903 Reach For The Sky.

Thanks for the responses about my Mass Effect question. I didn’t realize you guys weren’t aware that I played the other games. I’m pretty sure I wrote about playing it at one point, but whatever. I think I might pick it up new if I can get the money together. I want the DLC too for sure. I can’t play multiplayer since I don’t have the gold live thing, so that’s not an issue. As far as the ending goes, I suspect that it’s not nearly as big a deal as the internet has made it seem. That said, if they release dlc to alter it I’m all for more content.

My list of games I want is ME3, Skyward Sword, possibly Kid Icarus, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Skylanders DS, and Dragon Age 2.

I’m going to have to get Skylanders new, because after market retailers are selling the figures seperately and then selling the game as new. Which is total bullshit. You have to have at least one Skylander to play, unless I’ve been missinformed. This plays in to the bizarre pricing structure, that is unique to Skylanders, where it goes my toy rules instead of video game rules.

I might have to get Zelda new because I want the code for the nintendo rewards and the CD. America is finally starting to move towards the Japanese style of bonus content with every game, and I want that to continue. Unfortunately the geniuses at Nintendo have packaged the Mario Galaxy CD with a game system RATHER THAN THE FUCKING GAME, so that’s annoying… You could get it with rewards points in Japan, but in America you can get a stylus for the DS… or a screen saver… A GOD DAMN SCREEN SAVER! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS 1994?! WHO THE FUCK EVEN USES SCREEEN SAVERS!? EVERY SYSTEM HAS A SLEEP MODE, YOU DUMB SHITS! FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!

But I digress.

I’ve already waited so long with Batman that I’m boned on special DLC no matter how you look at it. Waiting for an all inclusive rerelease might be the better option now. The same goes for Dragon Age 2. Except DA2 has dropped in value so far that it might still be cheaper to just get the used version for $7 and just buy the DLC as it comes. If there even is anything much worth having.

I’m still not sold on Kid Icarus: Uprising. Nintendo really needs a demo in the eshop. The fact that there isn’t one is disturbing. If it’s your shop you really have no excuse to release a game without providing a demo. It makes it seem like you aren’t confident and that you’re trying to hide a flawed product. The fact that it comes with a stand is already a red flag. If you make a game on a portable system DON’T DESIGN IT SO YOU NEED TO CARRY ANOTHER THING TO PLAY IT. Nintendo is terrible about this. I have a pile of add ons for their handhelds that make a very streamlines system into a bulky mess. Then they don’t support the peripheral. My folder of ecards is sad testament to that…

There’s also a new Assasin’s Creed game coming out. It’s set in American Revolution times. I’ve never played the other games, but that setting is really compelling. It’s so rarely used that I’m really interested in the title. The problem, of course, is if I’ll be able to jump into the series from 3 and be cool with it. The other games seemed just tedious enough that I was never convinced to try. Plus it’s several years hence and gameplay in general has improved across the board in such a way that I am loathe to tread such worn ground.

It’s kind of like Mass Effect in that Mass Effect 2 made it basically impossible for me to ever play one again. The planet scavenging that they ditched in 2 was such a huge part of one, and I never want to do it ever again. I feel like there are parts of Assassin’s Creed that I’m not going to be able to tolerate. Some of you must have played it. Have you and advice for me? Can I skip the other games, or do I need to potentially suffer through them on my way to 3?

In other game related news, I got the golden steering wheel on Mario Kart 7. You don’t actually have to win races to get it, jut use it in races. Which is good because I can barely win a race using the wheel controls. Now that I have the gold wheel I never have to use them again, unless I want to. The gyro controls in 7 are much better than on the Wii. I never even tried to get the gold wheel on the Wii because I could barely race at all with that control scheme. I miss the motorcycles in 7 though. It’s a shame they couldn’t add them in. I’d even accept a game that’s just motorcycles if they were of a mind to make one. They made the karts seem bulky and awkward by comparison. Maybe that’s part of why they weren’t included in 7. Now that I think about it I don’t recal seeing many karts being used online. It never occured to me before. Maybe the bikes were overshadowing the karts. I wonder.

