What games are you playing?

[Sturg]

Snaking both helped and ruined that game for me.

[Ishntknew]

I've started on Mega Man Zero Collection. I'm a pretty big fan of classic and X, but honestly haven't played the other series too much. Starting with Mega Man Zero!

This game... has a lot of problems. It wouldn't be so bad that it's ridiculously hard if it didn't punish you so much for making mistakes. Finite extra lives are annoying. Trying to guilt the player into not using power-ups by making them sentient beings (whose idea was that, anyway?) is annoying. Not to mention decreasing your rank if you actually use them, and the fact that they, too, are finite. Text appearing at the bottom of the screen while I'm trying to play (and only displaying three or four words at a time)? Annoying. Unskippable cutscenes that replay every time you die? Oh, you'd better believe that's annoying.

I feel like this would be a pretty good game if not for those flaws! As it is, though, I'm not sure what to think of it. Like, it's a solid if really hard game, but those little things are huge detriments.

Also, Zero looks really really dumb.

[Ashan]

I used to have a copy of MMZC. I don't remember if I sold it or what but I don't think I have it any more.
Those games were HARD.

[pholtos]

As is the case for me nowadays I grew tired of playing super scribblenauts, so I'll put that one on the hypothetical shelf for the time being, I rolled Golden Sun, a game which I stopped in the midst of a no offensive psynergy no summons run at the last area of the game. So I guess I'll be finishing this up now.

[Sorel]

"What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets! But enough talk. Have at you!"

SotN starts with a lame-voice-actors-opening. But at least it's challenging.

[Medley]

"Lame?" as if.

[Saturn Moriya]

SotN starts with a lame-voice-actors-opening. But at least it's challenging.

Another reason to go after the Saturn version. You don't have to listen to/miss out on listening to the english voice acting. I personally would rather not have it in my version, because they've been used to death on this here place called internets.

I suppose you could also just find the Japanese PS1 version, but I don't have PS1 and I just wanna marry my Saturn and give it pretty things.

Plagued with slowdown and other issues.

From what I've seen by watching all the youtube comparisons I could find, it really doesn't matter. It supposedly has longer load times and lag, but you really don't see the difference unless you use a magnifying glass.

SoM is coming to an end. I made it to the upper front door of the Mana Palace. Holy poop, this place is huge though! ...I love it! This game's so beautiful! Also there's an underground railroad in the fantasy-themed action rpg. I couldn't stop laughing (I do get that it's supposed to be the technology clash, but I still thought it was nothing but hilarious).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYX350EdM-8 <3

[KobaBeach]

BOSS WITH LARGE AMOUNT OF HEALTH (doesn't attack thankfully)
THERE ARE THREE ENEMIES GUARDING THE BOSS
YOU HAVE TO DEFEAT ALL THREE TO DEAL DAMAGE TO IT
THEY ALSO KEEP FUCKING RESPAWNING
YOUR PARTY GETS DAMAGED AFTER EVERY TURN LIKE YOU WERE POISONED OR SOMETHING
HP CAP IS STILL 999

FUCK YOU ROMANCING SAGA 2
It's a good game, but oh god the difficulty curve
Please tell me the Seven Heroes quests aren't this stupid
This is like Wrexsoul but worse
Part of me just wants to get this over with and start Romancing SaGa 3 already
(I could have avoided this part of the quest and gotten the dark magic at the expense of killing everyone on Komulune but I didn't expect this boss to be this annoying, also I saved right before the boss)[/s][/size]

I'm dropping RomaSaGa 2 for the time being and I'm going to try RomaSaGa 3 now.

I've probably fucked something up with the level scaling or didn't properly prepare myself, so it's best that I start over.

I will try RomaSaGa 2 again once I am done with RomaSaGa 3.

I will try to find some more info on spells and techniques and info on strategies I should use. The western part of the internet (GameFAQs and such) won't really help me much, so I'll have to get some help from some Japanese websites, like I did with RomaSaGa 1.

[Saturn Moriya]

Awe, that sucks. Multiple saves are important~

That is some bs though. Don't blame it all on yourself, from what I've heard that game is infamoous for being really tough.

