Glen-i

Last night, I was lying in bed, thinking to myself about something incredibly out of character for myself. @markderoos hit me up on Discord, asking if I'd like to help him catch a Cinderace in Pokémon Scarlet/Violet. For the sake of context, it's a fight that goes a lot smoother if you have friends with adequetely trained Pokémon to help out. Unfortunately, I had to tell him that I couldn't help, not because I wasn't available or anything, but because I hadn't finished the game yet. It really hit home that me, the kind of nutjob who would get to the credits of a remake of a Pokémon game in less then 2 days and then write a nerdy post about all the small little mechanic changes I noticed, can't even muster up the effort to finish the last quarter of this game. The game has been out for more then a month at this point. Before Scarlet and Violet were released, @Hero-of-Time asked me this... To shorten the answer I gave, I said it was the battle system. I love mainline Pokémon's battle system and how much freedom there is in strategies. After being incredibly disappointed by Legends: Arceus, I concluded that the one two punch of boring overworlds and a mangled battle system was what made me hate the game. Theoretically, going back to the more standard battles should help to mitigate my dislike of open worlds. Safe to say, it's not enough. I know I've half joked about how much I think Pokémon is going the wrong direction, but for the first time ever, I'm seriously entertaining the notion of not even bothering with the next generation. Sure, my Pokédex completion rate will be completely ruined, but it's not worth it if I have to trudge through another boring, vapid, empty, open world that goes out of it's way to not have the player engage in what I think makes Pokémon fun. And with how successful Sca/Vi are, Game Freak will almost certainly double down on that structure. I've become one of those old curmudgeons who doesn't like modern Pokémon, ironically, it's because the series is changing too much, other then the usual reason. It's still upsetting. Anyway, any similar stories out there?

Actually, I've never mandated that you have to play each character at least once. It just so happens that all of us value the variety offered by playing different characters throughout a night. You could just choose one character and stick with them all night if you really wanted to.

Yeah, that's it. It's the only one I thought was worth it in Apocalypse. I never touched the DLC in the first SMT IV, so I can't help you there. I can't remember if you have to get to a certain point in the game to play the DLC, but I don't remember it being very late at all. That said, the DLC that aren't there for grinding purposes are all designed with late game parties in mind, so I wouldn't recommend doing it early at all.

There's a few that get you extra demons, and one in Apocalypse which houses a ridiculously hard superboss. But you can mostly skip out on it.

Right, tonight's theme, as you already know, is... Secret Smash Santa No character pictures here, as I've sent each person their own picture via PM. The stages correspond to the characters that will be showing up tonight. Some stages from specific games won't be played on because that specific character wasn't given to anyone. (For example, no-one got Toon Link, so Pirate Ship and Spirit Train won't be played, despite other Zelda characters being chosen) If UFA joins in, some of the stages will be removed to accomadate her. As well as the 60% handicap requirement being put in place. Items follow a similar philosophy to the stages. Format - 3 Stock FS Meter - On See you tonight at 8pm.

Not this week, I'm afraid, Dcubed is working over the weekend.

Fire Emblem normally gives you the best characters near the start, with later ones usually meant to serve as replacements for those who kick the bucket. Triangle Strategy is different in that regard, because every character has a unique toolkit, meaning some characters really shine in some scenarios. Thankfully, underleveled characters get buttloads of EXP, so it's easy to catch up. There's one particular late game side story character who is so incredibly busted, he can finish some battles in 1 turn. Chances are good that you won't get him in your first playthrough though.

I'm afraid I won't be able to make it tonight. @BowserBasher, can you take over this week? Player's Choice at 8pm.

It is stingy with money at first, you're gonna have to prioritise. And there's no way in hell you're maxing out everything in one playthrough. The game isn't designed like that.

Damn it! I was gonna post that Bottom clip when I saw the thread. Well, it's not like that particular special isn't jam packed with hilarious stuff anyway. Feel like everyone has had a family argument where someone ends up saying "Because it's Christmas!" Merry Christmas!

No downside, but you get less EXP if you're a few levels above the recommended one. At a certain point, it takes far too long to bother with. Makes a decent way to get some materials for forging when you unlock that feature though.

Oh cool. I had the VHS version way back, so I guess I've already seen it then.

Wait, really? I didn't even know this version existed. Huh... That's definitely my favourite non-film version. It's a hilarious subversion.

Yes, about that. I'll be sending PM's to you lot in the near future.

3? Triangle Strategy is great though. I'm not the biggest strategy game fan. But the setting and plot is so engaging. Surprise hit of last year for me.

Holy cheese! It's an epidemic! That said, it's a good movie. Top contender for best Christmas Carol adaptation by far.

