Video Games

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 1:16 am

So it's like the fucking diploma all over again.

I was just curious, really; I doubted it was anything big and wasn't going to go out of my way to get it.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 1:32 am

Darth Rabbitt wrote:Forgot the cannons growing out of Turtler's back and the Gen 1 Blastoise always makes me think of Ganon in the original NES Zelda.

You're problem is not realizing that Turtler is turquoise, magenta, and pastel pink. These obviously scream Blastoise.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 2:51 am

Fun moment in AC 3.

Ran into Ben Franklin, who was writing a treatise on why men should pursue older women as lovers.

Not least among his points was "All cats are grey in the dark".

I'd heard something along those lines about him. Have to hope it's true.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 3:16 am

A couple of things I do really appreciate in BW2:
[*]"Repel has worn off. Would you like to use another?"
[*]The ability to check to see what pokemon are in an area - and to go "Oh cool, I've discovered all that are here, I needn't keep looking" (and indeed "Oh cool, I've caught them all"). Granted, it can take a while to figure out that some are shaking-grass ones (so, fucking rare), and for all I know, some of them (like the Eevee listed somewhere fairly early) might be Hiden Grotto ones.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 3:44 am

Maxus wrote:Ran into Ben Franklin, who was writing a treatise on why men should pursue older women as lovers.

Can you kill any of the Founding Fathers/other major historical figures in AC3?

Because that would be fucking awesome.

You could call us Aaron Burr by the way we're dropping Hamiltons.

Koumei wrote:for all I know, some of them (like the Eevee listed somewhere fairly early) might be Hiden Grotto ones.

Yeah, I think they're in a Grotto somewhere, but your guess is as good as mine.

I just traded for one, and will probably whore it out so I can have a Glaceon at some point (have wanted to field one for a while.)

IIRC, a guy also gives you one post game.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 3:50 am

Darth Rabbitt wrote:IIRC, a guy also gives you one post game.

That's what they did in BW so it would make sense. And if not, well, get a Ditto out (unless you managed to get a female) and start mass-producing them in BW to trade over. I keep having to remind myself that I can still technically get all my favourites from prior generations via trade-across and all that.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 2:28 pm

So, as you may or may not know, I've been playing a lot of Bayonetta lately. And I've discovered one thing: The game is chock full of references to other games, mostly SEGA but some others. Here's a list of all the references I've found on my own (i.e. without having to look them up on various wikis).

Most of the references are made by a character named Rodin, who's a big bald black guy, and also sells you shit. He will also make weapons for you. Each time you enter his shop, there's a small cutscene where he'll say some greeting, which include:

- "Hey, check this out: 'Whadda ya buyin'?' Hehehe, heard that in a game once." (A reference to the merchant in Resident Evil 4)

- "No matter how much you ask, I'm not puttin' a chainsaw on your arm. Now, what do you want?" (A reference to Madworld's main protagonist's weapon of choice)

- He also says that he wants to be a "bald space marine", which is a common trope in sci-fi shooters.

- He also makes a bunch of references to Dante from Devil May Cry.

Another Rodin-ific reference is that, when he makes the character a weapon, the way he does it is by going into the depths of Hell, trapping a demon's soul, and then smithing it into the weapon (Kinda like how daedric ((or summoned)) armor/weapons works in TES). Not only is this all kinds of badass, when he comes back from Hell, he has bloody markings on his forehead that strongly resemble Kratos' facial tattoos. There's also a scene where Rodin's eyes glow red through his glasses, and his expression resembles that of Resident Evil antagonist Albert Wesker when he becomes enraged or superhuman. Finally, he also has a weapon named after him, and they look like ring bracelets. The ring's themselves look like the rings from Sonic the Hedgehog. Coincidentally, Halos, the games currency, also resemble said rings.

Then, there's all the misc. refs. Mention is made of a character called Eggman. One of Jeanne's taunts is a reference to the game Viewtiful Joe (specifically, Joe's transformation sequence). And then there's tons and tons and tons and tons of other references made to the Devil May Cry series. It's actually heavily implied that the Bayonetta and Devil May Cry take place in the same universe.

And these are only the references to games that I know about. There's far more that homage obscure, and/or Japanese-only games.

And this is not too mention the metric butt-ton of Biblical, historical, literary, mythological, and (mostly Japenese) cultural references.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:32 pm

The guy in the scarf makes a reference to Okami.

