So I screwed up trying to recruit Ravness. Again. For about the 3rd time. I didn't realize that the flags were HP percentages at certain battles, so I have to deal with that all over again. Good thing there's that W.O.R.L.D. system to exploit. Currently training up the team (Hobyrim included since I want a Swordmaster deployed) to about Lv. 20 to start the events for recruiting Deigo, then Xapan. Maybe I should have just recruited that mercenary back in Chapter 2, but eh. I was wondering if there was a fight with him later on, so I wanted to fight him then. Too bad the first time I attempted the fight, the army got overwhelmed pretty quickly. Everything was at Lv. 20~21, along with a lot of monster units closer to the front lines. The only unit that can deal with them is my Dragoon... and Witch. They can deal consistent and considerable amounts of damage to them when compared to, quite frankly, everyone else. Don't know what level I should aim for, but it's going to be a pain getting everyone at a decent level... Even with buffing, it's not going to make much of a difference if the enemy has much better equipment than my own team. I think I'll stop with the grinding once Hobyrim reaches about Lv. 15. Should be good enough since he can do preemptive attacks once he's got enough TP. The generic units are really dragging everyone else down (except for the Witch) because their base stats are about 10 points lower. What the hell... Canopus can easily deal more damage than the other Vultan on the team, and I even loaded him with Phys ATK up skills! Unfortunately, because of his much higher WT, didn't bother outfitting him with a bow because of the added WT. A hammer and shield should do, so he's kinda tanky. Still not as much as Jeunan as he can take absurd amounts of damage.
I really should have class changed Denim ASAP. The Warrior class has a pretty crappy WT rating when compared to the other classes. I think I should have changed him into a Ninja, but that would mean starting training at Lv. 1, and my patience is wearing a little thin from training Hobyrim. I really don't want to go to Brigantes just yet since that would set off a flag and consequently screw up trying to recruit Deigo. I could attempt right now since I'm within 3 levels. Just need to upgrade everyone's equips since they should be able to use the +1 variants. They have to deal damage faster than they can receive it... and the Clerics need to get moving to heal Diego once he ends up in a little too much trouble.
25 Dec 2010
19 Dec 2010
Sanhora still creeps me out.
Can I just say that I'm thoroughly traumatized by Sound Horizon's newest album now?
OK?
Right. Done.
Seriously, that album is really creepy when you consider all the fairy tales used as a theme for the story. And it's a really ugly cycle of revenge. Holy crap it's weird. It's a good thing my parents don't understand a single word.
... Still, love the music and some of the tracks are really good. I especially love tracks 8 and 9.
OK?
Right. Done.
Seriously, that album is really creepy when you consider all the fairy tales used as a theme for the story. And it's a really ugly cycle of revenge. Holy crap it's weird. It's a good thing my parents don't understand a single word.
... Still, love the music and some of the tracks are really good. I especially love tracks 8 and 9.
17 Dec 2010
Still tired.
I think I'll continue poking at the X360 chart for a few more days before turning my attention to tweaking the PC one. There's still the guide summaries that I've been meaning to finish... which are going to take forever since I'm still in the formations section! I'm not going to do the walkthrough since there are other sites for that. Just the system data should be enough...
Still going through Tactics Ogre. I restarted my game because I wanted to play with 2 very specific restrictions to mimic the old version: no KOs (there was permadeath a la Fire Emblem), no C.H.A.R.I.O.T. (save and reload, only without the saving and reloading). It's been going pretty well. Just got to Chapter 2 and now I'm doing some grinding because I want to try keeping Arycelle alive to have her join later. Then, I can have 2 unique archers to rain death upon my enemies! Unique characters tend to have better WT values and you want low WT values. I've also recently taken a liking to making my Clerics a bit more battle ready with that Item Sling. Been throwing a lot of bombs lately to help out the front lines, along with buffing and healing. The healing items are a lot cheaper than casting the spell, though spells can reach targets further away. Mostly use my Valkyrie for that, though I think I might have another Valkyrie join her soon enough. The Knight is just too slow for my liking, even though he's very good at taking damage. Might just class change him into a Rune Fencer instead of hiring someone else.
Not much to say since it's been exams and archery lately. Will probably start up Last Remnant again at some point to continue with the Athlum-only run. Been meaning to get on that.
Still going through Tactics Ogre. I restarted my game because I wanted to play with 2 very specific restrictions to mimic the old version: no KOs (there was permadeath a la Fire Emblem), no C.H.A.R.I.O.T. (save and reload, only without the saving and reloading). It's been going pretty well. Just got to Chapter 2 and now I'm doing some grinding because I want to try keeping Arycelle alive to have her join later. Then, I can have 2 unique archers to rain death upon my enemies! Unique characters tend to have better WT values and you want low WT values. I've also recently taken a liking to making my Clerics a bit more battle ready with that Item Sling. Been throwing a lot of bombs lately to help out the front lines, along with buffing and healing. The healing items are a lot cheaper than casting the spell, though spells can reach targets further away. Mostly use my Valkyrie for that, though I think I might have another Valkyrie join her soon enough. The Knight is just too slow for my liking, even though he's very good at taking damage. Might just class change him into a Rune Fencer instead of hiring someone else.
Not much to say since it's been exams and archery lately. Will probably start up Last Remnant again at some point to continue with the Athlum-only run. Been meaning to get on that.
12 Dec 2010
X360 Unique Leader Classes
This list is mostly obsolete. Any further updates will be made in my guide on the wiki here.
Still WIP...
This is all theoretical. This is just a chart of possible classes, not which ones are the best for each unit. It's up to the player to figure that out.
Classes and Skills
*Rush has several stopping points based on what Skill he's trained, and whether or not he has Item/Mys balance. It's not recommended to try for Ordainer unless you happen to have a lot of time on your hands.
*I'm not sure about Ghor at the moment. He technically should stay as an Axeman, but Warrior requirements may be lax enough for him to go there if Gaou is any indication.
*I haven't found any concrete evidence that Paris asks about Invocations at BR50, but I put that down because he asks about Wards at BR50 in the PC version and all other BR-related points were the same.
*Torgal should really be stuck in the Fencer class, but it seems that the requirements for it may be lax enough to allow for QW to progress. Requires Item/Mys balance be kept to progress.
*Some have "Guardian?" alongside their expected Item class. This is because I'm not entirely sure if Guardian will take priority for Item>Mys over the other classes. The checks would argue that Item classes should take priority since Item classes don't need the other groups to be insignificant. The question is what would happen to units that have Item>Mys but Items isn't a significant group.
*It seems that in order to change into a hybrid class, the unit already needs to be in the same type of hybrid class. This leaves all unique leaders ineligible for Assassin, Terror Knight, etc., even if they have the right equipment and Skills.
***Copied from the PC version. Will double check with X360 guides. Only the earliest variations will be of any use since all of them start at unit BR14 instead of being scaled to the "appropriate" unit BRs. Like Aristocrat/Djin/General/Raider being at unit BR69 since they can be hired after entering Undelwalt (Shield of Remembrance is found in Undelwalt). It is possible to max them out even if you get them at endgame.
===NOTES===
Classes were determined through possible Skills that the unit would end with and their ending stats. I don't know how accurate the GFAQs compiled chart is, so I cross-referenced with 2 JP charts found here and here (translated on my page since it's also relevant on the wiki). I have also calculated most of the units' BR98 stats as it appears that the X360 units stop at BR98. Seen here.
A few key notes here and there as well...
Warrior - Either PG or TH is needed for this class. Requires Item/Mys balance to achieve and progress.
Fencer - Either OH or DW is needed for this class. Requires Item/Mys balance to achieve and progress. QW is essentially the Sovani equivalent to DW, and can be used to progress.
Gladiator Trap - Mys>Item, STR53. This is very bad for very Mystic oriented units. This class forces them to use CAs instead of their MAs when the option to go all-out appears. The only way to escape this is to proceed to a Rank 7 class, which is only possible if you're Rush, Leucetius or Wyngale. Or reach a different Rank 6 class (Alchemist or Commander) before hitting STR53.
Guardian Trap - Item>Mys, STR47, doesn't meet requirements for another Rank 5 class that requires Item+Com. Bards and Scouts are very likely to fall into this. Hunters, Wanderers and Thieves should be exempt from this. Can be escaped if the unit can progress to a Rank 6 or 7 class. It's actually not that bad of a trap to fall into simply because of the effects the class gives (unit becomes more of a tank).
Look here for the PC version.
Still WIP...
This is all theoretical. This is just a chart of possible classes, not which ones are the best for each unit. It's up to the player to figure that out.
Classes and Skills
| Unit | Arts | Starting Class | Potential Final Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rush | Herbs All arts | Fighter | Scholar/Fencer/Warrior Guardian/Thief Gladiator/Alchemist Ordainer/Warlock |
| Allan | Dual Power Grip Invocations/Explosives/Traps Hexes 50/Shards 66 | Deathknight | Stay |
| Baulson | Two-handed Herbs Remedies 18/Potions 30 | Freelancer | Warrior/Scholar Guardian Gladiator |
| Blocter | One-handed/#Power Grip Herbs Hexes 33/Traps 44 | Axeman | Fencer/Warrior Guardian Gladiator |
| Caedmon | Dual Two-handed Herbs/Potions/Evocations Remedies 27/Traps 36 | Freelancer | Fencer/Warrior/Scholar Guardian Gladiator |
| Darien | Two-handed Herbs/Lotions Remedies 45/Potions 53 | Lancer | Guardian Gladiator |
| David | One-handed(/Power Grip) Invocations/Herbs Remedies 34/Shards 50 | Mysticknight | Guardian Gladiator/Alchemist |
| Emma | One-handed/#Dual Wield Remedies Invocations 19/Potions 32 | Swashbuckler | ... Gladiator |
| Emmy | One-handed/Power Grip/#Dual Wield Remedies Hexes 45/Traps 57 | Swashbuckler | Gladiator |
| Gabriel | #One-handed/Power Grip Herbs/Potions Invocations 25/Lotions 36 | Freelancer | Scholar Guardian Gladiator |
| Gaou | Two-handed(/Power Grip) Potions Hexes 48/Traps 58 | Warrior | Guardian Gladiator |
| Ghor | Power Grip Psionics 73/Potions 85 | Axeman | Warrior Guardian Gladiator |
| Glenys | One-handed/#Power Grip Remedies Evocations 47/Herbs 55 | Samurai | Guardian Gladiator |
| Haruko | (Two-handed) Remedies Invocations 76/Lotions 83 | Healer | Scholar/Bishop |
| Irina | Two-handed Remedies/Lotions/Traps Psionics 76/Shards 85 | Scholar | Scholar Alchemist |
| Kate | (One-handed) Hexes Evocations 52/Explosives 64 | Specialist | Scholar Thief/Guardian? Gladiator |
| Khrynia | Power Grip Invocations/Evocations/Explosives Hexes 75/Shards 85 | Mysticknight | Thaumaturge/Thief/Guardian?Gladiator/Alchemist |
| Leshau | (Power Grip) Evocations/Hexes Psionics 33/Potions 44 | Marksman | Scholar Thaumaturge/Sage/Guardian Gladiator |
| Leucetius | Dual Power Grip Invocations/Evocations/Hexes/Remedies Psionics 82/Explosives 91 | Sage | Gladiator Warlock |
| Loki | Power Grip Invocations Hexes 24/Herbs 33 | Mysticknight | Guardian Gladiator |
| Maddox | (One-handed/Two-handed with Ama-Gi) Invocations/Hexes Remedies 36/Herbs 44 | Marauder | Scholar/Bishop Sage/Thaumaturge |
| Nora | Power Grip Invocations Hexes 34/Lotions 47 | Ranger | Scholar Guardian Gladiator |
| Pagus | Two-handed Invocations/Remedies Wards 50/Herbs 26 | Shaman | Scholar/Bishop Guardian/Thaumaturge Commander/Gladiator |
| Paris | (Two-handed) Remedies Invocations 50/Traps 65 | Healer | Scholar Guardian Gladiator |
| Rhagoh | (Power Grip) Remedies Hexes 37/Lotions 44 | Healer | Healer Bishop/Scholar Guardian |
| Roberto | Power Grip Potions Invocations 46/Explosives 57 | Swashbuckler | Thief/Guardian? Gladiator |
| Sheryl | (Two-handed) Evocations Hexes 51/Lotions 63 | Marksman | Scholar Guardian Gladiator |
| Sibal | Two-handed(/Power Grip with Daedalus) Herbs/Lotions Invocations 35/Explosives 45 | Warrior | Guardian Gladiator |
| Torgal | Quad Wield/Dual Power Grip Evocations Psionics 45/Potions 24 | Fencer | Fencer Guardian Gladiator |
| Violet | Two-handed Remedies Hexes 26/Explosives 42 | Runemaiden | Scholar Thief/Guardian? Gladiator |
| Wyngale | Quad Wield/Dual Power Grip Invocations/Evocations/Hexes/Remedies/Psionics/Traps Wards 77/Shards 84 | Wizard | Gladiator/Alchemist/Commander Warlock |
| Yuniver | (Two-handed) Invocations/Hexes Evocations 74/Potions 84 | Specialist | Specialist Scholar Thaumaturge/Sage Gladiator |
| Zolean | (Power Grip) Invocations/Hexes Evocations 59/Traps 71 | Specialist | Specialist Scholar Thaumaturge/Sage Gladiator |
*I'm not sure about Ghor at the moment. He technically should stay as an Axeman, but Warrior requirements may be lax enough for him to go there if Gaou is any indication.
*I haven't found any concrete evidence that Paris asks about Invocations at BR50, but I put that down because he asks about Wards at BR50 in the PC version and all other BR-related points were the same.
*Torgal should really be stuck in the Fencer class, but it seems that the requirements for it may be lax enough to allow for QW to progress. Requires Item/Mys balance be kept to progress.
*Some have "Guardian?" alongside their expected Item class. This is because I'm not entirely sure if Guardian will take priority for Item>Mys over the other classes. The checks would argue that Item classes should take priority since Item classes don't need the other groups to be insignificant. The question is what would happen to units that have Item>Mys but Items isn't a significant group.
*It seems that in order to change into a hybrid class, the unit already needs to be in the same type of hybrid class. This leaves all unique leaders ineligible for Assassin, Terror Knight, etc., even if they have the right equipment and Skills.
| Jorgen | Availability | Arts | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| *Adventurer | After Numor Mine | Remedies/Herbs Invocations 24/Lotions 36 | C |
| Aristocrat | After entering Undelwalt | Herbs Wards 79/Lotions 89 | B/M |
| Djin | After entering Undelwalt | Invocations Hexes 82/Shards 92 | B/M |
| General | After entering Undelwalt | Hexes Evocations 80/Potions 90 | B/C/M |
| *Raider | After entering Undelwalt | Potions Remedies 81/Explosives 91 | C |
| Sage | After Numor Mine | Invocations Psionics 37/Explosives 46 | B/M |
| *Warrior | After entering the Aqueducts Can recruit before fighting the Gates of Hell | - Invocations 49/Herbs 62 | C |
===NOTES===
Classes were determined through possible Skills that the unit would end with and their ending stats. I don't know how accurate the GFAQs compiled chart is, so I cross-referenced with 2 JP charts found here and here (translated on my page since it's also relevant on the wiki). I have also calculated most of the units' BR98 stats as it appears that the X360 units stop at BR98. Seen here.
A few key notes here and there as well...
Warrior - Either PG or TH is needed for this class. Requires Item/Mys balance to achieve and progress.
Fencer - Either OH or DW is needed for this class. Requires Item/Mys balance to achieve and progress. QW is essentially the Sovani equivalent to DW, and can be used to progress.
Gladiator Trap - Mys>Item, STR53. This is very bad for very Mystic oriented units. This class forces them to use CAs instead of their MAs when the option to go all-out appears. The only way to escape this is to proceed to a Rank 7 class, which is only possible if you're Rush, Leucetius or Wyngale. Or reach a different Rank 6 class (Alchemist or Commander) before hitting STR53.
Guardian Trap - Item>Mys, STR47, doesn't meet requirements for another Rank 5 class that requires Item+Com. Bards and Scouts are very likely to fall into this. Hunters, Wanderers and Thieves should be exempt from this. Can be escaped if the unit can progress to a Rank 6 or 7 class. It's actually not that bad of a trap to fall into simply because of the effects the class gives (unit becomes more of a tank).
Look here for the PC version.
11 Dec 2010
Hm. Another book.
I should probably pick up the Tactics Ogre guide at some point since I want to check out the in-game achievements. Someone already posted them on the boards, but I also like collecting books. It should also help with doing a perfect run, and I don't always like using the net for looking things up.
So that's what I've been playing lately. Haven't really touched SenBASA in a while, but that'll change once exams are done (and maybe after I stop hurting my elbow from archery...). Still have to co-op with a friend after all! And maybe with a certain group of friends, since that's really the only multiplayer game I have. I just hope it doesn't involve keeping me awake until 4am just to see the consequences again.
Anyways. Tactics Ogre. I'm actually getting close to finishing it for both versions. Went Law with the PSP version because of the new W.O.R.L.D. system (trying to recruit Deigo at the moment), and went Chaos all the way for the PS1 version. I do have saves at critical decision points for the PS1 version since everything has to be done in that playthrough. Pretty sure that I messed up when it comes to recruiting new story units, but eh. Just playing through it for the sake of playing through it. The only thing that I bothered checking up on was the levelling system and the classes. Plus, I cheated a little with the levelling by letting them get a level up every time they hit another unit. It's the same as letting them throw rocks at each other for hours on end, only a lot faster. I also don't think I can rotate the map since it's not in full 3D. Makes seeing where they should go a little harder than necessary, but at least the cursor changes colour if the unit can move to that space. The story's kinda not clicking at the moment, probably because of the translation being not so great. There were a few grammatical mistakes, but no spelling mistakes as far as I can tell. The text also bothers me because it looks like it's the JP wide-width lettering.
Since the winter break is coming up, I guess I should finish up with summarizing the Last Remnant guide, however incomplete it may be. And maybe get a playthrough or two in. I have about a month. Maybe. Gotta keep up with the archery! I want to shoot against the coaches!
