The NEW Game Journal

[Klutz64]

Starting Graces f again. Decided it would be weird to get a new Tales game without finishing the previous one. So I just spent the last hour or so printing out a side quest guide and ctrl+f searching a walkthrough for the chronological order of completing said side quests. That's one of my pet peeves of the Tales series, how easy it is to miss important stuff for even a basic completionist like myself (i.e. I don't mind missing some skits, but would like to do all the subevebts.)

Graces f just adds insult to injury by finally adding a way to keep track of side quests, but lists them in no logical order.

[Fadedsun]

Fuck the Amala Labyrinth. That is all.

Edit: No, seriously.

So I died twice in the second Kalpa. My third round I almost made it to the end of the second kalpa, but I just got unlucky with a back attack which the enemy decided to attack my MC. THIS GAME IS GREAT.

[Dice]

Starting Graces f again. Decided it would be weird to get a new Tales game without finishing the previous one. So I just spent the last hour or so printing out a side quest guide and ctrl+f searching a walkthrough for the chronological order of completing said side quests. That's one of my pet peeves of the Tales series, how easy it is to miss important stuff for even a basic completionist like myself (i.e. I don't mind missing some skits, but would like to do all the subevebts.)

Graces f just adds insult to injury by finally adding a way to keep track of side quests, but lists them in no logical order.

I just missed a "beat in one minute trophiy". &@^#(*@^#*&.

And Mesh addresses a concern I've had with CT for a long, long time....

[MeshGearFox]

1. Those numbers are't really matching what I'm seeing so I'm a bit confused as to how it works. Drill Kick is doing more damage than what I was expecting although again that might be the mod I'm using.

2. Falcon Hit and Beast Toss, if I'm reading that correctly, are totally useless. Uzzi Punch does more damage than Robo Tackle, but costs three time as much. Three Robo Tackles would do considerably more damage in the long run, so Beast Toss is kind of useless. Falcon Hit just outright would do less damage than doing the attacks separately.

3. The effects for the pure physical combos are kind of all over the place.

In general the techs that either impart elemental strength to a physical attack or power up a magical attack (ie antipode) are going to be useful since they DO give a damage boost, except...

Okay so for Antipode 2/3 your party is generally going to be Marle and Lucca and Chrono. Marle is your only healer in this setup, which makes me wonder if using her turn on Antipode 2/3 is going to be that good of an idea, unless you just bounce her back and forth between antipoding and aura whirling.

The actual distribution of combos seems kind of arbitrary too. Chrono, Marle, and Robo gives you two combos that are basically aura whirl, then a full-heal variant between Marle and Robo. But then Marle and Frog get a better later-game combo with less redundancy on the earlier combos. Also Chrono and Robo's combos aren't very good in general.

Based on what I'm reading though, the field effects in CC would do the exact same things as combos, from a gameplay perspective, in terms of giving damage bonuses over time (and in that sense it's a lot closer to the combo system in SaGa Frontier, or in Persona 2 where combos just mean casting certain spells in a given order give you access to the upgraded version of that spell).

[Annubis]

So I'm playing my Skyrim game which is like 60 hours in and I go read the random statistics.



I think I need help...

[Ranadiel]

So I'm playing my Skyrim game which is like 60 hours in and I go read the random statistics.



I think I need help...

O_o Are you sure that is right? Unless my math is off that is approximately 1.8 items pickpocketed per second. How do you even have time to find your pickpocket targets?

[Annubis]

So I'm playing my Skyrim game which is like 60 hours in and I go read the random statistics.



I think I need help...

O_o Are you sure that is right? Unless my math is off that is approximately 1.8 items pickpocketed per second. How do you even have time to find your pickpocket targets?

If I go up to a guard and steal 12 arrows, 8 gold and 1 lockpick, that would be 21 items in about one second. Still, the maths are showing that I'm a fricking kleptomane.

I'm trying to think of a pun with dragonborn and pickpocketing...

EDIT: For lack of making a descent pun, enjoy this Googled image

[Daggerstrike]

Started replaying Wild Arms 2. Good times.

[Dice]

Started replaying Wild Arms 2. Good times.

I'm sure if I played that game on Acid I'd end up on the ceiling for a few parts.

[Draak]

Fuck the Amala Labyrinth. That is all.

Edit: No, seriously.

So I died twice in the second Kalpa. My third round I almost made it to the end of the second kalpa, but I just got unlucky with a back attack which the enemy decided to attack my MC. THIS GAME IS GREAT.

Yeah, I had terrible luck too. The things that helped me the most down there where: my beefed up Daisoujou; a special demon I bought somewhere in the Labyrinth which came with a bunch of useful “field” skills; the MC learning Mediarahan (fuck that minigame shit though). Keep pushing, the Labyrinth is one of the best parts, specially the later levels.

To keep on topic: I've beat Ceadeus in MH3U. Hammered his face off and managed to repel it with 3:00 left in the clock. Not bad. Breezing through the Guild LR stuff right now.