Reached the Pure Land in SoM. Protip: ignoring all the enemies and going straight to the boss is not the right thing to do. All of the 1hit ko's. Maybe got just a teeny tiny little bit overzealous there perhaps maybe the possibility exists. Man is this game pretty though. I love forest area's and this game has lots of them and they're all so beautiful! I hate myself for only now getting back into this game. The soundtrack is freaking perfect as well.

[KobaBeach]

Awe, that sucks. Multiple saves are important~

That is some bs though. Don't blame it all on yourself, from what I've heard that game is infamoous for being really tough.

It is kinda my fault, since I didn't really prepare myself well and pretty much just brute forced my way through the game.

Should have tried to grind more in terms of HP and waza, so I have more HP to defend myself and more attacks at my party's disposal. Also try to get more Jutsu Points on my emperor/empress so I could get the Magic Research Center sooner and get some good spells on my party.

But I don't mind having to do it all over again, it isn't a game with a shitton of boring filler in it.

Also, regarding the "infamous for being really tough", that's pretty much one of SaGa's main schticks.

Like, seriously. The final boss of Final Fantasy Legend II is pretty much unwinnable if you don't have heal rods, I swear.

I'm playing RS3 now, and I'm currently doing the quest where you have to retrieve the Professor's pets. Mukcha is kinda tough!!

My current party is: Katrina, Tatyana "Mille Feuille", Ellen and Robin (normal not fat)

Also, the Professor seems like an awesome character, but she seems to be a very minor character.

What a shame, I love silly characters like her, Yuffie, Gilgamesh, Sora, Bartz...
Way better than lame, whiny characters like Squall and post-AC Cloud.

And lastly, Mana Sword's RS3 translation patch has some pretty weird grammar at times. I get that it's only 90% complete IIRC, but you'd expect them to try and iron out the script a bit before releasing it.

I also could have used that one guy's Spanish translation patch but uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh

Reached the Pure Land in SoM. Protip: ignoring all the enemies and going straight to the boss is not the right thing to do. All of the 1hit ko's. Maybe got just a teeny tiny little bit overzealous there perhaps maybe the possibility exists. Man is this game pretty though. I love forest area's and this game has lots of them and they're all so beautiful! I hate myself for only now getting back into this game. The soundtrack is freaking perfect as well.

I tried playing Secret of Mana some years ago and I made it to the ruins part, right before Wall Face, I think?

I don't think I liked SoM that much, but who knows, maybe I'll end up liking it in the future?

Spikey Tiger can go to hell though

[Leet]

i was playing this Mega Man 3 rom on my ds flash card and its like... a lot easier than i thought mega man was?

i dont think im secretly playing an easy mode or something???

edit: okay doc robots have confirmed that yeah this is still a hard game haha

[YelseyKing]

Six stages completed on Megaman X4. That battle with

Colonel

kinda came out of nowhere (though admittedly I should've expected *something* to happen when I finished four stages), and... was actually fairly tough. But I defeated him.

Overall, I'm really enjoying the game. It's pretty chaotic, but damned if I'm not having a blast. I just got the helmet upgrade, and... wow, infinite sub-weapon usage? Yes, please.

[metasomnia?]

Don't you just love it when you open a treasure box expecting an item or perhaps a monster, and get something something completely random instead? Like reggae music and two instances of fireworks.

Ah.

[YelseyKing]

Don't you just love it when you open a treasure box expecting an item or perhaps a monster, and get something something completely random instead? Like reggae music and two instances of fireworks.

Ah.

It's certainly better than opening a chest and finding...

[metasomnia?]

It's certainly better than opening a chest and finding...

Reminds me of dotHack

[AlchemistHohenheim]

Been playing a lot of Agarest: Generations of War/Record of Agarest War lately, because I bought it a while ago on Steam and figured I should finally work towards beating it (as far as actual progress, I'm...somewhere in the second generation, out of five total. So I've got a long way to go).

Also trying (and failing) to not completely suck at Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition.

[YelseyKing]

Been playing a lot of Agarest: Generations of War/Record of Agarest War lately, because I bought it a while ago on Steam and figured I should finally work towards beating it (as far as actual progress, I'm...somewhere in the second generation, out of five total. So I've got a long way to go).

