4847 replies to this topic

[Erdrick]

You know, I've recently been back to playing Bravely Default, after pausing for a year. I defeated the spiritualist and arcanist bosses, got their asterisks. At least one of the jobs looks appealing. I need to see if I can get some better job combinations here.

[kurt91]

I finally got the 3DS games that I ordered in the mail, so I'm playing "Super Mario 3D Land", "Mario Kart 7", and "Ocarina of Time 3D" right now. MK7 tends to freeze occasionally, forcing me to turn the 3DS completely off and back on. I'm guessing that updating the game will fix the issue, but I can't do that without updating the 3DS, which will lock me out of any chance of homebrew stuff.

 

3D Land is a lot of fun, although I'm a bit concerned about the Gold Flag system. I already know that the final secret level will unlock if I get every Gold Flag, but I can't see anything that tells me which levels I already got them in.

 

Ocarina was one that I got for comparison with the original, and I've got to say that videos don't really do the game justice. I've gotten to the point where I've been going into first-person view to see all the character models up close. Some characters like Zelda look really nice, but child Malon looks rather derpy. Also, it would have been nice if Link showed a bit more emotion than a blank stare, especially during moments like when the Deku Tree died right in front of him.

[Nicholas Steel]

Super Mario 3D Land, I believe the game tells you which levels you've gotten gold on once you've beaten the game.

Edited by Nicholas Steel, 15 April 2015 - 11:00 PM.

[The Satellite]

It does, as well as an icon for which bro you've beaten the level as. It was a tedious unlock system that was fixed in 3D World: You only need to beat each level with one character, as well as gold flags, green stars, and stamps of course. True 100% requires beating every level with every character though, which is annoying if you don't have extra controllers to cheese it at the end...

 

Meanwhile.

 

Btw, [Galaxy 2] gets more and more epic from World 3 onwards...

 

So far, you're right. Haunty Halls Galaxy especially is probably the best ghost house level I've ever played. That was fantastic.

[Lecayle]

Woo!!  I finally got a 3DS and have Paper Mario, Mario 3D Land, Sonic Generations, as well as the old Yoshi's Island 2 for regular DS.  So far, I like 3D land and Paper mario best...Sonic is good, but...missing something.  I got to borrow SSB3DS and may get it after I get caught up on some zelda games.

[KingPridenia]

Dragon Warrior 1 on the Android tablet. Haven't done much yet other than getting up to level 4 so I can grind out in the "Scorpion's Nest" just south of the castle. More or less, it'll just be a bunch of spamming HURT and making trips back to the castle to refill my MP as needed. It's VERY tedious, but it's the best EXP and gold I can get. That is until I'm level 6 and have a Copper Sword, which makes just regular attacks more efficient than HURT and can save my MP for the HEAL spell, but that doesn't help much. Not when it only heals about 10-15 HP for 4 MP and an enemy's HURT spell takes off up to 10 HP per hit. And once you're up against enemies that hit 20+ damage a hit, HEAL is useless in battle.

 

So yeah, same strategy as before, only named myself ADAM instead of Adam. Why in all caps? Because in all caps, it gives me the best possible stat gains for leveling up the fastest (higher long-term Strength/Agility). Using "Adam" is long-term Strength/HP growth. Having less Agility = less defense. Less defense = reaching the "safe threshold" takes longer which = grinding takes that much longer. See, the game has two different damage formulas for against you. If your defense is equal to or greater than the Attack Power of your opponent, it uses a formula that yields MUCH less damage taken with a chance of the enemy doing nothing to you. Otherwise, the damage you take can be massive. I'm talking one level taking 12-25 (about 18 damage on average) damage and the next with a couple more defense you're only taking like 0-16 damage a hit (average of about .

[The Satellite]

I decided to hook up my N64 and give Star Fox 64 a spin. And of all the N64 games I've replayed in the last year or so, this one feels the most well-aged. Everything feels smooth and fluid still, responsive and tight. Now granted, I haven't played any Star Fox games that came out after 64, but I still have no complaints, nothing feels stiff or anything. Aged greatly, and the missions and bosses are still quite awesome. The atmosphere's even better than I remember too, cheesy yes, but really paints the conflict in the Lylat System well and it actually feels like a war zone, especially the Bolse level; the epic clash against the fleet to break through to Venom is amazing. And despite all the cheesiness, it still has quite the heartbreaking ending.

