More stuff I'm playing

February 19, 2015

At least what I remember

Finished Terranigma and have review in the proofing zone at the time. Overall, a good game, however that third chapter drags on forever and has all sorts of annoyances that made this one a bit inferior to Quintet's other two SNES action-RPGs.

I've entered the Realm of the Mighty in Dragon Quest IX, so that likely will be the next game I finish. Didn't have the time to do too much there, but at least got the treasure out of the first few rooms.

I'm also getting near the end of Super Mario Galaxy and Stella Deus. In the former, I finished off all the stars I care to get from the Sea Slide Galaxy. The first two were easy, even if I have no idea why the friendly penguins would kill Mario because he lost a friendly swimming race against them, but the one where you have to get five silver stars took a long time to do, as did the hidden star where you have to collect all the music notes on the planet where the floor collapses as you run on it. With the latter game, I did two more battles in C4, fighting random soldiers and then fighting Nebula and a bunch of her lackeys. I think I'm about 2-3 fights away from entering the final chapter.

In N.T. Burning Heroes, I'm close to the end of the sixth character's story, which will leave me with two more to go through before this abortion is finished. With EvilQuest, I did the ice part of the world, leaving me with two more branches to explore off the hub area before I guess I'll probably be able to kill the king or something. In Magicians and Looters, I found a faux-guide on Steam that shows where to find all the items, so I went back to get a few things I'd missed (including an entire obstacle course, derp on me) and then got two more things in the Labyrinth, leaving me just one more path to take out of that place.

In Deus Ex: Human Revolution, I essentially did a bit of busy-work. I'd done the plot quest in the first hub that sets up your chopper pilot buddy to pick you up and take you to the final part of this area. Except I had to redeem/finish a side quest, so I had to sneak all the way out of that area, back to the city proper, to do so. And then go all the way back to the pilot to take the trip to said final part.

In SMT IV, I'm still hunting down Corpses for a side-quest. After I get that done, I might check to see if any of these other monster-hunting side-quests I have are more doable now, or if Burroughs will still give me the "Uh, you sure about this...that's pretty tough for you now?" warning. In Etrian Odyssey Untold: Millennium Girl, I'm gradually clearing out the fifth level. Only did a few rooms the last time I played it, but they were pretty active areas, with one in particular being loaded with about 4-5 FOEs.

I'm still clearing out quests for the Refugee Camp in Xenoblade Chronicles. Mainly running around killing stuff and snagging items while hoping to not get the attention of the really high-level mobs that pop up from time to time. One shrine area was quite dirty. I was exploring it and BOOM tough boss appears and starts laying waste to my guys. After destroying the L11-18 pods and insects in the area, I don't think I was expecting that to happen.

Uh, what else? In Lufia 2, I'm up through the cave where you fight the giant spider to get a fake ruby apple in order to go through a shrine to another kingdom. I started shmup U.N. Squadron and did its first level. I decided there's no way in hell I'm going to stick with SNES Tactics Ogre due to insane boredom and decided to start the far superior Front Mission 3. When it first game out, I did Emma's scenario. Now, it's time to do Alisa's. And, more importantly, add "F" to the letters I'm working on for the AlphaMarathon. Oh, and in Eschalon Book One, I killed all the thugs south and west from the opening area, so I'm now moving north to take them out there, as well!

I really need to remember to do these updates a bit more frequently. That was a lot of typing. I need a nap.

Most recent blog posts from Rob Hamilton...

The latest in my really infrequent blogs

An update on gaming

The progress thing which I've forgotten to do for ages.

Most recent blog posts from Rob Hamilton...
The latest in my really infrequent blogs An update on gaming The progress thing which I've forgotten to do for ages.

Feedback

dementedhut - February 19, 2015 (11:37 AM)
Looooooved Front Mission 3 back when it first came out. I wasn't sure at first if it was the type of game for me, but when I started the battles, I played the game for hours nearly every day. Never completed it, unfortunately. I think I got stuck on the second to last battle, and I just never returned after that.

dementedhut - February 19, 2015 (11:39 AM)
It also has one of the most infamous pieces of dialogue I've witnessed in a video game: Japan would never start a war!

overdrive - February 19, 2015 (01:34 PM)
Yeah, I seem to recall being proficient with FM3's Internet before I was with the real-life version. I beat Emma's story, although I remember the final fight with Lukav to be a real ordeal to survive. Dude had crazy damage-dealing potential.

So far, I've just started Alisa's campaign. As in, Liu just joined and I did one 4-on-4 battle afterwards against generics (as opposed to the previous fight, where I just had to survive three turns against Emma and the rest of Purple Haze.

