What are you playing?

Hey @Dave, since you got me into this game: is it worth playing through DQ's NG+ for the sidequests and journal? How many are there and are they interesting? Because, while I had fun, I don't want to replay the whole same thing for 3 side notes and 2 more pages...
 
Grinding, while required at points, is dramatically reduced by the Brave/Default system. You can load up on a Brave actions and alpha strike those random mobs. Clearing them quickly and flawlessly actually grants extra exp and job points, speeding up that traditionally soul-crushing process.
Oh, you can save BP between battles? So that's what I was doing wrong in the demo.

Maybe I'll check it out later in the year. Got enough to play at the moment and Conception II is gonna be my April RPG. I'm sure there will be a lull in the year coming.
 
Once again, I really wish the Wii U and the 3DS had large screen connectivity. I would buy both in a heartbeat and a ton of games.
 
Hey @Dave, since you got me into this game: is it worth playing through DQ's NG+ for the sidequests and journal? How many are there and are they interesting? Because, while I had fun, I don't want to replay the whole same thing for 3 side notes and 2 more pages...
Journal's interesting, has 15-20 entries that add personality to some characters and expand on the plot some. There are also something like 7 side quests that add a separate sideplot filling in some background of the evil god before he was an evil god. Overall it's probably worth it as long as you aren't completely burned out on the game.
 

Dave

Staff member
Hey @Dave, since you got me into this game: is it worth playing through DQ's NG+ for the sidequests and journal? How many are there and are they interesting? Because, while I had fun, I don't want to replay the whole same thing for 3 side notes and 2 more pages...
There are (so far) four new fields that you can play in NG+ and I guess there are more in NG++. I assume there's a lot more because i am only about 1/2 way through NG+.
 
As is the new Mario game, Wonderful 101, Rayman: Legends, Pikmen 3.
I'm not really a platformer player. Didn't like Pikmen 1 or 2.

I mean I can understand that the system has great games for certain people but just nothing appealing to me beyond Windwaker. I'd really only want a Wii U as a TV connection for 3DS cause that system has a ton of amazing games.
 
I'm waiting to see if Nintendo gets a must have RPG for the WiiU. I didn't get a Wii and the backwards compatibility is tempting, even if only for Last Odyssey and Xenoblade.
You mean The Last Story? Because Lost Odyssey is X-box 360 exclusive.

I know the makers of Xenoblade are working on something for Wii U, but since Nintendo sometimes doesn't give confirmations or dates until 3-4 months before a game's release, it's almost impossible to speculate on when anything's coming out.

I mean I can understand that the system has great games for certain people but just nothing appealing to me beyond Windwaker. I'd really only want a Wii U as a TV connection for 3DS cause that system has a ton of amazing games.
I have a feeling that the 3DS's resolution would look pretty shitty on a TV even if such a connection device existed. Which makes me apprehensive about their putting DS games on the Wii U--those already look pixelated to hell just when stretched to the 3DS XL's screen size.
 
You mean The Last Story? Because Lost Odyssey is X-box 360 exclusive.

I know the makers of Xenoblade are working on something for Wii U, but since Nintendo sometimes doesn't give confirmations or dates until 3-4 months before a game's release, it's almost impossible to speculate on when anything's coming out.
Yeah, that's the one. Similar names and all that.
 
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos

STUPID CUP GAME!

Spyro Year of the Dragon

STUPID HOVERTANK LEVEL!

Seriously though, I love both these games and they are ENGROSSING!
 
Metro: Last Light

I was already in a bad mood when I started it. Then it wouldn't read my controller until I looked up online that I had to change what number slow the controller was assigned to. Then it was just a generic, post-apocalyptic FPS with dull browns and blacks. I was so uninterested in what was going on that I barely paid attention to the story, missing why I was suddenly playing another character - I think - doing some kind of sneaking mission. The only thing I found interesting was when I went topside during the first mission and how my gas mask kept getting covered in dirt or water and could wipe it at my whim.

I doubt I'll bother with it again.
 
The story is really good, as there's a pretty interesting take on post-apocalypse stuff, but I had to return the rental and opted for a Let's Play. Don't feel that I missed much.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate: My wife finally got to the point in the game where we can start doing stuff together. Unfortunately the Wii U online for 3DS versions requires an ethernet dongle for the Wii U (good job, Nintendo), but local worked pretty easily. Couldn't do anything major since she hasn't even gotten the first big monster hunt in single-player, but we had fun and we'll get onto the more difficult stuff soon.
 
Metro: Last Light

I was already in a bad mood when I started it. Then it wouldn't read my controller until I looked up online that I had to change what number slow the controller was assigned to. Then it was just a generic, post-apocalyptic FPS with dull browns and blacks. I was so uninterested in what was going on that I barely paid attention to the story, missing why I was suddenly playing another character - I think - doing some kind of sneaking mission. The only thing I found interesting was when I went topside during the first mission and how my gas mask kept getting covered in dirt or water and could wipe it at my whim.

I doubt I'll bother with it again.
I haven't played Last Light, but I played the first game, and I wouldn't call it at all a generic shooter. It was incredibly atmospheric and engrossing, and I've heard similar to the sequel. I'd suggest giving it a try when you aren't in a mood to hate things, there's better games to bring out the inner ire.

Also, Pro-tip: Play with the Russian voices.
 