 

"You've become so strong, Fox."

 

[The Satellite]

As if I didn't need to add another game to my current set, I started Donkey Kong Country 2, which I bought when it came out on Wii U but hadn't started yet. I never played it before besides a bit of a completed copy at a neighbor's house, and I just never emulated it for some reason. Or maybe I did and forgot, but if I did, I know I never got very far in it. It's time to see why many people consider this the best DKC game, and I might make a run through the original afterward for comparison since I still own that on SNES; we never owned the other two games. I've beaten the original, which I love as one of my favorite games ever, and Returns, which was pretty good though I felt it could have used a bit of polish in places; maybe I could give that another run too at some point. As well as eventually going back to Tropical Freeze and actually trying to beat it.

 

Still on the plate: Super Mario Galaxy 2, Oracle of Seasons, New Super Mario Bros. 2.

[kurt91]

DKC2 is my favorite. The levels in the original just feel bland by comparison. (Watch the DKC retrospective from "The Geek Critique", they go into some interesting detail on that one.) I'm also not very fond of the third game, but mainly because I'm not a fan of the entire Canada theme. It's just weird.

 

 

Been playing a bit more of Ocarina 3D, and got to where you pull out the Master Sword. It's pretty nice, I've played the original enough times that this feels kind of like a guided tour of a prettier Hyrule. I can even tell what the Peahats are supposed to look like! I remember that the original version had me thinking that they looked like funny boulders, so I made a point to stay far away from every landmark just in case that boulder was a Peahat in disguise. I could never beat those things.

 

Tell me, did they intentionally slow down the back-flip animation? I remember it being much faster on the N64, and I'm getting the feeling that they wanted to keep people from back-flipping across Hyrule Field to save time. Of course, side-stepping is quicker and looks nearly as odd for long-distance travel.

[Dawnlight]

I'm playing The Order 1886 for PS4. In regards to all the negative feedback this game got, I can see where they are coming from. So far, this game has WAY too many cinematics. I mean the times where it acts like a 3rd person shooter are pretty minimal. I describe it as take Heavy Rain and then combine it with very minimal Uncharted gameplay. That's the Order 1886 in a nutshell. Other than that, the story is not interesting at all. I almost fell asleep. I plan on going for the Platinum for this game. I was told that the campaign is very short.

[Ventus]

The Order 1886 is only about 7 hours long so yeah short campaign. Also a majority of the game is cinematics. The only thing the game going for it is the graphics. Other then that the game is pretty meh.

[Nicholas Steel]

DKC2 is my favorite. The levels in the original just feel bland by comparison. (Watch the DKC retrospective from "The Geek Critique", they go into some interesting detail on that one.) I'm also not very fond of the third game, but mainly because I'm not a fan of the entire Canada theme. It's just weird.

 

 

Been playing a bit more of Ocarina 3D, and got to where you pull out the Master Sword. It's pretty nice, I've played the original enough times that this feels kind of like a guided tour of a prettier Hyrule. I can even tell what the Peahats are supposed to look like! I remember that the original version had me thinking that they looked like funny boulders, so I made a point to stay far away from every landmark just in case that boulder was a Peahat in disguise. I could never beat those things.

 

Tell me, did they intentionally slow down the back-flip animation? I remember it being much faster on the N64, and I'm getting the feeling that they wanted to keep people from back-flipping across Hyrule Field to save time. Of course, side-stepping is quicker and looks nearly as odd for long-distance travel.

I'm not a fan of the new visuals in DKC3, enemy visuals seem to have been redesigned to better appeal to very young kids. The levels feel a bit empty, like it doesn't flow between each puzzle in a level as well as the previous 2 games and the puzzles seem somewhat slightly simplified (Still hard, just less complex). The visual fidelity of everything is excellent, I just do not like the aesthetics of anything in the game. The first 2 games may not have as high a quality of visuals but the visual aesthetics is significantly better, making them much less distracting from the gameplay in my opinion.

 

The first game has some interesting levels in it and overall holds up reasonably well. The difficulty, puzzles and challenges in the levels, while a bit crude at times, are well thought out and nothing is unfair. The 2nd game improved upon the first game in most regards though it is missing some puzzles/challenges/level design elements from the first game which is a bit disappointing, it does tend to have better minigames though. My biggest issue with the 2nd game is Dixy Kong, I just don't like her as much as Donkey Kong and I don't really know why, maybe because of the level designs needing to be built with her flying ability in mind? I mean they can't (easily) have a good platformer puzzle in a level for diddy kong without Dixy Kong being able to just ruin it all completely and beat it with ease >.>" (I like playing as Diddy in the first 2 games)

Edited by Nicholas Steel, 20 April 2015 - 01:55 AM.

