What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[trap15]

At the very least it's better than Pokémon's concept of glorified cockfighting. I'm not sure how that managed to take off as being kid appropriate.

It's actually based on the very Japanese hobby of bug-catching and fighting

[Eno]

At the very least it's better than Pokémon's concept of glorified cockfighting. I'm not sure how that managed to take off as being kid appropriate.

It's actually based on the very Japanese hobby of bug-catching and fighting

Except all Pokémon seem quite capable of communication, nocioception and possibly pain. So yeah, despite loving the series I wouldn't dismiss the folks that find the simmilarities to cockfighting unappealing for not getting where it came from. boy, I used to be better at this english thing

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Seconding the Warmachine thing. I can actually get to the Dark Elf (and I've cleared it once with Oil -> ground hit -> Oil as Dwarf, only to die in the next stage I think) on a good run, but it's silly that the first boss basically will kill you if you let it get out of control and don't know what you're doing. Once it really gets moving, I find it way too fast to hit without items or magic or resorting to the elf's jump+attack multihit special. Guarding its dash and going into downup special usually doesn't score a hit, either.

Accidentally picking up gold coins constantly when I mean to attack (do you expect me to slide dash everywhere just to clear away litter? ugh). Even the lack of a throw feels... unusual for me. I'm so used to beat 'em ups where throwing is a key crowd control element that I find I have to resort to dash attacks to clear enemies. And then there's the parts of the game where it's just three waves of goblins in a row chucking rocks at you/gnolls firing arrows... boring. Jumping attacks also don't feel terribly potent, aside from the jumping + down attack that lets you bouncehit large enemies multiple times.

I'm even less fond of Tower of Doom. SoM feels significantly more polished and improved.

Maybe I just prefer more 'traditional' beat 'em ups, I dunno. I can much more easily pick up and enjoy AvP because it feels much more like I've got some seriously powerful stuff at my disposal that's always quickly available, without having to worry about remembering what spell or item to save and use where. I imagine the Fighter in SoM plays most like that as he's got a very reliable dashing special to downup special combo, but even that doesn't feel as enjoyable to use.

[Hagane]

SoM isn't hard at all, you guys for some strange reason aren't getting it. Warmachine is simple once you figure out that if the goblins can't push the cart, it can't do anything. You just need to kill those goblins, hit the warmachine, and kill the replacement goblins that try to push the cart.

You have several ways to kill them. With the Elf and Magic user, you can do a Lightning Bolt right at the start, then get in close to hit the WM (from the back, from the front you'll be hit as soon as you fail to kill a goblin) and then from there keep killing the goblin waves as they come. With other classes, you can use the Ifrit bottle you get before in the level, or a well timed normal attack.

If the WM gets away because you failed to kill all the cart pushers, get away, wait for it to rush at you, move slightly upwards and hit it with a normal attack. The boss has a huge hitbox and you can hit it easily from above while it can't hit you. Your attacks also send it reeling backwards a bit, so you can get several hits in and even move towards the goblins if you want. And if your character has a shield, just block and quickly turn around and hit the goblins (not with the counter, with a regular attack).

As for coins, get used to using the slide and don't mash the attack when above one. It's not an issue as long as you don't keep mashing during specials or something like that.

And about combos being cheating: lol. But if you really really hate combos for some strange reason, you still can use the Dwarf or the Magic User. Or do basic attack xx qcf + A combos if you don't want to learn complex dash cancels or stuff like that. I cleared the game precisely with those two, since I can't pull a lot of the advanced stuff off yet.

I feel that the Dwarf is the best starting class for a melee oriented player. A simple qcf + attack x2 combo is enough to kill entire crowds by itself.

EDIT: Magic User no damage, no shopping run that clearly illustrates the best strategy for the Warmachine. It can be adapted to every class:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-axW31H7ww

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Still playing Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate. I'd take this over any of the Street Fighter IV iterations any day.

[Leandro]

Funny how you can do it so easily, I see it as a huge accomplishment. Well done.

Thanks.
I always thought Tower of Doom was the one aimed at the hardcore players. Shadow Over Mystara has a relaxed feel to me.

Even the lack of a throw feels... unusual for me. I'm so used to beat 'em ups where throwing is a key crowd control element that I find I have to resort to dash attacks to clear enemies. And then there's the parts of the game where it's just three waves of goblins in a row chucking rocks at you/gnolls firing arrows... boring.

