It's a thread! (Games discussion, etc.)

[Moge]

Last Mario Kart i played thoroughly was Double Dash, and it was fantastic (kart designs were ugly though).

What's wrong with the DS game? I've heard nothing but positive things about it. Having played it for about 30 minutes, i honestly don't have much of an opinion about it, but i will say snaking totally ruined the online play. MK Wii... it was really damn bloated, and not in a good way. The series was perfectly balanced with 8 racers, but 12? Utter chaos.

[JG]

DS requires you do that left-right-left-right-left-right-left-right-left-right boost on partically every turn to stay in the lead.  Its hard enough to pull off reliably, and to make it a near requirement was beyond dumb.  It's bad mechanics as fingers don't naturally move that way, and bad for the unit as it rapidly wears out the control pad (I had to replace my DS much too soon becuase the control pad was too worn out, for which I blame MK DS)

Double Dash has 16 racers, albeit they pair up.  That's what made it great: both riders can carry an item. The other games only let you carry one so you have to choose offense or defense, and not be prepared for both.  A red koopa shell to throw forwards for offense, and a Bowser shell to toss backwards for defense (or forwards in a pinch) was a great combo in DD. (Making Baby Bowser and one of the Koopas my ideal team.)

MK Wii's problems wasn't the number of racers or course size or anything like that - it was unbalanced speed and a long delay between crashing/running off course and getting restarted.  Becuase everyone's moving so fast and there's such a delay in restarts, if you wreck or get hit by a blue shroom in the last 1/3 or so of the final lap, you're doomed, no matter how well you did in the race up to that point.  I've been perfect in races, leading the entire time and get hit but a blue shroom at the end and then finished in the bottom half.  I understand it costing you a few places if you've got some folks right on your tail, but it consistently ruins your chances to win the cup as you cant afford to finish lower than 4th or so in any single race. The only effective strategy in this game is to run second or third and blow all your boosts at the end to pass the leader right before the finish line (or get lucky that blue shroom takes them out for you.)  That kind of strategy does not a good racing game make.

[Moge]

When i mentioned 8 racers i meant 8 cars on the track per race; adding 4 more made the races a bit more chaotic than i would of liked.

I didn't play that much of the Wii version either. Gave it a rental to play with friends, and they were taken back by some of the changes (such as not being able to race in multi without the CPU).

[Moge]

Who's hype for Smash Bros?

[Moge]

Have you beaten Bravery Default yet, JGOO? What's your final verdict on the game?

[JG]

No, I'm on chapter 7.  I haven't been able to play regularly, and when I have, I'd been leveling up experience levels to 99 (which I finished earlier last week), and to level 14 in all jobs (which I finished yesterday.)  I did this to make the rest of the game easier and to topple some of the less-nasty Norende bosses.  (For example, I was able to knock out Lv80 Leviathan but all the 99ers still best me because they're all cheesy.)

Top floor of the Earth temple is a great place to do this as the black puddings are rich in EXP and JP, and you can auto through it in a few hours investment by setting vampirism on all four characters and doing double Energy Bursts.  Unless you're at high levels, make one of your four characters a strong physical attacker, like a Monk, Ranger with bow, or Ninja with dual wield so you can take out the Megascolides - they're the only dangerous enemy up there and if you get in a BP hole against them you may get a few Rock Storms in return.  Star Pendants or Poison Immunity help against the Kaiser Cobra's Toxic Whirl.  Otherwise, you only need to cure every so often between battles and sometimes cast Blinda.  Once you have enough speed and attack power, you can blow though all three enemy sets you encounter on that floor unscathed in a single turn, earning the EXP and JP bonuses.  Only enemy first strike will upset your bonus streaks.  Of course, a Growth Egg helps alot, too.