[Nathaniel]

Dragon Warrior 1 on the Android tablet. Haven't done much yet other than getting up to level 4 so I can grind out in the "Scorpion's Nest" just south of the castle. More or less, it'll just be a bunch of spamming HURT and making trips back to the castle to refill my MP as needed. It's VERY tedious, but it's the best EXP and gold I can get. That is until I'm level 6 and have a Copper Sword, which makes just regular attacks more efficient than HURT and can save my MP for the HEAL spell, but that doesn't help much. Not when it only heals about 10-15 HP for 4 MP and an enemy's HURT spell takes off up to 10 HP per hit. And once you're up against enemies that hit 20+ damage a hit, HEAL is useless in battle.

 

So yeah, same strategy as before, only named myself ADAM instead of Adam. Why in all caps? Because in all caps, it gives me the best possible stat gains for leveling up the fastest (higher long-term Strength/Agility). Using "Adam" is long-term Strength/HP growth. Having less Agility = less defense. Less defense = reaching the "safe threshold" takes longer which = grinding takes that much longer. See, the game has two different damage formulas for against you. If your defense is equal to or greater than the Attack Power of your opponent, it uses a formula that yields MUCH less damage taken with a chance of the enemy doing nothing to you. Otherwise, the damage you take can be massive. I'm talking one level taking 12-25 (about 18 damage on average) damage and the next with a couple more defense you're only taking like 0-16 damage a hit (average of about .

 

I can definitely relate, although I never really had clever strategies myself, as I tend to play it safe.  As much as this game has sentimental value to me, I have to admit that at least 95% of the game time is pure grinding, at least in the original NES version.  There isn't that much story to follow to begin with, as most of it is there right in the beginning, with not much development of it as you progress.  The worst grinding part of the game is roughly the third quarter of it, where you are trying to advance to level 17 so you can obtain the healmore spell, as many parts of the game prior to achieving that that are nearly impossible to get through, trying to fight enemies that deal more damage than your heal spell can return back to you.  This coming even with being equipped with a Broad Sword and Magic Armor.  You could try to risk getting Erdrick's Armor by defeating a really tough Axe Knight, or make the long trek to Cantlin for the Flame Sword, but most attempts will likely lead to your death without having that healmore spell.  I think that was one of the major flaws in the game mechanics of this very early generation RPG.  I have never played it on Android, so I don't know how much it differs from the original NES version, if at all.

 

 

As for what I have been playing lately, not much due to me working 6 days per week, although Friday and Saturday are very short work days.  I have been playing Starbound on and off, with the goal of getting the Condor class ship for every race.  I am almost to that goal, with just the Glitch remaining with two more ship classes to go.  Those artifact finding missions take forever (especially finding a golden ducky or a USCM penal colony sign), as certain items it seems have like a 1 in 50 chance of finding it on a particular planet, even when you factor out ones they will definitely not be found on, such as the ocean types of planets.  Those sort of missions should not be required for unlocking ship upgrades, as they are insanely tedious, assuming you don't get very lucky.  I like how it encourages exploration, but I think it takes the wrong approach to it, feeling more like a scale the surfaces of planets grind.

[KingPridenia]

I can definitely relate, although I never really had clever strategies myself, as I tend to play it safe.  As much as this game has sentimental value to me, I have to admit that at least 95% of the game time is pure grinding, at least in the original NES version.  There isn't that much story to follow to begin with, as most of it is there right in the beginning, with not much development of it as you progress.  The worst grinding part of the game is roughly the third quarter of it, where you are trying to advance to level 17 so you can obtain the healmore spell, as many parts of the game prior to achieving that that are nearly impossible to get through, trying to fight enemies that deal more damage than your heal spell can return back to you.  This coming even with being equipped with a Broad Sword and Magic Armor.  You could try to risk getting Erdrick's Armor by defeating a really tough Axe Knight, or make the long trek to Cantlin for the Flame Sword, but most attempts will likely lead to your death without having that healmore spell.  I think that was one of the major flaws in the game mechanics of this very early generation RPG.  I have never played it on Android, so I don't know how much it differs from the original NES version, if at all.

