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GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice
A couple people have asked about Etrian Odyssey II. I'll tell you what a friend of mine told me when I asked him for advice on the game: "Atlus hates the people that play their games."

This game is brutal, but I can share a few pieces of advice that are making it less painful for me.
    This game is hard. Don't beat yourself up if you are having trouble. Just keep at it.
    Avoid FOEs any time you can. Yes, some of them respawn. The ones that move have a discernible pattern. Be patient and you'll figure it out.
    Keep a handful of warp wires on you at all times.
    Mark stuff on your map! That's what it's there for.
    Don't be afraid to consult a floor map online if you're stuck.
    Leave to save and heal often. This sounds obvious, but if you don't go to the surface from time to time, your inventory will get too full. Or you might accidentally run into an insurmountable FOE.
    I rely on a Protector, a Landsknecht, and a Medic for most battles, but I'm sure different configurations will work. Mix it up and see what works best for you (although you'll probably still need that Medic).
    Do the "item-fetch" sidequests.
    Plan where to spend those skill points! Doing it all willy-nilly will surely gimp your character, and that'll ruin your entire party in a game this unforgiving.
    Do not pursue Lu Bu. He will gently caress your poo poo up.

EDIT: Me am good at grammar!

GOTTA STAY FAI fucked around with this message at 14:17 on Aug 18, 2009

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GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice
Someone please help me start Super Robot Taisen Original Generation 2. I just need some general pointers; most guides I find via gamefaqs or Google are of little help (but will probably become useful once I get acclimated to the game).

EDIT: Grammar is awesome.

GOTTA STAY FAI fucked around with this message at 20:20 on Aug 13, 2009

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

CaptainRat posted:

:words:

Sweet! That was better than I'd hoped for. Thanks. May I PM you if I run into trouble and don't want to read a spoilerific guide?

Also, thank you, Viash, I'll be sure to do that when I get to that point. Right now I'm in the first battle and to be honest it's kind of intimidating; I'm afraid of messing up. Since it's just the beginning, I'll dive right in and if I screw up too terribly I can always restart.

Pyruvate, the only advice I can really give right now about Front Mission 4 is to set aside large blocks of time in which to play it; the game is furiously addictive. Other than that, I'd say pay attention to terrain effects as they can make or break you in many battles. I'll do a better write-up later if nobody beats me to it.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Corridor posted:

Etrian Odyssey. Don't have it, but am gonna get it. Tell me stuff about it so I don't throw it against the wall in a tantrum on my first playthrough.

Also, better to first-play EO1 or EO2?

They're both absolutely brutal and unforgiving. I gave some general advice earlier in the thread that might be of help for both titles, even though it was about EO2. I'd start with the first. If you complete it (good loving luck), you're given a code that you can enter at the beginning of EO2 for a surprise of some sort. I don't know what it is because I haven't finished either of the games yet because Atlus hates the people that play their games.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Corridor posted:

gently caress that guy.

So true.

He/she's not wrong about those health stations, Bioshock newbies; hack every single one of them, or destroy them if you have to. The AI loves those things and knows exactly where the nearest one is. I think I even remember Steinman using the one in the water during that boss fight, though I could be wrong.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

al-azad posted:

EO2 is the same as the original but with more stuff so no you don't have to play one or the other. Both games are long and hard as balls so you've got a lot of ground to cover.

This is worded in kind of a misleading way. They're not the same game, just very similar in terms of gameplay. Each one has its own plot.

And First Aid is free healing just for completing a battle! I'm not trying to start an argument, it just fits my play style better, and may work well for others, too.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

HorrorJunkie posted:

Yeah, Steinman'll definitely use the health stations, which is a bitch on hard, when you've hacked all but one.

That one down in the water is easy to miss; if you miss it while trying for the "brass balls" achievement, you might wonder why the battle is taking an hour and a half...

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Kid Moe posted:

Anything i should know before i start Contact for DS? It seems like its going to be one of those games where its easy to miss stuff.

First and foremost, know that it's not a game for everyone. I know people that love it so much they are still doing playthroughs three years after it came out. Others try the game and find it frustrating, boring, tedious, etc.

Give it a shot and see where you lie; it's one of those "love it or hate it" games. If you end up not liking it, don't force yourself to continue playing.

