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

[Vilkni]

I recently beat Warrior Orochi 3 on the canon ending path, and I have to thank

Spoiler:

Nemea

for being a very good character with his special attack and charge attacks, especially when paired up with Omosis level 10 to effectively get infinite musou off his special move on a weapon plus all the other goodies such as Slay lvl 10, Courage lvl 10, and Might lvl 10 plus maxed Agility. Ate through the story mode battles once I got him jacked up with all the shit on the level 4 weapon. I might need to spend assloads of gems filling up the bonds then do the missions with as many as I can do... which is going to take a while considering the character I seriously mained and put into spoilers is the only one with a level 4 weapon that eats officers and soldiers for breakfast.

Anyways, Xenoblade came in the mail today due to it being a 3-day shipping preorder with the artbook included.

[Esper]

Found my cartridges for Earthbound, Final Fantasy III, and Gradius III a while ago and I've been playing them ever since. I think my mother got these games when she was in college to pass time when her Dungeons & Dragons buddies were doing homework. I forget what games I bought at the used game stores, I'll find them as time passes.

But regarding Gradius, I've gotten really good at shmup games. I literally out of nowhere did a no death run of stage one. That might not sound like much, but Gradius is really unfair compared to our run of the mill shmups. Your hitbox is 1/6 of your ship's shape. There are projectiles in-game that have hitboxes about 1/16 out of place/off center (Translation: Those fucking bubbles in stage 2)

Earthbound, if you do not know, is a quirky RPG with great music, neat graphics, a great story (In fact you can have the battles fought for you, if you're someone who plays for story), and a fun battle system. Instead of magic, your special attacks are kinda like ESP Galuda; Psychic abilities. Power levels are Alpha, beta, gamma, and omega for attack/healing spells, and shield/support spells are sigma and omega. You are a young boy (Canon name "Ness", an anagram of SNES and sound reference to Nintendo Entertainment System) in a small town Onett, located in Eagleland who hears a meteor land outside. You go outside with your sister's plastic bat to investigate, only to find your friend, Pokey Minch bothering the police whom are investigating, yet blaming you. You go home, and if you want to find out the rest, buy the game yourself. You might not have heard much about it because its slogan in america is far different from Japan. Japan's slogan states that it's for anyone and anyone will love this game. America's slogan is three words: "This game stinks", apparently trying to make fun of Master Belch, a boss in-game known for stinking so bad that you want to cry. Yeah, Nintendo of America is tremendously stupid.

Final Fantasy III is the sixth game in the Final Fantasy series (In America, the third because 2, 3, and 5 weren't released in America). You start off as a teenage girl apparently under control of an empire wanting to take over the world (How many times has this destination MacGuffin been used again?). They took control of you because in this game, you are pretty much the only human in the world that can use magic. I'd tell you why but Final Fantasy is mostly driven by story. This game has always been my favorite for its music. There is not one theme in the game that I am UTTERLY SICK OF.

[Formless God]

RD was something of a one-step-forwards-two-steps-back in many respects

I'm playing RD now. The

Spoiler:

Greil Mercenaries

portions aren't half bad, just like good 'ol PoR. They certainly fucked up Begnion and Daein big time, though.
The game itself is actually really fun. It's like another Devil Survivor 2, messy story, but vast improvements in the combat

Spoiler:

and music

over the previous game.

[Random]

snes games

holy
fucking
shit

You have the actual cartridges? Damn, I'm so jelly. :V All I have for my SNES is SM All Stars, Plok, SMW, and Ghouls n' Ghosts. 

I found a trainer with a level 100 Weedle in Kaizo Blue.

[theshirn]

I'm playing RD now.

Brofist.

The

Spoiler:

Greil Mercenaries

portions aren't half bad, just like good 'ol PoR.

Chapter 3 is a complete massacre, even on Hard.  They're just so damn good, especially after struggling with the Dawn Brigade and Elincia's meager forces.

They certainly fucked up Begnion and Daein big time, though.

Not sure what you mean by Begnion, unless it's the "ZOMG BEGNION IS TEH EVULS"...which was there in PoR, just not so massive, and you'd expect Sanaki to have had some impact.