SB3 script should be coming in soon... Just got the SB2H one, along with the SBX guide. Love the anime style used in X. Too bad X came out after 2H. Also, ordered another copy of Grimoire NieR for scanning purposes. Seems the webmaster at Dokuganryu.com moved on, so finding high res scans just got a bit harder.
EDIT: Well, what do you know. The script came in today. On a Saturday. They make deliveries on Saturdays? And a nice copy of the SB3OCW to replace the one I murdered for scanning.
So that's what I've been playing lately. Haven't really touched SenBASA in a while, but that'll change once exams are done (and maybe after I stop hurting my elbow from archery...). Still have to co-op with a friend after all! And maybe with a certain group of friends, since that's really the only multiplayer game I have. I just hope it doesn't involve keeping me awake until 4am just to see the consequences again.
Anyways. Tactics Ogre. I'm actually getting close to finishing it for both versions. Went Law with the PSP version because of the new W.O.R.L.D. system (trying to recruit Deigo at the moment), and went Chaos all the way for the PS1 version. I do have saves at critical decision points for the PS1 version since everything has to be done in that playthrough. Pretty sure that I messed up when it comes to recruiting new story units, but eh. Just playing through it for the sake of playing through it. The only thing that I bothered checking up on was the levelling system and the classes. Plus, I cheated a little with the levelling by letting them get a level up every time they hit another unit. It's the same as letting them throw rocks at each other for hours on end, only a lot faster. I also don't think I can rotate the map since it's not in full 3D. Makes seeing where they should go a little harder than necessary, but at least the cursor changes colour if the unit can move to that space. The story's kinda not clicking at the moment, probably because of the translation being not so great. There were a few grammatical mistakes, but no spelling mistakes as far as I can tell. The text also bothers me because it looks like it's the JP wide-width lettering.
Since the winter break is coming up, I guess I should finish up with summarizing the Last Remnant guide, however incomplete it may be. And maybe get a playthrough or two in. I have about a month. Maybe. Gotta keep up with the archery! I want to shoot against the coaches!
SB3 script should be coming in soon... Just got the SB2H one, along with the SBX guide. Love the anime style used in X. Too bad X came out after 2H. Also, ordered another copy of Grimoire NieR for scanning purposes. Seems the webmaster at Dokuganryu.com moved on, so finding high res scans just got a bit harder.
EDIT: Well, what do you know. The script came in today. On a Saturday. They make deliveries on Saturdays? And a nice copy of the SB3OCW to replace the one I murdered for scanning.
23 Nov 2010
Let Us Cling Together
Started Gyoubu's story first since I wanted to get his over with to unlock Hondam, and Chika's story isn't something I want to do right away. And finished it within 5 stages. Also noted that you have to exit the game completely in order to try avoiding the Base Defense stage. I don't mind the stage that much but I don't need any of the stage materials or "No Damage" robes anymore, so playing it is really a waste of time unless I'm fugitive hunting. Finished with Mitsunari, and started his Blue route again for that weird trophy. He almost has ATK1000, so it shouldn't be too bad due to his ridiculously high DPS. It's going to be a slight pain getting all the fugitives for every character, but at least there's no associated trophy for it. Only need to do it with one character.
Just as a little fun note, I've only noticed that Keiji and Ieyasu have idle animations so far. Most of the characters I haven't left alone long enough to see. They both have 2; Keiji either rotates his sword arm shoulder or waves around his arms, while Ieyasu either folds his arms or scratches his head. Once he folds his arms, he doesn't do another idle animation until you move him.
In the meantime... I've started Tactics Ogre: 運命の輪/The Wheel of Fortune. The JP version still does retain the "Let Us Cling Together" subtitle, it's just not part of the logo. It's pretty hard, but probably because I haven't played an SRPG in a while. Also interesting systems in place. I think I might have to grind a little bit to get their levels up so they can take the new equipment that I can finally buy for them. I think I might have to pre-order this since we're also getting the tarot card bonus. I've always been interested in how to use them, even if it's just a bunch of superstition. The imagery is fascinating, much like the Ars Goetia demons. Kinda funny. An atheist scientist that's genuinely interesting in demonology and the supernatural, even if it's just for the meanings behind it. Oh, and because there's new art work on it. Always a good excuse, considering that I'm not sure if the game's getting an art book or an Ultimania.
... And I feel like a lonely MasaMitsu fan. Good thing no one in the SB commu knows who I am. *ahem*
Just as a little fun note, I've only noticed that Keiji and Ieyasu have idle animations so far. Most of the characters I haven't left alone long enough to see. They both have 2; Keiji either rotates his sword arm shoulder or waves around his arms, while Ieyasu either folds his arms or scratches his head. Once he folds his arms, he doesn't do another idle animation until you move him.
In the meantime... I've started Tactics Ogre: 運命の輪/The Wheel of Fortune. The JP version still does retain the "Let Us Cling Together" subtitle, it's just not part of the logo. It's pretty hard, but probably because I haven't played an SRPG in a while. Also interesting systems in place. I think I might have to grind a little bit to get their levels up so they can take the new equipment that I can finally buy for them. I think I might have to pre-order this since we're also getting the tarot card bonus. I've always been interested in how to use them, even if it's just a bunch of superstition. The imagery is fascinating, much like the Ars Goetia demons. Kinda funny. An atheist scientist that's genuinely interesting in demonology and the supernatural, even if it's just for the meanings behind it. Oh, and because there's new art work on it. Always a good excuse, considering that I'm not sure if the game's getting an art book or an Ultimania.
... And I feel like a lonely MasaMitsu fan. Good thing no one in the SB commu knows who I am. *ahem*
15 Nov 2010
To hide in a corner.
*ahem* So I put in a request in a certain kink meme. It's not a popular pairing at all (at least not on Pixiv), so I'm wondering if anyone would fill it out. Maybe I'll edit this post later with what I put in my comment after it's been filled. At least someone else is seconding the request... I'm so going to hell for this, but I just can't help myself when it comes to obscure pairings and generous helpings of Foe Yay. I really can't. A hint: This guy doesn't remember the other guy's name until you play one specific stage. And even then, he only remembers his last name. Actually, there's another stage where he remembers, but that's only because another certain person is there. It's an incredibly obscure thing that most people wouldn't even bat an eye to. I noticed it because the dialogue in the games amuses me so. Each character has a distinct speech pattern and how they refer to themselves (pronouns) and each other (honorifics). Those little details is exactly what makes this series so much fun. Well, good gameplay helps too.
Oh, and I wasted quite a bit of time looking a vids on NicoDou. Why? Because I wanted to know where some of the groupings were coming from. 東西トリオ is a new one, consisting of Ieyasu/Motochika/Masamune. There's no need for explanation of this grouping at all, really. If you've paid attention to the entire game series, that would be enough info. There were already hints of the 東西兄貴 from Battle Heroes. Something about Motochika wanting to steal something from the Oushuu forces (Kojuurou the Right Eye, Masamune's 'soul'). Then from SB2H, we have 兄貴と狸, which is expanded upon in BH and 3. And finally in 3, 権現 and 独眼竜 team up in the Eastern Army/東軍. 関ヶ原 is very obviously IeMitsu. Oh, and I was trying to figure out the 黒権現 thing. It seems like it stemmed from Mistunari's 2nd costume resembling an angel. So to complement that, let's have Ieyasu completely lose it. And boy is the 黒権現 insane. Well, as insane as whoever the artist is. Or a depressed 権現. Like so.
Anyways, literally blasted through Magoichi's stories. Both of the main ones, and noticed that I had the option to go directly to Honnoji while going through her yet-to-be-completed Red route. I think as long as the Honnoji route is attached to something, you can go directly there. I think Magoichi is the only one who can do that, and it would make sense since she actually has ties to Nobunaga. Anyways, Aniki has been unlocked, so I think it's only him and Gyoubu that I have to deal with in terms of stories. Shouldn't be too bad. Gyoubu can easily handle himself on Extreme right now, and Aniki has his trusty net. Almost done hunting down all the fugitives with Mitsunari, so that trophy will be mine and I can start the "get through Extreme with the default weapon" thing. Still a little worried about that "kill less than 100" trophy... Going to need a second player to help, most likely.
EDIT: HOLY EASTERN HOLLYHOCK OF THAT TANUKI. SOMEONE WROTE FOR THE REQUEST I WANTED. ... In the exact the opposite of what I wanted. Well, I suppose I could out myself on this. Doubt they'll find me here anyways. I wanted a MasamunexMitsunari fic. Context is this: Mitsunari never remembers Masamune's name in any of the stages he appears in unless Ieyasu is also there. He screams "Date! Ieyasu!" in Osaka Summer Blue (Blue route final) and Sekigahara - Traces. We all know how cocky the One-Eyed Dragon is, so he doesn't take it well that he's not remembered, even after his defeat at Odawara Castle. So... Masamune's going to make him remember the One-Eyed Dragon. Should have included blood-play in the request, just to see what they would do~
And another crack fic, but even better~ Yeesh, it seems like I'm the only one who got a fic so far. I thought no one liked this pairing... Maybe it was because how vague it was and that prompt meant that you can draw from anything. Prefer the game-canon because that's what I know. It awesome of that anon to use both KG's and Chika's endings since those ones are the happiest and most amusing. Everyone lives when KG's involved, and throwing in Chika's Green means that Ieyasu and Mitsunari aren't going to kill each other. Well, maybe they will but not after a long while seeing as how Chika seems to be quite fond of both.
Oh, and I wasted quite a bit of time looking a vids on NicoDou. Why? Because I wanted to know where some of the groupings were coming from. 東西トリオ is a new one, consisting of Ieyasu/Motochika/Masamune. There's no need for explanation of this grouping at all, really. If you've paid attention to the entire game series, that would be enough info. There were already hints of the 東西兄貴 from Battle Heroes. Something about Motochika wanting to steal something from the Oushuu forces (Kojuurou the Right Eye, Masamune's 'soul'). Then from SB2H, we have 兄貴と狸, which is expanded upon in BH and 3. And finally in 3, 権現 and 独眼竜 team up in the Eastern Army/東軍. 関ヶ原 is very obviously IeMitsu. Oh, and I was trying to figure out the 黒権現 thing. It seems like it stemmed from Mistunari's 2nd costume resembling an angel. So to complement that, let's have Ieyasu completely lose it. And boy is the 黒権現 insane. Well, as insane as whoever the artist is. Or a depressed 権現. Like so.
Anyways, literally blasted through Magoichi's stories. Both of the main ones, and noticed that I had the option to go directly to Honnoji while going through her yet-to-be-completed Red route. I think as long as the Honnoji route is attached to something, you can go directly there. I think Magoichi is the only one who can do that, and it would make sense since she actually has ties to Nobunaga. Anyways, Aniki has been unlocked, so I think it's only him and Gyoubu that I have to deal with in terms of stories. Shouldn't be too bad. Gyoubu can easily handle himself on Extreme right now, and Aniki has his trusty net. Almost done hunting down all the fugitives with Mitsunari, so that trophy will be mine and I can start the "get through Extreme with the default weapon" thing. Still a little worried about that "kill less than 100" trophy... Going to need a second player to help, most likely.
EDIT: HOLY EASTERN HOLLYHOCK OF THAT TANUKI. SOMEONE WROTE FOR THE REQUEST I WANTED. ... In the exact the opposite of what I wanted. Well, I suppose I could out myself on this. Doubt they'll find me here anyways. I wanted a MasamunexMitsunari fic. Context is this: Mitsunari never remembers Masamune's name in any of the stages he appears in unless Ieyasu is also there. He screams "Date! Ieyasu!" in Osaka Summer Blue (Blue route final) and Sekigahara - Traces. We all know how cocky the One-Eyed Dragon is, so he doesn't take it well that he's not remembered, even after his defeat at Odawara Castle. So... Masamune's going to make him remember the One-Eyed Dragon. Should have included blood-play in the request, just to see what they would do~
And another crack fic, but even better~ Yeesh, it seems like I'm the only one who got a fic so far. I thought no one liked this pairing... Maybe it was because how vague it was and that prompt meant that you can draw from anything. Prefer the game-canon because that's what I know. It awesome of that anon to use both KG's and Chika's endings since those ones are the happiest and most amusing. Everyone lives when KG's involved, and throwing in Chika's Green means that Ieyasu and Mitsunari aren't going to kill each other. Well, maybe they will but not after a long while seeing as how Chika seems to be quite fond of both.
11 Nov 2010
Perhaps I should have been hostile instead.
So... There's this user. ZeroJinKui. Been on GFAQs for quite a while (he's Lv.37), and was asking for some help. Too bad he sounds like a whiny brat while he's at it. We were trying to help, but it seemed like he had his ears plugged, or at least blinded to the point that he can't recognize a decent post. He was asking about farming weapons, specifically the Tier 4 and Tier 5 ones (elemental activation 10% and joke weapons). He had already gotten a few of them because of having a second player with him, but preferred to play alone. So, we suggested that the best places for weapon farming are any of the Sekigahara stages, Tedorigawa (Maeda), Ujou (Tenkai), Osaka Summer Blue (if he can handle it) and Kawanakajima (4 equips). I even gave him Kubota as a starting point to get the character's HP up so that they won't die that easily. Tenkai's stage pretty easy because he's so slow. The only real problem in the stage is the bombers running around, which is pretty easy to deal with if you keep moving. Too bad it seems like he's not good enough (what) to outrun the bombers, so he's not using that stage. He also doesn't seem to have enough DEF, which is perfectly normal if you're starting with a Lv.1 character. Said character would only have 1 slot to work with, and you would need to use a Gold Turtle (DEF+400) to soften blows on Extreme. He would probably have one if he had bothered to farm the materials from Kawanakajima and the Noshima Ocean stages. I took a jab at him, saying that he could make up for his (serious) lack of skill with a DEF boost.
Seriously, Extreme isn't that hard for most characters. I have difficulty playing on Extreme with some characters because of their movement speed and play style required. Just need some practice, that's all. And just because we're good at a game doesn't mean that we don't have a life. Some of us are naturally good at gaming. And I'm pretty sure that we don't have to hold your hand when it comes to strategy against certain bosses. The most basic one is to hit-and-run, unless you can't outrun them. Mix up blocking and dodging. Just because you can't seem to block against attacks doesn't mean that others shouldn't be able to either. Oh, and the guy who had trouble with over 2000 DEF? I ran into that problem too. Why? Kanbei at Sekigahara Plot vs. Mouri. It's that damn Akatsukimaru that really puts a dent in things because of its ridiculous attack power, mostly because it's the completed version and not the one that most people would remember from Nakatomigawa.
Really, quit complaining and learn to play the game. It really sounds like you're a rather impatient brat who wants to get all the weapons ASAP. The weapons aren't going to make much of a difference if you don't know how to play it well. At least they're not forcing you to go through a tournament in order to get their best weapons. Those challenges from SB2H? Pretty damn hard with some characters.
Seriously, Extreme isn't that hard for most characters. I have difficulty playing on Extreme with some characters because of their movement speed and play style required. Just need some practice, that's all. And just because we're good at a game doesn't mean that we don't have a life. Some of us are naturally good at gaming. And I'm pretty sure that we don't have to hold your hand when it comes to strategy against certain bosses. The most basic one is to hit-and-run, unless you can't outrun them. Mix up blocking and dodging. Just because you can't seem to block against attacks doesn't mean that others shouldn't be able to either. Oh, and the guy who had trouble with over 2000 DEF? I ran into that problem too. Why? Kanbei at Sekigahara Plot vs. Mouri. It's that damn Akatsukimaru that really puts a dent in things because of its ridiculous attack power, mostly because it's the completed version and not the one that most people would remember from Nakatomigawa.
Really, quit complaining and learn to play the game. It really sounds like you're a rather impatient brat who wants to get all the weapons ASAP. The weapons aren't going to make much of a difference if you don't know how to play it well. At least they're not forcing you to go through a tournament in order to get their best weapons. Those challenges from SB2H? Pretty damn hard with some characters.
About damn time
It took a while (100+ hours by the clock...), but Nobunaga unlocked! Admittedly, at least 5 of those hours were spent in the gallery listening to music, and at least another 50 of them spent farming ryou and materials. Seriously... I almost have all the accessories created and only really need to concentrate on farming those stupid helmets. Not exactly the best at parrying, so I was surprised that I managed to get a Daimyo helmet with Oichi while on Extreme. Time to use Keiji in Saika's stage. Hopefully I won't break my R1 button along the way. Well, considering that I only need to get one more (got a few more while playing as Tsuruhime on Extreme), shouldn't be a problem! Or maybe just use Magoichi since I'm playing through her story at the moment and her DPS is so freakishly high that I don't need to put any ATK accessories on her. Boost her DEF, tag along Matsu, and we're set.
So along the way, I figured out how to deal with Magoichi's charged shotgun blasts. They're even more broken than Dante's, and even Nero's charged shots! The charged magnum shots even have the same property as Nero's charged revolver shots (delayed explosion). It's actually pretty funny since you can easily take out bases in a few shots on Extreme. The timing was a little weird at first, mostly because I had just finished with Tsuruhime's story and she uses a different type of style (just-frames for extra shots or damage). Going with her Blue route, then replaying for her Red, then Honnoji. So, that should unlock Motochika. Too bad his story is going to piss me off again because how incredibly stupid he was, as sniffle-worthy as it was. Well, only really if you know their backstory from the previous games. Still wondering which routes are canon or tie into each other. I know that Chika's Red and Nari's Blue are connected. Magoichi's Red is probably the canon route for her. Yukimura and Masamune's Blue are probably tied as well, since those two seem to like screwing around at each other's expense (more Masa than Yuki, much to Kojuurou's annoyance).
On the fandom side of things... I've taken a liking to shipping a lot more pairings and groups than I thought. 家三, 三家, 兄貴と狸, 親家, 親三, 東西兄貴, etc. Probably because I actually took the time to read over all the scripts and playing through all their stories. Still, my favourite is 小政, along with a bit of a crack pairing in 三政. Yes, I love my Foe Yay as much as I love my Ho Yay.