If you do like it, find a good guide for it online. I found that having a guide handy didn't detract from the flow of the game but rather enhanced it by making sure I was in the right places at the right times. It's pretty easy to miss costumes, weapons, and items if you don't know where to look.

Don't forget your stickers (you'll know what I'm talking about when you get there).

Lastly, have fun. Pick a playstyle that suits you and run with it.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice
I need some help getting into Stardock's Sins of a Solar Empire. I've done the tutorials and started half a dozen games, but I can't seem to...well, do anything. I have no idea what I'm doing. I build some ships, explore neighboring planets, and research stuff...anyone got some tips for a beginner like me? I've only heard good things about the game, so I'm probably missing something forehead-slappingly obvious.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

MY FANTASYS.zip posted:

Just picked up Fallout Tactics, Sacrifice, and Giants: Citizen Kabuto off of GoG. Any good tips for the games.

As for Giants: Citizen Kabuto, just have fun. That game is hilarious and I can't believe it didn't get more attention in its time. It's a pretty lax game most of the time, so enjoy it. Oh, and do yourself a favor and play it on a sound system that has a subwoofer (if you can) and turn that bad boy all the way up. Those little fuckers that dig (I forget what they're called; I haven't played the game in ages) have a wonderful sound effect as they burrow toward you that sounds fan-loving-tastic with a woofer. It's kind of hard to explain, but you'll know what I'm talking about when it happens.

I know we've already discussed Mass Effect, and I'm reading the "What Should I Know?" link, but I can't seem to find any info on a patch that removes Seth Green from the game. Is Bioware planning on releasing something like that soon, or is that a third-party fix?

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Morpheus posted:

What? Seth Green isn't a superstar by any accounts, but he's a decent voice actor and has a whole lot of lines in the game. Why would he be removed?

it was a joke :ssh:

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Nepalese Robot posted:

I think I'm the only one who thought Seth Green actually did well in Mass Effect.

I've found that lots of people agree with you. I think he irritates the people he does because to most of us, he always sounds the same. It's not that he's a bad voice actor per se, I just find his voice to be annoying and it doesn't help that he does little to change it between roles.

Then again, I'm not of the "Adult Swim Generation," so maybe his voice is an acquired taste or a "ya just had to be there" kind of deal.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Ronnie posted:

Ok guys i'm starting: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Chrono Trigger. Any tips?

Metroid Prime 2 will pit you against (and pretty early) one of the most infuriating loving bosses--the Boost Guardian. What sucks is that there's no "trick" to beating her; you've just gotta go at it brass-balls style and try not to get too pissed when she slaughters you. Some advice I can give is to keep loving moving and pay attention--she'll inadvertently break some of the columns in the room, dropping power-ups (which you'll be pretty grateful for!). When it's moving around on the floor like a toddler on amphetamines, use bombs (in morph ball mode), but try to foresee when your bombs are going to connect so you can change out of morph mode and give the bitch a facefull of charged light beam.

Some people get lucky and beat the boss on the first try, and I sincerely hope you're one of them, because it took me dozens of re-loads across two days to finally bring her down.

Oh, and don't forget to scan the bitch before you toast her, if you're after scans.

Save often.

The "light world/dark world" mechanic is pretty cool. Remember that things you do in one world may change the local situation in the other. Also, if you get stuck and don't know what to do, try backtracking to all the portals you've already used if you've gained new abilities since you last visited. Lots of goodies can be earned that way, and new paths may be opened.

Don't be afraid to retreat to the light world periodically to recharge your energy/ammo during the early game. There will come a time when it's not necessary, so don't get too stressed out about the fact that the very air in the dark world will kill you more quickly than most enemies could.

The ammo system is kind of wonky. Killing enemies/breaking containers with the light gun yields dark ammo and vice-versa. And if you run out of a type of ammo and need to open a door, don't worry--charging your gun will allow you to fire one normal shot at a time of the light or dark beam.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:

The wiki page on it covers pretty much everything: http://www.drumandface.info/wsik/index.php/Persona_4

I can't really think of anything important to add.

