So... I've clocked about 4 hours of Bayonetta already. It was apparent within the first few minutes of play that this game was not seriously optimized for the PS3's architecture. WHAT THE HELL WAS SEGA THINKING?! Not saying that it's completely unplayable, but it's just a disappointment knowing that it's not up to par with the 360 version. It's a good game, but could be MUCH better. Like... I was hoping for an HD install to cut down on load times because of the Blu-Ray's lower peak read speed. Did we get one? Nope. Loading times like that are completely unacceptable. Not even Tales of the Abyss was that bad, and it was ripped pretty badly for the load times. The Ryu Ga Gotoku team would have been PERFECT for this if they weren't so busy working on the 5th game, which I can't blame them for and damn if I'm not intrigued by the series now. BUT NO, THEY JUST HAD TO HAND IT OFF TO A THIRD-RATE TEAM (or so I heard).
This also reflects quite badly on Platinum. Pretty sure that they're not very proud of the port, and they should have taken the reins earlier to ensure quality or at least demanded that a better team to take charge. Or better yet... delay the game to polish it up. A LOT. Going between the 360 and PS3 is not a simply matter of conversion. I have no idea how to program, and even I understand this concept. The PS3's CPU is a complete monster compared to typical processors. One main core with 6 split mini-cores, while the 360's is a triple-core system IIRC. There's no need to even get technical with this. Just looking at that already presents a HUGE number of complications. Now, if they had something like Capcom's MT Framework, which they used for Lost Plant, biohazard 5 and Devil May Cry 4, it would have been easier to go back and forth AND have the flexibility to optimize for each system. And even maybe even port it to the PC for fanatics. That being said...
...
THIS GAME IS AWESOME!
Yeah, could be (well, should be) a lot better because of technical issues plaguing it, but for what it is, it's a really well made game. Thoroughly amused by the Ookami, Viewtiful Joe, Mad World, biohazard, and Devil May Cry references I've caught so far. There may be quite a few I've missed because of visual cues or I haven't played the game that's being referenced before. But I'm only up to the 4th chapter, so I'm not that far into it. Actually, I'm kinda stuck. Mostly because I REALLY suck at this game and my pride is just refusing to let me go to a lower difficulty level. And mostly because I don't want to spend 20 hours on Easy Automatic learning how to play the game. But hey, at least I'm getting better at using Witch Time! I just need to learn how to use everything else now! ... Yeah, I suck at this. It's like learning how to play a completely different game from DMC. Yes, some experience would be helpful, but it's quite literally a completely different beast to tame. If it ran a little faster, maybe I wouldn't be having this much trouble...?
Dante turned into a historian/journalist/paranormal investigator! Actually, that's incidentally what Kamiya wanted him to be in the first place: a paranormal investigator. Also laughed at Bayo insulting the black and white guns, calling them toys. Ebony&Ivory are also black and white, but are specially made for Dante. One for quick drawing and fire, the other for accuracy. "Antonio Redgrave" was the name of the guy who left a bunch of notes all over Vigrid. "Tony" is a nickname for someone named "Antonio." Incidentally, I know someone who's named Antonio but goes by Tony. So... Tony Redgrave, AKA Dante, is in the game. The name is also on Dante's guns, but it was never really elaborated upon, other than the now retconned to non-canon novel. Bayo also shouts "HENSHIN A-GO-GO BABY!" during a rather amusing sequence. Enemy surfing on lava! Also insults a flying enemy... with "Flock-off, featherface!" Gee, I wonder who said that... Right! Dante to Gryphon! There's also the 20 year thing... Dante lost his remaining family 20 years before DMC1 started. Bayo was woken up 20 years before her game starts. Bayo falling to the ground produces butterflies. Ammy (Amaterasu) moving sprouts flowers. Both are girls~
I think that's enough gushing for now. I wouldn't be too surprised if both Bayonetta and Devil May Cry took place in the same universe, just that events are happening at different time periods, or just on different continents. Of course, this is just wild mass guessing on my part. This IS Kamiya after all.
31 Oct 2009
28 Oct 2009
:3
So... Bayonetta will be here in about 2 days. Maybe. All I know is that it'll be here soon-ish. Yay for breaking street dates (even though it's illegal) and early shipments from Japan. And to think that people have already finished the game and are moving on to unlocking costumes. I only really like the kimono one so far...
OK... Time to finish up that paper!
OK... Time to finish up that paper!
25 Oct 2009
Video stuff
You know... I've always been fascinated by audio/video tech. Makes me wonder why the hell didn't I go into that instead of the life sciences (other than the fact that I'm decent in it and have no experience in the other). In fact, one of my friends actually called me out on it, asking why I'm sticking with biochem and nutrition (even though I've never said that I was interested in nutrition) when my interests clearly laid in game development, computers and generally improving the tech around the house.
Why am I typing this up? Because... I recently ordered an S-video cable after HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN GAMING?! Really should have gotten one when I got the PS2, but never really thought about it because of the graphical jump. Everything then just looked prettier and shiny (was 13, can't really blame me). And now? The jump to HD from SD is just insane, especially the CLARITY of the games. Even then, most games have the option of running at 480p or 720p outputs, although some are actually running at sub-HD levels. Anti-aliasing and other techniques really help mask that, and most people wouldn't know the difference anyways unless they hook it up to something to get the hard evidence. Besides, it also adds unnecessary fuel to the console wars when games are ported or optimized for a certain system. Mind you, I only have a PS3 simply because of how it suits my gaming habits: tend to play Japanese(-only) games, and also doubles as a Blu-Ray player. Wouldn't mind having a 360 actually, but that would mean I'd need both an NTSC-U/C and NTSC-J system to cover what I want to play. Oh, and maybe move to Japan for some demos. Not worth the effort, really.
Now, where was I going with this...? Right, tech stuff. While I do have the option of using the HDTV, I'd have to fight against my parents for it, and that would be an auto-loss on any given day. The only way to secure it is to wait until my mom's out for at least 2 hours. So... my other option is using the TV I'm watching right now: a rather large and OLD CRT. It's so old that I think that it's been in the house for about 15 years already. To put that into perspective, I'm currently 21. Not that anyone needs to know that
Now, the set-up is something of a home theatre, although I can't take advantage of the sound system (nothing's long enough), I CAN improve on the image quality. The composite cables are actually from the PS1 era, so you know that Sony's cables can last if you take care of them properly. Then again, that can be said of almost everything. Almost. What really pushed me over the edge was the fact that there's this little connection that always bothered me: "S-Video". Never really knew what that was, never bothered asking until now. I don't remember how or why, but I stumbled across these pages about fixed screen ratios and other things about playing classics on the new TVs without them looking like absolute crap. Now, my classic systems are locked up for the most part, simply because the controllers don't work and I can emulate them on a PSP. If I were curious enough to use them on the HD, I'd go back to those pages and start making a set-up for myself. Now if only I can find new/barely used working SNES controllers. Still need to beat Super Mario World because someone was "smart" enough to erase all the files.
And to think that I used to play on this old TV with mono sound and that weird one (and funny metallic smelling) wire for both audio and video. Again, I'd have to fight my parents to play on a better TV. It was the RF connector that I used first for the SNES. Never owned an NES, and it still looks ugly compared to the Famicom, but I'm pretty sure that my relatives that had one used the composite video. Of course at that time, I never noticed any sort of degradation of video and sound. I bet that if I went back to it while comparing to other set ups, scientific method of course, that I would be able to see and hear differences. Then the parents got a new TV, and passed on the older (and somewhat angry) one, which then switched over to composite video. It's an improvement, but I never noticed. Why? Other than the fact that I'm pretty near-sighted. Large, curved screen. And the fact that CRTs mask certain things about sprite work, making them not look as harsh with their sharp pointy pixels. Seriously, compare playing on an emulator to playing on a CRT. The GameBoy emulator I'm using even has an option to soften the display, and it looks much closer to what I remember seeing on the actual thing. This continued well into using the N64/PS1, then PS2, and now the PS3. At least until my cable arrives in the mail! OK... I also have a Wii, but I'm still waiting for other games to come out since no one's playing Brawl on my Friends List (and I'd much rather play them in-person).
