What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[professor ganson]

Currently tooling around with Trails of Cold Steel on the PS3 - I've only dipped a toe into Trails in the Sky so I can't really compare them, but so far I'm tempted to describe the game as a "JRPG Greatest Hits" album, as it borrows elements from loads of other series (off the cuff I'd call out features inspired by Persona, Grandia, Tales, Valkyrie Profile, and several others). For the most part everything seems to fit together pretty well, though the graphics (and some of the voice acting) isn't much beyond what you'd find on the PS2; that said, this is definitely a JRPG'er's JRPG, as you're encouraged to comb over everything anew every time a story point is passed, to make sure you don't miss anything (or just to hear everything all the characters have to say). You can skip a lot of it if you want, but you'll miss 1) Stuff that'll make things at least a bit easier, and 2) The point of the game, kinda. Now to see how long I stick with it before heading back to Yakuza 5...

I've spent a few mins with the Vita version, and at the outset the game lacks the cuteness of Trails in the Sky, which I liked quite a bit (more than you, BulletMagnet, iirc). Judging from screenshots, though, the look of the game should improve as I get further.

I guess Stella Glow is the game that has me most engaged at the moment. The battles are a bit dull so far. Overall not quite as engaging as Luminous Arc 2 at this point, but I'm keeping an open mind.

[Hagane]

Sir Ilpalazzo:

I'm no expert on Predator Warrior (well, I know little besides Linn) but I managed to figure out a semi-solid strategy for him. I think what might be working against you is doing a normal jump dive; always do it from a superjump (up directional + jump), it has a lower bounce recovery, making it harder to punish. It also gets many more hits in (4-5) if you do it well. Also take into account that the Queen's hurtbox is huge, so don't do the dive directly from the front, do it aiming at her upper body. This drastically reduces the chances of being punished by her tail as you recover.

Even if you get punished, it's really worth it to go for superjump dives: you can get the Queen to do her tail impale attack before the Chrysalis even get on the screen if you are fast enough. Alternatively, Long slide (downforward + jump instead of the shorter down + jump slide, does two hits) canceled into upkicks is a quite safe way to deal damage, and you can overwhelm her by repeating the combo as soon as you land, giving her little time for retaliation.

I recommend not touching any of the pulse guns or ammo cartridges till after she does the first impalement attempt, then as she's doing it go grab the pulse guns and shoot when she comes down again. Make every bullet count and you will get her close to her running hug phase. This is the easiest part as it's very easy to dive on her if you aim to her head for safe damage. Additionally you can now go grab the ammo cartridges to unleash cannon fire from afar. Predator's cannons do tons of impact freeze, so you can get many shots on her from a safe position.

I found out that attacking while going up in a forward superjump is also a 100% safe way to deal damage, albeit quite little. May be useful for her last phase when she has little health left.

Make full use of the Predator's superb mobility. Airdashes (forward + jump) are excellent for getting away, and remember you can do superjump -> wallbounce al the right side for a very safe way to escape (and do dives).

I'll see if I can do a replay of that fight to make things clearer, in these games text help is nowhere as useful as seeing things in action, but I hope this gives you something to work with on the meantime.

[BulletMagnet]

and at the outset the game lacks the cuteness of Trails in the Sky, which I liked quite a bit (more than you, BulletMagnet, iirc).

I was hesitant to try Trails since it looked rather generic compared to the stuff I tend to gravitate towards, but eventually I caved and bought both FC and SC to see what the fuss was about: as I said, though, I've only played a little of each, so I can't really judge them one way or the other. Someday I'll actually sit down and attempt the things in earnest - someday!

[professor ganson]

Wow, somehow I missed the release of Second Chapter. Thanks for calling my attention to it!

[CStarFlare]

Bought Momodora III on Steam a week ago, wrapped it up today. It's disappointingly bland - the first two games were freeware, and this seems to have kept that level of design. Save/heal points everywhere, simple stage design, bosses you can literally stand in front of and trade hits with, etc. It looks and sounds great, though, and I think that makes the whole thing more disappointing - there's so much love put into how it's presented, and it's just kind of flat to play.

It took less than two hours, but most of it was on a keyboard - if I were using my controller for the whole thing, it probably would have been just over an hour.