Some people act like turdfaces when someone suggests that a poster "read the guide" in this thread, but I think it's appropriate sometimes. Persona 4 is a complicated game and it's full of things that you might probably will miss your first time through without a guide to refer to. Feel like playing without one? Go for it; have fun. The game's a blast and there's a certain charm to diving in with no clue as to what to do. If you're going commando, though, keep in mind that there is a point toward the end during which your dialog choices will determine whether the game stops right there and you get the "bad" ending or if the game continues and you get to try for the "good" ending.

That having been said, my advice would be to save often and to probably even set up two memory cards for your saves. "That sounds silly," you might say, but remember that later when you jump up and shout "gently caress, IF ONLY I COULD GO BACK TWO WEEKS AND DO IT DIFFERENTLY!" Also, grab a pen and paper and schedule your time after making notes about who's available when.

Oh! And get those social links up as early as possible. It's very satisfying to fuse two personas on a special fusion day at a high link level and see the new persona's base level jump up by ten or more!

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

CloseFriend posted:

Eh, I'm the OP and I think it's good to say it, just because there are some games that I think are functionally pointless to play without a guide...

I had a feeling that my wording was unclear; I should've said "I think it's appropriate to suggest a guide when necessary." I'm pretty sure Persona 4 would've been impossible for me without a guide to consult and you're right--there are plenty of games that you need a guide for. Ever play SaGa Frontier? I'd be an rear end in a top hat if I pretended that I figured out how to complete all the quests on my own. I remember buying that game in 1998. I didn't have the Internet yet, so I went to the public library to use what seemed like the only computer in the tiny rural town to have Internet access and saved walkthroughs as .txt files on a 3.5" floppy disk. gently caress, I just found out that iPhone owners can literally watch walkthrough videos on YouTube on their phones as they play if they get stuck. If you'd told me that we'd be able to do that in the future a decade ago I probably would've laughed and said, "That'll never happen!"

"Olden days" stories aside, if someone suggests consulting a guide before starting a game, they're probably right.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

gmq posted:

I just started playing Fatal Frame 2, any tips for it?

If you run into a ghost that looks like Albert Einstein, stay away--if he catches you, it's insta-death.

Adjust the brightness/contrast on your TV if you need to, as the game gets pretty dark at times. Also, play with the lights off and the sound up. The game has a wonderful scary ambiance!

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

HaroldofTheRock posted:

I'm playing Gears of War for the first time. I got to the point in the first act where you use the hammer of dawn on the seeders. After that section I nearly threw the hammer away but decided to hold on to it for just in case. Sure enough, later I had to use it to kill a beserker.

Now I'm in act 2 and they said the satellites have moved out of position. I can't use the hammer but I'm paranoid about throwing it away. Can I drop it or will I need it again later in the game? If I need it later in the game will another one be provided for me or do I need to lug the one I have around?

I did the same thing when I played for the first time. Just drop it in favor of a better weapon; you'll come across plenty more of them. Like Largejaroalmonds said, they're good about making sure one's available when you need it, so you don't need to carry it around.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Twitch posted:

Anything for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King? I'm like 30 days into it, and it doesn't seem like there's any way to permanently screw myself over, but I figured I'd check this thread first. I don't care about min/maxing type hints, just if there's anything I definitely must or definitely shouldn't do.

You can't fire adventurers. Once you hit the unit cap, you're stuck with that same set of jerks for the rest of the game!

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Jigsaw posted:

I just picked up Super Robot Taisen OG Saga 2 for the GBA. I'd love to play the first, but haven't found a copy, so I'm pretty much completely lost as far as plot goes. It also didn't have a manual, so if anyone could post a link to a place that has the manual (replacement docs doesn't), or a brief like what would be found in the manual, and maybe a link to a plot summary of the first game, it would really help. It's fun so far, but I'm so confused.

CaptainRat gave some good advice about it earlier in the thread. Also, he's a swell guy; he didn't mind me PMing him a zillion times about questions. Try dropping him a line with your questions.

If I had the manual, I'd scan it in for ya, but in all honesty I think my cat ate it.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Davoren posted:

Anyone got any advice for Ace Combat 6? I haven't played one of these since 2 on the Playstation.

First off, I'd recommend picking up 4, 5, and Zero on the cheap at eBay. They're all stellar games. If you have a PSP, grab Ace Combat X; the sound quality is spectacular (use some PC speakers or headphones, though), there is a veritable shitton of planes to unlock, and it lets you customize your plane with parts you earn on missions. But you didn't ask about those games, did you?

