Master mode in the plateau feels like a completely different game. At the very least I would recommend people trying that at least once. Once you leave the plateau though, the difficulty flattens back down. And honestly, the whole regenerating health destroys so much of the possible emergent gameplay opportunities the game is known for. You can't drop boulders onto an enemy camp, because they'll just have healed by the time you get there. If there were a Master mode version without the regen, it'd be great.
You can't do that after a point in normal mode either because the boulders don't do enough damage to matter on the stronger enemy tiers. Bokoblin camp full of explosives? Blow em all up and they just stand up and start looking for you.
I've become more tolerant of games that have certain mechanics in play for at least "the journey" portion of gameplay, before the game breaks. Like some people will say, what's the point of a game when you can over-level and trivialize everything? Well the point is that there's the delicate balance in the middle where it would take too long to over-level, which gives you X amount of hours where balance DOES apply and that's probably good enough.
Like for example Torchlight 2 is good for one playthrough at normal mode, and then its stat derivation systems break down and every character is a glass cannon and if you built wrong, you're screwed and can't play New Game+ or ++ or +++. But that regular playthrough is pretty good.
All this is to say that I'm fine with the amount of time that Zelda's emergent systems do actually work and feel awesome to use.
The old Club Nintendo was untenable so... that's why
Also just FYI all those specific coins the Nintendo mobile games use also work as Plat coins.. you can gain a crapload of them just by messing around in each app for a few min.
Especially Fire Emblem Heroes that one has a TON of capabilities to earn coins without much effort.
Vita
Means
Might as well make it a Ouya exclusive at this point.
It is a strong system both in terms of its capabilities and library I'll give it that.
I still think, from a hardware perspective, the Vita is the best handheld I've ever played. I love the Switch, but it's way too big (even the Lite) and the Joycons are too delicate.
I'm just still shocked Sony NEVER dropped the price on its stupid-expensive proprietary Vita memory cards.
I mean, I get it, they made the thing too expensive to manufacture and they needed to recoup the costs of the cards, but you'd think three years or so would be long enough to justify a price drop.
I'm just still shocked Sony NEVER dropped the price on its stupid-expensive proprietary Vita memory cards.
I mean, I get it, they made the thing too expensive to manufacture and they needed to recoup the costs of the cards, but you'd think three years or so would be long enough to justify a price drop.
They definitely did drop the price of the vita memory cards a couple years after the console launched.
I still have mine, but it was sitting in the sun for a bit and the glue holding in Yoshi's nose dried out and his nose fell off. He has become nightmare Yoshi.
3ds: 4983-4935-4575
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anoffdayTo be changed whenever Anoffday gets around to it.Registered Userregular
I'm just still shocked Sony NEVER dropped the price on its stupid-expensive proprietary Vita memory cards.
I mean, I get it, they made the thing too expensive to manufacture and they needed to recoup the costs of the cards, but you'd think three years or so would be long enough to justify a price drop.
They definitely did drop the price of the vita memory cards a couple years after the console launched.
Damn, too little too late though. By the time that article was published I remember grabbing a bunch of super cheap vita games on clearance at Target. I agree with most though. The vita is a solid system. I still have mine and it's still a great way to play portable PS1 RPGs.
I'm just still shocked Sony NEVER dropped the price on its stupid-expensive proprietary Vita memory cards.
I mean, I get it, they made the thing too expensive to manufacture and they needed to recoup the costs of the cards, but you'd think three years or so would be long enough to justify a price drop.
They definitely did drop the price of the vita memory cards a couple years after the console launched.
Damn, too little too late though. By the time that article was published I remember grabbing a bunch of super cheap vita games on clearance at Target. I agree with most though. The vita is a solid system. I still have mine and it's still a great way to play portable PS1 RPGs.
I grabbed a bunch of those Vita memory MicroSD card converters, used a 2-in-1 version to get max capacity. Pretty sure that requires a hacked console tho. Still, eff those original and even 'discounted' Sony prices.
I disagree that the WiiU is under-appreciated. It was a dog shit console. If anything, it gets more appreciation than it deserves. I say that as a huge Nintendo fan.
I thought it was a great console that got no support. there were not very many games released for it, but i played a lot of bayonetta and MH3U on it. I also played BotW on it. I think the upper end of games on the wiiu graphics-wise run a lot better than the stuff they are trying to run on the switch. there are so many switch games with horrible frame drops.