1080p looks awesome, so I have no problem with that. 480i/480p is acceptable, since it's what I've played with for so long. It's just that 720p capable games downscaled to 480p is incredibly painful to read if not done right. Disgaea 3 and Demon's Souls are EXTREMELY guilty of this. Never had I ever had to squint so much just to read numbers, and numbers are incredibly important in these types of games! Devil May Cry 4 got it right with the text size. Then again, a game like that doesn't really need too much text. Sub-titles were readable. MGS4 gave me a bit of trouble, but it wasn't too bad. Hopefully the S-Video cable will improve things. I really want to get back into playing Disgaea 3, but after 200+ hours of squinting? No thanks. Doubly so for my recordings. Don't want stuff to look like crap after being trashed around by YouTube's converters.
I type too much.
Why am I typing this up? Because... I recently ordered an S-video cable after HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN GAMING?! Really should have gotten one when I got the PS2, but never really thought about it because of the graphical jump. Everything then just looked prettier and shiny (was 13, can't really blame me). And now? The jump to HD from SD is just insane, especially the CLARITY of the games. Even then, most games have the option of running at 480p or 720p outputs, although some are actually running at sub-HD levels. Anti-aliasing and other techniques really help mask that, and most people wouldn't know the difference anyways unless they hook it up to something to get the hard evidence. Besides, it also adds unnecessary fuel to the console wars when games are ported or optimized for a certain system. Mind you, I only have a PS3 simply because of how it suits my gaming habits: tend to play Japanese(-only) games, and also doubles as a Blu-Ray player. Wouldn't mind having a 360 actually, but that would mean I'd need both an NTSC-U/C and NTSC-J system to cover what I want to play. Oh, and maybe move to Japan for some demos. Not worth the effort, really.
Now, where was I going with this...? Right, tech stuff. While I do have the option of using the HDTV, I'd have to fight against my parents for it, and that would be an auto-loss on any given day. The only way to secure it is to wait until my mom's out for at least 2 hours. So... my other option is using the TV I'm watching right now: a rather large and OLD CRT. It's so old that I think that it's been in the house for about 15 years already. To put that into perspective, I'm currently 21. Not that anyone needs to know that
Now, the set-up is something of a home theatre, although I can't take advantage of the sound system (nothing's long enough), I CAN improve on the image quality. The composite cables are actually from the PS1 era, so you know that Sony's cables can last if you take care of them properly. Then again, that can be said of almost everything. Almost. What really pushed me over the edge was the fact that there's this little connection that always bothered me: "S-Video". Never really knew what that was, never bothered asking until now. I don't remember how or why, but I stumbled across these pages about fixed screen ratios and other things about playing classics on the new TVs without them looking like absolute crap. Now, my classic systems are locked up for the most part, simply because the controllers don't work and I can emulate them on a PSP. If I were curious enough to use them on the HD, I'd go back to those pages and start making a set-up for myself. Now if only I can find new/barely used working SNES controllers. Still need to beat Super Mario World because someone was "smart" enough to erase all the files.
And to think that I used to play on this old TV with mono sound and that weird one (and funny metallic smelling) wire for both audio and video. Again, I'd have to fight my parents to play on a better TV. It was the RF connector that I used first for the SNES. Never owned an NES, and it still looks ugly compared to the Famicom, but I'm pretty sure that my relatives that had one used the composite video. Of course at that time, I never noticed any sort of degradation of video and sound. I bet that if I went back to it while comparing to other set ups, scientific method of course, that I would be able to see and hear differences. Then the parents got a new TV, and passed on the older (and somewhat angry) one, which then switched over to composite video. It's an improvement, but I never noticed. Why? Other than the fact that I'm pretty near-sighted. Large, curved screen. And the fact that CRTs mask certain things about sprite work, making them not look as harsh with their sharp pointy pixels. Seriously, compare playing on an emulator to playing on a CRT. The GameBoy emulator I'm using even has an option to soften the display, and it looks much closer to what I remember seeing on the actual thing. This continued well into using the N64/PS1, then PS2, and now the PS3. At least until my cable arrives in the mail! OK... I also have a Wii, but I'm still waiting for other games to come out since no one's playing Brawl on my Friends List (and I'd much rather play them in-person).
1080p looks awesome, so I have no problem with that. 480i/480p is acceptable, since it's what I've played with for so long. It's just that 720p capable games downscaled to 480p is incredibly painful to read if not done right. Disgaea 3 and Demon's Souls are EXTREMELY guilty of this. Never had I ever had to squint so much just to read numbers, and numbers are incredibly important in these types of games! Devil May Cry 4 got it right with the text size. Then again, a game like that doesn't really need too much text. Sub-titles were readable. MGS4 gave me a bit of trouble, but it wasn't too bad. Hopefully the S-Video cable will improve things. I really want to get back into playing Disgaea 3, but after 200+ hours of squinting? No thanks. Doubly so for my recordings. Don't want stuff to look like crap after being trashed around by YouTube's converters.
I type too much.
Another few!
Got the Red Dragon after about 79 arrows to it. It's probably a lot closer to 73 arrows though since I missed a few times, but I used 79 for the venture. Not too bad for only using a Compound Long Bow +1. It's now up to Sticky Compound Long Bow +3. Should really get going with farming Shards and Chunks of Spiderstone.
Got through 2-2 so I can finally start forging the more advanced weapon branches. The Dragon God however... Keeps punching me out, so I'm not too keen on approaching that fight for the next little while. Almost did get to the second harpoon launcher thing. Also, I'm surprised that Warding was effective against the Dragon God's punches. Thought that it would go straight through the defense and outright kill me. The fire breath still does, which is what is now preventing me from finishing the damn level. Still, getting roasted without getting punched out is already a vast improvement. Now all I need to do is just, well, RUN FASTER AND SMASH THOSE PILLARS. Then run away. Really fast. Damn it, I should have focused more on Endurance for more stamina and not so much on Strength since most of my weapons aren't modified by that stat. Whoops. Not to mention that I'm being more and more like an archer than a mage.
Tower of Latria has been completely finished, but I didn't manage to get it to PWWT, so I missed out on a few things. Killed off the Leechmonger in 5-1, but wary of going into 5-2 because of the poison swamps. I don't know how many arrows I should carry with me before dealing with it. Also don't have any Colourless Demon's Souls to upgrade the Adjudicator's Shield, nor do I have any Blessed weaponry or the Regenerator's Ring. I DO have the Black Leather set for higher poison resistance. The Shrine of Storms is going to be hell. I only meant to push it into Black WT, but dying another time pushed it all the way to PBWT. Got the Black Phantom Satsuki on my tail now, meaning that I can't proceed any further until I finish my little duel with him. Can't get hit once or else... Not to mention that I have to finish fighting him before finishing 4-1 to get to 4-2's boss to get the Soul for the "Second Chance" miracle. Shouldn't forget that I haven't rescued Saint Urbain yet. Guess I should farm 1-3 until I can get enough Souls to bring my magic stat up to 24 for the Epee Rapier. That's going to more useful since I can hide behind my shield while making jabs.
Bayonetta will be here in about a week's time! And I won't have Demon's Souls on hand since I'm lending it to a friend.