There have been several modifications to the gameplay over the years, for better or worse (mostly better!). The first thing you'll notice is that most of the missions are loving l-o-n-g. Too many times I've gotten within a minute of the end, only to stupidly collide mid-air with another plane. Guess what happens then? You get to do it all over again!

Okay, enough bitching, I guess. One cool thing they added is a live airfield. To refuel and resupply on lots of maps you can land on your own (or capture an enemy's!) airfield right in the middle of the mission. Things keep going on around you while you're doing so, however, so make sure you sterilize the area before you come in for a landing.

It is now much, much easier to take down a target with your gun. Gone are the days of tearing rear end across the sky, chasing some jerk at close range while holding down the fire button--now, if you happen to be shooting and someone crosses your path, they're toast.

The d-pad issues orders to your wingman and allies. When you satisfy enough objectives, you will gain the ability to send friendly forces (air and ground alike) to attack a particular group of targets. This is really handy when there's a bunch of poo poo to do on a map--you can just make them do it for you!

Now, get up there and show those Soviets Estovakians who's boss!

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Astfgl posted:

- Make sure you have some method of restoring attributes on the fly, primarily Strength, Intelligence, Endurance and Speed. All of those will often get drained or damaged by enemies, and they can severely impact your combat skills, depending on what class you are. You can accomplish this via potions or spells, but constantly trudging back to the altar in town will soon become annoying. If you plan on using Restoration for this, invest early as it levels up extremely slowly and Restore Attribute spells are both expensive, difficult to find for purchase, and usually for Journeyman level and above.

Spectacular advice, Astfgl. Dear readers, pay attention to everything Astfgl said, but pay particular attention to the part I quoted. Once you hit a certain level, the probability of encountering an enemy that can damage your stats increases ridiculously, and there's nothing worse than being stuck at the very bottom of a dungeon with a strength stat of 13, especially if you're a melee fighter. Ordinarily, I'd suggest using an editor to either replace the enemy or at least the particular stat-damaging attack, as it is loving annoying; you have my sympathy for not being able to mod your version.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

SpazmasterX posted:

Never play it.

Ragequit posted:

This is pretty sound advice.

They're not just being assholes; they're entirely correct. Please, don't play that game.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice
Someone asked about Infinite Space a while back.

  • Save often.

  • Pay attention to who you've got assigned to what job; each character has at least one special skill/attribute that makes them proficient at something. That said, don't be afraid to pick where they go by looking at their stats rather than their specials. They don't always match.

  • Get a goddamn notebook (or, an Excel file if you're an ubernerd like me :coal:) and write poo poo down. Take notes on where to buy things, names of planets in systems, etc. There's a lot of back-and-forth in this game and even just three hours in, you might forget where [random planet X] is when someone tells you to go there. Also, write down quest information as sometimes the quest-giver won't repeat what he told you and then you get to fly around all of creation looking for [random object x].

  • Your crew will always start a fight against multiple ships with any ship targeted but the front one. If you're ever in a situation in which you're always loving missing, you've forgotten to check your targets.

  • I know it's been mentioned before, but the dodge command rocks. There's nothing better than seeing a barrage coming and having time to tap the button, causing the enemy's shots to sail past you hilariously while you pop your knuckles in preparation for your own attack.

  • You will likely acquire the carrier blueprint before getting the hangar part. Don't build a carrier until you get that hangar! I did this and was pretty pissed off to have a gimped ship lagging me down.

  • :yoshi:

  • This game was hyped-up and then promptly forgotten about when its release date kept getting pushed back, so there's not a lot of info to be seen online about it. You can PM me with questions and I'll try to help out.

edit: Jesus Christ, how could I have forgotten to mention weapon ranges? Each weapon you have has a range--this is really, really important. During battle, while you're trying to 'splode the enemies, take a gander at the range indicator for each of your weapons. I ignored these indicators for quite a while and wondered why I couldn't destroy anything :( They'll turn blue if your target is in range. Whichever weapons are in range are the ones that fire, so make sure you're close enough/far enough away for all your guns to work!

GOTTA STAY FAI fucked around with this message at 21:05 on May 6, 2010

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Ratatozsk posted:

The wiki's got a bunch on FFT, check it out.

