Video Games

Count Arioch the 28th · Sat Mar 17, 2018 4:46 am

Picked up FF12 Zodiac on Steam recently. Didn't like the orignal FF12first time I played but after playing Dragon Age 1 and 2 I got the feel for programming my party with if/then statements. I also objected to the term "license" for the skills and proficiencies, but looking back it was more objecting to the name.

For those who played the PS2 release but not this one, there are a few changes. Big one is that there's no longer a damage cap. I killed Famfrit in 3 hits because he wasn't immune to Oil and weak against fire, Ardor hit him for over 60k and Firaga hit him for somewhere north of 30k.

Another difference is that there are 12 license boards, each one represents both a sign of the zodiac and a job class. You're way more focused, but are often more poerful (for example, the original board had 10 magic and battle lores. Virgo/Monk has 16 battle lores, Capricorn/Black Mage has 16 magic lores. You get one choice when a new permanent party member joins and a second after you beat Belias. Licenses overlap, for best results pick two classes that are differently focused.

Another huge difference is that there are far fewer spells and technicks available for sale, you have to find them and usually they're acquired later than in the original version (All but the Cleanse spell are in 100% spawn chests, and all of them give you the spell/technick 100% of the time). Certain accessories and equipment are also scarce and/or unbuyable.

I had assumed that the minor differences between weapon attack speed and stats would not be a huge deal. I seem to be correct with one exception: I wish I hadn't made Basch a time battlemage. Turns out in late game having a time mage active is really fucking important and his mana is pretty terrible to be keeping haste, float, and reflect going at all times (including spot casts of slowga, disablega, etc) Other than that I don't think it matters that much.

Espers unlock extra abilities for certain jobs. There is no middle ground, they will either unlock useless abilities for classes or be so in demand that multiple people will want/need them (Uhlan and Monk will both want Chaos, Knights and Time Mages both want Hashmal to give two examples. Although in this case Knight/ Time Mage is actually a pretty decent combo)

For those of you that know the game, here's my party setup with some thoughts:

Vaan: Shikari/Foebreaker. He's quick, he hits things, and he knows all 4 break attacks (power, defense, magic, magic defense). Breaks are great in this version because they're stackable and unresistable (due to how the calculation goes each additional break reduces the stat less and less so more than 2-3 times usually isn't worthwhile but it's there). Problem? Boring and not very versatile. However if you want someone to inflict some breaks and hit for consistently high damage it's not too bad.

Panelo: Monk/Black Mage. 16 battle lores, 16 magic lores. Alternate between Cloud and Magus staff depending on what I need boosted. Can hit every element except earth and darkness (although Water is still not worth it in late game. Having holy is pretty awesome though) Tons of HP. Really happy with how that turned out.

Balthier: Machinist/ White Mage. Consistent (if somewhat low) damage through guns, three quickenings, healing and support magic. Keeps party in protectga, shellga, and bubble. Opal ring bypasses reflect in case I need it (those damn skeletons in Nabreus might not hit hard but damn do they wear you down). It throws me off that he shares a voice actor with Fenris from Dragon Age 2 (who I loved in battle but could not stand personally).

Fran: Archer/Red Battlemage. Goddess of flame and darkness with her burning bow and black robes (red mages the only class that gets the Dark trilogy and Ardor in this version. Burning bow boosts fire, black robes boosts darkness). Archer adds speed and item lores. Can even act as a healer in a pinch. Pheasant Netsuke plus three phoenix lores is arise without the mana cost or the casting time. Also icelandic rabbit girls in this game are intense and creepy, I can't put my finger on it but they all kind of unnerve me.

Basch: Uhlan/Time Battlemage. Went from being so shitty that I wish I hadn't picked either class in early game to being a staple in my party. Time magic is pretty damn good. Reflectga, Float, Hastega, all are pretty damn good. Wished I could have grabbed some extra status effect magic from Chaos but Panelo really wanted to be able to cast Holy.

Ashe: Knight/Bushi. You have two options, using katanas with 14 magic lores and 12 battle lores boosting your damage together, or the excalibur+white robes combo for serious holy damage. Plus the boosted magic from Bushi really helps when you unlock advanced white magic with espers. Not as good a healer as Balthier is but better than Fran; I've fought several regular bosses and marks with Ashe as main healer and it worked out.