I've heard that game is... pretty infamous. Is it as bad as the internet makes it out to be, or is that just an exaggeration?

[AlchemistHohenheim]

(For context, I'm playing on Hard difficulty without any of the apparently-game-breaking DLC enabled.)

Imagine Disgaea with a point and click world map and dating sim stuff bolted on.

It has some minor technical issues (not sure if that's Idea Factory being Idea Factory, or if it's an issue with the PC port), and is very grind-y (two to three required battle events before each story event, pretty much have to grind to actually beat bosses and such). It has "Exploration Points" (areas where you explore a dungeon like a traditional RPG) which are complete garbage, both in terms of controls and the fact that they have random battles that you don't heal between (you automatically heal after battles on the world map), can take a while to finish, and you cannot run away from.

The dating sim stuff isn't too bad, but some of the character designs for the potential brides may be off-putting (typical flat-chested anime girls, basically...with sometimes questionable attire, although Fyuria is the main offender there so far).

Also it has an item crafting system where by default the Item Shops have pretty much nothing but the basics and you have to get all your equipment either from chests/enemy drops or by crafting them yourself (at which point the item will also be added to the Item Shop as a thing you can buy). Also apparently there's a rudimentary monster capturing system but I haven't messed with that.

All that being said, I actually like the plot so far, and the battle system is pretty neat for what it is (it's feasible to have your entire party gang up on some poor sap and murder the shit out of them in the space of one character's turn, though that typically leaves them unable to do much of anything else until the next round rolls around). Also lots of combining weaker attacks into super moves. I dunno, I have fun with it somehow when I'm not actively grinding.

If you really like JRPGs, and are willing to put up with all the bullshit above, it might be worth picking up on sale sometime. Just know that it's a loooong game.

[Sorel]

What a shame, I love silly characters like her, Yuffie, Gilgamesh, Sora, Bartz...
Way better than lame, whiny characters like Squall and post-AC Cloud.

Oh man I love you. But not in a real way. You know what I mean, right?

He's my favourite character from the Final Fantasy franchise.

Especially the fight on the ship. With Enkidu. I still have to laugh.

And the fight on the big bridge.... I still have a save state of that.

[Saturn Moriya]

i was playing this Mega Man 3 rom on my ds flash card and its like... a lot easier than i thought mega man was?

i dont think im secretly playing an easy mode or something???

edit: okay doc robots have confirmed that yeah this is still a hard game haha

Everyone's MM3 experience ever.

The doc robot stages are great, but the boss fights...urgh. I recorded a buster only attempt, but the doc robots made me break the rule. Mostly because Quick Man's body does 8 damage (his main attack is jumping into you) and my muscle memory for Wood Man is screwed up because shooting creates slowdown. MM3 has alot of slowdown. Most of the doc robot fights are pretty freaking broken. Despite that nonsense, it's still my second favorite of the NES series, a few levels of likening below 4.

Need to edit that video but there are like 500 deaths in there and I put all the footage on an external hard drive (along with recordings of Castlevania 3, Super C and Mega Man 2) and I'm too lazy to do anything with it now.

I tried playing Secret of Mana some years ago and I made it to the ruins part, right before Wall Face, I think? I don't think I liked SoM that much, but who knows, maybe I'll end up liking it in the future? Spikey Tiger can go to hell though

Spikey Tiger is a jerk. That boss fight shouldn't be happening before you have any magic. I bruteforced the thing with 4 candy, 4 chocolate and 2 cups of wishes.

I didn't like SoM that much either, at first. I thought the combat was too messy. It's something that takes a bit longer to get used to. Now I love the hell out of it. Satisfying gameplay and I can't say it enough, BEAUTIFUL atmosphere. The script needs to be taken with a grain of salt, because of the unfortunate circumstances that made the localization what it is.

[KobaBeach]

What a shame, I love silly characters like her, Yuffie, Gilgamesh, Sora, Bartz...
Way better than lame, whiny characters like Squall and post-AC Cloud.

Oh man I love you. But not in a real way. You know what I mean, right?

i love you brah no homo

But yeah Gilgamesh is awesome

Oh yeah and Laguna's pretty awesome too I forgot to add him to that list

[Ashan]

I guess FFX near-endgame bossfight spoilers ahead. Not really that big of a deal but whatever.

