What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[cj iwakura]

Opened up The 3rd Birthday, fooled around with that.

I do think I should have gone ahead and played through PE1 and PE2 before this, because of the apparent spoilers for the older games, but lol well ok

PE1 is great - very good quasi-action jrpg, but I'd skip PE2. The latter is basically Square's answer to Resident Evil, and really isn't very fun. Still need to give 3rd Birthday a shot, myself.

T3B has a terrible plot. Completely wretched.

But the game itself is fantastic.

[Ed Oscuro]

I dunno, it's serviceable as far as plots go. It is all over the place, though, and there are way too many characters with nonsensical plot ties. (Spoiler: The shadow government stuff is pretty silly, but that always is...) Their use of terms and concepts from physics and philosophy of time is completely off the wall though, and I don't think it's just that things were lost in translation, but rather that they slapped a bunch of technobabble together without understanding any of it. For example, it's alleged at one point that reality will be sucked into an alternate dimension, which will destroy reality.

At least they didn't pad the game out far beyond what they could have (although this is maybe a good and bad thing, because I'm sure I will soon tire of the six scenarios; if it was a better game then this might not be so much at issue). I'm at the beginning of the last episode and I am pretty sure this isn't going to get tied together in a satisfactory way. But at least they keep the new stuff to memorize coming at a good pace, right?

I like the basic idea of having the player go through and see that things have changed after dives into the past, but not only was it not really used that well (there are some attempts at Groundhog Day-ishness but it's not a lot), they decided to break with that too early on - plus any time changes get lost in the emotional drama crap that again wasn't tied in there. Oh look, I'm going to have a dramatic final word while I phase out of the timeline! Complete with going sparkly! Your only sense of what is happening to the world at large (which is what I found most interesting) is by reading through the bundles of text at the computer monitors, and re-reading it over and over again each time there is a "New" tag next to the entry.

Lots of little blunders, but I don't think they're really fatal.

Parasite Eve is pretty close to this game in many ways, except it doesn't have the cool Feats (Achievements for unlocking shit) system, but instead has junk collection. Both systems have some really stupidly designed grinding mechanics, i.e. I've basically run out of ammo in the original game because I didn't realize that stacking a ton of Burst powerups to a submachine gun will basically destroy its effectiveness. In this game, you have the DNA plots, which is a cool idea except that you start to realize that the chance of getting upgrades to two or even three item slots at once decreases at a wild rate: Going from two level 1 abilities to two level 2 abilities of the same type, with a level 1 chip, means you have (ignoring mutation) the chance of either ability slot ending up at 0, 1, or 2 - 9 possibilities, or roughly a 1 in 9 chance of hitting it. Going from two level 14 abilities to two level 15 abilities (ignoring all the complications) would give you 15*15 combinations...and of course this is ignoring the fact that even if you have a DNA chip with the same abilities you want (not likely), it can mutate. If you don't have a chip with the exact right abilities in the right spots, it is very likely that you will retain the desired ability a mere fraction of the time. I've seen the Rapid Link ability a few times and I am starting to kick myself for not getting it, because pressing the button hundreds of times while leveling with 10 chips is better than not having the right ability. Unfortunately this all seems unavoidable if you want to have a good DNA board with high-tiered abilities.

It's almost as bad an OCD trigger as Vagrant Story's stat wines causing me to load (which I shouldn't have done once I realized I was way overleveled and there's no need to put extra wear on the game's laser for a few more stat points per wine, but OH BOY PROGRESS! Gotta hit that 999 cap! ).

I couldn't say whether 3rd Birthday's BP weapon upgrade unlock system (ignoring the feats) is better than Parasite Eve's weapon combination system, except I will say that while it is nice in theory to have the option of altering a weapon in 3rd for more impact or power, in reality these changes seem minor and the basic stats of the weapon have already largely determined its role. The AK-47-alike (the T54) is not going to take the role of the impact-focused SWAT carbine.

[BulletMagnet]

Tales stuff

Tales stuff

Interestingly enough, someone recently convinced me to try Tales of Graces f after my previous brushes with the series didn't do much for me, and lo and behold I'm mostly enjoying myself. I've been told that it "doesn't really feel like a Tales game", though, so I'm tempted to give one of the others another go for comparison's sake whenever I finish up this one; Vesperia and Abyss seem to be the names thrown my way most frequently. Any recommendations?