Looking back, Vaan would have made the better knight/bushi, Basch should have been shikari/foebreaker, and Ashe the uhlan/time battlemage. If my OCD would have let me not use all 12 classes I probably would have gone shikari/bushi for black robes and yagyu darkblade (for the darkness counterpart to knight/bushi). Foebreaker is decent as it's tanky and uses strong weapons (people don't like axes and hammers because they're very swingy in damage but I personally do), but I'm not sure if it's needed, I've used breaks on maybe 1-2 bosses (note: will probably abuse the hell out of them on the super bosses, have not fought them yet. But research told me that it makes Yiazmat less retarded of a fight)

Archmage Joda · Post by **Archmage Joda** » Sat Mar 17, 2018 5:12 am

How would a Time Mage/Black Mage style combination work out?

Count Arioch the 28th · Sat Mar 17, 2018 5:20 am

Time mage adds utility, speed, and tankiness due to heavy armor. Crossbows are a superior alternative to staves if you want to hit things, time mage also adds battle lores for further damage increase (crossbows are straight str weapons). As time magic is something you really want but aren't casting back to back it interferes less with black mage than a white mage would.

*Edited because I made an error, time battlemage has more battle lores but black mage actually has more HP.

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Sat Mar 17, 2018 6:27 am

Aviary Attorney is a fantastic game for anyone who likes the Phoenix Wright series, 19th century France, or talking birds. Both line-by-line writing and overall storytelling are top-notch.

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Wed Mar 21, 2018 10:00 am

In FF12 can any character be potentially good at most roles, or do they trend towards certain things like Basch being poor at magic but good at weapons?

GreatGreyShrike · Post by **GreatGreyShrike** » Wed Mar 21, 2018 12:49 pm

In my experience... there are some tendencies which make some characters much better at some roles than others. Penelo and Ashe have better MP than other people, and so they're better at casting spells, for example. That said, FFXII is not a terribly hard game and if you do the optional sidequests (hunts) you'll probably find most of the game pretty easy in difficulty, so it really doesn't matter that much. I don't think I ever actually lost all my party members and died.

Being able to grind at 4x speed in the PC version means that if you are having any troubles, it takes way less time / effort to go outlevel those problems and come back with higher stats.

Count Arioch the 28th · Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:43 am

The only real issue I've run into is that right when I started getting good time magick spells Basch's low MP was a real boobpunch. In late game it doesn't matter, I've never been completely dry on MP (MP <10% -> Charge takes care of that). Characters do have slightly different stats but really I don't think it matters. Also certain characters have faster attack animations which over time can add up.

Other than that I don't think it matters. For most of the game Panelo was my heavy hitter until I started getting late-game staves and black magick spells. At this point Ashe is wearing white robes and wielding an excalibur (you could give that to anyone and they'll hit like a truck).

I've had more game overs than Shrike but I agree with the sentiment, the game is easy and typically if you die you can re-group, change around your equipment and gambits, and pwn it.

An annoying thing is that a lot of spells cannot be bought, only found in this version. There are also a lot of accessories that are only found in chests now rather than being bought.

Count Arioch the 28th · Thu Mar 29, 2018 3:53 pm

To add to the previous, my unoptimized class choices just took out yiazmat (the mandated superboss with 50 million hp) in 45 minutes, no fast forward at level 80. And I feel like I could have done so at a much lower level. An optimized party would have done better but I had no problems

Pariah Dog · Post by **Pariah Dog** » Fri Apr 13, 2018 9:08 am

First my own anecdote on FF12.

Never really played it but I recall going to my buddies house back in my software pirating days and taking him a copy of a game (Dark Messiah of Might and Magic) when I get there hes playing FF12. I had him the CDs and he hands me the controller and asks me to fill in for him while it installs. I ask him what am I doing he says "Just walk around" I oblige and the other party members pretty much slaughter everything and if I stopped pressing walk while in combat the game would take over and play itself.

Anyways I found out about a (quasi) legal remastering of the No One Lives Forever series. These guys apparently tried to contact all the current potential holders of the copyrights and got a "well I dunno" from them so they remastered the games to work on later windows with widescreen support.

Can be found here: http://nolfrevival.tk/

Pseudo Stupidity · Post by **Pseudo Stupidity** » Sat Apr 14, 2018 3:48 pm

Dragonball FighterZ (which is pronounced dragonball fighters) is lots of fun. It's also surprisingly beginner friendly, which is something fighting games have always been terrible at.

And you can have a team of 3 Gokus, because of course you can. Only 2 Vegetas though.

Archmage Joda · Post by **Archmage Joda** » Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:52 pm

I've been having a lot of fun running Broly (DLC), Goku Black, and alternating between Android 21, Vegeta Blue, and Kid Buu as my team lately.

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Sat Apr 14, 2018 9:08 pm

I am upset that Bardock turns into a super saiyan for his super instead of a giant ape which would be much cooler.