I still think that Ieyasu's ending is somewhat sniffle-worthy.
So along the way, I figured out how to deal with Magoichi's charged shotgun blasts. They're even more broken than Dante's, and even Nero's charged shots! The charged magnum shots even have the same property as Nero's charged revolver shots (delayed explosion). It's actually pretty funny since you can easily take out bases in a few shots on Extreme. The timing was a little weird at first, mostly because I had just finished with Tsuruhime's story and she uses a different type of style (just-frames for extra shots or damage). Going with her Blue route, then replaying for her Red, then Honnoji. So, that should unlock Motochika. Too bad his story is going to piss me off again because how incredibly stupid he was, as sniffle-worthy as it was. Well, only really if you know their backstory from the previous games. Still wondering which routes are canon or tie into each other. I know that Chika's Red and Nari's Blue are connected. Magoichi's Red is probably the canon route for her. Yukimura and Masamune's Blue are probably tied as well, since those two seem to like screwing around at each other's expense (more Masa than Yuki, much to Kojuurou's annoyance).
On the fandom side of things... I've taken a liking to shipping a lot more pairings and groups than I thought. 家三, 三家, 兄貴と狸, 親家, 親三, 東西兄貴, etc. Probably because I actually took the time to read over all the scripts and playing through all their stories. Still, my favourite is 小政, along with a bit of a crack pairing in 三政. Yes, I love my Foe Yay as much as I love my Ho Yay.
I still think that Ieyasu's ending is somewhat sniffle-worthy.
2 Nov 2010
Already, I see a mistake
Capitalization. They forgot to capitalize some words. "well now..." Part of a line that Masamune says. Some of the item descriptions have extra spaces in them. Looks a little awkward. Oh, and they misspelled 'enemies' as 'enemys,' as found on the Jade Phoenix. That's all within the first hour of play too. Started on Masamune's story mode on Extreme (screw this, I'm using the JP terms). Dealt with Mogami's stage first since you get a bodyguard and there's a cutscene. Have to admit, I quite like Mogami's acting in this version. Not as annoying, but just as good. Kojuurou really isn't clicking for me, and neither is Masamune. Those skill name changes are irking me to no end, especially now that he's got most of his moves (I don't normally use TESTAMENT). I mean, sure, "Six Claws" makes more sense as the stance, but WAR DANCE sounds much more intimidating when shouting it at your enemies.
Anyways, started Oichi's Blue route. Should be able to get through it OK, except for the part where I decided to go for Extreme mode. It was still pretty easy after you figure out exactly how far some of her attacks reach. Her Guard+Triangle is exactly one backstep's distance away from her. Anyways, yes, I did complete it on Extreme, got both versions of her joke weapon, then did her Purple route. Admittedly, I did that on Normal because I just wanted to breeze through it. Then I tried to unlock Nobunaga using KuroKan. That didn't work out quite the way I had planned. Completely forgot that he has 2 branches in his Red that end at Sekigahara Intrusion. The upper path is where the Honnoji branch is (requires you to go after the guys and Tsuruhime), and the lower path is if go you go after Saika or Oichi. Starting that again soon, and hopefully I'll remember to get to the right path. Then it's fugitive hunting with Mitsunari so I can deal with the "use your default weapon with no accessories while on Extreme" trophy. Almost got through the first stage... but playing in SD and with only about DEF170 isn't very smart, especially if the first stage is up against the Maeda clan (minus Keiji). The SD part was pretty bad since a lot of the stuff ended up a little blurrier than usual. Oh well, I'll get through it eventually. Just need to do some hunting first!
Kingo isn't afraid of Kojuurou-sama? That's... odd. Really, it is. He's one of the most badass characters, yet he's not afraid of him. Must be the yummy vegetables he cultivates... Heard his little line about Kojuurou while beating the everlasting crap out of him with Oichi.
And... Tactics Ogre is coming out next week! Can't wait~
And while this should go in my IRL blog... Note to self, don't stick the sticky sesame ball thingy in the fridge. The texture becomes quite... unappetizing to say the least. It still tasted pretty good, just a bit off-putting to eat.
Anyways, started Oichi's Blue route. Should be able to get through it OK, except for the part where I decided to go for Extreme mode. It was still pretty easy after you figure out exactly how far some of her attacks reach. Her Guard+Triangle is exactly one backstep's distance away from her. Anyways, yes, I did complete it on Extreme, got both versions of her joke weapon, then did her Purple route. Admittedly, I did that on Normal because I just wanted to breeze through it. Then I tried to unlock Nobunaga using KuroKan. That didn't work out quite the way I had planned. Completely forgot that he has 2 branches in his Red that end at Sekigahara Intrusion. The upper path is where the Honnoji branch is (requires you to go after the guys and Tsuruhime), and the lower path is if go you go after Saika or Oichi. Starting that again soon, and hopefully I'll remember to get to the right path. Then it's fugitive hunting with Mitsunari so I can deal with the "use your default weapon with no accessories while on Extreme" trophy. Almost got through the first stage... but playing in SD and with only about DEF170 isn't very smart, especially if the first stage is up against the Maeda clan (minus Keiji). The SD part was pretty bad since a lot of the stuff ended up a little blurrier than usual. Oh well, I'll get through it eventually. Just need to do some hunting first!
Kingo isn't afraid of Kojuurou-sama? That's... odd. Really, it is. He's one of the most badass characters, yet he's not afraid of him. Must be the yummy vegetables he cultivates... Heard his little line about Kojuurou while beating the everlasting crap out of him with Oichi.
And... Tactics Ogre is coming out next week! Can't wait~
And while this should go in my IRL blog... Note to self, don't stick the sticky sesame ball thingy in the fridge. The texture becomes quite... unappetizing to say the least. It still tasted pretty good, just a bit off-putting to eat.
27 Oct 2010
That definitely sucks
The SB:SH icon will overwrite the SB3 icon when you first load up the game, since the first thing it does is check and install the trophy data. So even if you've earned trophies in the JP version, it'll still overwrite it with the EN icon. The names will remain in the language you installed it in. Looks like I know which account I'll be playing SB:SH on. Not even installing the EN trophies then starting up the JP version will work. The reason why I want the SB3 icon is because I want to keep in line with my history of playing the imports. Plus, the "Sengoku" part in the EN version looks horrendous. It really doesn't fit with the font used in the "BASARA" part.
Oh, and I finally started a savefile with actual progress in it. Well, I don't know if you can call a file with only Masamune levelled to 20 as "progress." Anyways, noting the skill name changes.
DEATH FANG/DEATH BITE - Dragon Slash
JET-X/X-BOLT - X-Strike
MAGNUM STEP/MAGNUM STRIKE - Revolver Blitz
CRAZY STORM/CRAZY STREAM - Azure Storm
HELL DRAGON - Dragon's Eye
WAR DANCE - Six Claws
TESTAMENT - Zero Point
Yes, Masamune's moves are all in caps. He's cool enough for it. Unfortunately, I don't know if there's a name change for when he goes into 六爪流 in the EN version. The JP version probably has it listed in an official guide, and I remember seeing the upgraded versions in a magazine scan a few weeks after the game was announced. I still want PHANTOM DIVE back. It was hilariously fun to use when combined with HELL DRAGON. The natural progression for the next instalment should be allowing us to map whatever moves we want to any button sequence we want, save for the Special Skill. That I can live with, provided that the Special Skills are worth wasting a slot on. Maybe. I did like having both WAR DANCE and HELL DRAGON for use at once without having to waste an accessory slot on his PI.
There should be more name changes, but I think I'll unlock more stages first. I don't think I can play Satake's stage that many times in a row... Going through Kanbei-san's route of hilarious despair. Wonder what "なせじゃっーーー！！" was translated to?
Oh, and I finally started a savefile with actual progress in it. Well, I don't know if you can call a file with only Masamune levelled to 20 as "progress." Anyways, noting the skill name changes.
DEATH FANG/DEATH BITE - Dragon Slash
JET-X/X-BOLT - X-Strike
MAGNUM STEP/MAGNUM STRIKE - Revolver Blitz
CRAZY STORM/CRAZY STREAM - Azure Storm
HELL DRAGON - Dragon's Eye
WAR DANCE - Six Claws
TESTAMENT - Zero Point
Yes, Masamune's moves are all in caps. He's cool enough for it. Unfortunately, I don't know if there's a name change for when he goes into 六爪流 in the EN version. The JP version probably has it listed in an official guide, and I remember seeing the upgraded versions in a magazine scan a few weeks after the game was announced. I still want PHANTOM DIVE back. It was hilariously fun to use when combined with HELL DRAGON. The natural progression for the next instalment should be allowing us to map whatever moves we want to any button sequence we want, save for the Special Skill. That I can live with, provided that the Special Skills are worth wasting a slot on. Maybe. I did like having both WAR DANCE and HELL DRAGON for use at once without having to waste an accessory slot on his PI.
There should be more name changes, but I think I'll unlock more stages first. I don't think I can play Satake's stage that many times in a row... Going through Kanbei-san's route of hilarious despair. Wonder what "なせじゃっーーー！！" was translated to?
25 Oct 2010
ZANMETSU
I think some of the arguments on the forums have stopped... Which is good because now we can start focusing more on helping other users, although that might come to an end once we compile enough info into a topic. I think it was a good thing that I started compiling my own info for a little bit since that fugitive list definitely came in handy. Just wondering if I should hurt someone because he said "I love you". At least the "are there JP voices" topics are starting to die out.
... Or not. Someone just had to bring up DLC. While this is a Capcom game, and the chances of DLC are high if it were Inafune, it's not Inafune helming the game. It's Kobayashi. Things he's done don't have much of a track record for DLC, so I'm not expecting it. Instead, I'm pretty sure that it'll be something along the lines of SB3:H, much like SB2:H. Considering the numbers in Japan (~500K), I'm expecting an expansion within the next year and a half, or I guess a year now since it's almost November! Right around the same time that 2H came out.
While I did notice this while playing, I didn't bother typing it out. Most of the default routes are essentially "bad ends," considering how depressing they can be. Ieyasu's is depressing, Mitsunari's is depressing and unnerving, Masamune's shows a little growth but involves Mitsunari losing it, Keiji is still acting (you'll see why in a later route, and said route is still depressing), etc. Yeah, it's a pretty depressing game. I think the only one that doesn't end up with a depressing end is Tadakatsu, keeping in line with his previous appearances. Well, his only story was essentially rushing to save Ie-- Takechiyo. And maybe Tsuruhime, although there are times where you see that she's really not all that happy. Still, you can't really get to Nier's level of depressing. SenBASA's just too silly to go that far. Or maybe it can, with the right writers... but it's not like the series has much more to go since Sekigahara is the last major battle. The rest is just finishing up the unification of Japan, though the game does go a little further with the Osaka Summer stages.
Anyways, finished Keiji's route, which means that Oichi is available. I should be able to finish her routes pretty quickly, then blast through Ieyasu, Tsuruhime, Motochika, Gyoubu (they don't call him that in SB:SH...), Magoichi and maybe Motonari. Don't need to do Hondam or Nobunaga since they don't unlock anyone. Neither does Motonari, but I should probably deal with him for some trophies. And 2 stages to go.
Still haven't started it.
... Or not. Someone just had to bring up DLC. While this is a Capcom game, and the chances of DLC are high if it were Inafune, it's not Inafune helming the game. It's Kobayashi. Things he's done don't have much of a track record for DLC, so I'm not expecting it. Instead, I'm pretty sure that it'll be something along the lines of SB3:H, much like SB2:H. Considering the numbers in Japan (~500K), I'm expecting an expansion within the next year and a half, or I guess a year now since it's almost November! Right around the same time that 2H came out.
While I did notice this while playing, I didn't bother typing it out. Most of the default routes are essentially "bad ends," considering how depressing they can be. Ieyasu's is depressing, Mitsunari's is depressing and unnerving, Masamune's shows a little growth but involves Mitsunari losing it, Keiji is still acting (you'll see why in a later route, and said route is still depressing), etc. Yeah, it's a pretty depressing game. I think the only one that doesn't end up with a depressing end is Tadakatsu, keeping in line with his previous appearances. Well, his only story was essentially rushing to save Ie-- Takechiyo. And maybe Tsuruhime, although there are times where you see that she's really not all that happy. Still, you can't really get to Nier's level of depressing. SenBASA's just too silly to go that far. Or maybe it can, with the right writers... but it's not like the series has much more to go since Sekigahara is the last major battle. The rest is just finishing up the unification of Japan, though the game does go a little further with the Osaka Summer stages.
Anyways, finished Keiji's route, which means that Oichi is available. I should be able to finish her routes pretty quickly, then blast through Ieyasu, Tsuruhime, Motochika, Gyoubu (they don't call him that in SB:SH...), Magoichi and maybe Motonari. Don't need to do Hondam or Nobunaga since they don't unlock anyone. Neither does Motonari, but I should probably deal with him for some trophies. And 2 stages to go.
Still haven't started it.
23 Oct 2010
It's been a while...
Since I've played a Tales of... game. Tried out the Tales of Graces F demo, and currently? I'm not exactly sure what to think. Don't really get the A/B skill system, not particularly fond of using just the analog stick for movement (Vesperia was the same), and the camera is kinda weird. Then again, the last Tales I played was in 2D and I didn't exactly read what the instructions said. Plus, the demo just kinda throws you into the fray. But unlike the Vesperia demo, I actually enjoyed making a total idiot out of myself. Managed to pull off a 秘奥義, which was nice. Pascal likes making things go boom. I think I get how to restore CC. This is definitely not a Tales game that I'll be doing co-op with anytime soon. They already had enough trouble with Tales of Rebirth. This is going to kill them even faster. Definitely faster than Tales of Destiny Remake, that's for sure. One thing I did notice... the AI's actually fairly intelligent. Anyways, like all the other Inomata Tales, no chance of localization! Not even Tales of Hearts was localized and that was on the DS.
Got 2 other demos: Fist of the North Star (Hokuto Musou) and Castlevania - Lord of Shadows. Didn't exactly enjoy either of them. Hokuto felt pretty clunky and a little slow after playing some Tales of Graces and Sengoku BASARA. I'm also not a HnK fan, so there's even less reason for me to even play it. Only checked it out because they were comparing the 2 games and wanted to know which one was the one to get. It was originally between SB and SM as they were released about 2~3 weeks within each other and HM is coming out next month, and was brought into the mix because of how badly SM3 burned some of the players. I'm kinda going "eh" at SM3 because it was recently announced that it was going to be up-ported to the PS3. I might decide to check it out if they release a demo on the PSN. But as it stands, I don't really like playing KOEI games.
Castlevania. It's OK. There were a few problems with the camera and the lighting effects (somewhat inconsistent). Combat was pretty simplistic. Didn't expect anything like DMC, so... it was OK. I wasn't exactly having fun with it, but I wasn't frustrated either. Just something about the aesthetics doesn't sit all that well with me. Maybe because I'm still stuck in the old-school Metroidvania era? That really can't be it, or else I'd be saying that 3D (not the new 3D supported ones, still no opinion on it) games sucked. I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm still not quite past the little bit of knowing that 3D Castlevania games in general aren't very good. It already plays a little better than the previous entries, but it's still not as fluid as I would like it. And it was only supervised by Kojima Productions. Not like they had much of a hand in this.
Still haven't booted up the game...
Got 2 other demos: Fist of the North Star (Hokuto Musou) and Castlevania - Lord of Shadows. Didn't exactly enjoy either of them. Hokuto felt pretty clunky and a little slow after playing some Tales of Graces and Sengoku BASARA. I'm also not a HnK fan, so there's even less reason for me to even play it. Only checked it out because they were comparing the 2 games and wanted to know which one was the one to get. It was originally between SB and SM as they were released about 2~3 weeks within each other and HM is coming out next month, and was brought into the mix because of how badly SM3 burned some of the players. I'm kinda going "eh" at SM3 because it was recently announced that it was going to be up-ported to the PS3. I might decide to check it out if they release a demo on the PSN. But as it stands, I don't really like playing KOEI games.
Castlevania. It's OK. There were a few problems with the camera and the lighting effects (somewhat inconsistent). Combat was pretty simplistic. Didn't expect anything like DMC, so... it was OK. I wasn't exactly having fun with it, but I wasn't frustrated either. Just something about the aesthetics doesn't sit all that well with me. Maybe because I'm still stuck in the old-school Metroidvania era? That really can't be it, or else I'd be saying that 3D (not the new 3D supported ones, still no opinion on it) games sucked. I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm still not quite past the little bit of knowing that 3D Castlevania games in general aren't very good. It already plays a little better than the previous entries, but it's still not as fluid as I would like it. And it was only supervised by Kojima Productions. Not like they had much of a hand in this.
Still haven't booted up the game...
That just shows you how much you suck
How to beat Demon's Souls in under an hour. Exactly what it says on the tin. Watch, and feel absolutely inadequate as a gamer. I never knew some of the shortcuts this guy took, so I think I'm going to look into a bunch of them, especially for NG+. It's going to take a lot of practice to get the dodge timings right against the Penetrator, that's for sure. He's going to stab you with that long, long sword. ... I need to get off TVTropes.
Speaking of which, I completely forgot about Atlus celebrating Demon's Souls' success by doing the server thing again. Hm. Maybe I should try my luck against the Pure Black Black Phantom Miralda? Haven't dealt with her yet. Got the Pure White thing, so that's all good. I should probably finish it already, but I also want to restart with a new character. Don't really quite remember what I did, but I do know that I haven't gotten past 5-2, the level that everyone loves to hate. It's just that I haven't played in so long. I think I last touched it in February, for the Valentine's Day switch (voted black), in which I died against BP Miralda pretty quickly.