Daein has Fiora, Meg and Leonardo in the same army.  There's no defense for them.

The game itself is actually really fun. It's like another Devil Survivor 2, messy story, but vast improvements in the combat

Spoiler:

and music

over the previous game.

Laguz are kind funkier in RD as opposed to PoR; I would call that a sidegrade vs. an upgrade.  Mastery skills are all far too powerful, especially for being automatic, and overall FE just isn't balanced that well for numbers over 30 (I have a notebook of a project I undertook when exceedingly bored, which featured not two but three branching promotions from a central few classes, which had caps as high as 60; it was an amusing diversion, resulted in a solid half dozen pages covered in numbers written in a tiny, cramped hand, and demonstrated a lot of issues with building and extrapolating systems).

But overall it's still hella awesome.  I'd recommend checking out Fedule's LPs of PoR and RD when you finish; the PoR one is ongoing and the RD one is in the LPArchives.  Despite beating the game several times beforehand I still learned quite a bit about it from him.  And I am hype as hell for Awakening; it's adding a whole mess of features, and with one or two notable exceptions they look to be setting up for the best game in the series.

Also restarted Strange Journey for some reason.  Doing a Law run this time; up to Delphinus already (started last Wednesday and didn't play over the weekend).  My other file is a Chaos run (my first clear was Neutral all the way) which has, naturally, stalled at Eridanus.  Not going to get terribly far with this run either unless I sit down with the map when I get there.  Who thought teleporter pitfall mazes were a good idea?

[Zengeku]

Mainly playing Mass Effect 1 again. This time on Insanity. Doesn't seem much harder than Hardcore to me but then again, I've only done the first two missions and they were actually easier than when I did them on Hardcore because I now know enemy spawning positions and have strategies planned out in advance.

You have the actual cartridges?

Hah, that's nothing. I've got actual JAPANESE cartridges!  :V Too bad the Super Famicom is broken though. Playing through an old SNES RPG in Japanese would probably be a great language teacher.

[Chaotic Phoenixma]

Got up to the final boss of the SEBEC route on SMT: Persona on Expert. Looks like I'm not even properly prepared yet, so I'll need to grind some more, try to fuse some better personas, etc.

I'd like to finish this sometime soon.

[theshirn]

Got up to the final boss of the SEBEC route on SMT: Persona on Expert. Looks like I'm not even properly prepared yet, so I'll need to grind some more, try to fuse some better personas, etc.

I'd like to finish this sometime soon.

Amusing note: for the Snow Queen route, Lilim is the only thing you will need.  At all.

[Ionasal kkll Solciel]

Finally, finally passed No Thanks Necessary, and got to turn water into a laser beam by extracting random Uranium from it, and shooting the Uranium. The boss was immensely easier than the previous levels, though I doubt I'll be doing the challenge anytime soon. Now I get to use nuclear fusion, yay.

[Tamer Anode/Cathode]

Still on my RTS binge; nearly finished my Hard difficulty replay of C&C3, having completed both of the main campaigns and working on the Scrin minicampaign now. Probably going to get around to SupCom and/or DoW after this.

[An Odd Sea Slug]

After a months long hiatus, I'm finally making progress in Super Meat Boy. Christ, the dark world levels make me wanna punch something. Granted, things got just a tad easier once I remembered I had a run button. :V

Also, why, why, why in the hell am I playing Boshy?

[theshirn]

Beat Asura last night, so I'm up to...Eridanus.



On the plus side, my MC was the only one standing when I killed him, so it took me from level 31 straight up to 39.

Awwwwwww yeah.

[Garlyle]

Getting back into my Carl groove in BlazBlue CSE.  I don't normally enjoy highly technical fighting games but oh my god, that moment when you suddenly have control over the battle as Carl and are wailing on someone with two characters at once is just unmatchable.

[lumber_of_the_beast]

Getting back into my Carl groove in BlazBlue CSE.  I don't normally enjoy highly technical fighting games but oh my god, that moment when you suddenly have control over the battle as Carl and are wailing on someone with two characters at once is just unmatchable.