Which is a game you should play if you ever get the chance, by the way.

Anyway, Bayonetta doesn't take itself seriously. It's great fun because of that.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 5:09 pm

Yeah, that's true. It's like how Megaman VI is racially insensitive, and doesn't give a damn.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sat Nov 03, 2012 4:06 am

Now I'm further in Assassin's Creed III.

The thing I was worried about--the game being filled with "America FUCK YEAH" Jingoism--hasn't come to pass thus far. But I haven't gotten to the Revolutionary War yet. The database entries are pretty clear that the Revolutionaries weren't the greatest people in the world. Also, the British member of the team constantly brings this up. So I guess he's their "I don't buy into this America Is Awesome stuff, so fuck you" person.

Now, gameplay notes.

-You get a ship. You can sail it. Ship-to-ship combat is pretty interesting. Sailing the ship is actually fun. Plenty of missions to do in it.

-Hunting reminds me of Red Dead Redemption. You can just go off the beaten path and keep an eye out for something to kill. Only in this case, you can wait up a tree for it to come under you and drop down on it to give it a tomahawk in the back of the head. I've been doing this to elk, and it has not yet gotten old.

-Combat, once I got used to changed controls, is fun as hell when you nail it.

-It does appear the Assassin's Creed tradition of giving cameos to all kinds of famous faces is holding strong. So far, the roster includes Ben Franklin, George Washington as a British soldier, General Bulldog Braddock, Samuel Adams, and Daniel Boone.

-The wilderness also reminds me of Red Dead Redemption. It's huge. Except without crazy landmark names to remember and navigate by. With more mountains.

-You finally run missions as Desmond, too.

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Sat Nov 03, 2012 4:40 am

So, in the early 1110's in a game as the Byzantines with the legacy of rome DLC, I got to use one of the new features that's intended as a long term goal:

I'm feeling pretty smug about it.

Basically, I got into a war with the Fatimids and Selijuks over one of the five major early church cities after taking Rome (which, because of a lack of a proper way for the pope to call for allies, is stupidly easy). This led to a massive throwdown between our entire armies where I managed a pretty decisive victory, at which point they suffered an internal revolt and I declared on the revolters and smashed both their and loyalist forces to take Jerusalem. Then I was planning to wait for the 70-odd Caliph to croak so I could attack under the cover of the traditional post-succession infighting and reduced support, but then he decided to invade Greece, I managed to pull off a win, and immediately went to war for Alexandria. Then, after collecting 2000 piety, I mended the Great Schism.

Next long-term goal: reinstate the Roman Empire.

Juton · Post by **Juton** » Sat Nov 03, 2012 7:38 am

I love those Paradox games, I have gotten so many hours of enjoyment out of fixing the Byzantine Empire in EU2. What triggers the Roman Empire event, do you just have to take Rome or do you have to do something more?

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Sat Nov 03, 2012 1:50 pm

Catholic: Orhodox Heresy?

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Sat Nov 03, 2012 4:07 pm

Stahlseele wrote:Catholic: Orhodox Heresy?

See, if the Byzantine Empire (or I guess any Orthodox faction) controls Byzantium, Rome, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria, has a religious moral authority of 90%, and 2000 piety, they get the decision Mend the Great Schism, which makes Catholicism into a heresy of Orthodox Christianity and triggers an event for every Catholic ruler where they and the provinces they directly control can choose to convert to Orthodox.

For the Roman Empire event, you have to control Italy and large chunks of the Mediterranean.

I'm not entirely sure what making Catholicism into a heresy of Orthodox does, game mechanically. I mean, Orthodox rulers try to convert Catholics under normal conditions, there's apparently still a Pope, etc. I think it might worsen relations between followers, and it probably tanks the Catholic Moral Authority, used for Crusades and other religious actions. Come to think of it, I believe it does allow the Holy War CB towards them.

Incidentally, Orthodox can't call full Crusades for a kingdom title, only Holy Wars for ducal titles. This is kind of dumb, because the first crusade was called at the request of the Byzantine Emperor. Then again, overall the player doesn't really have enough influence on Crusades, though muslims who are the Caliph can just straight-up declare a Jihad.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Sat Nov 03, 2012 7:48 pm

Anyone feel like fighting some ROBOT MASTERS?
In a free game with revolutionary, never-before-seen graphics?

http://indiegames.com/2012/11/freeware_ ... gaman.html

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 1:26 am

So, the next DLC for CKII has been announced. It is... an Aztec invasion of Europe. This is a paid DLC being released before playable republics and pagans.

