Games You're Playing Right Now III: Return Of The Protagonist

[Garlyle]

Oh boy oh boy I beat Medusa in Kid Icarus.  I'll contain all my thoughts about it in a spoiler, since I'm now done and there might have been a surprise or two worth finding out for yourself

Spoiler:

Dark pit dark pit dark pit ACTUALLY A THING HOLY SHIT MY HEART CAN'T TAKE IT INSERT RAVENOUS FANGIRLING FANBOYING HERE oh wait.  You want an actual spoiler not revealed in the trailer?  Okay fine,

Spoiler:

Despite all of the game's best efforts to make it look like it would be the final stage - to the point where EVEN THE TRAILERS never mention the possibility and the game itself calls it the Final Battle and it has the boss rush and stuff... well, actually, Medusa apparently only marks the half way point, holy shit this game is hueg

[Zengeku]

Okay. Final Fantasy XIII-2 - A lot better than the previous game indeed but ehh...  It's still a sequel to XIII. Which wouldn't be that bad if it wasn't some convoluted and uninteresting time travelling story.

Noel is bland. I think I'll call him Rush the 2nd. If only it was Serah and Snow going through time or something. Snow was my favorite part of XIII. The game seemingly have a lot of elements from SMT in it but without the story and music... Why do you keep hurting my memories Square?

Well... The boss music is awesome. That screamer one. I normally don't even like that sort of music but this one... I like it! And damn am I whining in this thread. I need to play some awesome games.

[Reddyne]

Just finished Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I got both the Pacifist and the Foxiest of the Hounds achievements. As it turns out, that's easier than I thought. I thought you lost it as soon as your first guard goes hostile, but it turns out that it requires an alarm to sound, too. Pacifist is tougher because of how boss fights and certain sections go. The crown jewel was

Spoiler:

successfully saving Faridah from a mob of Belltower thugs. It involved a takedown, a PEPS blast, two more takedowns, a lucky EMP grenade, another PEPS blast, then several stun gun darts in a very brief window of time.

Like with the first game, this one was great but just seemed to tucker out right at the end. Morally speaking, I wasn't satisfied with ending choice again, either. There was still a lot of good fun to be had. I hope no one minded me 'delivering' vending machines or dumpsters right in front of people's office and apartment doors or dropping unconscious guards on top of one another in embarrassing arrangements. It was either that or stuff them in vents and I bet they wouldn't like that. I'll either replay the first or really, truly start playing Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines Malk run next.

Also, to paraphrase an IRC conversation last night:

Spoiler:

>Reddyne: So I'm at the end of the game now and my boss is trying to get me to lie for his own gain. Again. Any repercussions for punching his lights out?
>Mefidex: So far as know, there aren't.
>Mefidex: Once you listen to what he has to say, he doesn't do anything else.
>Reddyne: Well, then.
>Reddyne: Pow!
>Reddyne: Wham!
>Reddyne: YES MAN KABLAAM!

[theshirn]

Beat DS2 this morning.  Fun times!  Even more easily broken than the first, which says something.  Evil Flow alone trivializes the vast majority of the huge boss fights at the end and helps out even on those it doesn't shatter.

May screw around a bit in NG+.  But I'm thinking of picking up Strange Journey again now.  SMT kick is go.

[Zengeku]

Okay. So I come across that big plainy area, the Achylte Steppe or something like it. And it was stormy and people were complaining that the mysterious storm had caused all the animals to leave the area so they were quite desperate.

Did they try tinkering with the climate machine they got standing around with two easily operatable levers? If they have such a thing then what is the problem? What is up with this story? And why am I being whored around tasked with WoW-level quests as part of the main story?

[Zil]

I've been playing minesweeper again. It's not a fair game. Anyone who says there's no luck in minesweeper has clearly never played it.

[Zengeku]

You can trigger a mine as your first input. Yes? Good. Then it's luckbased.  :V

[Zil]

Actually you can't in this new version. The first one you choose is always safe, but it still comes down to luck.

[Ionasal kkll Solciel]

So I gave up my No Free Battle restriction after getting kicked around by (admittedly optional boss) Ghost Q. Fused up an Angel and a Jambavan (I keep thinking Jamba Juice), so we'll see how that turns out.

Also got SpaceChem from today's Steam Daily Deal after enjoying the demo a lot. It's basically The Codex of Alchemical Engineering fused with Manufactoria (and judging by the Challenges, KOHCTPYKTOP too).

