What are you playing?

[Cindi Mayweather]

The sun meter in DDS is the traditional SMT moon system. It affects encounters. Like, if it's high (a 9 for instance) it means you are likely to run into enemies that get a first attack or are hard to run away from.

As for DDS, I prefer 1. 2 is great but the story goes batshit stupid.

Tiesto did you get Suikoden III real ending? It's one of the best game endings I've ever experienced.

[brob]

When I got my pre-ordered DDS2 in the mail the disc had come loose so I emailed Ghostlight and they sent me a new copy and a DDS coffee mug that changed color and another video game they were publishing (the heist?). I had to throw the cup away earlier this year cus it was getting a bit flakey, but it lasted me quite a while.

games are ok too I guess.

[Rufus]

D'aw, how nice of them.
The game must have been "The Plan". It's on the back of the manual.

The sun meter in DDS is the traditional SMT moon system. It affects encounters. Like, if it's high (a 9 for instance) it means you are likely to run into enemies that get a first attack or are hard to run away from.

I ended up looking at a FAQ for that. It apparently affects the sale prices of cells (only good for sale) and the duration of some item effects. Didn't read anything about encounters, but I only looked at one FAQ.
It also detailed what Mantras to unlock at what point and that looks kind of nuts. I learned maybe half of what this dude recommends for the point I'm at right now... I'm going to have to eat a LOT more demons.

[CatsCatsCats]

Felt like there wasn't much fanfare after defeating Alduin in skyrim, oh well now the real game begins

[tiesto]

The sun meter in DDS is the traditional SMT moon system. It affects encounters. Like, if it's high (a 9 for instance) it means you are likely to run into enemies that get a first attack or are hard to run away from.

As for DDS, I prefer 1. 2 is great but the story goes batshit stupid.

Tiesto did you get Suikoden III real ending? It's one of the best game endings I've ever experienced.

I thought DDS2's story was fucking nuts, and loved it... the Buddhism/Hinduism influence was incredible and it felt so original for a video game. I haven't actually beat Suikoden 3 yet, I'm up to the final strategy-style battle, but I'm on track to get the good (108 star) ending according to this guide I've been  using. Should beat it this weekend hopefully.

[Cindi Mayweather]

DDS2 is batshit insanity. I like some elements in it for sure, but I find DDS1 to be better. It's hard for me to compare though since I haven't played either since 2005. Christ that was a long time ago. Along with DQ8 and SotC, and buying an OG xbox, that was a real good year for me game-wise.

Either way, I can't help but feel that DDS1+2 are two of the most underrated rpgs in the ps2 rpg lineup along with Raidou 2. I barely knew anyone who played either of these games.

[chronovore]

Played a little Dance Central 3 -- the tracers on the limbs give a surprising amount of information about the movement, compared to DC1.

Played some iOS Space Team while drinking a lot of good beer. It's a fun little party game where you shout technobabble orders at your team mates, and understand why the Enterprise bridge was such a chaotic place. Brilliant little game.

[duckman2000]

Obsessing over NFS Rivals, pretty damned good game. But this always-online shit is starting to wear on me, it seems like a shoddy connection actually causes delays when you try to boost or activate pursuit tech. Not cool.

[StealthFan]

I...didn't care for Raidou 2. I hated the pacing. I find Shin Megami games incredibly easy to pause and let sit while I do other shit. I can't put my finger on why.

DDS owned tho. It was a mixture of atmosphere, story and some cool concepts. It felt more grounded and horrific than the sequel (well at least until the insane ending).

DDS is horror. DDS2 is anime.

[Mr. Gundam]

When I heard that Activision lost their license for Marvel games, I went out and picked up a new copy of X-men Origins: Wolverine.

This game is great!!

[Positive Touch]

ubisoft really set the bar for gpu optimization prefrence with assassins creed iv. game appears to run fine on nvidia cards but on amd it is a fucking slideshow. like i get consistent 15fps, with the lowest settings giving me only a small boost. cutscenes frequently have desyncronized sound effects, and holy fuck when it starts to rain in-game you might as well just pack it up unless you got some serious nostalgia for rares 64 games. fuck me this is annoying

[Rufus]

You might be CPU limited if changing graphics setting does nothing. What're your specs?

