What video games are you playing now?

[Beth Pavell]

Empire Total War: Great Britain 1700-1701 - A new game and frenetic activity. First order of business is to raise tax income, so to that end I've been building governmental buildings and trying to stimulate growth in the backwaters - Scotland, the Bahamas, Rupert's Land. A sugar plantation in the Bahamas is the obvious choice. Grabbing trade deals with European powers first is a must, to try and keep a diverse trade portfolio. It required a lot of one-off payments, but I now trade with the Dutch, Sweden, the Republic of Venice, Prussia, the Ottoman Empire, Savoy, and the Maratha Confederacy.

The second objective is to seize some of the Caribbean. Antigua and Trinidad are obvious targets as pirate strongholds and potential sugar isles. Winkling pirates out is always bloody expensive, unfortunately, and waiting for better technology or more artillery rarely makes it much easier

 

[TeaWest]

Final Fantasy X-2

So far I've completed the Besaid, Kilika and Zanarkand missions. I found Besaid's to be fairly benign if a little boring, Kilika was much of the same, but it's nice to see the new Kilika. Zanarkand, however, was a fucking total joke. Very disappointed with how they took that area of the game with the sequel.

I'm really not enjoying this game much at all yet, but I'm going to persevere. The story is boring, the characters (especially Brother) are just unbearable to listen too, but the combat is at least decent.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Empire Total War: Great Britain 1701-1705 - Added Austria to the list of trade partners for a pretty stable trading profile. Swapping tech with some of the major powers has given me a slight headstart in artillery, but for technology I've been concentrating in the basics - bayonets, basic farm upgrades, basic school upgrades.

Austria went to war with France, which led to me entering the war on the side of my ally. Some skirmishing in the Channel as far as Europe is concerned, though I have landed an army in Brittany to drive the French fleet out of Brest and at least challenge them on their own soil. The real action has been in the West Indies. The Windward Islands and Cayenne were the first to fall - the spices being a welcome addition for the European trade. Taking Antigua after that was a slog, and unfortunately it looks like Trinidad is going to be even harder.

Strangely the US has spawned as a result of unrest in Albany. Usually the Iroquois destroy the nascent state immediately but they seem to be getting some traction this time round

 

[TheCapsFan]

Almost done with Fire Emblem: Shadows of Valentia. On what seems to be the final boss. When that is done, I’ll start up either Shin Megami Tensei 4 or the second game in the Phoenix Wright trilogy on my 3DS. Leaning towards the latter because I’ve been watching a streamer play Dangonronpa v3 for about a month now and I’m feeling the whole visual novel thing.

I’m also almost done with my casual run of Pokemon Gold. Just gotta beat Red. After that I’ll play Sapphire.

Recently beat the main part of Super Mario Odyssey (i’m at the Mushroom Kingdom). When I’m done looking through the Mushroom Kingdom and the far side of the moon, I’ll probably put the game away for a bit to finish Three Houses.

Lastly, I just started Paper Mario (N64) on my laptop. Excited to play this one as it’s my first ever experience with the game.

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

I actually started playing a new video game recently, which, for me, is odd. It's called West of Loathing. It's been out for a while, but I just discovered it, and it is fantastic.
Would definitely recommend. A++

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

Tales of Berseria: Beat the Ex Dungeon, and decided to try out the Arotorius rematch. Did ok for a while, got him to about 20%, then he pulled out the big AoE attacks at the same time and wiped the party. Figured that before I make my next attempt I'd make sure to fill up my BG first, so we're not going in half-cocked (still hate that party swapping is tied to BG btw).

 

[Nil]

Pokémon Gold, Breath Of The Wild, and Xenoblade Chronicles X. I guess I'm in a collectathon adventure mood at the moment! Oh, Demon's Souls too, for my sins.

Really just passing the time until Astral Chain releases, can't wait for that one.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Played some of my “comfort food” game, Persona 3 Portable last night. I’m in the extreme late game so I’m taking on the toughest challenges in the game. I only have one of the boss rematches left to do (the last one, fittingly), and I beat the Reaper! Yayyyyy! The feeling of dread was palpable, but I think he was easier this time compared to when I beat him the first time on PS2 (he wasted a lot of his turns throwing up Ice Breaks and Elec Breaks, not a worthwhile investment if I were him). Anyway, now I can go to the Monad Depths and take on the toughest random encounters in the game so I can get some real grinding in for the last rematch boss (which is probably gonna be tougher than the final boss to be honest). I feel slightly deflated though, because I was hoping to do every side quest in the game, and I unlocked the last two quests after beating the Reaper, and one of them I know I’m not gonna do...