Lots of good advice in the wiki. To add a little, there's a lot of hate for Geomancers, but you should try the class out anyway. I like 'em. IIRC, the formula that determines how well a geomancy attack will do is (PA/2 + 1) x MA = damage done; geomancy becomes pretty useful if the Geomancer has a high MA, as it costs no MP to use, has no charge time, and sometimes inflicts status ailments. And, they can equip swords and shields. They're solid team members (especially if they have a high MA) for the early-to-mid-game if you pick a good sub-class.

The wiki covers this (more than once), but I feel the need to mention once again that you should pay particular attention to what stat governs the thing you're trying to do. For instance, in the case of the stick, MA, rather than PA, governs what seems like a "physical" attack.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

triggerpappy posted:

The Game is "Place to Pee" an interactive urinal video game

Things to know before playing the first time:

I think its always important to have about 6-12 beers before starting and never try to play in another person's urinal. It can have serious consequences.

Wow, I'll have to check this game out! :hurr:

Anyway, on the subject of Fallout 3--I know it's been said before, but save your freakin' game! Also, don't grief yourself too much over screwing things up during character creation; just run with what feels good. Does the explosives skill seem handy? Go for it; there are lots of grenades and mines to be had (especially if you help Moira with her book!) and setting traps for bad guys is satisfying and ofttimes hilarious. Does the "Bloody Mess" perk look fun? Take it! Don't be scared that your initial choices will gimp you later on because it's hard to mess up so bad that the game becomes impossible. Oh, and did you know that you can still use weapons that you aren't very skilled with? Sure, you won't do as much damage, but all that loot you're hauling around may contain a grenade, baseball bat, or other type of weapon that you can take advantage of to get out of a sticky situation.

In another Bethesda title, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, your starting picks can and will gently caress you over. There are many schools of thought on what to do, but I try to mix skills that I know I can level easily (Acrobatics and Athletics simply require you to run/swim around and jump everywhere; not a bad choice unless you want precision control over when you level up) and skills that won't come as quickly (Restoration :argh:). Restoration is actually a good choice if you're a "bad" character as temple altars won't repair damaged stats if you're not a priestly dude/dudette. Once you hit level 25 in Restoration, you gain access to "repair stat" spells, which are in-loving-dispensable when facing Will-o'-the-Wisps, those douches!

Take your boots off when sneaking. If you're good enough at being a thief, you won't need the armor rating they provide, anyway.

Also, think about how you're going to heal yourself when you're making your character. Alchemy is great (especially with the Frostcrag Spire DLC) for making potions (and poisons!), but requires ingredients. Restoration spells only use MP, which regenerates automatically. Of course, if you're wearing heavy armor, drinking a potion is a far better alternative to casting a spell, as the more armor you have equipped, the worse you are at spellcasting.

If you're an Imperial, your Voice of the Emperor race skill stacks with Charm spells from the Illusion skillset. Taking advantage of this will allow you to take a dump in a family's pantry right in front of them and still have them love you.

Barter is an oft-overlooked option during buying/selling items with NPCs. Even if you only adjust the price by one 'tick' to the right, you will get experience for every single item you buy/sell. Get into the habit of checking that slider every time you buy or sell something in order to get not only a better deal but stat increases for a transaction you were going to perform anyway!

Once the gates to Oblivion open, cross-country travel becomes problematic. Consider not going to Kvatch right away if you want to explore stuff without being hassled.

edit: grammar

GOTTA STAY FAI fucked around with this message at 15:01 on Jun 1, 2010

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Palleon posted:

I just grabbed Sins of a Solar Empire from Impulse for 4 bucks after it was mentioned earlier in this thread, and I'm wondering if anyone has any more general advice, and which race is easiest to play as, because I'm really, really bad at it. I just can't seem to make enough ships to keep up with the easy AI, pirates are overwhelmingly powerful, and it seems like there just aren't enough resources to build ships, upgrade, or develop planets, I struggle to do just one (been working on small, 9 planet maps to start, maybe I need to go bigger).

Also, are any of the expansions "essential"? Entrenchment looked like it could be really interesting, but I wasn't sure about Diplomacy, was hoping to hear some thoughts from people who have played them.