[Positive Touch]

yeah I got a i7 that's like 1.7 ghz. didn't realize it was too low for the requirements. mah future 

[Rufus]

If there's anything you can drop in that socket that is better do so. Doesn't even have to be the latest. The way Intel is doing things though you might be on an outdated socket, they seem to switch with every processor generation.
In which case - save up for the big one. CPU+MOBO+RAM. Gonna have to do it myself sooner or later.

[Positive Touch]

got a laptop breh

[Rufus]

Didn't even consider that.

WELP.

[demi]

Whats the matter, you should be able to afford a new PC with all the money you saved from those cheap deals

[Positive Touch]

I'm gonna put up my new resume on backpages.com and start saving

[demi]

You could give me some sweet deals on some games, I can help out.

[Positive Touch]

yeah I'll see what stuff I got left. think there's a lot of ps1, pc, psp, and gba games

[Eel O'Brian]

Ugh, at the mission in AC4 where you have to sneak past all the assassins in the hideout. Everything "Asscreedy" about this game just sucks dick. Terrible. Just make a motherfucking pirate game, idiots.

[etiolate]

Playing The Testament of Sherlock Holmes. TOBY SECTION IS BEST SECTION.

[Rufus]

Getting a bit tired of DDS' encounter rate. Also getting ambushed is an automatic retreat.

[Positive Touch]

i gave up on it after 5 hours of non-stop random battles

[Rufus]

It's one of those games where the usually hyperbolic rate of "every two steps" is actually an alarmingly common occurrence. Hasn't happen back to back yet, but I'm fully expecting it.
Still intriguing enough to keep going, especially since I've got a lot more skills now. I guess I'm officially a sucker for Megaten games now.

[Cindi Mayweather]

Eh.. They are dungeon crawlers.

[Rufus]

Wizardry: Forsaken Land was twice the dungeon crawler this is. DDS feels more like watered down JRPG. It's good where it counts (battle system) and OK to tolerable everywhere else.

[Cindi Mayweather]

Of course it is a watered down jrpg. It's inspired by Final Fantasy X.

[Positive Touch]

battle system was great but i like it when games break up the pacing a little bit. a 30 hour game of nonstop random battles is too much.

[Cindi Mayweather]

It can be good if it is done well. Thank fully it gets better and better. The dungeons never get to the level of SMT3 but DDS has great game play anyways. Can't say the same for something like FFXIII.

[Positive Touch]

good to hear; will continue

[Rufus]

Of course it is a watered down jrpg. It's inspired by Final Fantasy X.

I may have had more fun with that. It has been ages though.

God, I remember arguing about the depth of its battle system (or lack thereof) years and years ago on a German forum. "But you need tactics to get the overkill bonus, so it really is a smart battle system."

battle system was great but i like it when games break up the pacing a little bit. a 30 hour game of nonstop random battles is too much.

It's really draining.

[Cindi Mayweather]

FFX has the opposite problem of DDS. It has less encounters, but each individual encounter is rote repetition and doesn't really keep you on your toes (in whatever small way) as in DDS. And while it's less of a dungeon crawler, the dungeons are straight treks and not the large labyrinth of DDS. On the other hand, it balances things better by having more towns/cities and exploration. But then, these differences are what separates SMT from FF. If you think DDS is bad, SMT3 has battles about everywhere you go, even in towns. Megaten games, pre-Persona 3, conditioned you for their high encounter rate. You eventually grow to love or hate it.

[Rufus]

The battles are definitely more meaningful, thing is they don't need to be as plentiful on top of that. Either way, I'm still motivated enough to keep going. Watching streams on the side helps, for sure.