I haven't played Last Light, but I played the first game, and I wouldn't call it at all a generic shooter. It was incredibly atmospheric and engrossing, and I've heard similar to the sequel. I'd suggest giving it a try when you aren't in a mood to hate things, there's better games to bring out the inner ire.

Also, Pro-tip: Play with the Russian voices.
This. It's one of the best things to come out of Ukraine in decades and the stuff the devs had to do just to finish it were amazing. There aren't any shooters like it and you'll probably enjoy it more when you are in a better mood. Play the first game if you haven't yet too.
 
I downloaded Bravely Default.... mmmmm... that's some good classic JRPG style gaming. As has been said multiple times by multiple reviewers, this is a Final Fantasy game. Not as they are today, but as they were prior to FF7. Elemental crystals that maintain the balance of the world imperiled, CHECK. FF3/Tactics style job system, CHECK. Turn based combat, CHECK. Airship, CHECK.

Let's do this mother hubbard!

The game is, in a word, gorgeous.

Because it's a classic JRPG through and through, it also has the inherent drawbacks as well. Random battles, grinding to level up your jobs, etc... but I'm in just the right mood for some of that.

BTW, if you don't have a large SD card in your DS, you're going to have to upgrade, or buy the cartridge. The game takes almost 3 times more memory than the 2 GB SD memory that comes stock in the 3DS.
 
Payday 2: This just went free on Playstation Plus, and fortunately I had the whole thing downloaded from the full game trial that I was cheated out of trying.

Lots of fun! I'm loving the teamwork and people seem pretty happy to help each other, at least in the group I did jobs with this evening. One thing we sucked at was keeping things quiet though--every single mission ended with a police raid, and then a tail mini-mission escape. I'm not sure what to do differently to make sure no one calls the police.

I did get to be the hero once. We were all cornered in a bank safe with the police pouring in, and everyone was just shuffling back and forth as the smoke flooded the room. I realized if we stayed there, we were fucked, so I rushed out guns blazing, and happened to get a lucky with three head shots, enough to clear a path. And when I went down, someone picked me up.

... granted, only two of us cleared the mission by the time we hit the street, but to that other guy and myself, it was a success. :D
 
Stealth is what makes Payday 2 so good. You get a good crew and you stealth shit... that's awesome.

As per calling police it could be many things. Control & neutralize guards, make sure the cameras don't work or see bodies. Control the civies. Every heist is different.

ECM jammers are very important.
 
Stealth is what makes Payday 2 so good. You get a good crew and you stealth shit... that's awesome.

As per calling police it could be many things. Control & neutralize guards, make sure the cameras don't work or see bodies. Control the civies. Every heist is different.

ECM jammers are very important.
ECM jammers are only important on missions that require stealth though. They aren't helpful at all for things like Rats, Watchdogs, or the Armored Car Heists.

Really, I find it kind of frustrating just how much you need to focus on stealth to do be effective at it. In order to stealth effectively you need...

- Be able to Dominate guards
- Be able to bag bodies
- Be able to kill guards without a sound (which requires Aced Shinobi)
- Safe lock picking or silent drill

To be able to stealth the train job, you also need 2-3 guys who can convert cops in case extra officers spawn in the train cars.

In the end, this leaves very few points to do anything else or to enhance damage/survivability. It's kind of all or nothing.
 
Being able to solo stealth a decent pool of missions adds a lot of value to the game when you don't have a full crew to reliably play with. Much more fun than trying to do the same 2-3 heists over and over.
 
Absolutely devouring Bravely Default. To the point where none of my friend summons can even help any more.
 
Double Dragon Neon


I just got this in Steam. God, this is just an awesome remake of Double Dragon/celebration of all the crazy awesome of the '80s. The game plays like Double Dragon should with some additions to it, and it oozes the '80s craze thoroughly. From the mix tapes that give you new moves and stat adjustments to a main villain who's a cross between Skeletor and the Shredder, it wears its '80s love on its sleeve.
 
Double Dragon Neon


I just got this in Steam. God, this is just an awesome remake of Double Dragon/celebration of all the crazy awesome of the '80s. The game plays like Double Dragon should with some additions to it, and it oozes the '80s craze thoroughly. From the mix tapes that give you new moves and stat adjustments to a main villain who's a cross between Skeletor and the Shredder, it wears its '80s love on its sleeve.
Loved the hell out of this game. The final levels are just 80s spunk all over the screen.
 
The Banner Saga - Factions: Well, that's enough for tonight. I should probably get to bed.

Come to the conclusion that I won't be waiting for the console version of the single-player, especially with my 3DS dead for the time being.
 
Sid Meier's Pirates (2004)....

My first gaming love was Pirates (1987)... I was what.... 9-10? I got it used from a friend who "didn't like the game" and was far more interested in his Nintendo. I tried it out, played it for months... years maybe.

The Genesis version came out in what 1996? Pirates Gold. An improvement on most fronts from the original. I got the Genesis for this game alone. NHL 94, Shining Force and Buck Rodgers helped me love my Sega Genesis.

This game came out in 2004. Bought it on release day but somehow managed to lose the gamebox somewhere over the years (I got a pirated copy). Now I bought it again on steam (Humble Bundle).

Such a fun game.... dat beautiful French governor's daughter though....

*sigh*

We need more Pirate-like games.

AC 4 was a sweet ride but it wasn't as awesome as this.
 
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