The Gamer's Quarter

Swimmy · . Joined: 16 Sep 2005 Posts: 990 Location: Fairfax, VA

STUPID MOTHERFUCKING COWBEAR!

FUCK!

Yeah, I'm trying to super-clear We <3 Katamari, which is easy except for this. I'm about to start Dwarf Fortress up fresh just to alleviate the frustration.

Edit: And I got it immediately after posting that! Fuck yeah fuck yeah I rule!
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"Ayn Rand fans are the old school version of Xenogears fanboys."
-seryogin

aderack · . Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 1105 Location: San Francisco

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

I'm still not convinced.

Swimmy · . Joined: 16 Sep 2005 Posts: 990 Location: Fairfax, VA

So I supercleared every stage in We <3 Katamari. When you superclear a stage, the King congratulates you on what a great job you did, and in the cosmos the planet/satellite he makes radiates. Some of the stages have really unreasonable requirements. On the one hand, it's kind of annoying because Katamari is supposed to be relaxing. On the other hand, the most difficult stages (aside from the cowbear stage) are the As Fast As Possible stages--they often require you to meet the requirement in a minute or less, and doing so will familiarize you with a stage so well that the As Large As Possible stages just take off. I finally managed to break 3500 meters on the final stage and pick up the King. He was just so happy to be rolled up, I couldn't resent any of the other tasks. Even the cowbear stage.
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"Ayn Rand fans are the old school version of Xenogears fanboys."
-seryogin

Scratchmonkey · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 1439

dessgeega · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:55 am Post subject:

i know exactly where you are because everyone gets stuck there. it's the most confusing part of the game by far. i spent two hours there my first time through, wandering back and forth over the checkpoint so that the game could save my lack of ammo. valve's usual excellent clueing of the player just is not present there.
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sediment · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:08 am Post subject:

That's actually one of the things I really liked about Ravenspook, is how little guidance you have for most of it and how easy it is for you to get places you really shouldn't go.

And also the plentiful sawblades. Seriously, what was everyone doing with sawblades and paint cans in everyone's houses?
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Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

dhex · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:46 am Post subject:

Lasa · . Joined: 26 Nov 2006 Posts: 128

Devil May Cry 4 is an awful lot like every other Devil May Cry I have played, which is not entirely a bad thing.
Is it supposed to be ironic that they created a brand new protagonist that happens to look almost exactly like the previous one? Maybe there are shocking story revelations that will make this seem excusable?

boojiboy7 · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:44 am Post subject:

Eh there are some minor things that tie him in, yeah. And Dante comes in to show him how it is done, which is hilarious. the second half of the game is almost a parody of the first half.

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

My dad is playing HL2: Episode 2 now, and he has a theory on how it will end! Roll over for possible spoilers:

He says it will end in Gordon and Alyx 'shagging'.

Then again when he was halfway through episode 1 I had to explain to him who the Combine were, so his analysis of the story might not be 100% reliable.

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

Wow. In addition to being written by someone who appears to be a numbnuts, some of Stephen Poole's Trigger Happy is just plain not fucking true.

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

Antlion beach = (o^^)b

All you need for this section is the gravity gun! Awesome!!

Commandeering Antlions = (o^^)b

I'm so over having 10 guns in my inventory at once! Who can carry two handguns, a crossbow, two machineguns, a bazooka and a bulky experimental gravity gun all at the same time? That shit needs to die quick, especially since half of the weapons serve the same function!

I'd be happy if this game just had the gravity gun and the magnum revolver. For special case items like the antlion ball, they could just stick to the gravity gun. I'm all about streamlining.

Scratchmonkey · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 1439

Yeah, it does seem weird that they give you so many weapons when really the only one that's required is the gravity gun (since certain puzzles rely on it) so they could have one other slot for whatever the User felt like toting around.

I feel like Stalker and Halo wind up being better because of the limited carrying capacity in terms of weapons, the former making it even more strategic (and somewhat more annoying) because the weapons degraded with no way of repairing them, so you get pretty used to having to switch it up and also need to really plan ahead in terms of hoarding/conserving ammo.

ryan · . Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 999

aderack · . Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 1105 Location: San Francisco

Lackey · . Joined: 11 Jul 2005 Posts: 1107 Location: Canada

That jacket inventory thing is delightful.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

Yeah! I bet that becomes industry standard within a few years.

It looks like they just started with the name 'Alone in the Dark' and thought about how to make the perfect game to fit that title. Sort of. I won't play it, but, you know, well done!

Cycle · Mac daddy Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767

PASSAGE, WOW. BETTER THAN PORTAL!