I'm loving terrible at this game, too, and it seems as though nobody reading this thread is willing/able to help out. The best I can tell you is that the game has an adaptive difficulty mechanism that basically counts your ships and how strong they are and awards itself with comparable ships in unmonitored regions. That's why when you show up with an invasion force in a system you haven't been to in a few minutes/ever, they've got the perfect complement to it. It sucks, but it's one of those "get over it or move along" kinds of things.

Also, gently caress pirate bases.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

HondaCivet posted:

How about Metal Gear Solid? Yeah, the first one. There have been way too many good MGS releases/previews out lately, I need to get started on the franchise finally.

Lots of great advice given already, but I thought I'd chime in about claymores. They're the mines that blow up when you walk in front of them. Otacon might cover this, but you can actually pick them up if you crawl over them (with the mine detector equipped, obviously)! They're great for problem-solving later in the game, and especially useful in the fight in the freezer against Vulcan Raven.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Capsaicin posted:

Unless you're getting it for PC, you're wrong.

I work at Gamestop, and we have people who, daily, will come in, buy the installable Expansion Pack set for the 360, come back 2 hours later, and return it for a full refund.

You would think that Microsoft would have known by now.

Thank you for this.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

PrinnySquadron posted:

Any tips for Demon's Souls? I'm getting it today. Any for Wild ARMS XF would be helpful as well.

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3106674

Here's the Demon's Souls thread. It'll have answers to most of your "beginner" questions. It's easy to get frustrated with that game because it's so easy to die, but being killed is really not that big a deal. If you find yourself breaking controllers or TVs, it may not be a game for you.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

That Awful Nick posted:

Can we add to the advice for Sid Meier's Pirates! Live the Life that you should never play it late at night when you have lots of stuff to do the next day because you will never. stop. playing?

Holy poo poo is this game amazing. Thanks for all the advice, goons. I'm kind of getting my poo poo wrecked, and my crew is absolutely miserable 90% of the time, but running around in a stolen Spanish War Galleon fighting a war of aggression against the French on behalf of the English is honestly my absolutely most favorite new past-time.

Also, sell or sink every Merchantman you capture. CHRIST are they worthless for anything other than ferrying men and cargo.

If the "sack the city" minigame were a standalone console title, I'd buy it in a heartbeat and never play anything else.

More advice: I've taken down many a ship with naught but a war canoe, matey. Best be rememberin' that.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Mecha Labrador posted:

- Mercantile is annoying. Buy a stack of arrows or something, and sell them back, one by one. This can take ages.

One by one? So you're telling me the game treats sold stacks as single items? :argh: That's why it takes ages for me to level that skill!

Hey y'all, I just started playing Front Mission 4. Is there any stupid missable poo poo that I need to look out for in the first few missions? I just helped The Three Stooges steal the truck in order to haul out the gold. If I already missed some dumb hidden "stand on grid position X,Y for six turns while punching yourself in the groin" item requirement, I'ma lose it.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Brother Entropy posted:

The game is probably easiest as a Soldier or Adept, but honestly unless you're playing on Insanity, you should be able to go through the game with whatever class you want without too much trouble. Just go with whatever sounds the most fun to you.

This is good advice. Also, when you get a call about a mission on Earth's moon Luna ("Rogue VI" is the name of the assignment), get your butt over there on the double--completing that mission lets you pick a specialization class, which improves your abilities!

Something else I'll mention is squad weapon selection. You should periodically use the weapon wheel to check what everyone's got equipped because the game has a habit of changing your party's weapons after cutscenes (this may have been patched out but I remember it being really annoying).

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

The Betrayer posted:

Finally, if you ever have to rescue something, don't set it on fire.

This is sound advice in any situation.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Artix74 posted:

Any good tips on FF8? I played until some point in disk 2 when my PS3 YLOD'd on me and I figured I'd go ahead and give it another shot, because I remember liking it quite a bit when I did play it. That said, I know that I didn't quite "get" FF8. I was terrible at Triple Triad and never played it if I could avoid it, I probably leveled a lot more than I needed to, I never did figure out how to raise your SeeD rank, etc. So basically, I'm looking for a "here's what you were probably doing completely wrong" post.

Note: I love this game to death so I apologize in advance if this post gets too long/rambles.

Don't beat yourself up over not getting all the points possible in your SeeD exam. It's kind of tough and parts of it are not very intuitive.