I am so behind on this convo but yeah, I legit loved my Wii U. The biggest problem with the console was that Nintendo put the Gamepad there and then literally did piss all with it. I think Mario Maker was maybe one of the few games to make *good* use of it, but usually it was just for maps or inventory or whatever. Not that it wasn't nice for that (I thought it worked pretty dang great in Wind Waker HD) but you don't pay extra for a console cuz it has nicer inventory management :P
Miiverse was actually pretty great though, I sorta miss that (but I do *not* miss the Miiverse Smash Bros stage... uggg... seriously, don't play a female character on that stage....)
In any case, without the Wii U there probably wouldn't be the Switch (since off-screen play was like the one selling point of the GamePad that was actually quite popular) so you gotta give it that at least
I disagree that the WiiU is under-appreciated. It was a dog shit console. If anything, it gets more appreciation than it deserves. I say that as a huge Nintendo fan.
I thought it was a great console that got no support. there were not very many games released for it, but i played a lot of bayonetta and MH3U on it. I also played BotW on it. I think the upper end of games on the wiiu graphics-wise run a lot better than the stuff they are trying to run on the switch. there are so many switch games with horrible frame drops.
I am so behind on this convo but yeah, I legit loved my Wii U. The biggest problem with the console was that Nintendo put the Gamepad there and then literally did piss all with it. I think Mario Maker was maybe one of the few games to make *good* use of it, but usually it was just for maps or inventory or whatever. Not that it wasn't nice for that (I thought it worked pretty dang great in Wind Waker HD) but you don't pay extra for a console cuz it has nicer inventory management :P
Miiverse was actually pretty great though, I sorta miss that (but I do *not* miss the Miiverse Smash Bros stage... uggg... seriously, don't play a female character on that stage....)
In any case, without the Wii U there probably wouldn't be the Switch (since off-screen play was like the one selling point of the GamePad that was actually quite popular) so you gotta give it that at least
I think off screen play was the biggest reason why there weren't more "other" uses for the gamepad. If you make using the gamepad as a secondary screen a mandatory part of a game, that means that off screen play isn't practical for that game, but Nintendo heavily marketed off screen play as one of the core pillars of the reason the wii u game pad existed.
So yeah, when faced with "should we invent a new unique mechanic that requires users to use the TV and gamepad" or "people seem to like just playing the game on the gamepad" off screen play won out.
The slow/floaty movement and low animation frames is killing this for me. Little Nemo for the NES was the first game I bought with my own money. It didn't age well though.
Yeah, I just can't get over the animation here, it looks so bad... Can we get WayForward to make this instead?
I'm just still shocked Sony NEVER dropped the price on its stupid-expensive proprietary Vita memory cards.
I mean, I get it, they made the thing too expensive to manufacture and they needed to recoup the costs of the cards, but you'd think three years or so would be long enough to justify a price drop.
They definitely did drop the price of the vita memory cards a couple years after the console launched.
The old Club Nintendo was untenable so... that's why
Why was that?
The cost to produce those items and the shipping charges were too high for the benefits they were gaining from them. That's why you see a bunch of light/paper products now and then charge to ship.
I started Xenoblade Definitive last night and literally every system feels deeply wrong so far. The tutorial being like "none of this relationship stuff matters... but it's pretty neat and addicting, don't you think?" made me flinch severely. I will be giving it more of a chance to catch my interest ASAP, but first impressions were basically a GIF of someone with a confused expression.
...That seems odd. There's a couple things with the relationship systems in Xenoblade:
1) Relationship between party members affects performance in battle (I think it impacts chain attacks or something?), gem crafting (just straight up more triggers of stuff), and affects how many skills you can share between them.
2) Relationships between NPCs is mostly just a giant web, but it fills in and changes as you meet people and do sidequests and stuff. It doesn't directly impact gameplay, but meeting people influences #3. This is the one that's mostly just neat, though the chart also tracks what people will trade and their actives hours and such, which is useful.
3) You also have a region reputation going, and raising it unlocks sidequests in areas. There's a few things gated behind 4*+ in each region that have significant rewards in the endgame/postgame. This mostly goes up just by being a completionist in the region though.
Yeah I don't remember that tutorial message at all and I'm honestly taken aback by it. The relationship mechanics are in my opinion a big portion of character progression and other systems
Here's the two quotes that made me blink in surprise.
- The story will progress even if you don't do any trading or complete any quests.
The word "any" there is a truthful but unfortunate choice. "Lol, this shit is irrelevant, but big game is the same as good game, right?"