[Yog-N'yggoth]

Playing Toribash is kinda like playing QWOP if it was a fighting game. Can't do any of those amazing stunts videos of the game, but at least I can stumble somewhat effectly.


Also oh god this ghost ship chapter in Sacred Stones. Was lucky at first, then one of my units died, so I had to reset.

[trancehime]

Actually you can't in this new version. The first one you choose is always safe, but it still comes down to luck.

pay more attention to the numbers

it only goes down to luck when you have a few unchecked tiles left

[Zengeku]

Stopped XIII-2 in favor of IX.

Good old classic game that. The game's definition of fast combat speed sucks though. Even though I jacked the combat speed up as high as it can get, the ATB bars still move slower than snails. In Final Fantasy VIII, there hardly were a moment where I wasn't inputting actions or watching actions unfold. In IX there is unfortunately a lot of downtime. Still good though.

[Zil]

pay more attention to the numbers

it only goes down to luck when you have a few unchecked tiles left

That's what I mean. You go through the whole field only to be left with a couple tiles that you have to guess. And I never guess right. :I

[theshirn]

So I gave up my No Free Battle restriction after getting kicked around by (admittedly optional boss) Ghost Q. Fused up an Angel and a Jambavan (I keep thinking Jamba Juice), so we'll see how that turns out.

No Free Battles on a first clear would be exceptionally difficult.  And Ghost Q was the only enemy in the entire game I decided to grind for, though I probably could have beaten him without the grinding if I'd taken all my teams' demons and put them on standby.  Ghost Q's a war of attrition more than anything else.

[Dr.Strafe]

Still going through Warriors Orochi 3, although I've tapered off playing that for a bit. I picked up Recettear and Fallout 3, and I'm playing those a bit more. I've never really played a Fallout game before, so I'm sure this will be interesting. The Game of the Year edition was only $20, so why the hell not? :V

[Zengeku]

Still playing FFIX. Just beat the card game tournament. What kinda shitty card game is that if the champion get's beaten by a rookie who doesn't even know the rules?  :V

[Phlegeth]

Still playing Devil Survivor 2.  I'm in Day 4 and just saw

Spoiler:

Joe's Death Clip

.  I'm playing a magic heavy hero.  Having Blitzkreig and Fire Boost makes Fire Dance hit really, really hard.  And I have a King Frost with him so he regens mana.  Also have a Thor to tank cause he's a little squishy.  Not that it matters when he can one shot most teams.  Also I love the Joint Crack thing.  As long his team gets the kill, I get all the skills.  The rest of my team is Io as a healer type, Jungo as a Melee, and Airi has Status inflicter.  That's the one thing I really, really love about MegaTen, is that petrification actually works for the players as well as the enemy.  Actually shattering the statues and getting a 1HKO on the other hand...

Also when is Makoto going to join permanently.  She and the "Cloudcookoolander" hero get some of the best lines together.  Also I want an all girl team.

[KrackoCloud]

Finished The Last Specter's story. Every Professor Layton game always has a great ending :')

My only complaint - The "catch" for the story was a little predictable this time around.

[Ionasal kkll Solciel]

Actually shattering the statues and getting a 1HKO on the other hand...

Just send a Zan or Mazan their way - a Force attack instantly kills any petrified it touches. EDIT: I forgot it isn't 100 percent anymore in DS2, but it's definitely better than hoping a Phys attack does it. Either way, multi-hit attacks would work well.

On my end, I can see why Alkonost in SpaceChem has levels like "Prelude to a Migraine". Working with these sensors and molecules I can only dump is near about to give me a migraine of my own. Also decided to just go for a full-on restart of DS2.

[lumber_of_the_beast]

Super Mario Galaxy 2 dropped.

I got every star available in World S the first time through because, while it was hard, it was also really fun and that difficulty was legitimate. Hell, I had enough deaths in the Twisty Trials Galaxy comet run to get over a thousand star bits in that level alone - but I stuck with it because I was enjoying myself.

I cannot be fucked to get the rest of the green stars after dying five times in Bowser Jr.'s Fiery Flotilla trying to get the first one there, solely because of a shitty camera angle that I can't adjust.

[Widermelonz]

Got my hands on a copy of Resonance of Fate. This game is STYLISH. Battles seem to take a lot of time, but that's probably just me doing it wrong.

