What are you Playing?

[whitesnake]

OK, I'm probably never going to play it, but this sure brought back memories - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5clgs82B54k - "Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 - Launch Trailer". Too bad the ad didn't include any of the original anime music.

[Animusubi]

One Piece Pirate Warriors (which is on sale right now for 50% off on PSN), it's soooo fun!

[kndy]

I'm playing/reviewing and actually just completed Legendary Mode for "Fist of the Northstar - Ken's Rage 2". I was very, very, very impressed. They really packed a lot of action and storyline from the manga series is part 2!!!

[_D_]

Not Japanese but finally hit level 100 for my character in Torchlight II. The dual wield pistols I have do 5,000 HP per shot. Rapid fire takes out most mid level bosses and Glave Throw maxed out with 11 - 19,000 poison damage takes out most bosses that are 105 - 120 level. I hope they come out with a new level cap for characters and some new dungeons. There are mods up but new content from the original programmers would be best...

[llj]

Playing Super Robot Wars OG on the GBA. What impresses me most about this series is how the dozens and dozens of characters in the game all seem to have distinct personalities even when they don't play a big role in the overall plot. There's also a lot of intertwining going on with the relationships, and while I can't say it's totally easy to follow, the characters are defined enough to stand out individually.

The tactical aspect of these games are fun, but probably not the most challenging strategy games around. A lot of the game is all about getting the right matchups to maximize offence and reduce damage. Putting the right pilots in the right mecha, and using the right mecha for the right enemies. Sometimes the pilots aren't always well suited for the mecha the game designates as their personal machine, so it's a game of musical chairs sometimes. I almost never use Katina Tarask, for instance, in her default custom-painted military mecha and usually put her in a machine more suited to maximizing her talents.

It's too bad rights issues prevent the core SRW series of games from ever getting to North America. But these OG games are definitely fun, and the bots in this game clearly reference most of the well known mecha anyway.

[greg]

I love the two OG games on the GBA! It is necessary to match up the pilots with the mecha they are most suitable to, and it's also useful to save up the skill points to create skills to unlock certain abilities to maximize those robots' abilities. The second one is even better, and it is freaking HARD!

These two games were re-released for the Playstation 2, and a third game, OG Gaiden, was also released for the PS2. Unfortunately, these were never released for North America. It's not like they needed to dub the voices or anything, since the text displays their dialogue anyway.

[llj]

I actually played the second OG first, about 2 years ago. I remember the final boss being a pain, with his regenerating HP. Right now I'm finally catching up on the first one to see how where everyone came from, but to be honest, both games have this in media res feel to it so I'm not sure it matters where you jump in first

One thing I learned from OG 2 is that it's absolutely crucial to get as many pilots with SP regenerate as soon as possible. The later bosses are too strong to take down with only the SP you have at the start of a battle.

[greg]

One thing I learned from OG 2 is that it's absolutely crucial to get as many pilots with SP regenerate as soon as possible. The later bosses are too strong to take down with only the SP you have at the start of a battle.

That is so true! I wish I had more with the SP regenerate ability than I did. I that remember the last battle screen of OG2 was in space, and there were several enemy star cruisers with a ridonkulous amount of HP each. I had to make my pilots with SP regenerate take those out one by one, while keeping my other units behind (aside from the sniper types). I'm just glad that there wasn't a limit on the number of turns I could use.

For OG1, you can choose between Ryu or Kyousuke, as was typical with other SRT games. The first half of either game is different, depending on who you choose, but the second half will be the same game. What I did was play as Kyousuke first (ATX Team) for the first half, then started over with Ryu (SRX Team) to play his first half. Little did I know that the game seemed to be meant to be played as Ryu first, and then as Kyousuke.

The robots in the SRT OG games are freaking cool. They have a complete line of plastic model kits from this game series. I've been slowly playing Super Robot Taisen W (the one with Go Lion) on the DS over the past few years. I just get bored with it and then come back to it. I think I am mostly finished with it, but the challenge is just not as strong as with the OG games for the GBA.

There is also the OG Saga: Endless Frontier RPG for the DS. It is a spinoff of OG2, although even after completing it, I still wasn't sure exactly what the connection was. The overhead map was very retro-looking, and the battle system was borrowed from the Namco x Capcom games. I got a bit bored with the battle system after a while, and it seems to be even simplified from the NxC game, from what little I have played of it. A sequel was released in Japan, but Atlus never ported it. The cool trick with the game is that if you have completed OG1 and 2, you will receive a bonus item from each game. This only works, of course, if you have a DS or DS Lite, with the GBA game plugged into the GBA slot.

[greg]

Recently I've been playing the new Gunhound EX for the PSP. It was released in late January for only 2,500 yen. Fans of old side-scrolling mecha shooting games like Target Earth on the Genesis and Cybernator and Metal Warriors on the SNES will certainly be pleased with Gunhound, as it is an homage to those Masaya '90s style mecha action games.

I am also getting back into Yggdra Union on the GBA. I had put this game down for a few months because I couldn't get past one level, but I've resumed it again recently. It is very similar to Masaya's Langrisser strategy game series: deploy your units tactfully and pick your battles. Axes are effective against spears, spears are effective against swords, swords are effective against axes. When a battle is initiated, the armies line up on either side of the screen, and the battle is played out determined by this advantage, plus stats, and battle cards can be used to one's advantage. The anime character designs are great and the music and sound effects are nice.

[llj]

Finished SRW OG. Ingram was almost as annoying as the last boss in SRW OG2. That defensive shield coupled with ridiculous HP regeneration...wastes a ton of time in your efforts at chipping away at him. Thank goodness Levi Tolar was a less time consuming final boss though.

Now I'm juggling Megaman 8, Megaman Zero 2 and Shaman King Master of Spirits 2. I've come to the conclusion that while I love 2d action platformers and probably always will, I am really not great at them at all, with the exception of Metroidvania type games where you can simply level up and overpower opponents in the last half of the game. Incidentally, the action platformer I died the most while playing--Astro Boy Omega Factor-- is also one of the games I found most rewarding to beat. What an ending. Makes up for the 50-100 times I died trying to beat Pluto. And you gotta fight him TWICE!