Monday, January 9, 2012
Blind Play Alright, the next gym's an Electric gym, and I got myself a Ground-type Sandile to crush them. Let's go!...
Hey, cool. Emolgas. They're Unova's Pikachu.
Aren't they flying squirrels?
...
Then, they're part Flying... I can't hit them with Ground moves...
They're still Electric, so they're not Elec-weak...
My Archen's can hit their Rock weakness, but it's still weak to Elec...
...
NOOOOOOOOOO!
END POST
Posted on 2:06 PM.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Theory vs Practical TheoryDefensively, Skarmory would be a good choice against Garchomp. Its Steel typing provides resistance to Garchomp's Dragon moves, while its Flying typing makes it immune to Ground moves.
Not to mention that Skarmory's high Defense can let it hold its own against Garchomp's massive Attack, so even the powerful Dragon Rush won't hit so hard.
In Practice
Garchomp used Fire Fang!
It's super effective!
Skarmory fainted!
...
So much for analysis.
END POST
Posted on 9:19 PM.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Pokemon Game Mechanics -Staraptor flew high up!--The wild Machoke used Scary Face!-
-Staraptor's Speed harshly fell!-
Wait, what? How'd that manage to connect?
You do recall some Machokes have an ability that ensures that all attacks on both sides connect, don't they?
Well, true, but when a Pokemon uses Fly like this, how exactly does a Machoke attack?
I don't know. Maybe it does its best to stay up close to the target Pokemon. Perhaps when your Staraptor chose to Fly, it's hanging on by a leg.
...
A Machoke... hanging by the leg of a Staraptor... just to give a Scary Face.
This kind of determination is frightening. No wonder any Pokemon would freeze in fear.
END POST
Posted on 8:47 PM.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Something About Difficulty *boom*Damn, the Bonus Boss killed me again.
Give it up, there's no way you'd win without extreme dedication.
Hmm, what can I do at this point...
- Try defeating it again anyway; you might win this time!
- Spend more time grinding; you'll definitely win at the level cap.
- Give up and just proceed with the main plot; you're already very overleveled.
- Spazz out in frustration.
END POST
Posted on 9:21 PM.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Something About A Question Say, Kai-san, if you had $20 billion to spend on the medical industry, where would it go?Ah, this question again. Let me think...
- A cure for diabetes
- Cancer research
- Pallative care
- Antibiotic gel
But it makes everything so much easier! Disinfection, stopping bleeding, healing minor wounds, even sustaining vitals while Kyriaki are ripping the patient's organs apart--
You know, even with that, you still are unable to complete Under the Knife's X-1.
I can't be blamed for Atlus deciding to make that operation inhumanely difficult!
END POST
Posted on 2:05 PM.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Over the Nexus So, I recently downloaded and began playing Yugioh 5D's - World Championship 2011 - Over the Nexus.That's a long title.
Much like its previous incarnation, it features regular one-on-one duels, tag team duels, Riding duels, Tag Team Riding duels, and certain plotline duels with special handicaps that can drastically change the difficulty.
You begin in Crash Town, a Wild-West themed part of the Yugioh universe, and have to work your way out to eventually join up with the rest of the main cast in the plot of the 5D's anime. Players of previous games will find the shapes of the locations very familiar, and would be surprised at the presence and familiarity of certain minor recurring NPCs.
In Crash Town, deciding who goes first is rather unique. Rather than doing the usual Rock-Paper-Scissors thing with the opponent, you are instead given a series of button commands and must input them faster than the opponent to get a guaranteed first turn. It's still RPS with the rest of dueling.
Not to mention your Starter Deck is a lot more competent than last time. You can form several well-used combos to perform Synchro Summons that would make owning your opponent a lot easier, and that's just using whatever cards you're already given at the start. And much like the previous 2 games in the series the AI is quite competent as it takes its time to think. However, the difficulty spikes faster since you have access to good cards earlier.
A few things that changed from previous games would possibly be the interface. It's gone back to a top-down view, and all the basic card information has been made compact in the bottom screen. There's also the option where whenever the opponent plays something new, all action stops to let you check the recently-played card. Good for new players, but annoying for experienced players who know what the card does already. It also slows down Tag Duels to a crawl, but fortunately this can be turned off.
New to the game is a "next move" option, where the game suggests to you what to do next. Good for beginners or those trying entirely new strategies, which can be critical when you're playing with a preset deck at one point in the plot. Note that this won't turn up in Puzzle Duels, though the people providing the puzzles are kind enough to give hints.
Speaking of Puzzle Duels, you do have the ability to make your own puzzles and share them with other players. A nice feature for people who love these kinds of Duels.