Spoiler

It’s the fight with Elizabeth... I know what that fight entails. She instantly kills you if you nullify, reflect, or absorb anything. The only realistic way to beat her is to max out every Social Link in one play-through so you can unlock a special Persona that resists everything but doesn’t go too far to where Liz will one-shot you. And that’s not happening on this play-through... At least I can say I did every side quest except that one.

 

[Tactician Karina]

Fire Emblem Three Houses, completed the Blue Lions route,

Spoiler

That final boss fight with Edelgard was actually pretty difficult. This is the first time where I actually had to turn back time and even restart a few times, haven't had to restart in a FE game since FE4 & 5! Sure I've had close calls in other games of the series, but this one was tough (this is hard/classic mode I've been running in). But I finally beat her, she has 4 HP pools and tanks very well; used my mages and archer units to help chip away damage, Byleth and Dimitri were used to deal majority of damage though. (also her monstrous form is kind of cool looking) After that got the S support with Dimitri, also got a paired ending with Annette and Ashe together.

Now I'm on the Black Eagles route, still in the early chapters of part 1 of course.

 

[Stratelier]

So in MH4U I have my invitation to fight Gogmazios, and I certainly don't need directions. This is approximately the point at which I lost my old MH4U save file, but in half the total playtime and with a wider variety of armor sets in tow. (I plan to face down Gog with the Teostra X set, soon as I gem in Sticky Res...)

Last night we just did some assorted low-rank hunts with randoms. Gave me an excuse to try out some new weapons, like the ridiculous shark lance, and that cute Kecha Wacha hunting horn.

 

[Fatima Shadow Frost Witch]

FE Three Houses

I'm stuck in a loop for the Black Eagle Dimitri Fight even with several different attack plans/tactics it's not an easy fight to deal with

 

[Midorikawa]

Still doing three houses. Just started the Golden Deer route after beating Blue Lions, and Black Eagles before that.

I really really don’t like Leonie. I haven’t liked her in the teeth two routes, and so far I still don’t like her. In fact she’s more annoying than when I don’t have her in my class.

Other than that Golden Deer is meh. None of the characters are that interesting yet, and I’ve already inferred Claude’s secret. Nothing has me hooked on them.

Fire Emblem Three Houses, completed the Blue Lions route,

Spoiler

That final boss fight with Edelgard was actually pretty difficult. This is the first time where I actually had to turn back time and even restart a few times, haven't had to restart in a FE game since FE4 & 5! Sure I've had close calls in other games of the series, but this one was tough (this is hard/classic mode I've been running in). But I finally beat her, she has 4 HP pools and tanks very well; used my mages and archer units to help chip away damage, Byleth and Dimitri were used to deal majority of damage though. (also her monstrous form is kind of cool looking) After that got the S support with Dimitri, also got a paired ending with Annette and Ashe together.

Now I'm on the Black Eagles route, still in the early chapters of part 1 of course.

Spoiler

Edelgard was the easy part for me on that. In fact I was disappointed that she was so easy. Everyone else before her is what was hard. I used almost all of my time things getting to her, and then I took her down disturbingly easy.

FE Three Houses

I'm stuck in a loop for the Black Eagle Dimitri Fight even with several different attack plans/tactics it's not an easy fight to deal with

Spoiler

The mage using bolting is what makes it truly annoying. I think I kept my units together and just made sure to keep those that the bolting would kill out of the range, and had units who could dodge and take hits be the ones to lure the enemies. Ultimately the level takes a lot of patience. Especially since the black eagles route loves its evil Pegasus rider reinforcements.Make sure everyone has battalions to help stun the beasts. I would ignore trying to break all four for the ore since there is no after game to really use them for. Just go for one or two and then hit them in those spots to take them down quickly.

