What Games Are You Playing: 2008

[superaielman]

It's the SNES version he's playing.

EDIT: Djinn, GE's much harder than normal Brig. Dig up the old topic we have on the old boards, we had a giant ass topic devoted to talk about it, including menu translations and all the mechanics info you could need.

Give Esgares a shot before you switch to GE. Zemeckis in Brig is too much fun to use.

[Meeplelard]

Holy Bottles are your friend, yes.  Unlike many "Lower Encounter Items", Holy Bottles not only work really well, but they also last a decent amount of time.  This is contrast to ToD Holy Bottles which didn't really do much (partially cause the encounter rate wasn't that high to begin with), and they didn't really last very long either.

And ToPo's Misgivings are somewhat forgivable when you consider it was the first game to use the Tales/Star Ocean type battles (and its far better than Star Ocean 1 in that regard, which came after.  No, I won't go over everything wrong with SO1)  Granted, the game has not aged well at all, so...yeah...

Still beats the stuffing out of ToPa, which is SLOWER, stupid easy, and just plain dull the entire way through.

[Talaysen]

AT: Misha and Aurica cosmospheres finished. Blah, cut-and-pasted dialogue. Anyway, stomped Shadow Mir, and watched...fake ending #2? This time complete with end credits? Whuhzuh? That was weird. Would the game genuinely have ended there if I'd chosen the first option afterwards? I didn't, of course, because it makes no sense to end the game in that fashion. Now moving on with phase 3. Falss journal entries are moderately effective at making him out to be a total dick. Just got Shurelia; guess it's time to go cosmosphere diving again.

Yeah, the game ends there if you choose the other option.

[Clear Tranquil]

A13 - I just got defeated by a Giant Golden Pig WTH  Held out as long as I could but in the end I'd fully depleted my healing and reviving stock and it killed IRIS one too many times and she had been frantically casting Healing ... that option was gone with no way to revive her ...  and although it's health bar was in the red and it only had a tiny amount of it left it still wasn't dead.  Then Nell died and eventually Edge and not even his auto reviving with Fhanatos was enough to save the day. L22~

[Xeroma]

The World Ends With You - Beautifully bizarre and original, and I'm having a lot of fun. Up to Shiki chapter day 6~.

Vas is das?

And Meeple: About fucking time, man. *Awaits hateful Meeple rant at game's end. ;.;*

1. It's a DS game made by Square-Enix. It's an ARPG that plays.... absolutely nothing like any other game I've played. Takes getting used to, but it's addicting once you get past the learning curve.

2. Meeple doesn't hate Tales games, Cid. >_>;

[Crystalgate]

If you're playing the SNES version of ToP, do not use the Jet Boots in dungeons. Doing so increases the encounter rate. I'm not talking about the "since you're moving faster, it takes less time until next encounter" effect here, dashing will actually halve the distance between encounters.

Megaman X4: Beat the game with X and Zero. Fighting was fun, but the weapons you get from bosses are weak unless you hit weaknesses, in which case they are overpowered. Zero's skill were also largely lackluster with the one from Split Mushroom being a huge exceptions. This wasn't a big issue though, the default attacks almost always gets the job done. Very little survives a three hit combo or a fully changed shoot, and the Plasma upgrade is just icing the cake.

[Tonfa]

If you're playing the SNES version of ToP, do not use the Jet Boots in dungeons. Doing so increases the encounter rate. I'm not talking about the "since you're moving faster, it takes less time until next encounter" effect here, dashing will actually halve the distance between encounters.

what

what

WHAT THE FUCK!?

Excuse me as I go punch kittens.

[Meeplelard]

2. Meeple doesn't hate Tales games, Cid. >_>;

Somehow missed El-Cid's line but...yeah, I don't hate them.

I purposely avoided TotA for a while cause I knew if I played it when it was big, I'd look at every little thing I didn't like about the game and inflate it to hell.  Its the same reason I held off Persona 2 (people were whipping me into it when I had JUST STARTED PERSONA 1, and I didn't even *HAVE* Persona 2 for crying out loud), which I ended up not liking anyway, but for the most part that was "Meeple doesn't like SMTs" since the SMT I liked the most was DDS2 and its a 6/10 <_<

Instead, when TotA was hyped, I got ToL instead.  I figured I'd play SOME PostToS Tales game, one that doesn't get much hype (in the sense of "no one talks about it, for better or worse", not "no one likes it" I mean), and shut people up that way by playing a different game; weird reason to buy something? Yes.  But ToL was also $15 total and I enjoyed it for the most part (though didn't do the after game), so yeah, I can't say it was a bad decision!