I’ve been so busy with other stuff that I haven’t played Tactics Ogre in a long time. The Nintendo games just win over others for being able to be picked up and put down at a moments notice. I even broke out Advance Wars Dual Strike a few times last week. I’m ready for the next one in that series, or Fire Emblem. As long as we don’t get another Days Of Ruin debacle… There’s a Persona remake for 3DS, but I never played it before and it seems maybe a little too involved, even for me. The Pokemon aspect is what worries me about it. I get paralyzed by too many options. It looks really interesting in videos though… Kind of cut and paste anime cast and storyline, but that’s not a deal breaker. Anyone familiar with that series? No one I know is.

37 Comments

Jo should know you never give them time to talk, Last Action Hero taught me that!

…And Doctor Who now that I think about it. If I ever become a Who villain I’m totally going to shoot first.

That second panel is reminiscent of Fluttershy. Is that intentional?

No. In what way do you think it’s like her?

I can see a very very faint resemblance… think season one , the one where she scolds the dragon… the eyebrow was raised, and thats what I’m gunna leave it at..

I mean more like as being a very complacent person, even when in control. Fluttershy always try to get the best for anyone, even an enemy. But now that you say it, the physical appearance is also like her.

Well, Jo predates Fluttershy by about 4 years, so I guess it’s more like Fluttershy is similar to Jo, rather than the inverse. The characters are different versions of the same archetype, so they are going to be alike in certain ways.

We have already seen that Brookie is susceptable to charm. Go for it, John; unless your inner Casanova!

And, Crave, if you have issues with the motion control aspects of the Wii, you may want to give Skyward Sword a miss. I mean, I was an NES and SNES era Nintendo fanboy. Chrono Trigger, Link to the Past, Mario 1 & 2 & 3 and Super Mario World, Secret of Mana, Illusion of Gaia, Super Metroid, Secret of Evermore, FFIII, Crystalis, Maniac Mansion, Ninja Gaiden, Starfox, Earthbound, those were worlds I got lost in and still remember fondly. But around when Nintendo canceled Mother 3 (Earthbound 2) for the 64, I realized I was being led around by the nose and sent them my letter of resignation.

Weak-willed fool that I am, I still kept up with the major titles and, by and large, have not been dissapointed, though Super Mario Galaxy seemed a little thin graphically for reasons I can’t explain. But, I’ve got to say, Skyward Sword is the only Zelda title ever released in the US that I gave up on. (Cripes, I feel old after pulling out my old cartridge of Link’s Awakening. Makes me wonder how much of my life I wasted that I could’ve spent in the company of loved ones or bettering myself). Anyway, it wasn’t the difficulty that made me give up, it was the motion control during a swordfight. It reacts so slowly and misinterprets so many movements that I realized in the first dungeon alone I found myself completely capable of taking another human life without provocation no less than 32 times. (Yes, George Carlin influenced this statement, but it’s no less true)

Admittedly, I groaned when I first heard the Wii would have motion control because it seemed like a gimmick they would use to produce an ungodly number of casual games rather than catering to their tried-and-true market base, which appears to have come true. But what I’m saying is, if you have any ill feelings toward the motion response controls on the Wii at all, you may wish to borrow or rent Skyward Sword first just in case you don’t like it.

The Persona series is fairly interesting. I own 3 and 4 for PS2. I haven’t heard about the 3ds remake, and don’t know anything about it, but I can give you a brief rundown of how personas work in 3 and 4 at least.

Essentially a persona has up to… I think 8 abilities. Two or more personas can be fused together to make another, and some of the abilities from the ones used to fuse can end up on the resulting one. Each persona has some sort of limit as to what abilities it can learn from its “parents.” It can all get very in-depth and complicated if you want it to, but the games are also entirely playable by simply using personas you get and maybe strong ones you get through fusion.