Got through 2-2 so I can finally start forging the more advanced weapon branches. The Dragon God however... Keeps punching me out, so I'm not too keen on approaching that fight for the next little while. Almost did get to the second harpoon launcher thing. Also, I'm surprised that Warding was effective against the Dragon God's punches. Thought that it would go straight through the defense and outright kill me. The fire breath still does, which is what is now preventing me from finishing the damn level. Still, getting roasted without getting punched out is already a vast improvement. Now all I need to do is just, well, RUN FASTER AND SMASH THOSE PILLARS. Then run away. Really fast. Damn it, I should have focused more on Endurance for more stamina and not so much on Strength since most of my weapons aren't modified by that stat. Whoops. Not to mention that I'm being more and more like an archer than a mage.
Tower of Latria has been completely finished, but I didn't manage to get it to PWWT, so I missed out on a few things. Killed off the Leechmonger in 5-1, but wary of going into 5-2 because of the poison swamps. I don't know how many arrows I should carry with me before dealing with it. Also don't have any Colourless Demon's Souls to upgrade the Adjudicator's Shield, nor do I have any Blessed weaponry or the Regenerator's Ring. I DO have the Black Leather set for higher poison resistance. The Shrine of Storms is going to be hell. I only meant to push it into Black WT, but dying another time pushed it all the way to PBWT. Got the Black Phantom Satsuki on my tail now, meaning that I can't proceed any further until I finish my little duel with him. Can't get hit once or else... Not to mention that I have to finish fighting him before finishing 4-1 to get to 4-2's boss to get the Soul for the "Second Chance" miracle. Shouldn't forget that I haven't rescued Saint Urbain yet. Guess I should farm 1-3 until I can get enough Souls to bring my magic stat up to 24 for the Epee Rapier. That's going to more useful since I can hide behind my shield while making jabs.
Bayonetta will be here in about a week's time! And I won't have Demon's Souls on hand since I'm lending it to a friend.
17 Oct 2009
Two more Demons down!
OK, made to to Soul Level 22 and it's getting much more expensive than anticipated for raising stats now. Time to just finish 2-1 with using as few items as possible then hop onto the server for 1-2 and watch those (not so) poor souls get roasted. Never mind. Just sniped with Soul Arrow, Compound Longbow+2 and hiding behind a pillar. 2-1's actually pretty nice for farming some materials, although it seems like I've already missed 2 of those crystal geckos. Also beat the boss there, so the fire-breathing armor spider is no more. Off to 3-1, Tower of Latria! I REALLY HATE THOSE MINDFLAYERS. HOLY CRAP THEY CAN ALMOST ONE SHOT ME.
I should probably start worrying about my World Tendency. World 3 is getting pretty dark, while Boleteria's practically white. World 4 isn't too bad, but apparently it being pure black is the best for farming both souls and materials. Gotta stop freaking out against those dual-wielding katana black skeletons. The white ones are easy enough now, but the black ones are still a problem. Maybe I'll snipe them from a distance since my longbow is pretty strong for now. And I have way too many arrows. Actually, it still takes too many arrows to kill, and too much time as well. One shot makes it move, so you have to wait until it gets into range again before you can take another shot at it. Killing it DOES net you about 1000 souls. Going to keep farming to buy the Ring of Avarice from the singing woman in the Tower of Latria. Only need about 45000 more souls! It's not too bad since my Soul Level's pretty high now. Maybe I should take on that Red-Eyed knight?
I wonder where that red dragon went... I sniped it with over 100 arrows, but it flew off, so I don't know if I can find it to kill it off for good. It's still scorching stuff in 1-2.
I should probably start worrying about my World Tendency. World 3 is getting pretty dark, while Boleteria's practically white. World 4 isn't too bad, but apparently it being pure black is the best for farming both souls and materials. Gotta stop freaking out against those dual-wielding katana black skeletons. The white ones are easy enough now, but the black ones are still a problem. Maybe I'll snipe them from a distance since my longbow is pretty strong for now. And I have way too many arrows. Actually, it still takes too many arrows to kill, and too much time as well. One shot makes it move, so you have to wait until it gets into range again before you can take another shot at it. Killing it DOES net you about 1000 souls. Going to keep farming to buy the Ring of Avarice from the singing woman in the Tower of Latria. Only need about 45000 more souls! It's not too bad since my Soul Level's pretty high now. Maybe I should take on that Red-Eyed knight?
I wonder where that red dragon went... I sniped it with over 100 arrows, but it flew off, so I don't know if I can find it to kill it off for good. It's still scorching stuff in 1-2.
13 Oct 2009
Farming souls
Eh?! Bon Jovi's doing the theme song for FFCC: The Crystal Bearers?! That's... Yeah, "what the hell?!" basically sums up my response. Still, I haven't actually heard the track, so I'll reserve judgement until then.
Died a bunch more times due to being sleepy and just goofing around. I probably shouldn't do that since it affects my Tendency in a negative manner... if I were in my body. I'm still getting roasted by that dragon, mostly because I keep rushing ahead without waiting for it to make its rounds. Also, OSTRAVA YOU SUCK BIG TIME. YOU DO NOT ENGAGE THE ENEMY LIKE A FREAKIN' KNIGHT TEMPLAR YOU DUMB PIECE OF &$%#$. Though... That did net me the Mausoleum Key, so... STILL. NOW I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL MY NEXT PLAYTHROUGH BEFORE I CAN SAVE YOUR SORRY ASS (AGAIN).
*ahem* Anyways, farming souls in 4-1 against the White Skeletons to raise my stats. Hoping to get to Soul Level 15~17 then continuing on with 2-1. I'm skipping 1-2 for the time being so I can go online with that chapter. It seems that being on the server hurries along the dragon a bit, so maybe I won't get roasted as often.
Died a bunch more times due to being sleepy and just goofing around. I probably shouldn't do that since it affects my Tendency in a negative manner... if I were in my body. I'm still getting roasted by that dragon, mostly because I keep rushing ahead without waiting for it to make its rounds. Also, OSTRAVA YOU SUCK BIG TIME. YOU DO NOT ENGAGE THE ENEMY LIKE A FREAKIN' KNIGHT TEMPLAR YOU DUMB PIECE OF &$%#$. Though... That did net me the Mausoleum Key, so... STILL. NOW I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL MY NEXT PLAYTHROUGH BEFORE I CAN SAVE YOUR SORRY ASS (AGAIN).
*ahem* Anyways, farming souls in 4-1 against the White Skeletons to raise my stats. Hoping to get to Soul Level 15~17 then continuing on with 2-1. I'm skipping 1-2 for the time being so I can go online with that chapter. It seems that being on the server hurries along the dragon a bit, so maybe I won't get roasted as often.
12 Oct 2009
One Demon down...
Well, I restarted the game as a Royal because I wasn't getting anywhere as a Thief. I'm probably going to play this game twice (or more) anyways, so starting as an "easier" class would be a better idea for someone who isn't familiar with these kinds of games. Within the time frame that I played as a royal, I was killed a few times (about 5?), accidentally let Ostrava die (or did I accidentally kill him?) and killed the Phalanx by pelting it with firebombs, magic and setting it on fire with my scimitar covered in turpentine. Shortly afterwards, I got roasted by a dragon while crossing a bridge. Woohoo.
... I need to upgrade my equipment some more, but I lost my souls on the stupid bridge after being toasted. It was funny seeing all the phantoms running around and "dying" from the same mistake though! At least I'm not alone with the dying from stupid things... And really, the game's worth playing online if your connection's stable enough to stay on the server for an extended period of time. A lot of the messages and bloodstains are helpful~
... I need to upgrade my equipment some more, but I lost my souls on the stupid bridge after being toasted. It was funny seeing all the phantoms running around and "dying" from the same mistake though! At least I'm not alone with the dying from stupid things... And really, the game's worth playing online if your connection's stable enough to stay on the server for an extended period of time. A lot of the messages and bloodstains are helpful~
11 Oct 2009
Dying isn't that fun, but it's fun to OHKO!
