What games are you currently playing?

[Firewind]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

The only real problem with Chie - and subsequently Kanji and Akihiko - is they're all rather weak in the zoning category, though Kanji players can surprise you sometimes Chie will have an easy time cracking Yukiko players as their zoning tactics are pretty predictable but Elizabeth, Mitsuru, Yu, Naoto and Youske have ways to keep her fairly locked out and off-balance. She's decent enough if you can get her right in someone's face, but that's the real trick. Between her, Akihiko and Kanji, its Kanji that can close the gap the best.

Sadly for Kanji, Mitsuru, Yu and Youske are much faster and more devastating in that regard - especially Mitsuru.

Yeah Kanji is like Tager in that he seems designed around punishing the slightest mistake. I've only really done Player Games to practise (that I'm I fully admit to being bad at fighting games and would probably be destroyed in Ranked Games) but I've seen some Kanji players completely turn around a lost match because of an error and completely destroy the other guy. One thing I've notices about Chie actually is that you can completely destroy someone before they Awaken but pulling that is can be tricky if you can't get into someone's face and keep up the pressure.

Naoto's zoning seems pretty effective, not played much of her but I think I'm dreading eve coming across a good Naoto player.

And if I'm honest, the game seems very balanced from what I have played. There are some glaring one sided matchups Chie vs Yukiko, Chie/Yosuke vs Aigis/Labrys seems to be the glaring ones. The former because of Yukiko having no real way of keeping Chie out of her face (other than a lucky Agi hit) and the latter because Chie and Yosuke can easily take Aigis and Labrys apart before Orgia Mode/Red Axe ever happen.

The fact that most matchups seem even means I can join a room and think "Is this person any good?" rather than "Is this person just going to pick my counter?"

As a bit of a related tangent: is it bad that I love finishing with God's Hand if I can (Online and Offline) because I love the "take cover" expression/animation that Chie gets when pulling it off?

I mean seriously look at it

[Icemage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Great, thanks. One final question; With regards to feeding familiars treats, is there any real point in feeding the early guys? I mean how long is it roughly until I start being able to recruit the really good familiars? (I'm assuming the best ones are all obtained with Familiar Cards from the Sage Master?) Furthermore, since they reset to level 1 after evolving, again, any point in feeding them before their final evolutions? Basically I just don't want to go wasting a whole bunch of treats for nothing, particularly when I'm getting through most fights just fine.

No point in feeding early guys aside from it making the game a bit easier. You won't be able to get most of the best familiars until you get the dragon to fly you around, but it's worth investing in one of the earlier guys (Hullaballoon, who can be found in Old Smoky and has the highest defensive ratings of all familiars in the game).

There's a mild advantage to letting familiars reach their maximum level before evolving them; if they're max level when they evolve, they emerge a bit stronger from the transformation than if you evolve them early. Granted, some familiars have crazy high max levels (including Mitey, the first familiar you get), so sometimes that's not worth doing.


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

AHA! I knew there had to be some kind of mount, because I keep seeing glitter-thingies for foraging way up in places I can't get to right now.

Thanks for the tip about the defensive guy, I've been wanting a good defensive familiar. Is he just high on physical, or magical def too? Some enemies hit really freaking hard.

[DakAttack]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Metro: Last Light dropped yesterday, and I'm not going to say it was a mistake to purchase, but so far I'm disappointed. I'm on the hardest difficulty and the game is still too easy, which I believe is a problem with the AI. They're too stupid to find me on their own and if I give myself away they'll beeline to my position, giving me the opportunity to funnel them through doors. Also, nobody seems even slightly stressed out that the world they lived in is irradiated and monsters lurk everywhere. They all act like they're on some kind of weekend camping trip and they're return to their normal lives in a few days.

[Icemage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

AHA! I knew there had to be some kind of mount, because I keep seeing glitter-thingies for foraging way up in places I can't get to right now.

Thanks for the tip about the defensive guy, I've been wanting a good defensive familiar. Is he just high on physical, or magical def too? Some enemies hit really freaking hard.

He's high on both. There's two evolution paths, one for fire resistance, one for ice resistance. Both have super high physical and magical defense overall on top of their elemental resistance.


Icemage

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Metro: Last Light dropped yesterday, and I'm not going to say it was a mistake to purchase, but so far I'm disappointed. I'm on the hardest difficulty and the game is still too easy, which I believe is a problem with the AI. They're too stupid to find me on their own and if I give myself away they'll beeline to my position, giving me the opportunity to funnel them through doors. Also, nobody seems even slightly stressed out that the world they lived in is irradiated and monsters lurk everywhere. They all act like they're on some kind of weekend camping trip and they're return to their normal lives in a few days.

So it's not worth picking up then? Everything else I've been hearing has been generally positive. I was thinking about picking up the game that came before while waiting for Last Light to go down in price, but if it's not any good I might just skip over the whole thing.

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Metro: Last Light dropped yesterday, and I'm not going to say it was a mistake to purchase, but so far I'm disappointed. I'm on the hardest difficulty and the game is still too easy, which I believe is a problem with the AI. They're too stupid to find me on their own and if I give myself away they'll beeline to my position, giving me the opportunity to funnel them through doors. Also, nobody seems even slightly stressed out that the world they lived in is irradiated and monsters lurk everywhere. They all act like they're on some kind of weekend camping trip and they're return to their normal lives in a few days.