Seriously though, it's pretty clever. It even made me... feel... things... emotions?
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Lackey · . Joined: 11 Jul 2005 Posts: 1107 Location: Canada

There's another Alone in the Dark demo look like he's the last man on earth, bored, and lonely. Like he's just driving around empty streets and throwing furniture in condemned buildings.

To be honest I kind of liked it more when it was about a dapper 1920s French detective, but that's just me.

You know I kind of wished Passage author had used something with a little more symbolic weight than treasure chests. I like the idea but he didn't push it nearly as far as he could have, even within his means.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

aderack · . Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 1105 Location: San Francisco

Yeah, I felt my eyes mist over once, on the second playthrough, I realize I could walk up and down, and what that meant in terms of dynamics. And realizing there were all these avenues blocked off to me while I was linked up with this woman, but that's what happens. And once she was dead and I was left to explore them on my own... well.
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dessgeega · Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 10:44 pm Post subject:

played a little more apollo justice. first i was chasing panties, now i'm stealing people's shoes - this game is pretty pervy. not that i'm one to talk, of course.

i've decided i like detective skye.
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Winged Assassins (1984) · Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 10:56 pm Post subject:

Intentionally Wrong · Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 1:08 am Post subject:

If Internisus is going to cross-post Apollo Justice discussion, I guess I will, too.

I'm into the third case.

It feels like a step back to find myself stuck in an Ace Attorney game just because I missed a hot spot. No psych-locks, and a renewed focus on material evidence (since the forensics minigames are back): examining environments has never been so important. And yet, the environments feel under-described. They're often crowded with visual details, almost to the point of clutter, yet many of the objects don't merit a descriptive comment. On top of that, some objects have, uh, "bad hitboxes"--there's a mirror in one of the rooms in the third case, for example, which takes up about half the screen. There's tons of stuff around it that you'd think you could examine, but no. Apollo just comments on the mirror again.

The lack of psych-locks in particular really hurts this game. They'd have distracted from the new elements, I guess, but they added some much-needed structure to the investigation phase.

Speaking of new elements, I'm not sold on Apollo's talent for "tells", either. It has potential, but so far it's been like the hookshot in Zelda. "Okay, Apollo! Time to pull out your special ability!" "Good job! Your ability sure is useful! You can put it away for now."

Phoenix just seems out-of-place. We've seen him build this web of relationships over the course of three games, and suddenly almost every one of those connections is nowhere to be found. Because of that, none of the revelations about his history have any strength. He's so far outside a familiar context, he might as well be a complete stranger.

Ema is pretty great, though.
[MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH
MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH
MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH]

dhex · Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 8:43 am Post subject:

i tried the audiosurf demo last night, or rather, i tried to try it. crashy crashy. it plays in windowed mode, at least, but not at anything beyond the starting resolution.
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Redeye · . Joined: 02 Oct 2006 Posts: 986 Location: filth

dhex · Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 1:25 pm Post subject:

specs are far overpowered for audiosurf:

opteron 180
8800gts ssc
2gb ram
delta 1010

i figure it doesn't like the graphics card drivers. i don't think i "get" audiosurf so i'm probably not going to tinker with it too much.
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Max Cola · . Joined: 24 Jan 2007 Posts: 43 Location: beep beep

Ordinarily I would wait until Mother's Day, but a sudden desire for DQ styled RPGs has led me to put off DOOM and pick up the Mother series again. I've beaten the first two previously, and my file in Mother 3 is up to chapter eight (it was at seven for a loooooong time, and I had it set down for awhile).

So, some quick points to make about them: Mother/EB0 is an oldschool, grindy challenge for a good long while (frameskip is your savior), but once you get all three party members up to speed it turns into a rambling, slightly dangerous, very fun exploratory adventure. The first two Mother games are oddly similar, and yet so different at the same time... Mother/EBo is more about setting a mood, while M2/EB is more about imaginative setpieces. Mother 3 is like a great mix of those two goals, but it does its own thing, stylistically.

I also want to say that Mother 3 is KICKING MY ASS. Please tell me I'm not the only one who keeps getting destroyed by the bosses in this game. Either I retry until I get lucky, or I pull a fight by the skin of my teeth, using tons of Lifenoodles and Lifeupping like crazy. It's not as if I'm not careful... I usually shield and buff my characters in the first few rounds, and I distribute the items carefully among my party members. Yet without fail the boss in question busts out some crazy attack that hits everyone for tons of damage. Seriously, this game has put up a pretty stiff challenge from chapter seven on, and it had some moments of trial in the earlier chapters as well (I think the last boss of chapter one whupped me a good four or five times). I'm not alone in this, am I? Someone tell me what I'm doing wrong!