(pst, Garlyle - it's Continuum Shift Extend, not Exceed)

[Phlegeth]

Beat Asura last night, so I'm up to...Eridanus.

Yea, I hate Eridanus.  Probably my least favorite dungeon in any game.

I think I'm right in front of the final boss in Devil Survivor 2.  I'm going down the

Spoiler:

Anquished One's

route. 

Spoiler:

Yamato

was a huge dick.  The two fights before him weren't too bad. 

Spoiler:

The Dragon Stream

started annoying, but once I remembered Pierce goes through Drain and I got Pierce+ off the

Spoiler:

ClickyXJoe fight

.  I put it on Makato and she beat the ever loving shit out of

Spoiler:

The Dragon Stream

.  She also got the last hit on

Spoiler:

Yamato

, which I thought was  pretty neat.  And it was just a basic hit too, cause she had no HP for skills.  I guess all that's left is

Spoiler:

Polaris

.  Unless something else shows up.  Even though she got the last two hits in those fights, she's still four levels below the MC.  But so is everyone else.  The MC is 67 and the others are 63.

I have a Magic Heavy MC with Prayer/Holy Dance/Drain and Taotie and Loki.  So he can attack from a distance and regens mana, also I even have Mana Aid for another 10% regen.  I have Blitzcreig on him, but am wondering if I should put Magic Yin.  I tried, but Loki doesn't have a huge MP pool and one Megidoleon and he's finished and Taotie can only fire it twice.  Is that fine, should I level more?  And I have a near Invincible Titania I have on Fumi and near Invincible Purple Mirror on Airi.

And I'm missing four people:

Spoiler:

Yamato, Clicky, Joe and Hina.

  Those first two I get, they're probably not going to join anything outside their own route.  But what about Hina?  Is it cause me and Airi banned her from Nagoya and Tokyo?  And Joe?  I thought we got along so well  :ohdear:  But seriously, will some of the non-leader characters just not join a route or is there something I should look out for in my next playthrough?  It's a little disappointing, I wanted to see what demons I get.  I got everyone else to level 5. 

Spoiler:

Also Keita too, but I kind of put of saving him cause he was an ass and I didn't like him so he fell down some steps and died.

EDIT:  The final boss is an ass.  He lures you in with two easy peasy fights and then he's all, "Aww, wussat?  You didn't equip any kind of Physical resistance on the guy that needs to stay alive?  "  So yeah, first turn in the final fight, he kills

Spoiler:

Anquished One

and there was jack I could do about it.  Luckily, I could put Repel Physical on him.  Unluckily, I have to grind a level just for Null Phys on the MC. 

Spoiler:

I also like how when you crack Victory Cry and Resist Almighty, it removes it from the First Phase.  I thought that was neat.

[Garlyle]

(pst, Garlyle - it's Continuum Shift Extend, not Exceed)

psst I don't know what you're talking about :3

[trancehime]

pokemon crystal world aka "hi i am a really dumb romhack"

a vignette from my rage:

