Poll of the Day > What game should I play?

(+) Yeah! (+)

i dunno if you should play it but you should go re-check out exceed 3rd's ost because it's ballin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrEHyYlJjVA

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1177980/Little_Kitty_Big_City/

Dwarf Fortress

Do it in honor of Boatmurdered.

CynicalZealot posted...

Do it in honor of Boatmurdered.

Do oyu play Dwarf Fortress? I been playing since 40d and it's really a great game, but I haven't launched the Steam version yet

Pokemon SoulSilver

I'm replaying the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy. I played the original games when they came out on both PS3 & 360--JP & NA versions. I've just finished the Windows versions of FF XIII and FF XIII-2. What a great blast from the past! Next up is the Windows version of FF XIII Lightning Returns to complete my journey down nostalgia lane.

Allgorhythm posted...

I'm replaying the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy. I played the original games when they came out on both PS3 & 360--JP & NA versions. I've just finished the Windows versions of FF XIII and FF XIII-2. What a great blast from the past! Next up is the Windows version of FF XIII Lightning Returns to complete my journey down nostalgia lane.

I slightly liked 13, but I haven't been able to get through 13-2, I have started it like 5 times but only played like 20 minutes each time

I replayed the entirety of 13-2 recently too, actually. Good game marred by a couple of terrible design choices

agesboy posted...

I replayed the entirety of 13-2 recently too, actually. Good game marred by a couple of terrible design choices

I just rememebered why I stopped playing every single time... and it's the pets. I like the pets, but my inner perfectionist known that because there's a perfect pet then I can do nothing at all... even tho there's no achievement attached to it

Honestly if you're a perfectionist the part you should be worrying about more is the permanent stat gains from levelling up Noel and Serah in a specific way. You can end up with hundreds less attack or magic than is possible. Basically you get extra stats when you level up a role on a big crystarium node, which pop up every 2-4 small nodes. So you slowly level priority jobs on big nodes and level others roles on smaller ones. But even then it continues to be needlessly complicated, because saboteur and synergist give different stats depending on if it's an even or an odd level up!

Conversely, getting a "perfect" pet is very easy, if just expensive and time consuming. You can't fuck it up permanently, and the game just hands you arguably one of the best (a commando) as part of the story. Getting a literal perfect chocobo for racing only uses a couple of low level infusions too!

ya, i don't know what's wrong with my head... it's just the way I am when it comes to stat thingies

Why do you have so many games? Anyway, they all suck. You should play OneShot instead.

By the way how is Planetside 2?

waterdeepchu posted...

Why do you have so many games? Anyway, they all suck. You should play OneShot instead.

By the way how is Planetside 2?

I have played OneShot off Steam, it's a good.

Planetside 2, AS I REMEMBER IT, is a super awesome pinnacle of MMO-FPSing... but that was like, 10 years ago. (last played 2015 according to Steam)

I heard the new planet sucks.

But the main gameplay loop when there's lots of players present is exceptional, every class and weapon has good game feel... except the bigass airplane transport that I can't remember the name of (Pelican?), but that kinda makes sense since it's just cargo.

planetside's sorta been dying off for years now, which sucks because it's a wholly unique experience no other game really captures right now

mandalore had a good video on it but damn it's really been seven years wtf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBLEP9dK-4o

Get your gallbladder checked out

Lokarin posted...

I slightly liked 13, but I haven't been able to get through 13-2, I have started it like 5 times but only played like 20 minutes each time

FF 13-2 doesn't really start until you get to the Historia Crux at the end of Episode 1. I recommend you give it a chance and, at least, start Episode 2 so you can get a true feel of the game.

agesboy posted...

Honestly if you're a perfectionist the part you should be worrying about more is the permanent stat gains from levelling up Noel and Serah in a specific way. You can end up with hundreds less attack or magic than is possible. Basically you get extra stats when you level up a role on a big crystarium node, which pop up every 2-4 small nodes. So you slowly level priority jobs on big nodes and level others roles on smaller ones. But even then it continues to be needlessly complicated, because saboteur and synergist give different stats depending on if it's an even or an odd level up!

Conversely, getting a "perfect" pet is very easy, if just expensive and time consuming. You can't fuck it up permanently, and the game just hands you arguably one of the best (a commando) as part of the story. Getting a literal perfect chocobo for racing only uses a couple of low level infusions too!