It's a hell of a lot tougher than Earthbound, to be sure - I'm up to the final sanctuary and I have wiped maybe twice. The first time was in the solo Ness stages of the game, and the second time was in the department store.

Anyway, ramble ramble ramble...
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The only girl I've ever loved was born with roses in her eyes. But then they buried her alive, one evening 1945, with just her sister at her side, and only weeks before the guns all came and rained on everyone...

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

That english translation of Mother 3 can't come out quick enough! I'm looking forward to that way more than Smash Bros.

dessgeega · Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 6:23 pm Post subject:

the bosses in mother 3 are a fucking challenge. i always scraped by by the skin of my teeth. chapter eight has some nasty ones. but pull through, that game has one of the most amazing closing acts ever scripted.
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Max Cola · . Joined: 24 Jan 2007 Posts: 43 Location: beep beep

I bet! The first two also had killer finales.

I destroyed one nasty boss (nehehehehehe!), but then I came up against that damn cyborg and it was back to square one. Lifeup Omega is a beauty, though.

I will likely replay this excellent game once the patch comes out. Ideally on my DS/GBA.

EDIT: Cyborg whupped! Go Starstorm!
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The only girl I've ever loved was born with roses in her eyes. But then they buried her alive, one evening 1945, with just her sister at her side, and only weeks before the guns all came and rained on everyone...

Intentionally Wrong · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 1:52 pm Post subject:

In Mother 3, remember--your damage to the opponent is instantaneous but your opponents' damage to you is slow. Once your party's HP totals start getting huge, you can rush through your attacks, taking one mortal hit after another after another, only stopping to heal once your HP gets really low. Once you're healing, though, WAIT until your HP get all the way up. Then start speeding through your attacks again. It's the only way I can finish the game.

dhex · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 1:57 pm Post subject:

i tried installing temple of elemental evil last night. didn't work out so well. (i.e. it crashes constantly during character generation regardless of patch level)

i'm in a wrpg mood so maybe bg2 (which i never finished) or neverwinter nights (just to see how bad the oc sucks)
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dessgeega · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 2:29 pm Post subject:

Intentionally Wrong · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 2:54 pm Post subject:

Hospital Zone · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 3:25 pm Post subject:

Intentionally Wrong · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 3:41 pm Post subject:

If you can say without using spoilers, where are you in the game, Hospital Zone?

I took a year of Japanese, and while that isn't enough to begin to understand anything, it's helpful to be able to recognize "Yes" and "No", at least. It's likewise handy to be able to at least guess at the pronunciation of hiragana and katakana--maybe I can't understand what the characters are saying, but I can at least figure out which character's talking, and cross-reference that with the translation.

Max Cola · . Joined: 24 Jan 2007 Posts: 43 Location: beep beep

Well, the problem is that a lot of later enemies like to use group damage/group status attacks, which move slowly. Getting hit by a blast of PK Fire really sucks, especially if some of your friends get burnt. Also, Lifeup Omega heals everyone one at a time, and slowly. Boney has died once or twice because the healing hasn't reached him in time...

However, yes, you can get through most of the game without paying any attention to levels. Though I'd say that fighting everything you see would be the best approach anyway, because 1. battles are quick and fun and 2. I swear that the bosses in the last two chapters will destroy you if you aren't tough enough. It has more to do with what PSI you learn at what levels than your stats; I couldn't defeat the Barrier Trio until I'd grabbed Shield Omega for Lucas, for example. Careful use of your PSI abilities is important, especially since PP seems to be harder to replenish and some holdovers from Earthbound are less effective. (For instance, Lifeup Alpha restores about 100 HP in EB, but only about 60 HP in M3. This is probably to compensate for your HP scrolling out more slowly.)

Also, defending slows the ticking of your counter and takes effect at the beginning of the round, regardless of speed. So if you need to take a round to heal everyone, have them all defend.

Tangentially: the vast majority of the PSI in Mother/EB0 is worthless. Why doesn't Ninten learn Lifeup Beta until level 29? Why doesn't Ana learn PK Fire ANYTHING until close to the end of the game? Why does Thunder even exist? etc. etc. Though I will say that you have to use shields and defense boosts a lot more than in Mother 2/EB.
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The only girl I've ever loved was born with roses in her eyes. But then they buried her alive, one evening 1945, with just her sister at her side, and only weeks before the guns all came and rained on everyone...