 

 

As for what I have been playing lately, not much due to me working 6 days per week, although Friday and Saturday are very short work days.  I have been playing Starbound on and off, with the goal of getting the Condor class ship for every race.  I am almost to that goal, with just the Glitch remaining with two more ship classes to go.  Those artifact finding missions take forever (especially finding a golden ducky or a USCM penal colony sign), as certain items it seems have like a 1 in 50 chance of finding it on a particular planet, even when you factor out ones they will definitely not be found on, such as the ocean types of planets.  Those sort of missions should not be required for unlocking ship upgrades, as they are insanely tedious, assuming you don't get very lucky.  I like how it encourages exploration, but I think it takes the wrong approach to it, feeling more like a scale the surfaces of planets grind.

 

I'm not playing the Android exclusive remake, but rather the original NES one on it. But yeah, I've played it long enough that my strategy is pretty much this now:

 

Level 1-4: I buy the Club, Clothes and a Dragon Scale. I then grind in the mountains south of the castle, staying on the top row of mountains. If you go to the very bottom row, you start running into Magicians, Magidrakees and Scorpions, all of which are too much to deal with. I use the Inn as soon as my HUD turns red. At level 3, I only use the wizard to recharge my MP and use HEAL to recover.

 

Level 4-8: Back to that mountain area, only now I walk along the very bottom row. My strategy now is to rely on HURT to kill enemies. Usually, it takes 2 HURTs to kill the enemies here, although on occasion, it may take 3. The beauty of this is that most of the enemies use magic, so armor doesn't help very much. HURT has a 100% hit chance against all three enemies here. I typically kill 2-3 enemies before being forced to retreat for MP recovery at the castle. This continues until I can afford a Copper Sword. After that and being at least level 6, I start attacking directly, saving MP purely for healing outside of battle, since the Copper Sword does almost the same damage as HURT on them. I continue that plan until I have about 1,600 gold.

 

Level 8-13: This is where things get risky. I go to the southern island in an attempt to buy a Broad Sword. Being so weak defensively, Wolves can hit me in the teens, but Sleep + Fight is usually good enough. Having a couple Herbs in case of emergencies is recommended. Once I get the Broad Sword and use the Inn, I grind on the three sand tiles just outside of the town. I try to put the Wolves to sleep then kill them with my new weapon. Once I have enough for Full Plate, I buy it. Typically, this is the point my defense is high enough that they start only hitting up to 7 damage instead of roughly 7-14 damage. I continue killing, getting the Large Shield once I have the money.

 

I then do all of the stuff necessary to breech Charlock Castle. Before going in however, I go to defeat the Axe Knight. I won't lie; given my stats at level 13, I only have about a 1 in 3 chance to win. I have to get Stopspell to work or I'm screwed. Of course, there is always a chance of being killed before I can do anything. In other words, Axe Knight attacks before I'm ready, casts Sleep and kills me in my sleep. Thou art dead? More like "Thou hast been massacred." But anyway, I just attack him (7-15 damage) and use an Herb if my HP goes below 33 (he does 16-32 to me and I only have 65 HP). With enough luck, I'll get an excellent move or he'll waste turns with Sleep after Stopspell hits. Once I get Erdrick's Armor, I save and go to Cantlin for the Silver Shield, provided I have 14,800 gold. The Flame Sword is nice, but not worth the money since Erdrick's Sword is free and nothing a few attempts can't aid me in obtaining.

 

Charlock Castle at level 13 is VERY dangerous. My only advice? RUN FROM EVERYTHING. Most enemies can kill me in 3 hits and some only need 2 hits. I may die a few times, but that's why the reset button was invented. Actually in all seriousness, at this point in the game, I don't care if I die, since I'll never need more than a couple hundred gold again. So eventually, I get Erdrick's Sword, Outside > Return to the castle, save, then begin grinding again.

 

Level 13-17: This is the fun part. Hang out outside of the town you get Erdrick's Armor in and grind there until 14. With a name that sports long-term Agility growth and with all the best gear, you will overcome the Knight's 76 Attack Power. Kill them now. I believe by level 15, Demon Knights become safe as well, but they're annoying as they like to dodge you frequently. Regardless, just continue fighting until level 17. Go north past the bridge if HP gets too low. Walk around up there fighting weaker enemies until HP is in good shape.

