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[UNIT0918]

I pretty much got everything I could out of Persona 4 Golden, so I'm finally putting that down for now. Now I'm going through Ys III: The Oath in Felghana and Ys Seven for PSP. They're classic action-RPGs, which is a refreshing break from the turned based Persona 4 Golden. I'm stuck in Ys III though because I haven't played the game in a long time, and it suffers from the J-RPG problem of not giving you a hint on where you should go next.

Also playing Nawrootow: Ultimate Ninja 3's story mode. The game's animation is as fluid and beautiful as always, and the story is somewhat interesting. I didn't expect to cry my eyes out during one particular lengthy cut-scene though. Stories of parents and the lengths they go to for their children tend to hit me hard.

Originally Posted by DarkFujin

I have no idea how the Wii or iOS versions of Ace Attorney work, if they're more like the GBA games or the DS remakes. I remember Capcom making a big deal about remaking the Ace Attorney games on the DS because the two screens made it better organized. So I have no idea if the iPad version splits the screen in half to resemble a DS, or if it does it more like the GBA where you can't look at the witness testimony and your evidence at the same time.

I watched some gameplay clips and I think the evidence just overlaps the character portraits, right above the testimony text.

I think the first game is already out, with the other two games coming one sometime soon. I'm personally not too fond of the HD look for the games though. I guess the GBA/DS version's pixelated sprites just have this charm that the cleaned up artwork just doesn't have.

[Zweihander]

Originally Posted by Syrinx

zwei! i can't wait to get rising!!! as soon as i have some extra cash it shall be mine!! i <3 metal gear and i <3 platinum games

Rising is fantastic. Just be sure to get the timing down for the Parry Counter nice and early, because it doles out some downright stupid damage on Revengeance mode. Also, the Metal Gear fan in you may be pleased to know that Sunny is back.

<3 PlatinumGames as well. They may as well be the only dev out there for action games.

[DarkFujin]

Originally Posted by UNIT0918

I watched some gameplay clips and I think the evidence just overlaps the character portraits, right above the testimony text.

I think the first game is already out, with the other two games coming one sometime soon. I'm personally not too fond of the HD look for the games though. I guess the GBA/DS version's pixelated sprites just have this charm that the cleaned up artwork just doesn't have.

Yeah, I love the charm of the GBA/DS sprites. It's interesting though, because you can even see the difference in backgrounds and sprites between the first three games (GBA sprites) and Apollo Justice (which was made for the DS) but I liked that the DS-specific games (Apollo Justice, Miles Edgeworth, and case 1-5) still used GBA style sprites. I'm not a fan of the HD look, and I'm still on the fence about the 3D look of the fifth game.


Anyway, I've been alternating between Etrian Odyssey IV and Fire Emblem Awakening, but I got hooked on Fire Emblem so I'm going to finish that before going back to Etrian Odyssey (which is probably a longer game)

[The Hag]

Originally Posted by Zweihander

But, alas, I still need to beat the game... with both my characters. (SL43 and SL105) I'll get 'er done before Dark Souls II, anyway. (sort of a given, since that's not due out 'til next year.) But, I deeply appreciate the help.

Once you get past O&S and the 4 Dicks, nothing else is very hard. Er, except for the DLC. I'm back home soon, so let me know if you want to co-op in Oolacile. As for Dark Souls 2 - I CANNNOT WAIT!!

So for the iPad, I got Jetpack Joyride (free! yay!), Osmos, Infinity Blade 2, The Room and Espgaluda 2. I've mostly been playing Osmos - trippy but occasionally really irritating - and Espgaluda 2, which I like but don't really understand. I kind of don't get the scoring. And it just let's me continue when I die. Do people actually make it through all 6 levels with only 3 lives?

[Zweihander]

Originally Posted by The Hag

Once you get past O&S and the 4 Dicks, nothing else is very hard. Er, except for the DLC. I'm back home soon, so let me know if you want to co-op in Oolacile. As for Dark Souls 2 - I CANNNOT WAIT!!

So for the iPad, I got Jetpack Joyride (free! yay!), Osmos, Infinity Blade 2, The Room and Espgaluda 2. I've mostly been playing Osmos - trippy but occasionally really irritating - and Espgaluda 2, which I like but don't really understand. I kind of don't get the scoring. And it just let's me continue when I die. Do people actually make it through all 6 levels with only 3 lives?

Already did Oolacile with my SL105, but not with my SL43. That'd be fun.