[KAI]

Got for Abyss, Versperia is just a copy of it.

[BulletMagnet]

Got for Abyss, Versperia is just a copy of it.

Fair enough, though I seem to remember that the "main" protagonist in Vesperia is a good deal more tolerable than the one in Abyss, at least for the short distance in I played of each (for the record, Graces' main guy is obnoxious at first, but thankfully transitions to a less-grating trope a short distance in).

[cj iwakura]

I dunno, it's serviceable as far as plots go. It is all over the place, though, and there are way too many characters with nonsensical plot ties. (Spoiler: The shadow government stuff is pretty silly, but that always is...) Their use of terms and concepts from physics and philosophy of time is completely off the wall though, and I don't think it's just that things were lost in translation, but rather that they slapped a bunch of technobabble together without understanding any of it. For example, it's alleged at one point that reality will be sucked into an alternate dimension, which will destroy reality.

At least they didn't pad the game out far beyond what they could have (although this is maybe a good and bad thing, because I'm sure I will soon tire of the six scenarios; if it was a better game then this might not be so much at issue). I'm at the beginning of the last episode and I am pretty sure this isn't going to get tied together in a satisfactory way. But at least they keep the new stuff to memorize coming at a good pace, right?

I like the basic idea of having the player go through and see that things have changed after dives into the past, but not only was it not really used that well (there are some attempts at Groundhog Day-ishness but it's not a lot), they decided to break with that too early on - plus any time changes get lost in the emotional drama crap that again wasn't tied in there. Oh look, I'm going to have a dramatic final word while I phase out of the timeline! Complete with going sparkly! Your only sense of what is happening to the world at large (which is what I found most interesting) is by reading through the bundles of text at the computer monitors, and re-reading it over and over again each time there is a "New" tag next to the entry.

Lots of little blunders, but I don't think they're really fatal.

Parasite Eve is pretty close to this game in many ways, except it doesn't have the cool Feats (Achievements for unlocking shit) system, but instead has junk collection. Both systems have some really stupidly designed grinding mechanics, i.e. I've basically run out of ammo in the original game because I didn't realize that stacking a ton of Burst powerups to a submachine gun will basically destroy its effectiveness. In this game, you have the DNA plots, which is a cool idea except that you start to realize that the chance of getting upgrades to two or even three item slots at once decreases at a wild rate: Going from two level 1 abilities to two level 2 abilities of the same type, with a level 1 chip, means you have (ignoring mutation) the chance of either ability slot ending up at 0, 1, or 2 - 9 possibilities, or roughly a 1 in 9 chance of hitting it. Going from two level 14 abilities to two level 15 abilities (ignoring all the complications) would give you 15*15 combinations...and of course this is ignoring the fact that even if you have a DNA chip with the same abilities you want (not likely), it can mutate. If you don't have a chip with the exact right abilities in the right spots, it is very likely that you will retain the desired ability a mere fraction of the time. I've seen the Rapid Link ability a few times and I am starting to kick myself for not getting it, because pressing the button hundreds of times while leveling with 10 chips is better than not having the right ability. Unfortunately this all seems unavoidable if you want to have a good DNA board with high-tiered abilities.

It's almost as bad an OCD trigger as Vagrant Story's stat wines causing me to load (which I shouldn't have done once I realized I was way overleveled and there's no need to put extra wear on the game's laser for a few more stat points per wine, but OH BOY PROGRESS! Gotta hit that 999 cap! ).

I couldn't say whether 3rd Birthday's BP weapon upgrade unlock system (ignoring the feats) is better than Parasite Eve's weapon combination system, except I will say that while it is nice in theory to have the option of altering a weapon in 3rd for more impact or power, in reality these changes seem minor and the basic stats of the weapon have already largely determined its role. The AK-47-alike (the T54) is not going to take the role of the impact-focused SWAT carbine.

You'll see what I mean when you finish it. But yeah, the gameplay is solid stuff. It's like PE1+PE2, made even better.

(Also, they probably put more effort into that shower scene than some studios devote to entire games.)