[Aeolus]

My Super Dimensional Awakening run has passed chapter 13 and now I have Lucina (or rather her Falchion which is going straight on to NAW Marth). Chrom's now a Paladin (dealing with Beastkillers is going to suck), Est is now a Grandmaster (she was only really in it for Veteran but Rally Spectrum will be a good replacement for her Rally Speed), Wolt is now a Bow Knight (because fuck Snipers), and Mia is now a Thief (because I stupidly lost Matthew and I need a Locktoucher), there's been no further changes as of yet.

Worth pointing out is that the cutscene where Lucina reveals herself does change to reflect her generic motherage ("I'll be she'll be happy to see you when we go back home" *and nobody suddenly appears and walks into the conversation to throw in their two cents*). Also worth point out is that the SF inheritance calculations are wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. I suspect the Maiden option does provide some minor stat boost to the kid's starting stats because the numbers I'm getting are off by 1, 2, or 4 points.

Next Stage: Flyers! Flyers Everywhere!

[DPB]

I bought Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth for £5, I felt like replaying it and this version is far cheaper than the original. It's quite pleasing getting pretty much the same game for more than ten times less than I sold the PS1 version for. I'm going to try hard mode, which for some reason is actually supposed to be easier than normal mode, and has more content. I'm also going to read an FAQ and go through the convoluted steps to get the proper ending. The first time round I got annoyed by the standard non-ending and never touched the game again.

I'm playing Ys Seven too, which is really fun but incredibly easy compared to the previous games. I haven't died once since the first few bosses, whereas I died over and over again to every single boss in Oath and Origin. It's still very enjoyable for the fast-paced combat, I just wish it had some of the challenge the series is known for. I did try hard mode for a few hours but it was a bit boring - it just gave everything a ton of HP, turning it into a tedious slog, rather than genuinely difficult.

[Dice]

I bought Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth for £5, I felt like replaying it and this version is far cheaper than the original. It's quite pleasing getting pretty much the same game for more than ten times less than I sold the PS1 version for. I'm going to try hard mode, which for some reason is actually supposed to be easier than normal mode, and has more content. I'm also going to read an FAQ and go through the convoluted steps to get the proper ending. The first time round I got annoyed by the standard non-ending and never touched the game again.

I'll give you a quick rundown on things:

Hard Mode
= It's easier because of better items and equipment.  So long as you keep up with that, Level 1-ers should be ok to level-up when they join the team
= Only way to get Flame Jewels, ie, only way to get Lazard, Brahms, and Freya as optional character in Seraphic...and they're awesome (EACH Hard-Mode-Specific Dungeon has Flame Jewels EXCEPT for the Clockwork-Asian one, Tomb of Amneti has TWO)
= Some of the best most unique dungeons in the game (the only Easy/Normal exclusive you miss of note is Forest of Woe...for aesthetic reasons, it's quite lovely)
= Gamefaqs Guides: use CaptainK or Tri-Ace Fanboy's

Tips
= Keep Lawfer.  No questions.  
= All mages are practically the same; and the game also throws too many at you (which is ironic since they more or less suck in VP2)
= Arngrim is damned handy too for an early (well, earliest) recruit
= GO visit the villages of each Einherjar after you recruit them for special items, Arngrim's visit in particular is *EXTREMELY* useful for several parts of the game!!!
= You'll run into or transmute the Emerald Necklace (extra SP) and Bracelet of Zoe (extra HP).  Keep these for newbies in the party!!!
= Personally, I prefer to keep Valkyrie as an Archer since she pulls good combos; give good sword weapons to others you might recruit
= In case you wonder about, orbs in battle restore magic, crystals boost experience (the former received when knocking "floored" foes during a combo, the latter when you hit an enemy while he's in the air during a combo)
= Keep ALL ARTIFACTS.  Some are really, really good. Even the ones that do "nothing", some will transmutate into something fantastic and others can be converted into crazy amounts of "Materialize Points" (ie; money)
= Element Scepters can be Transmuted into Tome of Alchemy's.  These turn enemies into EXP Crystals. Yes -- even very hard, high leveled enemies.  Make use of that, there are way better scepters for mages anyways.
= On that note, levels are helpful, but you'll want levels for Skill Points, not stats boosts (hence why the Emerald Necklace is an asset).
= Don't transfer Lymsleria (or whatever her name is) -- she's glitched, you'll lose her forever if you do. D:
= Prep to HELL for CH.4 Lezard's Tower, it's easily the most taxing dungeon in the game
= Transfer someone (just ONE) who meets requirements *every chapter* and you'll be safe for Approval Rating.  Make sure they have an almost Maxed Hero Rating and decent equipment too!
= More hits a weapon has the better, ignore the weapon strength (Atk Trust is interesting though)

[DPB]

Thanks Dice, lots of useful info there.

[Aeolus]

I'll give you a quick rundown on things:

= Keep ALL ARTIFACTS.  Some are really, really good. Even the ones that do "nothing", some will transmutate into something fantastic and others can be converted into crazy amounts of "Materialize Points" (ie; money)

Just to clarify this a little bit more, whenever you find an Artifact you'll be asked to immediately send it back to Odin for brownie points or to keep it for your own personal use. NEVER CHOOSE TO SEND. After that you can either use them, materialize them, or transmute them, but NEVER SEND THEM. Screw Odin, get Materialize Points.