OK, I'm annoyed. PS3 Bayonetta's screens looked really washed out on the net... but when I was playing the demo just now on the HDTV, everything looked comparable to the 360 version. Except for the massive screen tearing and a few framerate issues. But even then, the framerate problem didn't really pop up unless I was using a Climax Attack, Bayo blowing a kiss, or during the cutscenes (what). It's due to the settings from the PS3 that you can easily adjust, like activating the full colour range amongst other things.
Anyways... More death! None of the ones so far today were spectactularly bad in any way. Just running back and forth gathering souls and repairing equipment for now. And farming some of the grasses because I kinda stupidly used a whole bunch of them yesterday. OK, I lied. I did die in one stupid way: falling off a high platform. High enough to kill me in one shot. Twice. The second time was by accident though. And found out how to OHKO. Not very good at doing the attack, but it also nets you a few extra souls which is good for repairing and upgrading.
EDIT: Yay, someone uploaded a demo rip for Bayo's music! Boo because it looks like the boss music against Jeanne is exclusive to the PS3. I really like that track...
EDITx2: OK, someone managed to get a (fairly) clean rip of the boss music! Has something of a Spanish feel to it... Pretty heavy on an instrument I can't seem to ID and lots of piano (with some guitar mirroring it).
Anyways... More death! None of the ones so far today were spectactularly bad in any way. Just running back and forth gathering souls and repairing equipment for now. And farming some of the grasses because I kinda stupidly used a whole bunch of them yesterday. OK, I lied. I did die in one stupid way: falling off a high platform. High enough to kill me in one shot. Twice. The second time was by accident though. And found out how to OHKO. Not very good at doing the attack, but it also nets you a few extra souls which is good for repairing and upgrading.
EDIT: Yay, someone uploaded a demo rip for Bayo's music! Boo because it looks like the boss music against Jeanne is exclusive to the PS3. I really like that track...
EDITx2: OK, someone managed to get a (fairly) clean rip of the boss music! Has something of a Spanish feel to it... Pretty heavy on an instrument I can't seem to ID and lots of piano (with some guitar mirroring it).
10 Oct 2009
Whee. Playing Demon's Souls.
OK, died once against the giant demon in the tutorial level. Then again because a certain someone was telling me to get her cell. I was chased by a mook and it hurt. And now I'm down 180 odd souls. Next one was from a firebomb. Being set on fire really hurts. Then I died against being stabbed by a higher level knight while running around to get enough room to use healing items. Maybe starting as a Thief wasn't such a great idea. But it's so fun! I really didn't mind the fact that I even died because I actually deserved all those deaths. Except for the first 2 because one is mandatory and the other was due to an outside influence. Will go back to playing it after finishing up one assignment tonight.
Note to self... DON'T RUSH ANY OF THE STAGES. And repair equipment... All of it is starting to get worn out and I need more healing herbs.
Will post an update for all the other deaths that occur. And I should really play this game off-line. My connection's still so bad that I disconnect from the server after 15 minutes. Will also try playing it on the HDTV simply because I can't really read anything on the screen.
Note to self... DON'T RUSH ANY OF THE STAGES. And repair equipment... All of it is starting to get worn out and I need more healing herbs.
Will post an update for all the other deaths that occur. And I should really play this game off-line. My connection's still so bad that I disconnect from the server after 15 minutes. Will also try playing it on the HDTV simply because I can't really read anything on the screen.
9 Oct 2009
SaGa 2 finished!
Well, at least my first playthrough. The final boss took a grand total of 20 minutes to take down, something that I haven't done since MinSaGa. It was also harder because I used the Destiny Thread system... But I've never fought against Arsenal in the original before, so I don't know what the phases are like. All I know is that only my Human and Esper survived, and that's only because they had maxed stats and some protection against statuses. Holy hell, did everything hit hard. I don't even know what those Cancellers do, but I left them alone when I noticed that my team was taking in a little less damage. With the Excalibur in hand (which has inifinte uses), I just kept smacking Arsenal. I guess I know what I'm doing for the next while: Buffing up MANA stats like crazy because I'm pretty sure that the lasers use Mana in the damage calculations (hit little Meka insanely hard), and going through the Nasty Dungeon because damn it, I need a stronger monster. No god-tiered monster for me since the highest level monsters refused to drop any of their meat. It's apparently a 100% drop rate in the original, so...
Still haven't bothered with killing Odin in the original. Need to raise defenses, but I don't know a good leveling spot for that. May need to backtrack all the way back to Edo (one savestate there!) and just beat up stuff there. All you need to do is just use the corresponding equipment once in battle for it to register a chance of stat level up. Enemy stats approach ridiculous levels during end-game.
And the Bayonetta demo has been released. And it was awesome. I didn't care about the graphical issues, even though they were incredibly glaring (HUGE amount of tearing, didn't see too many framerate issues), because it was just fun! Anyways, some of my gameplay. Obviously, I suck at the game, but going in with DMC experience and after checking out Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (word salad title much?), it was easier than expected. Had a little trouble against Jeanne because of camera angles and the dark environment, but that may have been because of the recorder's settings. If the NA version of the game's graphics end up as clean as the 360's version, I may have to get that as well. It would make recording anything a lot nicer due to the quality. And I think I know why I can't seem to pull off Torture Attacks that often. The gauge under the life bar needs to be completely full.
EDIT: OK, so I've heard that this build is from around E3? What's up with that? If it's true... then why didn't Sega release a demo that's more indicative of final product? It's just an insult to those looking forward to the game. Also faulting Platinum here because it somewhat reeks of laziness for not taking control of the PS3 version. I'm not buying a 360 to play a more complete version of this.
Still haven't bothered with killing Odin in the original. Need to raise defenses, but I don't know a good leveling spot for that. May need to backtrack all the way back to Edo (one savestate there!) and just beat up stuff there. All you need to do is just use the corresponding equipment once in battle for it to register a chance of stat level up. Enemy stats approach ridiculous levels during end-game.
And the Bayonetta demo has been released. And it was awesome. I didn't care about the graphical issues, even though they were incredibly glaring (HUGE amount of tearing, didn't see too many framerate issues), because it was just fun! Anyways, some of my gameplay. Obviously, I suck at the game, but going in with DMC experience and after checking out Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (word salad title much?), it was easier than expected. Had a little trouble against Jeanne because of camera angles and the dark environment, but that may have been because of the recorder's settings. If the NA version of the game's graphics end up as clean as the 360's version, I may have to get that as well. It would make recording anything a lot nicer due to the quality. And I think I know why I can't seem to pull off Torture Attacks that often. The gauge under the life bar needs to be completely full.
EDIT: OK, so I've heard that this build is from around E3? What's up with that? If it's true... then why didn't Sega release a demo that's more indicative of final product? It's just an insult to those looking forward to the game. Also faulting Platinum here because it somewhat reeks of laziness for not taking control of the PS3 version. I'm not buying a 360 to play a more complete version of this.
4 Oct 2009
I got bored.
So bored, to the point where some of my stats are now complete overkill. *Without equipment on, unless you're Meka. Then it's Tank/Laser/Army armor/Dragon armor x3.
OK, so it's not really that impressive. It's more of a product of abusing one specific spot in Edo for their enemy groups. And the turbo function on the emulator. Engaging in a battle with 5-8 Knights or 4+ Gazers might not be such a bright idea, but it was pretty manageable. Got tons of money (1000~3000 Kero/fight) and equipment drops that could be sold for more money. I don't really need any of the elemental weapons or shields, and they sold for 8500 Kero each, so that's plenty of cash right there. Should have used the money to buy a Flare book, even if it's only 10 uses. Should have probably stuck around a while longer to start raising Kyle's Mana stat since that also affects the amount of HP recovered from a curative spell. Another thing, Esper growth rates suck.
