The Gaming Thread

[Chanlin]

I actually am really enjoying STALKER. The open endedness makes it feel more realistic to me. Not to mention the AI is insanely tough AND its a game that emphasizes stealth over the guns blazin approach.

[gunsage]

Well, I cranked away on Puzzle Quest ALL yesterday. Fun game, that. After wifey got home, I got her hooked on it then decided to hit the consoles for a while. I grinded a little bit on Baten Kaitos, then started again on Devil Summoner. You guys might know what BK is, but DS is a little more obscure. Let's put it this way, it was the first AND LAST (that I know of) action-oriented Shin Megami Tensei game in English.

I believe this one also came out just before Persona 3 as well. It's not a bad game, per se, but it's a little offputting from the series. I might up and write a review about it later. Also, I earnestly believed that Far Cry was more on stealth than action until, well...mweeeheheheeee.

[gunsage]

Well, since I've been playing Devil Summoner lately, I decided to change my avvie to the Raidou. I'm going to say this...if you like RPGs and you haven't jumped on the Shin Megami Tensei bandwagon, YOU'RE MISSING OUT. On the topic of RPG bandwagons, here's some others to jump on (some obvious, some not)...

- Final Fantasy. Sure, things got a little shaky after the jump to the PS2, but the majority of series are hits.
- Dragon Warrior/Quest. In my opinion, 8 is the best, however, most of these are excellent titles overall and must haves for classic RPG gaming.
- Xenogears/saga. Okay, not all of these are great, but that's besides the point. The stories are amazing and massive. The combat in each is interesting as well and with nice subtle changes from standard turn-based combat.
- Mario RPG/Paper Mario. It would appear that Paper Mario has now drifted into a standard action/platformer, but the first three RPGs with Mario were GREAT. Haven't tried Super Paper Mario yet, but it looks nice.
- Phantasy Star. Screw the new ones...I'm talking about 1 - 4. Booyah. Anime RPGs.
- Disgaea/Makai. This one's a bit weird to explain. Just about any NIS only game is related in some way. Examples include Rhapsody, Phantom Brave, Makai Kingdom, Disgaea, Disgaea 2, Soul Nomad and the World Eaters, etc. Not all of them are hits, but if you're looking for strategy/RPGs with a healthy dose of humor and style, this takes the cake.
- Front Mission. A lot of people say the 4th was the worst, but I beg to differ. Yes, the battles can take an hour or two, but then, in my opinion, THAT'S A DAMN GOOD BATTLE when you're talking about strategy/RPGs! Definitely worth checking out if you like giant robot battles.

That's all I've got. Anyone else care to interject here?

[Geek King]

That's all I've got. Anyone else care to interject here?

--I'll add Lunar to the list, just stay far away from the DS one. More anime goodness, and full video cutscenes. Beutiful.
--The Atilier Iris games are good, if standard RPGs based around alchemy. Havn't played 3 yet.
--Ar Tonellico, a wierd one to be sure, but the psychic diving parts were really great storytelling moments. This one came in under the radar, but they're making a sequel already. I really reccommend this one to anyone famillier with Lunar, as it has a similar vibe story-wise.

[lordlundar]

--Ar Tonellico, a wierd one to be sure, but the psychic diving parts were really great storytelling moments. This one came in under the radar, but they're making a sequel already. I really reccommend this one to anyone famillier with Lunar, as it has a similar vibe story-wise.

I concur, especially if you're into Shin Megami Tensai , as there's two companies that makes games like those: Atlus and NiS. They have similar setups with their games. Odin Sphere is a good choice for a more action oriented setup.

Not an RPG, but if story is a big one for you, then get the Legacy of Kain series, all but Blood Omen 2. You will not regret it.

[gunsage]

I concur with staying away from Dragon Song. Atelier Iris 1 and 2 were good, but 3's a little odd. Okay, for starters...dungeons are timed. When time runs out, you're warped out. The alchemy is still nice in this one AND you level up in alchemy. The battles are pretty cool, too. Besides that, though, it's just a standard RPG, which is kind of annoying.