It might well be fun and worth 5 bucks, but... what?

Korgan0 · Post by **Korgan0** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 6:10 pm

Are you kidding me? I only played CK2 for about twenty hours and wasn't that enthralled by it, but this could easily make me pick it back up.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 7:37 pm

I haven't played it at all and this makes me seriously consider buying it.

Conquering Europe and forcing Christian and Muslim kingdoms under my rule to worship Huitzilopotchli would be totally badass.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 11:22 pm

My favorite fighting game got a Halloween update:
http://serio.piiym.net/CVBla/

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Mon Nov 05, 2012 2:30 am

Assassin's Creed III continues to be interesting. It provides all kinds of diversions. Naval combat, building up the homestead, chasing almanac pages, hunting, crazy side-missions given out by Daniel Boone.

And in one of the out-of-the-machine bits, the database guy brings up the American fixation on the Founding Fathers. It was to the tune of:

"Why should you even CARE what they said by now? The world they were in is completely different from the one today. Is that how insecure you are? You've got to find a letter written by a guy two hundred years dead and try to find something that makes it look like he'd support you now? 'Oh, Mom, I totally found quote from a dead man that says something sort of like what I've been saying! I'm totally right!' What really should matter is what you believe, and why you believe it."

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Mon Nov 05, 2012 2:52 am

I beat all four Megaman Zero games, because I got the Megaman Zero Collection for the DS as an early birthday present a couple of days ago. (Okay, granted, it was on an Easy mode that the collection version added, but c'mon, the games are as hard as... as... some analogous thing that makes it clear that it's hard). I gotta say, they were actually a lot better and funner to play than I thought they would be. It might be time to rethink my RUINED FOREVER policy...

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Mon Nov 05, 2012 3:19 am

Warning: Rant (spoilered as always)

Well, they aren't as hard as the warm pile of piss that is Megaman 9, which plays like Gary Gygax designed it (apparently it was made for people who thought that Megaman 2 ruined the series forever.)

Beat 1 over the course of an afternoon the first time I played it (mainly Guts Man's fucking rail lifts,) and none of the others in the original series were more than a few hours of play at the most.

But 9 seriously took me the better part of a year, in no small part due to how fucking frustrating it was.

The X series gave us X3 with the practically impossible to beat "I am only vulnerable in my tiny bumby head which is smaller than termite shit" Sigma in that game (who is up there with MKII's "I throw everything in a game that has a broken throwing system) Kintaro for most annoying as shit boss in an otherwise decent game,) but that's just one boss.

Every stage in Megaman 9 caused much shouting of obscenities, and beating it was only pleasant in the matter that ending a long trip to the bathroom is.

As for the Zero series, its great innovation is how fucking convoluted the plot is.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Mon Nov 05, 2012 4:44 am

I can't really comment on the difficulty of the Zero series beyond the fact that some fights involved a LOT of save states midway through. I had fun, though.

Blicero · Post by **Blicero** » Mon Nov 05, 2012 6:45 am

I played Zero 1 and 2 back when they came out for GBA. I beat each multiple times, and I remember thinking that neither was all that difficult.

This is kind of strange, because I'm generally kind of terrible at twitchy-old-school games like that. Of the Megaman series, I've played X3 and X4 fairly extensively, and I think that both seemed more difficult than the Zero games. (That being said, for the Zeros, I did use all the cyberelves that extended your life bar. Which basically meant I never got above the "shit" rating after each mission.)

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Mon Nov 05, 2012 3:31 pm

Well, I did say that I beat them on the Easy Scenario, which is a new feature added by the DS collection.

I tried playing Zero 3 normally, and... failed. You see, in Easy Scenario, you get all the elves, all the weapons, and all the other goodies. Also, all of the elves that give passive, permanent effects, such as the boosted health and making spikes only do some damage instead of autokilling, are already activated from the start of the game. But, when I played 3 (chosen just for the hell of it), I was so used to having all of these extras (ie, being able to beat a boss without dying at least once), that I couldn't do it. I ended up losing my temper, vowed revenge, and came here to cool off.

Also, CONVOLUTEDNESS IS NOT A WEAKNESS!!