Game on!

So, I picked up a few DS games that were on my backlog, and have been horribly unproductive ever since. I've still got 10 different fics ranging from barely started to halfway done, and I just can't put the darned thing down. This thread isn't meant to be a thread for full game reviews, persay... just to talk about a game you're playing (or have played), and the things you like about it and/or don't like about it.

Currently, my addiction of choice is Final Fantasy Tactics A2, which is an improvement over FFT Advance in many ways, and a step back in others. It's still regrettably kiddy, but they pretty much gave up all pretense of actually having a storyline, so it's just a straightforward strategy RPG.

The Law/Judge system has been changed a bit, so that it's no longer a one-way ticket to jail or a Game Over. If you break a law, you suffer the following penalties: 1) You lose the effect of your Clan Priviledge for the rest of the battle, 2) You can no longer ressurect a fallen unit during the battle, and 3) You miss out on the Judge Bonus.

The Judge Bonus is what they bribe you with to obey the laws, and it includes extra AP for your characters, items, loot, and equipment awarded after the battle. It's usually stuff valuable enough that you have to really think about whether or not you want to break the law and lose it.

Unfortunately, you don't always have a choice, since some of the laws are ridiculous and some are completely out of your control. For example, "No actions that result in knockback." Not only does that apply to abilities that push an opponent away, but also critical hits, which automatically knock an opponent one square away. If you're "lucky" and get a critical hit, you just broke the law and lost all the benefits, even though you didn't choose to do so. Another one that drives me nuts is "No actions that target an adjacent panel." Rules out basic attack, non-ranged attack abilities, using items on friendly units, etc.

Also verging on stupidity is the fact that the Thief class can now steal accessories (including boots!), but can no longer steal armor or weapons! Uh, WTF? They can, however, steal Loot; and the Loot system is pretty darn cool, and almost makes up for not being able to rob your enemies blind.

The shops have a Bazaar option, which allows you to combine different types of Loot to create weapons, armor, and accessories; once you do, the created object can now be purchased in the shop. There's different categories of loot (Magicite, Bone, Skin, Metal, etc.) and different grades ranging from "A" to "E"; the better the grade, the better the item. Rare items can be created, but you only get to buy one per loot combination, while common items can be purchased all the time once you've unlocked them.

They also added two new races, the Seeq and Gria, which have four classes apiece. The Gria are pretty neat; they're pointy-eared humans with dragon-like wings, horns, and tail. They'd fit in pretty well on Felarya, I think. In fact, there's a few things in the game that makes me think of Felarya, like the first time I got a piece of Loot called "Fairy Wing" Of course, I also chose Felarya as my clan's name. Unfortunately, for some bizarre reason, they no longer allow you to rename any characters except for the main character.

So, there you go... the things about FFT A2 that I like, and the things about it that drive me crazy. Who's next?

My game of choice right now is Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. So far, I've been inspired to write a fancharacter fic for it and only a few other games.

Oh, anybody following my story (which is about 2 people, sadly enough) can tell you I haven't posted a new chapter in a while... because I recently bought Battlefield 2.

I also fixed my PS2 recently (I ain't rich enough to get a next-gen system, though I'm saving for a 360 and later a Wii), so that's not helping.

Battlefield: Bad Company. ^^

"Plays like the movie Delta Farce." ~VGCats
Best description I've heard so far. The story is a bit short, but the dialog is great.
The multiplayer is also great.

Well, I just spent 30 bucks to buy the complete BF2 collection, so... yeah. I might check out BC or 2142 eventually, but not yet.

BF2 multiplayers sucks, because there's zero coordination, despite the squad system. That's why I'm applying to join a clan...

Xbox 360 is pretty much broken, so I'm not playing much. >.<

Just waitin' to see those red rings.

Did you turn it off without signing off the game? My friend has a 360, and I accidentally did that once, and he freaked out...

I do it 100% of the time; are you not supposed to turn the console off without signing out? None of my friends seem to o.O...