Not a final verdict, but I can say its your typical Square RPG game.  50-some hours too damn long, but good story if you can put up with it for the 120-something hours it'll take.  Too many scenes from chapters 1-4 repeat in 5-7 (-8?) though, and that ruins the experience a bit by making it appear Square cut corners on the voice acting.  Combining chapters 5 and 6 into one would have helped immensely.

[Moge]

How many hours have you put into the game? I'm 7 hours in and still in chapter 1

Thoroughly enjoying it, although from what i gather from your playtime, i probably won't be playing Kid Icarus anytime soon at my pace

[JG]

About 140.  But that was alot of time spent leveling up that probably isn't needed.

The chapters are exceptionally long since there's only 8 of them (10 if you count the prologue and the finale.)  As I recall, the prologue was about 8 hours long, chapter 1 about 13 hours.  2 is 20, 3 is 35 (really long), 4 is 20, and 5 is 20.  6 is only about 10 hours, and 7 is the shortest chapter I've seen so far - it may be in the 5 hour range unless something unexpected happens near the end of it.  My chapter 1 was closer to 20, 5 closer to 30, and 6 closer to 20 becuase of the times I spent leveling up.  I rather wish the chapters were split into smaller pieces but the breakdown will make sense to you about the time you get to chapter 6.  (I've read some things that hint that you can jump from late chapter 6 to either chapter 8 or the finale by taking a certain action, which would cut down on the hours count, but would damage the story, especially since chapter 7 is full of humor.)

Obviously you should fight the bosses as early as they appear in chapters 1-4 so you can steal their skills.  And I highly recommend the dragon quest in chapter 4 rather than delaying to 5 or later, becuase you can miss out on a lot of enemy skills that are only available in chapter 4.  Unless you're not trying, you end chapter 4 with 22 of the 24 job classes (with the Red Mage in chapter 2 being the only one that's tricky to unlock), and you really should have 23 (following the dragon quest).  The last job you can't get until chapter 6.

[Moge]

Still not buying Mario Kart 8, JGOO? Lots of krazy deals going for that game, and lots of highly favorable reviews

[JG]

I might. I have a prepaid VISA card that expires in June and might use it on MK8.

[Arizona]

I forget if anyone here played any Souls game.

Finished Demon's Souls. Game is for babies.

...of course I had the experience of beating Dark Souls and some five years worth of player messages to rely on, BUT STILL

[Moge]

Beat Demon's Souls two years ago. Great game but very difficult (especially the last boss) unless you're playing in co-op (i did for one boss, and it became ridiculously easy). Been meaning to continue to Dark Souls.

Most annoying aspect was the PvP. No way to turn off that functionality or leave whenever there's an invasion. Of course you could just play offline, but where's the fun in that?

 

[Moge]

I might. I have a prepaid VISA card that expires in June and might use it on MK8.

I'm definitely getting MK8 next week (well, probably the week after since i preordered it online). Would be nice to play a game with you for once, JGOO.

[Moge]

Anybody here get Mario Kart yet? Still waiting for my online copy to arrive.

I've decided i'm going to sell my 3DS. For some perculiar reason, i just can't muster the enthusiasm to play game portables. I regret i can't finish Bravely Default despite putting in some good time, but if and when a 3DS emulator happens, i'll be sure to pick it up again. Oh, and Kid Icarus. Really want to play that too.

[JG]

Kid Icarus seems like it would be exceptionally difficult to play on an emulator. One hand on d-pad, one hand operating touchscreen, and pinpoint control of where on the touchscreen is touched would be needed.

Then again, you could always buy back your 3DS in a few years after the next generation comes along and get it cheap.


I've got my Mario Kart 8 but havent had a chance to play it yet. Work has sucked greatly of late.

[Moge]

MK8 is the real deal, and it's gooooooood; feels like Mario Galaxy on wheels: beautiful graphics (the environments, wow, so many little details when you zip by), amazing music, and 60 fps?! Haven't legitimately enjoyed an MK since Double Dash, so it's been a good while.