 

[BlueWaves]

Just finished 3 Houses- The Golden Deer after doing Blue Lions. Starting the Black Eagles with a Crimson Flower focus currently.

Spoiler: My Thoughts on the Golden Deer

Pretty much the Blue Lions with more emphasis on the church, crests, Rhea, and Those who Slither into the Darkness. It did provides answers on those things, and we eventually learned the the truth behind the church, Rhea, and the Crest stones and their weapons; this makes it satisfying to play after Blue Lions, since it does not provide answers to those questions, rather it focuses on war with Dimitri and Edelgard's relationship being the main focus. Conversely, Blue Lions would be the most satisfying to play after Golden Deer since you don't know why Dimitri hates Edelgard so much; outside of Chapter 17, the Blue Lions play no role in the story. While I did overall enjoy my experience, my biggest disappointments were how similar the maps and goals were to Blue Lions. Chapter 12-16 were exactly the same as Blue Lions, 17-20 used the same maps with slightly different objectives and positioning. Only the last two chapters were very different. If it were not the emphasis on the church, you could skip this path without skipping too much.

Fire Emblem Three Houses, completed the Blue Lions route,

Spoiler

That final boss fight with Edelgard was actually pretty difficult. This is the first time where I actually had to turn back time and even restart a few times, haven't had to restart in a FE game since FE4 & 5! Sure I've had close calls in other games of the series, but this one was tough (this is hard/classic mode I've been running in). But I finally beat her, she has 4 HP pools and tanks very well; used my mages and archer units to help chip away damage, Byleth and Dimitri were used to deal majority of damage though. (also her monstrous form is kind of cool looking) After that got the S support with Dimitri, also got a paired ending with Annette and Ashe together.

Now I'm on the Black Eagles route, still in the early chapters of part 1 of course.

Spoiler: Blue Lions Final Boss

I agree with @Midorikawa Edelgard was the least of my concerns, getting through the forces ( I took the left side was the hard side ) The mages with meteor is really annoying alongside Ballistas were the worst part. I beat Edelgard with Byleth and Dimitri using aHit and Run Strategy. Though I will say: Vantage +Wrath is really annoying.

Spoiler: Golden Deer Final Boss Spoilers

Final Boss of the Golden Deer focuses around a Swamp that damages units if they stand in it. Fliers are immune, but an Archer using a Ballista strongly discourages the use of Fliers. The map isn't that bad, just requires a lot of patience. Use full adavantage of the thickets to to effectivley lure out the first wave of enemies, then take out the mage in the middle right. That stops the reinforcement of Demonic beasts. There are no more reiforcements after that, so take your time to rout out the enemies. Before you can take on Nemsis, you must kill the 10 Elites, who are wielding Dark Versions of the Hero Relics. Once you 've taken ( 3, I think, not sure about this, ) The swamp will dry, and other enemies will start moving towards you. The main strategy of mine was too split the army into halves, and each rout the left and right sides. Then there's Nemsis. To lure him out, use a Ballista, since the bonuses from the heal tile make it very hard to hit him, and he hits very hard. Once you attack him, he starts moving, so move your squishy units from his range or he will murder them. Fortunately, I got a crit with Byleth on Nemsis, so I only needed an additional hit to finish him off.

Might be an unpopular opinion, but I haven't found 3 Houses too hard. Near the end game chapters, I had several perfect clears without 0 casualties.

 

[Midorikawa]

Might be an unpopular opinion, but I haven't found 3 Houses too hard. Near the end game chapters, I had several perfect clears without 0 casualties.

Blue lions wasn’t challenging until post timeskip due to some of the levels. And I was doing new game + with them. Black eagles only have a challenge in the long run since I didn’t plan ahead like I did with blue lions so character promotions went strange. I’m also not recruiting so I’m limited to what the game gives me So if they sick then I’m screwed lol.

Flying units are best. I had two wyverns lords and a falcon knight in blue lions. They destroyed.

Golden deer is proving challenging since I’m not doing new game plus and I swear these guys just suck Save for a few.

 

[prog rocker]

Tomodachi Life

I feel kinda sad to say I'm going to restart my game just having discovered that Blue and Liza had a baby boy named Anthony. Oh well...