So the game came in. Haven't touched it yet aside from reading the manual. Been playing the JP version, trying to finish up some of the stuff. Well, mostly unlocking everyone because I want everyone open for when a friend comes over for a little co-op. I have about 2 weeks to do that. Already started Keiji's path, so that should be enough to unlock Oichi (already have Kotaro at 90% completion). She's pretty overpowered, so getting to Nobunaga should be a breeze~ Then I'll use Mitsunari (on Extreme) to get 2 trophies at once; the "only use normal attacks" and "use only the default weapon with no accessories on Extreme" ones. His default weapon is already at ATK232, which is pretty close to max. Should probably continue with the fugitive hunting with him and Yoshihiro, since I'm also doing the "kill less than 100" trophy. They'll need the ATK and DEF boosts. Still missing 3 stages, and I know exactly which ones those are. Looks like I'll be going with the Blue route using Keiji to get Sekigahara - Strongest, and the other 2 are Honnoji related. Should probably get moving on that. But first, I need to figure out how to keep the NA version from changing the SB3 trophy icon to the SB:SH one. I really don't like the logo as the "Sengoku" part looks so obviously out of place. Maybe I'll just play it on my NA account...? It would work since it shares the trophy set, and then I can retain the SB3 icon during trophy comparisons in my main account!
Speaking of which, I completely forgot about Atlus celebrating Demon's Souls' success by doing the server thing again. Hm. Maybe I should try my luck against the Pure Black Black Phantom Miralda? Haven't dealt with her yet. Got the Pure White thing, so that's all good. I should probably finish it already, but I also want to restart with a new character. Don't really quite remember what I did, but I do know that I haven't gotten past 5-2, the level that everyone loves to hate. It's just that I haven't played in so long. I think I last touched it in February, for the Valentine's Day switch (voted black), in which I died against BP Miralda pretty quickly.
So the game came in. Haven't touched it yet aside from reading the manual. Been playing the JP version, trying to finish up some of the stuff. Well, mostly unlocking everyone because I want everyone open for when a friend comes over for a little co-op. I have about 2 weeks to do that. Already started Keiji's path, so that should be enough to unlock Oichi (already have Kotaro at 90% completion). She's pretty overpowered, so getting to Nobunaga should be a breeze~ Then I'll use Mitsunari (on Extreme) to get 2 trophies at once; the "only use normal attacks" and "use only the default weapon with no accessories on Extreme" ones. His default weapon is already at ATK232, which is pretty close to max. Should probably continue with the fugitive hunting with him and Yoshihiro, since I'm also doing the "kill less than 100" trophy. They'll need the ATK and DEF boosts. Still missing 3 stages, and I know exactly which ones those are. Looks like I'll be going with the Blue route using Keiji to get Sekigahara - Strongest, and the other 2 are Honnoji related. Should probably get moving on that. But first, I need to figure out how to keep the NA version from changing the SB3 trophy icon to the SB:SH one. I really don't like the logo as the "Sengoku" part looks so obviously out of place. Maybe I'll just play it on my NA account...? It would work since it shares the trophy set, and then I can retain the SB3 icon during trophy comparisons in my main account!
17 Oct 2010
Whoops.
Seems like I forgot about the 2H script book, but I can't seem to find it new anywhere. Hm. I may have to get that one used or place a special order, not that it matters much. Used books from that store are usually in pretty good condition, just like when I ordered Note of Naught. Still, would prefer it new. Moving on.
So, about that livestream. It was fairly amusing streaming it from campus. No dropping out of the window, but the video sometimes reduces to still images that required constant reloading. I liked chatting with some of the users and found some of them from the KW and GFAQs boards there. It was fun watching and making silly comments. Sure, the video feed wasn't that great because of the SD output and a cheap capture card, but really can't complainsince I won't be touching the NA version until next week. I really hope that Amazon ships out my copy on the marked date because the page says that it would ship in 2~5 weeks. Well, so much for that. Won't be seeing it until next month. Guess that Capcom didn't print that many copies. It shipped 500K in Japan alone! Doubt it would reach even 10K considering the early reviews coming in, and biases from others screaming "RIPOFF!" Managed to convince one player to get 2 and 2H for the PS2. One little mention of Swap Magic, and there she went. Early on, I was the only one there that had "extensive" knowledge of the game, so I helped out a little bit here and there. He really likes using Hondam, and Hondam's joke weapon really is a tree. But the weapon description was... off? Haven't unlocked it myself since I'm not a very good Hondam player, but the translations on the KW boards say something else. Something about the tree growing big... "happiness!" It was supposed to be a cute description, I'm guessing. He seems to have switched over to Nobunaga ever since unlocking the Demon King. Not surprising since he's really fun to play as. Well, pretty much everyone is fun to play as, which is a little harder to say with the older entries in the series.
Gameplay, completely unchanged from what I've seen so far. About 10 hours worth of the livestream. Been reading reports that you don't have to unlock Hard (Extreme in JP) anymore, which is nice. I think. Unfortunately because of the renaming, some people are asking about Extreme mode when it doesn't exist in the NA version. The gameplay may have changed slightly, since there was one person claiming that the horse controls were a little better. I had no problem with them in the JP version, but they could have made the controls a little tighter and the turning a lot better. Well, that's all I've noticed about the gameplay for now.
The localization however... Never have I wanted to know who exactly was working on it. The fonts look terrible, grammar mistakes, typos or spelling mistakes, misleading translations and worst of all? THEY CUT OUT AN ENTIRE SECTION OF THE GAME. OK, so the Trivia section isn't integral to gameplay, but it usually hosts some interesting little tidbits about the generals, battlefields and battles that took place historically. For one, I never knew that Masamune liked to cook and created many regional foods that helped bolster his army's morale (from SB2H's trivia section). Seriously, they're missing out on this part. Guess that the localization team got lazy with the translations and decided to cut it. Actual translation work is all over the place. Even the English trophy data is more accurately and consistently translated than the game itself, which is pretty sad. Hell, they couldn't even decide if Shingen was dead during the game. Hint: he's not. He doesn't die either. He'll be perfectly fine in Yuki's Blue route, ready to punch him in the face again. For the accessories, they call the s-string "Normal Arts," which was bound to confuse a few people. It's the right translation, but "arts" implies a special. I don't like how they translated 固有奥義 to "Super Art." I really don't know what I would have translated it to, but definitely not that. Probably "Special Skill" since it's those are characteristic moves, like Masamune's WAR DANCE. Speaking of WAR DANCE, it's apparently been changed to "Six Claws." I can understand it being called something like that because of "claw mode"/六爪流 but seriously? All of Masamune's skills are already in English, albeit in all caps, so there was no need to change it. It's going to be a little awkward if the anime is going with what the games originally use. Way to be consistent with the franchise in the west, Capcom. Also noted that none of Magoichi's skills have the bird theme to them anymore. Yep. Picked all of that up just from watching the livestream. Pretty sure that there's more to nitpick on once I have my copy in mid-November. Shipment delay from Amazon. I'm more than likely going to get those books faster than the game.
I think I'll try to finish the rest of the stories from Devil Kings while I wait. And place an order for the SB2H script with the first 3 games. The amount of fail is beginning to hurt my head.
And a further note to self: Use Shimazu-don's tea-coloured route for the "Kill less than 100 in a story mode run" trophy. Most of the stages there don't require killing gate captains to progress. Bring along a lot of DEF, parry window up, parry damage up, base guard damage up?
Minimum number of kills:
Hetsugigawa - ~2 (ignore Muneshige, might take final base before Sorin?)
Noshima Castle - 2 (wait for the mech to be finished)
Saika - 1 (surprise her)
Mikatagahara - ~4 (gate captain, base, Hondam, Ieyasu on platform)
Kawanakajima - ~5 (Keiji, MUTEKI-SAMA, Keiji/Kasuga, Kenshin)
Oshuu - ~4 (base, Kojuurou, 双竜)
Osaka Summer Red - ~8 (Sasuke, 5 bases, Sasuke again, Yukimura. Or: Sasuke, 1 base (lower right), Sasuke, Yukimura)
Or use Gyoubu's Red with a 2nd player (preferably Shimazu with his PI):
Itsukushima (Gate captain, Motonari)
Ujou (Tenkai route: gate 4~, gate 4~, Tenkai)
Gassan-toda (1+1, Haruhisa)
Noshima Ocean (Tsuru)
Sekigahara (Saika, Tsuru, Kingo, Ieyasu)
So, about that livestream. It was fairly amusing streaming it from campus. No dropping out of the window, but the video sometimes reduces to still images that required constant reloading. I liked chatting with some of the users and found some of them from the KW and GFAQs boards there. It was fun watching and making silly comments. Sure, the video feed wasn't that great because of the SD output and a cheap capture card, but really can't complain
Gameplay, completely unchanged from what I've seen so far. About 10 hours worth of the livestream. Been reading reports that you don't have to unlock Hard (Extreme in JP) anymore, which is nice. I think. Unfortunately because of the renaming, some people are asking about Extreme mode when it doesn't exist in the NA version. The gameplay may have changed slightly, since there was one person claiming that the horse controls were a little better. I had no problem with them in the JP version, but they could have made the controls a little tighter and the turning a lot better. Well, that's all I've noticed about the gameplay for now.
The localization however... Never have I wanted to know who exactly was working on it. The fonts look terrible, grammar mistakes, typos or spelling mistakes, misleading translations and worst of all? THEY CUT OUT AN ENTIRE SECTION OF THE GAME. OK, so the Trivia section isn't integral to gameplay, but it usually hosts some interesting little tidbits about the generals, battlefields and battles that took place historically. For one, I never knew that Masamune liked to cook and created many regional foods that helped bolster his army's morale (from SB2H's trivia section). Seriously, they're missing out on this part. Guess that the localization team got lazy with the translations and decided to cut it. Actual translation work is all over the place. Even the English trophy data is more accurately and consistently translated than the game itself, which is pretty sad. Hell, they couldn't even decide if Shingen was dead during the game. Hint: he's not. He doesn't die either. He'll be perfectly fine in Yuki's Blue route, ready to punch him in the face again. For the accessories, they call the s-string "Normal Arts," which was bound to confuse a few people. It's the right translation, but "arts" implies a special. I don't like how they translated 固有奥義 to "Super Art." I really don't know what I would have translated it to, but definitely not that. Probably "Special Skill" since it's those are characteristic moves, like Masamune's WAR DANCE. Speaking of WAR DANCE, it's apparently been changed to "Six Claws." I can understand it being called something like that because of "claw mode"/六爪流 but seriously? All of Masamune's skills are already in English, albeit in all caps, so there was no need to change it. It's going to be a little awkward if the anime is going with what the games originally use. Way to be consistent with the franchise in the west, Capcom. Also noted that none of Magoichi's skills have the bird theme to them anymore. Yep. Picked all of that up just from watching the livestream. Pretty sure that there's more to nitpick on once I have my copy in mid-November. Shipment delay from Amazon. I'm more than likely going to get those books faster than the game.
I think I'll try to finish the rest of the stories from Devil Kings while I wait. And place an order for the SB2H script with the first 3 games. The amount of fail is beginning to hurt my head.
And a further note to self: Use Shimazu-don's tea-coloured route for the "Kill less than 100 in a story mode run" trophy. Most of the stages there don't require killing gate captains to progress. Bring along a lot of DEF, parry window up, parry damage up, base guard damage up?
Minimum number of kills:
Hetsugigawa - ~2 (ignore Muneshige, might take final base before Sorin?)
Noshima Castle - 2 (wait for the mech to be finished)
Saika - 1 (surprise her)
Mikatagahara - ~4 (gate captain, base, Hondam, Ieyasu on platform)
Kawanakajima - ~5 (Keiji, MUTEKI-SAMA, Keiji/Kasuga, Kenshin)
Oshuu - ~4 (base, Kojuurou, 双竜)
Osaka Summer Red - ~8 (Sasuke, 5 bases, Sasuke again, Yukimura. Or: Sasuke, 1 base (lower right), Sasuke, Yukimura)
Or use Gyoubu's Red with a 2nd player (preferably Shimazu with his PI):
Itsukushima (Gate captain, Motonari)
Ujou (Tenkai route: gate 4~, gate 4~, Tenkai)
Gassan-toda (1+1, Haruhisa)
Noshima Ocean (Tsuru)
Sekigahara (Saika, Tsuru, Kingo, Ieyasu)
12 Oct 2010
Art book, art book!
ククク。。。 The SB3 Official Complete Works is up for pre-order on YesAsia. Added! Once a certain book becomes available again, I guess I'll place the order. Ah, screw it. Placed it anyways since it's going to take forever for it to be restocked and waiting for the SB3 script book at the same time. Not to mention that the coupon that I got will most likely expire by the time it's back in stock. Found it on another site I frequent, so I ordered it along with the SB3 script. It'll be interesting going through those books and finding out all those trigger conditions! Wonder which ones were left on the cutting room floor? I know that Matsunaga Hisahide (I want him playable!) had PC lines. He might have been planned as playable at some point...! The SB3 one looks like it's going to be pretty thick. Think it was listed as about 650 pages long? Still, it'll be interesting.
Noticed from the very limited art I've seen from Tsuchibayashi (don't make me pronounce that, I'll butcher it), Ieyasu isn't as stocky as the CG model. Can't really say much about Mitsunari's since there's really only 1 illustration I've seen and it's really tiny. I don't think that his head is really that weirdly shaped...? The CG has become a lot more stylized, but one thing has remained constant: Masamune's eye is slit. It's a little hard to see, but it's there. Not as prevalent in the anime.
Speaking of the anime, I wonder when people would take note that it's not canon? It's actually really hard to say what's canon in the BASARA-verse, but there are certain things that carry over from game to game. Motochika and Ieyasu's friendship carried over, for one. The Masa-Yuki rivalry was there from day 1, as was the Shingen-Kenshin one. Keiji-Hideyoshi backstory definitely carried over from 2H to 3, as evidenced in his Purple route. Probably other stuff too, since I haven't exactly played the first 3 games in a while. Not sure if I really want to count Battle Heroes since I can't even play that for more than 15 minutes. I'll just have to look up the script translations and look through the script book once I get it.
Oh, and before I even get the game, someone's been kind enough to do a livestream of it. Everything looks to be intact... I think. There are differences in the translation, voices don't bug me as badly as I thought, and really? It could have been a whole lot worse. There are still mistakes within the text, but it's mostly readable. Still, it's SenBASA's second chance, and Capcom's already screwed up. Once I get my copy, I'll probably start nitpicking the living hell out of the game.
Noticed from the very limited art I've seen from Tsuchibayashi (don't make me pronounce that, I'll butcher it), Ieyasu isn't as stocky as the CG model. Can't really say much about Mitsunari's since there's really only 1 illustration I've seen and it's really tiny. I don't think that his head is really that weirdly shaped...? The CG has become a lot more stylized, but one thing has remained constant: Masamune's eye is slit. It's a little hard to see, but it's there. Not as prevalent in the anime.
Speaking of the anime, I wonder when people would take note that it's not canon? It's actually really hard to say what's canon in the BASARA-verse, but there are certain things that carry over from game to game. Motochika and Ieyasu's friendship carried over, for one. The Masa-Yuki rivalry was there from day 1, as was the Shingen-Kenshin one. Keiji-Hideyoshi backstory definitely carried over from 2H to 3, as evidenced in his Purple route. Probably other stuff too, since I haven't exactly played the first 3 games in a while. Not sure if I really want to count Battle Heroes since I can't even play that for more than 15 minutes. I'll just have to look up the script translations and look through the script book once I get it.
Oh, and before I even get the game, someone's been kind enough to do a livestream of it. Everything looks to be intact... I think. There are differences in the translation, voices don't bug me as badly as I thought, and really? It could have been a whole lot worse. There are still mistakes within the text, but it's mostly readable. Still, it's SenBASA's second chance, and Capcom's already screwed up. Once I get my copy, I'll probably start nitpicking the living hell out of the game.
2 Oct 2010
The bird did it.
フフフ。。。 Seems like having one side completely conquer all the bases in the Intrusion version of Sekigahara triggers a special line. The East side managed to do that while grinding KuroKan's levels. He's reached MAX now, which is good. So far, only him and Mitsu are maxed, while Yoshihiro is close at Lv.94. I'll probably get a few more up to max before continuing with their stories, like Yuki's blue route.
Also, I've remembered why Extreme/Ultimate mode was harder in the previous instalments; they upgrade the enemy types. Instead of the usual foot soldiers that run around, they replace them with the higher ranked ones. Makes them almost indistinguishable from the named officers when it comes to their model. They also don't fall over scared when you defeat their commanding officer or take their spawn gates. In 3, they change it to the higher ranked types, but they also throw in the regular mooks. They're also slightly less aggressive from what I remember from the previous entries, and they fall over. Admittedly, it's fun to smack them around during that state, but it really takes away from the fun present from the previous entries. I'd like it a bit harder, but not too much harder because some characters really suffer due to their speed.
In terms of stories, finished all of KuroKan's stories save for the Honnoji route. Still haven't unlocked Oichi, so I'm working on that right now. Started Masamune on Extreme to unlock Keiji. He's reached Lv.49 now, so WAR DANCE should be more useful with the extended duration. Even at Lv.1, it's not too bad if you smack something then activate, since the start is now an attack with some knockback, so you're not entirely open during activation.
Speaking of KuroKan... Seems like the SenBASA team has taken a liking to torturing the poor guy. His Red route leaves him in Sekigahara - Intrusion (means that he's neutral). Yoshitsugu (I'll just call him Gyobu since it's easier to type) has the key, which is why he's chasing the doom leper in the first place. Defeating Gyobu knocks the key out of his hands... and into Mitsunari's. Ieyasu's just amused at the entire thing since he finds KuroKan an interesting guy. Who wouldn't? He's a guy stuck in a ball-and-chain with his hair practically taped to his eyes. You do see his eyes (sorta) during a cutscene, but it's a little hard to tell what colour they are if your screen is a bit on the small side. I think they're brown. Defeating Mitsunari knocks the key out of his hands... and caught by a bird. Cue a massive amount of yelling from KuroKan. Same thing happens during the Blue route, only that he's actively chasing the bird to the north for the key. Turns out that it was Mogami's falcon that snatched the key, and defeating him leaves it on the ground. Cue KuroKan picking up the key, readying it for victory by holding it up high Zelda-style... only for the damn bird to snatch it away again. His Green route isn't too much better. He runs away to Hojo after being cornered by Gyobu, then leads a campaign with the East against Mouri. Note to self, don't play this route on Extreme. Mouri's Sekigahara version is very nasty with the solar rays, number of mini-bosses and that mech. They win, and then realize that he's still not free. Well, at least Hojo's willing to accompany KuroKan to the end of the world for that key! Really have to feel sorry for the guy.