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

I'm visiting my mum for a couple of days before I go to the big LDN. She has foriegn students in her house. One of them went out and bought Metroid Prime 3 for my Wii. I played it for a little bit. Needless to say moments later I AM REGISTERING MY COMPLAINTS ON THE INTERNET IN DISGUST

Ok so I knew this game was retarded because I watched the first hour on the internet the week it came out. But starting from someone else's game 3 hours in, hoo-leee shit. It makes me appreciate what the Half Life games do well, at least! Man was I ever harsh on the storytelling in Half Life 2, because if this is what the competition is like, then DAMN.

I am in a FUEL ZONE. I guess after Metroid Prime 1 + 2 the developers were wondering if they were any other types of locations other than a Lava Zone and an Ice Zone. I know I was! Well, the previous night's episode of Star Trek must have been particularly inspiring the day they had that boardroom meeting, because they totally invented a new type of zone! The FUEL ZONE! It's exactly like the Lava Zone except the Lava is yellow! I'm serious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So The guy whose save I was jacking had saved just before a boss fight, who I am going to call 'Frozone' for completely arbitrary reasons, and also because he has all the powers of Frozone from The Incredibles, including snowboarding around on a self-made path of ice. And he's the same colour. I had to kill him by stunning him, which I did by shooting him a lot, and then once he was stunned I had to rip his armour off using my grappling hook, activated by pumping my left arm like a lunatic. I knew I had to rip his armour off because the game told me I did in as many words! Then I had to shoot him a load of times. Repeat for about 10 minutes, because he could magic his armour back again, you see.

Hey so guess what happened when he died! I noticed my foot was numb! But also, I got given FREEZE MISSILES! That's really fortunate, because just moments before I reached impassable streams of fuel where the game told me they would be traversable if only someone froze them!!! Who'd a thunk it!! Everything's coming up roses!!

dessgeega · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 11:14 pm Post subject:

so now that classes have finished i've finally found time to finish BARKLEY, SHUT UP AND JAM: GAIDEN. it's a parody of the jrpg, and the reason it's such a success is that it is sharper, better-written, faster-paced, and more playable than the games it's spoofing - which many intended parodies aren't. there are some very smart ideas here, and some very keen observation. everything is ridiculous, but it works because the delivery is so deadpan.

and the pacing is lightning fast. my clock reads just over four hours at the end, and the game manages to pack more and more varied scenes in that time period than most eighty-hour jrpgs do.

it's a great work of satire. what TALES OF GAME'S has accomplished here is pretty spectacular.
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ryan · . Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 999

I've been playing Sega Bass Fishing on the Wii and, seriously, fuck the announcer. Don't "oh man" me when I bring in a 17-fucking-pound fish, asshole.

I think my main problem with the game is that I can buy the superior combo of a Dreamcast, the awesome reel controller, and a copy of Sega Bass Fishing for the price of the Wii version.

Graaaa! Stop limiting my fishing potential!
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

dhex · Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 12:51 pm Post subject:

i love the idea of post apocalyptic basketball-related mass death, but i can't find a download link that works anymore.

was this a limited time thing?
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Max Cola · . Joined: 24 Jan 2007 Posts: 43 Location: beep beep

Mother 3 cleared.

Time: roughly 19 hours
Final levels: Lv. 61 for everybody

The ending was indeed remarkable. Less kuh-raaaayzy post-modernism than Earthbound, but far more emotional resonance.

This was easily the best jRPG I have ever played. Well-balanced, brilliantly paced, and the story is intelligent and well-told. A fitting end to a wonderful series.

I have a lot more I want to say but I will save it for another time... perhaps when the patch comes out and everyone can enjoy it. I will say that I look forward to playing it again.

EDIT: In the meantime, everyone go play Earthbound Zero and Earthbound. There are parts of Mother 3 that will bring a grin to your face if you have played the first two. I was glad I beat them first.

Come on, I'm replaying them now! Play with me!
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The only girl I've ever loved was born with roses in her eyes. But then they buried her alive, one evening 1945, with just her sister at her side, and only weeks before the guns all came and rained on everyone...

dessgeega · Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 4:21 pm Post subject:

just to let you all know, space invaders extreme is brilliant.

more detail later.
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dessgeega · Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:45 pm Post subject:

now that i have free time, i finally finished sam & max episode three. what took me so long is that i had to do something i didn't feel i was ready for in the story, and so i was reluctant. once i did it, it wasn't clear why i needed to do that thing before i could achieve the result i wanted.

also, a significant action in the game didn't feel like it had a properly significant result. it did in terms of nabbing me the doohickey i needed to complete the episode, but it seemed as though it should have a significant impact on the plot and characters, but it didn't. oh well.

to reiterate, space invaders extreme is brilliant.
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