Video game lessons learned the hard way

F-Zero 99: If a track features a wide turn, the Skyway will probably follow it exactly, so not the best time to use Super Boost. If the track features more gradual turns that leave a wide open space, then it'll probably go straight over the open space. The optimal use of Super Boost.

Also, note to self: Stop accidentally using Super Boost on the straightway in Death Wind 2.

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade:

• Chapter 19E:
  • Sometimes, if you send too many people up the left way, Legault will book it over to the middle instead. Why? No clue. It's very annoying.
  • Bottom left guy has a silver bow. It hurts.
  • The unlock staff only unlocks doors, not chests.
  • This is the "steal guy's member card or lose ability to access secret shops" chapter.
  • Cavalier boss moves. He hits really hard.
• Generally:
  • Rebecca cannot take very many hits. Neither can Florina.
  • Units that gain a new weapon on promotion start with a weapon rank of E in it.

Sonic Frontiers: The window of timing for the restricted parry in the Final Horizons corresponds to the difficulty setting. If the timing is too strict, especially if yoy had the difficulty set to hard to fight the True Final Boss of the bass game, turn it down!

No Umbrellas Allowed:

• Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Rejecting a customer will always end badly for you regardless if you appraised their item or not before doing so.
• You can't trust the customer's word regarding stolen items since as HUE said, there's no way to verify the true owner of them. If you buy a stolen item anyway, the owner will eventually show up and demand you to return it to them... and you'll be accused of Avarice Crimes if you don't have it with you.
• Hidden V won't accept an item for auction if it's not explicitly stated to have Archaeological or National Historical Value, or a signature. This means that you can't auction an item that you know has any of these attribs, but the customer rejected them during appraisal. The same also goes for repairing any item that's Fairly Damaged or worse; 1st Repair won't accept it if it's not explicitly stated as such.

Edited by TroperNo9001 on Oct 25th 2023 at 7:58:05 PM

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Hisuian Decidueye the Unrivaled is a crit monster. If you fight him, you'll probably be seeing a lot of critical hits from him, so be careful.

L.A. Noire:

• The PS4 version, for some reason, turned "Truth, Doubt, Lie" into "Good Cop, Bad Cop, Accuse".

Apex Legends: If you're gonna pick up ammo, make sure you can actually use it with your weapons.

Bejeweled: Study and anticipate the board before you make a move.

River City Girls:

• Once an enemy starts a combo on you, you can't block in the middle of it, but you can parry.
• The price of death is 1/5th of your current cash. Unless you're saving for something in particular, spend when possible to limit your future losses. (Or be good enough not to die, whichever.)
• You have to stand still to summon your backup.
• If you're a completionist, each different color/name of a given enemy type is a different enemy for purposes of the Allies tab.
• The Hibari fight:
  • When Hibari is on the left or right sides of the stage, you can hit her with a Wall Jump attack.
    • If you hit her just as she starts her attack animation, she cancels the attack.
  • When Hibari moves to the middle of the screen (not the top-middle), she's low enough to hit with Acro Circus. More importantly, this knocks her down and gives you an attack opening.
  • Hibari's dark energy balls combo with each other (because Mercy Invincibility doesn't start until you're knocked down), so if you get hit by one you'll be hit by multiple.
  • Throughout the fight, Hibari summons Vespers (zombie schoolgirls). Their summoning is on a different cycle than Hibari's own attacks.
  • Even though the fight is on a 2D plane, you still can't duck.

Edited by DoctorZtar on Oct 14th 2023 at 4:58:32 AM

More from No Umbrellas Allowed:

• When it's time for you to move out, just buy the cheapest house so that Nari won't demand you to pay the rent for staying in her room. You don't need to buy the more expensive houses, or even new clothes or hairstyles, in order to get the better endings.
• While overusing the Private Slots risks hurting your reputation and getting you reported to AVAC, they're useful for perfectly appraising items sold by impatient customers or Fixies, who often reject cards even if they're correct.
• Hire Bokho so he can erase all the signatures that negatively impact the price. It doesn't affect the story and you can earn more from them.
• Despite what the Repaired card says, you can still recommend repaired items to club members. They'll just make a counteroffer for them.

