Gaming Thread: Only & Only but Not Lonely

[DiGiKerot]

This weekend, I shall be mostly playing FFXII.

And by mostly playing, I mean I fully intend to clock up 30 hours or so...

[Chacranajxy]

I've got class from 1-1:45, but after that, I'm speeding home like a motherfucker and Ima play Guitar Hero 2.

[Zanza Hiro]

recently picked up Okami on recommendation from Sanji, will be alternating between that and FFXII. once again, completely blown away by FF visuals. granted i am very easily pleased and clap at Sesame street skits but man, FFXII is just phenomenal gameplay interspersed with eye orgies, i love Square Enix

[Johnny]

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Zanza said:
recently picked up Okami on recommendation from Sanji, will be alternating between that and FFXII. once again, completely blown away by FF visuals. granted i am very easily pleased and clap at Sesame street skits but man, FFXII is just phenomenal gameplay interspersed with eye orgies, i love Square Enix

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Heh, good choice with Okami. You'll love it.
Yeah, all this FFXII talk is making me more and more annoyed that my copy still hasn't arrived. Maybe tomorrow. GTA: VCS in the meantime though.

[Johnny]

Just a question for any Europeans that will be importing a Wii and/or PS3 (yeah, right [img]/images/graemlins/relief1.gif[/img]) - which stepdown converter do you plan to use?
The Wii should be ok as it shouldn't be over 150w (I'm gonna go for this one probably) but the PS3, although nothing official seems to have come from Sony, has been reported as using up to 380w meaning that a stepdown that would be the size of a small car and could power an entire house would likely be needed.

Anyway, the general consensus among other Wii importers on another forum seems to be that the one I linked to (300w) will be more than enough for the console. I'll be buying ASAP as I'd hate for the Wii to arrive but be unable to play it but if anyone has any other recommendations for cheaper/better ones I'd appreciate it [img]/images/graemlins/happy.gif[/img]

[Magus427]

I'm working my way through Valkyrie Profile 2. I'm at 12 hours in the middle of Chapter 3. Been spending some time leveling up so haven't completed the first dungeon (although I've gone through it for the most part and just have the boss left to defeat).

Granted, I should stop leveling up so much (I've leveled some characters high enough where I could free their souls, almost 3 of them) though because I'd like to finish the game by the end of next week so I can at least start FFXII or Tales of the Abyss before the Wii comes out. I know once that happens it's gonna be all Zelda all the time...

-Magus

[Azumangaman]

I'm going to play FFXII right now!
OMG I'm actually getting back into gaming! YAY!

[EmperorBrandon]

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Yuzu Hieda said:

Ah that's good to know. Since unless I use an FAQ the first time I'm likely to get the B ending. At least some seem to act like you need an FAQ for the A ending. Which is where part of the dilemma comes up. The main reason I'm even considering VP is I'm thinking of trying VP2 itself. Although I'm not sure why myself.

So if I do decide to actually play VP before playing VP2. I then need to decide if I want to get the A ending to VP before moving to VP2. I'm not sure if I want to play VP multiple times before moving on to VP2. Of course for all I know it may not matter which ending I get in VP.

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The A Ending events are considered in Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, so it is the "true" ending (and the one you will want to see if you will be playing that afterwards). The other endings provide some useful insight as well, so you may want to get them too. Just try the C ending at any time by getting your evaluation to 0 (just keep skipping chapters until it reaches that, and when it does, keep going in towns and dungeons). The B Ending can be gotten even if you have done everything for the A Ending. Just save in Chapter 8, skip the event in that chapter which starts the A Ending, and let that chapter run out (then you will get the B Ending, but can go back to your save point and go for the A Ending later)

The main requirement for the A ending is that you have to have your Seal Rating at or below 37 immdediately before or during Chapter 7, you have to see certain events (most of them lower your Seal Rating so you will likely be seeing them all to meet the first requirement), and you have to send Lucian to Asgard before then.

The problem is, when you send characters up to Asgard (which is something you have to do to keep your Evaluation from getting too low), your Seal Rating will go up, messing up the work you've done at lowering it from the events. This is what usually keeps people who are normally playing the game from getting the A ending.