Fun Fact: The main hero might be the most hilariously over-the-top asshole in JRPG history. The first battle in Alisa's campaign is set up thusly:

1. You and friend bring new wanzers to army base.
2. EXPLOSION!!! In the area where your kind-of-but-not-blood-related-sister Alisa is.
3. You and friend impulsively go to see if she's okay, but a pair of army wanzers stop you, saying this is a restricted area.
4. So you go berserk and assault the army guys on their own base. After the fight, your friend has to step in and stop you from going after an entire brigade, including the commander.

And it probably doesn't help that his character portrait seems to almost always be scowling or yelling while he's being a total dick to characters like his dad and supposed good friend. He's a funny guy!

dementedhut - February 19, 2015 (07:43 PM)
Oh yeah, I forgot how ridiculous that first battle even begins. It's right up there with the absurdity of how the protagonist reacts in Gundam Zeta's opening episodes...

joseph_valencia - February 19, 2015 (10:28 PM)
Alisa's campaign was my favorite of the two. The final boss battle is way more awesome and climatic. I also didn't care for Emma as much as Alisa.

I love the Front Mission series, and it's such a shame that the staff behind those games left Square Enix. I hope they go indie and make a spiritual successor, like the Clock Tower guy is doing.

JoeTheDestroyer - February 20, 2015 (11:29 PM)
-I liked Terranigma, but it felt to me like a lot of segments were unnecessary. That and discovering what to do next was a bit tricky at times, from what I remember. Personally, Illusion of Gaia was my favorite from that trilogy.

-I never could get into Stella Deus. Maybe one day, as I still have a copy of the game, but something about it rubbed me the wrong way. Same goes for Hoshigami, which I've had for an eternity and still haven't beaten.

-I love Front Mission 3. That one I did finish, and at times it was a son of a bitch. I started FM4 ages ago, but couldn't get into it as easily. Again, maybe one day...

-I've heard mixed things about Tactics Ogre SNES. Either people absolutely love it or can't stand it. I'm afraid to try it myself, because I don't know if it will measure up to TO: Knight of Lodis, and I'm afraid it won't.

overdrive - February 21, 2015 (07:12 AM)
Joseph - I agree. 3 is the only real FM game I've played, but it's really good. And anything, even meh tactics, is better than Evolved, which is just clunky and stupid, to be kind. A lazily-crafted action title...no thanks.

Joe - I agree with what you said about Terranigma. There are a lot of times where your goal is kind of vague, so you just explore around until you figure it out. I might prefer SoulBlazer to Gaia, though.

-- Stella Deus is the definition of mediocre. Well, the voice acting is "so bad, it's amazing" but everything else is paint by numbers. I think Zig reviewed it previously and if there's one thing he said I 100% agree with, it's that so much of the really long fourth chapter is pure filler where you go on a spirit quest. It takes up a lot of time (12 battles, including 4 boss fights against the spirit gods or whatever), but the only fight that's really connected to the plot (other than how the spirit quest itself is designed to get the ability to advance the plot) is one against Imperial General Croire. Now that that's over with, I'm kind of moving along, although now it seems I'm dealing with Evil Religion people attacking me. Meanwhile, General Dignus and company are...uh...patiently waiting for me?

-- The thing about Tactics Ogre is that there just is too much time that needs to be devoted to the absolute filler exercise of taking your troops into "practice" to have them beat on each other to gain levels. In actual fights, you'll want to be 1 level up on random battles and even with bosses to lessen the risk of losing guys (permadeath for all but the most plot essential characters). In fights, you usually have a "kill the boss" goal and if you attack too many of the mooks, it leads to the Ogre series bad "you won, but got assassinated because you're worse than the guys you overthrew" ending. So fights are you trying to get past the rank-and-file soldiers to kill the bosses quickly and then you spend an hour or two fighting each other to get a level. I mean, you could say it's a prototype for FF Tactics (same team, I think) and you could say the random battles that could appear on space where'd you'd previously had a story battle are filler, too, but it just feels more like I'm doing something when I'm fighting chocobos and malboros than it does when I'm tussling with my party for the umpteenth time on the same battle screen. Meh. Just meh.