[null1024]

Got for Abyss, Versperia is just a copy of it.

Fair enough, though I seem to remember that the "main" protagonist in Vesperia is a good deal more tolerable than the one in Abyss, at least for the short distance in I played of each (for the record, Graces' main guy is obnoxious at first, but thankfully transitions to a less-grating trope a short distance in).

I haven't played Vesperia, but Luke stops being such a stupid idiot not too long into Abyss. He gets more likable at least. That seems to be a thing in Tales games [I couldn't stand how lazy Tales of Eternia's protagonist was, until he got a bit better].

Also, Jade is the only character I truly like in Abyss. He's so damn snarky with every single word, but doesn't come off as a total asshole.

Abyss is lots of fun, and Luke doesn't get the somewhat boring "default Tales protagonist moveset [fireball, forward thrust, cyclone, aerial]" that's been around since either Phantasia or Destiny [which codified a lot of Tales-isms], so he's more interesting to fight with. Guy's moveset is exactly as I describe though. The combined move variants [which add a bit of spice usually] often aren't worth it, either due to stupid startup or awfully high TP cost [especially since you mostly just want to keep your opponent away from your spellcasters, who do all the damage, and you should save your TP items for them].

It's also my favorite incarnation of the battle system. Free run makes everything better. I'm pretty sure just about every 3D Tales game since does free run as well, but I haven't played any Tales game on a current-gen system.

[Ed Oscuro]

Annoyed at RotMG again, what's new.

Soldiering on in 3rd Birthday again. Fifth episode. I don't like how the game controls with the Berserker laser cannon. Twirling the view with d-pad while running = lols

I found out about some super awesome glitch though, I'm gonna use that.

Fake edit (had the post edit open some hours):

I see what you meant about the ending! Long ago I had read some spoiler for the game so I knew about the heroine mismatch, bu I didn't try to figure this one out ahead of time (that would probably not have worked). It was one part emotional, one part terrible, one part tacky as hell. I liked the piano music over the credits. I wasn't surprised how things turned out; I knew they were already going in that direction. It would have been nice to have some more scenes of the city though, considering that the soldiers and everybody else gets left out in the cold here. I will say this though - the decision not to go with any Groundhog Day-esque scenes or "look at these people walking around not knowing how close they were to dying" stuff is unconventional! But what they replaced it with...I wanted to find out more about Duncan Dodgson's new house! Typical myopic view on the soap operatic elements and the main characters, which I really dislike. Everybody else is just cannon fodder which makes the whole "let's be emotional for some brats" thing seem downright evil, or at least very stupid, considering what they nearly do to everybody and everything else. It is interesting to note that there doesn't appear to be any official relationship with the actual Parasite Eve franchise (which isn't owned by Squeenix) here - the original book's author doesn't get mentioned either. It makes me wonder if this really was the swan song for the series and they don't have rights to do it anymore. I can't complain about killing off any characters; if my quick glance of the original book's plot synopsis is any indication, the games just prolonged their lifespans. It does seem rather unnecessary though. What happened to riding off into the sunset?

Episode 6 is really short. AA rank clear.

Damn, machine guns are expensive in this game! Good thing I knew that you can reload after unlocking cheat codes (so it's as if you never spent the money). I guess I'll try this again on Hard mode. I already took a few minutes to get past Episode 0 and a ways into Episode 1. Hard is a huge difficulty step up over Normal. Overdive Kills seem to do fuck all damage and while I've got nothing against difficulty, it's starting to feel like the game just wants you to grind and hold the trigger down and press buttons forever. Fuck that! Although I've often felt that Vagrant Story doesn't have much of a long-term playability hook for higher levels, if this game's going to rely on me executing two or three times as many overdrive kills to get to the same place, I've no patience for it. I'm probably not going to play it a lot more, which is a shame because all the fun new game plus stuff got unlocked. Insane and Genocide difficulties reportedly ramp up enemy health even more, and who knows what they'll do to enemy powers. I've got a year to play with it, because the "real time" events are still a ways off. I just missed playing the game (last year) for the 2012 moments on the dates they were supposed to be happening

[EmperorIng]

I'm playing more Elevator Action Returns to A) beat the game on one credit, and B) figure out how to exploit the scoring system to get me a high score.

