Video Games

[GreatGreyShrike]

It's been a while since FM3 for me, but back in the day I played through both campaigns twice each, for a total of an ungodly number of hours in the game.

I am *pretty sure* that you don't need a matched pair of arms to learn moves. You can mix and match them. At least one gamefaqs writer seems to back this up.

Strategy tips in spoiler (no story spoilers):

The arms with ROFUP1 (Kyojun Mk107 - Ryogo's starting mech, iirc)? are a vital resource. Having a full set of ROFUP1 learned on your guys using machine guns or shotguns is overpowered, because a full set of ROFUP1 chains into itself so much that you can accidentally one-shot enemies from full by proccing it a bunch of times in a row. It's great. ROFUP1 is arguably the best single skill in the game.

Other strategy tip: If you see a Lenghe 1 on the battlefield, try to force a pilot kill or surrender - you can do this by damaging them a bunch, ideally destroying their arms, and then surrounding them. If they are considering surrendering (flashing white flag, not solid) and the enemy mech is very low hp and might die from the surrender-forcing normal attack, it's worth ejecting a pilot to plink them with a pistol to force the surrender. The Lenghe 1 has amazing base stats and anyone using melee or shotguns or machine guns should probably be put in a Lenghe 1 - you probably want a half dozen of these on your side, or more. You can't even buy them. There are some other enemy mechs that come in combat before you can buy them, or are hard/impossible to get other than via surrender, but the Lenghe 1 stand out as really absurdly strong.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

That is indeed Ryogo's wanzer, and he's being a dick about learning ROFUP 1. From my understanding that's not unusual.

[GreatGreyShrike]

Later on into the game there's eventually a computer that you can buy that is supposed to have a better chance of acquiring skills off of parts - COMG10

I don't know what the actual chances are by default or with the acquiring computer. A lot of the important game mechanics are super opaque.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Feast or famine, I guess. Ryogo learned it three times in the first simulator battle I ran. dickhead Kazuki is still being a bitch about learning eject punch though (although hitting chains of tackle I and Melee I is likely more effective). I just finished the mission where you destroy the transport in Emma's storyline so I'm not that far yet.

EDIT: We can add Yun to the people that are being bitches about learning the skills on their arms, she does not want to learn double shot !

Also fuck everyone else, I'm not spoilering stuff from a game old enough to vote.

[Iduno]

I remember FM1 being a good game early tactically, then good late game as I just bashed everything to death with chaining melee attacks or something. I started playing another Front Mission game, but it was a side scroller? Which ones are good?

[Leress]

I started playing another Front Mission game, but it was a side scroller?

Gun Hazard

Which ones are good?

I really liked 4 and 5.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

I've only played 3, and I'm not far into it but I do like how combat feels ponderous, like huge robots should feel. It's an interesting contrast between Final Fantasy Tactics and its focus on fast alpha strikes and one-shot kills. You're going to be worn down in battle, losing limbs and getting your shit blasted off. My only complaint is that I wish the eject status didn't just randomly happen so often. It seems to fuck over the computer just as often as it does me, but I wish status effects were limited to techniques.

[Koumei]

So Neverwinter Online had a big update that raised the level-cap, added a new zone, completely changed the way stats and class features work etc. And while people will always complain that every change and update and module is the worst ever and has ruined the game, in this instance it's actually true*.

Meanwhile, I played all of the Atelier Iris games (as in, Atelier Iris 1-3 for PS2, so not Atelier Rorona, Totori, Shallie, Meruru, Ayesha or Escha & Logy for PS3, nor Mana Khemia for PS2 due to it not being translated). And they're great. I had previously played "some amount" of the first two, but not the third, and now they're all completed and I remembered how much I love that series. This is the era where they're still "an RPG but with more crafting and store-interaction" and not straight-up "store management and moe simulator, with RPG elements". Not that I have a problem with the latter either, mind you, but they're a good choice for people still more comfortable with regular RPGs, just they'd like to be able to jump (and thus do the Mega Man thing where you jump through doorways and area transitions for no real reason) and have field-stuff like the HMs in Pokemon.

*And you can 100% believe me at face value on this rather than thinking I'm just one of the bitter people decrying the changes.

[Axebird]

So Neverwinter Online had a big update that raised the level-cap, added a new zone, completely changed the way stats and class features work etc. And while people will always complain that every change and update and module is the worst ever and has ruined the game, in this instance it's actually true*.

What happened? I bounced off of Neverwinter when I got to your epic cash shop mount collection giving you powerups.