Yes, people actually make it through without continues. It ends up being something like 5 or 6 lives, by the time they reach the final boss, depending on score. As for the scoring system:
>shoot enemies for green gems (closer proximity yields larger/ more gems)
>gems are used to go into "awakened" mode.
>while in awakened mode, gems deplete, but all bullets are slowed down, and when the source enemy is killed, they become gold ingots. (multipliers.)
>your firepower is amplified while awakened, but if your gems deplete, bullets turn red and go turbo fast.

Espgaluda and its sequel are both about using awakened mode for both scoring and survival. As opposed to other Cave games where only certain enemies' bullets turn into multipliers when they die, Espgaluda leaves it up to you to judge which enemies to use awakened mode against. (e.g. which enemies are most worth the cost of green gems to kill for their bullets' multipliers, which patterns give you hell and should be 'softened' with awakened mode, etc.) It's also about resource-managing. (green gems -> awakened mode -> reap some ingots -> leave awakened mode before your greed gets you killed)

There's a bit more depth to other aspects of it, but that's mostly it for the core mechanics. Best of luck, though! I hope you stick with it, and delve deeper into the complexity to make it more satisfying.

SPOILER: (highlight to read)

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IMO, "iphone mode" is meh... but fun every now and then, and much better than Dodonpachi Resurrection's gimmicky-as-shit iphone mode.

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[TheAnarCHris]

So I beat both the Citadel DLC and Fire Emblem Awakening, both which were excellent. Doing a run on FE:A on hard now, because why not.

Also HOLY HELL TOMB RAIDER. This game get REAL rough in terms of deaths later on, so be warned if you're squeamish. That being said it's already gunning for GOTY...oh wait Infinite....NM

[Kildread]

Originally Posted by TheAnarCHris

Citadel DLC

You liked it? I went through all ME3 DLC yesterday and I thought it was the weakest of them all.

Unless you're into mundane, fanservicey cutscenes. It felt more like pandering to the crying fans who didn't get an happy ending :/. The plot is like a cheap action movie, with in-jokes and references a-plenty. It's like the game was so pleased with itself it kept patting its own back while I watched. I'm unhappy about this particular development and I seriously hope Bioware doesn't make that a recurring theme (Although... judging by the reception, it wouldn't seem to be the case . Not something that's Bioware's fault)

I thought Leviathan was great, the enhanced ending was good, but it didn't do anything other than put plainly on-screen what anyone could have built in their head VS the open-ended original endings.

Omega was... forgettable, albeit the most action-packed of the bunch.

[TheAnarCHris]

Originally Posted by Kildread

You liked it? I went through all ME3 DLC yesterday and I thought it was the weakest of them all.

Unless you're into mundane, fanservicey cutscenes. It felt more like pandering to the crying fans who didn't get an happy ending :/. The plot is like a cheap action movie, with in-jokes and references a-plenty. It's like the game was so pleased with itself it kept patting its own back while I watched. I'm unhappy about this particular development and I seriously hope Bioware doesn't make that a recurring theme (Although... judging by the reception, it wouldn't seem to be the case . Not something that's Bioware's fault)

I thought Leviathan was great, the enhanced ending was good, but it didn't do anything other than put plainly on-screen what anyone could have built in their head VS the open-ended original endings.

Omega was... forgettable, albeit the most action-packed of the bunch.

It was fun. Given how grim Mass Effect 3 is overall, some comedy was needed and Citadel delivered. Yes it's self-referring, but that doesn't automatically mean bad. Also it was nice that it focused a lot on the relationships you built in the game, something that was ignored in both the original and extended endings.

Also Wrex and Grunt . Your arguments are invalid.

[Daaku]

Ni no Kuni and Killzone 3. Ni no Kuni is very time-consuming, though, the first few hours were tedious but now it's pretty fun.

[Auroracuno]

Playing various Pokemon games from time to time, and I sorta wanna get Ni no Kuni since I've only heard positive things about it.

[Kildread]

Originally Posted by TheAnarCHris

It was fun. Given how grim Mass Effect 3 is overall, some comedy was needed and Citadel delivered. Yes it's self-referring, but that doesn't automatically mean bad. Also it was nice that it focused a lot on the relationships you built in the game, something that was ignored in both the original and extended endings.

Similarly, it doesn't mean it's good either. You like it, I don't. Obviously, I'm not in the majority as far as the internet acclaim goes (Something that makes me wary about the future a little, I was already not a fan of the focus on being able to date everyone in these games, yet that's also something people seem to love).