佐吉 - Sakichi? Seen this on a few sites. I think this is Mitsunari's childhood name, much like 竹千代 (Takechiyo) was Ieyasu's.
Also, I've remembered why Extreme/Ultimate mode was harder in the previous instalments; they upgrade the enemy types. Instead of the usual foot soldiers that run around, they replace them with the higher ranked ones. Makes them almost indistinguishable from the named officers when it comes to their model. They also don't fall over scared when you defeat their commanding officer or take their spawn gates. In 3, they change it to the higher ranked types, but they also throw in the regular mooks. They're also slightly less aggressive from what I remember from the previous entries, and they fall over. Admittedly, it's fun to smack them around during that state, but it really takes away from the fun present from the previous entries. I'd like it a bit harder, but not too much harder because some characters really suffer due to their speed.
In terms of stories, finished all of KuroKan's stories save for the Honnoji route. Still haven't unlocked Oichi, so I'm working on that right now. Started Masamune on Extreme to unlock Keiji. He's reached Lv.49 now, so WAR DANCE should be more useful with the extended duration. Even at Lv.1, it's not too bad if you smack something then activate, since the start is now an attack with some knockback, so you're not entirely open during activation.
Speaking of KuroKan... Seems like the SenBASA team has taken a liking to torturing the poor guy. His Red route leaves him in Sekigahara - Intrusion (means that he's neutral). Yoshitsugu (I'll just call him Gyobu since it's easier to type) has the key, which is why he's chasing the doom leper in the first place. Defeating Gyobu knocks the key out of his hands... and into Mitsunari's. Ieyasu's just amused at the entire thing since he finds KuroKan an interesting guy. Who wouldn't? He's a guy stuck in a ball-and-chain with his hair practically taped to his eyes. You do see his eyes (sorta) during a cutscene, but it's a little hard to tell what colour they are if your screen is a bit on the small side. I think they're brown. Defeating Mitsunari knocks the key out of his hands... and caught by a bird. Cue a massive amount of yelling from KuroKan. Same thing happens during the Blue route, only that he's actively chasing the bird to the north for the key. Turns out that it was Mogami's falcon that snatched the key, and defeating him leaves it on the ground. Cue KuroKan picking up the key, readying it for victory by holding it up high Zelda-style... only for the damn bird to snatch it away again. His Green route isn't too much better. He runs away to Hojo after being cornered by Gyobu, then leads a campaign with the East against Mouri. Note to self, don't play this route on Extreme. Mouri's Sekigahara version is very nasty with the solar rays, number of mini-bosses and that mech. They win, and then realize that he's still not free. Well, at least Hojo's willing to accompany KuroKan to the end of the world for that key! Really have to feel sorry for the guy.
佐吉 - Sakichi? Seen this on a few sites. I think this is Mitsunari's childhood name, much like 竹千代 (Takechiyo) was Ieyasu's.
24 Sept 2010
A kebab.
Shimazu-don's joke weapon is a kebab. IT'S A FREAKIN' THREE-ITEM KEBAB. Well, more correctly, they're items for oden. I didn't take a close look at what the items were, but it looked like the Shimazu clan's emblem was on daikon? I'd imagine that the weapon is very soft, so it's really more like a bludgeoning weapon, much like the rest of his weaponry. His BFS is perfect for breaking every single bone in your body rather than slicing you clean in half. Except for that axe. It looks like it can really cut you.
Yukimura's joke weapon is pretty cute. A pair of really big matches. It does take a little bit before they light, just like safety matches. When it's lit though, 100% chance of setting the enemy on fire. It wears off, just like how a match would burn out, then regenerates slowly back into its original form. Hm. I should try setting Masamune on fire! No, I don't mean in the way a lot of fangirls would think. I really mean "burn him." Wonder if you can set the Hondam on fire...?
For my reference, since I sometimes forget what the stages' extra objectives are. Will update a little later on which ones give what stat boosts and possibly filling out treasure totals.
恐山冥府戦 vs. 南部晴政 - Attack
16 treasures - Generals: 8, Found: 3, Bases: 4, Boss: 1
1000EXP - Find the secret area?
2000EXP - Don't let 南部晴政 resurrect the dead (ie: kill him ASAP)
奥州走竜戦 vs. 伊達政宗 - Defense
23 treasures, but can only get 21? - Generals: 7, Found: 9, Bases: 4, Boss: 3
2000EXP - Beat Masamune to the goal Base
3000EXP - Prevent Kojuurou from meeting with Masamune (kill him on the horse)
長谷堂城の戦い vs. 最上義光 - Luck
22 treasures - Generals: 10, Found: 2, Bases: 8, Boss: 2
2000EXP - Beat the mech in 1min or less
3000EXP - Get the boat to its destination unscathed (don't know the best path)
窪田頑固戦 vs. 佐竹義重 - Attack
17 treasures - Generals: 7, Found: 5, Bases: 4, Boss: 1
1000EXP - Take all Bases
2000EXP - Kill all commanders/leaders
神流川の戦い vs. 宇都宮広綱 - Luck
19 treasures - Generals: 11, Found: 2, Bases: 5, Boss: 1
1000EXP - Clear the fog
1000EXP - Kill 10 tigers
川中島凍土戦 vs. 上杉謙信 - Luck
20 treasures - Generals: 7, Found: 3, Bases: 6, Boss: 4 (3 if you kill MUTEKI-SAMA first)
1000EXP - Open the door behind MUTEKI
2000EXP - Take all bases
上田城水攻戦 vs. 真田幸村 - Attack
21 treasures - Generals: 8, Found: 4, Bases: 7, Boss: 2
2000EXP - Ambush Yukimura
1000EXP - Open the floodgate on Sasuke's clones
上田城攻竜戦 vs. 伊達政宗 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss: 2
2000EXP - Kill all commanders
3000EXP - Break all chests
小田原城再建戦 vs. 北条氏政 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss: 2
2000EXP - Take all bases
3000EXP - Ambush Ujimasa (Take centre, left, jump to right, right bases in less than 2min. Then don't fall off the rooftops.)
!!!Fugitives are always on the rooftops.
帰雲城碧落戦 vs. 姉小路頼綱 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: 7, Boss: 1
1000EXP - Take all bases
2000EXP - Enter the castle in under 2min
手取川の戦い vs. 前田利家/まつ - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: 5, Boss: 2
1000EXP - Take all bases
3000EXP - Force Matsu to drain the supplies. Keep whacking Toshi and don't kill Matsu first.
三方ヶ原断崖戦 vs. 徳川家康 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: 8, Found: 4, Bases: 7, Boss: 3
1000EXP - Find the secret area
3000EXP - Defeat Hondam
背水防衛戦 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: 0, Found: , Bases: 3, Boss: 0
2000EXP - Kill 20 fan users before you lose a bridge
3000EXP - Take all bases
One of the easiest stages to get No Damage in as there are no Bosses. Be careful of archers!
関ヶ原の戦い 内応 vs. 石田三成 - Attack
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Force Kingo's betrayal of the Western army
1000EXP - Break the poison lances
関ヶ原の戦い 謀略 vs. 毛利元就 - Attack
? treasures - Generals:, Found: , Bases: , Boss: 5
2000EXP - Use the solar ray to destroy Akatsukimaru
2000EXP - Kill all commanders
関ヶ原の戦い 決戦 vs. 石田三成 - Attack
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
3000EXP - Kill Gyobu before he fires the poison lances
3000EXP - Take all bases, kill all commanders
関ヶ原の戦い 集結 vs. 徳川家康 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
3000EXP - Catch and kill Kingo
3000EXP - Kill Hondam
関ヶ原の戦い 最強 vs. 徳川家康 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Don't let your health fall into the red.
3000EXP - Defeat Hondam
関ヶ原の戦い 残影 vs. 徳川家康 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
1000EXP - Find Ieyasu's real location
2000EXP - Defeat Kojuurou before Masamune
関ヶ原の戦い 乱入 vs. 石田三成/徳川家康 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: 6, Found: 1, Bases: 8, Boss: 4
5000EXP - Reach 10000 hits
3000EXP - Kill 1000
金ヶ崎睡夢戦 vs. お市 - Attack
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
1000EXP - Find all hostages
3000EXP - Defeat Ichi before taking the bases
金ヶ崎の退き口 vs. お市/天海 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
1000EXP - Take all bases
2000EXP - Kill 10 base takers
本能寺の変 vs. 織田信長 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
3000EXP - Don't let Nobunaga revive more than once (don't let him take more than 2 bases)
5000EXP - Let Nobunaga revive 4+ times (let him take all the bases)
大阪・冬の陣 vs. 石田三成 - Attack
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Take all bases
2000EXP - Defeat the attack horse in under 1min
大阪城奪還戦 vs. 黒田官兵衛 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
1000EXP - Destroy the hidden mech yourself
2000EXP - Kill all commanders
大阪・夏の陣 紅 vs. 真田幸村 - Attack
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
1000EXP - Take all bases
2000EXP - Take the Sanada-maru
大阪・夏の陣 蒼 vs. 徳川家康/伊達政宗 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Kill all commanders
3000EXP - Defeat Hondam without using the cannon
雑賀荘の戦い vs. 雑賀孫市 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
1000EXP - Find the secret Saika stronghold
2000EXP - Take all bases before engaging Magoichi
烏城の戦い vs. 天海/小早川秀秋 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
1000EXP - Defeat Kingo right after putting out his hotpot flames
2000EXP - Defeat Tenkai without falling into the red
*** Arguably the easiest stage to get the No Damage item if you play a long range game. Or using Mitsunari.
月山富田城砂丘戦 vs. 尼子晴久 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Reveal the hidden area (capture all bases)
2000EXP - Don't let Amago escape more than 3 times (in reality, only 2 since he always runs away the first time)
厳島の戦い vs. 毛利元就 - Attack
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Kill all commanders
3000EXP - Kill Motonari without taking any bases (allies can't do it either)
中富川海砦戦 vs. 長曾我部元親 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Kill all commanders
3000EXP - Destory both Akatsukimaru in less than 1min
能島海戦 vs. 鶴姫 - Attack
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Kill all commanders
3000EXP - Ensure both boat reinforcements (40sec in first area, 15sec vs. Tsuru in 3rd round)
能島城海賊戦 vs. 長曾我部元親 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Take all bases during material transportation
3000EXP - Kill all transporters
石垣原坑道戦 vs. 黒田官兵衛 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Destroy the mech in less than 1min
3000EXP - Clear the rocks with less than 3 bombers killed
戸次川の戦い 思い出編 vs. 大友宗麟 - Attack
? treasures - Generals: 6, Found: 2, Bases: 5, Boss: 2
1000EXP - Take all bases
3000EXP - Defeat Muneshige
戸次川の戦い 三英雄編 vs. 大友宗麟 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: 5, Boss: 4
3000EXP - Gain 20000ryo
5000EXP - Kill Sorin without losing any money
耳川潜伏戦 vs. 島津義弘 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: 8, Found: 4, Bases: 5, Boss: 1
2000EXP - Kill all commanders
2000EXP - Take all bases to make Yoshihiro retreat
And Honnoji paths. Typed it up on GFAQs at one point, forgot to update here. Someone reposted it, but didn't credit. Oh well. I know it was me because I write things in a funny manner.
Ieyasu - Red
Mitsunari - Blue
Otani - Blue
Magoichi - Either
Kanbei - Red (upper, avoid fighting Oichi and Magoichi)
Tsuruhime - Red (avoid Oichi)
Masamune - Red
Yukimura - Blue
Keiji - Purple
Motochika - Green or Blue
Motonari - Red
Shimazu - Red (upper, fight Motonari instead of Tsuru)
Tadakatsu - Red and Green
Kotaro - Blue
Yukimura's joke weapon is pretty cute. A pair of really big matches. It does take a little bit before they light, just like safety matches. When it's lit though, 100% chance of setting the enemy on fire. It wears off, just like how a match would burn out, then regenerates slowly back into its original form. Hm. I should try setting Masamune on fire! No, I don't mean in the way a lot of fangirls would think. I really mean "burn him." Wonder if you can set the Hondam on fire...?
For my reference, since I sometimes forget what the stages' extra objectives are. Will update a little later on which ones give what stat boosts and possibly filling out treasure totals.
恐山冥府戦 vs. 南部晴政 - Attack
16 treasures - Generals: 8, Found: 3, Bases: 4, Boss: 1
1000EXP - Find the secret area?
2000EXP - Don't let 南部晴政 resurrect the dead (ie: kill him ASAP)
奥州走竜戦 vs. 伊達政宗 - Defense
23 treasures, but can only get 21? - Generals: 7, Found: 9, Bases: 4, Boss: 3
2000EXP - Beat Masamune to the goal Base
3000EXP - Prevent Kojuurou from meeting with Masamune (kill him on the horse)
長谷堂城の戦い vs. 最上義光 - Luck
22 treasures - Generals: 10, Found: 2, Bases: 8, Boss: 2
2000EXP - Beat the mech in 1min or less
3000EXP - Get the boat to its destination unscathed (don't know the best path)
窪田頑固戦 vs. 佐竹義重 - Attack
17 treasures - Generals: 7, Found: 5, Bases: 4, Boss: 1
1000EXP - Take all Bases
2000EXP - Kill all commanders/leaders
神流川の戦い vs. 宇都宮広綱 - Luck
19 treasures - Generals: 11, Found: 2, Bases: 5, Boss: 1
1000EXP - Clear the fog
1000EXP - Kill 10 tigers
川中島凍土戦 vs. 上杉謙信 - Luck
20 treasures - Generals: 7, Found: 3, Bases: 6, Boss: 4 (3 if you kill MUTEKI-SAMA first)
1000EXP - Open the door behind MUTEKI
2000EXP - Take all bases
上田城水攻戦 vs. 真田幸村 - Attack
21 treasures - Generals: 8, Found: 4, Bases: 7, Boss: 2
2000EXP - Ambush Yukimura
1000EXP - Open the floodgate on Sasuke's clones
上田城攻竜戦 vs. 伊達政宗 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss: 2
2000EXP - Kill all commanders
3000EXP - Break all chests
小田原城再建戦 vs. 北条氏政 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss: 2
2000EXP - Take all bases
3000EXP - Ambush Ujimasa (Take centre, left, jump to right, right bases in less than 2min. Then don't fall off the rooftops.)
!!!Fugitives are always on the rooftops.
帰雲城碧落戦 vs. 姉小路頼綱 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: 7, Boss: 1
1000EXP - Take all bases
2000EXP - Enter the castle in under 2min
手取川の戦い vs. 前田利家/まつ - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: 5, Boss: 2
1000EXP - Take all bases
3000EXP - Force Matsu to drain the supplies. Keep whacking Toshi and don't kill Matsu first.
三方ヶ原断崖戦 vs. 徳川家康 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: 8, Found: 4, Bases: 7, Boss: 3
1000EXP - Find the secret area
3000EXP - Defeat Hondam
背水防衛戦 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: 0, Found: , Bases: 3, Boss: 0
2000EXP - Kill 20 fan users before you lose a bridge
3000EXP - Take all bases
One of the easiest stages to get No Damage in as there are no Bosses. Be careful of archers!
関ヶ原の戦い 内応 vs. 石田三成 - Attack
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Force Kingo's betrayal of the Western army
1000EXP - Break the poison lances
関ヶ原の戦い 謀略 vs. 毛利元就 - Attack
? treasures - Generals:, Found: , Bases: , Boss: 5
2000EXP - Use the solar ray to destroy Akatsukimaru
2000EXP - Kill all commanders
関ヶ原の戦い 決戦 vs. 石田三成 - Attack
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
3000EXP - Kill Gyobu before he fires the poison lances
3000EXP - Take all bases, kill all commanders
関ヶ原の戦い 集結 vs. 徳川家康 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
3000EXP - Catch and kill Kingo
3000EXP - Kill Hondam
関ヶ原の戦い 最強 vs. 徳川家康 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Don't let your health fall into the red.