Really? All the reviews I've seen have said it's a great game and that the AI is vastly improved over the first game, which different levels of awareness (something not many games really pull off well).

[DakAttack]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I'm not a fan of corridor shooters and, so far, that's all this has been. There's no survival aspect. There's no horror aspect. There's no point in purchasing upgraded or customized weapons, since enemies have randomly assembled weapons and it isn't difficult to find what you're looking for. There's no point in buying ammo, because it's everywhere. You can take it off bodies and from the weapons they dropped when they died.

[Icemage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I'm not a fan of corridor shooters and, so far, that's all this has been. There's no survival aspect. There's no horror aspect. There's no point in purchasing upgraded or customized weapons, since enemies have randomly assembled weapons and it isn't difficult to find what you're looking for. There's no point in buying ammo, because it's everywhere. You can take it off bodies and from the weapons they dropped when they died.

I'm playing Metro: Last Light right now and I think your perception of the game depends on the difficulty that you're playing on.

I'm playing through on Normal right now to get my feet under me and it's mostly easy breezy for anyone who's played FPS and/or stealth games. The stealth mechanics are a bit lulzy since you can hide literally a few feet in front of someone as long as you're in a pool of darkness and not lit up by any light sources.

That said, the world building is wonderful, and I can totally see ammunition becoming a huge problem on the higher difficulties where ammo becomes more scarce.

Also pertinent: The Metro Last Light developers at 4A Studios deserve mad props for managing to even exist.

Jason Rubin: Metro: Last Light is the "triumph of an underdog" | GamesIndustry International

Let's be honest: 4A was never playing on a level field. The budget of Last Light is less than some of its competitors spend on cut scenes, a mere 10 percent of the budget of its biggest competitors. Yet it is lauded for its story and atmosphere. It is built on a completely original and proprietary second-generation engine that competes with sequels that have stopped numbering themselves, with more engineers on their tech than 4A has on the entire project. Yet its tech chops are never in question.

And all of this is compounded by the conditions this Ukrainian team works under in Kiev. The entire 4A studio would fit easily in the (underutilized) gym at EA Los Angeles' offices. Yet Last Light's Metacritic score blows away Medal of Honor Warfighter. As undeniably fantastic as competitor BioShock Infinite may be, the team was given whatever resources they needed to make the title. At the same time, 4A's staff sat on folding wedding chairs, literally elbow to elbow at card tables in what looks more like a packed grade school cafeteria than a development studio.

---

When 4A needed another dev kit, or high-end PC, or whatever, someone from 4A had to fly to the States and sneak it back to the Ukraine in a backpack lest it be "seized" at the border by thieving customs officials. After visiting the team I wanted to buy them Aeron office chairs, considered a fundamental human right in the west. There were no outlets in the Ukraine, and our only option was to pack a truck in Poland and try to find an "expediter" to help bribe its way down to Kiev. We gave up not because this tripled the cost, but because we realized that the wider Aeron chairs would require spreading out people and computers, which would lead to extra desks, and that ultimately would have required bigger offices. Yes, really.

The article goes into much more detail and is an excellent read.

Metro: LL isn't the best game ever made, but it's very good at what it IS good at. I can't help but respect the quality on display, and I respect it more knowing the conditions under which it was made.

It's the best $60 I've spent all year so far.


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I'm very inclined to grab it as well, but I'm still getting my feet wet in Ni no Kuni (just made it to the 3rd town) and I really, really hate starting another game when I'm already engaged in an RPG.


My guess is, like the first game, it probably won't sell like gangbusters and drop in price before long. I fully intend to get it, just a matter of when not if. Plus I want to save my trades for Tales of Xillia.

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Well I've gone and installed Skyrim again.

Guess I won't need to make any new purchases for a while.

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Borderlands went on sale for five bucks yesterday. I don't understand this game. It's a cartoon and a shooter and diablo loot and I'm enjoying it. The fuck is going on here?

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Borderlands 2 is also on sale on steam. 2 is also infinitely better than the first - better mechanics, better graphics, and pop-culture references out the ass - it's hysterical.

[Icemage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Borderlands went on sale for five bucks yesterday. I don't understand this game. It's a cartoon and a shooter and diablo loot and I'm enjoying it. The fuck is going on here?

Borderlands is pretty amazing. It almost but not quite manages to replicate Diablo 2's loot casino mechanics, which is why it's so much fun for a long time. Later (very high level) on you'll start noticing that the really good stuff doesn't drop very often, but even so something cool will still pop up now and then.

Borderlands 2 is more of the same with more humor. Even better loot system, though still lacking in the player choice synergy of D2.


Icemage

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Borderlands 2 is also on sale on steam. 2 is also infinitely better than the first - better mechanics, better graphics, and pop-culture references out the ass - it's hysterical.

Your assessment of games has been pretty piss poor in my experience, so you'll excuse me if I sit here and enjoy the hell out of Borderlands before worrying about purchasing the sequel.