I like to optimize leveling up Noel & Serah to maximize strength & magic respectively because it makes a couple of the best weapons in the game even more exceptional. Nagaraja makes Serahs strength equal to her magic. The Tower makes Noels magic equal to his strength. Thus, if you maximize Noels strength and Serahs magic these two weapons are at peak efficiency.

Obviously, you know all this. But Ill explain for those that dont.

The weapons are available as soon as you open up Serendipity and make the races available. Nagaraja is the 600m Kalavinka reward and The Tower is the 1200m Proudclad reward. Both races are Guardian Class and can be won with the first Chocobo you encounter in the gamemost likely the Purple Chocobo.

The Tower is probably better than the Nagaraja. Serah does quite nicely as a COM or RAV with magic only. In contrast, elevating Noels magic to match his strength makes him a much better SAB, SYN, or MED.

On the other hand, the very best weapons in the game, IMHO, are the Indrajit for Serah and the Romulus & Remus for Noel. Each one increases the ATB rate by 50%. The Indrajit is easy to get because its a common drop from the Invincible fight (Archyite Steppe Year Unknown cloudy). The Romulus & Remus requires a little more work because its a rare dropOchu (Archyite Steppe Year Unknown rainy).

You get to the Archyite Steppe Year Unknown fairly early in the game. So, youll probably replace the Nagaraja and the Tower before longassuming you indulged in the Chocobo races at the earliest opportunity. Still, you dont have to stick to one weapon and there are many instances when you might want to replace Noels Romulus & Remus with The Towerforegoing the ATB boost for higher magic in case he plays a key role as SYN, SAB, or MED.

Ive rambled long enough so Ill address the perfect pets in another post.

agesboy posted...

Getting a "perfect" pet is very easy, if just expensive and time consuming. You can't fuck it up permanently, and the game just hands you arguably one of the best (a commando) as part of the story. Getting a literal perfect chocobo for racing only uses a couple of low level infusions too!

To me, the Perfect Pets are the ones you get from the DLCs. Provided you are playing on a console, as soon as you finish Ep 1 and get to the Historia Crux, you can play the Lightning's Requiem of the Goddess DLC. Lightning fights Caius Ballad in Valhalla. Her stats are set by the DLC and have no relationship to the stats of Noel and Serah. When you five star the fight, you get Lightning as a Commando (unlike the other DLC where she is a RAV). This early in the game, you have no access to materials to increase her levels. However, even at Level 1, she has awesome stats.

After getting Lightning COM, at the beginning of Episode 2, I got a Pulse Knight as a sentinel (Bresha Ruins 005 AF passages). I marched over to the unweakened Atlas and beat him to unlock the paradox ending. I alternated between SEN, SEN, SEN (with Pulse Knight as the SEN) and RAV, RAV, COM with Lightning as the COM.

I also had a SEN, SYN, SYN paradigm with Sazh from the Heads or Tails DLC (also playable when you finish ep. 1). However, I found I really didn't need to enhance anybody. Atlas telegraphs his moves so it's easiest to alternate between pure offense and pure defense. Although, unfortunately, it's for the JP version of the game; here's an old video of beating unweakened Atlas at the beginning of Episode 2: youtu.be/M3lPqgDLxZA

Before advancing the story from Episode 2 by beating Atlas in his weakened state, I went to Colosseum. Starting with Omega, I beat all the DLC Colosseum fights and got the associated crystals. The crystal drop rates are between 5 & 10%. Since, at this point, I had no fragment skills, I had to repeat most of the fights quite often to get the monster crystals.

Although I got all the crystals, the ones I was really interested in were Lightning RAV, Snow SEN, and Jihl Nabaat (SAB). The reason is, for the immersive experience, I wanted all human paradigm decks. Amodar COM is also human but Lightning COM with her redlocked uncapped damage skill is undeniably the best COM in the game so I didnt need Amodar.

Its really cool when you have all the DLC characters available in your paradigm pack and the Historia Crux shows only two main game gates--New Bohham AF 003 & Bresha Ruins AF 005. The Archylte Steppe AF ??? paradox gate is revealed, of course, for getting The Giant Mistake paradox ending (defeating the unweakened Atlas). But that doesnt count because the only thing you can do there is close the gate. The only other gates are the ones you get from the DLC--Lightning Requiem, Sazh Heads or Tails, and the Colosseum.