The recommended course of action is to start doing the events in Chapter 4. Look at tri-Ace Fanboy's FAQ on GameFAQs to check what the events are. You do not want to be doing them before Chap. 4 Send up your character at the start where you will have 100 Seal Rating at the start of the Chapter, then start hacking away at the Seal Value. The reason Chapter 4 is to place to start is because it's the first Chapter that you are required to do an A Ending event (that being the boss in the Tower of Lezard Valeth). Look at the FAQ mentioned above for more details. It won't spoil anything, so it's good to check.

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Still limited leveling can make one thing "What if I like a later member? Will I be able to use her? Will I be forced to stick with the first set in order to have a chance to beat the game?" However if I don't have to worry that much about leveling up as I thought I would. I can be more comfortable altering my main party like I've done in other RPGs.

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Levelling people up at low levels to the point where you need them (to where they're not lagging behind the rest) is pretty easy. You get experience for your Exp. Orb in every dungeon by doing required tasks, and you can distribute this as you need. So you can level people you just get without even sending them into battles at all.

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So it's like the evil twin of your generic new game+ then. [img]/images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif[/img] Although since in the long run all it will really mean is taking longer to beat the game each time, I'll probably decline the option even if I decide to replay the game after beating it. Although it would be interesting to find out just how high the stats of the final boss can end up being or maybe not.

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Yep, evil twin of New Game+ is the perfect description of it. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] All stats will continually go up, except RDM, RST, and ADV (which only go up the first time). If those kept going up, the enemies would eventually become impossible to damage. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] The other ones can be boosted up to 50 times, so enemies would end up taking much longer to kill as well as being able to easily wipe you out with a single attack . I suppose you would have to avoid enemy attacks and strike first as much as possible.

[Johnny]

The latest Japanese hardware sales are in (23rd - 29th October):

1. DS Lite - 158,681 [5,364,012] units
2. PSP - 25,908 [1,449,748] units
3. PlayStation 2 - 21,832 [1,195,782] units
4. GBA SP - 1,858 [208,442] units
5. Xbox 360 - 1,565 [84,949] units
6. GB Micro - 1,351 [130,683] units
7. GameCube - 644 [69,006] units
8. Nintendo DS - 114 [956,161] units
9. GBA - 15 [3,181] units
10. Xbox - 7 [1,696] units

The difference between the DSL and the rest is still incredible. Of course, Pokemon Diamond/Pearl and the recently released Tales of the Tempest will have helped those sales but it's showing no signs of slowing down. It's going to be really interesting to see the hardware sales for this time in 6 months or this time in a year. No one could have bet the DS would make such a huge impression on Japan before its launch and so seeing how the Wii fares will be worth looking out for.

Another interesting figure is the 360 sales. 5th on the chart with over 1500 sales must be its best performance since launch in Japan. Obviously with Blue Dragon out next month there will have been some buying their console early but who knows, with Winning Eleven also out in December and Idolmaster in January, this could be the start of Microsoft leaving an impression on the Japanese market. A small impression, yes, but they need something because we all know once the PS3 hits and gets going, the 360 will have no chance in Japan without something of a miracle.

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EmperorBrandon said:
The B Ending can be gotten even if you have done everything for the A Ending. Just save in Chapter 8, skip the event in that chapter which starts the A Ending, and let that chapter run out (then you will get the B Ending, but can go back to your save point and go for the A Ending later)

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Ah well in that case it will take less time than I thought it would. I'll probably make use of the FAQ by tri-Ace Fanboy that you mentioned. Heh that evaluation vs seal thing is kind of sneaky if you ask me. To be on the safe side, I'll prepare space for two saves once I'm done with Xenogears. Even if VP is not the next PS1 RPG I play, that space will still be helpful anyway.

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EmperorBrandon said:
You get experience for your Exp. Orb in every dungeon by doing required tasks, and you can distribute this as you need. So you can level people you just get without even sending them into battles at all.

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Ah yes the Exp. Orb will definitely be quite helpful. Although how I will distribute the exp will depend on how I feel about each member. Let's just say if I really like someone and plan to keep that person as a member of the party, I'll probably give them more exp than usual. Although not too much to be on the safe side.

Wait that's brings another question. Does the level I send a character up at matter? Because if it doesn't, I'd rather save the exp for people I plan to keep until the end of the game or at least until I find a replacement. Which can happen and has happened before in other games.