What Games Are You Playing: 2008

[Talaysen]

Grefter, something being original doesn't make it not stupid.  I'm actually surprised you of all people would use that as an only defense.

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Final Fantasy 4 DS - Got a Mindflayer summon!  Need to get Goblin and then I'm off to the underworld or something.

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure LLNA - Up to the heart right now.  Some notes:

Gao: OHKOs.  Ow.  Basically was just a blitz.

Painting: Doesn't move.  lol

Centaur: Found out here that Sleep lasts forever or until hit by a basic physical.  This will be abused more from now on.  Yes.

Right Heart: Also doesn't move, and isn't very durable either.

Center Heart: Also also doesn't move, but comes with support that goes first and OHKO the puppets and 2HKO Cornet/temp.  And don't get OHKOd by Pancakes.  Pain.  I can get the support dead with Cornet/temp alive, but then I still have to take on the heart without magic or puppets, which... really sucks.  Think I've got a plan though.

[superaielman]

GoC: Goddamn is Jackel/Nightly so wrong.. yet, so, so right. Beat the Dragon, now on to the start of the next chapter. Pathsplit looks like it happens soon, I can't wait. I'll probably do both sides of it.

[Yakumo]

Man, it's like our BvS village is the testing ground for all the new Kaiju, we always seem to get them right away.  Just beat up Celeste, and I snagged her daggers.  ^_^

Off four attacks over three days, no less. 

[Grefter]

Grefter, something being original doesn't make it not stupid.  I'm actually surprised you of all people would use that as an only defense.

That is the thing, this is not stupid and exists for the reasons Consonant even acknowledged without me needing to beat on the point.  It is about the world building of it, which in turn is one of the many things that shows in Torment that you are not in fact the centre of the universe and that things proceed without you (in spite of the fact that there is an insanely large number of big things that get traced back to TNO, he is on the whole such a minor force in the history of Sigil) while forcing the hand of the player to do some questionable actions to proceed (even Good in Sigil isn't super nice...) and it ultimately provides you with more history on what happened to TNO at the end. 

It is actually the main goal you have been looking for ever since you wake up in the mortuary.  You spend a long time finding Pharod and that is what is drummed on, but why are you looking for Pharod?  To find where you died last to try and piece together what the fuck is going on.  The alley is where you died last.  It shows you the last incarnation getting gang raped by Shadows.  You find out this is where Annah found you.  You talk to the Alley about all of this.  You cannot do that while it is in labour.

So there big blah blah for why the Alley exists and is important.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

NxC - I'm at stage... 8? I think so. KOS-MOS is pretty funny, by the way. *Points KOS-MOS at enemy.* *Enemy BLOWS UP from full life midway through the chain.* And she also has awesome Movement and good durability. And she just got S-CHAIN to boot! um, yeah.

[Niu]

Allow me explain the overpoweredness of KOS-MOS in detail.
First, she can get one more attack branch for every 3 attacks. She also has game best atk and high multipliers. She also eventually recharge MP while she attack. She eventually gets turn boost. She has self healing and atk boost and state bust. End result? She solo maps like nobody's business.

[Meeplelard]

Crisis Core: Working on missions still...slowly...

Disgaea 2: Got off my ass and started this up finally. Just finished Chapter 3.

Not much to say yet, besides that the cast and general humor is clearly a step down from Disgaea 1.  Though, fights seem a bit less stupid, and Healers being able to actually level up is certainly nice!

Will reserve judgment until later, etc.

[Captain K.]

Man, it's like our BvS village is the testing ground for all the new Kaiju, we always seem to get them right away.  Just beat up Celeste, and I snagged her daggers.  ^_^

Off four attacks over three days, no less. 

Village leader is summoning it.  We've had all of them as well.

BvS:  Made Sannin, and top 3 for the day, so I got 2 B A Master!!!  Which is awesome but had a lame prize.

City of Heroes:  Made a new villain, Sir Thelius Lordham, the criminal mastermind.  With my dashing fashion choices and hired mercenaries, I can take on any nefarious task.  Currently level 8.

[Sierra]

PST: Wow, it's like I'm back in chapter two of BG2. Sigil sidequesting madness is proceeding nicely. Also acquired 1x succubus and 1x industrial strength flamer. May just ditch Ignus for Nordom or Vhailor when I find them, because I gotta say I'm not comfortable traveling with the dude. It feels like I'm walking around with the sentient nuke from Dark Star. Just not a good idea. Anyway, got some Brothel stuff to wrap up and then I think I'm pretty much done with the area. Oh, there's the siege tower in the lower ward, too. Haven't done that yet.

As far as characters go, Grace is pretty cool--and let me unlock Morte's backstory, which is a damned fine piece of writing.

Cube hero hype goes here. Vrischika's shop has some pretty cool stuff in general, actually. Is everything there fodder for some later sidequest?

[Monkeyfinger]

Disgaea 2: Well I've definitely found one way in which 1 is a lot better.

To have a shot at passing decent bills, you needed promotions in 1 and felonies in 2. Promotions required simple solo fights. Felonies require item world treks.

I HATE DISGAEA 2 ITEM WORLDS.

[Yakumo]

Man, it's like our BvS village is the testing ground for all the new Kaiju, we always seem to get them right away.  Just beat up Celeste, and I snagged her daggers.  ^_^

Off four attacks over three days, no less. 

Village leader is summoning it.  We've had all of them as well.

BvS:  Made Sannin, and top 3 for the day, so I got 2 B A Master!!!  Which is awesome but had a lame prize.

City of Heroes:  Made a new villain, Sir Thelius Lordham, the criminal mastermind.  With my dashing fashion choices and hired mercenaries, I can take on any nefarious task.  Currently level 8.