You can do some monster growth while in the Colosseum using monster materials you get as drops. Since the fights have to be repeated often in the process of acquiring monster crystals, you end up with an abundance of monster growth materials. You can infuse DLC monsters into other DLC monsters. Additionally, Valfodr drops Golden Chocobo & Silver Chocobo (Level 15), Cactuarama (level 45), Chichu & Nanochu (Level 70), and Twilight Odin & Gigantuar (Level 99). Normally, Silver Chocobo, Golden Chocobo, and Chichu are one-time monsters in the game but, by fighting Valfodr repeatedly, you can get them as drops.

You can also repeat the DLC fights from the beginning simply by closing the Colosseum gate. Once you do so, it resets all the Colosseum scenarios. Moreover, although Valdofr is originally the second part of the Snow DLC, once you've beaten him you can go straight to his fight even after you've closed the gate. The catch is, in order to fight him at Level 70 for Chichu & Nanochu, you've got to start at Level 1 and fight levels 15 and 45 before reaching Level 70. Chichu & Nanochu are uncommon drops so, once you reach Level 70, you need to create some save files so that, if you don't get the drop you want, you can load a save file and try again. Otherwise, you advance to Valfodr Level 99.

Theres a very good Monster Infusion FAQ on site. I like to keep things simple so my builds are not as sophisticated as the ones in the FAQ. My go-to skills are:

• Strength +35%
• Magic +35%
• HP +30%
• Physical Resistance +36%
• Magical Resistance +35%
• Resilience +40%
• Role Resonance
• Auto-Haste (Only the character in the starting paradigm needs to have this)
• Pack Mentality

Since Lightning RAV has only one redlocked skill, she gets all 9 abilities. Lightning COM, Jihl Nabaat SAB, and Snow SEN each have 3 redlocked abilities. For Lightning COM, I leave off Auto-Haste and HP +30% (by default she has super-high HP). For Nabaat, I leave off Auto-Haste & Resist Magic +36% (she has built-in Resist Magic +50%). For Snow, I leave off Magic +35%, Auto-Haste, & HP +30% and add Improved Counter II. Improved Counter II as well as his Sovereign Fist feral skill benefit from high strength so I leave in Pack Mentality and Role Resonance.

Sazh has 4 redlocked abilities. Whereas I rely on SEN SEN SEN, SAB SAB SAB, RAV RAV RAV, & COM COM COM; I never use SYN SYN SYNNoel & Serah are terrible SYNsso Sazh does not need role resonance. I also leave off Auto-Haste & HP +30%. One might prefer to leave off Strength +35% rather than HP +30%. However, his HP is naturally high and his Cold Blood feral skill is more lethal with high strength. If I need to farm, Sazhs redlocked Item Collector ability comes in handy. His redlocked Feral Speed II is also nice.

It is incredibly gratifying to be able to finish Episode 2 with a Lightning COM, Lighting RAV, and a Snow SEN (or Sazh SYN) paradigm pack. Jihl Nabaat SAB is very situational but, it turns out, she is ideal to go against the biggest bosses in the gamethe Caius Ballads (including the Caius Ballad/Serah fight without Noel for a paradox ending), the Bahamuts, Proto-FalCie, and so on.

Lightning COM is the best COM in the game, Lightning RAV is one of the best RAVs, Snow is the best SEN in the game, Sazh is one of the best SYNs (maybe not as good as Yakshini but Yakshini only becomes available late in the game and Sazh is more fun to play IMHO). There are arguably better SABs than Nabaat but she is super-cool and her feral ability rocks. Moreover, she is well differentiated from the other SABs and is a unique character.

Sadly, on the PC versions of the game, the DLC characters only become available once youve finished the story. Although their crystals can then be captured for post-game paradox packs, it doesnt give you the same thrill as having an over-the-top paradigm pack available in the middle of Episode 2.

Don't most of the chocobos end up as good as or better than the DLC characters if you put a lot of effort into them? They might not be able to reach 6 ATB iirc but they do have access to Pack Mentality, plus you can infuse basically whatever you need onto them

Flipwitch

agesboy posted...

Don't most of the chocobos end up as good as or better than the DLC characters if you put a lot of effort into them? They might not be able to reach 6 ATB iirc but they do have access to Pack Mentality, plus you can infuse basically whatever you need onto them

Thats a good question. In some cases, but not all, yes. BTW, the Chocobos can reach 6 ATB segments provided you prioritize that over role bonuses. Since I just played the Windows version of the game, I didnt have access to the DLC characters and had to use the regular monsters in my paradigm pack.