Might go back to grind some more later. Going to get Mana stats up for the final stretch and catching up with the remake. Thing is... I don't think I'll replay this any time soon. It still feels really dated now, even though it's kinda fun. Maybe... After finishing SaGa1 and SaGa3. And getting my ass kicked in Bayonetta and Demon's Souls (when I get that...). By then, I might even be playing FFXIII... Oh well.
| Name | Kyle | Miri | Drak | Meka |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Species | Human M | Esper F | Fairy | Meka |
| HP | 879 | 571 | 373 | 618 |
| STR | 24 | 4 | 32 | 0 |
| DEF | 0 | 0 | 37 | 92 |
| AGL | 45 | 11 | 49 | 37 |
| MANA | 3 | 32 | 51 | 0 |
OK, so it's not really that impressive. It's more of a product of abusing one specific spot in Edo for their enemy groups. And the turbo function on the emulator. Engaging in a battle with 5-8 Knights or 4+ Gazers might not be such a bright idea, but it was pretty manageable. Got tons of money (1000~3000 Kero/fight) and equipment drops that could be sold for more money. I don't really need any of the elemental weapons or shields, and they sold for 8500 Kero each, so that's plenty of cash right there. Should have used the money to buy a Flare book, even if it's only 10 uses. Should have probably stuck around a while longer to start raising Kyle's Mana stat since that also affects the amount of HP recovered from a curative spell. Another thing, Esper growth rates suck.
Might go back to grind some more later. Going to get Mana stats up for the final stretch and catching up with the remake. Thing is... I don't think I'll replay this any time soon. It still feels really dated now, even though it's kinda fun. Maybe... After finishing SaGa1 and SaGa3. And getting my ass kicked in Bayonetta and Demon's Souls (when I get that...). By then, I might even be playing FFXIII... Oh well.
2 Oct 2009
Still not getting anywhere.
So after grinding a hell of a lot in SaGa2DS, I finally beat Odin (and those crows, Huugin and Muugin). Then I lose all my MAGI to Apollo (or is it Apollyon, a fallen angel?!), get Dad back, and realize that he's still a hell of a lot stronger than everyone in the party. HE HAS STATS IN THE 80s AND 700HP. WHAT THE HELL GUYS. I'M BARELY BREAKING 600 HERE. Actually, I'm more upset that I don't have the Masamue MAGI anymore. It was a cool looking weapon that can raise your STR if you used it. Onward to the Final Dungeon! Appropriate name, no?
Still haven't advanced too much further in the original. Got to Edo, but that was it. I pretty much lost my patience when it came to hunting down some meats for my Sprite to evolve in Venus' world while raising stats. It's the RNG that's really pissing me off right now. Looking for Thunders, then Hermits is a bit of a pain right now. I think I'll concentrate on getting the meats from Edo and evolving from what's there. Everyone's still vastly underpowered. Don't even know how I made it out of the dragon races... Not to mention that dying and resting at an inn doesn't get rid of status effects, so Kyle and Miri are still blind after an hour of play. Yay for practically everything but spells missing! And no Watcher meat either... If I see any of those stupid swords, I'm running. I might need to map out what I want to evolve my monster into. The DS version takes out most of the guesswork once you've filled out the Meat Dictionary, but you might need to fiddle around with paths for Special Mutations and Inheritance. Which is how I had a Red Bone with Cure when it normally wouldn't have it as part of its moveset.
Also, people are dumb.While poking at Twilightsucks.com's forums, I noticed that someone said that Twilight has invaded KH through weapon names. When I saw the names they were referring to, it was pretty obvious that they didn't do their research. Seriously, the names for the ones in question were the same in the Japanese version, and I just checked them against the wiki. The other weapons, when translated, were either accurate from the Japanese, or were phrased in a less Engrish-y way. There's also an underlying theme to the names. Saix's weapons ultimately refer to the moon. Roxas/Shion (since they share a weapon) refer to all sorts of things but most importantly, the concept of light and dark. Larxene... well, it specifically references a classic piece of music (whether or not it was intentional, I wouldn't know), as well as following the naming scheme of keeping everything FRENCH. And Riku's weapon, Way to the Dawn? Its name is significant to his character. He's pretty much coming out of the darkness, walking towards the light, hence "way to the dawn." Dawn is also the time when the sun is rising, driving away the dark night and ushering in the morning light. Are they really that blind?! AND I DON'T EVEN LIKE TWILIGHT, so it's not like I can defend it in the first place. (Never read the books, don't intend to, and just generally don't get the hype)
EDIT: Maybe I should put down the names...Roxas/Shion: Total Eclipse. Saix: New Moon, Twilight. Riku: Way to the Dawn. Larxene: Clair de Lune. TCG: Break of Dawn. The last one is actually kinda generic, so I'm not sure what the fuss is about. It also fits into the KH theme of light and dark. So... yeah, I don't see it. /edit
On a brighter note, I think I'm going to go ahead with pre-ordering Bayonetta once the funds finish transferring, and getting info on the pre-order bonus. I'd like to have "Rodin's Selection," considering how I missed out on Dante's Selection about 8 years ago. How typical of Kamiya~ And hope that my mom doesn't open the package once it arrives. It'd be interesting to see her reaction though...
Still haven't advanced too much further in the original. Got to Edo, but that was it. I pretty much lost my patience when it came to hunting down some meats for my Sprite to evolve in Venus' world while raising stats. It's the RNG that's really pissing me off right now. Looking for Thunders, then Hermits is a bit of a pain right now. I think I'll concentrate on getting the meats from Edo and evolving from what's there. Everyone's still vastly underpowered. Don't even know how I made it out of the dragon races... Not to mention that dying and resting at an inn doesn't get rid of status effects, so Kyle and Miri are still blind after an hour of play. Yay for practically everything but spells missing! And no Watcher meat either... If I see any of those stupid swords, I'm running. I might need to map out what I want to evolve my monster into. The DS version takes out most of the guesswork once you've filled out the Meat Dictionary, but you might need to fiddle around with paths for Special Mutations and Inheritance. Which is how I had a Red Bone with Cure when it normally wouldn't have it as part of its moveset.
Also, people are dumb.While poking at Twilightsucks.com's forums, I noticed that someone said that Twilight has invaded KH through weapon names. When I saw the names they were referring to, it was pretty obvious that they didn't do their research. Seriously, the names for the ones in question were the same in the Japanese version, and I just checked them against the wiki. The other weapons, when translated, were either accurate from the Japanese, or were phrased in a less Engrish-y way. There's also an underlying theme to the names. Saix's weapons ultimately refer to the moon. Roxas/Shion (since they share a weapon) refer to all sorts of things but most importantly, the concept of light and dark. Larxene... well, it specifically references a classic piece of music (whether or not it was intentional, I wouldn't know), as well as following the naming scheme of keeping everything FRENCH. And Riku's weapon, Way to the Dawn? Its name is significant to his character. He's pretty much coming out of the darkness, walking towards the light, hence "way to the dawn." Dawn is also the time when the sun is rising, driving away the dark night and ushering in the morning light. Are they really that blind?! AND I DON'T EVEN LIKE TWILIGHT, so it's not like I can defend it in the first place. (Never read the books, don't intend to, and just generally don't get the hype)
EDIT: Maybe I should put down the names...Roxas/Shion: Total Eclipse. Saix: New Moon, Twilight. Riku: Way to the Dawn. Larxene: Clair de Lune. TCG: Break of Dawn. The last one is actually kinda generic, so I'm not sure what the fuss is about. It also fits into the KH theme of light and dark. So... yeah, I don't see it. /edit
On a brighter note, I think I'm going to go ahead with pre-ordering Bayonetta once the funds finish transferring, and getting info on the pre-order bonus. I'd like to have "Rodin's Selection," considering how I missed out on Dante's Selection about 8 years ago. How typical of Kamiya~ And hope that my mom doesn't open the package once it arrives. It'd be interesting to see her reaction though...