21:35:35 (trancehime) So, I'm stumbling along this romhack of Pokemon Crystal, right.
21:35:38 (trancehime) My starter is Articuno
21:35:43 (trancehime) I just reached Goldenrod
21:35:48 (PurvisHasLeftThisTimestreamNWS) *Hahahahahahaha*
21:35:50 (trancehime) and one Picnicker in the next route has
21:35:52 (trancehime) a level 40 Pikachu
21:36:04 (Dragoshi) what the christ
21:36:09 (trancehime) I had to use my Flaafy as Growl-bait so that I could lower the Pikachu's ATK low enough for my Togepi to defeat it
21:36:15 (trancehime) (My Togepi was, at the time, Lv24)
21:36:25 (PurvisHasLeftThisTimestreamNWS) *Now. It's been literally over a decade since I played that. But isn't Goldenrod pretty early in?*
21:36:30 (Dragoshi) Yeah
21:36:32 (PurvisHasLeftThisTimestreamNWS) *Like, level 20s range, tops?*
21:36:39 (Dragoshi) Like... 3rd city or so early?
21:36:51 (trancehime) Yeah.
21:36:54 (trancehime) Level 20s range, TOPS.
21:37:03 (trancehime) I was encountering Level 20s range by Bugsy
21:37:13 (trancehime) These trainers are high 20s to 30s, and the occasional 40+
21:37:30 (trancehime) I recall that Whitney has mid 30s?
21:37:51 (trancehime) Either way, I was able to defeat Bugsy with my Azumarill
21:38:01 (trancehime) who went Morph Ball modo and Rollout every single one of his mons
21:38:17 (trancehime) Proceeding to gloriously 2HKO his Charizard and OHKO his Entei and Ho-oh
21:39:27 (PurvisHasLeftThisTimestreamNWS) *Hahahahahaha*
21:39:42 (PurvisHasLeftThisTimestreamNWS) *Why does the Bug trainer have charizard and shits*
21:39:50 (trancehime) And the worst part is
21:39:53 (trancehime) I encountered him by ACCIDENT
21:39:59 (PurvisHasLeftThisTimestreamNWS) *Man*
21:40:01 (trancehime) I talked to the dude who tells you info on the gym leader
21:40:04 (trancehime) All of a sudden
21:40:09 (trancehime) I get Bugsy's dialogue
21:40:11 (trancehime) then FAITO
21:40:13 (trancehime) <me> what

[Chaotic Phoenixma]

Fused a Cerberus and another Persona so I could get Mediarahan then beat the final boss.  I'm now trying to find my way through the Mikage Ruins. I've gotten to B7 but haven't found the stairs to B8 yet.

[theshirn]

And I'm missing four people:

Spoiler:

Yamato, Clicky, Joe and Hina.

  Those first two I get, they're probably not going to join anything outside their own route.  But what about Hina?  Is it cause me and Airi banned her from Nagoya and Tokyo?  And Joe?  I thought we got along so well  :ohdear:  But seriously, will some of the non-leader characters just not join a route or is there something I should look out for in my next playthrough?  It's a little disappointing, I wanted to see what demons I get.  I got everyone else to level 5. 

Spoiler:

Also Keita too, but I kind of put of saving him cause he was an ass and I didn't like him so he fell down some steps and died.

Anyone but the first two (and AO) will join you, regardless of route, if you get their Fate up to 4 by the end of Friday.  It's really easy to do, actually; I got everyone in my AO run.

The only way to get the first two outside their own routes is the Daichi special route, I believe.

EDIT:  The final boss is an ass.  He lures you in with two easy peasy fights and then he's all, "Aww, wussat?  You didn't equip any kind of Physical resistance on the guy that needs to stay alive?  "  So yeah, first turn in the final fight, he kills

Spoiler:

Anquished One

and there was jack I could do about it.  Luckily, I could put Repel Physical on him.  Unluckily, I have to grind a level just for Null Phys on the MC. 

Spoiler:

I also like how when you crack Victory Cry and Resist Almighty, it removes it from the First Phase.  I thought that was neat.

Yeah.  A note, though: PolarisB doesn't have Pierce, so Drain Phys on AO is hilarious.  And about the spoiler,

Spoiler:

it doesn't remove them specifically then; it's based on the number of guardians you kill - he loses skills and resistances as you whittle them down.  Still pretty nifty.

[trancehime]

[16:03] <Trance-Izayoi> =V
[16:03] <Trance-Izayoi> why is this romhack so dumb
[16:04] <Trance-Izayoi> Morty's gym is of the Water type
[16:04] <Anemone-Matsuri> I dunno
[16:04] <Trance-Izayoi> his first trainer has 5 Lv40 mons
[16:04] <Anemone-Matsuri> Why are you still playing if it's so bad
[16:04] <Trance-Izayoi> i plan on finishing it
[16:04] <Trance-Izayoi> because i am stubborn
[16:04] <Trance-Izayoi> and have nothing better

'nuff said. :3

[Tamer Anode/Cathode]

Beat Asura last night, so I'm up to...Eridanus.