All in all, great game, great card database, great challenge. Just get the patched ROM or the authentic version so that copy protection doesn't cockblock you.
Labels: game, review, thoughts
END POST
Posted on 11:25 AM.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Profit! So I entered a mini Yugioh tournament today. Unlike other instances, this one was unusually large - up to 54 participants taking part! Thus, the tournament was extended to 5 rounds of Round-Robin, with no top 8 positioning. This meant that the 8 participants with the most wins immediately get prizes.Went with my Macro Deck. Luck was awful. All my die rolls were 1's or 2's and I often went second.
Round 1: Lightsworns. Funny enough, I duelled this guy a few minutes before the tournament began, and crushed him. He told me not to meet him in tournament. So when we got to the table we were both "...This is awkward." He put up a good fight and won 2-1.
Round 2: Blackwings. Horrible luck got the better of me, and I got OTK'd by a 8000+ ATK Sirocco. 2-0 loss.
Round 3: Another Blackwings, though my luck was finally getting better. My Deck's main engine turned up soon enough, had good monsters to deal with what the Deck was playing, and eventually won 2-1.
Round 4: Crazy Synchro. I've played against him before, and many of his tricks are Graveyard-reliant, so he was aware that Macro builds trip him up and went all-out for the brief moment when my engines weren't running. It was a tough fight, and he narrowly won 2-1.
Round 5: Fabled. Grave-reliant Deck. While I did flatten it 2-0, it's quite amazing how much the Deck can load the Graveyard on the very first turn. Hats off to that person. Oh, and it's unusual to use card sleeves that match the Yugioh card backings, but MULTIPLE COPIES OF A HIGH-RARITY BANNED CARD as a backing? Man...
So, while I didn't win anything, I did get a prize of my own. Apparently the large population allowed me to sell cards that I could not have sold before, and I got a pretty sizeable revenue for it. XD
END POST
Posted on 9:50 PM.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
List Review: September 2010 So, after plenty of predictions, false sources and whatnot, apparently many sources have all settled on the new Yugioh banlist for September 2010.Banned
Heavy Storm
Brain Control
Substitoad
Rescue Cat
Comments: Okay, we all saw Substitoad and Rescue Cat taking the hit from a mile away. However, Heavy Storm and Brain Control banned? I wonder what Konami's thinking...
Limited
Monster Reborn
Dark Hole
Black Whirlwind
Royal Oppression
Infernity Launcher
Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
Comments: Everyone pretty much predicted Black Whirlwind, Infernity Launcher, and Trishula taking hits. I'm not very sure about Royal Oppression, though. Maybe it's to weaken Oppression builds so they can't abuse Pot of Duality to scry. But Monster Reborn and Dark Hole coming back? And Call of the Haunted is still left untouched despite this? I predict some serious revive strategies going around, particularly following a field wipe with Dark Hole. I think Konami is now starting to let the S/T zones have a little bit of a chance here...
Semi-Limited
Mystical Space Typhoon
Chaos Sorcerer
Snipe Hunter
Ojama Trio
Magic Cylinder
Comments: Chaos Sorcerer has been blipping up and down the lists as of late, so there's no big deal if he comes back to 2. Snipe Hunter and Ojama Trio, like Breaker and DD Warrior Lady, probably has been given leeway due to lack of use. Magic Cylinder coming back to 2 is unexpected. I think it's so that Konami can take OTKs that involve giant ATK monsters on themselves or something. MST coming back to 2 could possibly be due to Heavy Storm taking a hit and getting banned. And now I feel funny for treating my excess MSTs like crap.
Unlimited
Goblin Zombie
Cyber Dragon
Treeborn Frog
Black Rose Dragon
United We Stand
Royal Decree
Comments: BRD is back at 3? Well, I suppose the field nuke isn't as strong anymore since there's Starlight Road to completely render the nuke ineffective. Goblin Zombie coming back to 3 would probably give Zombie decks a little bit of life, and Cyber Dragon back at 3 is clearly a proposition for Cyber Style decks to come back. I think Royal Decree here is to quell the inevitable reuse of Magic Cylinder to prevent THAT from becoming too big a problem, but I don't know.
Overall comments:
This banlist is likely to start a shitstorm, particularly with Dark Hole, Magic Cylinder and MST, two cards which have been snug in their previous positions for YEARS, coming back out to wreak havoc. Maybe Konami's trying to give the general backrow a chance to turn OTKs on themselves? No idea. All that's left to do is to wait one more week and see how things turn out.
END POST
Posted on 4:47 PM.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Trauma Team Greetings. It has been 31 days since your last blog post.Yeah, I know. Got really lazy with blogging lately.
Holiday mood, I presume?
...Sorta.