I like Purple Chocobo for SYN and Blue Chocobo for RAV. Yakshini might be a better SYN but is not available till late in the game whereas Purple Chocobo is the first Chocobo you run across so its an obvious choice. I prefer Tonberry to the COM Chocobos and hes available early in the same areas as Purple Chocobo. No COM, though can hold a candle to Lightning COM. Shes the only character with uncapped damage and, with it, she can obliterate enemies with the right build and using the COM COM COM paradigm.

I dont use MEDs at all. The MED Chocobos are, arguably the best in the game, but its a moot point. The SAB Chocobo is great as a SAB but I dont use SABs except for Nabaat who is an entirely different kind of SAB from the rest.

Except for Snow, I consider Pulse Gladiator to be the best SEN especially if one wants a SEN with offensive abilities. The Chocobo SEN is good but is not available until late in the game so Pulse Gladiator is the obvious choice if one does not have Snow.

The first few times I played the game, the DLCs had not been released. So, I was quite comfortable with no DLC characters. I like what I call an all human pack but all the DLC characters belong to the Fantasy Champion category so the Pack Mentality ability works even if you have non-human DLC characters in the pack.

I never had the need to use all Chocobos in my pack especially because I really like Tonberry as the COM if Lightning COM is not available.

But, even if the Chocobos were the best, theres a special feeling playing with the human characters. Maybe other people feel differently. Lightning, Snow, Sazh, Nabaat, & Amodar all have great one-liners when they deliver the coup de grace. Moreover, when you play on console and exert the considerable effort to get the DLC monsters you want during Episode 2, you can just traipse through the game in God-mode.

Naturally, the characters are not optimally developed out of the starting gateyou have to wait till the right monsters to infuse become available and, in some cases, the right monster materials. Nevertheless, you decimate the opposition. You can get a taste of you power at the beginning of Episode 3. You can take the Unweakened Royal Ripeness to the woodshed and obtain the corresponding paradox ending.

Its not the most efficient way to play the game. Moreover, it destroys the leveling balance the developers intended. But its a lot of fun.

Monster Hunter Rise.

Lokarin posted...

I just rememebered why I stopped playing every single time... and it's the pets. I like the pets, but my inner perfectionist known that because there's a perfect pet then I can do nothing at all... even tho there's no achievement attached to it

The tamed characters, as Ive stated elsewhere, are much better on the console where the DLC is available as soon as you enter the Historia Crux at the end of Episode 1. Since youre playing on the PC, you have to wait for post-game play.

Im a firm believer that one games to have fun. Thats an individual experience. If you dont find the FF XIII Trilogy fun, Ill list 3 games from your list that I recommend you complete:

• LA Noire
• Deus Ex Mankind Divided
• Alan Wake

All 3 have compelling stories with an intriguing twist at the end. Ill also make special mention of Two Worlds. I wrote the walkthrough on True Achievements for the XBox 360 version. The Epic PC edition you have does not have achievements but I address it in the walkthrough. The walkthrough is still valid and presents a streamlined roadmap to completing this open world game that would, otherwise, be daunting.

Allgorhythm posted...

* LA Noire
* Deus Ex Mankind Divided
* Alan Wake

I'd recommend Human Revolution instead of Mankind Divided.

I could never really get into the Alan Wake games.

Ok, I got a nice shortlist

Dwarf Fortress
FF13-2
OneShot (steam version)

I'm discluding LA Noire, Deus Ex and Alan Wake solely because... I actually replayed them very recently!

Monster Hunter Rise? oh ya, I really should get on that. Just like World I'll probably end up not playing it until the next monster hunter comes out :D

I liked Rise a lot more than World because it's more straightforwardly about fighting bigass bosses tbh. If Rise had Glavenus it'd be perfect. And maybe slightly better graphics on the PC (switch was perfect), but World went overkill on looking pretty

I really liked World's extra content like the big Goldie, I'm probably the only one who likes Siege battles (Jhen Mohran being the best)

CynicalZealot posted...

I'd recommend Human Revolution instead of Mankind Divided.

I could never really get into the Alan Wake games.

@Lokarin has already completed Human Revolution--hence, my Mankind Divided recommendation.

ahhhhhhhhhh, maaaaaan...

I'm sooo sleepy~!

It's cuz of the low air pressure or whatever, it's only 4C out right now, with a risk-of-frost warning

playing Resident Evil Revelations 2...

but I'm succumbing to weather induced drowsiness

so RER2 is episodic garbage and apparently I didn't have the other chapters...so I 'beat' the game in like 30 mins