The NEW Game Journal

[Aeolus]

 Very close to wrapping up my FF6 run. I am not sure where to go next: I kinda wanna buy Rainbow Moon and Final Fantasy 5 is one of the Final Fantasy games I have not played for more than two hours. I am also on the fence about buying Ni No Kuni. Life is full of the tough decisions.

I'd say go with FFV. Even if it is the predecessor to FFT's and FFX-2 job systems, it got so much right on that particular attempt that its still worth playing just for that. Plus, its like the only FF game that really doesn't take itself seriously half the time which makes it a hell of a lot more palatable than most of the later FF games where its nothing but a constant JRPG soap opera.

[Monsoon]

Started a new game of Chrono Trigger a few nights ago to take a break from Knight of Lodis.  Gotta get ready for trivia next week :)

[Klyde Chroma]

Wild Arms Alter Code F- De La Metalica (or whatever the god forsaken place was called....) included, what is my estimate to be, the single most unfair puzzle in the history of my JRPG career.... anyone who played has to know what I'm talking about.... the end...

[Annubis]

Tales of Graces F

Training characters isn't too bad.
Doing the inn request to fight Gentleman though... ugh... I'd rather spam Ataraxia 100 times than just do a single inn request.
An Isleburg with Poignant quality? F-you, just take the one I have in my inventory!
Don't have any shards capable of making Poignant... so random shard hunting hoping I get one...

[Aeolus]

FE:Awakening. Made it through both Harvest Scramble and Lost Bloodlines 3. I now have Seliph (free Galeforce :woot:) and Chrom's sporting a new paradigm Paragon skill (which is great since he hit Paladin 15 during LB3 so I reclassed him into a Bow Knight). Meanwhile Florina has also finally hit 15 in her class of Dark Flier (more Galeforce :woot:) so now she's a Wyvern Lord working on her defense and strength for hit and run purposes. The extra levels accumulated between the two stages also have been bumping my team's stats up to or over numbers divisible by 10 which provides an extra point bonus in a stat upon pairing up. Probably going to have to hit up Golden Gaffe yet again to afford enough temporary stat boosters for the team for the next two chapters (the next bullion wont show up until a chest in chapter 20 and I may need three sets if I attempt Smash Brethren 1 between now and then; here and there).

Otherwise the crew is still the same as last time, Chrom and Est have nearly maxed out stats and are massive shit wreckers, Quan and Altena are slow but beefy mounted units, Florina can now perform hit and runs as well as continue being a ferry, Leif is still capable of jumping in when I need extra fire power or to eat a weakened kill, Athena is still there as well but is mostly a speed booster for one of the others, I'm getting more confident in Micaiah's nosfertanking abilities but I'm still not planing on fielding her yet, Alm is still training as a Tactician before he reclasses/promotes into a class that can fight, Raquesis and Moulder are still my healers, Mycen's slowed down to the point where he can do little more than chip or support attack (at least he still makes for a decent armored pack), and Mia and Amelia are still there to be a speed booster/armored pack respectfully.

[MeshGearFox]

Briefly played Dark Savior to make sure it works, and was confused as hell by the controls until I remembered it played like Landstalker ie hold everything diagonally to do anything.

[Haven]

I'd say go with FFV. Even if it is the predecessor to FFT's and FFX-2 job systems, it got so much right on that particular attempt that its still worth playing just for that. Plus, its like the only FF game that really doesn't take itself seriously half the time which makes it a hell of a lot more palatable than most of the later FF games where its nothing but a constant JRPG soap opera.

 Sounds like a plan. I just realized that I cannot play FF5 on my Vita, which really sucks. I have it on disc, but I am loving being able to just come and go as I please on the Vita.  I did really want to play it before I started 6 and I guess that is why I went with it. Too many games is a good problem me thinks.

[Yggdrasil]

The Last of Us:

Alright. So ah, I anticipated The Last of Us for a long time with not much of an idea in what I was getting into, and while is a great piece of work I couldn't help but feel bothered by the violence... I ended up feeling pretty bummed out when it was all over to be honest. And aside from the violence itself is the tone of the entire narrative that really has an emotional effect on me.