It's a hack'n slash, so the lack of a throw is expected considering Capcom's King of Dragons and Knights of the Round lineage.
The wave of enemies throwing/shooting stuff is featured in almost every Capcom game of the genre since Final Fight with the molotov guys...

[BareKnuckleRoo]

The wave of enemies throwing/shooting stuff is featured in almost every Capcom game of the genre since Final Fight with the molotov guys...

There's too many of them used as filler in SoM, in my opinion. Occasionally, fine, but if all I have to do is sit and duck under multiple ones in a row, it kills the pacing for me. King of Dragons doesn't feel like you're lacking in anything - combat is simple, but you can swat away enemies so fast (especially with the Elf or Wizard!) that it's got a much brisker pace to it.

I'll probably try to get into SoM at some point, but currently I'm way more hooked on AvP and Battle Circuit. I'm much more fond of their pacing, the faster moveset, the lower reliance on consumable one-shot items, etc.

[null1024]

Tales of Xillia [PS3].

Just left that base thing, and spent ages sitting through cutscenes. I think I want to kill Elize and Teepo's voice actors.

[Hagane]

There's too many of them used as filler in SoM, in my opinion. Occasionally, fine, but if all I have to do is sit and duck under multiple ones in a row, it kills the pacing for me. King of Dragons doesn't feel like you're lacking in anything - combat is simple, but you can swat away enemies so fast (especially with the Elf or Wizard!) that it's got a much brisker pace to it.

There aren't really that many. Mostly they appear as support for melee enemies, you don't get several rows of them alone. Goblins will use ranged attacks if you are far from them, and again generally to support fellow goblins. And the pacing in SOM is very fast, unless you play as the Magic User perhaps due to his lower damage output outside of magic (though his extended combos can make up for that). If you want to kill stuff fast just go for the Dwarf or Fighter.

I'll probably try to get into SoM at some point, but currently I'm way more hooked on AvP and Battle Circuit. I'm much more fond of their pacing, the faster moveset, the lower reliance on consumable one-shot items, etc.

Again, you don't need to focus on them if you don't want to. You can LBO your way to victory if you want, but the game is perfectly doable without that, and items can add a lot of depth in general. Did you watch the replays I posted?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I've been watching replays all afternoon. It's a bit disheartening that a lot of the fights resort to LBO, but I have seen some interesting use of spells I wouldn't have thought worked on bosses, and at least one Lich fight that beats him quite handily with a Dwarf's basic melee. I get that the game is flexible, but it seems like LBO is so seriously abuseable that you've pretty much always got that as an option to kill bosses? Is Fighter usually considered the easiest melee class to beat the game with or is Dwarf better? Thief can't block, but the extra movement seems to make her quite versatile.

I find it a lot better in MAME however. The XBLA port's view option doesn't give you a zoom% indicator so I have no idea if the aspect ratio is right when I mess with it unless I'm squinting at the pixels. That, and it's tough to execute the rising attacks on a D-Pad (my stick's out of commission at the moment, was taking it apart and sort of dawdled on it). I also have no idea what difficulty is considered the arcade default (Knight or Master? it doesn't say which is equivalent to the arcade's default setting).

Watching a TAS with the Magic User was pretty impressive, though I'm not sure how practical it is - some of those long combos against the bosses seem like they'd be extremely difficult if not impossible in an actual run.

Not sure if you're familiar with AvP, but is the Warrior generally considered better or worse than the Hunter? I'm liking the Hunter's slightly bigger hitbox on his jumping down + jump multihit roll (at least it feels bigger than the Warrior's equivalent spear dive), but the horizontal range on his downup uppercut's a lot worse than the Warrior's downup kick.

Okay, I think I'm getting SoM more. One of my biggest adjustments was learning to hold up or down when I want to make sure I do a basic swing. If I block Warmachine's charge, I found I had a hard time turning around to hit it because I'd do a heavy attack, but holding a diagonal or up/down ensures I get the much faster light swings, a lot easier with the shield-based characters now.

Edit: I still find it super disorienting how jumping speed is extremely slow. You can be running, make a jump, and your horizontal movement will slow to a crawl. There's no jump momentum at all, which is why the dwarf's speed hop is super useful for moving around from a standstill.

[Hagane]

Watch the GGPO fighter replay or the Magic User (if that's the TAS you mean, it's not) replay I posted, they will give you a better view on how it's played without item abuse.