Still, it does include the music in ogg format, so I got a decent soundtrack for $2.

[Squire Grooktook]

I've spent a few mins with the Vita version, and at the outset the game lacks the cuteness of Trails in the Sky,

Trails is so fucking cute, sweet, and funny, it melts my heart and puts a big stupid grin on my face every play session


RE: AVP

Weird, I never get punished from a properly angled/spaced dive kick as far as I can remember. I think there must be a trick to making it safe.

Also I tried playing the game CO OP with 2 friends a day or two ago. It's a really different experience. Enemy waves are larger and tweaked in a number of ways. It becomes much more of a crowd control rather then kung-fu kind of game. Would anyone here be interested in making giving it a shot for a clear?

[professor ganson]

Trails is so fucking cute, sweet, and funny, it melts my heart and puts a big stupid grin on my face every play session

I'm thinking of adding this quote to my signature.

[Mischief Maker]

I picked up Warhammer: Armageddon on sale.

I'm... not sure how I feel about this game so far. It's Essentially a modern version of Panzer General in the Warhammer 40K universe. On one hand, aside from the HD, the graphics could have come out of the mid-90s, units don't even animate when they move! On the other hand, they've rendered over 300 WH40K units in the game, none of which have identical stats, and their icons are accurate down to the shape of the gun barrels.

The whole game you have a core group of soldiers that gain XP and veterancy and carry over from mission to mission (including the tutorial). Between every mission you can spend requisition points to swap between different weapon setups of the same class (infantry can only become a different kind of infantry, tanks can only become different types of tanks) so you can mix and match to meet the needs of any mission. Big thumbs down to the manual and tutorial for not explaining the math of the rules which is kind of essential when trying to decide which model of tank (out of hundreds) to pick.

I do appreciate how instead of going full-bore goofball like the Dawn of War games, they take the same approach as the Dredd movie of putting the grimdark front and center (you can't even finish basic training without someone getting shot in the head for insubordination) with all the satire and silliness as an aftertaste.

[EmperorIng]

I never knew if Warhammer was supposed to be serious or not. Though I'm not a big tabletop guy (my friends are).

I just beat Blue Stinger. This game overloaded me with charm despite its numerous deficiencies. It was interesting to read that the Japanese version had fixed camera-angles + tank controls, pegging it more closely as a RE-clone, and that Activision, in their infinite wisdom, changed the game's camera to always be following the player and the controls to be full-analog movement, with disastrous results.

Despite that enormous kick to the balls (especially when trying to navigate narrow precipices that you can fall off of), the game's quirky setting - a corporate tourist-attraction during Christmas time (complete with infectiously catchy Christmas jingles) - and the endless banter between the main characters made it a joy to experience. There was nothing quite as satisfying as taking a laser sword and chopping off limbs of mutated monsters while goofy Christmas music blasted through the speakers, showering shopping malls and billboards with blood. It's all very surreal, and probably some commentary on consumerism and capitalism or something.

There are just too many bizarre situations. Why does one of your characters decide to wear a Santa suit for a portion of the game? Why do the two characters decide to take a bath in a Roman bathhouse in the middle of a corporate laboratory? Why are there no dinosaurs on a place called Dinosaur Island? Will Dogs Bower ever pay off his extensive bar tab? These questions and more kept me going through the game.

As of now it's my favorite survival horror I've played on the DC. I haven't played RE: Code Veronica yet, though. First I have to try Blue Stinger's spiritual sequel, Illbleed!

[Leandro]

Just got the true ending on Azure Striker. Good little game

[Mischief Maker]

I never knew if Warhammer was supposed to be serious or not. Though I'm not a big tabletop guy (my friends are).

It's in the same category as Judge Dredd, satire of politics under a heavy coat of black humor. The Ork Warlord in this game is named "Mag Uruk Thraka" which is an orky way of saying "Margaret Thatcher."

I've decided to start a new campaign with the optional fog of war turned off. I'm sick of reloading every time I unwittingly park a tank next to a nasty bazooka and artillery position and lose several missions worth of XP in one turn.