There's a part of the game that frustrates me to no loving end--when you are tasked to find "the commander" in Balamb Town, put the controller down and go look up the solution to this lovely "puzzle" on the Internet. I've been told by a few people that you can buy your way out of the puzzle by talking to the guy hiding between/under the vehicles at the docks, but I've never tried it. I've also heard that if the puzzle has you stumped and enough time goes by, it shortcuts you to the end of it. Can't confirm that last one for m'self, though.

You may come across a town in which someone asks you to find a set of "stones." Try this one without a guide first and remember that they can all be found within that town. Don't neglect the entrance area (the one with the costly draw point)!

While each character has baseline stats that might cause you to be inclined to specialize them one way or another, keep in mind that the magic junction system makes it possible for anyone to do anything. I made Zell my primary mage once just for the heck of it, and thanks to carefully-selected junctions (it's not always best to let the game pick them, by the way), he was a powerhouse.

If you plan to stock up on spells, it will help to junction something to all three active party members' mag stats that boosts them. You can always switch 'em back later, and then you won't have to see "Drew 1 Esuna(s)!"

Tapping R1 at the right time during a physical attack only works for Squall. Feel free to do it for everyone else, though, if you think it's fun. :toot:

It is perfectly acceptable to name a character "SHITBOX." Actually, that's good advice for just about any game.

It behooves you to get the ability Enc-None from Diablos before entering an area on the world map that looks like this.

Guardian Forces' attacks can be powerful (especially when Boosted), and their attack animations are pretty. Use them if you feel like it, but it's been mentioned before that the game is just as easy if you don't. It's up to you. Speaking of Guardian Forces, the damage Diablos does scales with his level in a different way than the other GF's. You know how gravity-based spells inflict damage based on a percentage of a character/enemy's HP? Diablos's attack does this too, it's just relative to his level. He may not seem very useful at the start, but as he matures, you'll start to see him come into his own. And by "come into his own" I really mean "beating major loving rear end."

Reading a card rules tutorial online will help you immensely if you plan on playing Triple Triad a lot. Pay special attention to how rules are spread and which rules you don't want to spread.

Rinoa's attack animation is tediously long, but Invincible Moon will save your rear end one day.

At one point, a "witch" of sorts joins your party. Feel free to neglect her because that bitch leaves pretty soon thereafter anyway. You'll know who I'm talking about when you get her.

Yes, you're supposed to wake up as some dude in a jungle. Your game did not glitch--just go with it. Not knowing what that's all about is part of the fun!

You won't need to know this for quite a while, but Zell is actually a skilled mechanic. Trust him when the time comes.

The game will sometimes reset your junctions between discs/"dreams"/cutscenes. Always check what's equipped before doing anything of major import. Once I get lots of GF's, I find it helpful to write down who's got what and what magic is junctioned to what stats. Sometimes it gets scrambled and you may not remember how you had everything set up before.

It was mentioned before, but Aura whoops rear end. Another awesome spell is Meltdown. It can be drawn from an enemy that lives on snowy plains near an underground village. Meltdown does non-elemental damage and reduces the enemy's VIT to 0, effectively stripping them of any defense against physical attacks. It makes some otherwise tough enemies (loving adamantoises) a cakewalk.

Unlike FFVII and FFX (at the beginning), Limit Breaks don't trigger after a certain amount of damage. The lower a character's HP, the more likely he or she is to get a Limit Break (kind of). Once you reach 10% and your HP is displayed in yellow, the odds go up dramatically. You can get a Limit Break at higher health, but as you approach 30%, it's so unlikely that you'll probably never see it.

Quistis's limit break, Blue Magic, can rock your socks off, if you get her the right abilities.

Your "Save" screen may change after a certain point; it will gain options for a "Pocketstation." We NA gamers didn't get that peripheral, so just ignore those menu choices. :(

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

SpazmasterX posted:

Actually, it doesn't reset your junctions. What it does is it picks certain characters stats for the characters in the dreams. If you go in to the party list where you can change characters, there's also an option to transfer junctions and magic. Simply swap your usual character's junctions to the person who you normally don't use and they'll be powered up instantly.