[Chaotic Phoenixma]

It is also extremely hard, and I got stuck at the first boss.

I really should try the thing again.

[Phlegeth]

Okay I think I figured out how the boss fights are going to work from now on in Devil Survivor.  The first attempt is going to be spent learning the gimmick and the second attempt will be spent actually winning.  Oh and not listening to Makoto and Fumi.  "You want to wait and see" they said.  "You can only use it once" they said.  Waiting and not using it right away got your ass killed Fumi.  Seriously though, during the

Spoiler:

Alioth

fight.  Why wouldn't you want to use the Nullifier right away?  Him doing 180-ish damage off the bat is something most people would want to stop ASAP.  And he always targetted Fumi for some reason.  Not that it was a bad thing, cause by that point I didn't need a healer anymore and she made a good distraction while I got the MC close enough to spam Force Dance.

[Nat Tea]

ClaDun X2 (almost) post-game.

Honestly, I will say that Ninja has the silliest skills in the game.

Shadow Run + Widen artifact = literally Zone of the Enders 2's ZERO SHIFT zooming kilometers past enemies without caring at all

Thunderbolt + Widen artifact = jump on enemies and hit them ten times per skill usage

and also other silly things as well, ho ho

[theshirn]

Okay I think I figured out how the boss fights are going to work from now on in Devil Survivor.  The first attempt is going to be spent learning the gimmick and the second attempt will be spent actually winning.

It's SMT (technically a spin-off, but whatever).  This is par for the course.  But yeah, I don't know why the game tries so hard to get you to not use it there; it's pretty dumb.

[Garlyle]

Whoo I now have a PSVita!

And Continuum Shift Extend and Touch My Glorious King Of All Cosmos's Bulge Katamari

The Vita-exclusive selection of games is actually kind of tiny at the moment, but hey, I needed a new system anyway since my PSP's power button is getting... well, increasingly difficult to make work.

[Random]

Super Mario Galaxy 2 dropped.

I got every star available in World S the first time through because, while it was hard, it was also really fun and that difficulty was legitimate. Hell, I had enough deaths in the Twisty Trials Galaxy comet run to get over a thousand star bits in that level alone - but I stuck with it because I was enjoying myself.

I cannot be fucked to get the rest of the green stars after dying five times in Bowser Jr.'s Fiery Flotilla trying to get the first one there, solely because of a shitty camera angle that I can't adjust.

I don't blame you; if memory serves me well, some of those green stars required a really stupid amount of depth perception, like the second green star in Rolling Coaster, and getting them really came down to luck for me.

I picked up Pokemon Kaizo Blue, and it's turning out to be a lot easier than I thought. Certainly not Touhoumon Lunatic/Insane level, and it doesn't look like that much of a grindfest like World Link/Another World.

[The Greatest Dog]

Dark Souls. Just made a Strength/Oolicile build some time ago and I am GREATLY enjoying beating things merrily to a pulp with a Great Club +15 at 34 strength (two-handing for 51) and buffing it even stronger with an Oolicile'd Great Magic Weapon.

Also, Knights in the Nightmare. The Slasher axes you have in the beginning in the game? Suddenly, I just realized they're bloody amazing with their 3x charge speed ability AT 3 HITS.

[Phlegeth]

It's SMT (technically a spin-off, but whatever).  This is par for the course.  But yeah, I don't know why the game tries so hard to get you to not use it there; it's pretty dumb.

Yea, but at least with the normal battle system, unless you mess up on the main character  there's a chance to turn it around without dying.

And Multi-Strike is mean.  I put it on Seiryu and felt a little sorry for the enemies.  But then I remember I cracked it at some point and decided to put it on Airi.  Multi-Strike with Stone+ with really, really mean.

[theshirn]

Yea, but at least with the normal battle system, unless you mess up on the main character  there's a chance to turn it around without dying.

Go into a boss battle blind in any other SMT.  You will almost certainly lose the first time.

And Multi-Strike is mean.  I put it on Seiryu and felt a little sorry for the enemies.  But then I remember I cracked it at some point and decided to put it on Airi.  Multi-Strike with Stone+ with really, really mean.

Hinako.  Hinako with Grimoire, +Stone, and Multi-Strike is almost as ridiculous a bruiser as Jungo with Pierce and Assassinate.  They walk around the map and things they hit go poof.