3000EXP - Defeat Hondam
関ヶ原の戦い 残影 vs. 徳川家康 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
1000EXP - Find Ieyasu's real location
2000EXP - Defeat Kojuurou before Masamune
関ヶ原の戦い 乱入 vs. 石田三成/徳川家康 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: 6, Found: 1, Bases: 8, Boss: 4
5000EXP - Reach 10000 hits
3000EXP - Kill 1000
金ヶ崎睡夢戦 vs. お市 - Attack
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
1000EXP - Find all hostages
3000EXP - Defeat Ichi before taking the bases
金ヶ崎の退き口 vs. お市/天海 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
1000EXP - Take all bases
2000EXP - Kill 10 base takers
本能寺の変 vs. 織田信長 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
3000EXP - Don't let Nobunaga revive more than once (don't let him take more than 2 bases)
5000EXP - Let Nobunaga revive 4+ times (let him take all the bases)
大阪・冬の陣 vs. 石田三成 - Attack
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Take all bases
2000EXP - Defeat the attack horse in under 1min
大阪城奪還戦 vs. 黒田官兵衛 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
1000EXP - Destroy the hidden mech yourself
2000EXP - Kill all commanders
大阪・夏の陣 紅 vs. 真田幸村 - Attack
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
1000EXP - Take all bases
2000EXP - Take the Sanada-maru
大阪・夏の陣 蒼 vs. 徳川家康/伊達政宗 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Kill all commanders
3000EXP - Defeat Hondam without using the cannon
雑賀荘の戦い vs. 雑賀孫市 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
1000EXP - Find the secret Saika stronghold
2000EXP - Take all bases before engaging Magoichi
烏城の戦い vs. 天海/小早川秀秋 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
1000EXP - Defeat Kingo right after putting out his hotpot flames
2000EXP - Defeat Tenkai without falling into the red
*** Arguably the easiest stage to get the No Damage item if you play a long range game. Or using Mitsunari.
月山富田城砂丘戦 vs. 尼子晴久 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Reveal the hidden area (capture all bases)
2000EXP - Don't let Amago escape more than 3 times (in reality, only 2 since he always runs away the first time)
厳島の戦い vs. 毛利元就 - Attack
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Kill all commanders
3000EXP - Kill Motonari without taking any bases (allies can't do it either)
中富川海砦戦 vs. 長曾我部元親 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Kill all commanders
3000EXP - Destory both Akatsukimaru in less than 1min
能島海戦 vs. 鶴姫 - Attack
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Kill all commanders
3000EXP - Ensure both boat reinforcements (40sec in first area, 15sec vs. Tsuru in 3rd round)
能島城海賊戦 vs. 長曾我部元親 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Take all bases during material transportation
3000EXP - Kill all transporters
石垣原坑道戦 vs. 黒田官兵衛 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: , Boss:
2000EXP - Destroy the mech in less than 1min
3000EXP - Clear the rocks with less than 3 bombers killed
戸次川の戦い 思い出編 vs. 大友宗麟 - Attack
? treasures - Generals: 6, Found: 2, Bases: 5, Boss: 2
1000EXP - Take all bases
3000EXP - Defeat Muneshige
戸次川の戦い 三英雄編 vs. 大友宗麟 - Defense
? treasures - Generals: , Found: , Bases: 5, Boss: 4
3000EXP - Gain 20000ryo
5000EXP - Kill Sorin without losing any money
耳川潜伏戦 vs. 島津義弘 - Luck
? treasures - Generals: 8, Found: 4, Bases: 5, Boss: 1
2000EXP - Kill all commanders
2000EXP - Take all bases to make Yoshihiro retreat
And Honnoji paths. Typed it up on GFAQs at one point, forgot to update here. Someone reposted it, but didn't credit. Oh well. I know it was me because I write things in a funny manner.
Ieyasu - Red
Mitsunari - Blue
Otani - Blue
Magoichi - Either
Kanbei - Red (upper, avoid fighting Oichi and Magoichi)
Tsuruhime - Red (avoid Oichi)
Masamune - Red
Yukimura - Blue
Keiji - Purple
Motochika - Green or Blue
Motonari - Red
Shimazu - Red (upper, fight Motonari instead of Tsuru)
Tadakatsu - Red and Green
Kotaro - Blue
20 Sept 2010
I swear I'm a masochist
The first SenBASA isn't actually anything special, other than the crazier flair it had over the Sangoku/Sengoku Musou series. Very simple game with 16 characters, 2-skill system, not many secret objectives, straightforward stages. It could also be considered the hardest entry simply based on how much damage each character can take on Extreme. You can die within minutes of starting a stage, or maybe I just suck at it. But it was great fun because of the combo potentials from the different skill and equipment set ups. The hit counter was just there, mostly for decoration since I don't think there was any extra EXP rewarded for hit counts. 2 and 2H awarded EXP based on exactly the highest hit count achieved on the stage, whereas 3 awarded only 10% truncated. Not really a problem since it's very easy to get 99 999 hits with certain characters and a good chunk of the EXP should come from completing stage objectives anyways.
So. Devil Kings. Really, the only good thing to come out of that game was the emphasis on keeping the hit count going. But, I was already doing that before the game came out with SenBASA because I was amused with the "バサラ！！" label popping out once you get to 100 hits. And playing it with the DMC mindset. The priming system was a complete mess. With some characters (Masa... Azure Dragon and Scorpio), they gain an entirely new attack string. Others have one of their moves shifted to a priming move. One of Kenshin's moves was changed into a priming move (which was kept for SB2/H), but it was quite unfortunate that it was one of the slower ones. Sure, it hits a large area, but it's slow to come out and end because he twirls during his jump. AD lost War Dance as a normal move as it replaced his original Basara. So really, his Basa-- Fury Drive is potentially the most useless one in the entire game. All it is is War Dance with invincibility that blocks using other skills. If the player is good, they won't get hit during War Dance in the first place, and would pair it up with Magnum Step. Screw it, I remember the JP names more than I could ever recall the renames. And because of that change, Masamune no longer has his personal item in the game.
The mechanics were changed as well. In order to fill the Basara gauge, you need to "prime" the enemy first, get hit, have really low health (red) or find those purple stones. The enemy damage seems to have been increased quite a bit. Masamune took rather extreme amounts of damage with a defensive weapon equipped on Normal, against Ninjas. The amount of swarming they did was almost a bit more noticeable, and how they synchronized their attacks. It was a little weird. That's a really lazy way to make it harder. A better way is to have smarter enemy AI (they really haven't improved on it other than bosses...). The difficulty increases were pretty much uncalled for.
The thematic direction was changed for a bunch of areas... So it looks like a mish-mash of Japanese, Egyptian and demonic. What. The amount of HoYay/FoeYay in the game is also near non-existent, which I guess is OK for those who don't want it. It would have been fine if the team actually put forth the effort to explain the why everything was the way it was. SenBASA, we could understand because it was easy to look up the various locations and people as they were based on historical events and people. Masa and Yuki's rivalry was one of the main highlights (until 3, where they're joined by Mitsunari and Ieyasu) of the series. DK really only had Nobunaga/Devil King selling his soul and becoming evil. OK then. Wasn't really elaborated upon, unlike the massive amounts of HoYay you can squint at during all the dialogue.
On the topic of voices. I actually like Frost's voice. Reaper's... well, Tenkai sounds almost as bad. I don't understand how I managed to sit through Azure Dragon's and Scorpio's for so long. Well, at least long enough to get AD to Lv.20 and Scorpio to Lv.10. Didn't/Couldn't replay for long enough to make a judgment on the other voices. The real kicker is that when I looked up all the VAs, they were Canadian. Uh... yeah. I really have no idea what to say about that.
The hilarious thing about the localization is that everything still looked and felt blatantly Japanese. The armour, weapons, structures, music. There were one or two exclusive tracks, but they were annoying. Might have more stuff to say once I either play it again (PS2 needs replacing/fixing), or actually finish the damn game. I think I have a higher chance of finishing 2 and 2H than finishing DK. That's how much I don't like it.
Addendum to the previous post: Found an interesting tag on Pixiv: デビル名倉イ
Read the same way as デビルメイクライ (debirumeikurai). The amount of hate seems to have died down, but people still don't like it very much. I have a real issue with the gritty urban when the entire series has had an air of elegance in the building designs. Just... look at the art books. It's a pretty stark contrast. It only gets gritty when it gets to end-game, when stuff starts getting hellish.
So. Devil Kings. Really, the only good thing to come out of that game was the emphasis on keeping the hit count going. But, I was already doing that before the game came out with SenBASA because I was amused with the "バサラ！！" label popping out once you get to 100 hits. And playing it with the DMC mindset. The priming system was a complete mess. With some characters (Masa... Azure Dragon and Scorpio), they gain an entirely new attack string. Others have one of their moves shifted to a priming move. One of Kenshin's moves was changed into a priming move (which was kept for SB2/H), but it was quite unfortunate that it was one of the slower ones. Sure, it hits a large area, but it's slow to come out and end because he twirls during his jump. AD lost War Dance as a normal move as it replaced his original Basara. So really, his Basa-- Fury Drive is potentially the most useless one in the entire game. All it is is War Dance with invincibility that blocks using other skills. If the player is good, they won't get hit during War Dance in the first place, and would pair it up with Magnum Step. Screw it, I remember the JP names more than I could ever recall the renames. And because of that change, Masamune no longer has his personal item in the game.
The mechanics were changed as well. In order to fill the Basara gauge, you need to "prime" the enemy first, get hit, have really low health (red) or find those purple stones. The enemy damage seems to have been increased quite a bit. Masamune took rather extreme amounts of damage with a defensive weapon equipped on Normal, against Ninjas. The amount of swarming they did was almost a bit more noticeable, and how they synchronized their attacks. It was a little weird. That's a really lazy way to make it harder. A better way is to have smarter enemy AI (they really haven't improved on it other than bosses...). The difficulty increases were pretty much uncalled for.
The thematic direction was changed for a bunch of areas... So it looks like a mish-mash of Japanese, Egyptian and demonic. What. The amount of HoYay/FoeYay in the game is also near non-existent, which I guess is OK for those who don't want it. It would have been fine if the team actually put forth the effort to explain the why everything was the way it was. SenBASA, we could understand because it was easy to look up the various locations and people as they were based on historical events and people. Masa and Yuki's rivalry was one of the main highlights (until 3, where they're joined by Mitsunari and Ieyasu) of the series. DK really only had Nobunaga/Devil King selling his soul and becoming evil. OK then. Wasn't really elaborated upon, unlike the massive amounts of HoYay you can squint at during all the dialogue.
On the topic of voices. I actually like Frost's voice. Reaper's... well, Tenkai sounds almost as bad. I don't understand how I managed to sit through Azure Dragon's and Scorpio's for so long. Well, at least long enough to get AD to Lv.20 and Scorpio to Lv.10. Didn't/Couldn't replay for long enough to make a judgment on the other voices. The real kicker is that when I looked up all the VAs, they were Canadian. Uh... yeah. I really have no idea what to say about that.
The hilarious thing about the localization is that everything still looked and felt blatantly Japanese. The armour, weapons, structures, music. There were one or two exclusive tracks, but they were annoying. Might have more stuff to say once I either play it again (PS2 needs replacing/fixing), or actually finish the damn game. I think I have a higher chance of finishing 2 and 2H than finishing DK. That's how much I don't like it.
Addendum to the previous post: Found an interesting tag on Pixiv: デビル名倉イ
Read the same way as デビルメイクライ (debirumeikurai). The amount of hate seems to have died down, but people still don't like it very much. I have a real issue with the gritty urban when the entire series has had an air of elegance in the building designs. Just... look at the art books. It's a pretty stark contrast. It only gets gritty when it gets to end-game, when stuff starts getting hellish.
17 Sept 2010
Ready to get the party started.
And just when I thought that it wasn't arriving until school started, it shows up at noon (last Thursday)! Second time unlocking everything, so I'm obviously less than enthused at the idea. Or not... Even though I'm unlocking everything really slowly, I'm still having a blast killing lots and lots of Soldier As. I don't even know if I'll be able to do it a third time with the NA version. Too bad it'll be $45CAD (or $40CAD from amazon.ca), which further dampens my enthusiasm. But hey! Can't be as bad as Devil Kings! Really. It can't be.. as bad... *goes into a dim corner because that game seems to have killed the PS2*
Noticed that I can cancel the slash from Mitsunari's 号哭 into pretty much anything. Timing's not exactly strict, but it's pretty easy to input your command a little late. You would actually want to cancel the slash into something because the ending lag is atrocious, unless you follow up with a Sengoku Boost activation or BASARA. Maybe I'll just make another post with all the little tricks that I know. It'll just be for my reference all in one place since I'm pretty sure that other sites will have that information.
Well, managed to do all of Shimazu-don's routes (seriously, the -don part makes me think of food), save for the Honnoji ending because I still haven't unlocked Oichi, Keiji, or really anyone else. This also means that if I have another controller, Shimazu can OHKO while keeping the other character safe from harm. Or I could just use Mitsunari and his crazy slashes of doom on Extreme to rack up a massive hit count for some extra EXP, which should also help with accruing a large ryo count. Still don't have too many of the trophies, and haven't exactly gotten the "No damage" one either. I've gotten "no damage" twice so far, but not during an Emaki run. Don't really know who's the easiest to do it with. Probably Mitsunari at this point in time, or even Yukimura. But he's on Extreme at the moment, and it's gotten somewhat difficult because not having high level weapons. There's also a bunch of random trophies that force you to go out of your way to finish. Not exactly looking forward to it. One involves using on the normal attack string throughout the entire battle. Should really get moving on the other Emaki routes because those are easy trophies that don't really require too much time to deal with. Probably taking longer than usual because I'm trying to get whoever I have up to lv.20 so that they get their first special skill. Ah well, there's still lots of stuff to do in this game! As an aside, Ieyasu's theme occasionally reminds me of "The First Awakening" from LasuRemu. No idea why.
And since I mentioned Devil Kings, might as well say something here.
It killed my PS2. I think the constant loading killed the lens or something with the wiring (leaning towards wiring). It's not booting up certain games anymore, so I'm a little miffed about it. I'll probably just get a new one with Swap Magic since the damn thing's about 7 years old already and seems ready to die as a whole. I could have sworn that SenBasa+2+2H didn't load that constantly on the MUSIC menu. What the hell. Anyways, onto the actual gameplay. I can't believe that when the save loaded, that I've left it mostly untouched. Then I started playing. I can see why I stopped after getting Masa-- I mean Azure Dragon up to lv.19 and a bunch of others to about lv.10. Also couldn't see a damn thing in some of the stages that well because of how dark they were, combined with the dark colour palette the enemies had. I was squinting just to try seeing where they were, and I had the health gauge display on as well. I'll type up some more stuff in a later post. Well probably make more posts on this later on because I do intend to finish the damn game, like I did with SenBASA. Should probably play SenBASA2/2H to completion (mostly done though), along with Battle Heroes because there's apparently some story in there that I might have missed. Namely Ieyasu's transition.
Oh. New DMC game announced. Turns out that the rumours of it being developed by Ninja Theory were right. Someone's asking for death. The reception so far has not been favourable, which is understandable. If you look at the trailer and the screens, there's hardly anything there that represents what DMC is about. And it's being called DmC. That kid is not Dante! If this is what the final product is going to look like, and be the 10th anniversary release, there will be blood. Chances are, he's not going to have something sharp and pointy shoved into his torso in a comedic manner. OK, it wasn't that funny in 3 either, but there was a reason for that.
... I believe I'm going to mimic Kuroda Kanbei's expression of pure despair:
なぜじゃーーっ！！
Now I really have to ask... Will they remember the jump button? I remember Heavenly Sword not having one in the demo, and that really pissed me off. Although the one thing that really pissed me off with this little teaser is "Dante" smoking. I think someone at Capcom said that he was a non-smoker. Don't remember where though... An LJ reply said that it was from an old Kamiya interview (I think I remember reading it), and I have a feeling that little tidbit it was in one of the older novels (which I bought and enjoyed). I want my strawberry sundae loving, white haired pretty boy who playfully insults his enemies back! AND HE DOESN'T SMOKE. This is an insult to the original creation (and by extension, the creator)!
And the music. Holy crap did the music suck. It was painful playing the trailer with the volume on. While the DMC soundtracks were never really that spectacular as a whole (only a few tracks here and there really stood out, but provides very good atmosphere), this is really hitting rock bottom. That track was incredibly obnoxious.
By the way, the reaction on Pixiv is hilarious. Some are drawing the new guy without much of a problem... then follow up with Dante, Nero and/or Vergil beating the crap out of him or not being impressed. Or in one case, Deadpool poking out his eyes (MvC3). That comic even remembered that Dante doesn't smoke, which (I think completely in-character) Deadpool teases him about.
Noticed that I can cancel the slash from Mitsunari's 号哭 into pretty much anything. Timing's not exactly strict, but it's pretty easy to input your command a little late. You would actually want to cancel the slash into something because the ending lag is atrocious, unless you follow up with a Sengoku Boost activation or BASARA. Maybe I'll just make another post with all the little tricks that I know. It'll just be for my reference all in one place since I'm pretty sure that other sites will have that information.
Well, managed to do all of Shimazu-don's routes (seriously, the -don part makes me think of food), save for the Honnoji ending because I still haven't unlocked Oichi, Keiji, or really anyone else. This also means that if I have another controller, Shimazu can OHKO while keeping the other character safe from harm. Or I could just use Mitsunari and his crazy slashes of doom on Extreme to rack up a massive hit count for some extra EXP, which should also help with accruing a large ryo count. Still don't have too many of the trophies, and haven't exactly gotten the "No damage" one either. I've gotten "no damage" twice so far, but not during an Emaki run. Don't really know who's the easiest to do it with. Probably Mitsunari at this point in time, or even Yukimura. But he's on Extreme at the moment, and it's gotten somewhat difficult because not having high level weapons. There's also a bunch of random trophies that force you to go out of your way to finish. Not exactly looking forward to it. One involves using on the normal attack string throughout the entire battle. Should really get moving on the other Emaki routes because those are easy trophies that don't really require too much time to deal with. Probably taking longer than usual because I'm trying to get whoever I have up to lv.20 so that they get their first special skill. Ah well, there's still lots of stuff to do in this game! As an aside, Ieyasu's theme occasionally reminds me of "The First Awakening" from LasuRemu. No idea why.
And since I mentioned Devil Kings, might as well say something here.
It killed my PS2. I think the constant loading killed the lens or something with the wiring (leaning towards wiring). It's not booting up certain games anymore, so I'm a little miffed about it. I'll probably just get a new one with Swap Magic since the damn thing's about 7 years old already and seems ready to die as a whole. I could have sworn that SenBasa+2+2H didn't load that constantly on the MUSIC menu. What the hell. Anyways, onto the actual gameplay. I can't believe that when the save loaded, that I've left it mostly untouched. Then I started playing. I can see why I stopped after getting Masa-- I mean Azure Dragon up to lv.19 and a bunch of others to about lv.10. Also couldn't see a damn thing in some of the stages that well because of how dark they were, combined with the dark colour palette the enemies had. I was squinting just to try seeing where they were, and I had the health gauge display on as well. I'll type up some more stuff in a later post. Well probably make more posts on this later on because I do intend to finish the damn game, like I did with SenBASA. Should probably play SenBASA2/2H to completion (mostly done though), along with Battle Heroes because there's apparently some story in there that I might have missed. Namely Ieyasu's transition.
Oh. New DMC game announced. Turns out that the rumours of it being developed by Ninja Theory were right. Someone's asking for death. The reception so far has not been favourable, which is understandable. If you look at the trailer and the screens, there's hardly anything there that represents what DMC is about. And it's being called DmC. That kid is not Dante! If this is what the final product is going to look like, and be the 10th anniversary release, there will be blood. Chances are, he's not going to have something sharp and pointy shoved into his torso in a comedic manner. OK, it wasn't that funny in 3 either, but there was a reason for that.
