So it took only about a month for the physical testing kit to come in for the inFAMOUS Paper Trail ARG. I had already done the online test while the site was slightly broken and had gotten 92% Pressurized Water. It was later corrected to Smoke, but I do have to wonder what all the different powers are. Maybe it's really just the ones that were listed in the other sites linked to Paper Trail. Either way, it might have to wait until the weekend before I take a poke at it. Got lots of things to take care of this week.
Oh, and I picked up the Collector's Edition. The beanie was inside the box~ ...Unfortunately, it was also kinda broken. So, I fixed it. Kinda badly. Have I ever mentioned that I suck at things like sewing? Something must have happened with the knit and stitching, because it was starting to fall apart at one quadrant. It was easy enough to patch up since it was easy to see all the loops. Granted, the glasses had to come off to really get in there, but at least it's wearable without fear of it unravelling on me. Hopefully. It's actually quite comfortable. Come to think of it, it's really the first hat that I've found comfortable and wouldn't mind wearing. Minus the static and hat hair, of course.
Everything else in the box was kinda cute. Not sure if I want to use the buttons. I like having them, never been a fan of displaying my fandoms in public. Which I suppose is somewhat amusing when you see that I have Sigma Harmonics on the phone and an Airu on my bag (with 2 finger slings; it's pretty funny though, I like the Airu/Felynes but dislike playing Monster Hunter). Or maybe not as Sigma Harmonics was never localized and was a pretty weird game, and the Airu is modelled after their PSP spin-off version. So those not familiar with imports wouldn't recognize them. Hell, one of my profs mistook the Airu for a weird pants Pokémon.
For the game itself... Can't even play it~ No PS4 yet. I had already watched a few streams a week before the game was officially out, so that satisfied my curiosity a bit. Kinda disappointed that the game is so short though, and a bit lacking on the karmic missions. Oh well. It was released within a year of the console's first year, so I can kinda forgive that. Hopefully the next one builds even further, although I'm expecting some interesting additions once their planned DLC is out. I've been hearing that the Paper Trail ARG is really well implemented. I'll have to check out this 42 Entertainment company... Now if only the site would stop dying every now and then~
Also checked out the trophy data. Looks like it'll be another easy Platinum. Had absolutely no trouble with 2's, and this looks even easier. And looks like Good is winning over Evil. Again. But from what I've seen from the playthroughs, it doesn't seem quite right to have Delsin go evil anyways... Evil may be more fun, but character-wise, it doesn't seem quite right (the neutral cutscenes are quite guilty of that). Well, I'll have to play for myself because of dropping in and out of livestreams. Gotta love those District Showdown interactions though. Wish there was a little more to it.
By the way? "Scraping the Sky"? Awesome track. And I maintain my opinion of Delsin being adorkable.
26 Mar 2014
23 Mar 2014
This must be Hell
I think I'm going to start counting how many times I've shouted expletives while playing a certain Xavi stage. They've managed to make the gimmick from 3/U worse. Granted, I was going at it with Matabei, who I'm not particularly good at using. He has a somewhat annoying pause when using some of his attacks, which isn't present once you throw away his boomerang. I think he's tied with Tenkai for absolute worst base DEF at 50 (it'll be 60 since you're not likely to get a weapon with 0 DEF). If the JP wiki is right... Kingo has the highest DEF. Wat. There are a few missing from the list, so...
Anyways, the stage. Every hit you suffer results in cutting your money. It's really too bad that they stick both Muneshige and Yoshihiro near the start of the stage to wipe out your funds, unless you happen to be really good at doing no-damage runs. I guess someone like Mitsunari (or even Kenshin) could wreck the stage. At least your partner getting hit doesn't count towards losing money, so I was using Naotora as an attack dog. Attack tiger? Eh, who cares. Playing on the Basara difficulty was kind of my fault since I wanted the trophy. At least I have a relatively easy way of grabbing EXP now. ... And it's not using Katsuie. I somehow ended up with all the EXP-related inscriptions while playing as Kojuurou, so he's been the one helping level the next ones up for story completion. Because HP is really that important./s
You can probably tell by now that I really like Kojuurou. But I should probably get an EXP farming weapon for Katsuie because he can wreck stages faster than Kojuurou when locked at Lv1. Plus, his gimmick lets him practically full-combo a stage, which is pretty awesome.