I guess I'm the only odd one here, what, with playing exclusively on the PC, and mostly on strategy games...

Currently on Rome: Total War because of my love of Antiquity, Roman Civilisation and the satisfaction of seeing Carthaginian elephants sending their own troops flying after being rained down upon by the javelins of my velites.

SUPREME COMMANDER! ^^
Such an awesome game on the PC, but I read that the Xbox360 version sucked. Its complicated, but Its fun if you know what you're doing.

In fact, I'm going to go plat it right now.

I play a lot of RTS, too. I've been meaning to check out Supreme Commander...

@Sephimink: Yeah, you're upposed to hit the button in the center of the controller, select "Go To Dashboard", and then turn it off. Otherwise, you'll get the RED RING OF DOOM. At least, that's what my friend says, and he's as big a techie as I am, so he probably knows what he's talking about.

Meh... my system can't handle SupCom. Running low on disk space.

How about Earth 2160? Featuring 4 sides each with a different base building mechanic, 3 of them having fully customisable units. Interesting story, though badly told.

The majority of my gaming is on City of Heroes/City of Villains.

If the servers are borked, then I switch to the Wii and play SSBB.

As for it affecting my fiction... Well, it certainly helps that my felarya fic is the only fic I'm working on, and is the first one that I've planned the story out in rough before writing.

My other projects are The Hatching RP (sort of a prelude to the Felarya fic) over on Eka's Portal and my VirtueVerse wiki entries for my CoH plot.

Thankfully, The Hatching paces itself, and the VirtueVerse project isn't really a time intensive thing.

observer88 wrote:

Meh... my system can't handle SupCom. Running low on disk space.

You could always get a second drive, since Windows takes up almost all of the drive that you install it on. Thats how I do it, install windows and important crap on one drive, install games on another.

S-Guy wrote:

Windows takes up almost all of the drive that you install it on.

Buh wha huh?

You must have Vista on a laptop or something...

Dunno about you, but I run XP on a hundred gig drive, it's barely noticeable, space-wise.

Well don't look at me for an explanation, my C drive on this computer recently disappeared into thin air, leaving only my other drive. I have no idea what happened. Ill look up my windows space on my other computer when I get there later today.

Wait, no C drive? That should cause some problems...

I know! It's so weird. It almost seems like everything got moved to H and C turned into a removable drive. Its fine on my other computer, though. (The one I'm on now.)

What you are describing is actually a fairly common undocumented feature of XP (which I am going to assume you are running); I used to see it a lot while I was still working for the government.

XP likes to play "hide the partition" every now and then- the cause mostly has to do with the detection process XP uses during startup when it checks the connected drives and their IDE channels, as well as the transfer rates over the DMA channels.

To make a long story short, your BIOS probably recognizes all drives just fine, while Windows has decided to pretend C: isn't there. It knows it's there, and the OS can access it just fine (or you wouldn't be able to boot up), but the drive has been hidden.

To fix it, try: Detecting new hardware using the Device Manager, a desktop utility like TweakUI (which will let you decide what My Computer shows you, instead of XP deciding it), using partitioning software like PartitionMagic (to unhide the drive), and making sure your your IDE and chipset drivers are up to date.

One of these steps will probably solve the problem, but if it doesn't, you can try the following:

Start->Run-> type "gpedit.msc"
User Configuration->Administrative Templates->Windows Components->Windows Explorer

Look for the following items: "Hide these specified drives in My Computer" and "Prevent access to drives from My Computer"

The C: drive should not be listed under either of these options (ideally, both options should display "Not Configured"), if it is listed, then removing it should fix things.

Let me know if any of that helps.

Ok, Thanks.

I'll check it when i get back on that computer.

Dang, next time my friends ask me for technical advice, I'm re-routing them over to you!

I have been playing on Red Alert - A Path Beyond as of late. I suck at aiming. Especially when on the move and trying fruitlessly to dodge enemy fire. Still fun to play Red Alert from a soldier's perspective though.

Also I am eagerly awaiting Cities XL. I hear it will work on low-end computers.