In any event, playing TotA finally now cause, well, this season has a lot of TotA in it, and while I doubt I'll finish it on time, it felt like as good a time as any to start the game.  Also, my library of games to play comes down to "Pokemon Coliseum" and maybe some DS/PSP stuff which can be played at school between (or during <.<) classes.  Also the hype of TotA has died down so I can play it less jaded than I felt was possible before (basically, if a game is hyped and I WANT to play it, I'll play it (Valkyrie Profile 2 is a good example of this); if a game is hyped and I'm iffy about playing it, I'll probably avoid it since I won't be able to appreciate it, until much later.  Yeah, back lash, and I'm not one to talk about hyping games.)

(actually, I don't really kick many people into playing games unless they HAVE THE GAME AVAILABLE, if you didn't notice.  If I do, its usually jokingly.  As far as I'm concerned, don't play a game unless you genuinely want to, not cause some one told you too; this isn't to say you shouldn't recommend games, in order to make it known or try to get some interest, but buying a game based entirely on hype and kicks is a bad move if you aren't really willing.)

As far as my opinion on Tales games...yeah, I don't hate them.  ToPa is absolute garbage; I stand by this.  The game takes the original and makes just about everything that matters *WORSE*.   Tales of Destiny is pretty meh too, but it seems even Tales fans agree that game is pretty blech (Lets take the original ToP, add some interesting things in, then completely make the game easy as sin, throw a bunch of fetch quests, completely unlikable characters (HI LEON), and a large world map...oh yeah, NO FLIGHT OPTIONS! Did I forget to mention bad dungeon designs?)
My opinion of ToP (the original) has dropped, true.  I use to praise the game to hell, but...as I played it more, and my standards changed, the game lost its worth; it just didn't age well.  Its not as bad as FF4 in this regard, at least, so its still like 6/10, but yeah.
The other Tales games I played, including ND3, I generally have a positive opinion of, so...yeah <_<

I don't suspect I will hate TotA; quite the reverse.  I just figured that I couldn't play the game with a fair opinion about it unless I played it on my own accord.  I do this all the time, really.

You'll notice how the success rate of "Kick Meeple into an Anime!" has been 0%, pretty much for the same reason; if I don't do something cause I want to, I'm probably not going to like it.  I doubt I'm alone on this too...

Edit: Really, Jet Boots did that? Huh, never knew.

Granted, never used them; Cless moves about as fast as a Sprint Shoes FF6 Character, which is fast enough, and I didn't feel like wasting an accessory slot for something like that, but good to know in the future I guess <_<?

[Dark Holy Elf]

F-Zero X: Grabbed this for the VC recently. It is pretty sexy, I definitely see why I consider it my #2 favourite N64 game, despite not playing it for nearly a decade. Somewhat straddles Mario Kart and more standard racing games, only it's faster (seriously, laps are like 25 seconds, and tracks are not short in the least) and much more challenging (largely as a result). The different stats on the cars are pretty cool, as is the strategy of when to boost. Solid music too.

Currently working towards winning the Expert cups. If memory serves there's another, even nastier difficulty category after this.


MMX3: Man, Crystalgate, if you think MMX4 weapons are bad...

Anyway. Bustered all the bosses, minimal upgrades, etc. Gravity Beetle gave me a lot of trouble, the dual gravity orb attack was hard to dodge, and 8 damage is a lot. Crush Crawfish was also good but realising that there's not much reason to dodge the spindly stuff he shoots made him much easier. Blast Hornet was decent but not as good as I remember. Neon Tiger was okay. Volt Catfish... I remember I had an argument with someone about his desperation move (Tai?), and whoever it was claimed you can't hide from it in the top corner. You can. You definitely, definitely can. This made him a joke, although above half HP he got a couple hits off. Toxic Seahorse was really boring and repeititive (and easy), Tunnel Rhino... meh. Blizzard Buffalo... lol. Bit was okay, Byte I finally figured out (just need to really never be anywhere near his gravity well), Vile is pretty easy if not as bad as MMX1.

Game is way, way too reliant on bosses who involve a pattern of ramming into the wall to knock you off. Tunnel Rhino, Blizzard Buffalo, Tunnel Rhino's sub-boss, both Viles... all get owned pretty much the same way. Yawn.