It's good to know they're making a sequel to Ar Tonelico. The actual game itself (battles, voice acting, exploration, etc.) was just okay, but yeah, diving is what really intrigued me. Also, if you like that, definitely check out Thousand Arms. I say that because in that one you play a blacksmith who goes on dates to become more intimate with women in his party to forge better weapons. Yeah.

Odin Sphere was also cool, but there were two problems and unfortunately, these problems were also present in Grim Grimoire, the other Vanillaware title.

- Lots of slowdown issues.
- VERY repetitive.

I should probably develop a little more on what I mean by repetitive. I don't mean repetitive in that it's a button masher. No big deal there. It's repetitive in that it's ONE background per level and that's it. Meh. Granted, the artwork, overall style, plots, cooking, etc. were GREAT...but yeah, that aspect of it, at least, gets a bit old. Grim gets the short end of the stick especially, though, because I'm not a big RTS buff and I was really hoping it'd be something special. Ah well.

[Shangri-laschild]

Update on Portal

So I got portal like you guys recommended. I played up till level 15 at which point I gave my friend's brother a chance and he finished in about 3 hours or so. I loved the game though I'm kind of nervous to finish it myself. Most of it I got through by pure luck of fucking around and beating the level without knowing how I did it. I very much see why everyone recommended it though!

[gunsage]

Does anyone know what the basic system specs or relevant comparison would be for Portal? I was under the assumption it should just work since it's using the Half-Life 2 engine. And actually, HL2 ran very well on my PC. I am thinking of upgrading my RAM soon, but I'm wondering if that will be enough. What I REALLY want to play is Bioshock.

[lordlundar]

http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srtest

Let it install the control, then pick the game. It compares your system with the listed requirements/recommended and offers suggestions if you don't meet one or the other. It's not perfect (a few games I have that run well on mid to high settings it says I barely meet the required for) but it's a good guideline.

[Geek King]

Also, if you like that, definitely check out Thousand Arms. I say that because in that one you play a blacksmith who goes on dates to become more intimate with women in his party to forge better weapons. Yeah.

What makes you think Its not sitting on my shelf right now? (You are a hundered years too early for this fight, youngling! ) I was fond of the pirate girl, myself. You have good taste though.

And a quick note: Atlus is mainly a trasnlation house that picks up many different companies' games to port over here. They have an excellent track record for choosing quality titles as far as I'm concerned, so I'll buy a game just on the Atlus name now.

[gunsage]

True enough. Even glancing at my shelf, there are SO many Atlus titles, both for PS1 and PS2. Honestly, another company that was similar, but was since died, was Working Designs. Normally, I'd say Arc the Lad Collection was their finest work, but then I played Growlanser Generations. What I would like to have seen before they passed was them getting together with Falcom and remaking every last Ys title.

Ys and me have an odd history of sorts. I'd heard about Ys I & II on the Turbo Duo, but up until Final Fantasy 7, I was pretty well brand loyal to Nintendo. As a result, the first Ys game I played was Ys III for the SNES and I LOVED IT. In fact, up until a couple of years ago when I finally got Ys I & II emu'd, I had no idea why people absolutely seethed hatred when it came to the third. Therefore, I never understood why 4 and 5 were kept from an English version and really enjoyed Ys VI for the PS2 (especially since I had played the Japanese PC version and could clearly tell the differences).

I should also point out that Atlus also assisted in bringing NIS over here which puts them good in my book regardless. I also need to check Vanillaware's site and see if they're working on anything new. Odin Sphere was cool, but it feels like they're just touching the tip of the iceberg of their potential. With nice, HUGE sprites complete with that morphing/breathing effect? Yeah, they DEFINITELY have the potential to do big things.