The way scoring works is that you get double-to-triple the points for killing the enemy if you A) shoot out the lights, B) melee attack them, C) kill them with a weapon or set them on fire, or D) crush them with the elevator (by far the most fun way to kill an enemy!).

This means melee is the only reliable way to kill enemies and rack up points. This essentially boils down to you completing the level as fast as possible, and then spending the remaining time at a door where enemies spawn mashing the attack button until you have to leave the level. Which is admittedly not very exciting, so who knows how long I'll keep that up.

As far as one credit goes, I can get to the penultimate level. But enemy bullets are deceptively harmful, so I'm made short work of by all the riot police buffoons in level 5.

I like how the high-score screen leaves a little 2-3 word comment on your performance. A meh score is paired with "WELL, WELL." or "NO COMMENT." If you don't leave any name, it says "WHO IS IT?" Good scores get "OH YEAH!" and "GREAT JOB!"

Funny little touches like that make a game stick out in my mind.

[BIL]

2P co-op on max difficulty is my favourite way to Elevator Action. Enemies lose that overly-generous pause between spotting you and attacking, making things a lot more reflex-dependent, and avoiding/escaping tight squeezes becomes a lot more hair-raising. I got the impression early on that it wasn't a game I'd be playing for score, so as with Metal Slug I just try to clear it as recklessly and violently as possible without getting hit. Indulgently brutal arcade games like these are the real "interactive movies."

[EmperorIng]

Yeah, just blazing through the game just trying to survive, coupled with the great jazz score, really makes the game 'cinematic' in the best possible sense. I might be biased, but it's one of those games that sort of make you feel cool as you play and progress - much like Metal Slug.

[BIL]

Good use of short, sharp intermissions to embellish the action, too. The midpoint of stage 1 when Mr. Red "Crash the old order" Baddie's attack chopper breaks a building in half is a model cutscene. Like that fuel tanker getting blown sky-high by an errant mortar shell at the end of The Ninja Warriors Again's first stage. Come to think of it, I bet Natsume could've done a hell of an SFC Elevator Action...

What's neat too is that the higher-scoring stuff is fun and practical anyway, like sending a rocket through a whole floor of baddies and smashing into a ceiling light or... basically anything involving fire. So even a rollicking good time just blazing a trail of destruction from point A to B will have those rainbow-hued scores popping up everywhere, making it still feel like a complete game. Elevator crush kills are never more appropriate-feeling than when you're actually using the elevator to make an escape and some unfortunate fellow gets in the way. "Sorry chum!"

Really questionable work safety standards in all of those buildings. ELEVATOR ACTION 2: THE MOVIE

[Hibachi]

Just thought I'd pop in to mention how much I'm enjoying Tales of Graces f and you've all been discussing it. Got it before Christmas and just starting to get stuck in. It's grabbed like Symphonia did.

[BulletMagnet]

Just thought I'd pop in to mention how much I'm enjoying Tales of Graces f and you've all been discussing it. Got it before Christmas and just starting to get stuck in. It's grabbed like Symphonia did.

Heh, I've just reached the "Oh no, the bad guy's almost won, the final battle is at hand, time is short, for the sake of the world we mustn't delay...so let's suddenly open up a whole butt-load of side quests!" section. Bit of a jolt considering how linear most of the rest of the game was, but I generally don't mind just wandering around and hoping that I don't stumble upon something that can kill me in one hit. Heck, if nothing else I've come this far.

[scrilla4rella]

Still playing Nayuta no Kiseki. One of the best action RPGs I've ever played. The graphics are amazing for PSP. Probably one of my favorite games from 2012. It really deserves to be localized, It will probably never happen tho

[sjewkestheloon]

Just thought I'd pop in to mention how much I'm enjoying Tales of Graces f and you've all been discussing it. Got it before Christmas and just starting to get stuck in. It's grabbed like Symphonia did.

Heh, I've just reached the "Oh no, the bad guy's almost won, the final battle is at hand, time is short, for the sake of the world we mustn't delay...so let's suddenly open up a whole butt-load of side quests!" section. Bit of a jolt considering how linear most of the rest of the game was, but I generally don't mind just wandering around and hoping that I don't stumble upon something that can kill me in one hit. Heck, if nothing else I've come this far.