Beat Sigma without E-tanks, leaving only X2 from the first four I need to do this for. Shield Sigma I eventually got the hang of, which is nice, I'd never beaten him without an E-tank before. Kaiser... isn't as bad as I thought, though still definitely not good. He is really damn damaging, but he's fragile for an MMX final, and has moves that vary from "not too hard to dodge" to "lol fail". Funny how the most damaging Sigmas are the easiest; shows how little damage actually matters. Kaiser isn't helped in normal runs by the fact that MMX3 secrets are the most obvious in the series. Which incidentally remains the best thing about this game. Because otherwise it's definitely the worst MMX I've played. WTF to the weapons in general, only a few decent bosses, stages of utter boredom.

I hate the L4 buster. The delay after firing it kicks my ass sometimes. I'd never get it if it wasn't needed for the sexy helmet upgrade and the stupid broken armour.

[Meeplelard]

No, Elfboy; it was me.

And the sparks are randomized, and they *CAN* hit you up there.  Its not often, but I was hit while up there.  Its not a perfect safe spot, though its about the best you can get since the sparks = no for dodging normally.

You probably just got lucky, but when I bustered him, he was getting me on cheap shots while I was up there.  Its not a perfect safe spot in any event.

[Dark Holy Elf]

It was 100% in both the regular run and the Doppler run of him. You have to be in the correct corner (he's not exactly in the centre of the room, so if you're in the corner closer to him, you may get hit as you described) but it never failed for me.

And even if he did once every blue moon, he fails too much at damage to be a threat.

[Niu]

The World Ends With You - Beautifully bizarre and original, and I'm having a lot of fun. Up to Shiki chapter day 6~.

Vas is das?

And Meeple: About fucking time, man. *Awaits hateful Meeple rant at game's end. ;.;*

1. It's a DS game made by Square-Enix. It's an ARPG that plays.... absolutely nothing like any other game I've played. Takes getting used to, but it's addicting once you get past the learning curve.

And that is not the end of the weirdness. The whole Shibuya with exaggerated art style thing, and the insane characters with quirky lines. Do you know this game actually made me fall in love with a math brainiac??? This takes skills.

[superaielman]

Tried F-Zero for the GC Elfboy? I tried playing that one and it's too hard. I love the game but.. I can't even win races on the hardest setting. It beats my ass like none other.

[Grefter]

You know I never actually knew that about ToPo.  That explains a bit really.  If I ever replay it I will continue to use them anyway.

[AAA]

Just randomly decided to replay Super Metroid a few days ago. Fucking around in Norfair right now. I have..Missles, Bombs, Super Missles, Hi-Jump, Speed Booster, Varia Suit, Super Bombs, Ice Beam, and Spazer roughly in that order. I guess I'm supposed to go nab the Gravity suit or whatever it is that lets you run in water right now. I'm not using a FAQ or anything, just sorta doing it at my own pace and shit. I don't know why I like Metroid games but mostly get bored with Castlevania, they're basically exactly the fucking same.

[Tonfa]

Megaman 1:

Beaten.

Glitchy, unplayable without savestates.

MEGA MAN PLOT.

EDIT: Oh yeah ToP. Future is super exciting and dynamic and all that. Also MEGA MAN PLOT.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Tried F-Zero for the GC Elfboy? I tried playing that one and it's too hard. I love the game but.. I can't even win races on the hardest setting. It beats my ass like none other.

Given how much I enjoy this game, I should maybe track that one down, too. N64 one was just too accessible though. Virtual Console for Godlike.

[Taishyr]

 

Gravity Beetle gave me a lot of trouble, the dual gravity orb attack was hard to dodge, and 8 damage is a lot.

Huh? I've... I tend to kill Gravity Beetle First, and do it without much problems. If I remember right, there's a really easy pattern due to the fact that the dual gravity bullets always exit the same way so dodging's not an issue. I'd need to replay it again to check, but he's usually my first opponent.

Volt Catfish... I remember I had an argument with someone about his desperation move (Tai?), and whoever it was claimed you can't hide from it in the top corner. You can. You definitely, definitely can. This made him a joke, although above half HP he got a couple hits off.

Yeah, you had this argument with me as well. I still feel like he's the hardest one to take on right off the gate, but that may just be a side-effect of my playstyle.