Anyway, while we're semi-on the topic of Atlus, have you beaten Thousand Arms? What's your dating strategy? Here's why I ask. What I noticed is that you can't seem to get old level spells once you've passed them up. In other words, certain spells you can get with a later on character via Sodina wouldn't be accessible if she was above even level 1 intimacy. Now true, you get better and better spells with each level, but the point is is there an easy way to get those old spells without having to downgrade her intimacy, assuming it's even possible?

Therefore, if it's not possible, wouldn't it be better to NOT go on a date with ANY character until after you've gotten all party members? That really subtracts from a significant piece of core gameplay if that's the case. Maybe I'm just overthinking it, I don't know, but it's one of the main things that have made me want to start over again and again. Just wondering. And yes, I've looked at various FAQs, but none have really addressed the issue.

[gunsage]

Just a slight addendum here. I made this test a few years ago and figured you guys would be interested. Please note that there aren't very many PC questions from what I can recall, but it's still fun overall, at least in my opinion.

Edit: Apparently OKCupid's changed their standards or whatever. You can still take the test, but they want you to sign up to get your results, which is pretty ridiculous. Still a fun test, in my opinion, but if you're not a members and don't want to be, I wouldn't worry about it (it's 100 questions anyway).

[Geek King]

Anyway, while we're semi-on the topic of Atlus, have you beaten Thousand Arms? What's your dating strategy?

Hmm, I don't think I ever beat it, but its been a long time. I need to look up that emulator for the PSP that lets you play any PS1 title on it. As to dating strategy, I didn't really have one. I just play for fun, but then again, I'm also one of those guys who just has to look in every corner and down every hall, so I would juggle all the girls at once at their highest allowable level at that time.

[gunsage]

Well, I was going to reference this guide, but then I noticed something. For starters, there aren't abilities on there (at least not special attacks anyway) that are there before you're supposed to get a character. In other words, you don't get some REALLY AWESOME SPECIAL ATTACK if you leave her at level 1 on the dating thingy for, say, Muza. Further, I suppose it isn't absolutely necessary that every character have EVERY ability.

Lastly, there's the town girls. If you scroll past the standard girls in your party, you'll see that there's also specially accessed "town girls" you can date as well. I recall getting far enough to get the samurai...but I don't remember if I got that much farther after it. Also, I don't know if it mentions anything about the PS1 for PSP emu, but you might want to check out this site for all your PSP emu needs.

Up until recently, I was going here for the SNES/PSP emu stuffs as well as the Genesis/PSP emu stuffs. Honestly, since the PSP's been out for a while now, I've been able to get them el cheapo on Amazon. There's still a few more I want to get, but you get the idea. Here's the games I grinded on today...

- Shining Force Neo
- Dragonquest 8
- Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner

With Devil Summoner, I enjoy it because it's a definite change from the norm of the series. It can be fun, but often it's very repetitious. So I switched over to DQ8 for a while, which is great, but the strategy guide is vague enough to the point that it can be TOO vague sometimes...and I just got the ship...so I decided to switch yet again. Neo is a bit of a disappointment...yet it's still fun. How is this possible? If you've played the older Shining Force games, you know they're awesome old-style strategy/RPG titles with little anime cutscenes for battle animations.

Never got a chance to play Shining Force 3, but I loved the other ones. Unfortunately, this one got turned into a Diablo clone. Now sure, there's a bit of depth here, but not as much as, say, Diablo 2. It's still fun, but it's not the same. They really should've just made an actual Shining Force game...but didn't. Ah well. That's about it for now.

[Geek King]

Never got a chance to play Shining Force 3, but I loved the other ones. Unfortunately, this one got turned into a Diablo clone. Now sure, there's a bit of depth here, but not as much as, say, Diablo 2. It's still fun, but it's not the same. They really should've just made an actual Shining Force game...but didn't. Ah well. That's about it for now.

I've been hoping that Sega would get off their butts and stop raping the Sonic franchise long enough to put a Shining Force compilation together. I'd really like to play the other two parts of SF3, since only part one got ported over here. Its like watching Star Wars: A New Hope, and knowing there were two other movies made, but not be able to watch them.