I hope you like teleport mazes.

Finished with C&C3's main campaign, so probably going to start on Kane's Wrath either tonight or tomorrow. In the meantime, decided to give SPAZ a shot, and I'm surprised at the depth. I was not expecting a hybrid of Elite-style space exploration and strategy, and I'm absolutely loving it.

[Chaotic Phoenixma]

Tried Mikage Ruins B12 again on Persona. I thought it'd be as simple as getting Amen Ra and spamming the move that's effective against karma demons, but it's either not enough or not enough at my current levels.

I haven't seen anything with good persona setups for this floor. It seems so hard to cover everything. I figured I'd be completely done with everything on the SEBEC route by today, but these optional bosses on this floor are making sure that's not going to happen. I think if I could get Makarakarn or the move that does the same effect for 2 turns and high agility to abuse it with, it'd make things a lot simpler. At the moment, I'm not fast enough to always outspeed some of them.

[theshirn]

Curbstomped Ouroboros.  Fornax is a nice breath of fresh air after Eridanus, though Alice might be a problem.

[Ionasal kkll Solciel]

I'm not sure, but I think I've gotten the timing for dodging Blue Shells down in Double Dash!! Red shells are still a bit of a problem. Trying to get 40 points for all the Cups in all weight classes.

Trying not to contract Exploding Head Syndrome figuring out how to get a nuke from water is trying, though. The big limiting factor is that extra Hydrogen, I suppose - that and getting to atomic number 94 from atomic numbers 1 and 8 without going over.

[theshirn]

Well that was dumb.

Bought some armor and fused some demons with Null Curse for Alice.  Didn't take any of them.  WHOOPS!

Popped a Tetraja Stone and poked her down (hilariously, my only debuffer was weak to Curse).  Fortunately enough, she didn't end up using Die For Me! once, though she did start using Energy Drain every turn at the end and was both killing my demons and healing for almost as much damage as I could do with my MC spamming the mid-level attack items (and I used my last one on the last round).  Still, Alice went down, and now I've got delicious delicious Forma Search C for my troubles.  It's nice.

[triangles]

MJP set up the Wii and bought me the FFIV After Years  :getdown:  Hooray reliving my childhood!

Spoiler:

the wobbles made me feel like absolute garbage after playing for about 30min but details details

[Reddyne]

3rd time in 5 gameplay sessions that I ragequit Tribes after doing nothing for half an hour but mashing the respawn button. Time to give it up.

Back in Vampire - The Masquerade: Bloodlines; The Punctuationing, I'm playing as a crazy vampire running around in public with a severed arm on my way to apparently a VERY haunted house. So much for that pair of pants.

[XephyrEnigma]

Started up Ys: The Oath in Felghana about a day ago. Currently somewhere in the Elderm Mountains.
Let's just say: Falcom doesn't like to fuck about with its bosses. Read your enemy or perish.

[theshirn]

I'd forgotten just how incredibly stupid Captain Jack is.  I spent about 20 minutes on one run where ever third round or so he'd use Pure Blue and heal himself for over 1000 and purge debuffs, and if I ever knocked him into the red he'd use it twice.  Eventually the RNG lost patience and Rain Strike hit my MC twice and killed him.

Ended up having to pull out Doppelganger, 25 levels below me, so he and Alice could reflect enough Rain Strike hits for him to kill himself.  I didn't expect to have to do that until Horologium.  Gaaaaame

[Chaotic Phoenixma]

Fused a Succubus and several judgment personas then finally cleared Mikage Ruins B12. I was expecting the optional boss to be a lot more powerful,  whether it be a more powerful form of the final boss or something else and not what it was. The 6 minibosses that you have to survive in order to get ot it were worse than it, mainly because some of the attacks were only survivable with Lilim/Succubus, so I pretty much had to have 2 of my characters wait for some of the worst ones to run out of SP.

The Absorb magic on Lilim/Succubus and the Null/Repel Magic on the Judgment personas spread across the rest of the party made it doable, though it took a while.


I am not starting the Snow Queen Quest for a while. I'm not sure what I'll play through next.