What are you playing?

[Hucklebubba]

Oct 23, 2008 8:34:53 GMT -5 TheLuckyOne said:

FF Chronicles collects FF VI and Chrono Trigger

Tut tut, my good man. You mean IV, I think.

Oct 23, 2008 15:52:58 GMT -5 BlackCatWhiteCat said:

Dare I ask how Tactics fits into all of this?

You know, I'm tempted not to respond, simply because I'm afraid I'll embarass myself by spraying geek-juice all over everything.

Put as calmly and succinctly as I know how, Tactics is, in my opinion, worthy of being enshrined in the same inner sanctum of awesomeness as VI and VII.

However, it isn't for everyone, and is quite different from any other game in the FF series. A couple of things you should know when deciding whether or not it's worth looking into:

1. There Will Be Grinding.

2. Even after you've spent countless sad hours having your guys turn the last enemy into a chicken and then beat up on each other for experience and job points, some of the battles will still be harder than piss. Which I've always thought was kind of an odd saying.

Still, I highly recommend it. And assuming that my recommendation followed by discouragment followed by another recommendation has won you over, here are a few more handy tips:

1. Definitely use the stagger-save system. That is, alternate regularly between two different save slots. That way, if Ramza gets stuck in Riovanes castle having to face off against Wiegraf--whom he cannot possibly beat without a skosh more grinding--you won't end up having to start your entire freaking game over from the beginning.

Not that this has ever happened to me, mind you.

2. Get a Wizard and a Ninja, as soon as you can, and in that order.

3. Always kill the Summoner first. The exception is the one battle that I can't think of the name of where the enemy force is basically all Summoners. In that sole case, the rule changes to "go outside, and beat the crap out of the first person you meet."

I believed Joe mentioned it in another thread, but Square has recently released a dolled-up version of Tactics for the PSP, titled War of the Lions. It has a couple of new character classes and restyled cutscenes and stuff.

So, if you have a PSP or are willing to get one, I would go for that version. I briefly considered buying a PSP for that game alone, but am now holding out hope (and holding out for a hero) that they will defy all fiscal wisdom in deference to my wishes, and release a port for the PS2.

[helioseclipsed]

Oct 23, 2008 22:49:00 GMT -5 Hucklebubba said:

So, if you have a PSP or are willing to get one, I would go for that version. I briefly considered buying a PSP for that game alone, but am now holding out hope (and holding out for a hero) that they will defy all fiscal wisdom in deference to my wishes, and release a port for the PS2.

I hope for others' sakes that they do port it, because the game is great. But SE seems to have a fairly strict "Console Hierarchy Trickle Rule" wherein games are ported, over and over, eventually to arrive on the low end of the game spectrum, the handheld market. Once they release a handheld version of the game, it's the last version you'll ever hear of. The only exceptions to the rule so far are FFs I, II, and IV, which were released on the GBA, but were eventually remade for the PSP or DS, but that was STILL on another handheld, and so is in-keeping with the spirit of the rule.

The real proof is that they still have not ported Crisis Core from the PSP, nor announced any intention to do so. I personally think that game alternated between "waste of time" and "insulting," but there has been a great clamoring of approval among many people for its praise and exultation, so it would make sense to give more people the chance to trade their money for mindless repetition and an underwhelming retcon of a script. Yet they do not break the Trickle Rule: once on a handheld, always on a handheld.

That was a longish rant for what was a short point/joke in my head. Ah well. It's late.

On the subject of Tactics, I am currently in my first real playthrough, previous attempts having been stymied by my absolute lack of understanding of anything that was happening in terms of levelling up. The original game's sketchy translation extended to the tutorial, and I just couldn't wrap my head around it, and there was a lot that they never even tried to explain. When this one came out, I actually bought the strategy guide first, and read much of the intro section. I now get most of it, though it still boggles my mind that you have to take into account the astrological sign of both enemy and ally characters to predict whether spells or attacks will have a good chance of landing with decent effect.

And you aren't kidding about the difficulty. I love RPGs on handhelds, because I can watch the news or a movie or something while I mindlessly make my characters attack themselves for 90 minutes to master the monk and mage abilities. THEN I get to move on to the next job. And despite the grinding, the story fights are still giving me a run for my money. I have put it down for a little while, but my file has about 30 hours in it so far, and I'm only just getting to the meat of the plot, so I'll get back to it. I just don't want to start not enjoying it.

No worries on the money front, Cat, I totally sympathize. And I don't think it's going anywhere. All the main-numbered FF games on the PS1 have been in production since their release (except VII, very suspiciously), so it will probably be there a few weeks from now, if that's when you plan to check it out. And if it is your first time through X, do finish before you get away from it. Worth the time, and it might redeem your experience with X-2. Not redeem the actual game, mind, it's a travesty. But the characters were not born disasters, but had to be turned that way by greedy corporates.