... I believe I'm going to mimic Kuroda Kanbei's expression of pure despair:
なぜじゃーーっ！！
Now I really have to ask... Will they remember the jump button? I remember Heavenly Sword not having one in the demo, and that really pissed me off. Although the one thing that really pissed me off with this little teaser is "Dante" smoking. I think someone at Capcom said that he was a non-smoker. Don't remember where though... An LJ reply said that it was from an old Kamiya interview (I think I remember reading it), and I have a feeling that little tidbit it was in one of the older novels (which I bought and enjoyed). I want my strawberry sundae loving, white haired pretty boy who playfully insults his enemies back! AND HE DOESN'T SMOKE. This is an insult to the original creation (and by extension, the creator)!
And the music. Holy crap did the music suck. It was painful playing the trailer with the volume on. While the DMC soundtracks were never really that spectacular as a whole (only a few tracks here and there really stood out, but provides very good atmosphere), this is really hitting rock bottom. That track was incredibly obnoxious.
By the way, the reaction on Pixiv is hilarious. Some are drawing the new guy without much of a problem... then follow up with Dante, Nero and/or Vergil beating the crap out of him or not being impressed. Or in one case, Deadpool poking out his eyes (MvC3). That comic even remembered that Dante doesn't smoke, which (I think completely in-character) Deadpool teases him about.
9 Sept 2010
The old drunk guy.
I still don't like using Shimazu Yoshihiro all that much. He's improved a good deal because of a special S property; you can prep the first strike. I don't actually know how to recover if he whiffs the first strike though. I don't think you can dodge out of the whiff, but I don't know if using a skill is such a bright idea either considering how open Yoshihiro is during the whiff. I'm thinking about completing his story 4 times just to equip the personal items to help level other characters...
The only character I haven't done a story mode in is Motonari. I'm just not fond of his style at all since I like a good brawl with the enemy, not running around in a 3D space laying traps. Perhaps I will change my mind on the matter later... when I play the PS3 version, because the FPS drops on the emulator really kill my enthusiasm at times. I like Tsuruhime now that I've gotten used to the just-frame style. You just can't spam with certain characters. I think I like Keiji's Green, Ieyasu's Red and Yukimura's Blue ends the most so far. Keiji, because he headbutts Mitsunari and Ieyasu. It's hilarious considering that Ieyasu has his headbutts of doom, and that you're headbutting Mitsunari (scrawny) with Keiji (built). Ieyasu's red route shows him changing throughout the story. And Yukimura's just plain funny. He forgets the money for the Saika faction, runs around making a bunch of mistakes, then gets punched in the face by Shingen. Then goes fighting Masamune feeling perfectly chipper after flying a good 50 metres or so. I think I would put Motochika's Red and Blue routes up there as well. Red, because how Ieyasu still considered him a friend even through all of that (just listen to his confusion). Blue, because of how pissed Ieyasu gets at the entire ordeal. No, it wasn't Ieyasu who attacked Shikoku. It was Yoshitsugu forcing Kanbei to do it. Cue little team up on poor Kanbei. The guy can never catch a break, can he?
On a side note, I noticed that 3 went back to what 1 was like; no pity EXP if you die like in 2 (x0.5 multiplier upon death). The EXP multipliers are higher in 3 (x1.0, x1.5, x2.0). The previous games had them at x0.5 (2/2H only), x1.0, x1.2, x1.5. Also, it's kinda hard playing with only 2 skills now, unless it's Kojuurou because he's really easy to play as. Having 5 of them at once was perfect as most of them were mapped to an intuitive button combination. Oh, and Motochika really sucked in 2. His recovery lag is so bad that you can't chain his moves that effectively. I did like how his fishing move worked though. It's like laying a trap, and going "fishing" for ryo. The timing on Keiji's Love Tactics seems to be stricter in 2. Or that the cues are displayed better in 3, to the point that I can actually hit them. I forgot how hilariously bad Ujimasa was, and even then, it was fun playing as that geezer on Extreme. Flailing around with a giant lantern!
Oh, and the PSN has a demo up for the NA version. Smart move, as these types of games aren't exactly popular in the West. Only had Ieyasu and Mitsunari as playables, with a stage associated with them. Not bad for 820MB. They were level 5 in terms of skills, level 1 in stats. Ieyasu vs. Yukimura at Ueda Castle, Mitsunari vs. Hondam and Ieyasu at Mikatagahara. Locked onto the NA Normal (JP Hard), which is easily seen by their equipment. Well, mostly Hondam's big yellow electric drill-spear and Ieyasu's cactus gloves. And Yuki's flaming spears. Sasuke's weapons don't seem to change at all... I'm not sure if this is the case, but it felt like the combo meter stays active slightly longer than the JP version. Or that they have that accessory equipped. Can't see it since the demo throws you right into the stage after selecting a character.
It also sounds like they're cranking up the HoYay to 11. Well, the HoYay was already there, just that this time I can understand everything. Uh... yeah. Ieyasu sounding like Grimoire Weiss is both a good and bad thing. I like the voice, but it's a little too old for not-so-little Takechiyo. I don't think that Mitsunari sounds angry enough, but you're comparing that voice against Seki Tomokazu of all people. And that guy can scream. As evidenced in Ieyasu's red route! It was the only reason why my mom noticed that I was still downstairs... I didn't really have much of an issue with the voices. It's currently listed at $45 here, so I'm not too sure about picking it up in EN since I already have the JP on the way. I've already dumped about 100 hours on the Wii version, so I know that I'll still be getting a lot of playtime out of the PS3 version. Not sure if I want to do it a 3rd time, especially with a penalty if I want to play on Normal/"Easy".
Excuse me, off to ship IeMitsu!
The only character I haven't done a story mode in is Motonari. I'm just not fond of his style at all since I like a good brawl with the enemy, not running around in a 3D space laying traps. Perhaps I will change my mind on the matter later... when I play the PS3 version, because the FPS drops on the emulator really kill my enthusiasm at times. I like Tsuruhime now that I've gotten used to the just-frame style. You just can't spam with certain characters. I think I like Keiji's Green, Ieyasu's Red and Yukimura's Blue ends the most so far. Keiji, because he headbutts Mitsunari and Ieyasu. It's hilarious considering that Ieyasu has his headbutts of doom, and that you're headbutting Mitsunari (scrawny) with Keiji (built). Ieyasu's red route shows him changing throughout the story. And Yukimura's just plain funny. He forgets the money for the Saika faction, runs around making a bunch of mistakes, then gets punched in the face by Shingen. Then goes fighting Masamune feeling perfectly chipper after flying a good 50 metres or so. I think I would put Motochika's Red and Blue routes up there as well. Red, because how Ieyasu still considered him a friend even through all of that (just listen to his confusion). Blue, because of how pissed Ieyasu gets at the entire ordeal. No, it wasn't Ieyasu who attacked Shikoku. It was Yoshitsugu forcing Kanbei to do it. Cue little team up on poor Kanbei. The guy can never catch a break, can he?
On a side note, I noticed that 3 went back to what 1 was like; no pity EXP if you die like in 2 (x0.5 multiplier upon death). The EXP multipliers are higher in 3 (x1.0, x1.5, x2.0). The previous games had them at x0.5 (2/2H only), x1.0, x1.2, x1.5. Also, it's kinda hard playing with only 2 skills now, unless it's Kojuurou because he's really easy to play as. Having 5 of them at once was perfect as most of them were mapped to an intuitive button combination. Oh, and Motochika really sucked in 2. His recovery lag is so bad that you can't chain his moves that effectively. I did like how his fishing move worked though. It's like laying a trap, and going "fishing" for ryo. The timing on Keiji's Love Tactics seems to be stricter in 2. Or that the cues are displayed better in 3, to the point that I can actually hit them. I forgot how hilariously bad Ujimasa was, and even then, it was fun playing as that geezer on Extreme. Flailing around with a giant lantern!
Oh, and the PSN has a demo up for the NA version. Smart move, as these types of games aren't exactly popular in the West. Only had Ieyasu and Mitsunari as playables, with a stage associated with them. Not bad for 820MB. They were level 5 in terms of skills, level 1 in stats. Ieyasu vs. Yukimura at Ueda Castle, Mitsunari vs. Hondam and Ieyasu at Mikatagahara. Locked onto the NA Normal (JP Hard), which is easily seen by their equipment. Well, mostly Hondam's big yellow electric drill-spear and Ieyasu's cactus gloves. And Yuki's flaming spears. Sasuke's weapons don't seem to change at all... I'm not sure if this is the case, but it felt like the combo meter stays active slightly longer than the JP version. Or that they have that accessory equipped. Can't see it since the demo throws you right into the stage after selecting a character.
It also sounds like they're cranking up the HoYay to 11. Well, the HoYay was already there, just that this time I can understand everything. Uh... yeah. Ieyasu sounding like Grimoire Weiss is both a good and bad thing. I like the voice, but it's a little too old for not-so-little Takechiyo. I don't think that Mitsunari sounds angry enough, but you're comparing that voice against Seki Tomokazu of all people. And that guy can scream. As evidenced in Ieyasu's red route! It was the only reason why my mom noticed that I was still downstairs... I didn't really have much of an issue with the voices. It's currently listed at $45 here, so I'm not too sure about picking it up in EN since I already have the JP on the way. I've already dumped about 100 hours on the Wii version, so I know that I'll still be getting a lot of playtime out of the PS3 version. Not sure if I want to do it a 3rd time, especially with a penalty if I want to play on Normal/"Easy".
Excuse me, off to ship IeMitsu!
23 Aug 2010
"Sorry... The party's over."
That's what the game says when you lose the horse race against Masamune. I don't know how you can win the race because I'm really not sure about the route I'm supposed to take. And it seems near impossible against Kojuurou because he actively aims for the red boxes, which means less BASARA refilling for you unless you spend the time smacking around some enemies while racing. It's a lot harder than the SB1 version against Masamune alone since you can't knock him off the horse this time. The funniest thing about this race though? You can beat it without being on a horse. The guy for the job? YUKIMURA'S SPIN OF DOOM. He looks ridiculous on a horse in the first place... but so is the crazy spinning that's faster than a horse. What the hell guys.
Finished Ishida's Red and Blue routes. His Red route ending was a little... unnerving. He basically loses all purpose in life after killing Ieyasu. He starts crying a bit, but I couldn't tell if it was eyeliner coming off or if it was blood. His walk was also a bit strange, as if possessed. His Blue route is a bit better. Kills off Ieyasu and Masamune, but is still "sane." As for playing as him, haven't really mastered his flash step properties. His "DT" mode is a little hard to use as well. Funny enough, he's my highest level character, mostly because it's so easy to rack up kills with the guy. He can just slaughter everything... Quite befitting of someone filled with nothing but rage. Unfortunately for him, all I hear is a hot-blooded, very angry STAN. The country bumpkin from Tales of Destiny. Yeah. Moving on.
Did Magoichi's story too, but went with the Blue route first. I think she's the only one that branches on the first play since her group, the Saika Ikki, are mercenaries. Blue = team with Ishida. Red = team with Tokugawa. Oh, and she's freakin' awesome. I love using the machine gun! Switching between the different guns isn't too bad either. She can charge her magnum or shotgun, fill the enemy with machinegun fire just from holding the square button/Y. She's got a lot of options, mostly alterations to her S-string.
Holy crap, did Keiji get faster?! And I think I'm beginning to understand how to use his "Love Tactics" move. The timing's a little weird, and I can see the Kabuki influences in his moveset. Not to mention that you can cancel in and out of the move. I don't know if he's any good at chasing the enemy as he's the slowest of the SB2 mains. Although... I'm beginning to regret pitting him against Ishida for his first stage. It's a tough stage, but I love the stage music so I couldn't help it. The Winter Osaka campaign. Has a bunch of those mooks with really long spears, which are longer than Keiji's already ridiculous nodachi.
Hanzo: Fuuma's Blue path: Tsuruhime, Chosokabe, Ishida/Magoichi, Tokugawa.
Level up to find those basketheads for permanent stat boosts or an extra 10 000EXP. So far, only managed to kill them with using a BASARA attack...
Still need to unlock 3 more stages.One is Nobunaga's, and the other two are on specific character paths. 関ヶ原の戦い 謀略 and 金ヶ崎の退き口. KuroKan's Green or Keiji's Red. Honnoji route.
2 left
1 left
Done.
Finished Ishida's Red and Blue routes. His Red route ending was a little... unnerving. He basically loses all purpose in life after killing Ieyasu. He starts crying a bit, but I couldn't tell if it was eyeliner coming off or if it was blood. His walk was also a bit strange, as if possessed. His Blue route is a bit better. Kills off Ieyasu and Masamune, but is still "sane." As for playing as him, haven't really mastered his flash step properties. His "DT" mode is a little hard to use as well. Funny enough, he's my highest level character, mostly because it's so easy to rack up kills with the guy. He can just slaughter everything... Quite befitting of someone filled with nothing but rage. Unfortunately for him, all I hear is a hot-blooded, very angry STAN. The country bumpkin from Tales of Destiny. Yeah. Moving on.
Did Magoichi's story too, but went with the Blue route first. I think she's the only one that branches on the first play since her group, the Saika Ikki, are mercenaries. Blue = team with Ishida. Red = team with Tokugawa. Oh, and she's freakin' awesome. I love using the machine gun! Switching between the different guns isn't too bad either. She can charge her magnum or shotgun, fill the enemy with machinegun fire just from holding the square button/Y. She's got a lot of options, mostly alterations to her S-string.
Holy crap, did Keiji get faster?! And I think I'm beginning to understand how to use his "Love Tactics" move. The timing's a little weird, and I can see the Kabuki influences in his moveset. Not to mention that you can cancel in and out of the move. I don't know if he's any good at chasing the enemy as he's the slowest of the SB2 mains. Although... I'm beginning to regret pitting him against Ishida for his first stage. It's a tough stage, but I love the stage music so I couldn't help it. The Winter Osaka campaign. Has a bunch of those mooks with really long spears, which are longer than Keiji's already ridiculous nodachi.
Hanzo: Fuuma's Blue path: Tsuruhime, Chosokabe, Ishida/Magoichi, Tokugawa.
Level up to find those basketheads for permanent stat boosts or an extra 10 000EXP. So far, only managed to kill them with using a BASARA attack...
Still need to unlock 3 more stages.
Done.
17 Aug 2010
"Long time no see."
So I've been playing SenBasa3 through alternate means at the moment. Ordered the PS3 version since I've promised a friend to co-op with him and I've been waiting for the release for a while now. Just think of it as sampling. I'm still going to keep it around to play as Kojuurou though. I want my leek-using yakuza back, Capcom!
So the first character I used was Kuroda Kanbei, or affectionately known as KuroKan. Huge problem with this guy? He's slow. Combined with flooding the screen with about 50 mooks, the game slows to about 35~45fps, he gets a little hard to control. Still, even with the slowdown, he's a pretty fun character. Plus, he's quite the chew toy in the Basara universe. He'll never get free of his shackles! I still haven't gotten the rest of his special skills, so I can't really say what his potential is. But at least I unlocked the best grinding stage right off the bat! Oh, and holding Y/Square lets him spin round and round and round... until he gets dizzy enough to stop.
Next up is Masamune... because Kojuurou is an NPC. HOLY HELL HIS COMBO POTENTIAL. He can easily chain his skills into each other and you can now cancel War Dance without purposely getting hit! There was a vid with something about the ultimate Masamune set up... I know that it involves a bodyguard that gives an extra life, his joke weapon and something other things. Just got him to level 50, so he learned TESTAMENT. Wonder what that is...? Still a little annoyed that he doesn't have Phantom Dive anymore. He's pretty much got twice as many moves as everyone else because you can alter his normal skills based on 1-katana or 6-katana mode. Still want Kojuurou back.
Yukimura was up next, and he's gotten better...? It's either that, or I don't suck as much.He's got an interesting property, along with a few other units I think. He can dash right out of some moves. I don't know how to do it consistently yet, but maybe I'll figure it out when I get the PS3 copy. It's dash-cancelling, and Yuki's one of the easier characters to do it with. Holding Y/Square activates one of his old moves that involves a flaming punch or launching himself.
The next character I should probably play as is Kotaro since he unlocks Hanzo as a bodyguard. Great for hunting down basketheads as they give permanent stat boosts. Need to hunt down all 38 for each character. Hm. I'll do that for sure on the PS3 version since I'm sure that my friends aren't too keen on using "weak" characters. Plus, there's a trophy to be had.
Anyways, even with some technical difficulties, I'm quite enjoying it. Do I like it more than SB2:H? Not sure yet. I haven't touched 2:H in a very long time, but I still remember it being insanely fun with smacking things with a leek.
Oh, and this: ARE YOU READY GUYS?! (☄●∀´)☄
So the first character I used was Kuroda Kanbei, or affectionately known as KuroKan. Huge problem with this guy? He's slow. Combined with flooding the screen with about 50 mooks, the game slows to about 35~45fps, he gets a little hard to control. Still, even with the slowdown, he's a pretty fun character. Plus, he's quite the chew toy in the Basara universe. He'll never get free of his shackles! I still haven't gotten the rest of his special skills, so I can't really say what his potential is. But at least I unlocked the best grinding stage right off the bat! Oh, and holding Y/Square lets him spin round and round and round... until he gets dizzy enough to stop.
Next up is Masamune... because Kojuurou is an NPC. HOLY HELL HIS COMBO POTENTIAL. He can easily chain his skills into each other and you can now cancel War Dance without purposely getting hit! There was a vid with something about the ultimate Masamune set up... I know that it involves a bodyguard that gives an extra life, his joke weapon and something other things. Just got him to level 50, so he learned TESTAMENT. Wonder what that is...? Still a little annoyed that he doesn't have Phantom Dive anymore. He's pretty much got twice as many moves as everyone else because you can alter his normal skills based on 1-katana or 6-katana mode. Still want Kojuurou back.
Yukimura was up next, and he's gotten better...? It's either that, or I don't suck as much.