The other Xavi stage isn't that bad, although I haven't quite figured out how to "pray while the Waltz is in effect" part. It's probably related to the roulette at the top of the screen. That I can't, incidentally, fully read.
Capcom seems to have released challenge vids. It was a nice reminder that Yoshihiro's best movement technique is... dash jumping. He's funny in his own, sluggish, way. Thankfully with the system changes, Yoshihiro doesn't get his massive sword stuck in the ground as much. Because I suck at aiming that rather large chunk of metal. Seriously, it looks more suitable for breaking all the bones rather than cutting you. I think almost half his skills involve smashing you with it.
Oh yeah. Kinda noticed after a bit that you can see after beating a route with a character if they have other notable routes. So the most efficient would actually be clearing their "Creation" routes first, then selecting their "Drama"/"Anime" routes after. Only need to play 2 stages and the game plays all the dialogue leading to them. Which was great when I needed to finish up Hideyoshi's Drama route because I suck at playing grapple characters. Still fun, just wouldn't want to go at it at a higher difficulty.
I'll get an inFAMOUS post up at some point since Second Son is now out.
Anyways, the stage. Every hit you suffer results in cutting your money. It's really too bad that they stick both Muneshige and Yoshihiro near the start of the stage to wipe out your funds, unless you happen to be really good at doing no-damage runs. I guess someone like Mitsunari (or even Kenshin) could wreck the stage. At least your partner getting hit doesn't count towards losing money, so I was using Naotora as an attack dog. Attack tiger? Eh, who cares. Playing on the Basara difficulty was kind of my fault since I wanted the trophy. At least I have a relatively easy way of grabbing EXP now. ... And it's not using Katsuie. I somehow ended up with all the EXP-related inscriptions while playing as Kojuurou, so he's been the one helping level the next ones up for story completion. Because HP is really that important./s
You can probably tell by now that I really like Kojuurou. But I should probably get an EXP farming weapon for Katsuie because he can wreck stages faster than Kojuurou when locked at Lv1. Plus, his gimmick lets him practically full-combo a stage, which is pretty awesome.
The other Xavi stage isn't that bad, although I haven't quite figured out how to "pray while the Waltz is in effect" part. It's probably related to the roulette at the top of the screen. That I can't, incidentally, fully read.
Capcom seems to have released challenge vids. It was a nice reminder that Yoshihiro's best movement technique is... dash jumping. He's funny in his own, sluggish, way. Thankfully with the system changes, Yoshihiro doesn't get his massive sword stuck in the ground as much. Because I suck at aiming that rather large chunk of metal. Seriously, it looks more suitable for breaking all the bones rather than cutting you. I think almost half his skills involve smashing you with it.
Oh yeah. Kinda noticed after a bit that you can see after beating a route with a character if they have other notable routes. So the most efficient would actually be clearing their "Creation" routes first, then selecting their "Drama"/"Anime" routes after. Only need to play 2 stages and the game plays all the dialogue leading to them. Which was great when I needed to finish up Hideyoshi's Drama route because I suck at playing grapple characters. Still fun, just wouldn't want to go at it at a higher difficulty.
I'll get an inFAMOUS post up at some point since Second Son is now out.
5 Mar 2014
DRAGON BOOST
Yep. Got 戦国BASARA4 in about a week ago. Still haven't unlocked everything, which is a bit of a shock, to be honest. Then again, I didn't expect some of the changes to the game that would make it a little bit more difficult. Normally, Hard would be relatively easy for most characters starting from Lv1 (Kenshin is arguably the most broken character in the series, even if he's cherry-tapping all the way). About 12 more stages need to be unlocked, although I think I've gotten most of the weirder stages for now. Don't really care about the Matabei invasion stages since it's really just an extra boss fight on top of what's already in that stage. Unfortunately, I read that there are more than 42 stages involved with the "beat all stages" trophy. So I think I'll need to track down all the "outbreak" stages, which are likely going to be the duels missing. Don't remember which ones I've already done...