30 Sept 2009
Stats lagging badly.
They're lagging so badly that there's going to be at least a 30-40 point difference between enemies and Kyle when it comes to AGL in the coming encounters. Don't even THINK about his MANA stat. His HP is going through the roof though, which may not be a bad thing, but it apparently affects the other stats' growth rates. Since I got ahead in the remake (and here I thought I was going to finish the original first), the dragon races are up next, while I'm at Valhalla in the other. Best to choose the slowest dragon for fewer encounters since I can't indirectly control battle order. Yeah, I like the "Fixed Battle Order" that I enountered in MinSaGa and AnSaga. It's already a huge pain trying to bring the human's and esper's AGL up since it's not always guaranteed. In the remake, there's always a base 10% or 5% chance respectively to raise stats, with a 15(+)% bonus depending on battle conditions. I don't even know for the original. Can't seem to find any kouryaku sites that have such data. Perhaps no one cares anymore since the remake is out? Or it's just way too old... Almost 19 years.
To give an idea of how bad this is... Kyle couldn't hit Venus for at least 5 rounds of combat. That's his 14AGL vs her 52AGL. It's up to 15AGL now, after about 30 minutes of grinding in the Base World abusing Punches because they're cheap and can eventually be transferred to my little mecha for a little *ahem* stat tweaking. It needs to be higher...! I need a minimum of 40AGL to feel safe at this point, to maybe dodge and actually hit stuff to not waste uses. I forgot how many Gold Sword uses I wasted against her because I couldn't hit a damn thing. Good thing I managed to cut losses by just using Stone Gaze on her. First round win!
For now, I'll just focusing on raising stats.
Those stats are where I'd like to be before getting to the Dragon Race fights. Left Drak and Meka out of this mainly because their stats are completely variable based on what you change the monster to and what you put on the mech. Better stock up on some shields soon. Yay for having 0 base DEF and it being incredibly hard to raise. Managed to get a few points in SaGa2DS, but even that's pretty minimal (6 on my human and 3 on my esper). OBVIOUSLY I've been playing this game wrong, but it's an early SaGa where all your stats are derived from exactly what you did, not from innate growth rates+battle actions (MinSaGa) or weird influences (AnSaga). Well, it's more like I hate spending time grinding for stats.
Oh right. SaGa1. Well, just decided to start that up. Guess what I was greeted with... A BLIND IDIOT TRANSLATION. There's a bit of it in SaGa2 as well, but it's a bit better. There is a rather funny spelling mistake at one point, using a homonym for "here" from SaGa2. I wonder if they were serious about translating these games properly. The first thing that seriously annoyed me in the beginning wasn't the translation at all. That part was unintentionally funny because how badly everything was translated back then anyways. It was the tiles and the fact that the game just dumps you at the base of the tower with no real reason. It was just... boring. Nothing really stands out, and it's probably going to be pretty easy to get lost due to the lack of defining features for the areas. It's like I'm stranded in a desert or plains with a tower just there. Also didn't help that the sprite work was just plain ugly. Gameplay is pretty simple SaGa, but obviously lacking the polish of SaGa2. SaGa3 doesn't count. Way too traditional. Another funny thing... The JP ROM and EN ROM share the same save file, which was a weird surprise. That means that I can't have 2 separate runs going unless I get a little creative. Also got the game to corrupt itself in the JP version through what I think was the "inventory bug". It was fun seeing the tiles in all the wrong places.
To give an idea of how bad this is... Kyle couldn't hit Venus for at least 5 rounds of combat. That's his 14AGL vs her 52AGL. It's up to 15AGL now, after about 30 minutes of grinding in the Base World abusing Punches because they're cheap and can eventually be transferred to my little mecha for a little *ahem* stat tweaking. It needs to be higher...! I need a minimum of 40AGL to feel safe at this point, to maybe dodge and actually hit stuff to not waste uses. I forgot how many Gold Sword uses I wasted against her because I couldn't hit a damn thing. Good thing I managed to cut losses by just using Stone Gaze on her. First round win!
For now, I'll just focusing on raising stats.
| Name | Kyle | Miri | Drak | Meka | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP | 496 | 650(+) | 315 | 500(+) | - | - | 60 | - |
| STR | 24 | 40 | 4 | 4~10 | - | - | 0 | - |
| DEF | 0 | 10~20 | 0 | 10~20 | - | - | 6 | - |
| AGL | 14 | 40 | 10 | 30~40 | - | - | 5 | - |
| MANA | 3 | 20~30 | 25 | 40~50 | - | - | 0 | - |
Those stats are where I'd like to be before getting to the Dragon Race fights. Left Drak and Meka out of this mainly because their stats are completely variable based on what you change the monster to and what you put on the mech. Better stock up on some shields soon. Yay for having 0 base DEF and it being incredibly hard to raise. Managed to get a few points in SaGa2DS, but even that's pretty minimal (6 on my human and 3 on my esper). OBVIOUSLY I've been playing this game wrong, but it's an early SaGa where all your stats are derived from exactly what you did, not from innate growth rates+battle actions (MinSaGa) or weird influences (AnSaga). Well, it's more like I hate spending time grinding for stats.
Oh right. SaGa1. Well, just decided to start that up. Guess what I was greeted with... A BLIND IDIOT TRANSLATION. There's a bit of it in SaGa2 as well, but it's a bit better. There is a rather funny spelling mistake at one point, using a homonym for "here" from SaGa2. I wonder if they were serious about translating these games properly. The first thing that seriously annoyed me in the beginning wasn't the translation at all. That part was unintentionally funny because how badly everything was translated back then anyways. It was the tiles and the fact that the game just dumps you at the base of the tower with no real reason. It was just... boring. Nothing really stands out, and it's probably going to be pretty easy to get lost due to the lack of defining features for the areas. It's like I'm stranded in a desert or plains with a tower just there. Also didn't help that the sprite work was just plain ugly. Gameplay is pretty simple SaGa, but obviously lacking the polish of SaGa2. SaGa3 doesn't count. Way too traditional. Another funny thing... The JP ROM and EN ROM share the same save file, which was a weird surprise. That means that I can't have 2 separate runs going unless I get a little creative. Also got the game to corrupt itself in the JP version through what I think was the "inventory bug". It was fun seeing the tiles in all the wrong places.
27 Sept 2009
Woo!
OK! I just beat one of the Death's Arena bosses and got a pretty nice prize from it: 雷神の剣. Sure, the Mythril Sword is comparable since both use STRx11 as their damage output, but I don't know the damage formula for the different categories of weapons. I think I might hit a road block soon in SaGa2DS. Didn't have much trouble with Venus, surprisingly. It was weird... I managed to put her to sleep for a few rounds, which I couldn't do in the original. On the RPGamer forums, specifically the thread about the import impressions, he said that Venus seemed to have gained immunity to Sleep. Didn't have Stone Gaze at that point, so I couldn't check if I could do what I did last night. I'll check in my 2nd run since I'm way past that point now and my other 2 saves are nowhere near it either.
Working on filling out the Renki list as well, but I really like one of the Katana ones; it hits a group of enemies for moderate amount of damage, is physical, and I don't have to waste a Bazooka for it. Most of them aren't visually impressive like the Skills in Romancing SaGa, but the relative amount of damage is MUCH more impressive. Seriously, averaging about only 100~200 damage for a normal attack, and a fully chained Renki? OVER 1500 DAMAGE. Rare, but worth it.
Anyways, road block. New world, haven't explored it with the original yet, and I think I'm lost. Doesn't help that during the dragon race that I finished the fight with exactly one member KO'ed and one other near dead. And finally learned what Limit Drive does, somewhat. You take less damage, dodge more, and for some reason, you might be able to act twice? It's really not something you want to happen since you need to take extreme amounts of damage for it to activate, lasts 3 turns, and I only had about 450MaxHP at the time. So encounters are starting give me a bit of trouble, and quickly approaching the 10 hour mark. So no, you can't beat this game in under 10 hours unless you get really lucky with stat ups and meats for monster evolution.