Feedback
	dementedhut - February 19, 2015 (11:37 AM) Looooooved Front Mission 3 back when it first came out. I wasn't sure at first if it was the type of game for me, but when I started the battles, I played the game for hours nearly every day. Never completed it, unfortunately. I think I got stuck on the second to last battle, and I just never returned after that.
	dementedhut - February 19, 2015 (11:39 AM) It also has one of the most infamous pieces of dialogue I've witnessed in a video game: Japan would never start a war!
	overdrive - February 19, 2015 (01:34 PM) Yeah, I seem to recall being proficient with FM3's Internet before I was with the real-life version. I beat Emma's story, although I remember the final fight with Lukav to be a real ordeal to survive. Dude had crazy damage-dealing potential. So far, I've just started Alisa's campaign. As in, Liu just joined and I did one 4-on-4 battle afterwards against generics (as opposed to the previous fight, where I just had to survive three turns against Emma and the rest of Purple Haze. Fun Fact: The main hero might be the most hilariously over-the-top asshole in JRPG history. The first battle in Alisa's campaign is set up thusly: 1. You and friend bring new wanzers to army base. 2. EXPLOSION!!! In the area where your kind-of-but-not-blood-related-sister Alisa is. 3. You and friend impulsively go to see if she's okay, but a pair of army wanzers stop you, saying this is a restricted area. 4. So you go berserk and assault the army guys on their own base. After the fight, your friend has to step in and stop you from going after an entire brigade, including the commander. And it probably doesn't help that his character portrait seems to almost always be scowling or yelling while he's being a total dick to characters like his dad and supposed good friend. He's a funny guy!
	dementedhut - February 19, 2015 (07:43 PM) Oh yeah, I forgot how ridiculous that first battle even begins. It's right up there with the absurdity of how the protagonist reacts in Gundam Zeta's opening episodes...
	joseph_valencia - February 19, 2015 (10:28 PM) Alisa's campaign was my favorite of the two. The final boss battle is way more awesome and climatic. I also didn't care for Emma as much as Alisa. I love the Front Mission series, and it's such a shame that the staff behind those games left Square Enix. I hope they go indie and make a spiritual successor, like the Clock Tower guy is doing.
	JoeTheDestroyer - February 20, 2015 (11:29 PM) -I liked Terranigma, but it felt to me like a lot of segments were unnecessary. That and discovering what to do next was a bit tricky at times, from what I remember. Personally, Illusion of Gaia was my favorite from that trilogy. -I never could get into Stella Deus. Maybe one day, as I still have a copy of the game, but something about it rubbed me the wrong way. Same goes for Hoshigami, which I've had for an eternity and still haven't beaten. -I love Front Mission 3. That one I did finish, and at times it was a son of a bitch. I started FM4 ages ago, but couldn't get into it as easily. Again, maybe one day... -I've heard mixed things about Tactics Ogre SNES. Either people absolutely love it or can't stand it. I'm afraid to try it myself, because I don't know if it will measure up to TO: Knight of Lodis, and I'm afraid it won't.
	overdrive - February 21, 2015 (07:12 AM) Joseph - I agree. 3 is the only real FM game I've played, but it's really good. And anything, even meh tactics, is better than Evolved, which is just clunky and stupid, to be kind. A lazily-crafted action title...no thanks. Joe - I agree with what you said about Terranigma. There are a lot of times where your goal is kind of vague, so you just explore around until you figure it out. I might prefer SoulBlazer to Gaia, though. -- Stella Deus is the definition of mediocre. Well, the voice acting is "so bad, it's amazing" but everything else is paint by numbers. I think Zig reviewed it previously and if there's one thing he said I 100% agree with, it's that so much of the really long fourth chapter is pure filler where you go on a spirit quest. It takes up a lot of time (12 battles, including 4 boss fights against the spirit gods or whatever), but the only fight that's really connected to the plot (other than how the spirit quest itself is designed to get the ability to advance the plot) is one against Imperial General Croire. Now that that's over with, I'm kind of moving along, although now it seems I'm dealing with Evil Religion people attacking me. Meanwhile, General Dignus and company are...uh...patiently waiting for me? -- The thing about Tactics Ogre is that there just is too much time that needs to be devoted to the absolute filler exercise of taking your troops into "practice" to have them beat on each other to gain levels. In actual fights, you'll want to be 1 level up on random battles and even with bosses to lessen the risk of losing guys (permadeath for all but the most plot essential characters). In fights, you usually have a "kill the boss" goal and if you attack too many of the mooks, it leads to the Ogre series bad "you won, but got assassinated because you're worse than the guys you overthrew" ending. So fights are you trying to get past the rank-and-file soldiers to kill the bosses quickly and then you spend an hour or two fighting each other to get a level. I mean, you could say it's a prototype for FF Tactics (same team, I think) and you could say the random battles that could appear on space where'd you'd previously had a story battle are filler, too, but it just feels more like I'm doing something when I'm fighting chocobos and malboros than it does when I'm tussling with my party for the umpteenth time on the same battle screen. Meh. Just meh.

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