Oh, man. That airship Sin fight was kinda stressful.
I mean, it wasn't that hard, but it took me something like 50 minutes to finish it. Dying in the third phase would have sucked. Also, I didn't charge my aeons' overdrives before the fight so I basically had to do the whole battle "legit".

And before that I killed Yunalesca on my first try. I used the aeon overdrives for the first 2 phases and then just did the last phase normally. I figured out pretty much immediately that the Zombie effect makes you immune to megadeath or whatever it's called, so my strategy was basically to just let the boss turn me into a zombie and once I died I'd get someone to revive that character. In the mean time Auron just kept attacking cause he's amazing.

[YelseyKing]

I didn't like SoM that much either, at first. I thought the combat was too messy. It's something that takes a bit longer to get used to. Now I love the hell out of it. Satisfying gameplay and I can't say it enough, BEAUTIFUL atmosphere. The script needs to be taken with a grain of salt, because of the unfortunate circumstances that made the localization what it is.

I kinda waver somewhere between really liking Secret of Mana, and... not. It's kind of hard to explain. I find the game really fun once I'm playing it, but, and this holds true for its SNES sequel and spiritual spinoff, Secret of Evermore, as well... HIT/EVASION STATS HAVE NO PLACE IN AN ACTION RPG! It's incredibly annoying to land a clean hit on enemies, and either nothing happens, or in the case of SoE, that perky little "Miss!" message pops up. Whether you hit or miss an enemy in action RPGs should be based upon your timing, reflexes, reactions, etc. not whether the RNG arbitrarily determines whether your attack hits or not. The end result in all three aforementioned games is that a lot of enemies end up *really* annoying because your attacks just go right through them over and over. I mean, yeah, you can use magic, but you really shouldn't *need* to just because an RNG is in place solely to screw you over.

[Saturn Moriya]

Yeah, I noticed. It's quite an issue. They took making an action RPG quite literal, and what you get is a ridiculous battle system with alot of gripes. I can see it being the dealbreaker for many players, hell it was for me my first time through. I'm happy I learned to deal with it though, because I really love the game now despite it being broken.

I got two bosses into the mana fortress, and then some regular enemy wiped me out. Gonna have to grind a bit for the final stretch.

I watched a SoE LP some time ago, and I don't think I'd be able to deal with that game. There's some beautiful stuff about it, but alot of other stuff is really offputting to me. Like, I don't remember exactly, but there's that one segment where you have to trade stuff at a market or something, and it just seemed terrible. I pretty much decided I didn't wanna play the game at that moment. Also spell ingredients seem kind of silly.

Seiken Densetsu 3 seems awesome though, I almost wanna start right after I finish SD2. I'd rather save it for another day though, spreading the love around for all SNES RPG's.

[YelseyKing]

I watched a SoE LP some time ago, and I don't think I'd be able to deal with that game. There's some beautiful stuff about it, but alot of other stuff is really offputting to me. Like, I don't remember exactly, but there's that one segment where you have to trade stuff at a market or something, and it just seemed terrible. I pretty much decided I didn't wanna play the game at that moment. Also spell ingredients seem kind of silly.

It's not quite as bad as it seems. The trading sequence is actually totally optional, and for spells... well, I find that it makes more sense if you only focus on a single attack spell, and save ingredients for healing/support spells. It's not too bad a game once you get into it.

Seiken Densetsu 3 seems awesome though, I almost wanna start right after I finish SD2. I'd rather save it for another day though, spreading the love around for all SNES RPG's.

...on the other hand, wow, is SD3 flawed. It's not a bad game by any means. It does streamline SoM's battle system, its graphics and music are both incredible, and it has an interesting plot and a lot of replay value due to the character and job systems. But it has so many irritating things in it that... just don't need to *be* there. I wrote a review of it for a friend's site a while back, which pretty much summarizes everything I both like and dislike about the game:

http://www.leelaughead.com/2012/10/23/s ... ensetsu-3/

I have beaten the game, I should add. And I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from playing it... but be warned that there's a lot of dumb stuff in the game, too.