The next character I should probably play as is Kotaro since he unlocks Hanzo as a bodyguard. Great for hunting down basketheads as they give permanent stat boosts. Need to hunt down all 38 for each character. Hm. I'll do that for sure on the PS3 version since I'm sure that my friends aren't too keen on using "weak" characters. Plus, there's a trophy to be had.
Anyways, even with some technical difficulties, I'm quite enjoying it. Do I like it more than SB2:H? Not sure yet. I haven't touched 2:H in a very long time, but I still remember it being insanely fun with smacking things with a leek.
Oh, and this: ARE YOU READY GUYS?! (☄●∀´)☄
11 Aug 2010
Last Ranker!
So I've been playing this for the past few days. It's not a hard JRPG to get into at all. It took a little bit, but I think I get the hang of using the Guard/Break combo. It's not really my style (I like to blitz my enemies), but some fights require the defensiveness of the Guard style while using the Break style to get decent damage in. I've also noticed that you shouldn't block everything and the SP recovery rate. The recovery gets faster the more you need to regain, but the rate resets when you perform any action. That includes guarding. By the looks of things, getting hit speeds it up slightly.
Most of the game overs I had were due to stupidity and not planning out when to use my buffs. Hagane Soul is a really dangerous skill. It lets you withstand attacks (not flinch) while the other Ranker counters you. Perfect against archers and explosives users. But the problem with the skill is that you can end up getting a little reckless with it. Sure, you're withstanding attacks, but you're still taking full damage. Watching your HP is probably a good idea when using the skill. Or at least combine it with Chakuling/regeneration so you won't die as quickly. It's not a constant regen effect, but a periodic gain.
Didn't really pay too much attention to the story... Mostly because the first half was practically barren of a story, then hits you like a ton of bricks at the second half. Didn't really like that kind of pacing since it's a little annoying dumping all of that info and having some pretty intense fights all around. The one thing I really enjoyed was punching out Bayger. That guy's so annoying...! Oh, and quite a few characters like to get touchy-feely with Zig. I wonder how he felt when he got a bunch of random hugs near the end of the game.
What I'm thinking of doing is recording my gameplay for a bit. Definitely going to grab those CG scenes because there aren't that many of them. I just want to get those funny scenes between Tylong and Zig. They're kinda cute, albeit a little embarrassing for Zig. I'm going to have to use my desktop for that since my laptop probably can't handle the load anymore and I don't feel like testing it on my netbook. It's already weak enough as it is.
Final note: Smiling Zig is beyond cute.
Most of the game overs I had were due to stupidity and not planning out when to use my buffs. Hagane Soul is a really dangerous skill. It lets you withstand attacks (not flinch) while the other Ranker counters you. Perfect against archers and explosives users. But the problem with the skill is that you can end up getting a little reckless with it. Sure, you're withstanding attacks, but you're still taking full damage. Watching your HP is probably a good idea when using the skill. Or at least combine it with Chakuling/regeneration so you won't die as quickly. It's not a constant regen effect, but a periodic gain.
Didn't really pay too much attention to the story... Mostly because the first half was practically barren of a story, then hits you like a ton of bricks at the second half. Didn't really like that kind of pacing since it's a little annoying dumping all of that info and having some pretty intense fights all around. The one thing I really enjoyed was punching out Bayger. That guy's so annoying...! Oh, and quite a few characters like to get touchy-feely with Zig. I wonder how he felt when he got a bunch of random hugs near the end of the game.
What I'm thinking of doing is recording my gameplay for a bit. Definitely going to grab those CG scenes because there aren't that many of them. I just want to get those funny scenes between Tylong and Zig. They're kinda cute, albeit a little embarrassing for Zig. I'm going to have to use my desktop for that since my laptop probably can't handle the load anymore and I don't feel like testing it on my netbook. It's already weak enough as it is.
Final note: Smiling Zig is beyond cute.
1 Aug 2010
Yeah, enough with the notes.
A bit of a break from typing and summarizing notes. Been playing out my files, and I just finished the previous run out of pure frustration of forgetting to do a quest. I forgot to talk to the Duke between the Bases because I was a little preoccupied with gathering HP values for The Seven and Cyclops. Whoops. Wasn't too bad though, since I went ahead with killing The Fallen and trouncing almost everything in The Ancient Ruins. The Demigod would have killed the team without trouble, even with the help of an Assassin and 2 Cachexia unions. Didn't even try the Observer because I wasn't sure about how to rearrange my teams to deal with rotating them for my usual strategy. And to hell with fighting it in the Mystic Seal formation. While I do want to replicate that hellish encounter (it was fun, OK!), wasn't feeling too confident in my team.
Anyways, this time... FOR THE GLORY OF ATHLUM!
Yep. It's Athlum only. The team breakdown isn't exactly pretty, and starting on Hard Mode was probably one of the worst ideas I've had in a while. Just barely got through the beginning. Having only McGrady, Thelma and Oakes isn't what you would consider a decent strike team. Getting them started to go Combat to increase their damage output, because quite frankly? They're going to need it. Plus, the extra ATK on the Parrying/Shielding variety of weapons will help with their damage when using the WAs.
Anyways, the team.
Union of the Golden Chalice
Ring of the Labyrinth
No one in Athlum knows Lotions, so that means that I have to rely on Bards to deal with Status Effects. They're the only ones with Debuff Duration, and it only goes to [Debuff Duration] -4. Hopefully that will be enough to get rid of Curse since that ailment lasts 5 turns IIRC. The other option is to craft the Idol Amulet for someone to take, which gives [Debuff Duration] -5. The only problem with that is that it'll lock out other accessory requests since it's such a high level item (Rank 140). It's better off given to a mage, but most of the ones on the team are already combat-focused.
Went through Blackdale with some trouble. The only way they would have survived is if the David's and Torgal's unions were alive at the end of the first 3 turns and flanked a lot. If they die, it'll get extremely messy since it's not very likely that the union can revive yet (requires lv.3 Herbs, 70EXP needed, ~20 uses). The union practically fell apart, but made it out in the end. Lost track of how many times I had to restart. Was much easier on Normal. Did it on my first try.
Ran to Elysion after. No problems in the Catacombs after recruiting Perneth. And you needed to do was step foot into the area, get the Metal Black/Shadow Metal, run back to Athlum's guild, and recruit. Vega required the killing of 12 Quien, which was done after entering Numor Mines. Speaking of which, the power difference from Namul Niram was huge. Assault Energy Lv.5 and Shine Missile could nearly kill Emma on Hard, while it barely made much of a scratch on Normal. Not even Heavensflight did more than 300 on a crit. The only way she would survive any of that would be to have better equips and Rush constantly healing. If he were in the Healer class before the fight, then it would be much easier to get the "Recover your health!" command. It was also pretty much required to have Emma faster than Rush, both in formation and base stats to keep Rush out of deadlock. If he engages them, he's as good as an Overkilled corpse.
Then it's off to the Ramparts, then to Nagapur. Already did the meeting, so it's off to grind my team of 11. I already have all the healers, but only one reviver at the moment. It won't be until midway through the 2nd part that I will be able to use Divine Echo reliably. I think for end-game, I might need to rely on Speed Boost formations to get my mages to move faster. I currently have no idea how they're going to survive the Nest of Eagles. I need to keep Oakes alive for reviving (will probably go into the Belt or Unicorn formations), but I also don't have enough units to pull off Blackout. Will have to go about this the hard way then.
So... Why am I doing this? Because Grand laid out a challenge for me: Defeat Validus at BR7 with exactly one union. I just added to it by going to Hard Mode and Athlum only. I would have an easier time if I just went ahead with using Uniques, but it still would have been similar to what the X360 guys would do. At that point, they have access to 6 leaders. So they would deploy 5 (or less than 5 with heavy hitting soldiers like Pizza Paddle Parker). I think it would have been something like Rush/Emmy/Glenys/Caedmon/Baulson. So I decided to take it up. Should be fun. To add another layer of fun, I'm not crafting anything for them to take. Again, it's to mimic X360 progression. Wouldn't be fair if I gave them their Glaives and Tataraichis right off the bat, now would it? Actually, come to think of it, it's probably damn near impossible on Hard unless I give them end-game equips... An attack already does 1600 damage, while the breath attack outright kills the union if it hits everyone. I'll still continue my Athlum only challenge on Hard anyways.
By the way. Jhana Royals? They pulled out Blackout Lv.5 during the first wave. IT HURT. Holy hell that was scary. Then they died at the armor.
EDIT: Oh my. Japan still wants The Last Remnant on the PS3. Rank 14...
Anyways, this time... FOR THE GLORY OF ATHLUM!
Yep. It's Athlum only. The team breakdown isn't exactly pretty, and starting on Hard Mode was probably one of the worst ideas I've had in a while. Just barely got through the beginning. Having only McGrady, Thelma and Oakes isn't what you would consider a decent strike team. Getting them started to go Combat to increase their damage output, because quite frankly? They're going to need it. Plus, the extra ATK on the Parrying/Shielding variety of weapons will help with their damage when using the WAs.
Anyways, the team.
Union of the Golden Chalice
| Unit | Weapon | Skill |
|---|---|---|
| McGrady | Glaive | Remedies |
| Thelma | Tataraichi/Soulshield | Evocations |
| Oakes | Bladebreaker | Herbs |
| Marty | Bluesteel/Towershield | Combat Arts |
| Permia | Scythe/Targe | Combat Arts |
| Ripley | Javelin | Potions |
| Jodo | Tataraichi | Potions |
| Vega | Tataraichi | Remedies |
| Perneth | Tataraichi | Hexes |
| Hematea | Glaive | Invocations/Hexes |
| Liza | Bluesteel | Combat Arts |
| Demi | Scythe | Combat Arts |
| Aquarius | Tataraichi | Psionics/Wards |
Ring of the Labyrinth
| Unit | Weapon | Skill |
|---|---|---|
| Leonard | Demonblade | Combat Arts |
| Opus | Broadaxe/Soulshield | Invocations |
| Nielson | Tataraichi | Traps |
| Sycune | Blackjack | Combat Arts |
| Hyenn | Imperator's Axe/Buckler|Targe | Combat Arts |
| Swift | Quarterstaff | Evocations |
No one in Athlum knows Lotions, so that means that I have to rely on Bards to deal with Status Effects. They're the only ones with Debuff Duration, and it only goes to [Debuff Duration] -4. Hopefully that will be enough to get rid of Curse since that ailment lasts 5 turns IIRC. The other option is to craft the Idol Amulet for someone to take, which gives [Debuff Duration] -5. The only problem with that is that it'll lock out other accessory requests since it's such a high level item (Rank 140). It's better off given to a mage, but most of the ones on the team are already combat-focused.
Went through Blackdale with some trouble. The only way they would have survived is if the David's and Torgal's unions were alive at the end of the first 3 turns and flanked a lot. If they die, it'll get extremely messy since it's not very likely that the union can revive yet (requires lv.3 Herbs, 70EXP needed, ~20 uses). The union practically fell apart, but made it out in the end. Lost track of how many times I had to restart. Was much easier on Normal. Did it on my first try.
Ran to Elysion after. No problems in the Catacombs after recruiting Perneth. And you needed to do was step foot into the area, get the Metal Black/Shadow Metal, run back to Athlum's guild, and recruit. Vega required the killing of 12 Quien, which was done after entering Numor Mines. Speaking of which, the power difference from Namul Niram was huge. Assault Energy Lv.5 and Shine Missile could nearly kill Emma on Hard, while it barely made much of a scratch on Normal. Not even Heavensflight did more than 300 on a crit. The only way she would survive any of that would be to have better equips and Rush constantly healing. If he were in the Healer class before the fight, then it would be much easier to get the "Recover your health!" command. It was also pretty much required to have Emma faster than Rush, both in formation and base stats to keep Rush out of deadlock. If he engages them, he's as good as an Overkilled corpse.
Then it's off to the Ramparts, then to Nagapur. Already did the meeting, so it's off to grind my team of 11. I already have all the healers, but only one reviver at the moment. It won't be until midway through the 2nd part that I will be able to use Divine Echo reliably. I think for end-game, I might need to rely on Speed Boost formations to get my mages to move faster. I currently have no idea how they're going to survive the Nest of Eagles. I need to keep Oakes alive for reviving (will probably go into the Belt or Unicorn formations), but I also don't have enough units to pull off Blackout. Will have to go about this the hard way then.
So... Why am I doing this? Because Grand laid out a challenge for me: Defeat Validus at BR7 with exactly one union. I just added to it by going to Hard Mode and Athlum only. I would have an easier time if I just went ahead with using Uniques, but it still would have been similar to what the X360 guys would do. At that point, they have access to 6 leaders. So they would deploy 5 (or less than 5 with heavy hitting soldiers like Pizza Paddle Parker). I think it would have been something like Rush/Emmy/Glenys/Caedmon/Baulson. So I decided to take it up. Should be fun. To add another layer of fun, I'm not crafting anything for them to take. Again, it's to mimic X360 progression. Wouldn't be fair if I gave them their Glaives and Tataraichis right off the bat, now would it? Actually, come to think of it, it's probably damn near impossible on Hard unless I give them end-game equips... An attack already does 1600 damage, while the breath attack outright kills the union if it hits everyone. I'll still continue my Athlum only challenge on Hard anyways.
By the way. Jhana Royals? They pulled out Blackout Lv.5 during the first wave. IT HURT. Holy hell that was scary. Then they died at the armor.
EDIT: Oh my. Japan still wants The Last Remnant on the PS3. Rank 14...
28 Jun 2010
Not a clue~
OK, I actually still have no freakin' clue what I'm doing in my current run. All I know is that I'm finally getting Vega and McGrady to veer towards the Mystic Focus. Currently still stuck in Balance, but that's better than them going Combat. Maybe.
BR9, killed Validus in 18 turns.
BR9, killed the Ancient Dragon at 27 turns.
What the hell guys.
Did every sidequest from Part 1, and that netted me BR12 at the end of things. Would be lower if I hadn't bothered to fight a bunch of rares for their HP values. I think I killed about 12 of them? Would probably be BR10~11 if there were no extra encounters. Faced off against the Harpylia at BR12, but no BR increase. Went against the Gates of Hell at BR12, no increase. Beat Jager and Lob Omen at BR12, but still no increase...! The Cyclops didn't have 9999HP when it was summoned, but about ~2300HP. Quite a drop from what I had expected, and it actually died. And then Enthralled. Holy hell that scared me because it could quite possibly wipe out a bunch of my unions easily. Rush was just used to distract the Gates, not like he can die and be enthralled.
So now... It's off to the Six Bases. At BR12. I'm so gonna die. But first, skill training! Finally got a few units with Hexes. Hopefully I'll have an easier time...
Noting their original formations:
Seijuu, Seijuu, Trident, Undelwalt Cross, Seijuu
BR9, killed Validus in 18 turns.
BR9, killed the Ancient Dragon at 27 turns.
What the hell guys.
Did every sidequest from Part 1, and that netted me BR12 at the end of things. Would be lower if I hadn't bothered to fight a bunch of rares for their HP values. I think I killed about 12 of them? Would probably be BR10~11 if there were no extra encounters. Faced off against the Harpylia at BR12, but no BR increase. Went against the Gates of Hell at BR12, no increase. Beat Jager and Lob Omen at BR12, but still no increase...! The Cyclops didn't have 9999HP when it was summoned, but about ~2300HP. Quite a drop from what I had expected, and it actually died. And then Enthralled. Holy hell that scared me because it could quite possibly wipe out a bunch of my unions easily. Rush was just used to distract the Gates, not like he can die and be enthralled.
So now... It's off to the Six Bases. At BR12. I'm so gonna die. But first, skill training! Finally got a few units with Hexes. Hopefully I'll have an easier time...
Noting their original formations:
Seijuu, Seijuu, Trident, Undelwalt Cross, Seijuu
20 Jun 2010
Yarikomi time?
I killed the Raptor without using マルチキャスト. What the hell. I sparked Devil's Due during the fight, so he hit it. Yeah.
Anyways, more important things. やりこみ NOTES. Basically, playing the game with a set of restrictions/rules.
No Unique Leaders -> Only Generic Leaders/Only the Athlum Army/mix of both.
Race specific runs: Only Mitra/Qsiti/Yama/(good luck finding generic Sovani and there are only 5 uniques)
National union: basically hiring only from a certain town.
No Fighting Arts/Mystic Arts/Item Arts.
Fighting Arts/Mystic Arts/Item Arts only.
Girls only.
Unique Girls only.
Soldier only.
Specific wield style only.
Minimum upgrades.
Emblem specific.
Mystic Seal only.
***The case with no FAs: You can spark them, but you can't use them afterwards.
***Item Arts only is hell. Already tried it, and you just can't deal enough damage without high level Shards against certain encounters. Unless... it probably has something to do with union construction. Still, too little damage in the alloted time.
EDIT: AHAHAHAHAHAAAA! I BEAT THE DOMINATOR AT BR2 WITH 2 UNIONS AND 6 PARTY MEMBERS. IT WAS FUN! And I don't think I want to do that ever again.
Anyways, more important things. やりこみ NOTES. Basically, playing the game with a set of restrictions/rules.
No Unique Leaders -> Only Generic Leaders/Only the Athlum Army/mix of both.
Race specific runs: Only Mitra/Qsiti/Yama/(good luck finding generic Sovani and there are only 5 uniques)
National union: basically hiring only from a certain town.
No Fighting Arts/Mystic Arts/Item Arts.
Fighting Arts/Mystic Arts/Item Arts only.
Girls only.
Unique Girls only.
Soldier only.
Specific wield style only.
Minimum upgrades.
Emblem specific.
Mystic Seal only.
***The case with no FAs: You can spark them, but you can't use them afterwards.
***Item Arts only is hell. Already tried it, and you just can't deal enough damage without high level Shards against certain encounters. Unless... it probably has something to do with union construction. Still, too little damage in the alloted time.
EDIT: AHAHAHAHAHAAAA! I BEAT THE DOMINATOR AT BR2 WITH 2 UNIONS AND 6 PARTY MEMBERS. IT WAS FUN! And I don't think I want to do that ever again.
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