Video Games

Hicks · Post by **Hicks** » Fri Mar 15, 2013 6:40 am

Kerbal. Space. Program. It is cool. It has a free demo. FUCK THAT DEMO, SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY! Build your own custom rocket, and fly it around a solar system. Still in alpha, but I would have paid for it as is. Indeed I did pay for it as is. If they never update it (though, I hope they will) I'll still he a satisfied customer.

I been playing it for 2 days and am currently attempting to do a full Apollo moon mission. The lander and the command module are done and tested, the Saturn 5 stand in is a complex nightmare to engineer, just as it should be. If I get it right, I'll have a super heavy lifter to make my fledgling space cruisers.

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Fri Mar 15, 2013 7:14 am

Am I the only one who wished FF8 had relationship options like 7 had? I didn't like Rinoa very much and frankly I can't see their relationship lasting more than 5 years tops. Their mindsets and personalities are just too different, plus the responsibilities involved for his job... IIRC, she was partly distant from her father due to his being a military commander... so she hooks up with what amounts to a younger version of her father with issues?

Anyway, I'd have gone for Quistis or Selphie if given the chance. They both are part of his world, and can probably handle the stresses of deployments and such.

Thoughts?

Leress · Post by **Leress** » Fri Mar 15, 2013 9:20 am

Meikle641 wrote:
Thoughts?

I wished that FF8 wasn't a shitty game.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:16 pm

Well put, sir.

On another note, DR recently bought an awesome game called "Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds", which is apparently a spin-off of a Japenese fighting game that was going to be released in the US but never was.

Anyway, Phantom Breaker: BG is like a cross between the Scott Pilgrim game and a magical transforming girl anime. It's AWESOME.

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Fri Mar 15, 2013 5:03 pm

Got FE13 recently. I am annoyed that cav move-after-acting is gone, but the new support and pairing up stuff is great.

Orion · Post by **Orion** » Fri Mar 15, 2013 5:23 pm

Meikle641 wrote:Am I the only one who wished FF8 had relationship options like 7 had?

I hope so, because that makes no sense. Final Fantasy 7 was able to have optional romantic subplots because the romancers were, in fact, subplots. Final Fantasy Seven was not a story about Cloud deciding who to bang, it was a story about Cloning and Industry and shit, so Cloud could bang anyone you wanted without it being a big deal. Final Fantasy 8 is literally a genre romance. The entire game is about the relationship between Squall and Rinoa, and absolutely everything else is set dressing or justification. Nobody give's a shit about Ultimecia, for fuck's sake, she makes no sense and shows up 90% of the way through the game. She's literally just there to have a final dungeon and to make some kind of statement about love and mortality and shit. She gives you the themes of the game as a fucking monologue during the boss fight.

Now, you may or may not like FF8, or think that it is any good. It happens to be my favorite Final Fantasy game, and I would seriously argue that it is the 2nd-best Final Fantasy game of all time. I realize that's a minority opinion and I don't expect to convince of you that. But I would hope that we could agree that any conceivable value to be found in FF8 comes from the Squinoa ship, and that letting people skip that would reduce the game's merit from slim to none.

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Fri Mar 15, 2013 5:36 pm

Broke the thread there, Orion.

I rather enjoyed FF8; I played it like, 4 or 5 times so far (the only games I like more are 9 and 7). I just disliked the love interest, is all. Ideally a love subplot would be exactly that, a subplot, like in 7.

I enjoyed the battle systems, the setting, and so on. The only thing I didn't really like was the Squall and Rinoa romance that takes over the game past a certain point.

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Sat Mar 16, 2013 3:05 pm

FE13:

So one of the big shiny new things is that being adjacent to people gives bonuses and allows one of the adjacent characters to deflect attacks and possibly get in free shots. Odds of either of those happening and the bonuses are based on support level (SerenesForest says there's 12 degrees of bonus, and is cumulative for multiple adjacent characters, with no support being 1 grade and married being 5) and people can get unlimited A-supports but only one S-support, which is marriage and only permitted for straight couples due to game mechanical considerations regarding Fantasy Eugenics. Also no marrying immediate family. I paired off the Lord with the player-created Tactician, and due to high stats, level-5 support, and the Lord's personal skill giving boosted odds to dual attacks, the royal couple slices just about everything in half. The only problem is that they're stealing all the XP. They're like five levels ahead of all non-prepromotes. I've also paired the Red and Green cavaliers, they're doing pretty well.

