Video game lessons learned the hard way

How so?

Because you have 40 trillion things to keep track of on the combat field and at the base. It's a lot like playing 75 games of chess at the same time.

Blaster Master Zero Gunvolt Mode:

• Some enemies in the chambers are slightly more awkward to deal with, since Gunvolt can't strafe.
• Don't spam the Flashfield like an idiot, lest you take a hit because it disables Prevasion while its active and you accidentally ran into an enemy like a dumbass, just like in G Vs games proper

• Twisted Metal: Memorizing the map in each stage is a major advantage in winning the matches. Especially when you need to stock up on the weapons you wasted on that one car.
• Castlevania: No matter what you do, the Medusa Heads will fuck you up!
• Super Smash Bros: Tiers are 4 Queers, but that doesn't excuse the fact that you are still getting your ass kick for using a bottom tier character and need to change your play strategy.
• Fire Pro Wrestling: I think I said this before, but, DON'T BUTTON MASH!!!
• Guilty Gear: Oh yeah totally button mash. How else can you be able to pull off the Dustloop in the first place?
• Dungeon of the Endless: Leave no room un-lit! Trust me. You'll have a bad time.
• Pixel Piracy: Gunners will always fire at the enemy and friendly fire is a thing. Soooo, pray to god the cannons don't hit one of your crewmates who is fighting the enemy.
• Fallout New Vegas: Mods make it possible to have an entire badass crew of companions with you rather than just one . . . what, I really like Fallout Tactics, Wasteland 2 and Shadowrun Returns so of course I'm not going to play Fallout without having my own crew to back me up when shit hits the fan.

Three. One is near the resource exp, one is near the dust cloud between the Mothership's arrival point and the shipyard, and the third...

...I can't quite remember. Either it's near the Mothership's arrival point or at the opposite end of the map, near where the enemy carriers show up.

Kill these three before the carrier hyperspaces in next to the resource exp and it won't show up.

Also, on the next map, you have all the time in the world to build up before completing the first objective. Make good use of it.

edited 2nd Jun '17 10:26:20 AM by amitakartok

It's next to the shipyard. That means I need to have an interceptor squadron stand by near the spawn point in order to shoot down the third probe.

Also note that you are about 2-3 levels away from the point where the game takes off the kid gloves.

You know that the game reads your starting fleet in each mission and generates the AI's starting assets based on it, right?

Totally. Made sure not to harvest everything in the previous mission and just bring along whatever I had, which wasn't very much. Admittedly the enemy strike groups aren't too huge (yet...), but it's nasty enough to make it dangerous to split the fleet in more than two areas simultaneously - which you'll eventually have to do in the mission if you're planning on defending both the shipyard and resource field.

Do research upgrades affect the amount of enemy ships spawned?

No. Nor does the amount of resources you have. The only thing that matters are the units you start with.

And while it is possible to hack yourself more units than the unit caps by editing the LUA file that stores your starting assets from mission to mission, I say from personal experience that it's a bad idea. Normally, you can only have two battlecruisers at once. In the mission before the penultimate one, I once hacked myself ten battlecruisers.

The AI spawned with 30, ten times their cap, and proceeded to annihilate the objectives I was supposed to defend before I killed even a sixth of them.

Never lead Plantera to the surface if you're not prepared for it...

Disgaea 5 (I'm playing Complete, but I understand that it's basically identical to the PS 4 version).

Apparently, NIS has tweaked the Item World difficulty since I last played a Disgaea game (not that it was hard, my only previous experience is DS and a borrowed copy of 2). This has the upshot that enemies are statistically weaker than their level would make you think.

Also, a lot of people will make you think that a Sage with Land Decimator is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It... really isn't, at least not at first; apparently you need a major statistical advantage to make it worthwhile.

Never lead Plantera to the surface, period. It's basically nigh-impossible to kill once enraged, unless you've already whittled it's HP down to the last few digits.

ARMS

• While this is a different kind of fighting game, it's still a fighting game. As such, the principle of "stay grounded" is just as important to mind as any other game in the genre- if keeping your options open is how you avoid what the opponent does, then staying on the ground is the only way to have access to all options at all times.
• That said, blocking does not equal being grounded. The principle of "don't stay defensive for too long or you'll start getting grabbed" also holds true.
• And, of course, ONLY use your Rush when the opponent commits to something and you have a clear shot at hitting them. Otherwise they'll either block, or- worse- outright avoid the entire thing.

Persona 5: At least in the beginning of your first playthrough, do NOT try to infiltrate entire Palaces in a single run. You WILL (very probably) run out of energy/supplies before too long, and battles will get much harder as a result. The game sees fit to give you a number of Safe Rooms, so don't be bashful about splitting an infiltration over the course of three or four days if you have to.

Monster Hunter Generations: Trying to stagger the Amatsu while it's charging up to use its suction cyclone attack is too unreliable, especially since you run the risk of characters hitting each other and not dealing enough damage to stop the Amatsu from unleashing the cyclone. Better to just do a dive right before the Amatsu unleashes the storm.