Bloody hell! @Mokong just said he watched that as well yesterday!

OK, that seems to be the sweet spot for her. From now on, whenever she decides to play. The launch rate will be set to 0.7, and I'd like everyone else to set their damage to 60%. A couple of other stages are too bright for her, so I'll also be removing Coliseum and Reset Bomb Forest from the pool when she plays.

Right-o, 8pm tonight then, like usual. I know we're due a theme night this week. But my latest idea needs more then a day to get ready. So I'm delaying it a week and doing Stock format tonight. EDIT: Ugh First Aid would like to join in tonight, so I'm using the 0.7 launch rate ruleset this time. Please set your handicap to 60% when she joins.

A couple of games I finished way back, but spaced on writing about here. Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes released on the Nintendo Switch in June. Developed by Koei Tecmo, it's a sequel to, well, Fire Emblem Warriors. Unlike the first game, however, this one focuses on one specific Fire Emblem game, Three Houses. It's a hack and slash game that mixes the standard Warriors gameplay with elements from Fire Emblem to provide a more tactical experience. The game focuses on Shez, some random mercenary with a stupid name whose group ends up getting in a fight with another mercenary, the Three Houses protagonist, Byleth. It doesn't go well, and Shez only survives because of a mysterious person called Arval granting him super powers. Shez vows to get stronger so they can give Byleth a much deserved punch in the face. While doing this, they stumble upon Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude, three royals of nearby nations who currently study at Garreg Mach Monastery. Shez helps them to fight off a conveniently timed bandit attack, which leads to them being offered a scholarship at the monastery. They're given the choice of which house they wish to join, which may or may not determine their future path. Three Hopes can be best described as an alternate universe story to Three Houses. The key difference being that Shez is the one who meets up with the three royals of who the story revolves around instead of Byleth. This, naturally, means that some things play out a little differently then you'd expect. Spefically, you, because I never played Three Houses, and I don't plan on doing so anytime soon. It's not that bad, Bernadetta, geez! The game makes no apologies for newcomers, if you don't know what happens in Three Houses, you're going to find yourself getting quite lost at times. But I didn't really mind, because I'm not playing this for the plot. The object of the game is to tackle all sorts of war scenarios where your army is always woefully ill equipped for what the enemies throw at you, but you'll be fine, you have up to 8 harbingers of death and destruction to control and command. A teenage girl can easily steamroll through a thousand soldiers, and that's completely normal. It sounds like it's just a button mashing fest, and you'd be sorta right. But like with most Warriors games, it's not how good you are at button mashing, it's where you button mash, and how efficiently you can do it. Your selected characters may be able to crater the surrounding area, but they can't be everywhere at once, and you need to use tactics and good positioning to ensure you can quickly react to any developments the battlefield may throw at you. Much like the first game, a few staples of the Fire Emblem series show up here, such as the option to have permadeath, support conversations, and the weapon triangle (Funnily enough, that last one isn't actually in Three Houses). Instead of having movesets tied to a character, this game takes cues from Three Houses, and allows any character to be pretty much any class. The moveset they have is determined by the class they are, allowing for a lot of customisation. Each character does have their own specific quirks and abilities to help stop them from blending into each other too much. And some more important characters like Shez have their own class that only they can use. With the structure of the game and well over 30 characters, there's no way you can make every single one unique, but there's a healthy amount of classes to choose from and is a vast improvement from the first FE Warriors in that regard. The choice of three story paths also helps keep me going. Each path has it's own distinct missions, which means I ended up playing through it 6 times! I'd play it more, but I'm sure DLC will happen down the line. Shez, you hypocrite! You literally want to kill Byleth! The game unfortuantely, doesn't have the option to lower the resolution to improve the framerate, like the first game did. It runs smoother then Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, at least. Music is great too, hard rock versions of various Three Houses songs abound. A definite improvement on the first game all around, I was pleasantly surprised with this one. Also Constance is hilarious. Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne: HD Remaster is a HD remaster of the PS2 game, Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. Where would you be without my insight, huh? It's a Turn Based Monster Collecting RPG, and the third in the long running, but nowhere near as popular as it's spin-off, Shin Megami Tensei series. The original game was a Japan exclusive, with a "Director's Cut" version making it's way to Europe in 2005, that one was titled "Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call". The HD remaster was released on PS4, Switch, and Steam in 2021. BTW, this is the game that had this hilarious brand plastered on it. Hey, at the time, RPG's still had very little confidence in the west. If you weren't Pokémon or Final Fantasy, you needed all the help you could get. It's still funny though. You play as some random student in Tokyo. He and his two friends go into an abandoned hospital. And then the world ends. That sounds like a massive spoiler, but it really isn't. It's kind of a running theme with the series. The apocalypse consists of all sorts of demons overrunning the place and trying to convince any remaining humans to recreate the world in accordance with their "Reason". Basically, their set of ideals. Two of your friends, and two other people caught up in these events are the possibile candidates for recreating the world. Not you, though. You don't count, because some jerk forced a weird bug down your throat, and now you're half demon. Which disqualifies you from being the person who gets to recreate the world. But hey, nothing's stopping you from nudging stuff along for the person you agree with the most, so get out there and be a manipulative bugger! Much like every SMT game, the choices you make throughout the game determine the ultimate fate of the world. Dialogue options absolutely matter, even if it's not apparent at first, and with this game, there's no perfect solution. Every option has downsides to it, and it's an interesting dive into what constitutes a just and fair world. 6 different endings are available, but I only went for whichever one I ended up with first. Shin Megami Tensei III plays out like your standard RPG, except with the twist that the majority of your party is made up of demons you recruit along the way. You recruit them with negotiations and bribery. They'll badger you for cash and items, ask you philosophical questions, that kind of stuff. Demons quickly become outclassed as you progress, so you're constantly recruiting new ones, and fusing them together to make stronger ones. And you really need to make sure that your party is well built. Because it won't be long before you hit an absolutely ridiculous spike in difficulty. This game doesn't eff around. It's proper hard! There's always a chance that an enemy can blindside you and make you face the dreaded notion of reloading a save. You just have to suck it up and prepare better next time. The HD Remaster does have some quality of life tweaks, but it's not quite enough to get me to want to play it twice, despite the multiple endings. I first tried the series with the 3DS entries, and let me tell you, the game not keeping track of enemy weaknesses sucks, it sucks hard. It's not like Pokémon, where there's a universal type chart. It's not obvious what's weak to what, and hitting an enemy with the wrong thing can really ruin you. I can't be bothered keeping track of that. And that's the main issue with this game. It's a solid PS2 RPG, arguably one of the best, but unlike Dragon Quest VIII, it's a lot more antiquated compared to more modern SMT games. It's quite startling how much SMT IV improved on it. It was fun, but I can't see myself going back to it any time soon.