[Shepardus]

La-Mulana:

I just managed to solve the puzzles about "seeking Eden" (which weren't a part of the original game; instead of containing the

Spoiler

Fruit of Eden

the treasure chest contained the map for the zone and the game only had the last (and easiest) part of the puzzle to open it). I'll try not to spoil the solution here but I'm just going to say that it really shows that no detail is too small to be significant in La-Mulana. I actually discovered one part of the solution days ago, completely by accident (the tablet talking about

Spoiler

"the source of a phenomenal trap"

), and didn't even realize what I had done until just a little while ago. I realized what to do after finding the place described by the tablet talking about

Spoiler

"the hands of the four"

and screwing around there for a while trying to figure out what to do there. One tablet does tell you exactly what you're supposed to do, but it's easy to misunderstand what it's talking about because

Spoiler

it's supposed to be interpreted a lot more literally than it appears

. I myself only realized it in retrospect, after thinking "how the hell was I supposed to know to do that?"

Anyway, I solved the puzzle and finally managed to

Spoiler

gain access to my favorite zone of the original game, the Gate of Illusion (Gate of Confusion in the Aeon Genesis translation of the original). I must say I really like what they did with the whole "Eden" thing and the reveal of the true zone hiding underneath, even though the surprise was lessened by my having already played the original. I haven't tackled the Gate of Illusion yet, but what I've seen so far seems a bit different from what I remember from the original (either that or I don't remember the original as well as I thought), so I'm excited for it.

Note: Most of the above spoilers, except the last one, are very minor. The first is the name of an item that's in the manual anyway, the next two are direct quotes from tablets, and the fourth is a general tip on interpreting a certain tablet (I didn't say which one). Don't reveal the last spoiler if you haven't solved the puzzle I'm talking about here, though.

[IrishNinja]

Shining Force II, and Yakuza 5! the latter looks like it might've edged out Bloodborne for my 2015 GOTY, if it keeps up like this.

[qmish]

I want to see more shmups forum peeps play Undertale.

Mainly because I'm interested in seeing people play it who have the taste to recognize how good it is but the maturity to not write a fucking essay about how it's proof that games are high art after finishing it.

You really don't want to know what I've been seeing on other forums. I actually love the story but some of weeaboos spazzing out about it and saying it changed their lives makes me want to vomit.

Yes please more shmuppers play Underfail and write about how laughable and pretentious it is.

[eebrozgi]

Undertale and Kero Blaster. I like them, they're good.

Undertale is best experienced blind.

As far as sidescrolling shooty action goes, Kero Blaster is quite basic yet very polished in Pixel's endearing style.

Both have a great soundtrack, too. Can recommend both games.

[qmish]

Soundtrack, though, it's awesome, i agree.

[EmperorIng]

I played Undertale twice and enjoyed it. I like some of the fanart and music remixes and think it's a neat game for what I played. I think some people get caught up in the 'feels' a bit too much. Genocide run is awful and I gave up the slog a few areas in. Lowering the encounter rate =

[soprano1]

Soundtrack, though, it's awesome, i agree.

Spider dance song on repeat all day long.

[qmish]

Yes.

I wish that Spider girls had her own game.

[blackoak]

Playing the first Fire Emblem on the Famicom. I've dabbled in the series before but don't have particularly strong feelings about it one way or the other. This is pretty fun so far. Nice relaxing break from platformers, hehe.

[Squire Grooktook]

I don't know how the original compares to later entries, but Fire Emblem quickly becomes anything but relaxing...each mission becomes the srpg equivalent of a 1cc. 30-60 minute stretches of pure terror where one wrong move is a restart. I love it.

RE: Undertale

It's a good game. Don't let the hype turn you off and you'll enjoy it for what it is (if you don't have shit taste).

If you want a sweet, cute, and charming game with lots of "feels" though, Trails In The Sky is better though IMO. I also find it just as funny. And the gameplay and pace is more compelling.

[Chaos Phoenixma]

I also plan to get Undertale someday. I've seen a few things spoiled for it like

Don't read these unless you've played it.

Spoiler

rigged against getting Pacifist the first time

,

Spoiler

that some stuff changes after you've cleared Genocide, but not sure what all as well as what happens when you load the game up after it

, and

Spoiler

something involving Flowey

and a few of the boss names.


Outside of that, I don't really know anything about it, and hopefully it stays like that until I play it.