As an example, I had a persona that I wanted to create which resulted from a fusion of 5 specific personas. He had no restrictions on learnable abilities from his “parents,” so I spent about 3-4 hours and a ton of money deciding on abilities, fusing towards personas with those abilities, then fusing all of those personas into everything I ever wanted in a persona.

I could have simply used his base abilities and had other personas cover the ones I fused to get, since you can switch personas mid-battle rather frequently, but it was the level of customization I wanted on that particular persona, and I was happy with the result.

I guess my point is: If you want it to be super complicated and give yourself loads of options, you can; however, if you want to just use the ability to switch between personas to cover all your bases with far, far less work, well that’s an option too.

Side note: Fire Emblem is an amazing series. The only one that’s been officially ported to english that I have not beaten is Shadow Dragon, but that’s because it’s terrible. This is especially an accomplishment for me because I usually don’t finish games. I get most of the way through them and see a shiny elsewhere.

I liked Shadow Dragon. I hear they fixed the sucky parts about it though.

Thanks for the in depth explanation.

No problem. As for Shadow Dragon, I didn’t like it mostly because it lacks many of the systems and such that I loved about later incarnations of the series. I can’t remember most of them off hand, but the biggest thing was supports. I love supports. They’re a great way to add depth to characters in a series with so many different ones, since there really isn’t room in the main story for every single character’s backstory and such.

Incidentally, the support system in Radiant Dawn also annoyed me slightly, since it was less about character interaction and more about the stats. I’ve ranted enough about it all though, maybe I’ll give Shadow Dragon another shot after I get bored of FE7 again.

/endrant

Actually, with Batman (I assume that you meant City rather than Asylum), after the free-with-code Catwoman DLC, you can get the rest for roughly $18. Or so I’ve heard.
Personally, I wish I had waited for the GotY version. Returning my original copy for store credit towards the full version will set me back more than buying the DLC would. But broadband isn’t available in my area, so what can you do? *Shrug*

I, like Max above, have only played Persona 3 and 4.
There’s one thing I should warn you about with that series, and really anything released by Atlus: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ThatOneBoss/Atlus

I suspected as much. I’ve heard whispers of such things.

I think I played persona a long long time ago on PSone. It was an rp set in a school and it was turn-based but suuuuuper fucking slow. I’m sure that’s been fixed by now, though. I guess.
I just bought a game today. Hoping it will be cool. It’s called “Dark Souls” and it was on clearance at Target for $20. I kind of want to play it but I usually only do 2-player rpgs if they’re dungeon crawlers. I die too easily. :p

The bad news is that you’re going to die a lot.
In fact, if it’s anything like the first game (Demon’s Souls), dying is the main point of the game. XD

Yup. What game has you facing some kind of badass dragon-thing in the first 15 minutes? Seriously! Dark Souls is fun so far, but I would rather the controls were easier to get used to. I also wish I could zoom the camera further out. That’s a big gripe with me on everything, though.

As to your question about Assassin’s Creed, It all depends on how you wanna play. Do you want bigger, shinier toys now? Then just hop in on Assassin’s Creed III. Do you wanna learn about and appreciate the universe the story is set in? Then you gonna start from Assassin’s Creed numero uno.

In all, what is it, AS1, AS2, AS2BH, AS2REV… wow, 4 games… Anyway, across those games, the core mechanics stay basically the same. You’re running up buildings, hiding in plain sight, stabbing people… you know, fun stuff. You run up building, find your target, and finish him off with a rather embellished public execution. The only thing that does change are the periphery mechanics. In AS1, your only ranged weapon was Throwing Knives, AS2 expanded that to a wrist mounted Pistol, Brotherhood introduced a crossbow, and Revelations topped it off with grenades. There are other mechanic upgrades between them, but I am able to hop from game to game with minimal time familiarizing myself with the controls.

The story really picks up in AS2. I found AS1 agonizingly slow, but still a fulfilling game. If you want to understand what’s going on, what they are referring to, you need to start from the first.