Bardock becoming a super saiyan in that manga done by that lady who now does dragon ball manga was not something I enjoyed

I wonder if Kale or Caulifa or their fused form will be in DBFZ, they don't have many female characters

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Sat Apr 14, 2018 10:54 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1V8jxUZYbg
Hah!
Suck it Harmony Gold!

Pseudo Stupidity · Post by **Pseudo Stupidity** » Sat Apr 14, 2018 11:30 pm

Archmage Joda wrote:I've been having a lot of fun running Broly (DLC), Goku Black, and alternating between Android 21, Vegeta Blue, and Kid Buu as my team lately.

Broly is a broken piece of shit, nerf pls. I run Piccolo, Vegeta Blue, and Blackarot.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Sun Apr 15, 2018 3:53 pm

OgreBattle wrote:I am upset that Bardock turns into a super saiyan for his super instead of a giant ape which would be much cooler.

Bardock becoming a super saiyan in that manga done by that lady who now does dragon ball manga was not something I enjoyed

Wasn't it Episode of Bardock that first had Bardock turning Super Saiyajin?

Also, which lady and manga are you talking about?

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:02 am

http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon ... of_Bardock

"Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock is a three-chapter manga created by Naho Ooishi, and that was adapted into an anime."

Naho Ooishi is the lady that drew Episode Bardock where Bardock was sent into the past and becomes a super saiyan and beats up Frieza's ancestor thus motivating Frieza to destroy the Saiyan species

Iduno · Post by **Iduno** » Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:31 pm

Stahlseele wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1V8jxUZYbg
Hah!
Suck it Harmony Gold!

Dismissal with prejudice is good for HBS (HG needs to find another excuse to sue, cannot use this one again), the lack of lawyer fees getting paid back means Harmony Gold succeeded at wasting other people's money yet again.

I don't know what the bar is to determine if the defendant gets their money back, but if they haven't hit it yet, HG is being sent the message that the reason is bad, not that they shouldn't be suing HBS (and anyone else who knows what a robot is). I would expect another lawsuit to be forthcoming, but that next one would probably be the last given HG's current difficulties.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:40 pm

Harmony Gold should have died, at the latest, in the early 2000's . .
They are THE poster child of patent trolls . .

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Wed Apr 18, 2018 10:55 pm

OgreBattle wrote:http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon ... of_Bardock

"Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock is a three-chapter manga created by Naho Ooishi, and that was adapted into an anime."

Naho Ooishi is the lady that drew Episode Bardock where Bardock was sent into the past and becomes a super saiyan and beats up Frieza's ancestor thus motivating Frieza to destroy the Saiyan species

Huh. Y'know, I never knew that that was a manga special. I always assumed it was just an anime special... Oh, well.

infected slut princess · Thu Apr 19, 2018 9:31 pm

Someone sent me a Steam gift of VERMINTIDE 2. I haven't played it yet but it looks good. Vermintide 1 was good.

This is not to be confused with another game, called GERMANSLIDE.

Pariah Dog · Post by **Pariah Dog** » Fri Apr 20, 2018 2:56 am

http://store.steampowered.com/app/23205 ... ken_World/

Haven't played this yet but is described as a HoMM inspired game. Ok one person descrbied it as HoMM another called it a shitty Crusader Kings.

https://www.humblebundle.com/store/sate ... le_index_2

Sort of an open world lovechild between Syndicate and Shadowrun.

Double games freebie.

Count Arioch the 28th · Fri Apr 20, 2018 4:18 pm

Got ff13 for 6 bucks at the local gamestop. You know, I'd be disappointed if I payed 60 for the game but it's not bad. It's one of those games that are easy, but if you fuck up once you're pretty much dead.

Iduno · Post by **Iduno** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 1:37 pm

Pariah Dog wrote: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/sate ... le_index_2

Sort of an open world lovechild between Syndicate and Shadowrun.

Recommendation for Satellite Reign: Find 3 friends to play with as well. The game is more fun in multiplayer. More frustrating as well, but it's an easy game except for the final battle and the beginning (when you have no gear or powers).

Better if everyone is patient enough to read all of the plot stuff, because it is a somewhat interesting story. Unfortunately, multiplayer and reading don't go so well together for some reason.

Pariah Dog · Post by **Pariah Dog** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 6:52 pm

Been playing SR. Just cleared out downtown (do yourselves a favor if you play, get a steady cashflow from as many ATMs as you can and buy info on compounds before hitting them, the side missions pay off rather nicely or have other bonuses.) Been abusing the hell out of the infiltrator's cloak, using the sword to kill drones and a silenced pistol to assassinate soldiers.

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Sun Apr 22, 2018 3:22 am

The satellite reign tutorial seems pretty shite.