Last game you finished, tell us about it

I guess the exploration of Dragon's Dogma makes it interesting. Plus the jumping and climbing big enemies is kind of funny. Haven't fought a dragon yet, so looking forward to that. I was for the first time picked up by a harpy and dropped from a good height for damage. So that was interesting but painful. Also, putting together a good team of pawns was fun to figure out. Got a great team now, even though they are 10 levels lower than me. The various combat skills are fun to try out and play around with. But the rest is pretty mediocre.

joxer said:

IIRC you don't care about stories which won't make you irritated like it did to me. All the time during the game I felt like the writer is trying to lower my IQ, but you'll just ignore it.

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Thanks. Yes I'll definitely play it soon (would be playing it now but Gamefly sent me Atelier Lydie before NNK2), was just wondering. You're right, I care much more about gameplay than story. Give me a party based turn based RPG with good enough graphics (anything that doesn't resemble an RPG Maker game), with magic and all that, and the story could be how the group needs to go from Miami to Seattle to see rain fall and I'd be perfectly happy.

Climbing the dragon is fun but be careful to get off if it takes flight or you might have a long long fall....

Thrasher said:

I guess the exploration of Dragon's Dogma makes it interesting. Plus the jumping and climbing big enemies is kind of funny. Haven't fought a dragon yet, so looking forward to that. I was for the first time picked up by a harpy and dropped from a good height for damage. So that was interesting but painful. Also, putting together a good team of pawns was fun to figure out. Got a great team now, even though they are 10 levels lower than me. The various combat skills are fun to try out and play around with. But the rest is pretty mediocre.

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Dragon's Dogma was pretty interesting for a one time game, but also I think I'll never replay it, a bit too action-y for me.

Thrasher said:

Also, putting together a good team of pawns was fun to figure out. Got a great team now, even though they are 10 levels lower than me. The various combat skills are fun to try out and play around with. But the rest is pretty mediocre.

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I really enjoyed the pawn aspect of DD. I remember a long time ago on a forum far far away talking about using player created characters to populate the world you're adventuring in. It's the closest thing to that idea that I've come across since then. Pretty cool IMO.

Just finished Ateliere Lydie & Suelle. God how I love these games. It's the third game in the 'Mysterious' trilogy. The games in the trilogy are 95% independent, meaning the stories are self-contained, but you'll see some characters from the previous games coming back in different roles. The story as most of Atelier games since the transformation (2009's Ateliere Rorona), is that you're a young alchemist that wants to be a master alchemist, in this case the alchemist is actually twin sisters. You made a promise to your dying mother a few years ago to make the greatest alchemy house in the kingdom.

As for the gameplay, basically it rotates from getting kingdom's requests to either make some items or kill some monsters, using your cauldron and components you get from adventuring to make these items, and go to different areas to gather components and kill creatures. Combat is turn-based where eventually 3 active and 3 passive characters fight in pairs (the passive providing some cover to the active).

As for the alchemy part, my favorite, each material has traits and effects, with different 'crafting slots', quality level, etc. You then use different materials to create the item you want for your use in combat, for completing kingdom requests or for story. Crafting is an involved process where you select the materials to use, an optional catalyst that can alter the crafting matrix, and an optional enhancer that can change the materials' colors to reach specific thresholds (which gives different bonuses).

I love these games, but they are always about young girls doing alchemy, if playing as a young girl (or girls in this case) is a problem for you then don't play it. The only bad thing about finishing the game is that I now have to wait at least a year and a half for the next game.

wolfing said:

if playing as a young girl (or girls in this case) is a problem for you then don't play it. The only bad thing about finishing the game is that I now have to wait at least a year and a half for the next game.

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That was never a problem for me, if it was I'd die an ignorant fool never enjoying underrated gems like Venetica.

wolfing said:

it rotates from getting kingdom's requests to either make some items or kill some monsters, using your cauldron and components you get from adventuring to make these items, and go to different areas to gather components and kill creatures.