On the DS emulator i'm currently playing on, you can use a mouse to handle touchscreen control. Not that i would do that since i primarily game on a television from a distance, so i'll probably use a Wii remote to handle touchscreen control.

Perhaps Nintendy will implement 3DS backwards compatibility/emulation in its next platform. Iwata's been vocal that Apple's strategy (game parity between devices) is the right one in avoiding dry spells. Nintendo sure as heck can't rely on third-parties anymore to do that.

[JG]

MK8 is the real deal, and it's gooooooood; feels like Mario Galaxy on wheels: beautiful graphics (the environments, wow, so many little details when you zip by), amazing music, and 60 fps?! Haven't legitimately enjoyed an MK since Double Dash, so it's been a good while.

On the DS emulator i'm currently playing on, you can use a mouse to handle touchscreen control. Not that i would do that since i primarily game on a television from a distance, so i'll probably use a Wii remote to handle touchscreen control.

Perhaps Nintendy will implement 3DS backwards compatibility/emulation in its next platform. Iwata's been vocal that Apple's strategy (game parity between devices) is the right one in avoiding dry spells. Nintendo sure as heck can't rely on third-parties anymore to do that.

I'm rather suprised they haven't one a 3DS emulator for Wii U yet, now that the controller could do it (somewhat)  Wouldn't work for all games, especailly ones that require picture integration between top and bottom, but would for the ones that don't.


Third party software sucks of late.  Just about every developer has devolved to use one of two strategies:
1. Combo of sneak-and-hide and shoot-em-up/beat-em-up.  See Assassin's Creed and the Batman Arkham series.
2. Screw the sneak-and-hide and just shoot the hell out of everybody, and make it multiplayer while you're at it.  See any military game.

Nintendo doesn't make games in either genre, which is why they're still the best game maker.  Microsoft's first party titles dominate thier system, but their two biggest properties are of the same shoot-em-up type. Sony doesn't really compete at the same level and relies entirely on third-parties for success.

You have a few ouliers like RPGs, sports games (which is so dominated by EA now that no other developer tries), fighting games (so dominated by the Capcom/SNK combo that no other developer seriously bothers), and racing games (which all try to be so realistic that you can't tell them apart.)  Nintendo does make these games, but they make them unrealistic so its more fun.  Now you've got third-partiers copying Nintendo's strategy with games like Crash Bandicoot Racing (an obvious knock-off of Mario Kart)

Hardly anything is exciting me anymore about third-party games.  Maybe the future Monolithsoft game, or a Bioshock 4.  Back in the days of NES and SNES third-party used be just as good as first.  Then major producers like Capcom and Konami stopped trying.

[Moge]

I doubt Nintendo would want to jeopardize 3DS sales now. In the future it's likely we'll see backwards compatibility (or software emulation, homebrew or official) built into the next system. Here's hoping for a console/handheld hybrid!

You sound like you one of them jaded gamers who can't stand modern gaming, despite being a big fan of Halo and Gears. I agree with your sentiment to a certain extent, and that's only because we've lost so much talent in the big budget game space in the last two generations (Japanese game devs  ). It's not all bad; we've got an endless sea of indie talent ready to wax our nostalgia thanks in part to the digital download revolution.

Monolith is technically first-party now. How excited would you be for a Bioshock sequel without Ken Levine at the helm? Despite all the flak Cap gets these days, they still deliver the best fighting games.

[JG]

I doubt Nintendo would want to jeopardize 3DS sales now.

And yet, 2DS.

How excited would you be for a Bioshock sequel without Ken Levine at the helm?

I thought Bioshock 2 was a fair story. Not as good as 1 and certainly nowhere near Infinite of course, but good enough. I could accept a fourth game without him pretty easily.

[Moge]

Eh, the 2DS is still technically a 3DS, just stripped down.

You playing MK yet, JGOO (or anybody else around here for that matter)? I could send you the tournament code in the lobby i frequent.