseer? Seriously? He talked so much shit to me while he was unarmed I HAD to teach him a lesson.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Shadow Hearts:
Well, I didn't finish my Shadow Hearts marathon before Halloween, but at least I finished SH1. I went out of my way and did all the sidequest nonsense, so yay! Seraphic Radiance! Doll house was kind of creepy, so that was cool. The rest of the sidequests were kind of a grind, but in the end, I'm glad I did them.

Got the good ending, youtubed the bad. I prefer the bad ending overall as it portrays Alice in a stronger light, having saved Yuri's soul, and I liked Alice.

The ending where she lives is nice, too, but I guess I like tragic endings.

Lovecraftian monster designs are cool, though sometimes they seem unintentionally funny.

Favorite part is definitely the "secret history" aspect of the plot - I freakin get Mata Hari on my team!

Also, after just having played Koudelka, seeing the title character return in such a large, unexpected role was really cool.

Final team was Yuri, Alice, and Keith. I didn't particularly like Keith all that much, but by the time I realized that his contribution to the story was practically zero, he was already leagues ahead of the other characters. This was surprising to me since what I've played of SH2 had Joachim in a pretty prominent role.

I'd played quite a few parts of Shadow Hearts before this while my brother was doing his playthrough, but this was the first time I sat down with it from start to finish. A pretty nice piece of work altogether. I'm definitely inspired enough to finally sit down and do SH2 from start to finish now too.

Anyone know what the Meta-God's Japanese name was? I'm trying to figure out if it might be an actual character from the Lovecraft mythos.

-Djinn

[Sierra]

Not to mention you have to shoot it with the bow which means you have to stand still and charge. Aggravating!

Having watched someone fight the final boss (also on hard mode, like you), I can report that you're not finished with sequences like this.

[DomaDragoon]

Gref: I know, but my goal was to quickly level up, and SL got doubled up (10% increase per level). As you'll see below, that perk choice still wasn't all that good, and I doubt I'll be using it again.

Rob: Good character, remember? Even if it doesn't lose Karma, I couldn't justify killing somebody who wasn't attacking me.

Fallout 3 - When we last left our hero, he had just arrived in Megaton and orphaned a small child. In shame, I fled to the north and found a local school overrun by raiders and ants. Outraged that they would treat a hall of learning in such a callous manner, I cleared them out the only way possible - with continuous baseball bats to the head. Only then did I realize that this would be the perfect staging ground for my investigations. And it quickly pays off, as I find the city of Logan's Run Big Town and the big Super Mart. Ignoring both (I mean, come on, it's not like there could possibly be anything of value in either of those places, and certainly not anything game-breaking...), I go back to Megaton and talk to other people.

My good nature is quickly taken advantage of, as I get a letter to deliver up north, a book for me to ghost write, and a junkie to shake down. Taking care of the last first, I meet the drugged up ex-lady of the night and strike a deal, and along the way hit L3. Hello, Swift Learner 2. Paying Stereotypical Irish Bartender, I learn that my Old Man (who is definitely not a Death Whale) went to the radio station. Good for him. It's sidequesting time!

Continuing my exploration, I go far enough to find that I need to help some other kid find his dad, that the letter I'm delivering is going to be a lot more trouble than expected, and that dying a lot sucks.

So I pull back into my comfort zone and clear out all the items I hadn't picked up before. I really dislike cap limits for vendors (screw the rules of physics, I want money!) Reach L4, Educated.

And then I bother to explore Big City at night, and run into some Goth chick with a lame name who sleeps around. And then I speak to her ex. And then I speak again. And again. And again.

L5 - +skill book perk.
L6 - Toughness
L7 - Intense Training (Perception)
L8 - Strong Back
L9 - Intense Training (Agility)
L10 - Intense Training (Luck)
L11 - Intense Training (I think, can't remember)
L12 - Life Giver
L13 - Fast Metabolism

And with the pile of skills, I fix leaky pipes, disarm a bomb, and get a house with my own robot butler. Huzzah!

Yeah, I'm abusing glitches. Don't look so shocked.

[Niu]

Anyone know what the Meta-God's Japanese name was? I'm trying to figure out if it might be an actual character from the Lovecraft mythos.

Nope, he isn't anyone from the Lovecraft mythos, despite all the intent to portray it as one.