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But this was always a problem for me. Grind&repetitiveness.

joxer said:

That was never a problem for me, if it was I'd die an ignorant fool never enjoying underrated gems like Venetica.

But this was always a problem for me. Grind&repetitiveness.

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There is no grind, you don't fight just to fight, you fight either because there is a request with reward or because you are exploring an area or maybe need some components. Granted, if you're going for the true ending or whatever then maybe you have to grind something, but I didn't so I didn't. As for repetitiveness… isn't that the same for every game? Say Witcher 3, you're always outside killing monsters or in town talking, oh there's the card minigame. That's about it right? Doing some alchemy in Elex? You better make sure to gather all the flowers you find while running around, no difference in this game. The kingdom asks you to beat the pink dragon in Forest of Doom, you go to Forest of Doom, on the way to the dragon you get your flowers and stones and gems, maybe kill a few wolves on the way for their leather, kill the dragon, go back to town, collect the reward.

These games are not about saving the world, in this case it's simple, there are 7 or so ranks of Atelier houses in the kingdom, you start at the lowest. Each rank has certain requirements to pass, you fulfill the requirements, you advance a rank, the story progresses. Simple and refreshing, I'm tired of being the Chosen One unifier of factions, savior of the world.

How long is Ateliere Lydie & Suelle and how good is the english support ?

you said:

How long is Ateliere Lydie & Suelle and how good is the english support ?

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Hmm... didn't check how long I played but probably around 50 hours. This one is Japanese voice with English text.

Just finished last night Divinity Original Sin 2.

Don't know what to think of it after 200 plus hours. I didn't start playing until a few weeks ago(4 or 5).
Some of the quest way to vague, I pick up everything and read everything and still found myself going are they serious? This is what they wanted us to do.

Story line was great at times and other times boring. I found there was to much fighting so I dropped it down to the easy level of fighting. If game wasn't as big and long as it is i wouldn't have done this. Spending hours in fights when I don't have hours extra in the day seemed like a waste.

Other than that I was glad I played it, one of the better games out there. I found I like the first one better for some odd reason. Maybe it seemed there was more adventuring and less back and forth and fighting.

8\10 but not one I would replay

ME:A - finished. It could have been a really good game but in the end it was a time sink:

What I liked:
+gameplay (at first ididn't like it but it grew on myself over time)
+overall plot/story
+worlds (they are very interesting)
+companion quests (these are actually not bad - only did 4 of them)
-
What I dislike
-quest structure that forces constant movement between systems - they need something like fast travel so you don't have to have to see the same animation a gazillion time - the tab option between world within a system is a start but even taht it poorly handled.
-the writing or presentation of writing - i can't tell which it is but it is really flat and doesn't really bring you into the game - something here is just off
-story will probably never complete - the end of the game clearly sets up a sequel that is unlikely to appear
-gazillion useless fetch quests - ok a few of these are fine but after a while it gets tedious - no you don't have to do them so i suppose i can't complain too much here
-obvious level scaling esp near the end - there is a place for htis but i think it was almsot abused here - not sure if it is based off of level or equipment.
-stupid mission boundary on planets. They call them mission boundary but on the world there are arbitrary places where you can't go (i.e, if you are driving in a straight line to a destination you have to go around because there is an invisible fence that reset your position every-time you hit it.
-
anyway i doubt i'll play this one again. 3 had its problem mostly that the ending ignore everything you did leading up to the ending but this one has more serious problems that make it more tedious than fun.

Finished Avernum 3 - Ruined World yesterday. Best (and largest!) Spiderweb game I've played so far.

I was pretty thorough, except for the last 10% of land mass where I forged ahead not knowing how close I was to the end, then suddenly found the end fortress. Left a few side quests dangling, but nothing major.
Oh, except for the bit where you can get the wizard at some supar sekret location to make you an uber weapon once you know who the true enemy is. I did that - and then forgot to go back and get it! I don't even know what it is. It didn't matter too much, though, as the ultimate baddies I didn't find as hard as some of the ones in earlier areas.