 

[Tactician Karina]

Spoiler

Edelgard was the easy part for me on that. In fact I was disappointed that she was so easy. Everyone else before her is what was hard. I used almost all of my time things getting to her, and then I took her down disturbingly easy.

Spoiler: Blue Lions Final Boss

I agree with @Midorikawa Edelgard was the least of my concerns, getting through the forces ( I took the left side was the hard side ) The mages with meteor is really annoying alongside Ballistas were the worst part. I beat Edelgard with Byleth and Dimitri using aHit and Run Strategy. Though I will say: Vantage +Wrath is really annoying.

I guess the Blue Lions final map + boss might be more of a case of YMMV then. Though for me it doesn't help that

Spoiler

I literally yeeted/Leeroy Jenkins straight through the map, instead of taking the left side as is recommended (though I only found that out afterwards lol), so that made things more difficult than it should. And most of my other units mostly fought back remaining enemies and occasionally chipped away at Edelgard. Faulty strategy, but I finally beat her at least, so that's all I care about. And speed-bot + mortal savant Felix is literally a Godsend for this map.

Regardless it reminded me of FE4/5 with some boss fights being tough, except Julius in 4 since to me he + his map was a cakewalk anyway.

 

[BlueWaves]

Blue lions wasn’t challenging until post timeskip due to some of the levels. And I was doing new game + with them. Black eagles only have a challenge in the long run since I didn’t plan ahead like I did with blue lions so character promotions went strange. I’m also not recruiting so I’m limited to what the game gives me So if they sick then I’m screwed lol.

Flying units are best. I had two wyverns lords and a falcon knight in blue lions. They destroyed.

Golden deer is proving challenging since I’m not doing new game plus and I swear these guys just suck Save for a few.

I did find the later chapters of Blue Lions difficult, though I feel like that's more like I made noob errors of not raising authority or armor smashing monster for weapon materials. I learned from my errors and that made Golden Deer easier.

Falcon Knights and Wyvern Lords are considered one of, if not the best classes; thanks to 8-movement unhindered by terrain, Canto allowing a second movement, and the bow weakness that can be circumvented by dismounting.

The only two units of GD I didn't really use was Marianne and Raphael. Marianne was basically a worst Mercedes. They have similar niches, but Mercedes basically not only took 0 damage from enemy mages early game, she also didn't outright die to physical every unit. Not to mention Fortify and Live to Serve make her very reliable healer. One of my top picks for units and Istrongly recommend for recruitment of other classes. Interestingly enough, I preferred Mercedes as an offensive unit over Annette, since Annette’s shaky speed growth yet access to Recover and 4 Rally skills made her an excellent support unit. I plan to make her my Dancer for Black Eagles.

Honestly, I found the paralouges much more difficult than the main maps. Marianne’s is an absolute pain.

Raphael is more like a case of me making him a Fortress Knight, and Knights losing values as game progresses since I prefer offense over defense.

 

[prog rocker]

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

Finally got to play this game, and so far I'm liking it. However, two things I noticed: 1) If you play this game unpatched, there's a chance the game won't recognize the shoulder buttons for some reason. I tried with at least three controls, but it didn't register anything from those buttons until I updated the game and 2) even if you don't have the DLC, you will see the characters and costumes you haven't bought in the Arcade Mode, which makes things annoying for me since I have to wait till next month to get a PSN card to get them.

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

Terraria: Got enough chlorophyte to finish off the weapons I wanted to make (Saber, Claymore, and Venom Staff), and got super pissed off with myself because I accidentally clicked the frost helmet twice so I'm short the leggings for the full armour set, so now I'm stuck waiting for rain so I can go kill another Frost Golem for the core I need to make the last piece. While I was waiting for that, I went out and built a floating island giant mushroom biome so the Trufle could move in, and a short trip to hell got me a magma stone and the Tax Collector. So now I've got a fire gauntlet for whenever I feel like meleeing things to death, and I've gotta figure out what the hell kinda house you make for a Tax Collector.
...
Scrooge McDuck.
The house is going to have a pit filled with coins for him to dive into and swim around in.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Still going for the Platinum in Nier: Automata. All that’s left I think, is to get one more joke ending (Ending X, not sure what it could be) and fully upgrade two more Pods (I’m desperately looking for Pod upgrade parts).