So, recently I got the game Trauma Team, and finished it in... about 5 days.
Wow. That's some obsessive effort you're putting in.
Why, thank you.
It wasn't a compliment.
Doesn't matter.
So, after beating Trauma Team and fully experiencing what it has to offer, I believe it would be sufficient to do a review.
Beginning with the overview. What can I say, this game's amazing. The story's engaging, the gameplay is sufficiently challenging, and music really suits the atmosphere.
The main gameplay focuses around 6 characters, each with their own fields of specialty - Surgery, Endoscopy, Orthopedics, First Response, Diagnosis, and Forensics. Each character has their own chapter, and all 6 chapters run concurrently within the main storyline. The result of this is that as you go on to play a different chapter you get to see another perspective on the same issue. That little girl you operated on? Now you get to diagnose her disease. And so on. It's not over after you complete all 6 chapters, though - a final chapter is unlocked where all 6 characters and their fields are rolled up into the climax of the story.
Oh, I've got to comment on the graphics while I'm at it. The gameplay graphics have been pretty fine, though initially the first issue I had was that the blood pools look like gelatinous blobs rather than the circular clouds of blood in previous games. However, I realized that this was so that the blood pools can be visible from different angles while you treat them in Endoscopy. True - it'd be odd to see a cloud of blood from the side.
Oh, and they tweaked the organ design a little bit, giving it some more detail (but not such that it'd be rather graphic like Under the Knife) so that we don't get those unusually glossy organs in New Blood.
Cutscenes have deviated from the visual novel-esque style of swapping character sprites in and out over a background to a comic book style. They still end up using sprites, but at least this improves the storytelling a good bit as you do get to see the different characters positioned across the scene. Dialogue is fully voiced and automated, though this gives a little issue of timing when the dialogue plays. Oh well.
About the story... well, they did say they were going for a little more realism, but I'm assuming they meant realism in the gameplay. You don't have GUILT, Stigma, and the Healing Touch from the previous games, but in the cutscenes you get superheroes, ninjas, ghosts, and phone calls with the deceased's last words. Then again, you don't get a lot of drama if you're going too realistic, right?
...True. Even reality TV shows exercise some "cherry picking" in their footage.
Also, knowing the Trauma Center series, they can't exactly get away without a fictional disease. Well, at least it's not as drastic as battling GUILT or Stigma. It'd be frightening to tackle these things with an endoscope.
Now the individual gameplay segments...
Surgery is more or less the same as the main gameplay element in the previous Trauma Center games. Fortunately, they took out the timer that was the source of pressure to many other gamers. Unfortunately, the surgeries and procedures are a little more complex. Imagine carefully removing an I-beam lodged in a patient's liver (!!!) while taking care of the lacerations and hemorrhages on the organ. The difficulty's still rather merciful at the Resident (medium) difficulty, though.
What about the harder ones?
Oh wow. The Specialist (hard) difficulty. They not only had the vitals plummet like the bonus surgeries in the previous games, but they took the bonus criteria and made them much more stringent. Cleared an operation in under 3 minutes? Good, now do it in under 1 and a half. An operation that I S-ranked on the first try in the Resident difficulty scored a C rank on Specialist. Looks like veterans who mastered the previous games (I know I didn't) will still have something that will challenge them.
First Response. This is where you play a paramedic, juggling multiple patients while giving first aid to them before they are stable enough for transport to a hospital. Treatment of wounds is a lot simpler, but the main challenge here is that you'll need to manage up to 5 life bars at a time. Not an easy task when they're all on the verge of death. You're more or less doing things a first-aider would do - securing splints, giving CPR, and temporarily sealing wounds. The intense music goes well with the fact that you're rushing to stabilize them quickly.
Orthopedics. Rather than speed, you need to be very careful here as you're dealing with the skeletal system. You don't have a life bar, just up to 10 mistakes you can potentially make before getting a game over. Indeed, this is quite relaxed as you have (almost) all the time in the world to carefully make your incisions or secure plates. The music's quite catchy too. Good for work that isn't as intense as surgery or first response, too.
Endoscopy... Ugh, difficult difficult difficult. You advance with the Wiimote, while adjusting the camera angle or using tools with the Nunchuck. Definitely a drastic conflict with the muscle memory cultivated from the other Wiimote-centric fields. In addition to handling the new tools and controls, you can't rush too quickly with the endoscope, or you'd hit an inner wall and damage the patient's vitals. It'll take a while to master this, especially when you're pressed to get the time bonuses for some stages.
