RPG Progress Report

[BoneSnapDeez]

I tell ya what, you won't miss anything by not playing Episode IV...

[Sarge]

So I just discovered an awesome Secret of Monkey Island reference in Blood & Wine. In the course of the fistfighting quest for the new area you run into a contender who looks like Guybrush named Mancomb who you duel with rhyming insults rather than your firsts.

"Guybrush Threepwood? Hahaha! That's the stupidest name I've ever heard!"

"Well, what's YOUR name?"

"Mancomb Seepgood."

[noiseredux]

Now time for C.A.R.D. Revolution???

Yes. Please. In all the years since its release, I cannot recall anyone talking about it on any gaming forum I've frequented. If nothing else, it's rather unexplored territory all things considered. I own the game myself, but I figured I'd wait till I played through PSO1&2 first.

Pretty sure Tektoro is big on that one.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I will get to it. I'd like to beat Adventure and Gaiden (which I don't own yet) sometime in the near future as well.

For me, that may be the end of the line as far as Phantasy Star goes. I've tried out some of the modern PSO-esque games and didn't find them too exciting.

On the topic of RPGs, I've found some that I want to get on...... Android.

[Exhuminator]

On the topic of RPGs, I've found some that I want to get on...... Android.

As far as 2D SFC style JRPGs go, Kemco has had that genre on lock for quite a while now:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev? ... 3050&hl=en

I've bought a few of theirs, but haven't played them yet.

The best RPGs I've beaten on Android were the Sorcery! games. They are truly excellent stuff:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ery1&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ery2&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ery3&hl=en

I also really enjoyed this one, but I doubt you'd like it:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ord2&hl=en

[noiseredux]

Dark Souls - there's def a (big) part of me that (still) thinks that these games just aren't for me. Two hours of just hanging around this one spot, making zero progress and dying stupidly. And then I think... for what? Let's say I get past this part and actually beat a boss. Then what? Then... another 30 or 40 or 50 hours of the same frustrations? It's weird because I want to like the Souls games. I find the world and the concept fascinating. But this being at least the third time I've tried... I just never seem to enjoy actually playing them.

[Ack]

Eye of the Beholder

I had some time over the weekend, so I continued delving into the dungeon with my small team of miscreants. Ack and Bone have both been holding the front line down, while Exhum managed to nab a bow on level 3. He usually starts the fights now, as I'll back up and have him plink monsters with arrows until it's in range for my front row to deal with it. Level 2 went down easily enough, but I did end up using a couple of Noise's spells on level 3 to deal with groups. I also found a magic dagger, so Noise will usually throw that to take out the enemy.

Level 4 is where things have started to get interesting. The tileset for the dungeon changed, and I found a dwarf early on who was in bad shape but willingly joined up. His name is Taghor...so I call him Tag-Whore. I wish I could rename him, but I'd probably just use the opportunity to insult one of you. He's also a fighter, so I shifted Bone back and now let him focus on his Lay on Hands. The other reason level 4 ramps up the challenge is that now I'm dealing with giant spiders, and they can poison on a successful hit. My strategy in facing them has been to let Exhum poke 'em full of arrows while they close and then mop up with Ack and the 'Whore. It's actually worked out pretty well, with only the 'Whore getting poisoned once.

I'm currently saved on level 5, which has a dwarven city somewhere. I know it's here, because I found it accidentally at one point by falling through a hole in the ceiling, but I reloaded my game and have yet to find it by walking around. Food supplies are ok, but they're starting to dwindle. I hope I can get more rations there, or maybe resurrect the two sets of bones I found. I hope one is a cleric...

Oh, does anybody know if, when I beat the game, I can bring over additional party members, or do I only get to keep the starting four?

[isiolia]

If you thought DS2 was easy up to this point (cake walk for me!), prepare yourself.

DS2's DLC was harder than any of these games NG+(*x) for me.

I found the base game to be inconsistent, though again, that could be the SoTFS edition to a fair point. I've never played the original release to be able to compare, and being fair, there do seem to be parts of the remaster that are made easier (or at least potentially easier) as well.

There were a few thing that gave me trouble, but also a fair number of bosses and such that I beat on my first or second try. I also did a good bit more summoning of NPCs than before, which made some bosses significantly easier.

I did a good bit of the Sunken King DLC - haven't done the optional boss, and used NPCs for the two I did beat, but enough that I moved on to the Old Iron King...and have now spent hours fighting Fume Knight, who is a jerk. At least the run from the bonfire is negligible, unlike the Smelter Demon redo. For the run to that, I spent a lot of time killing every enemy along the way enough times so they stopped popping. Then ran through with the two NPC summons, to victory.

At this point, I tend to do decently well against his first form (because of practice), but the second still tends to throw me. I feel slightly vindicated in that he was voted to be the hardest boss in the game, but it's still frustrating. I could possibly reduce the time I need to survive with a more appropriate weapon I guess. Magic Moonlight Greatsword +5 does decent damage, but I think technically he's resistant to magic. Lightning is probably a better way to go, but I don't have anything for it other than the Bow of Want.

Haven't set foot in the Ivory King DLC yet.

Dark Souls - there's def a (big) part of me that (still) thinks that these games just aren't for me. Two hours of just hanging around this one spot, making zero progress and dying stupidly. And then I think... for what? Let's say I get past this part and actually beat a boss. Then what? Then... another 30 or 40 or 50 hours of the same frustrations? It's weird because I want to like the Souls games. I find the world and the concept fascinating. But this being at least the third time I've tried... I just never seem to enjoy actually playing them.

No denying there's a lot of that, and it just takes figuring out what your mistake was and adapting. It's designed to be a struggle, but it makes succeeding all the more satisfying (at least to a point ). There's a steep learning curve, but one thing you can consistently not get away with is being impatient. Managing stamina and watching for opportunities to attack or heal are key concepts, like blocking or combos in fighting games. As I think prfsnl_gmr has said before though, the threshold for success isn't that high, the game just won't let you get away with button mashing.

A lot of the level design for DS1 wraps back around on itself too, so just because you're coming back to the same bonfire doesn't mean much. Some of them are quite central to the area they're in.

[Exhuminator]

@Ack

Sounds like a good time. I've always meant to play the first two EotB games. How's the layouts? Are you making a grid map to keep track of where you are? Or is it not that confusing? Anything like one way doors, portals, fake walls, that kind of stuff?

[noiseredux]

No denying there's a lot of that, and it just takes figuring out what your mistake was and adapting. It's designed to be a struggle, but it makes succeeding all the more satisfying (at least to a point ). There's a steep learning curve, but one thing you can consistently not get away with is being impatient. Managing stamina and watching for opportunities to attack or heal are key concepts, like blocking or combos in fighting games. As I think prfsnl_gmr has said before though, the threshold for success isn't that high, the game just won't let you get away with button mashing.

thing is I totally appreciate all that. I'm just not sure that I have the patience for it. Like, I think it's great that these games exist. I think it's awesome and admirable that folks have the patience and motivation to 'get gud' at them. But I feel like as much as I want to enjoy them, I basically load it up and within 30 minutes I'm just really frustrated, and the more frustrated I get the more sloppy and impatient I play. More and more I think that any time I attempt a Souls game it's just another confirmation that they're not games that were meant for me.

Which is fine. I don't expect everyone to enjoy Cities Skylines the way that I do