Tales of games hide a complete ass load of side quests in every town that open up and close up between lines of dialogue. To do all of the side quests in a Tales game you have to visit every accessible town between every scene, no matter how minor, and rest at inns every five seconds, sometimes three times in a row. As long as you don't go in wanting to do everything on a first run, this provides a lot of replayability when combined with the grade shop.

Tales of Vesperia is really good, and I rate it above Abyss due to the superior battle system and extras. I am now about 30 hours into Abyss and while great it doesn't have the same pull as Vesperia for me.

As for Graces, I really enjoyed that game. I have a save with the main story and the future arc completed waiting to delve into the bonus dungeon which promises to be a lot of fun. I can actually see myself replaying it a fair amount of times in the future too.

I think what sets the Tales games out above most other RPGs is the entertaining , if cliched, character interactions and skits. The stories are usually just about passable (or pretty poor as in Graces) but the characters are quite funny and light hearted and that helps to drive everything forward. I know it is childish but the whole Rockgagong exit strategy made me laugh in the same way that old Saturday morning cartoons did.

[Tokyo-J]

Tekken Tag 2 , KOF XIII , Street Fighter X Tekken and DOA5

[null1024]

I think what sets the Tales games out above most other RPGs is the entertaining , if cliched, character interactions and skits. The stories are usually just about passable (or pretty poor as in Graces) but the characters are quite funny and light hearted and that helps to drive everything forward.

You nailed it. Hell, Tales of Innocence is considered to have a terrible story, but all the characters are rather likable and entertaining [well, except when Luca's being a whiny bitch ].

Tales of games hide a complete ass load of side quests in every town that open up and close up between lines of dialogue. To do all of the side quests in a Tales game you have to visit every accessible town between every scene, no matter how minor, and rest at inns every five seconds, sometimes three times in a row. As long as you don't go in wanting to do everything on a first run, this provides a lot of replayability when combined with the grade shop.

Star Ocean: The Second Story does this too. That game is overloaded with little side things.

now playing:
Pokemon Trading Card Game [GBC]
Beat the Elite Four and Champion, or whatever they are called in this. I ran a deck that just tried to get out Dewgong [and lots of water energy] and then it would kill most things in 2 hits [yay first-release TCG cards having really low HP]. I'd cobble together a different deck if I was going up against a type advantage, but never really kept any after.



also damnit I want a current-gen system, I want to get my KOF13 on

[BulletMagnet]

I think what sets the Tales games out above most other RPGs is the entertaining , if cliched, character interactions and skits. The stories are usually just about passable (or pretty poor as in Graces) but the characters are quite funny and light hearted and that helps to drive everything forward. I know it is childish but the whole Rockgagong exit strategy made me laugh in the same way that old Saturday morning cartoons did.

Heh, I do have to admit that this aspect has appealed to me more than I thought it would...if a game's going to check off every box on the cliche list it might as well have some fun with it. And yes, I laughed at the "exit strategy" stuff too, though not as hard as I laughed at the "let's put on a play" sequence - it sounds like the English VA's had a lot of fun with that one. I actually also just happened upon the beach scene last night, and got an LOL or two out of that; my favorite part, however, was how Namco dangles the swimsuit costumes in front of you, makes you think you've already earned them, and then suddenly decides to scatter them all over the place and make you find them. Not quite as good a (non-DLC) troll as Compile putting the creepy cosplayer character into Puyo Puyo, but credit is still due.

[sjewkestheloon]

On a Tales note, I have been playing Abyss today and just finished the second 'act'. Now I am reassembling the team and looking forward to taking down the real threats. Characters are quite strong in this entry, possibly the best I have seen in a tales game so far.