Diagnosis relies more on a sharp eye and a keen mind rather than quick reflexes. You've got a stringent 5 mistakes to make, but at least you won't be making mistakes very easily. The main aim is to spot symptoms in the patient either by listening to what they say, spotting unusual abnormalities in their appearance, and examining the results of tests and scans. After which you'll be matching the symptoms with potential diseases to narrow them down. No difficulty or rank for this one - if you're replaying it it's likely you're looking for bonus abnormalities.
Forensics is similar to diagnosis - no lifebar, 10 mistakes, and rather than treating patients you're discovering their causes of death and how they died. How? You collect pieces of evidence by examining the deceased's corpses or personal effects, along with listening to testimonies or checking out crime scenes. You even get to use the tools they sometimes use in forensic dramas, like luminol spray for detecting traces of blood, and powder to detect fingerprints. You might end up spending time pixel hunting, if not for clues, for the bonus quizzes located at each crime scene. Still, it's quite enjoyable as its element of mystery blends the storyline into the gameplay.
What else is left... ah, yes. The music. The composers seem to have outdone themselves again - this time with music that really fits the atmosphere of each separate field as the player first experiences them - moderately intense for surgery, VERY intense for first response, relaxed for orthopedics, curious for endoscopy, really relaxed for diagnosis, and mysterious for forensics. It gets even better as the game approaches the climax as all fields get caught up in a mix of mystery and desparation.
All in all, it's a very good game. The developers have really done quite a lot to simulate the various actions you'd be carrying out in each field using the Wiimote. Some fields are not best for those with slow reflexes, but hey, at least it's better than being pressured by a 5-minute timer at the same time.
END POST
Posted on 8:29 PM.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Stardust Accelerator So, I have acquired this game and have been playing it for quite a while......And sacrificing some of your work effort at the same time...
Okay, besides that. So, yeah. This blog post is a brief review on Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2009 - Stardust Accelerator.
So, it's the standard Good, Bad, and Ugly routine, but a brief overview. You have two modes to choose from: 5D's Story Mode and World Championship Mode. Obviously, Story Mode is what you want to complete first, because it's where you get your (usual) pathetic Starter Deck up to speed, and it's also where you unlock other opponents in World Champ Mode. As with all other games, 5 wins on every NPC should unlock nearly everyone and every pack in World Champ Mode.
So Story Mode is essentially very similar to the 5D's anime's first 26 episodes, but with several differences. One, you're the central character in the storyline, and so you end up walking through Yusei's footsteps... and a little more. Two, less exposition, more card games - though this will make several arcs seem rather short, like the time spent in Neo Domino Jail. Three, there are several minigames included, comprising of a motorbike racing minigame, some block-pushing puzzles, and a stealth-based mission.
The latter two sound familiar, where have we seen them before?
World Champ Mode is pretty much similar to the other World Championship series: opponents to beat, and a win/loss/tie record for each. Nothing to see here if you're familiar with these games.
The Good: For one, they've greatly expanded the card database since World Champ 2008, AND filled in several cards which World Champ 08 has missed out! The packs go up to Crimson Crisis, Duel Terminal 4, and Structure Deck 16, so there's a huge card database, and plenty to experiment with. Also, the introduction of Riding Duels is a nice addition for fans of the anime, and those who wish to attempt playing one out themselves.
The Bad: Well, they sure have nerfed the continuous win bonus. Now it just caps at 10 DP. Oh well, guess Konami didn't like how people exploited the old bonus and racked it up to 1000+. Also, the announcer in Story Mode tends to get irritating. It's understandable when you're in the Story's tournaments, but when in Riding Duels with certain opponents outside of tournaments, the announcer mysteriously shows up and DOESN'T shut up. Oh, and some cards are relocated to packs that don't unlock until you've done quite a bit.
The Ugly: Face it, you've got a pathetic Starter Deck and several of the NPCs sport decks that are tiers above yours. One of the first few opponents you may find outside the storyline-mandatory duelists sports a deck designed for countering many moves. Also, another portion of the storyline pits you against FOUR top-tier decks (okay, one may not be so) with no recovery in between. In short, pray that you have good luck on striking staples in the packs, or that the AI messes up and gets a bad hand, or you will have a lot of trouble getting through Story Mode. Oh, and if you came expecting only card games, the mandatory minigames will most likely irritate you too.
But, after you've gotten your deck up to speed and opened up a large portion of the card database to your disposal, there's plenty of decks you can design and test. The up-to-date card database also allows for playtesting of nearly any but the latest card combos and decks. Once you pass all the annoying obstacles in Story Mode, it's a rather awesome game for those who love the card game in real life, since you're not creating a hole in your pocket to get your hands on those rare cards that would complete a deck you want to try out.
Well, you still are using up a lot of time just getting through the game itself.
That's not the point...
END POST
Posted on 8:53 PM.