Anyway, VI will wait for you when you're finished. And it's great. Though I think we may have mentioned that. In case we didn't though, it's totally awesome and you should check it out as soon as possible. No pressure though

[TheLuckyOne]

As far as the trickle rule, there have been a couple of games to defy that wisdom, most notably the two Grand Theft Auto PSP followups (Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories) and Silent Hill 0rigins, all of which were ported to the PS2.

Sadly, they still have not brought Dracula X Chronicles to the PS2.

-D

[helioseclipsed]

Well, I only said the trickle rule applied to Square Enix. I made no promises about other studios, though it is generally applicable. In fact, let me add one little addendum: once a game is on a handheld, the only chance it has is some bad direct port to a console that does not take advantage of superior hardware and ends up looking like crap. Unless it's a Square game, in which case even that won't happen.

Konami has always kept the Castlevania series very exclusive to releases. Dracula X Chronicles is the first time Rondo of Blood has actually been released in the States, though it came out well over a decade ago. DXC was the main reason I bought a PSP (though I had a few others too). It's too bad Konami is quicker to port something like SH: Origins (one of my other reasons, but a fairly major disappointment) when it wasn't worth the while the first time.

[TheLuckyOne]

Fortunately, Konami released Rondo of Blood for the Virtual Console in Japan earlier this year, giving hope that eventually they'll do the same thing in America for those of us who aren't getting a PSP. (Given how many people would buy it, they'd be stupid not to.) Dare I hope, even, this Monday, just in time for Halloween?

In other news, I beat Mega Man 9 tonight. Challenging, although since I was using a FAQ, I can't say for sure that it was the toughest in the series. Certainly up there, though.

-D

[helioseclipsed]

Okay, I suppose digital distribution throws a little chink into the trickle theory. For the record, I always hope game producers make all their games fully available to as many people as possible. Rondo is certainly the most awesomest of the old Castlevania games, and everyone should check it out. Though I think the remake on the PSP is a bit better (the alternate level 5' is a beast of a level that will send you home crying. You know, in a good way).

Too bad Konami's busy making a 3D fighter game with the Castlevania logo slapped on the front. Yeah, I'm sure that'll be a keeper

[Al]

I finally beat Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones last week and started up Breath of Fire II, which I downloaded off of the VC ages ago but never got around to playing. I loved it back in the day on the SNES, but couldn't get all the way to the end.

Now that I'm thinking about it, this may actually be the first non-FF JRPG I've played since Chrono Cross came out back in 2000. Grind, baby, grind!

[helioseclipsed]

I liked Two Thrones, but felt disappointed it didn't do more differently in the gameplay. Plotwise, it was the series' Return of the Jedi: a simple conclusion to a more complicated middle chapter that repeats the threat of the original, and ultimately was not very satisfying for expectations. And Jedi had a much better Good vs. Evil struggle for the hero.

As for me, I got (and played and beat, and played, then beat) the DS Castlevania game Order of Ecclesia. Irony? Despite the playthroughs, I have to say I think they've exhausted the current design. Ironic, I know, considering how I said I can't get enough of them, and how I played this one more than once. The games have always been short, and I beat the game before I was DONE, you know? The second time was on hard mode, so don't think I'm completely crazy.

But the game offers nothing new at all. For all the much better character artwork, the scenery is as drab as Portrait of Ruin's and does the same reskinning of the same maps to pass off as a new area that PoR did too.

Instead, they just upped the difficulty. And not in a "Here's an enemy with a move set that will keep you on your toes." It's more along the lines of "Obviously our enemy designs are getting on in age (we introduced most of them in 1997 and have just been changing the scenery ever since), so we've just made it so that you need to hit them 3 times more than before. Also, bosses now occupy more space while we've cut down on the actual room sizes. Find the one safe spot to stand and hope we don't hit you anyway!" I'm overstating it (though only a bit), but they really need to focus more on making the game more fun and interesting instead of just making the stats in the bestiary more frightening.

In spite of this, I did enjoy it. The formula is good, but a bit stale. It needs some freshening up is all. Also, ditch the oddball-sidequest-challenges thing, unless you can make them fun. Sending me back to old areas to kill 30 crows for a bad prize is not innovation.

[Storm_Rider]

Let's change gears here for a sec.

Dead Space is a very well made survival horror video game, if you get the chance and are interested in playing it, don't hesitate. It isn't anything overly original, but it does have some original design choices, as well as being a very good blend of a couple of well known games. To give you a comparison I'd say it's like Resident Evil 4 combined with Halo, for the 3rd person camera and basic storyline, with a bit of Bioshock thrown in in regards to the customization of your character's weapons and armor. But beyond that, at least in my opinion, Dead Space does the survival horror title justice, being a game that creates the right kind of atmosphere, and the soundtrack ho-ly crap it's freaky.

Also it spawned an animated prequel, Dead Space: Downfall,*shameless plug* which I reviewed in the Reader's Reviews section .



Now let's get to the real heavy-weight, Fallout 3.

Now I've been a huge fan of the Fallout franchise, played them several times, with different types of characters, read the bible and all that, and I gotta tell you I was skeptical about Bethesda's product. Maybe having low expectations for it helped, but Fallout 3 isn't as bad, crappy, or FPSish as I thought, and praise the cyber gods for that.