You know, I have a videogame-OCD friend that used to tell me the same thing every time I'd complain about my GF's and magic getting scrambled/unequipped. Finally, I demanded he come over and show me the "trick" to keeping everything straight after a dream sequence. He had the same problem I did and said that my game was messed up or something because his copy never did that. I owned the same retail NA version of the game he did, so it made no sense to me; I just thought he was lying so he wouldn't look like an idiot. :iiam:

I found a minty copy of FFVIII for the PC at a thrift store for a dollar. Booyaka! Think it'll run on my machine? :dance:

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

SpazmasterX posted:

Perhaps they're are simply two different versions of the game? It's far from unusual, and my copy IS the Greatest Hits version.

I suppose that's the only conclusion possible to arrive at. Maybe the discs are stamped with a code that contains a batch number, or something like that? I bought my copy at Wal*Mart the day it came out (jesus, was that really a decade ago?). I'll do some digging. And for the record, I'm super jealous that you didn't have to re-junction everybody all the time.

Persona 3 Portable

If you're new to the game, start as the male protagonist character.

Don't be afraid to fuse personas. Make sure you register them before you do, though.

Skill cards are awesome and can be just the thing you need to get through a problematic battle. Use them.

During fusion, you should take note of what skills are being passed to the new persona. This is a very important part of the game. If necessary, re-roll the fusion until you get a set of skills you like.

You can pay to heal your party on floor 1 of Tartarus. Just click on the "clock" (save point), and select "Heal Party" or "Heal All" from the menu.

Some of Elizabeth's quests aren't very intuitive. If you're scared of missing something, check out a guide. Please note that the Doublejump guide printed for Persona 3 won't be very useful for this version of the game.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Ledneh posted:

Hey sup gonna give La Mulana another try, and had some followup questions to those I asked previously in the thread.

- Besides the two whip upgrades, is there anything else I can permanently miss/gently caress up? Life crystals, ROMs, etc?

- SSCC or SS88 music? :v:

- Is figuring out how to get into Hell Temple with just the hints the game provides even remotely realistic/possible, or should I just rewatch Deceased Crab's videos for that?

Since your concerns have been addressed, I thought I'd add that DeceasedCrab did a stellar "Let's not play La Mulana" video.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Ledneh posted:

What did I just watch :pwn:

Thanks for all the answers folks. Don't worry about the Hell Temple unlock guide, though, I doubt I'm sufficiently sadomasochistic to get through that. I was just curious about how obtuse the method of entry is. I'll probably just check out the end of the DC LP later

If you think about his tone and composure during the actual LP and his excellent "LP again," it seems like he's absolutely shitfaced in the "let's not play" video. Either that or he's good at acting like he's drunk. I prefer to believe the former, though. :shepface:

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

pigdog posted:

Build at least a few (dedicated) radar bases around the globe. Chances are the UFO's you're not seeing are having a field picnic in China or America. Although if it's beginner difficulty, then perhaps even not.

Buy Avalanche launchers and missiles for your interceptors. Immediately buy a few dozen illumination flares and keep a few of them per person on the transport plane in case you need to do nighttime missions. Buy a rocket launcher tank (and ammo). Heavy cannons suck, sell them and get autocannons instead if you like them. Research Laser weapons (they are much better than normal guns and can be produced to sell for cash).

Awesome.

Is there a clockspeed patch, by any chance? I tell my dudes to do things, hear garbled sounds, and then, almost instantly, it's my turn again. I'm guessing it's due to the complicated nature of running the game on a modern computer.

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GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

melon cat posted:

Any advice for Fallout 3 (PS3)? I'll be picking it up today. I've heard that there are some game-breaking bugs. :ohdear:

I didn't have any trouble with my NA copy.

There are a few sequence breaking events, though. I learned that the hard way my first time through. If you come across a location called "Smith Casey's Garage," just let it be for the moment. Don't worry--you'll be back later. There are a couple more spots like that, but they escape me at the moment. I'm sure someone will chime in and let you know, though.

Something you might not pick up on is that using VATS (if you don't know what that means, don't worry, they explain it during the tutorial) causes your weapons to degrade faster. There are lots of junk weapons out there in the wasteland that you can use to repair your gear, but if you want to make the most of what you have, try and limit VATS use to a minimum.

Oh, and crouch when trying to disarm a mine. I found that it made it much easier.

Other than those pieces of advice, all I can say is "Go for it!" There are lots of interesting things to explore and discover. Good luck out there! :toot:

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