It was nice of them to not make Kojuurou an NPC again for the main installment (he's graduated!). Don't really want to wait another year before the expansion inevitably comes out to play as him. And it turns out that "Bontenmaru" line was part of a flashback. The story was actually kinda cute. Little Masamune was such a little brat~ Too bad about only having 1 ending though. Want Yoshiteru playable. He seems pretty interesting, and should be as broken as possible considering the kind of hell he can give you during his fight. Although that might be because of trying to take him on without too many upgrades to my weapons and not really knowing how to use Hideyoshi (lol, I can't do chain grabs to save my life).
Should slowly get through the rest of the characters. It'll be interesting to see who kills who, who doesn't kill certain characters, etc. In other words, waiting on the announcement of the script book because I'm very sure that I won't trigger every possible convo. Some had rather strict conditions before they popped.
By the way, Masamune? Spinning your katana like that doesn't give you flight. You're not flying a jet-horse. And I think that's cheating when you're trying to do a race. Love the fact that Kojuurou just stands there with a straight face when Masamune takes off like that. Then again, he does that a lot.
Another thing I noticed... I didn't see Tsuchibayashi's name for character designer. Maybe I missed it, but pretty sure that it's not there. His personal site doesn't even list 3 Utage, so maybe there's a change to a different designer from now on...?
ETA: Ah, that's why. Since SB4 is considered a parallel universe (amongst all the other parallels), they're going with something new. Kinda also explains why they're a little bit on the scrawny side. Production IG's characters tend to be rather slim. Looks like SB's got some sort of multiverse thing going since there are a few constants here and there, and some variation elsewhere.
It was nice of them to not make Kojuurou an NPC again for the main installment (he's graduated!). Don't really want to wait another year before the expansion inevitably comes out to play as him. And it turns out that "Bontenmaru" line was part of a flashback. The story was actually kinda cute. Little Masamune was such a little brat~ Too bad about only having 1 ending though. Want Yoshiteru playable. He seems pretty interesting, and should be as broken as possible considering the kind of hell he can give you during his fight. Although that might be because of trying to take him on without too many upgrades to my weapons and not really knowing how to use Hideyoshi (lol, I can't do chain grabs to save my life).
Should slowly get through the rest of the characters. It'll be interesting to see who kills who, who doesn't kill certain characters, etc. In other words, waiting on the announcement of the script book because I'm very sure that I won't trigger every possible convo. Some had rather strict conditions before they popped.
By the way, Masamune? Spinning your katana like that doesn't give you flight. You're not flying a jet-horse. And I think that's cheating when you're trying to do a race. Love the fact that Kojuurou just stands there with a straight face when Masamune takes off like that. Then again, he does that a lot.
Another thing I noticed... I didn't see Tsuchibayashi's name for character designer. Maybe I missed it, but pretty sure that it's not there. His personal site doesn't even list 3 Utage, so maybe there's a change to a different designer from now on...?
ETA: Ah, that's why. Since SB4 is considered a parallel universe (amongst all the other parallels), they're going with something new. Kinda also explains why they're a little bit on the scrawny side. Production IG's characters tend to be rather slim. Looks like SB's got some sort of multiverse thing going since there are a few constants here and there, and some variation elsewhere.
2 Mar 2014
SaGa, and other things
Well, the teaser from not too long ago was been revealed to be a Romancing SaGa event of sorts. Learned something new too: there's a prefecture called Saga there, which is the location of a sort of collaboration between the two. Needless to say, no one (that I've seen so far from the English-speaking community) is actually happy about this. I'm intrigued though since the actual 25th anniversary isn't until some time in December. Not sure if the whole anniversary thing is going to focus on the entire series as a whole or if it's going to focus on the Romancing SaGa sub-series. Either way, it'll be interesting to see what happens. Doubt they're going to put out another soundtrack collection (and I don't think I'd buy it since I already have the 20th Anniversary edition).