Edited by TroperNo9001 on Oct 24th 2023 at 8:54:38 PM

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade: Oleg moves and has a silver bow. He also has stupid strength, so he will end up killing someone if you're not careful.

Super Metroid mod Super Junkoid:

• Some places cannot be escaped until their boss is dead. Case in point, the False Idol. Hope you've been picking up life upgrades along the way.
• Rinkas never drop anything. This means the reskinned rinkas in the False Idol don't, either. Your only hope of survival is pressing forward.

Another one for No Umbrellas Allowed, but endgame spoilers: Screw AVAC's word on declaring all hoverboards as "Safety-Threatening". You won't be penalized for not marking them as such (unless that's specifically listed on the brand's page).

Dead Island:

• The best way to dispose of downed zombies is to stomp their heads in. Don't waste the weapon durability beating them while they're down.
• If at all possible, do not engage Thugs.
• It's usually better to drive than walk.

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk (don't know if the rules are different for Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society): Your maximum Reinforcement for a dungeon run is not 100, but whatever you entered the dungeon with after spending points to power your puppet soldiers. So if your total RP cost is 10, then the most you can stockpile for your current dungeon run is 90, and bumping into walls or collecting mana spheres won't restore it beyond that limit.

Yeah, I think that mechanic didn't change for the sequel.

Dead Island:

• Do not engage Suiciders in melee if possible. If necessary, touch-and-run.
• Human enemies usually have guns. This means killing them gets you ammo. This means shoot the bastards.
• Rams are best avoided. If they're moving at all and they touch you, you're going on a flight.
• The disadvantage of taking vehicles is that the game insists on limiting your view as much as possible when you're inside one.

I've liked the game so far, but the areas with human enemies tend to degenerate into bog-standard FPS tropes...

More No Umbrellas Allowed: "Fearless" customers, or those who are tagged with a Pre-Avarice Crime Badge and don't care about being reported, give absolutely no fucks about your appraisals, whether the appraisal cards are right or wrong. The latter is important because the wrong cards are stuck to the item after appraisal and lower your Expertise skill when they're sold. On the upside, these customers are willing to sell their stuff for as low as 20% of their appraisal value, so long as they don't immediately demand you to pay them^note that makes them "impatient" customers instead, who outright refuse to accept cards that lower the item's base price.

I learned how to level grind when first playing Star Ocean 2. I was so underleveled that by the time I made it to the two Haryfanx my best spell was Energy Arrow.

The original Star Ocean:

• Pressing the attack button once will auto-target the nearest enemy and move your character up to it. However, you still need to hit the button several times to do a combo.
• If you try to use a special but get hit moving into position for it, it doesn't happen.

You know the drill at this point...

Non-club members who are lenient with recommendations dislike fake brands, even if they're marked as "Not a Knock-Off", either because they're products brands don't normally produce (e. g. the Async Await diary, which is made by a bag brand) or have missing gems. The only customer who accepts these items as recommendations is the one who specifically wants them as a birthday gift for a friend.

Edited by TroperNo9001 on Nov 11th 2023 at 5:04:55 PM

APICO: Make sure you have enough space in your inventory or your other storage crates before removing those that still have items inside. And be careful not to remove machines containing resin or other liquids so as not to spill them.

Edited by TroperNo9001 on Nov 18th 2023 at 11:42:34 PM

Elden Ring:

• If you don't know where the Stake of Marika will be, don't respawn there. (Cost me 1000 runes learning that one.)
• Enemies can carry and throw Cuckoo Glintstones.
• That white stuff those bandits throw at you that you don't know what it does? It's this game's answer to Lloyd's Talisman.
• The hunchbacks in the swamp aren't ringing their bells just for show. Those bells spit fireballs.
• Enemy groups that refill your Flasks when you kill the last one will do so even if it's not the first time you've killed them.

Super Mario Kart

The Boost Start isn't worth the headache. Just race solidly.

Elden Ring:

• The treasure chest in the Dragon-Burnt Ruins is a trap. The Stellia Crystal Tunnels it takes you isn't quite as bad as the rest of Gary, Indiana, but you still want to get out of Dodge as soon as possible, given the level you're probably at when you visit the Dragon-Burnt Ruins.