Game Journal #666

[TurnBasedDude]

I assume you guys kow the rules.

Rant on about your favorite games, blah blah blah.

I'll start.

I borrowed Tales of the Abyss from a friend and around the begining. I crossed a river and reached a boarding town.

Rant on!

[Eusis]

I'm indecisive about games and sticking to them, really. I'm at the final battle of Chapter 2 in Shining Force. Actually, I replayed that battle because most of my guys were decimated the first go and while I could've trashed the final zombie without a problem, I wanted to earn some extra EXP. However, when Hans leveled to 7 and got nothing, I just shut the system off. I'm not going to be too picky about leveling up, I'm not going for min/maxing and reloading each time someone levels and fails to get ideal stats, but if I'm getting nothing then fuck it, I'm going to level and and get get SOME STAT boost. Randomized stat gains without a guarantee to earn anything is just stupid.

I also tried getting some S medals in Excite Truck. Not doing too bad, all of the Bronze Cup is S'd.

[Shiguma]

Oh wow, I didn't know the stat gains were random in Shining Force 1.  I haven't played SF1 since I was an elementary school kid, and back then, I assumed the rewards from a level up were static.  Then again, I also had no problems finishing the game, so meh.

[Ramza]

30 hours into FFXII. My elder brother told me it's worthwhile to really dig into the "augments" section of the license board, since they're stand-alone upgrades to the character that are not at all dependent on other factors (as in, I don't have to buy anything). In my haste, I've left many of my characters without access to advanced magick and equipment. Some characters have access to some advanced stuff, since the *very* first thing I did was have each character go get their own three Quickening slots ... but it's like, I just bought the spell "Haste" and only one person has access to it.

So...I have to go grind for gil and license points in some easy area for awhile. Not at all excited about it. I feel like this is the 15th time I've done this just so I can keep my characters alive in current areas. And to think I used to whine about how FF games were getting too easy. This game really forces you to work.

Code:

In the storyline, I just reached Phon Coast and heard a heartfelt discussion between Balthier and Ashe. I learned that Balthier 1) used to be a judge, 2) is Doctor Cid's son.

Ramza

[Eusis]

Phon Coast (don't think that part's THAT sensitive, and everyone trying to get the Zodiac Spear knows the name), man. I'm not that far, but I've got Haste on Fran, maybe another character or two has had it. I've kinda been going for balancing the advancement, I guess. No need for more equipment levels, I go for spells and augmentations. I recently decided to go for the level 2 quickenings after hearing how that doubles the magic, as I was going through it for buffs way too fast. Haste still burns through the MP though, so I'll probably leave that off except for major fights.

On that note, I haven't had too much trouble surviving. I've done some grinding, but it felt more like a leisurely thing when I could've survived anyway. As for where I am, I reached Mr. Bur-Omisace.

Code:

Vayne's taken charge of the empire, and now I need to get some sword to destroy Nethicite.

I haven't played it in awhile though.

[ZE GRAND MASTER]

I never had to power level that much, for some reason. And I killed most enemies with attack gambits and I think I could have done the same with most bosses, too. Maybe it was because I spent hours trying to do all the marks, and killing lots of weak monsters in the process. Either that, or I wasn't playing the game "properly".

[Losfer]

The stat gains in SF are VERY random.  And on top of this, some characters level up very slowly.  Hans being a prime example.  In fact, you need to max him out at level 20 before promoting him.

Not worth it, use Dianne or Lyle instead.  Most of the good characters can be promoted between 10 and 14.  Whenever you promote someone, their stats /will/ take a hit, but after a few levels, their stats go up really well.  I've seen Zylo get 8 Str one go, Tao get 7 MP, Ken get 10 HP.

Eus, once you get to the battle with General Elliot in (I think) Chapter 4, you should get everyone in your party promoted with a few levels.  Unlike the remake, the original game can be hard!