There's also the new "pair up" system, wherein you can voltron characters together, giving bonuses to the active character and allowing you to fly offensively slow characters around. The inactive character automatically supports the active one, which will override other possible direct support (normally the best adjacent character gets the dual strike/defend opportunity) and allow people who are not level 17 to get participation experience bonuses (if the enemy dies, the primary combatant gets the kill XP, so Lord Chrom is not as ridiculous an experience hoover as would otherwise be the case).

It's my standard practice to base player-customizable characters off of some character from other media. In this case, I picked Captain Spac- I mean, Kato Marikia from Mouretsu Space Pirates. The coat was simply too similar to resist. Unfortunately, unlike 12 there are no silly hats, so the look can't properly be completed. But the Tactician's favorite voice clip in the early game is "Huh?", so I'd have to say I picked pretty well.

Tactician is a pretty great class; good all-around stats and ranks in both swords and tomes, plus a bonus aura skill unlocking at level 10 and +50% xp when voltronifed. Also apparently you can reclass to any class and steal their skills.

Orion · Post by **Orion** » Sat Mar 16, 2013 4:20 pm

Meikle,

Yeah, I was in the wrong there. I was thinking of FF8 purely as "the story of Garden" and not at all as "the 8th final fantasy game." If the story were published as a novel, it would be shelved under "romance" and it would be pretty weird to complain after reading it that there was too much romance in it. But of course if you do like "final fantasy games" and don't like "genre romance" then it's perfectly reasonable to wish that the 8th final fantasy game had not been a genre romance.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sat Mar 16, 2013 4:44 pm

Looks like I'm picking up FarCry 3 later today.

Maybe I'll do an actual Let's Play and take notes of what I think.

Count Arioch the 28th · Sat Mar 16, 2013 7:56 pm

FF8 shoehorned a romance with a completely unlikable character. Ronoa is just awful. Maybe in japan they find grown-ass women that act like bratty children endearing, but we don't put up with that horseshit here in 'murica.

Squall reacted pretty well considering the assholes he was surrounded with. He wasn't a friendly guy, so fucking what? I'm not particularly friendly with people I don't know either, and being surrounded with manic pixie dreamgirls would more than likely exacerbate things.

Also, who the actual fuck would question Squall's decision to not risk the lives of everyone in the GARDEN to save the girl he's stuck with and not particularly fond of? Other than the idiots he's being forced to deal with every day...

Don't get me wrong, I'd hit Quistis like the fist of an angry god.

Orion · Post by **Orion** » Sat Mar 16, 2013 8:20 pm

I was into Quistis the first time I played, as a kid. But she's actually at least as much of a trainwreck as Rinoa. She's the instructor who orders one of her students to meet her after hours for the purpose of complaining inappropriately about personal business--Which, ironically turns out to be that she is being disciplined for inappropriate behavior toward her charges. She doesn't appear to recognize the irony at any points. If you wanted to cite a clear-cut example of female sexual harassment being portrayed sympathetically, you'd start with her.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sat Mar 16, 2013 9:14 pm

FarCry 3 Liveblog:

2:14: put game in. Updates

2:22: Intro showing bunch of folks partying, having a nice time, then turns out it's a phone video being used to taunt me by some hispanic dude with a mohawk and a scar on his head. Hostage.

Really pretty graphics in this game, thought.

2:32: Going really slow on this. Fielding questions about stuff from a friend

2:46: Got a tutorial about sneaking, throwing rocks, and quick-time events. Main character's continual freaking the fuck is getting on my nerves.

Have escaped pirates. Met up with black guy in glasses who gives me a "tatau" because I'm evidently a warrior.

4:12: As you might gather, I sort of got into the game. I've killed boars, komodo dragons, rabid dogs, and some handful of people. Driving is a bit of a pain for me--I keep hitting the right stick to look adjust the camera (a lot of games, I use the camera controls to help me steer), and it freaks me out--but I'm smoother than I was.

I just had to shotgun a charging komodo dragon to death.

I stand by earlier statement: Very pretty game. Reminds me of Just Cause 2, only first person and without the parachute and the grapple line.

Taking a break now. Food and sunshine must happen sometime today.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 12:12 am

What's your animals killed to people killed ratio? I don't know if FarCry keeps track of that shit like, say, Fallout does, but from reading your post, it would seem that you've ended far more komodo dragons than pirates.

Unless the komodo dragons are also pirates... Wow, that's a scary thought...