I'll get to posting another LP entry soon... Just haven't been motivated to do it lately. Blame it on SaGa being so brutally fun to play. It's not to say that DMC isn't in the same boat, just another take on it. An RPG take is what I needed after doing effectively 100 hours of DMC4. Maybe I should finish the other 6 MinSaGa playthroughs at some point?
Working on filling out the Renki list as well, but I really like one of the Katana ones; it hits a group of enemies for moderate amount of damage, is physical, and I don't have to waste a Bazooka for it. Most of them aren't visually impressive like the Skills in Romancing SaGa, but the relative amount of damage is MUCH more impressive. Seriously, averaging about only 100~200 damage for a normal attack, and a fully chained Renki? OVER 1500 DAMAGE. Rare, but worth it.
Anyways, road block. New world, haven't explored it with the original yet, and I think I'm lost. Doesn't help that during the dragon race that I finished the fight with exactly one member KO'ed and one other near dead. And finally learned what Limit Drive does, somewhat. You take less damage, dodge more, and for some reason, you might be able to act twice? It's really not something you want to happen since you need to take extreme amounts of damage for it to activate, lasts 3 turns, and I only had about 450MaxHP at the time. So encounters are starting give me a bit of trouble, and quickly approaching the 10 hour mark. So no, you can't beat this game in under 10 hours unless you get really lucky with stat ups and meats for monster evolution.
I'll get to posting another LP entry soon... Just haven't been motivated to do it lately. Blame it on SaGa being so brutally fun to play. It's not to say that DMC isn't in the same boat, just another take on it. An RPG take is what I needed after doing effectively 100 hours of DMC4. Maybe I should finish the other 6 MinSaGa playthroughs at some point?
26 Sept 2009
It really is harder.
So... I got my ass kicked in SaGa2. It's going to get kicked even harder in SaGa2DS. Just got to Apollo's world, and there's a Coliseum. I couldn't even beat Ashura with help from the Muses! Figures... it's Death's Arena/Soul Castle. And that new "Destiny String" system for chaining attacks? You better know how to use it REALLY well by the time you get to the very last battle. If you've never used it, then it's apparently a lot closer to what the original battle was like. Use the system and be ready for a world of pain unless you have really high stats. According to some, having a Meka in the party might become a liability at that point.
OK, I'm not actually stuck in SaGa2DS. Just wandering around in the underwater volcano. However, I'm stuck/hit a roadblock in SaGa2. Venus is giving me quite a hard time right now, and I have no idea how much HP she has. Not exactly sure what my stats should be.
Currently:
So, those are the stats I have right now. I didn't feel like listing my equipment because there's up to 8 slots per character, and I'm always strapped for cash when it comes to equipment. Everyone is so SLOW, except for Drak. Miri's skill set might be important... Wonder if I can petrify Venus/use Stone Gaze? I know that I can't seem to put her to sleep.
EDIT @ 01:37: ... What the hell. Stone Gaze outright killed Venus! No damage, just killed her with the status effect. Still, I need to grind for some stats soon before everyone ends up slaughtered.
OK, I'm not actually stuck in SaGa2DS. Just wandering around in the underwater volcano. However, I'm stuck/hit a roadblock in SaGa2. Venus is giving me quite a hard time right now, and I have no idea how much HP she has. Not exactly sure what my stats should be.
Currently:
| Name | Kyle | Miri | Drak | Meka |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Species | Human M | Esper F | Sprite | Meka |
| HP | 496 | 315 | 218 | 366 |
| STR | 24 | 4 | 17 | 10 |
| DEF | 0 | 0 | 22 | 52 |
| AGL | 14 | 10 | 31 | 5 |
| MANA | 3 | 25 | 32 | 0 |
So, those are the stats I have right now. I didn't feel like listing my equipment because there's up to 8 slots per character, and I'm always strapped for cash when it comes to equipment. Everyone is so SLOW, except for Drak. Miri's skill set might be important... Wonder if I can petrify Venus/use Stone Gaze? I know that I can't seem to put her to sleep.
EDIT @ 01:37: ... What the hell. Stone Gaze outright killed Venus! No damage, just killed her with the status effect. Still, I need to grind for some stats soon before everyone ends up slaughtered.
24 Sept 2009
Oh. I see.
Yep. I figured out what triggered the flag. It's either very clever or they really got lucky with the programming. Of course, I'm keeping in mind that SaGa games are a complete mess when it comes to their programming (not that I can program...). Seriously, you can beat SaGa1 in less than 5 minutes if you know what you're doing and know how to take advantage of how the game glitches. And the chainsaw against God that's not supposed to work.
Anyways, the flag triggered because of using a very specific cheat to obtain all the Map Abilities before the story event (or finding it) required to get to it (I think, almost there). The Map Abilities are tied to the 秘宝, so if you hack in the abilities first, the game will think that you also have the corresponding 秘宝, and some of those might be tied to certain story events, thus setting off the event flags. It wasn't that hard to confirm. All it took was a little cheating with stats (since that doesn't affect anything else) to get to right after fighting Ashura, since that's supposed to set off the next event: Going to the next world to find the Micron to help Kai. So... while the party was in the Isis Temple, I saved, then activated the "Press select for all Map Abilities" cheat. Then... confirmed that I had all the map abilities in the menu and went up to Kai. Lo and behold, she thanks me for helping her even though I did absolutely nothing. Just that sets the event flag as "complete," and thus completely screws me over from continuing because I'm missing pieces of Magi to get through the next door. Woo. Still, better than fiddling around with that "Trash Can bug" and being left with no pieces of Power Magi. I'm literally left with no Power Magi in the original.
Anyways, the flag triggered because of using a very specific cheat to obtain all the Map Abilities before the story event (or finding it) required to get to it (I think, almost there). The Map Abilities are tied to the 秘宝, so if you hack in the abilities first, the game will think that you also have the corresponding 秘宝, and some of those might be tied to certain story events, thus setting off the event flags. It wasn't that hard to confirm. All it took was a little cheating with stats (since that doesn't affect anything else) to get to right after fighting Ashura, since that's supposed to set off the next event: Going to the next world to find the Micron to help Kai. So... while the party was in the Isis Temple, I saved, then activated the "Press select for all Map Abilities" cheat. Then... confirmed that I had all the map abilities in the menu and went up to Kai. Lo and behold, she thanks me for helping her even though I did absolutely nothing. Just that sets the event flag as "complete," and thus completely screws me over from continuing because I'm missing pieces of Magi to get through the next door. Woo. Still, better than fiddling around with that "Trash Can bug" and being left with no pieces of Power Magi. I'm literally left with no Power Magi in the original.
22 Sept 2009
... Need more Kero for equips!
So... I found out why I seemed to not get ANYWHERE for the past hour or so. Seems like I did something or other that triggered an event flag way ahead of schedule, so now that quest is considered "completed." That's not good, since I don't have enough MAGI pieces to get through the next door. Where was I stopped? Good thing it wasn't too far into the game. About 4~5 hours into it. The event flag I accidentally triggered was about going into Kai's body (Ki, for those more familiar with the original release known as "Final Fantasy Legend II") to deal with whatever's causing havoc in there. And to get several pieces of MAGI. And I had just beaten the crap out of Ashura. Cue sarcastic chuckle.
...
I'm much further than that in the original, so... Just encountered an asshat known as Venus. Need to really get moving on raising AGL stats because it's getting harder to hit anything using the Human Male. Also need to start using the shields (or start buying them)to raise DEF stats. Can't keep relying on armor to cover that anymore since the difference is getting a little too big. As in, my tank is DYING CONSISTENTLY. Of course, that may also be because of not raising his MANA stat enough. Still at the default 3, but getting spell books is really expensive.