[Koumei]

Which stage of mounts giving powerups? The one where buying Purple tier ones for Zen gets you a static bonus, or the one where lootboxes can drop Orange tier ones with bigger boxes AND an activated power? Or the one where you keep a stable of X number of mounts, each with insignia slots (insignia rarely gained from chests or bosses, mostly gained from lootboxes) for further stat boosts and some combinations of insignia granting extra bonuses on top?

So now... the level cap is 80, and item level scaling has been fixed, mostly to make low level zones harder and to fuck you if you're playing single player. Obviously that's the only part I'm interested in, and I'd be happier if it were just a single player game that didn't even have a multiplayer option, like, you click the multiplayer button and it tells you to fuck off.

Classes are super simplified. It does the Diablo 3 thing where you just straight-up get the powers at levels X Y Z rather than choosing where to put points, and that's good, but now a lot of your favourite "always an option for this class" powers have been split into paragon-specific things so you can't be a healing Cleric that also has the Binding Chains of Light power, and Rogues can't have "the two at-will powers they want". For feats, you don't have any until paragon tier, and then you get I think six sets of two, where each time you choose A or B. For plenty of classes you'll find some levels are a choice between "Using Power A reduces the cooldown for Power B" or "Power C is better" and you have no value from either feat but those are the only options.

AP, Critical, Deflection and so on have all been changed. Now basically everything has a paired stat that are compared on a table to determine effect - you don't just go "My Critical stat is X, this means I have Y% critical chance for +Z% damage". Same with "amount of Defense bypassed" and Deflection. And Life Steal is just gone completely, it no longer exists. If you're not a healer, then you can use consumables (now that money is scarcer and with a new grade of level 80 potions that are even more expensive, hey if you want to spend some real money you can come over to the Zen store and buy the best healing items nudge nudge) or be a dedicated healer class.

So you may be asking "Okay, so what do Rogues do?" Seeing as the only way this Striker (dedicated DPS) class contributed before (even then not being as good as a Wizard, Ranger or Warlock) was through having 100% critical rate (now hardcapped at 50% no matter how good your opposed rating is, after that it just increases the damage multiplier more), and the only way they survived before was having a 100% Deflect rate (also hardcapped at 50%) to reduce all damage to 25% and then healing it up through good life steal.

The answer is they don't, they can go fuck themselves. Monsters have sort of been reworked with the new changes in mind, but I found myself dying to things that previously I could wipe in my sleep.

They also changed the way companions work, and it looks like you straight-up get bigger bonuses just for *having* more, so everyone also wants to be the very best, like no-one ever was. Yes, the main way to get them is still via Zen store.

Ages ago I bulk-bought VIP status when it was on special. So until it runs out, every day I am just signing in, getting my free shit, then signing out. If they haven't magically fixed things by the time it expires, I'll just uninstall again like I did at least once before, and maybe see how it's going in 2025.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

I wouldn't have checked out Neverwinter again were it not for this thread, so thanks?

[OgreBattle]

Which early 90's (late 80's?) DnD video game had a scene where you see a dead god drifting in space?

[Chamomile]

There may be more than one, but 1991's Pools of Darkness had one.

[Koumei]

Doesn't every D&D video game have one of those?

[Thaluikhain]

Oddly enough, Spelljammer does not. Though, that game was released before they'd put in all the stuff you find floating area in space.

[OgreBattle]

Yes Pools of Darkness it is



Thanks



Sexy brown elves

[Iduno]

Yes Pools of Darkness it is
Sexy brown elves

Those faces. Even the illithid has a goofy look on its face, somehow.

[Shrapnel]

He looks like he's saying "Uh, hi. How ya doin? Like the naked women? Me too!"

[OgreBattle]

Just realized genestealers are illithids

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Anyone play Mortal Kombat 9? I just bought the season pass, and the dlc characters are not showing up in character select. Do I need to do something special?

[Surgo]

Where could you even find MK9 with a season pass anymore? The only version sold on Steam is the Komplete edition.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Xbox 360.

[RelentlessImp]

City of Heroes is back. I've been reliving 2004 for the past few weeks and having the time of my life.

[Leress]

https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/22/1863 ... wn-june-25

So the Ouya/Forge TV service is shutting down next month. It does slightly suck since there are a couple of games that were only on the Ouya like Soul Fjord that won't ever be anywhere else. More surprising is that the service was still around after the failure of Forge TV.

[RelentlessImp]

Wait. There was still something left alive from the Ouya?