Byte I finally figured out (just need to really never be anywhere near his gravity well),

Byte is actually somewhat fun to fight once you've gmot his pattern down and know how to get away from the well. Killing him without taking hits is amusing.

[Nitori]

DQ4DS: Got Ragnar and the Zenithian Helm~. Stupid Marquis de Leon and Balzack actually forcing me to actually think with these things, although Alena and Kiryl probably came back way underlevelled relatively (10 to 14), so that was likely where the difficulty came from.

The World Ends With You: Shiki Day 4. Insane, insane game. <3 the artstyle and the battle system, it is just crazy fun for some reason. Stylus stuff seems a little off but that could be me failing and trying to hit super fast things with stylus-slash pins.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Tai: Yeah, I tried Gravity Beetle a few more times. Think I somewhat have the hang of him now, though if I get on the wrong side of him I still get hurt bad. Also managed to lose my handle on Crush Crawfish apparently. Gah his grab move hurts.

Bustered Volt Catfish again. Twice. Didn't take damage from the low-HP move either time. Sooo yeah, I dunno there! All I can think of is that (a) you're trying the wrong corner (it's always left, for me? But regardless, it's the one farther from him), or (b) you aren't mashing jump fast enough. Very easy boss to me. I can see him being decent before you figure this out, but not really after.

Byte... I dunno, once I figured out the trick I found him kinda boring. ;_;

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

FFX - whee quadratic strength and magic formula. Watching Lulu deal over 50k damage a turn to everything is funny.

[Dark Holy Elf]

FFX - whee quadratic strength and magic formula. Watching Lulu deal over 50k damage a turn to everything is funny.

That's cubic strength. Ain't it awesome?

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

... that's even sexier~.

[Clear Tranquil]

Heh Lulu is sexy in general really. I love the cactuar she gets from that merchant ... Oaka? with the nifty factor on it. Though I know that with Expert! Sphere grid some people prefer Yuna over her cause of her superior magic stat so they teach her all the Black Magics instead and ... ditch Lulu o_o Since I'm in PAL I got the Expert Sphere Grid but I always preferred Lulu anyway.

AI3 - Golden Pig ate it to an OHKO of Soul Burst o_o Jiptus Edge/Siren Nel/Iris for increased hits w/th L3 Swiftness to fill the burst gauge quicker. Switched back to Fhanatos for learing skills ... then I experienced the same golden pig problem in the phantom Kobold.  Ugh. Either I completely and utterly fail ... or Fhanatos does. Shadow's End was no where near as good as I expected =/

[Pyro]

Plua and Jiptus Edge rock. The others aren't particularly impressive.

Mana Khemia:

Beaten! Overall a pretty bloody awesome game, albeit the last chapter dragged since they didn't introduce much new stuff for you to play with.

The game's plot is pretty lame (Gust game with a bad main plot. Shock), but everything else makes up for it. The characters are fun enough individually, and together they have a synergy and connection that makes them greater than the sum of their parts. The workshop feels like a real family in the way they support, squabble, and play with each other. The developing bonds between the workshop crew develop gradually and are demonstrated in an impressive number of scenes ranging from major plot revelations to cute interaction scenes that pop up in each new chapter. Even something as simple as a scene showing the group working on synthesis while helping each other out and chatting is a step in the right direction for developing the group, and there are a very large number of such scenes. Character specific quests also impressed me for focusing on more than just one character and allowing for the entire cast to interact in amusing and charming ways. The game would have suffered a lot had it been like Ar Tonelico and focused on Vayne's interaction with everyone. His interaction with the others is important for his development, but he's not exactly likable. The game's focus on developing the group rather than individuals benefited it greatly, and it was enough for me to overlook the game's lackluster core plot and approve of the story as a whole. My biggest complaint is that they didn't really develop the world outside of the academy at all, and even Al-Revis was only explored as a setting superficially.

But MK isn't a story game, fundamentally. Its a gameplay game. And it shines in that department. The grow book and item synthesis are unique and interesting ways to develop characters, and tying their development to how much you have synthesized works pretty bloody well with the style of a group of people training to become alchemists and learning new things every day. The variety of abilities is a lot of fun too. Nothing is so overpowered that it unbalances the game, but there are a ton of cool abilities ranging from MT status immunity to limit moves to healing that acts as regen for 2 turns to debuffs. The game hands you new abilities at a nice pace, so you almost always have something new to play around with. The other thing the game does really well is working SP manipulation into the game. In the earlygame you have limited SP with which to use your moves. This is a huge issue all the way up until you get your 4th and 5th party members and the support system unlocks. Then SP managing becomes an issue of having those who have lost all their SP switch out for someone in the Support row and wait until the one who switched out regens their SP. This dynamic remains until the endgame, where you get a huge amount of full SP regeneration items.