All 4 games are essentially the same. You are a free-runner doing parkour to move around urban environments assassinating “bad” people. Minimal control and mechanics changes between each. Entire series? 9/10 imo. Very in-depth and highly immersive

The story really picks up in AS2. I found AS1 agonizingly slow, but still a fulfilling game. If you want to understand what’s going on, what they are referring to, you need to start from the first.

I can confirm pretty much everything Phil said. Assassin’s Creed 1 was slow, but mostly the same as the last one, AC2 Revelations. For the story, it’s kind of relevant (though I never finished the first one completely and didn’t really find it to matter much while playing the AC2 games).

On Assassin’s Creed: Go ahead and play the new one on its own, the ‘main’ plot gets 10 minutes of screentime each game, the rest being largely self-contained. It’s near ‘Lost’ levels of nonsense anyway, play it for the fun and setting.

On persona: It’s much less involved than Pokemon, beyond getting a decent persona of each element it didn’t really affect me regardless what I was using. Fantastic games, but long.

I’m not certain if its a good or bad thing that I can clearly tell which specific model of Nerf guns those are: A)its good that your artistic ability allows for specific enough definition with out getting stern emails or visits from men with steel bats.

B)It’s bad because I have those(along with several others) and could tell them instantly.

My arsenal includes: 2 Vulcan tripod mount belt-fed Machine-guns
2 Maverick pistols 1 Recon pistol 1 Renegade pistol 2 Specter pistols(with holsters i bought from think geek) 1 Long Shot rifle 1 Long Strike Rifle 1 Stampede Assault Rifle and 1 Barrel Break Shotgun
with about 500 rounds of foam ammunition all around

and the ability to wield them all simoultaneously? (pretend I spelled that right, please)

Wield them all? no, not enough hands, i could wield any two at a time and probably carry all the rest if i make a proper rig for it. the only ones that would give me problems would be the 2 Vulcan machine guns, they are heavy bastards with back-set handles and a lot of weight near the middle. if i cinched up the shoulder straps properly i could manage it fairly well

Heh. I don’t think Jo is the one who needs to worry — she’s got Keppler right where she wants him. It wouldn’t be the first time she made to rape his sorry @$$ — remember when she asked him to appear in her movie?

I’ve never actually played a handheld system as a handheld system since I gained full control over my schedule (read: Since I graduated and didn’t have to attend school anymore).

My PSPs are both presently linked to TVs, headset rigs, and power adapters. If I had a PSPGo, it’d be linked to a controller as well.

This is why I might be a bit excited for the WiiU, if it has SuperDS support, which it probably won’t, because Nintendo doesn’t give a shit about people who’d like to play their games on decent sized screens so others can watch too. Or people who like to record their playing because playing is as much an artform as the creation of the games. Or people who do walkthroughs and reviews who don’t work for a major company and thus don’t have access to proper recording gear because they refuse to sell it on the market. or…

Also, as someone who’d building an Eyetap and enjoys cybernetics, I very much like the fact that I can be largely wired to a handheld. I’m honestly sad there’s not more involvement… I totally think that a heart-monitor or skin-heat-detector could make an interesting non-active controller addition to most games, or that an Alpha/Delta wave detector could make an excellent controller/thought experiment, and if such a thing were able to be cheaper and mass-produced, N would be a group who’d find a way.

On Assassin’s Creed: As everyone has said, the first one is the slowest in the series, so you want to play that first or not at all. ACII is a masterpiece, easily one of my favorite games of the last five years. Brotherhood is just ACII except more refined combat and a shorter story. You probably want to give Revelations a pass, unless you find yourself desperate to finish Ezio’s story. It introduces a lot of really annoying bullshit that ruins the experience.

On Dragon Age 2: You absolutely want to skip it. I could waste my time trying to convince you, but all you have to do is search “dragon age 2 sales chart” on Google and click on one of the first two image results.

I can say from experience that Assassin’s Creed II is an awesome game to play with really intuitive controls. There was a graphics upgrade between II and Brotherhood, and I believe Brotherhood & Revelations, but the only system that didn’t make it all the way through all three of those is the conspiracy hunting (I think. My honey was disappointed in Revelations, so I haven’t played it.)