Earth Defense Force 4.1 Shadow of New Despair.

When using the C series bombs remember they tend to stick to the first thing they hit instead of bouncing once like in previous titles. Also make sure you remember where said bomb was placed in dark tunnels. If you don't know where the bombs are reload them to despawn don't detonate them.

When playing as Air Raider if you are not sure if your call for fire is too close, it is.

Watch_Dogs 2:

• MRAP windows cannot stop even .38 ACP rounds.
• There is an interval between people getting the distraction phone message and people actually being distracted by it.
• Expecting police officers who aren't part of SWAT teams to be of actual use in a firefight is grounds for disappointment.
• Guard dogs interact with NPCs in a drastically different manner than they do with Marcus - they deal a massive chunk of HP damage and only "die" if the NPC has enough health to survive.

Armored Warfare:

• The AI can and will jam your turret ring from 600 meters away while moving at top speed. Plan accordingly.
• AI ATGMs can and will be guided into areas without reactive armor protection reliably.
• The 3 tier spread for PvE matchmaking can easily result in pick up groups that have zero chance whatsoever of winning the mission regardless of the group's best efforts.
• The tier 7 BMD-2Ms carry Kornets that basically ignore any frontal armor the base M1 Abrams has.

We still doing that running gag with that one game's title? Something something wild time breathing down your neck.

• As resource-efficient as Bombs are for hunting, not accounting for windy weather will at worst make Bomb-hunting impossible and at double worst cause you to instinctively detonate a Bomb in your face.
• Trying to fight six Bokoblins at once (all armed with melee weapons, mind) is a very bad idea. Trying to do so right next to a cliff ledge is an even worse idea.
• As fun as it is to send Bokoblins careening off a cliff, sometimes they survive the long trip down. This is important in regards to the ones at monster camps since you need to, y'know, actually kill them to unlock their treasure chests.
• Snow Boots are amazing for traversing snowy areas, but remember- as long as you're wearing them, you aren't actually unfreezable like you'd be if you were wearing the Rito armor set.

Animal Crossing: Either not have my net out or make sure I'm close enough to the villager I'm trying to talk to so that my A button press starts a conversation instead of swinging the net. And also if the A press swings the net, move closer instead of pressing A again.

Pokemon: Make sure the team is at least 5 levels above the Champion's before challenging the Elite Four. Also, don't teach a main team member an HM that's only ever required once or twice.

Edit because I forgot one.

Mario Kart 8: Pay attention to my own screen in splitscreen ESPECIALLY if in 200cc and ESPECIALLY on courses with deceptively sharp turns.

edited 20th Jun '17 11:35:04 PM by DogOfAnnoyance

I used to do that, and then I realized that grinding in Victory Road really sucks. Seriously, you can take on the Champion with a 5-level disadvantage and still win by using type advantages, having a good team composition, and knowing when to use items.

You don't need to be 5 levels over the champion, like said. Hell, Blue's Blastoise was 15 levels above my team, and I still beat it.

It isn't the worst idea when going in blind, but I did wind up clearing Pokemon Crystal's Bonus Boss ten levels below the pokemon average.

Anywho, as for lessons learned the hard way:

Space Station 13:

• Being a head? Really hope for real life to not intervene.
• Derelict drone's keen and all for basically sandbox-lite on the derelict, and getting familiar with some things, but if you seek to rebuild that derelict fully, you need science done on the main station to mooch off of that station.
• Bombs are evil things, whether you're an evildoer or not. (Learned that the hard way one time in a clockwork cult round where the mad scientist bombed the entirety of the cult and himself in one blast, leaving the victory condition most vulnerable for one engineer to finish the job.)
• Never expect changelings to consider the DNA sting. They'll always go for the absorption when possible. (TG code)
• Wind up having alerted security to your presence with a double energy blade, and know they're swapping to ballistics? Don't swap until you start seeing bullets fly! (Yeah, Finagle's Law got me with running into the one officer who didn't have ballistics ready as a lone op, swapping to the stetchkin pistol in preparation.)
• Freon makes for a surprisingly effective deterrent for crew going somewhere. (Learned as a malfunctioning borg trying to ensure nobody escapes via the shuttle as per the Artificial Intelligence's objectives.)
• Just because you are a derelict drone, does not make you immune to being blown (as little sense as that makes).

7th Dragon III Code: VFD: Just because the first three DLC quests to get the previous game's characters are in the starting area and are unlockable when you first get quests doesn't mean you're ready for them.

I'm looking at YOU Megamouth Dragon.

edited 21st Jun '17 7:50:30 PM by lalalei2001

Pokemon: Don't always rely on damaging moves. You'll get a sand attack to the face.

Touhou: USE YOUR BOMBS

Ace Attorney: Choose the silly choices at your own risk

Neptunia: Don't swarm bosses

Cave Stroy: Don't leave on a dragon and don't talk to old men that fall. Check everything

Terraria: No matter how many times you've killed it before, you're not good enough to kill the wall of flesh using pre-hardmode gear without preparing the arena first.