For me, the Bioware/Black Isles/Obsidian games have never been games I turn to for humor --- I'm expecting great storylines, good characterization, epic events. *Something* extraordinary is normally happening. The Citadel DLC was rife with content I expect from lower brand JRPGs that lose themselves in jokes that tend to fall flat on their face. It felt really out of context to me (I had no problem with the grim look of ME3).

The first half (The only ME-gameplay in the DLC) had me doubting about the quality of the overall DLC, getting Wrex on my team for a handful of mission doesn't really excuse how corny the entire arc was. I enjoyed more the small informative scenes you can see in the alcoves of the Archives than any of the other character interactions the game threw at me.

The 2nd half was funnier in content, but worthless otherwise for me --- plenty of the events are odd and awkward (Samara, EDI, Tali visit at the apartment). Others are just corny (Traynor's scenes for one). It played like... a japanese text-driven adventure game. You listen to some text, then you get a little choice to support one or the other to further some storyline, except there is nothing to further in this case.

I enjoyed the Mordin communication and several of the group conversations during the party --- not enough to warrant the DLC price tag.

But really, the major reason why I don't like it is due to the mundane content --- I play games to see stories of extraordinary characters doing things or taking decisions to further some grand schemes. It's what I expect of Bioware now, content about getting drunk in a swanky apartment, having a pull-up contest with James Vega or encouraging Joker to dance with EDI (Why does everyone mock Shephard's dancing if there isn't a single character in this game with proper dancing animations?) --- it isn't very engrossing to me. I'm of the opinion such things should be beneath their writing team's talent as a whole, I suspect I wouldn't be as bothered by it if it was in the original game and not added following the internet doing the bacon dance about the ME3 finale. Right now, I feel this is Bioware's way of compromising with the loud, unhappy complainers.

[The Hag]

Originally Posted by Zweihander

people actually make it through without continues. It ends up being something like 5 or 6 lives, by the time they reach the final boss, depending on score.

So you get extra lives if you score high enough? I can't figure out how the multipliers work - are only the gold multipliers? Do you get extra points if you have green gems left at the end of the level?

Originally Posted by Zweihander

As for the scoring system:
>shoot enemies for green gems (closer proximity yields larger/ more gems)

I knew everything except the bolded part. I'm dying less, but still not sure what strategies maximize your score.

Originally Posted by Zweihander

SPOILER: (highlight to read)

---

IMO, "iphone mode" is meh... but fun every now and then, and much better than Dodonpachi Resurrection's gimmicky-as-shit iphone mode.

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I never bother with it - I just play arcade mode.

And, holy crap, Infinity Blade II is really fun!

[Zweihander]

Originally Posted by The Hag

So you get extra lives if you score high enough? I can't figure out how the multipliers work - are only the gold multipliers? Do you get extra points if you have green gems left at the end of the level?

Nope, the green gems are just 'fuel' for your Awakened form.

I'm dying less, but still not sure what strategies maximize your score.

Getting your multiplier up to 10,000 and keeping it there should be a top priority. This involves not dying, since that halves it. In addition to keeping yourself up on the 10,000 multiplier ceiling, thus getting nothing but "10,000" ingots, I believe there's also a direct correlation between your multiplier and the points you get from damaging/killing enemies. (don't quote me on that... just shmup logic, though I'm kind of curious to test this theory sometime soon.)

The #1 strategy to maximize your score in an ESPGaluda game is to build up gems, pick the enemies you want to kill in awakened mode (they should be enemies with high bullet density output), then enter awakened mode and wait for the screen to fill up with said enemy's bullets before killing them. Additionally, while the act of shooting while awakened doesn't drain gems any faster, killing enemies takes out small chunks from your gem stock, depending on the enemy type. (hence the incentive for picking specific targets instead of mowing everything down, unless you're in a pinch) Lastly, don't flip in and out of awakened mode too much, as every time you leave it, there's a small penalty. (to keep you from abusing/ spamming short bursts for EZ survival)

[TheAnarCHris]

Ended up borrowing my friend's copy of Paper Mario: Now with Stickers for the 3DS, and it's...wacky, to say the least. Not that I'm complaining mind you. Solid game, actually funny, I'm enjoying it so far.

Consolewise, it dawned on my friend and I that we still havent beaten RE6, so we went back to that. Finished Jake's campaign, started Ada's. Going back to this while playing Tomb Raider was a BAD idea

[Michi]

My boyfriend got back into Saints Row the Third, so I've been playing it too. It's been almost exactly a year since I last played. I forgot how fun it can be! Co-op is super good, too.