As for melee classes, the Dwarf is easier to use, even if ultimately the Fighter is overall better. The Dwarf just deals obscene damage in general, his attack hitboxes are huge (great normal attack, nice range, multiple hits, great for zoning enemies), and simply doing A, quarter circle forward + A x 2 is enough to kill most enemies. He has the best qcf + A in the game: huge damage, easily comboable, great for crowd control, hits multiple times so it's really hard to block. Also his hop is very useful and his hop + A is a great combo starter. He lacks invincible moves, but you deal so much damage that you will be killing most enemies before they get out of control. You will need to become proficient with the shield though.

As for Magic User combos, they aren't that hard. To do really long ones you need to use the "nothing" attack (select "nothing" on the item menu, then press the item button). It deals little damage, but has great juggle potential and keeps enemies juggled. Running A is the best starter since it deals good damage and does several hits, so you can easily cancel it into forward + A, and then do A, f + A, "nothing", etc.

As for AvsP, I got my 1CC with Linn and my sub character is Dutch, but as far as I recall the best out of the two predators is the Hunter (air rolling attack is great, down + up attack is easily cancellable with the cannon shot), but they are both great.

As for the WM, go for the strategy I posted earlier. Open with an Ifrit bottle to kill the first wave of goblins and immobilize the WM, then move in and hit it, and when a new replacement wave comes kill it to keep the boss defenseless.

[Ruldra]

Gaaah! Screw you Deimos!



Had a streak of bad luck and lost my boots of speed and gauntlets of ogre power before this fight. I'm sure I could've done it otherwise.

Time to start recording my runs I guess. The end is near.

[Moniker]

Finished the main story of GTA V, and am now callously exploiting the assassination/stock market racket. I enjoyed this iteration of gta almost as much as Vice City, which, upon reflection, is a bunch of cheap exploitation of early-to-mid era al pacino movies. But the music was transcendent. And those who mastered the clip-winged cessna of GTA III are to be lauded (of which I am one - I completed the final mission of GTA3 with cunning use of the biplane and the exultant encouragement of my peers).

[Ruldra]

Finally got this done...Tower of Doom 1cc.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... u04nN-W_y1

This one was really tough to pull off. Elf has the least amount of health so she can die pretty quickly if you're not careful. I don't really like using her, but I was stuck on the black dragon for a long time and spamming magic with her was the only way to beat it consistently.

And the final boss fight was intense. There's probably some easy way to solo him but I never found out how. Running around like a madman was the best I could do lol.

Now I really want to take a break from arcade gaming...

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Holy shit, well done. That last fight is seriously crazy - blocking your arrows, cloning himself, and with three ghouls to help? Deimos does not fuck around.

What's up with the Elf's clothing changing colour based on the area you're in? Is that a ToD specific thing?

[Astraea FGA Mk. I]

I have been playing this, can anyone guess what game it is? ^^

[soprano1]

Astraea FGA Mk. I: Xenogears

Well, i finished Ys I&II Chronicles on PSP. In order to avoid Ys burnout, i'm going back to Tactics Ogre LUCT (PSP) to finish CODA Episode II (dat PoTD...)

[Ruldra]

What's up with the Elf's clothing changing colour based on the area you're in? Is that a ToD specific thing?

SoM doesn't have that? Everyone's color changes according to the surroundings' lighting.

[spadgy]

I've finally got into Tokyo Jungle. Bloody brilliant. I never realised how arcade-like it is, and how well it tackles the brutal side of animals' existence. I love the setting too. I just wish the criteria of what to do to unlock things was clearer.

[replayme]

Gravity Rush on Vita, as well as Resident Evil 2 (also on Vita - via PSN).

Gravity Rush is superb. Having played it for a few hours, there are a few design quirks that I'm not happy with, but for the most part, it's an absolutely astoundingly beautiful game. And the soundtrack is lovely too.

[Astraea FGA Mk. I]

Anyone else here really like RPGs? They are pretty much the polar opposite of shmups. Is it strange that my two favourite genres are shmups and RPGs? Although I am mostly infatuated with Square releases from the 90s.

Now that I look I see Soprano is I still wonder what other genres shmup players tend to like

[soprano1]

Anyone else here really like RPGs? They are pretty much the polar opposite of shmups. Is it strange that my two favourite genres are shmups and RPGs? Although I am mostly infatuated with Square releases from the 90s.

Now that I look I see Soprano is I still wonder what other genres shmup players tend to like

Yep, and i'm also a fan of PSOne era Square, although i had to resort to emulation, and later the PSP's PSOne Classics line, to play some of them, due to living in a European country.