[magus]

i've tried getting into DDS several time but i just can't... the character are so boring with their lack of emotion gimmick and everybody just covers a role and hammer it into the head of the player over and over and over (the chick get emotional about murder, then the red headed guy barks for a while about the chick being too emotional, then the guy with the dreadlock say something stupid, then the rational guy says "I DO NOT COMPREHEND")

the mantra system remove all of the fun of building your team with the demon that decide to join you and you just end slapping everybody with a different element so you can cover all eventual weakness (most of the time the element the character's is weak too so that you can slap the right resist and have character with no weakness... really why do they even have one if i can just do that?) and at the same time it puts a lot of roadblock in the form of expensive mantra so you have character learning shit they don't need so that those feed point don't go to waste

i don't really remember how bad the encounter rate was, but the battle system is basicaly nocturne except made more annoying by the whole feeding gimmick and more simple by the fact that i can just cherry pick the skill i need everytime from the mantra system

i've said several times that i don't like atlus game with the exception of nocturne and strange journey but of all of them DDS is the only one where i quit so early that i don't really know much about it,everytime i tried i always stop right at that cinderella castle dungeon and i just can't be bothered like... "why should i play this instead of nocturne?"

tl;dr - yes i like that final fantasy game you hate,yes magoose hate atloose

[Cindi Mayweather]

all i am seeing is wah

[Mr. Gundam]

The Digital Devil Saga games are fantastic. One of my favorites of all time. Magus is a loser.

[Rufus]

I think he makes good points this time and that you're a butthurt poopyhead.

[Yulwei]

I am GOING to be replaying MGS3 in a few days 

I first beat the game a few months after it came out, and I did so at Very Easy difficulty. Stealth wasn't required at all in very easy cause the enemies barely even reacted to what you did. Now I want to replay the game and actually experience the MGS gameplay.

Just waiting on my new PS2 controller to get here before I do so. USPS is being slow as usual..

[magus]

at least they don't DP

[Rufus]

Good. That'd be really painful for them.

[tiesto]

DDS series is fuck amazing, and #2 has one of the best basic battle themes ever:

[StealthFan]

I am GOING to be replaying MGS3 in a few days 

I first beat the game a few months after it came out, and I did so at Very Easy difficulty. Stealth wasn't required at all in very easy cause the enemies barely even reacted to what you did. Now I want to replay the game and actually experience the MGS gameplay.

Just waiting on my new PS2 controller to get here before I do so. USPS is being slow as usual..

PS2 controller? This is the substinence version right? You're not playing vanilla MGS3?

Right?

[Raban]

Vanilla MGS3 is fine, what's the problem? I played Subsistence using the classic camera the entire time. That's what the first-person button is for.

[Positive Touch]

no no, vanilla mgs3 is definitely trash and should not be played

[Rahxephon91]

Regular MGS3 is great. Never got what the problem people had with the camera was. I've played it that version I don't know how many times. Plus, the Shagohod chase is so much better with the old camera.

Man three was the last good MGS game.

[Positive Touch]

it sucks because its always pointed at the ground

[Yulwei]

I am GOING to be replaying MGS3 in a few days 

I first beat the game a few months after it came out, and I did so at Very Easy difficulty. Stealth wasn't required at all in very easy cause the enemies barely even reacted to what you did. Now I want to replay the game and actually experience the MGS gameplay.

Just waiting on my new PS2 controller to get here before I do so. USPS is being slow as usual..

PS2 controller? This is the substinence version right? You're not playing vanilla MGS3?

Right?

vanilla is the only version i own 

tbh I don't remember ever having problems with the controls

ah so subsistence changes the camera perspective? interesting. i had no idea

[Raban]

it sucks because its always pointed at the ground

Right, like the classic MGS camera. MGS1, 2, and 3 are totally designed around that camera. You have plenty of ways to look around in MGS3: the right analog stick pans the camera around, pressing your back to a wall lets you see around corners, the first-person view, and the different radar items. Sure, it's more intuitive with the 3D camera in Subsistence, but it doesn't have the same classic MGS feeling

vanilla is the only version i own 

tbh I don't remember ever having problems with the controls

ah so subsistence changes the camera perspective? interesting. i had no idea

Yeah, they added the option of having a normal, third-person game camera. Subsistence is worth owning anyways because the bonus features like the Secret Theater are perhaps the best things to come out of the MGS series, but I guess you could just youtube them.