-Expanding and improving the Affinity Chart is not necessary to complete the game, but it's fun to aim for the bonuses it provides and to observe the changing relationships amongst the people of the world.
That's literally begging the question. IS it fun? I just entered the first town, you have not sold me on this idea at all, guys.
Every aspect of Xenoblade Chronicles was just fiercely okay to me. Like each one of the things on their own would have been something I would have sat through if the other parts were better.
I...don't take it like that? I think that's just the game saying that optional stuff is optional but can get you extra stuff.
I don't think that's different than any RPG. And honestly with the huge amount of side content this game has, phrasing stuff that way helps to let players know that they don't have to stress too much to "do it all" if they don't want to.
Basically it's just: There is a critical story path, and there are also side stories you can do in each major areas. The side stories aren't necessary to complete the critical story path. It's not a novel idea; it's something that exists in a lot of RPGs going back real far. But I would say that it's not usual for the game to point out that distinction outside of icons.
If you care about seeing more stories in each area, I'd say that's basically its own reason to pursue the side quests. If not, just stick to the critical path and go about your day. It's that way with a lot of games, and whether that is fun depends entirely on the writing of the game in question, I'd say. Personally, I figure it would be more annoying to more people if the critical path did require a certain amount of side stories done to progress.
I will say that it doesn't exactly help that each area starts with interchangeable "kill [x] monsters of this type" or "find [x] of this item" types of quests, before it unlocks ones with unique named characters. I consider those first ones to be ones you just pick up so that you're completing a task for bonus stuff during your normal exploration of the area.
Enlong on
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DemonStaceyTTODewback's DaughterIn love with the TaySwayRegistered Userregular
Yea that's how like every game works.
The story still progresses without doing side quests.
I mean, if you came here and asked "Hey do I have to do any of these sidequests or relationship shit?", and we said "Nope", I bet you'd have been just fine with that. The game itself is just telling you that.
Meanwhile, the real answer is you really do want to do the sidequest and relationship shit. Because sidequests will increase town level, which will unlock special character quests that unlock their typically OP skill tree. And relationships let people share those OP skills with one another.
"The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
Posts
I've become more tolerant of games that have certain mechanics in play for at least "the journey" portion of gameplay, before the game breaks. Like some people will say, what's the point of a game when you can over-level and trivialize everything? Well the point is that there's the delicate balance in the middle where it would take too long to over-level, which gives you X amount of hours where balance DOES apply and that's probably good enough.
Like for example Torchlight 2 is good for one playthrough at normal mode, and then its stat derivation systems break down and every character is a glass cannon and if you built wrong, you're screwed and can't play New Game+ or ++ or +++. But that regular playthrough is pretty good.
All this is to say that I'm fine with the amount of time that Zelda's emergent systems do actually work and feel awesome to use.
You have to pay for shipping. So, it is not really free. The old Club Nintendo was better. You could win a special gift at the end of the year.
https://youtu.be/5QBtUNA2LuQ
Yep. I still got that in it's punch block.
And here I thought they were all about discovering new things.
Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
Vita
Means
Botched console
Vita
Means
Low adoption rate
Vita
Means
Might as well make it a Ouya exclusive at this point.
It is a strong system both in terms of its capabilities and library I'll give it that.
Resident 8bitdo expert.
Resident hybrid/flap cover expert.
The old Club Nintendo was untenable so... that's why
Also just FYI all those specific coins the Nintendo mobile games use also work as Plat coins.. you can gain a crapload of them just by messing around in each app for a few min.
Especially Fire Emblem Heroes that one has a TON of capabilities to earn coins without much effort.
Resident 8bitdo expert.
Resident hybrid/flap cover expert.
Why was that?
My guess is shipping costs. It's more expensive to move things around the gigantic United States than the compact Japanese islands.
I still think, from a hardware perspective, the Vita is the best handheld I've ever played. I love the Switch, but it's way too big (even the Lite) and the Joycons are too delicate.
I mean, I get it, they made the thing too expensive to manufacture and they needed to recoup the costs of the cards, but you'd think three years or so would be long enough to justify a price drop.
They definitely did drop the price of the vita memory cards a couple years after the console launched.
https://www.theverge.com/2013/8/20/4640262/sony-cuts-ps-vita-price-199
I still have mine, but it was sitting in the sun for a bit and the glue holding in Yoshi's nose dried out and his nose fell off. He has become nightmare Yoshi.
Damn, too little too late though. By the time that article was published I remember grabbing a bunch of super cheap vita games on clearance at Target. I agree with most though. The vita is a solid system. I still have mine and it's still a great way to play portable PS1 RPGs.
I grabbed a bunch of those Vita memory MicroSD card converters, used a 2-in-1 version to get max capacity. Pretty sure that requires a hacked console tho. Still, eff those original and even 'discounted' Sony prices.
no
vita means life
Greed most likely.
I mean, that's all three of them really.
I am so behind on this convo but yeah, I legit loved my Wii U. The biggest problem with the console was that Nintendo put the Gamepad there and then literally did piss all with it. I think Mario Maker was maybe one of the few games to make *good* use of it, but usually it was just for maps or inventory or whatever. Not that it wasn't nice for that (I thought it worked pretty dang great in Wind Waker HD) but you don't pay extra for a console cuz it has nicer inventory management :P
Miiverse was actually pretty great though, I sorta miss that (but I do *not* miss the Miiverse Smash Bros stage... uggg... seriously, don't play a female character on that stage....)
In any case, without the Wii U there probably wouldn't be the Switch (since off-screen play was like the one selling point of the GamePad that was actually quite popular) so you gotta give it that at least
I think off screen play was the biggest reason why there weren't more "other" uses for the gamepad. If you make using the gamepad as a secondary screen a mandatory part of a game, that means that off screen play isn't practical for that game, but Nintendo heavily marketed off screen play as one of the core pillars of the reason the wii u game pad existed.
So yeah, when faced with "should we invent a new unique mechanic that requires users to use the TV and gamepad" or "people seem to like just playing the game on the gamepad" off screen play won out.
Yeah, I just can't get over the animation here, it looks so bad... Can we get WayForward to make this instead?
Sony used those same memory cards on their cameras so they couldn't reduce prices or they might derail that money train.
True, but Sony is the one that I can think of that seems to make the decisions based off greed that affect their regular customers the most.
What's that got to do with Sony memory cards?
Nice, though.
Beat me on 360: Raybies666
I remember when I had time to be good at games.
The cost to produce those items and the shipping charges were too high for the benefits they were gaining from them. That's why you see a bunch of light/paper products now and then charge to ship.
Resident 8bitdo expert.
Resident hybrid/flap cover expert.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
Steam ID
Twitch Page
Oh man, I sort of want to buy this game to see how bad I have aged.
Steam: betsuni7
1) Relationship between party members affects performance in battle (I think it impacts chain attacks or something?), gem crafting (just straight up more triggers of stuff), and affects how many skills you can share between them.
2) Relationships between NPCs is mostly just a giant web, but it fills in and changes as you meet people and do sidequests and stuff. It doesn't directly impact gameplay, but meeting people influences #3. This is the one that's mostly just neat, though the chart also tracks what people will trade and their actives hours and such, which is useful.
3) You also have a region reputation going, and raising it unlocks sidequests in areas. There's a few things gated behind 4*+ in each region that have significant rewards in the endgame/postgame. This mostly goes up just by being a completionist in the region though.
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
- The story will progress even if you don't do any trading or complete any quests.
The word "any" there is a truthful but unfortunate choice. "Lol, this shit is irrelevant, but big game is the same as good game, right?"
-Expanding and improving the Affinity Chart is not necessary to complete the game, but it's fun to aim for the bonuses it provides and to observe the changing relationships amongst the people of the world.
That's literally begging the question. IS it fun? I just entered the first town, you have not sold me on this idea at all, guys.
I don't think that's different than any RPG. And honestly with the huge amount of side content this game has, phrasing stuff that way helps to let players know that they don't have to stress too much to "do it all" if they don't want to.
If you care about seeing more stories in each area, I'd say that's basically its own reason to pursue the side quests. If not, just stick to the critical path and go about your day. It's that way with a lot of games, and whether that is fun depends entirely on the writing of the game in question, I'd say. Personally, I figure it would be more annoying to more people if the critical path did require a certain amount of side stories done to progress.
I will say that it doesn't exactly help that each area starts with interchangeable "kill [x] monsters of this type" or "find [x] of this item" types of quests, before it unlocks ones with unique named characters. I consider those first ones to be ones you just pick up so that you're completing a task for bonus stuff during your normal exploration of the area.
The story still progresses without doing side quests.
That's what makes them side quests!
Meanwhile, the real answer is you really do want to do the sidequest and relationship shit. Because sidequests will increase town level, which will unlock special character quests that unlock their typically OP skill tree. And relationships let people share those OP skills with one another.