[railslave]

Just bought Fez, (a bit late i know, but i recently watched indiegamethemovie)


The demo blew my mind, the art style and the music !! , that music is the real star imho

After buying it , well, im a bit bored. Bored and lost

Other than that , been running though phantasy star 4 again ...oh to own the original cart!
I realy dont like it when that land rover turns up, screws the immersion completely for me.

[Jonathan Ingram]

I have been playing this, can anyone guess what game it is? ^^

"Weltall-Id: It was rude to drop your ship on me like that. Take it back!" or something like that.

[professor ganson]

Fire Emblem Awakenings (lunatic, no miss) - finally got through lv. 6, with its simultaneous battles on three fronts. Nice challenge.

[null1024]

The King of Dragons [Arcade/MAME].

Good fun.

Was making it to the third boss semi-consistently on a credit, hit the 4th stage once. Been playing the Elf and the Cleric. Elf's damage scale is the actual worst, though, but that nearly fullscreen range is so worth it, since most enemy attacks seem to expect the player to be really close.

Bringing the item balls all the way to the boss before they time out or you accidentally break them is hard, but seeing the first boss get downed in 10 seconds is worth the effort.

[Softdrink 117]

I've been getting more into rhythm games lately. I've always had some interest in them (used to play DDR when I was in elementary school), but around the advent of Guitar Hero/Rock Band I stopped caring because it felt too gimmicky. In the last few months I've picked them up again. It's been a downward spiral, starting with mundane things like Groove Coaster for iOS, then moving on to Project DIVA F's recent localized port. I like Project DIVA a lot, but the difficulty curve seems way out of whack to me. I cleared every song on Normal and Hard very quickly, and got mostly Excellents and even a couple sightread Perfects. I literally did not even know it was possible to fail a song. Then I tried Extreme and was suddenly having trouble just passing songs. I don't mind the challenge at all (actually I quite like it), but it seems like a massive difficulty spike. In the last couple days after some practice, I've managed to get some Excellents on some songs on Extreme, but I haven't even cleared all of them yet... the last few in particular are incredibly tough.

In light of this recent rhythm game binge, I got to thinking: everyone who plays it seems to love IIDX.
So, over the last couple weeks I picked up a JKOC and got Lunatic Rave 2 running on my PC. Tonight my PS2->USB adapter arrived, so I was finally able to give the game a proper try... Holy damn is this shit hard. It's stupidly addicting and absolutely brutal. I'm nowhere near used to keeping track of so much at once in a rhythm game (seven buttons and a turntable ahhhhh finger dyslexia). After a couple hours of play I can't even consistently pass 1's and 2's-- hell, I haven't even figured out what hand position feels right yet. But I'm enjoying it immensely.

...I may or may not have spent about five hours playing LR2 when I should have been doing homework...

[hecheff]

In light of this recent rhythm game binge, I got to thinking: everyone who plays it seems to love IIDX.
So, over the last couple weeks I picked up a JKOC and got Lunatic Rave 2 running on my PC. Tonight my PS2->USB adapter arrived, so I was finally able to give the game a proper try... Holy damn is this shit hard. It's stupidly addicting and absolutely brutal. I'm nowhere near used to keeping track of so much at once in a rhythm game (seven buttons and a turntable ahhhhh finger dyslexia). After a couple hours of play I can't even consistently pass 1's and 2's-- hell, I haven't even figured out what hand position feels right yet. But I'm enjoying it immensely.

Nice to know there are some Bemani fans around here.

I'm more of a 'ight player' myself; preferring Reflec Beat and perhaps Sound Voltex to varying extents (love the interface and menu music by Sota Fujimori, but not the saturation of Touhou-themed songs).
With Konami's annual arcade event coming up though, I bet my local places are crammed now; game centers have been shutting down left and right this year because of landlords forcing them away in favor of high-end cosmetic stores.

[Mischief Maker]

Deadly Premonition -Director's Cut for PC.

Bad port in terms of no resolution settings (community fix in process) and no controller support (why would you not want Mouse-WASD in any first or third person shooter)? The loading times can also get seriously insane.

None of this matters. This is one of the greatest games ever created. Alan Wake was a passable action game chock full of Twin Peaks references. Deadly Premonition IS Twin Peaks converted into a passable action game.

[Jonathan Ingram]

Deadly Premonition IS Twin Peaks converted into a passable action game.

That`s selling it a bit short, man. DP is a passable action game with an outstanding cast, excellent story and the best character animation ever. So!!! Says!!! Mr.Stewart!!!!