What Are You Playing (Fall 2012)

[GohanX]

I've been playing a fan retranslation of the Japanese version of Symphony of the Night on PS1. Supposedly the Japanese version has stuff that was cut from the US edition, but I haven't noticed a thing. The translation of the text is a bit better than what the original release we got, but I still think this is mostly for f-chans who automatically think hearing a language they can't understand while they read is inherently better than a dub.

I miss the English Alucard's voice. I do not miss Richter's.

[A Robot Bit Me]

Supposedly the Japanese version has stuff that was cut from the US edition, but I haven't noticed a thing.

A couple of joke familiars. They were neither funny nor effective.

[bbobb]

Yeah. There was nothing of value cut. The Japanese voices are pretty damned good though

[No One]

I miss the English Alucard's voice. I do not miss Richter's.

I liked English Alucard's deep ass voice too. "I'm interested in this."

I'm about a quarter of the way through a solo character playthrough of Final Fantasy III (Famicom version) because I like being angry. No save states, final destination. I've read that by the end of the game it's actually easier than playing with a normal full party, but right now Hain is kicking my ass.

Still slogging through DW: Gundam 3.

[Thief Silver]

Started up Fate/Stay Extra on the PSP, and it's a surprisingly fun game.

Story is anime so take that for granted, the environments get old quickly because the game has some serious repetition problems that I foresee lasting far into the game. BUT, the localization seems great and I'm actually curious each time how things will unfold even if the format is relatively the same.

Second week your opponent's servent is an asshole that basically tries to assassinate you a few times.

Combat is Rock / Paper / Scissors, except enemies all have patterns and tendencies. So figuring out the enemies pattern is as important as raising your stats, which realistically just make your battles go faster and allow for mistakes. Fighting enemies raises your knowledge of the enemy so more of it's pattern will be displayed, and those parts reveal a good bit about the general strategy.

I doubt it's an incredible game, but so far it's been fun though a bit rough at times.

[Geo]

About 12 hours into Bravely Default: Flying Fairy. I think this is going to be a good one!

Nice! I'll be interested to read your impressions as you continue playing, I'm looking forward to playing that game (whenever Square Enix releases it in the West next year).

8-4 Play talked about that on the latest episode. Sounds good.

Yep, heard it too, interesting stuff. The extensive social aspects seem impressive.

[Pineapple]

Was thinking of downloading a new game last night, like Mark of the Ninja or something, and while looking through the list of titles on XBLA I saw Happy Wars. Opened it up to read the description and check the screens, and it says it's free. So I download it, assuming it's a demo of something or whatever. Nope, full on game, same kind of way that Dorito's Crash Course was free, with achievements and multiplayer and all. So I tried it out for a little while, and it's actually kind of fun! The idea is that all wars are started "Over something silly", and the graphics are pretty cutesy, but I like the presentation, the gameplay itself is pretty smooth and overall just pleasantly surprised so far. You don't really see many freebies on XBLA, but this one is pretty decent, and > 500mb.

[GohanX]

I actually got to play some games last night!

I started off playing Ridge Racer and Sonic Wings Special on the PSOne.

Then I hooked up the Turbografx and played some Dracula X. I was using headphones and blasting it, so good.

Then I got the urge to slice motherfuckers in half and plugged the Neo CD in for some Samurai Shodown 2. I also played some Fatal Fury 3 and Ninja Commando. I mean, you're a ninja AND a commando, you know the game is awesome.

Random gaming at its finest.

[Hero]

I finished Lost Odyssey for the first time. It was a pretty fun ending, and FAQs I read were trying to trump it up as being some unforgiving last dungeon/fight, but it was relatively easy. Especially compared to...

DARK SOULS! Been playing again. Made two new characters, then was dismayed to learn that the new DLC doesn't kick in til the Duke's Archives. Not even my NG+ character is that far in. Can't wait to check it out, but learning all over that rushing in Dark Souls is dangerous, even if you know where you're going and what you need to do.

Then there's Pokemon White 2. I'm enjoying it, moreso because I skipped the previous two. I bet had I tried playing every damn Pokemon til now, I would be well sick of it.

Also: New Super Mario Bros. 2. Coin Rush is a better mode than I first thought! Outside this and Pokemon, small chunks of Shinobi which involve thinking the game is great, dying a lot, wanting to smash the 3DS, and quitting on it for another 2 or 3 weeks.

[jyoung]

Aliens vs. Predator '99 (PC) -- Finally beat the marine level I had been stuck on for years. There's a part in level three where you have to turn on 4 valves to proceed. I never could find the last two valves because they are hidden down an alien nest hole and through two moving fans that I thought would kill me (the movies taught me to stay away from fans!) but you can actually run and duck through the fans. On to level 4. Badass game though definitely one of my all time favorites.