[brob]

MGS3 had already abandoned the environment design that complimented the camera. Similarly the controls where at that point so burdened by legacy the whole thing is a bit ass.

[Raban]

  there's just a learning curve

[cool breeze]

MGS3 had already abandoned the environment design that complimented the camera. Similarly the controls where at that point so burdened by legacy the whole thing is a bit ass.

yeah.  and it's funny how Twin Snakes has the opposite problem.

[Cindi Mayweather]

MGS3 original camera is dog shit. I played the original to shit but the camera was tolerable at best. MGS3S is much better. Top down camera does not work with MGS3 due to the locales already being wide open. MGS3 is already slow as molasses as it is, having the top down camera makes it even slower.

MGS3 is best experienced in Subsistence version if only because you can use both cameras on the fly and they both fix the others issues. Making the OG MGS3 have the same camera as 1 and 2 despite having a complete overhaul in locales and map design made no sense.

I disagree on controls though. I wouldn't say they were burdened by legacy at all, especially considering the addition of the sneak walk using d-pad and cqc.

[Rufus]

Argh. So I finally beat Mick in DDS, I go to look at Cielo's stats after the fight (he just joined) and - it hard locks. Fuck me, now I have to watch parts of the preceding cutscene a fourth time and do the fight over. At least I know his weaknesses now, but fuck... God of War was the last PS2 game that hard locked on me. I hope it's the game though, and not the DVD drive dying.

The dungeon this fight caps off was pretty good though. Even if the first floor sucked. Not only do they repeat a tedious concept from before, they actually make it worse by forcing you to step in those damn trap doors as you explore. Dick move.

[Cindi Mayweather]

ahahaha is that the dungeon with the giant face statues and the trap doors that lead to pits?

[Rufus]

That's the first time they use those traps. Those weren't so bad, because you could actually avoid them past the first one. The first floor of the castle has the same concept, but you can't always avoid them. Say you go through a door, bam, trap-portrait on the wall and nowhere to go but back. So you turn around to leave but the door is gone, forcing you to step into the trap. So dumb.

[Raban]

MGS3 original camera is dog shit. I played the original to shit but the camera was tolerable at best. MGS3S is much better. Top down camera does not work with MGS3 due to the locales already being wide open. MGS3 is already slow as molasses as it is, having the top down camera makes it even slower.

MGS3 is best experienced in Subsistence version if only because you can use both cameras on the fly and they both fix the others issues. Making the OG MGS3 have the same camera as 1 and 2 despite having a complete overhaul in locales and map design made no sense.

I disagree on controls though. I wouldn't say they were burdened by legacy at all, especially considering the addition of the sneak walk using d-pad and cqc.

You guys are making it sound like MGS3 takes place in a wide open landscape. Each of the zones are still designed around the classic camera and can be navigated easily if you work around your own limitations. You have maps, radars, really they bury you in tools to help you detect enemies and sneak around.

Either way Yulwei is stuck with the original game, so the choice has been made for him

[Cindi Mayweather]

It still isn't the optimal way to play.  Take the map you fight The Fear I think? You have to go in first person mode constantly for a boss that jumps all over the map. It is tedious for an action game. Radars are fine. The problem is that to ever see anything you need to go in first person. MGS3 isn't wide open,  but it can sometimes get damn close.  The maps are considerably larger than 1or 2 in a game where that style of camera makes no sense (one with dense foliage and more objects to interact with and hide in.) Either way, I'm not really interested in discussing it,  MGS3 is ten years old. I played the fuck out of that game but it was definitely a limitation to have a third person game set in the jungle with a top view camera. Combined with requirements to constantly be aware of one's setting through sight and sound made it not the best game to play when the roommate fell asleep.

Ultimately though,  things like the original games camera definitely build upon Mgs3s biggest flaw: it is fucking slow.

[fistfulofmetal]

Redownloading Demon's Souls

will be the third time I take a crack at it.

[archnemesis]

Why did you stop the previous times?