I wouldn't say that The Last of Us is "enjoyable" or a "fun experience" but it can keep your attention until the end and is memorable enough to make the whole thing worth it. TLOU definitely wasn't for me but I appreciate what Naughty Dog did.

That said, I wouldn't recommend this to anybody.

[Darilon]

That said, I wouldn't recommend this to anybody.

Is it just the violence or has the gameplay something to do with it? I have not gotten it yet but everyone else seems to be singing its praises. Just interested on hearing the other side of the coin before I buy it. The wouldn't reccomend this to anyone really surprised me.

I have a kind of "The Road" image in my head whenever I think of the game.

[Yggdrasil]

Is it just the violence or has the gameplay something to do with it? I have not gotten it yet but everyone else seems to be singing its praises. Just interested on hearing the other side of the coin before I buy it. The wouldn't reccomend this to anyone really surprised me.

Adam Sessler said it better in his review so I'll let that do the talking for me:

"The violence is intimate and unsettling, amplified by the astonishing sound design throughout the game.

Its also completely consistent with the tone established throughout.

The effect of the violence on the player, at least with myself, is something I haven't experienced in a game before. The dire, noxious, tension that, at times, evokes Dark Souls is only relieved by dispatching these living obstacles to the goal of making it through one more moment.

There is something momentarily relieving, and visually satisfying, that then gives way to the nauseating implications of the act. Naughty Dog's awareness of the violence, and its unflinching intrusion on the player's psyche is a necessary re-calibration of the role of violence in games, and will, undoubtedly, be apart of the ongoing debate in the media."

For all intent and purposes TLOU is good, very good but the experience that it offers is not commendable for everybody given how it can turn people off by it's dark nature.

[MeshGearFox]

SF3 - Up to Balsamo.

Dawn of Ys - Up to some town.

Shenmue - Fed the kitten. Looking for tattoo parlors.

Anyway I disassembled my DC's GDROM unit completely, washed all of the moly off of the worm gear and worm gear teeth thing... um... left the guide rail alone. It's barely touching that anyway. It's make a different noise now.

Taking apart the DC WILL get it to read games so I think the laser is fine, still. It's a mechanical issue and I can't figure it out.

Panzer Dragoon Saga - Imperial Airbase. Dungeon is just... completely featureless, full of chests, you have to blow up everything, REALLY long and... this game kind of sucks, honestly.

[Wild Armor]

FF6 - Going to teach my characters Shell, Haste 2, Safe, and Osmose before heading to Kefka's tower.

Next: Finish up Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny.

[Draak]

New Vegas - I got an anti-material rifle and the thing sure can pack a punch. I think it's the first weapon I've bought since the beginning... or was it the sniper rifle? Anyway, finished the Honest Hearts DLC, which was pretty good. I'm going to explore the Mojave a bit before hitting up Dead Money next.

And what about the nightkin wearing a wig? The wackiness won't stop!

[Annubis]

FTL:

People say asteroid fields are awful... yet they are a very easy way to level up your shield guy. Every asteroid hit counts as 1 xp =)
Suns are another thing though...

[_Vandalier_]

Is it just the violence or has the gameplay something to do with it? I have not gotten it yet but everyone else seems to be singing its praises. Just interested on hearing the other side of the coin before I buy it. The wouldn't reccomend this to anyone really surprised me.

Adam Sessler said it better in his review so I'll let that do the talking for me:

"The violence is intimate and unsettling, amplified by the astonishing sound design throughout the game.

Its also completely consistent with the tone established throughout.

The effect of the violence on the player, at least with myself, is something I haven't experienced in a game before. The dire, noxious, tension that, at times, evokes Dark Souls is only relieved by dispatching these living obstacles to the goal of making it through one more moment.

There is something momentarily relieving, and visually satisfying, that then gives way to the nauseating implications of the act. Naughty Dog's awareness of the violence, and its unflinching intrusion on the player's psyche is a necessary re-calibration of the role of violence in games, and will, undoubtedly, be apart of the ongoing debate in the media."

For all intent and purposes TLOU is good, very good but the experience that it offers is not commendable for everybody given how it can turn people off by it's dark nature.

TLOU manages, in my opinion anyway, to craft that violence into the game pretty well though. I should probably be worried about myself that violence in video games doesn't bother me at all lol....I can definitely see how the violence would bother some though.