They managed to produce a game that maintains much of the original games' atmosphere while offering a different way of playing it and exploring the world. Story-wise what can I say, it's as open world as the original ones, but the main story-line looks a whole lot like a combo of the story-lines from Fallout 1 and 2...a lot.

Anyway, a good solid game, especially for the ones who aren't familiar with the isometric greatness of the first Fallout games. And just like the old ones, it has HUGE re-playing potential.

[katoot]

On a whim and recommendation from my roommate, I picked up Gears of War when I was back in America at the beginning of last month. Absolutely loved it. I'm not the greatest when it comes to shooters, but my roommate and I beat it within about a week or so, playing about an hour or two a day, on the Hardcore difficulty. Today, we decided to take a go at the Insane difficulty, which is quite true to it's name. Though, we did make it through the first act in just over an hour (well, most of Act I...I started playing on Hardcore by myself through the first few chapters...I do believe I'm getting much better at it...Yay!) I'm really excited for GoW2 to come out at the end of the week (and I'm praying that I'll be able to find a US copy of it here in South Korea soon).

[PoolMan]

In a move historians will no doubt condemn as "foolish, the guy just doesn't have time for this", I picked up Fallout 3 this week. It is, as they say, so choice.

I tried the original Fallout once, but ultimately gave up because although I could see the potential, I could NOT get into the gameplay. The story, setting, characters, and freedom were awesome, but I just arrived at the party with gaming expectations five years too far down the road.

Basically, as near as I can tell, Fallout 3 is that same spirit, but with terrific visuals and incredibly well developed gameplay. If you want to play it as an FPS, the option is all yours. If you want to play it like your sneakiest game of Deus Ex, fill your boots. The freedom they give you to play it your way is great. Want to be extra good with children? Can do. Or why not be a flirt? A righteous bastard? A cannibal? A gunslinger? A hacker?

The snarky humour is still there, as is that faded 50's era optimism cast against an apocalyptic future. The style is terrific.

My only quibble so far is that I can't see a way to truly get away from the gunplay, if you so choose. I'm not particularly trying to avoid it, but combat is a part of the game, and if you don't put at least some of your experience points into combat skills, you're going to get smushed at some point.

Still, on the whole, very cool. Anyone else playing?

[Head Mutant]

I am, and loving it!

I'm a huge fan of Fallout 2 (which I even tried to replay earlier this year, but there was a bug that wouldn't let it work on my machine), and I have to support the notion that Fallout 3 is very much in the spirit of the Fallout universe. It does feel a bit gun-heavy at times, but VATS is great fun (this morning I sniped a rocket launcher out of the hands of a mutant) and the limited ammo forces you to be conservative in battles. There does seem to be a Bioshock/Silent Hillish vibe to the game, too, especially in a few locales I've visited.

I've heard a lot and have been heeding the call to just wander and explore without rushing through the main quest (which looks to be somewhat short). There's just a ton of locales to see and visit and mostly blow up.

[Storm_Rider]

I finished it a couple of days ago, in four ways, I mean only those were open to me and the character I chose to play with, the more real problems I have with F3 is the level cap, the non-original story-line which like I said earlier is a combination of F1 and F2, and the fact that the final conclusion videos are very general and ambiguous, a far-cry from the rather detailed ones you got at the end of the original Fallouts.

The level cap puts a special dampener on the whole experience, and the fact that you cannot continue exploring the world after you finish the main story-line. I mean in Fallout 2 after you would reach level 22 it would be incredibly tough to gain more levels, but at least there wasn't a cap, and after you finished the main story-line you could continue playing the game
for a lot of in-game years, I dunno for me that kinda took part of the fun of F3 from it.

On the other hand I can always go explore the other places of the map I haven't been to with different characters.

[TheLuckyOne]

If I can, I'd like to offer a word of advice to fans of the Silent Hill franchise who happen to have procreated recently. You know how every SH protaganist carries a radio with him/her that emits static whenever monsters are nearby? Well, if you should happen to find yourself playing the game late at night -- which, trust me, is the only time you'll be playing after you have a child -- and it's your turn to man the baby monitor while your partner sleeps... well. It turns out that baby monitors emit a constant stream of static, interrupted only by the occasional haunting, echoing sound of an infant crying.

Perhaps you see where I am going with this.

-D

[BlackCatWhiteCat]

Dec 2, 2008 16:04:02 GMT -5 TheLuckyOne said:

If I can, I'd like to offer a word of advice to fans of the Silent Hill franchise who happen to have procreated recently. You know how every SH protaganist carries a radio with him/her that emits static whenever monsters are nearby? Well, if you should happen to find yourself playing the game late at night -- which, trust me, is the only time you'll be playing after you have a child -- and it's your turn to man the baby monitor while your partner sleeps... well. It turns out that baby monitors emit a constant stream of static, interrupted only by the occasional haunting, echoing sound of an infant crying.

Perhaps you see where I am going with this.

-D

That your household is a place of evil?