[Daigohji]

Finished The Walking Dead. I couldn't get into the TV series, but I loved Telltale's take on the concept. While the game has some bugs and the use of point and click mechanics in action scenes is clunky, the writing and implementation of the branching decision system makes it one of the best interactive dramas out there. It's blessedly devoid of the pretension and faux-Hollywood posturing that dragged down Fahrenheit and Heavy Rain. I imagine there's a lot of smoke and mirrors to give the impression that your choices have greater impact than they actually do, but the game is expert at making you think that any dialogue option could be the next major branching point. It keeps fucking with your head, either giving you no time to think or so much time that you start second-guessing yourself. Characters stubbornly refuse to forget rushed decisions that you made two or three episodes ago, and you get called on every last difficult choice. Don't expect challenging gameplay, but it manages to be unforgiving in ways that most other games can't touch.

Amid 2012's stream of yawn-worthy franchise sequels, The Walking Dead stands alongside Xcom as my pick for game of the year.

[Drachenherz]

There are [not shmup] games?

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm not actually playing it because it's China-only for now, but look at this:

http://www.gamezebo.com/news/2013/01/22 ... -app-store

Looks a hell of a lot better than the BREW shit they released back in the day

[Aphextwin]

Just beat far cry 3 now moved onto DmC and Ni No Kuni

[Ed Oscuro]

Close to all level 25 abilities for 3rd Birthday. Been at level 53 for a while now. Weapon stats - 6-7-6-7-5

I don't much care for the ability grinding - bad no matter how you play it (with a special OE Up chip, or by deleting 100 chips to get a special one-slot chip, or by hitting the Square button for 15 minutes at a time...the way I did it, lol) but it's almost done, and when it is I can forget about that part of the game forever. Interesting how all the best abilities fit on one chip - everything else you can forget about.

Also don't care for the burst of levels / BP gained each playthrough (well, it's happened again, anyway) near the end of the Grand Central / North Shallows opener. More "hurry up and wait" stuff.

Beyond these things, the Hard difficulty level is a lot better balanced than I thought it would be. I haven't gotten diminishing returns out of new weapon upgrades and ability upgrades yet.

[null1024]

Tales of the Abyss [3DS]. Just reached that swamp area outside Luke's hometown.

Tales of Phantasia [SNES]. what do I doooooo, I'm in the Sylph dungeon [it's like, the second in the game, blah] and I have no idea what to do. And my pride is preventing me from just watching a LP and following what they do. I will probably cave in and do that by tomorrow though...

[sjewkestheloon]

In the last act of Tales of the Abyss and it is all heating up. I can spot about 6-8 clear upcoming boss fights that I will have to tear through which by my RPG reakoning means about 10-15 hours left

Going to play it hardcore over the weekend and try and finish up my first run.

Also picked up a copy of Dragon Quest 9 last weekend and played a couple of hours to get it rolling. Looks like it's going to be fun but the real appeal is in the random dungeon maps and the postgame. I can see myself spending a fair amount of time on this when I am done with a few other games.

Been enjoying Anarchy Reigns on the 360 but it doesn't have too much longevity. The campaign is fun and the multiplayer is good for a laugh, but I don't see me playing it for months like some of the other Platinum games.

[kamiboy]

Playing Monster World IV.

I understand most people regard this as the pièce de résistance of the series, but I have some gripes with the design that certainly puts Master System/PC Engines' Dragon's Curse way ahead of it in terms of overall quality.

It is very charming though, I must give it that.

[Moniker]

Hotline Miami (PC).

Really freaking fun. Gives me the same violent joy I had when I played the likes of GTA & Max Payne for the first time. Atmosphere is amazing - the soundtrack in particular. Some definite David Lynch vibes, too. The combat is all one-hit-kills, making it more tactical than it seems at first glance. Got it cuz it's half off on Steam right now. Recommended.

[rapoon]

Asura's Wrath

Joystiq calls it a "pile of impossibilities" which is a perfect description. on a 1-10 scale, everything is at least a 50: colossal, outrageous and blown so far out of proportion. Within the first 30 mins I must of
said "holy fucking shit...." 20 times. It's completely psychotic. The combat is decent but sparse. Game starts off as a rail shooter with Asura barreling towards a planet firing homing rockets at Gohma (bad guys) battleships. An "interactive movie" with an absurd amount of QTE's. Regardless, halfway through and the story is excellent, the illustrations are beautiful and presentation is top-notch. Despite the awesomeness of everything the game throws at the viewer/player, it's an experience worth no more than $10-$20.