Game offers the option for a streamer friendly HUD. There probably is, but I can't think of another game that does this. Neat! Feburary feels so far away...

Interesting in that you have to fight a number of battles with stat downgrades whenever you swap jobs. Which is a problem when the game is all about changing your job layout to accomodate a dungeon/boss.

Next game will be on... Wario's Battle Canyon I hope you like random chance dictating your path, because it's all over the place here! The 5 islands aren't directly connected, you have to use the Bob-ombs to blast you around the place. Blasting is non-negotiable, if you pass a Bob-omb, you're moving to the next island. Weirdly enough, despite the horrible top right island, Bowser himself is effectively a non threat. He sits on the middle island, which you have to pay 10 coins to go to! No-one in their right mind would ever choose to go there, will you be the first? (Spoiler, you won't) I won the last game, and I dictate that the next game will use the Event Block. They just took a standard Brick Block and plastered question marks all over it, you fool! Whenever the Event Block appears, the person hitting it will either meet up with Koopa (Neat!), Boo (Better!), or Bowser (Bad!). Boo acts like they normally do, while Koopa gives you 20 coins. Bowser, meanwhile, takes away 20 coins. Naturally, the benefits outweigh the risk, making this another block that more then likely will screw you over. Because that's Mario Party 1, and Mario Party 1 is a stupid game. I swear to the great Comet Observatory in the sky, if I roll the lowest number on the turn order decider a fifth time, I'm gonna blow a freaking gasket!

OK, some context for those of you lurking, because it really was the most amazing game so far! It was pretty close throughout the first half, but @Dcubed got about 80 coins in 2 turns, guaranteeing him the Coin Star, and setting on path for the Game Star to boot. And then... That one star got passed around like a bloody chain letter! And that was only half of the Chance Times! 6 Chance Times in 20 turns! That's ridiculous! But Dcubed ended up with that star in the end, and he had a good lead. All was going swimmingly. He even didn't mind pulling this off again. Every time, man! There wasn't even a benefit to it. The last turn game came along, and it was Grab Bag. There was a chance! A very small chance. So @BowserBasher and I banded together and homed in on Dcubed. He lost 15 coins and I got 1. Was it enough? Could the curse finally be broken!? Will I have to use up another GIF? It doesn't look that close, until you look at the detailed results. That game of Grab Bag prevented Dcubed from getting the Game Star, which cost him the match. It was that close. Amazingly enough, most shameful play has to go to BowserBasher, who stole coins off of second place with Boo for no good reason!

The custom arcade is quite extensive. Lots of options there. Might be fun to get another N-E playthrough of that going.