I'll take a moment to express my approval of the Support system. Its a dynamic method of party management that allows you to switch out party members in unique ways. This also changes over time, gaining new addition like Variable Attacks and special support abilities like damage nulling on a defense support or defense busting on an offense support. Its like FFX's system, only with a lot more two it and a good deal more key to the combat. Its just loads of fun, and even meshes perfectly with the concept of the group being more than the sum of its parts. Teamwork is the golden rule of Mana Khemia, both in plot and battle.

The game's challenge is sufficient, although I would have preferred the last string of bosses to be much better (the C10 and C11 bosses were cool, but the C12 bosses blew). Nightime hunts ranged from annoyingly easy to ARGHFUCKWHYNOFAIR. They tended to be fun, at the very least.

Anyways, character thoughts!

Vayne: Whiny spineless punk kid. Okay, so he gradually gets better, but he's Shinji Ikari... if Shinji were surrounded by a cast of supporting friends. DLwise he's a low Heavy off of Overealm -> kill. He can generally take a hit, so thats a pretty good strategy all in all.

Jessica: Pink haired pyro. She wasn't as fun as she could have been (the *spoilers* with her felt forced, albeit worked into the main plot). I did her ending and didn't particularly like it. She's a Middle off of awesome healing and silence. The charge damage isn't that impressive due to the charge time, and Minimum Tornado sucks at hurting things.

Nikki: Horny catgirl. Okay, thats not really fair. Nikki can be fun, and she at least has a few other good points. She joins Vane in Heavy, with speed + 2HKO damage + ID for kicks. Throw in the dummy doll move with Blocking and she can play a pretty good "evade" buffing game.

Flay: BURNING JUSTICE. Flay is always a hoot, although the VA didn't suit him very well. He wasn't very much of a leader, thats for bloody sure. Still. BURNING JUSTICE was pretty amusing. DL Middle? He can hurt things but doesn't have any other tricks. Well, Buster Stars being good offense over time I guess, but those aren't going to swing many matches.

Pamela: Ditzy ghost girl who likes to play pranks on people. She is generally amusing and has some O_o scenes that really sell her. Also probably my MVP in-game. Auto-ressurection less than a turn after she was killed? YES PLEASE. Physical immunity? YES PLEASE. 6k damage at low HP with keeping her that low being workable? HELL YES. Just pretty awesome all around. DL Heavy. Full parasitic healing and physical immunity and a limit move that kills things. Works pretty well.

Anna: Loli swordgirl. She's probably the most mature of the group, even being a 14 year old amongst 19 year olds (which contrasts with Pamela being centuries old and being... well... Pamela). She's pretty fun, and Centriflora X is an awesome move for animation. DL middle. She has a lot of cool moves but nothing overpowered by any means. Speed + Quick is good, but not good enough for Heavy I think.

Roxis: Jerk. Despite being a jerk, he works pretty well in the group, offering fairly objective opinions at various points. DL Middle? He's got awesome damage over a long period of time! But no. He's mostly 2HKO damage off of sub-par but not bad speed. Status immunity move is cool, if you don't allow Aroma materials full status blocking anyway.

Muppy: Bizarre alien. Muppy is kind of a strange addition to the cast, to say the least. But he's fun at times! Yeah, mostly a throw-away I think. DLwise he's a Middle too. TURNS ENEMIES INTO PUNIS FOR THE WIN. Otherwise, durable, but the big damage being fire kind of sucks.


Tony: Middle? Not sure what unlocks Path of Evil, but that means he has good damage. Durability is workable enough.

Renee: Also Middle. Azureflame Mana + her can put on some pain, but not overwhelming by any means. I could be underestimating her but I doubt it.

C10 boss *spoilers* : Arsekickingly good. Godlike. Timed cards for long-term damage and borderline OHKO single turn damage, with Break for pesky PCs and so on and so forth.

Mmm. 6-7/10 game? Its hard to ignore the flaws but its a lot of fun.