Been keeping an eye out for inFAMOUS Second Son news every now and then, so I think I'm mostly up-to-date on that front. What I didn't realize was that the SRP is now $10 higher than I anticipated. Kinda makes me wish that I had pre-ordered it on Amazon instead of at a local store, but I'm not sure about getting the pre-order bonuses from them. That, and I normally don't pre-order games that far in advance... Oh well.
One of the things that's starting to concern me is the graphics, funny enough. It's not that it's not a pretty game (it is!), but that there are some very glaring differences between the different builds we've seen so far. And shadows. Delsin doesn't seem to be casting a shadow from all light sources (self-shadowing is present, which is good). It's likely that there was some sort of performance hit somewhere along the line that resulted in some of the changes. Possible that there were just "too many" light sources for it to be feasible. Trade-offs and whatnot. Or maybe the E3 build, which was definitely one of the prettier builds (at least in terms of texturing), is what we're to expect. Or maybe it just won't be that noticeable in the long run because the screens we'll be playing on wouldn't be exposing all those flaws in the first place. I know that I wouldn't be able to pick out some really minor details if I tried with my current setup (and the current pair of glasses I'm wearing, but it's mostly the distance from the screen).
Speaking of different builds... New gameplay vids have come out, although in Russian. Can't understand a single word~ Looking pretty fun, and the reflections are looking great. Getting a bit of rain while looking up is a nice touch. The UI is pretty ugly, although the first games weren't really that notable either. So nothing new in that regard. Feels kinda weird seeing the energy bar on the bottom left though. But damn. The mini-map? I LOVE IT. Not only does it show your location, but also the cityscape based on the camera's direction! It's a really nice touch. For the gameplay, great to see that when using Precision mode with Neon, you can see a red highlight for an execution (headshot) and a blue highlight (leg) for a non-lethal takedown. Shoot that area while using Precision, and you have your result.
Thief reviews have come in. It's interesting to see the split so far. To be honest, the split was pretty much expected.
Been keeping an eye out for inFAMOUS Second Son news every now and then, so I think I'm mostly up-to-date on that front. What I didn't realize was that the SRP is now $10 higher than I anticipated. Kinda makes me wish that I had pre-ordered it on Amazon instead of at a local store, but I'm not sure about getting the pre-order bonuses from them. That, and I normally don't pre-order games that far in advance... Oh well.
One of the things that's starting to concern me is the graphics, funny enough. It's not that it's not a pretty game (it is!), but that there are some very glaring differences between the different builds we've seen so far. And shadows. Delsin doesn't seem to be casting a shadow from all light sources (self-shadowing is present, which is good). It's likely that there was some sort of performance hit somewhere along the line that resulted in some of the changes. Possible that there were just "too many" light sources for it to be feasible. Trade-offs and whatnot. Or maybe the E3 build, which was definitely one of the prettier builds (at least in terms of texturing), is what we're to expect. Or maybe it just won't be that noticeable in the long run because the screens we'll be playing on wouldn't be exposing all those flaws in the first place. I know that I wouldn't be able to pick out some really minor details if I tried with my current setup (and the current pair of glasses I'm wearing, but it's mostly the distance from the screen).
Speaking of different builds... New gameplay vids have come out, although in Russian. Can't understand a single word~ Looking pretty fun, and the reflections are looking great. Getting a bit of rain while looking up is a nice touch. The UI is pretty ugly, although the first games weren't really that notable either. So nothing new in that regard. Feels kinda weird seeing the energy bar on the bottom left though. But damn. The mini-map? I LOVE IT. Not only does it show your location, but also the cityscape based on the camera's direction! It's a really nice touch. For the gameplay, great to see that when using Precision mode with Neon, you can see a red highlight for an execution (headshot) and a blue highlight (leg) for a non-lethal takedown. Shoot that area while using Precision, and you have your result.
Thief reviews have come in. It's interesting to see the split so far. To be honest, the split was pretty much expected.
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