Still playing stuff I got from the Steam sale. Finished Ys I Nightmare. Great game outside of that awful final boss. Started up Ys II Nightmare and have beaten the first boss.

Finished Eryi's Action and grinded Ex Mode runs until I finally managed to 1 life the game.


I should start up LISA soon since I got that as well, or maybe I'll start up Gurumin so I can see how different the PC and PSP versions are. It's gonna take a while to get Crazy reunlocked on PC though for Gurumin, but it makes sense to not allow the player to start on that mode since even with NG+ bonuses you'll be getting 1 shotted by everything early on.

[Ruldra]

Finished Eryi's Action and grinded Ex Mode runs until I finally managed to 1 life the game.

I would attempt that but I have no idea how to manage the final boss's ice attack. Is there a reliable way to deal with that?

[Chaos Phoenixma]

Assuming you're talking the normal final boss and not the boss after it.

first one has 2 options. There's a spot where you can stay still, or you can get closer and get a bit more damage in.

For the second phase ones, you need to be on the left side of the screen at the start and be around the same height of the screen as the boss. Once it starts, quickly rush right to get through it, then move up/down depending on your position after getting through the opening. Once you're near the top or bottom, you'll need to move left a bit to finish dodging the attack.


For the final phase one, you need to be on the right side of the screen, so you'll need to rush over there during the fire attack before it after dodging most of the waves. The boss will either move up or down before it, so if she moves down, go to top right, if she moves up go bottom right. The openings are pretty obvious if you can get to those spots. It's possible to kill her before this, but I found it too risky to try.


For some reason holding shot on my controller wasn't getting as many shots as playing the fight with keyboard, so even if you're using controller, switch to keyboard for the fight, or just map the buttons to controller could maybe deal with that(I only used a mapping program so I could use the d-pad instead of the sticks on the controller)


For the actual final boss, the main issue is the attack where you have to dodge the ice then stuff goes around your character to prevent movement for a bit. For that one, I prefered dodging closer to the boss. Middle and top ones aren't an issue. The one after it isn't too much of an issue if you're close to the boss. For the one after that though, I would do a slight movement up to avoid the next wave of it(not sure if it'd work if dodging farther from the boss though due to the attack patterns). The final attack can be cheesed with a safespot by staying right by the boss.

[qmish]

you'll enjoy it for what it is (if you don't have shit taste).

Sounds like blackmailing.

Anyway, i do recommend anyone trying it and deciding for yourself (u can refund if u dislike it, anyway).

Still...

...hate the fandom. Other games need more love while it's Undertale which gets it.

[Ruldra]

@Chaos Phoenixma: Yeah sorry, I was talking about Farta's attack where she shoots blue bullets all over the screen. The UFO actually isn't that hard to manage, thank God the devs put that safespot in there to deal with the final attack.

I'll try experimenting with the tips you provided next time I attempt Ex mode again.

[Squire Grooktook]

...hate the fandom.

Hating the people who like a game has never been a good reason to hate a game.

Judge it on its own merits, or don't judge it at all, I say.

[qmish]

i just wanna see more people giving it 6.5/10 and not "10/10 omg that's best thing i ever experienced in mah life!!1111111 you have no soul if u dont enjoy it!1111", *sigh* (and most of these people are random guys who consider Undertale geniuous because they never played Earthbound, Shin Megami Tensei, MGS/Eternal Darkness, Ys/Dicing Knight, Iji and all other games from which Undertale recycling ideas).

guess i'm asking too much.

well, until hype is down i can go play Hylics instead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgNUgeEryCM

[Squire Grooktook]

IMO the game deserves either a 9/10 or a 10/10. And yes I've played Earthbound to completion and all that. Longtime fan of SMT and YS/Falcom as well.

It's not my favorite rpg I've played this year, as I said before. I like Trails In The Sky better for story and I enjoyed Fire Emblem Awakening more for gameplay. But it's a good game, and it doesn't "recycle" ideas any more then those games you mentioned recycled from eachother...or anything does. There are no new things under the sun.

I can understand how the hype can frustrate people for whom it doesn't resonate with, but that's no reason to take it out on a perfectly innocent game that does a huge number of things amazingly well and with a massive amount of attention to detail.

[qmish]

And how do you rate danmaku elements from shmupper standpoint?