The monster plague theme was nicely done, I thought. Each had its own mechanism/cause. I did find the whole golem [redacted] part a bit frustrating, though. So many damn beams that made everything seem so complex. I almost gave up, then looked at the Spiderweb forums for some hints. Wasn't as complex as the layout made it look.

Anyway, overall very good. 8.5 out of 10 maybe? Certainly liked it more than Avadon 1, the Spiderweb game I played previous to this, which I stalled on a couple of times.

Just finished Omega Quintet. It was a fun game, basically you're the manager/bodyguard of a team of singers, who battle evil monsters that appear in and around a city. Only three things I didn't like, one minor, one medium, one big. The minor is that the game has a whole subsystem where you can create and edit music videos for the singers, dances, poses, songs, flourishes, you name it, but the whole thing is totally independent of the game, so I pretty much ignored it, but it was a wasted potential. The medium is the whole 'order break' system where the enemy can interrupt the order and destroy you, this starts happening about halfway through the game, so you have to figure out ways of trying to kill the enemy as fast as possible. The big one is that even though I completed all the quests I encountered, for some reason I got the 'lame ending'. JRPGs typically have different endings, which is something I hate because most of the times the requirements for the 'true ending' are hidden, so you pretty much have to follow a guide to get it. So I did what I always do, I play the game the way I like it, get the sucky ending, then go to youtube and watch the true ending.
Other than that, fun turn based RPG, liked it but could have been better.

Tell me nothing. In ToCS2 at final bonding I could (b)romance only Machias and I don't know why. I mean I don't even like his character although I admit he was almost always in my party. But so were Alisa and Emma, so… Dunno, I wouldn't say things are hidden but illogical. I guess they exist for no reason other than to force you into replaying a game. Well I refuse to replay a game for just that.

Can't find out if M+K controls are decent in Omega Quintet on steam, based on your input I'd buy it but I know you don't play games on PC.

For some reason, in Cold Steel two I was always hooking up with Sara. Guess that drinking/hobo lifestyle just really appealed to me. Might have been a carry-over of the first game as well, not sure on that.

joxer said:

Tell me nothing. In ToCS2 at final bonding I could (b)romance only Machias and I don't know why. I mean I don't even like his character although I admit he was almost always in my party. But so were Alisa and Emma, so… Dunno, I wouldn't say things are hidden but illogical. I guess they exist for no reason other than to force you into replaying a game. Well I refuse to replay a game for just that.

Can't find out if M+K controls are decent in Omega Quintet on steam, based on your input I'd buy it but I know you don't play games on PC.

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My memory is crap but I think part of the relation comes from who you're paired with in combat, and of course the bonding events that you get on every chapter (you always get less event slots than event possibilities).

Just finished Ni No Kuni 2. Didn't really care for it. Art was cute, think that's about it.
Dislikes:
- Combat trivial. I liked Ni No Kuni 1, it was tactical, you needed to sort of match your group against the enemy. In NNK2 I basically played the whole game with the same 3 members, also no tactics at all just smash a button and use the same special attack I got from level 1 when I had the mana. Only with a few bosses did I bother drinking a potion or using food.
- Too much of nothing. There are a lot of systems but since combat is trivial, they don't really serve any purpose. Like the mini-demons you collect (higgles or whatever), you collect them I suppose only to get some trophy because if you stay with the first ones you get it's just fine. Or all the armor and weapons you can make in the castle... the game throws so much loot at you that I never bothered to make anything except for some side-quest.
- Quest suggested levels all over the place. I like to do quests and sidequests in order of difficulty, but this game seems to have assigned the 'suggested level' number randomly. I would go to a SL 30 quest and fight level 40 enemies and then do a SL35 quest and fight level 15 enemies.

Nice looking art but otherwise, meh.

I find odd you didn't like the combat. I mean it's copypaste of all consolegames. Mushroomy trash.

Why all the interest in japanese console games? That's what I don't understand.