 

Level 17-20: At this point, the entire overworld is safe with an Agility based name. The worst you'll take for damage is from a Wizard's HURTMORE spell (20-28 damage with Erdrick's Armor, up to the 40s otherwise) and from physical attacks 0-15 damage a hit (Starwyverns, Werewolves and Green Dragons [fire breath is 10-14 damage with the armor btw]). I'd suggest the town you get Erdrick's Armor in, although Cantlin is closer to an Inn, if you need it. Once you're at least level 18, you have a chance to beat the Dragonlord, albeit only about a 15% chance, and that assumes you get to him with 100% full HP/MP. At 17, it's impossible without ridiculous luck putting him to sleep (1/16 chance) and hoping HURT keeps hitting (5-12 damage a hit, 1/16 chance to work). By level 19, you have around an 80% success rate against him and from 20 onwards, you should be guaranteed if you heal below 49 HP (max hit is 48 damage from a fire breath).

 

Level 20-30: If you can be bothered to do this, the Axe Knight you killed for Erdrick's Armor is your victim. By now, he's harmless (0-16 damage per hit). Just leave to refill your HP walking around if needed. I did some math and if you're exactly level 20, you have to kill this poor guy 733 times to get to level 30. Of course, getting to level 30 is just for bragging rights. Not to mention by then, you have a good chance to beat the Dragonlord without healing more than once, if at all. Also, the king tells you by then you're more than powerful enough to kill the Dragonlord.

 

So yeah, a bit excessive, but there you go; how I play Dragon Warrior. Most of the credit goes to LP'er Hcbailly for the strategies as well as a link to the battle simulator where I got all of my facts from.

 

Here's my analysis on all the equipment in the game if you're interested:

Spoiler

=====Weapons=====
Bamboo Pole - Skip, not worth it. Attack Power of 2.
Club - Weak, but will suffice until you can afford the Copper Sword. Attack Power of 4.
Copper Sword - Buy ASAP and use it well. Attack Power of 10.
Hand Axe - Not worth the price, considering there is a better option available shortly after you'll get more mileage out of. Attack Power of 15.
Broad Sword - Great value and you'll get a ton of mileage out of this bad boy. Buy it ASAP. Attack Power of 20.
Flame Sword - Too expensive to be cost efficient, since it's only about 3 more damage on average, and the final weapon is free. Attack Power of 28.
Erdrick's Sword - Get this out of Charlock Castle ASAP. The sooner you get your hands on this, the better, as you will grind much faster. Attack Power of 40.

=====Armor=====
Clothes - Doesn't do much, but it's dirt cheap. Might as well buy it. Defense Power of 2.
Leather Armor - Not enough of an upgrade to be worth buying. Defense Power of 4.
Chain Mail - Meh, it's a decent enough upgrade, but try to hold out for Full Plate armor instead. Defense Power of 10.
Half Plate - Save up for Full Plate instead. Defense Power of 16.
Full Plate - This armor gives excellent protection. You'll get plenty of mileage out of this. Defense Power of 24.
Magic Armor - You regain 1 HP every 4 steps you take, but even that doesn't justify the higher cost. Not to mention its Defense Power is the same as Full Plate armor. You're just paying 4,700 gold extra for an ineffective healing effect as you walk around. Defense Power of 24.
Erdrick's Armor - Is there any reason NOT to get this? It's free, it makes you immune to damage tiles, Stopspell, and reduces magic and fire breath damage by 1/3. On top of all that, you gain 1 HP back for EVERY step you take. Honestly, this armor is awesome. Defense Power of 28.

=====Shields=====
Small Shield - Not worth buying. By the time you actually need the defense, you'll be able to afford the Large Shield. Defense Power of 4.
Large Shield - Great purchase to hold you over until the Silver Shield and is fairly cheap for its level of protection. Defense Power of 10.
Silver Shield - Stupidly expensive, but is the best shield in the game. Not to mention once you buy this, you'll never need more than a few hundred gold maximum. Defense Power of 20.

[Ventus]

After playing Bloodborne for so long I finally beaten the game. It only took 2 characters (Couldn't beat the final boss on the first one) and 300+ hours and I have done it Its over finally over... the nightmare has ended. 

 

Seeing the credits is the most beautiful thing ever. *cries*