...
I'm much further than that in the original, so... Just encountered an asshat known as Venus. Need to really get moving on raising AGL stats because it's getting harder to hit anything using the Human Male. Also need to start using the shields (or start buying them)to raise DEF stats. Can't keep relying on armor to cover that anymore since the difference is getting a little too big. As in, my tank is DYING CONSISTENTLY. Of course, that may also be because of not raising his MANA stat enough. Still at the default 3, but getting spell books is really expensive.
More SaGa2
Still going along in SaGa 2's original, but I also decided to move ahead in my SaGa2DS file as well. Then I got lost. I think I went to the wrong world, and now I have no idea where I'm supposed to head. Holy %$&^%, how the hell do I get lost that early in a game?! Only took a little less than 3 hours. It also seems like my stat growth is slower in the remake...
Moving along in the original, I have 32 MAGI pieces now. Unfortunately, my curiosity surrounding a little glitch has left me with no pieces of the Power MAGI in my inventory in one of my save states. Which is pretty bad. Why? My Human Male depends on it for damage, although I should probably stick the Speed MAGI on him, give him a Whip/Rapier/other AGL-based weapons to start upping his pathetically low Speed. Of 5. Damn is this game a grind fest, but completely variable due to the mechanisms. At least my monster is now something more respectable... A Sprite with Sleep, Thunder and Cure. Yay for a secondary healer. Won't be changing that around for the next little bit. So... I have to redo that entire little bit again, but this time, I'll be training his speed! And maybe getting better equips for my little meka? The little guy's fallen behind quite a bit. I need something that can REALLY punch a hole in something. Buy him a Katana? It's only 6800GP, but I don't remember where I last saw those. The Giant's Town? That place is also a fairly good training spot for cash.
Oh! TGS '09 in a day (according to Japan's time from time zone differences)!
Moving along in the original, I have 32 MAGI pieces now. Unfortunately, my curiosity surrounding a little glitch has left me with no pieces of the Power MAGI in my inventory in one of my save states. Which is pretty bad. Why? My Human Male depends on it for damage, although I should probably stick the Speed MAGI on him, give him a Whip/Rapier/other AGL-based weapons to start upping his pathetically low Speed. Of 5. Damn is this game a grind fest, but completely variable due to the mechanisms. At least my monster is now something more respectable... A Sprite with Sleep, Thunder and Cure. Yay for a secondary healer. Won't be changing that around for the next little bit. So... I have to redo that entire little bit again, but this time, I'll be training his speed! And maybe getting better equips for my little meka? The little guy's fallen behind quite a bit. I need something that can REALLY punch a hole in something. Buy him a Katana? It's only 6800GP, but I don't remember where I last saw those. The Giant's Town? That place is also a fairly good training spot for cash.
Oh! TGS '09 in a day (according to Japan's time from time zone differences)!
20 Sept 2009
Ahahaha.... EAT THE MEAT.
So... Sa・Ga 2 秘宝伝説 GODDESS OF DESTINY was released not too long ago in Japan. Through some rather... shady means, I've been playing that while also working on assignments. Since it's also Sa・Ga's 20th anniversary this year, I've also started playing the original Sa・Ga games from the GameBoy era. Well, more specifically, SaGa 2's original. Probably will get around to playing SaGa1 and SaGa3 at some point.
Just got to the 2nd World in the original since I decided to finish that one first before moving on with the remake. Honestly, I don't know which version is harder, but I seemed to get my ass kicked more often in the remake, which is kinda funny. Perhaps it's due to using a different party set-up? Original: Human Male, Esper Female, Meka, MiniDragon (which is now a BabyWyrm). Remake: Human Male, Human Female, Esper Female, Minidragon (which is now a Red Bone. With CURE?!). It's probably because the Meka's my main source of damage output. I LOVE USING GUNS. Will probably restart the remake for a more balanced party, and to abuse the system a little bit...
Yeah, I'm having a lot of fun with this game. Yes, it's harder than your typical JRPG, mostly because of the monster evolution that's pretty much trial-and-error until you either read a guide or remember. Luckily, the remake features a "Meat Dictionary" (what...?) to keep track of possible evolutionary paths your little monster can take. Oh, and the weird stat growth. It's kinda like MinSaGa's, only almost completely focused on the weapon type and not the character's growth rates, which is practically non-existent except for HP. That's based on class, but I haven't seen my Meka improve. At all. Also heard that you should be able to finish it in 10 hours? Uh... yeah, NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Even the veterans are having trouble with it.
Just got to the 2nd World in the original since I decided to finish that one first before moving on with the remake. Honestly, I don't know which version is harder, but I seemed to get my ass kicked more often in the remake, which is kinda funny. Perhaps it's due to using a different party set-up? Original: Human Male, Esper Female, Meka, MiniDragon (which is now a BabyWyrm). Remake: Human Male, Human Female, Esper Female, Minidragon (which is now a Red Bone. With CURE?!). It's probably because the Meka's my main source of damage output. I LOVE USING GUNS. Will probably restart the remake for a more balanced party, and to abuse the system a little bit...
Yeah, I'm having a lot of fun with this game. Yes, it's harder than your typical JRPG, mostly because of the monster evolution that's pretty much trial-and-error until you either read a guide or remember. Luckily, the remake features a "Meat Dictionary" (what...?) to keep track of possible evolutionary paths your little monster can take. Oh, and the weird stat growth. It's kinda like MinSaGa's, only almost completely focused on the weapon type and not the character's growth rates, which is practically non-existent except for HP. That's based on class, but I haven't seen my Meka improve. At all. Also heard that you should be able to finish it in 10 hours? Uh... yeah, NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Even the veterans are having trouble with it.
15 Sept 2009
Just taking a little break...
Yeah, didn't think that I could get all that up so quickly. Turns out that the assignment I'm working on isn't too bad, for now. Anyways, while browsing around the DMC4 boards (PS3 side, obviously), I happened to see a thread about the novels. I've been curious to see a translation for some time now and someone over at Devil's Lair has done just that. Let's just leave it at "some parts actually make sense, and others? WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU GUYS ON?!" Really doubt that the novels will be considered canon, seeing as how nothing seems to make that much sense in terms of a timeline. For some reason, I really like the idea that Nero's DT is his soul literally hanging around him.
What it stands at right now?
Eva's death, Vergil supposedly dead/disappears-> 9 years to DMC3 manga-> year to DMC3->something or other to DMC1->I don't even know to DMC!anime->16~17(+) years after DMC3 to DMC4 since Nero's about 16~17.
Here's where it might get tricky... Trish, when she breaks Dante's doors with his bike (he doesn't get a break, does he?), she says that he lost his brother (Vergil) and mother 20 years ago. Uh... does she mean 20 years after DMC3 or after the demon attack when they were about 8? Yeah... Best not to think too hard on these things. Besides, the other 2 novels weren't canon! Though, I kinda wished that the DMC1 prequel novel was. It was an interesting read. And whatever happened to Enzo? Ran off to Bayonetta?
What it stands at right now?
Eva's death, Vergil supposedly dead/disappears-> 9 years to DMC3 manga-> year to DMC3->something or other to DMC1->I don't even know to DMC!anime->16~17(+) years after DMC3 to DMC4 since Nero's about 16~17.
Here's where it might get tricky... Trish, when she breaks Dante's doors with his bike (he doesn't get a break, does he?), she says that he lost his brother (Vergil) and mother 20 years ago. Uh... does she mean 20 years after DMC3 or after the demon attack when they were about 8? Yeah... Best not to think too hard on these things. Besides, the other 2 novels weren't canon! Though, I kinda wished that the DMC1 prequel novel was. It was an interesting read. And whatever happened to Enzo? Ran off to Bayonetta?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)