As for me, I played Twilight Princess yesterday for seven hours.  I'm amazed at how quick the Wiimote destroys batteries.  :(

[Shiguma]

All this Final Fantasy XII talk is making me wanna pick up Final Fantasy XII International: Zodiac Job System.  I was never a huge fan of the original game (especially in the story department), but the Gambit system was pretty cool, and I'm curious to check out the new customization options w/ the "zodiac boards."

I definitely need a new game, but there is /nothing/ on the radar over here.  Currently waiting for the 'slim' PSPs to come out in September, so I can slug through Eiyuu Densetsu VI: Sora no Kiseki FC and SC during downtime at work.  Aside from that, though, I have nothin'.  Someone recommend me a good import RPG that I haven't already played. ;_;

[everluck]

I beat all bosses except Quick Man on Mega Man 2 on my cell phone.

Also, GuitarHeroGuitarHeroGuitarHeroGuitarHero.

[Dincrest]

TBD's "Memories of #5" thing at the end of the last game journal thread made me think of Memories Off #5: Togireta Film and Memories Off #5: Encore.  

Anyway, I was visiting the folks, so whenever I'm there I play Chrono Trigger.  When I return to my place, it's back to Xenosaga 2, baby.  I have an Ormus Stronghold to conquer.

[Ryos]

Oh wow, I didn't know the stat gains were random in Shining Force 1.  I haven't played SF1 since I was an elementary school kid, and back then, I assumed the rewards from a level up were static.  

It's amusing you bring this up because I actually went out of my way to max out a particular character a couple years back because he potentially had the best gains out of any character in the force (if memory serves his absolute best level was somewhere in the neighborhood of +62 combined stats, which was pretty insane.  However, because gains were so random he could have just as easily gotten say +5 total stats instead that level).  Of course with the AI being so bad it was hardly necessary to go out of the way to do anything like that, but random stats are always interesting.

Which brings me to the thoroughly static upgrades of Morrowind - I restarted it again with a somewhat more traditional approach simply because the whole squad thing got rather tedious (getting around ten or so  characters in a small area was not so fun :p).  Currently slugging my way through the Balmora quests - should be done fairly soon, probably.

[John]

Working on a review for Brave Story: New Traveler.

Played more Persona 3, most powerful character is still Koromaru.

[Zebulun]

I'm on the seventh chapter of Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth. The first 5 hours or so of the game confounded me, so I restarted and took it at a slower pace. I've really enjoyed it so far. Hopefully I'll discover the "A ending" but as it's my first play-through I imagine this would be doubtful.

[Superflat]

Resistance: Fall of Man - Just got into Cheshire which puts me a little less than halfway through the game. I haven't played a good new fps in a while and this sure is filling my craving.

Heavenly Sword Demo - It was fun... for about 5 minutes. Then it was over. I just hope that the real game is longer than 20 minutes.

PGR3 - I had an urge to play some PGR. I'm not quite sure why, but it was nice to be able to have fun with a racing game and not be thwarted by sheer realism (I'm looking at you GTHD).

Sam and Max Episode 1 - I got the 6 episode set and beat the first episode. A quality experience that was greatly enjoyable. Although I do kind of miss the ease of navigation from games such as Phoenix Wright and Hotel Dusk. It didn't help that the screen wouldn't pan and thus you had to click a lot to make Max move across the screen.

I think I'm going to try to beat Resistance and then return to Odin Sphere. Fun fact: while I was transferring my memory card to the PS3 I noticed some of the time stamps on my old games. This mainly revealed to me that I don't play a whole lot more than Guitar Hero and whatever new game I have at the time.

[everluck]

I downloaded Prince of Persia on XBLA and regretted it five minutes in.

The game may be fantastic by 80s standards, but pitted against today's expectations it fails miserably. Spotty controls, stiff movement, random pits of death, falling sheets of metal, and a battle system you can hardly control equals an experience that's anything but enjoyable.

I hate this game. So much.

Also five starred every song on GHII's medium career. Moving on to expert now, having trouble with Woman.