Well, yes, I know they're being summoned, but there's lots of little ones we haven't beaten yet and we still keep getting the new big bad ones.  Not that I'm complaining, having snagged two of their items so far, just seems a bit odd.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

NxC - Stage 15 or something? The game's really fun if you don't mind the pacing. KOS-MOS got A-7 MODE and an upgrade to S-SAULT, so the offense's beginning to delve into *boggle.* mode. The durability is also getting huge, the defense is way too good and the HP is great, too. Then, I just got Mitsurugi and Taki, who FAILFAILFAIL.

[Smashy]

NetHack: I fail at this game.  Currently playing a neutral Monk.  Just found some more bones and the quest teleporter.  Low HP is eww, though.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

NxC - The best way to make Shion/MOMO not fail at taking hits: slap three billion HP boosters on them. That way, their good resists and above average defense begin to actually matter. Also, it's awesome how the percentage-based draining HP and MP skills are hilariously abusable. Parasitic healing on spells in a SRW-style spellcasting system is immense hax.

[Niu]

Indeed. Demitri is an escaping bosses slayer until bosses that can't be targeted by spells appear.
Also, Shion/M.O.M.O don't really need hp boosters. If you take the time to block, they usually don't die anyway. Boosting their MP is what you want, they are really good support spell casters until Rose joins, whose spell list is just ridiculous.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Do Shion/MOMO even need the MP boosters, though? I mean, Queen's Kiss is awesome hax for solving resource issues right there, and they have Morrigan-level MP to boot. I may consider it when I get more MP boosters, though, it just happens that Demitri has the only one I've got for better Midnight Bliss abuse.

EDIT: ALSO, I'M USING TRON BONNE AND NONE OF YOU CAN STOP ME BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA eh she's a good sniper anyway. >_>

[Captain K.]

GH1:  Beat all songs on Medium difficulty.  Fuck you, No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age.

[Meeplelard]

Disgaea 2: Just started Chapter 8.  Was a bit worried when they forced you into a fight with no intermission between the Axel fight and that fight, though, a geo paneless fight with Zombies and a Dragon was nothing too serious so wasn't too bad.

I actually did an item World thing with a sapena (or however its spelt!  It was level 22 where the guy was, so I went only a few floors in before I exited.
However! All was not for lost as I got some...really good stuff from there.

Basically, while Item World still kind of sucks, it feels more worth it this time cause the rewards are a lot more immediate  Probably won't bother much more with it since its not worth the nuisance, but at least its nice to know my one little attempt did become fruitful!

In any event, so far, game is still more or less better in most gameplay areas significantly (mainly Geo Panels are handled MUCH better; they haven't been stab inducing yet!), but worse in characters significantly.  At least Etna's still awesome when she pops in though.

[Monkeyfinger]

What grinds my gears about item worlds this time around is the huge cliffs. That + 2.5D camera = YOU CAN'T FUCKING SEE ANYTHING.

That, and the fact that because item worlds give good rewards, you have a conundrum: Be unable to pass all but the most basic resolutions and the game is too hard, or be wallowing in the experience and loot you got on the way to the dark courts and the game is too easy.

One useful protip I've found: You can move bailifs. So, for instance, move a level 12 bailiff to a random sword or something and fight your way down to him. Gency out. Move a 14 Bailiff to the sword. Repeat. etc. One bailif per item, watch out for that restriction.

[Dunefar]

FF4DS: Started this about a week ago and I've played through to the end of Zot.

This feels like a 5/10 game to me? I'm not happy with how they changed the game, slogging through this has felt like more of a chore than a game. The battle system changes are mediocre as well. The graphics are plain ugly too.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

NxC - KOS-MOS learned the MP Regen skill. Gooooooooooooooooodbye, game.

[Tonfa]

What grinds my gears about item worlds this time around is the huge cliffs. That + 2.5D camera = YOU CAN'T FUCKING SEE ANYTHING.

That, and the fact that because item worlds give good rewards, you have a conundrum: Be unable to pass all but the most basic resolutions and the game is too hard, or be wallowing in the experience and loot you got on the way to the dark courts and the game is too easy.

One useful protip I've found: You can move bailifs. So, for instance, move a level 12 bailiff to a random sword or something and fight your way down to him. Gency out. Move a 14 Bailiff to the sword. Repeat. etc. One bailif per item, watch out for that restriction.

You know you can abuse felonies by stack throwing people on a court gate, right?

[TranceHime]

Fire Emblem DS: Finally started this! Finished the Prologue, just to get a taste of what the new game is all about, and I can say that it does look really impressive. It's much easier to check enemy stats now due to the advent of the second screen and it seems, for me, much easier to strategize than way back in the original. I think I'm going to enjoy this a /lot/.

[Meeplelard]

Disgaea 2: Started Chapter 10.  And by started, I mean did plot scenes, then started sending my new PC with a bunch of equips from a generic who I have just deleted (yay filler? And shut up, I like using Plot PCs! ...even if I've barely touched Tink...) and sent her to solo earlier maps so she can get SOME levels, thus become at least usable (enough that I can kill feed her the rest of the way up anyway.)

Game continues to be more or less what I've been saying.  Worse on humor/characters/plot, considerably improved on Gameplay.  And no, despite Monkey's claims, you can ignore Item World and the game doesn't become "A lot harder"; you just need to update your equipment, and remember to upgrade it when it starts feeling weak.  Getting the MOre Expensive Stuff bill passed is easy even without any Felonies (Adell has 0 Felonies and had a 68% support for the last one so...)

[Monkeyfinger]

How the fuck.

I could barely break 40% of those more expensive stuff bills.