Speaking of disappointments, DA2 is nothing like the original DA. Not worth your money – the drop in value really speaks for itself.

I write all this, and find that I echo the commenter above me. :)

Now Nina comes up behind Brooksie with the same line.

“You are woefully ill prepared for attacks of opportunity.”

“Aww, Ninaaaa, that’s Jooooohn!”

“Right.” -points gun at John- “You are woefully ill prepared for attacks of opportunity.”

I just got Kid Icarus from Gamefly. It’s pretty awesome overall. There’s a slight control issue, but there’s ways to set them up. Hilarious dialogue, nifty graphics and a lot of collectibles. I played it for a couple hours then went to the Gamefly site and bought it

Thanks for the review. I’ll take it under advisement.

I want to say three things. First, when laughing hurts reading a funny comic is never the way to go. I know that from experience now, but you’d think common sense would tell me that, wouldn’t you?

Second, just found your comic today. I read it all. I both loathe and detest you for making it that engrossing. I will find you. One day, you will pay for your creativity. This I swear.

Finally, the ending was that bad. It broke every promise ever made about it in a cheap, plot hole ridden, and plagiarized manner. No, really. They ripped the ending off of Deus Ex: Revolution. It is the same fricking ending. I wouldn’t have even minded if it had been done well, but it wasn’t.

Man, you must have really wanted to see where things were going to make it through all 900 pages in a day. Glad to hear it. Thanks for giving it a try.

At this point I almost want to see the ending just to see what all the fuss is about. It’s interesting in either case now. XD

I absolutely did and I hate you with every fiber of my being for creating something like this. Really, I do. It’s that good that it inspires hate in a fan. I guess that makes me one of those old fans with the metal… fan thing… that hurts when you mistakenly put your finger in it.

The ending… I say ending, because no matter what you do there is only one ending… if you have any attachment or emotional investment into the characters of the game you will leave the ending alone. Above all else, if you have an idea of how your Shepard would react in certain circumstances, be prepared to be disappointed as your Shepard becomes Biowares artistic integrity.

On Assassin’s Creed: I find that unless you love the series that you MUST play through them in order. It does go from slow to faster from AC1 to AC2, but the social mechanics are so different that if you try to jump backwards then it just feels acward in comparison. Overall the series is great and if you keep up with the main games and a few of the DLCs then the story, while somewhat insane, makes perfect sense.
If you really do just jump ahead though the guide books usually have a big area devoted to theories and plot, mostely well thought through….Not that the books are much use other than helping with collectables and giving information on achievements and such. Its funner just to try without the help in most cases.
PS: If you do go through them all, look up or buy assassin’s creed Embers, it shows the end of Ezio’s life and… well is just really cool. Heck half the movements and attacks used in the film are the same ones as in the game.

The actual gameplay i better in dragon age 2 but it takes place in one city and the furthest you can travel is to a mountain. I wont say not to get it because honestly I find it fun but there is just so much that I didnt like about it like the fact that you only fight dark spawn 3-4 times the game is longer than DA origins. not including the dlc for origins.

If it’s only 7 bucks it’s worth it almost just to see where the story went after the first game. I liked the world, but I’m not sold on the game yet. People really hated it. XD

I actually did not hate it. Take that how you will considering I am now a devote fan who hates you for creating good things. The game was okay and the story was interesting. But to be honest, it felt a bit like playing WoW. Only with actual voices instead of text boxes for missions. The missions might have been interesting, but the whole thing starts becoming very familiar when you realize your raiding the same warehouse you raided last week, only this time going after a gang that’s supposedly been their for years.

Secret to success in Skyward Sword: hold your arm out to the side to determine where the slash is coming from, then flick your wrist. If it doesn’t work, you can actually try several shots a second that way.

Additionally, don’t worry about Persona’s pokemon similarities. In all likelihood, they’ll stop with the ability to instantly slay the last boss by flinging a small but unique ball at his face.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply