deactivated-65e3079d16391

Shinobi and Nightshade (not to be confused with the NES game by Konami/Ultra Games and Beam Software) on PlayStation 2. The Ninja Gaiden reboot on Xbox ate those games' lunch, or at the very least, took a really huge bite out of it. Still, I thought they were pretty solid platformers.

I'll opt in early, but not specifically for gaming. I just want my traditional start menu back. :(

If I could name all the crappy games I bought and then never wanted to play again, I could probably fill a 50-page forum topic just by myself. For the sake of brevity (and for keeping things current), I'll name The King of Fighters XII, Cross Edge and Mugen Souls as my three most recent "regretful" purchasing decisions.

KOF XII: As the first new KOF game for the PS3, I was excited for this game because I really liked KOF XI. When I started playing it, however, I found that almost half the characters from the previous game weren't in this one (and many of the ones who got cut were part of themed teams), the arcade mode was just a time trial with no unique cutscenes and no end boss, and the online netcode trapped me on the loading screen for up to 5 minutes without actually loading a match or an error message telling me that the game couldn't find a match. After playing through the game about three times and realizing that I wasn't having any fun with it, I gave up and traded the game back to GameStop for something else.

Cross Edge: A Disgaea, Atelier, Ar Tonelico and Darkstalkers crossover RPG? Sounds cool! Shame about the sudden difficulty spike after you reach the second or third area, the unfitting side-scrolling sections, or the fact that I had to jam on the Square button to discover towns and activate cutscenes (I didn't like it when Wild Arms 2 and 3 did that, either, but I found both games enjoyable despite that annoyance).

Mugen Souls: This one's my own fault, because I bought this a full year after skimming through negative impressions on the game. Using Chou-chou's Moe Kill system instead of defeating enemies the normal way meant having to spend several turns telling my non-Chou-chou party members to stand and do nothing if I wanted to clear the battlefield and get everything over with quickly. Chou-chou's "Command mode" (I forget what it was actually called) was unreliable, as she'd often shout out demands that were impossible for certain party members to do, and failure means angering her and increasing the threat of an explosive Shampuru-induced total party kill. And Compile Heart's PS3 games are usually nuts about downloadable content, but some of the weapons that were being given away for free completely broke the game balance. I usually don't like to complain about getting stuff for free, but when I found out that one of the free DLC swords gave my characters a 20,000-point attack bonus (I think ATK ratings started out at around three digits), I worried that the reason these swords were being given away at no charge was because the late game enemies would become a nightmare to defeat without using them, or spending time grinding for EXP in the Mugen Fields. I never made it that far, and I stopped playing right after defeating the second major storyline boss.

Dishonorable Mention: Valhalla Knights 2, but I never really expected that game to be any good, anyway.

Isn't it a bit early for them to release a revised version of the hardware now? I thought they said they're release updates ever year. Whatever...I'll scour my GameStop today to see if the new model is in, but I'm probably not going to notice the difference between the new and old units.

@Chuugoku said:

@WillyFourEyes said:

I tried to play the tutorial dungeon this morning, and got disconnected while in the middle of a cutscene. I hope this doesn't mean I have to do the other tutorial missions over again when I try to reconnect...

Right now, the lag is making the game harder to play than when I tunneled my connection to Japan two years ago. That's probably bad. I get that they're working on it, but these days, you REALLY need to nail a MMO's launch before you're pretty much just doing damage control forever. It's even more true for niche ones.

I'm not entirely sure who should be more responsible here. Which company handles the US Wizardry servers? Is it SOE, or Gamepot?

(This entry was originally posted at http://www.player1diary.net/2013/02/02/i-say-lol-esports-and-you-say-lol-esports/)

Yesterday was my 32nd birthday. Surprisingly (and totally un-coincidentally), it was also the start of the third season of League of Legends play. This intrigues me not just because it’s now the most popular game on the planet (according to Riot Games, of course), but because I think I may actually have a shot at marginal success should I decide to play long term, unlike in similar “multiplayer online battle arena” games such as DOTA 2 and Heroes of Newerth. However, in order to compete in high-level “league” play, you have to max out your summoner level at 30. I’m still only at level 10, because I’ve only played about two or three-dozen games in two years, before I even understood that competitive LOL play even existed. Of course, it’s rather hard to ignore such a phenomenon when Riot has a website dedicated solely to its eSports league play.

With 20 levels to go before I become eligible for ranked play, I think I’m going to need to win about 100 games across all game modes (5v5, 3v3 and Dominion, although the “official” ranked games will probably only be 5v5). My first game of the season was a loss. I had a bit of trouble playing as Malzahar at first, because Call of the Void, his basic ranged attack activates after a delay. It’s surprisingly good for blasting away at minions, because they’re the only ones who’ll stand still long enough for you to hit them with it. For everyone else, Null Zone and Malefic Visions work better. I finished off the game with 11 kills, 2 assists, and 12 deaths, which is a lot better than I’ve done in previous sessions. Two other players actually granted me a “Worthy Opponent” honor, so at least that’s something.

I tried to play the tutorial dungeon this morning, and got disconnected while in the middle of a cutscene. I hope this doesn't mean I have to do the other tutorial missions over again when I try to reconnect...

A crossover game like PSASBR doesn't really "need" a story, but if executed properly, could add to the experience. I personally prefer the way the BlazBlue games handled their story modes (even if it didn't make a lot of sense to me sometimes, you still got a good feel for the characters and their motivations).

@Getz said:

@rjayb89 said:

Is it an insult or compliment to call it "Sony Smash Bros."?

It's an insult to Smash Bros. Calling it anything but "Smash Bros Cheez Whiz" is an insult.

An insult to Cheez Whiz?

Classic Mode:

1. In the early minutes of a game, stay behind your minions and let them soak up the majority of damage for you.
2. Never attack an opposing turret unless you've got minions to back you up, otherwise the turret will lock onto you and keep attacking until you run away. (That faint pinging sound you hear when you're near one? That's a warning that you've just been targeted.)
3. In addition, never attack an opposing player if you're fighting near one of their turrets. If you do that, the turret will ignore any friendly minions nearby and attack you instead.
4. Only your regular attack can damage a turret.

Dominion Mode:

1. You gain experience and gold slowly as the game goes on, so don't bother farming gold from enemy minions. Focus on attacking and defending the control points instead.
2. Don't try to capture an opposing control point if there are enemies nearby. Take care of them first, then capture away.

General:

1. Always have someone to back you up in a fight, whether it be friendly minions or another player using a Tank or frontline Fighter.
2. Don't be afraid to Recall if you're running low on HP and need to hurry back to base for a breather, but be sure that you've got something to take your place on the front line while you're gone, lest you lose very important ground.