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 12:38 am

Oh, no, I've killed, oh, two dozen pirates to two komodo dragons. I went back to play it.

Because, see, I was looking for a loot box, ran into some pirates who were on patrol. During the course of our disagreement, some more rode up on a jeep. Then while I was taking them out, some more arrived.

Two to three pirates to a vehicle, and ended up with five loads of then. I ended up running out of assault rifle ammo and had to finish off the last five via cat-and-mouse with the hunting knife.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 1:55 am

Awesome.

And I bet some of them were really komodo dragons wearing human skin.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 2:00 am

Shrapnel wrote:Awesome.

And I bet some of them were really komodo dragons wearing human skin.

For a place with only two guys there when I found them, the rest arrived in a hurry and out of nowhere. And driving like...like...ME.

(it's a personal quirk. My usual approach to video game driving involves "learn how to hold down the accelerator for as long as I can possibly get away with it and try to only hit things I mean to")

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 5:43 am

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/03/15/du ... -xbox-360/

CAPCOM's rereleasing their D&D arcade games!

I wonder what that says about the D&D license fiasco

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 6:12 am

..bought.

Juton · Post by **Juton** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 7:35 am

Hicks wrote:Kerbal. Space. Program. It is cool. It has a free demo. FUCK THAT DEMO, SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY! Build your own custom rocket, and fly it around a solar system. Still in alpha, but I would have paid for it as is. Indeed I did pay for it as is. If they never update it (though, I hope they will) I'll still he a satisfied customer.

I been playing it for 2 days and am currently attempting to do a full Apollo moon mission. The lander and the command module are done and tested, the Saturn 5 stand in is a complex nightmare to engineer, just as it should be. If I get it right, I'll have a super heavy lifter to make my fledgling space cruisers.

Kerbal space program is awesome. Just make sure to do a few practice landings first, they are trickier than they seem. When you start to feel a little bored check out the mods, they are also awesome.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 6:33 pm

I'm gonna get a PS3 when my tax refund comes in. This'll be my One Big Thing this year and then I go back to throwing spare money at my student loan (it's only, like, $1500 now!)

I'm very interested in Final Fantasy IX, on the playstation store. I'm also vaguely aware of the classics--God of War 3, Little Big Planet.

Are there any other really good PS3-only titles I should be aware of? Anything super-good available for download?

I'm not a fan of Metal Gear (stealth games are one of the few video game genres I suck at), so I'll take a pass on that. But all other suggestions will be thoughtfully considered.

Count Arioch the 28th · Sun Mar 17, 2013 6:44 pm

Orion wrote:I was into Quistis the first time I played, as a kid. But she's actually at least as much of a trainwreck as Rinoa.

I agree. Hell, despite being male both Irvine and Zell are manic pixie dream girls along with Rinoa, Quistis and Selphie.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... eDreamGirl

Interesting note: in the Japanese version Zell is openly gay, and there's a gang of girls at Balamb Garden who are openly plotting to convert him to the poon.

TarkisFlux · Post by **TarkisFlux** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:06 pm

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:Interesting note: in the Japanese version Zell is openly gay, and there's a gang of girls at Balamb Garden who are openly plotting to convert him to the poon.

Fucking NA localization, stripping amusing things out.

Leress · Post by **Leress** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 11:56 pm

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:
Interesting note: in the Japanese version Zell is openly gay, and there's a gang of girls at Balamb Garden who are openly plotting to convert him to the poon.

Evidence please?

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Mon Mar 18, 2013 12:47 am

If you don't play the game very far (I recommend stopping before even the end of the first disc, maybe even "before putting the disc in the PSX"), Quistis is quite normal and sensible and decent - just a little playful in her efforts to get Mister Grumpypants out of his shell. I mean, Selphie arrives as a ditz, and as soon as you're on the train she's snorting sherbert and cocaine, and Rinoa only pretends to not be a petulant child for what, ten minutes. But Quistis is good until they try developing her character. With paint thinner.

Maxus:
Record of Agarest War (tactical RPG with alchemy and dating sim elements)
Atelier Rorona (RPG/alchemy game)
Atelier Meruru (RPG/alchemy game)
Atelier Totori (RPG/alchemy game)
Disgaea 3 (tactical)
Disgaea 4 (tactical)
Cross Edge (tactical RPG with alchemy)

Technically D3 is also on the PSVita, but I assume by PS3-only you mean "not also released on the XBox360".