Video game lessons learned the hard way

XCOM 2 :

• There is no such thing as a "Last enemy pod probably" until you see that mission end screen.
• Acid 'nades. Bring 'em. Bring flashbangs if those aren't an option.
• There is no such thing as a harmless stun lancer.
• The words "I still got time" are Famous Last Words.
• Starting the Alien Hunters DLC before mag weapons is downright suicidal.

Mon Hun :

• Stockpile the shit out of honey.
• The belly of the gravios is NOT a safezone.
• Watch the stamina bar.
• DOOOOOODGE !!!
• Lancers can't roll.

More Monster Hunter :

• If a friend wants you to play with them, but you just can't get the hang of it, persevere and try a different weapon. There's 14 of them and it gets tedious, but when you find the right weapon, it just clicks and the game gets so much more fun. Switchaxe is love, switchaxe is life.
  
• I don't care how many times you've hunted something low rank, it will surprise you in high rank. You may cart once or twice(or more).
  
• This goes double for the high rank to G rank transition.(looking at you, rathian)
  
• Try multiplayer early. Mix up your solo and multi hunts while still at the appropriate rank. Sure, once you hit late high rank you can solo the low rank multi hunts, but it gets tedious. Hunting is more fun in a group, anyway.

edited 27th Jun '17 7:30:12 AM by ArcanGenth

Darkest Dungeon "Crimson Court" lesson learned: don't think the first time you go into the Courtyard is the last time you'll meet the Crocodilian.

Dating sims in general (in my experience) but inspired by Huniepop:

This is a genre with a love/hate relationship with its fans. As in, it loves to hate on them. Expect it to get ridiculous, and expect zings everywhere. Like one of your options being a childlike cat-girl who claims to be one. In the body of an eighteen year old girl. If her aging stays consistent, I don't expect her to make five. I finished the Momo puzzles today and I ain't going back to that one. Wish I'd find one of these that actually understands why somebody would want to play the genre and actually takes the time to not be a complete and total stupidity fest that punishes its fans.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit:

• I wanted to beat this game cuz I thought it'd be simple. It's not simple. AT ALL.
• Imagine a racing game where you feel like you're constantly on ice. That's this game.
• I did not know that the controls sometimes suck. They actually do. Well, it's more like I have instances of, "game, I did not turn that sharply, I know I moved the stick only slightly."
• Boo Lake and Broken Pier can die in a pit. I hate the Ghost Valley levels in general.

Goddammit, Schezo... || *insert incredibly thirsty copypasta about Dr. Ratio*

The ones released in English for the Vita tend to be pretty good. The best one, Code Realize, is going to be released for the PS 4 next year as well. Granted, they tend to be Otome games, with female protagonists and male love interests, but they're usually pretty good.

Not Three Laws compliant.

If they're on PC I might go for them. I'm not a console or handheld player anymore.

Okay. Well, one of them, Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds, is going to PC this summer. It's a historical one based in the Shogunate period of Japan. It's really good too.

Not Three Laws compliant.

You think Super Circuit is bad? Try Super Mario Kart if you dare. I honestly find SMK unplayable next to the modern games.

edited 3rd Jul '17 11:51:17 AM by AngelG55th

If you find Super Mario Kart to be too difficult for you, try the small characters. They stick to the ground and can more easily maintain top speed, which is generally an advantage until you get to the high skill levels.

Check out my fanfiction!

Super Circuit was based on Super Mario Kart, which explains a lot.

The Protomen enhanced my life.

I was never able to beat Special Cup in SMK because of the first course. You know that lush, beautiful retro course from Mario kart 8 you play in Banana Cup? Yes, that one, only here you have to time a jump very well to avoid a moat, and it's enough to fail in any of the five laps to screw everything. I stopped trying after several attempts and moments of frustration.

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I've played some of Super Mario Kart. I think i got Gold on all 50cc cups, and on 100cc I got stuck on trying to Gold Flower Cup... or was it to beat it?

I WILL NOT TOUCH 150CC. HELL NO.

Goddammit, Schezo... || *insert incredibly thirsty copypasta about Dr. Ratio*

Ever Oasis: When the game tells you there's no shame in running away from level 1 enemies it means it. Otherwise you will die in 2 hits and have to wade through 20 minutes of fetch quests again because you didn't save after activating the first warp point.

Also, save after you activate a warp point.

edited 3rd Jul '17 10:10:32 PM by lalalei2001

The Protomen enhanced my life.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

• Remember to keep an eye on your health, especially if you've gone a while without finding a save point.
• Shields block projectiles, but not much else! Be aware of what attacks different enemies use!
• Remember to back away from torches after attacking them, otherwise you might accidentally drop your Holy Water for something like the Gem instead.
• Peanuts are VERY hard to eat, especially during boss fights. Should of heeded the description...
• Do not break all of the segments off of Granfalloon/Legion.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle

• The game's a little floaty in how it plays. Compared to other back-to-block fighters, blocking isn't instant as soon as you hold back or down. Reads, not reactions, are king.
• A lot of characters have counter attacks. Be mindful of them so that you know when they're active!
• This game doesn't have wakeup attacks. No, that doesn't mean opponents are 100% helpless the instant they get knocked down.
• DIO's MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA can't be blocked by ducking. Hold back or otherwise your effort is... err, useless.
• Wamuu is permanently locked into "I'll Look By Feeling Only the Wind!" mode for the rest of the match when he activates it, and this mode locks him out of his ability to do Chain Beats/L>M>H combos. No, he's not locked into it for the round, the match.

🏳️‍⚧️she/her | Vio Rhyse Alberia

Dead Cells:

• Elite enemies are usually not worth the trouble.
• Having no shield for The Incomplete One might not make things unwinnable, but it will certainly make them tougher.

grah

Space Station 13 (TG code):

• Those airlock electronics? Yes, you can make them require only one access (Like engineering or Mining), but the airlock in question has to be one of those metal airlocks.
  • Making airlock electronics do that to a glass sliding door does not have the one access setting work, requiring both mining and engineering in the above case.
• Being abducted can prove quite a shocker with the new objective, like having to talk to the engine. Sometimes, one has to be crafty to play to the objective.
• Lockers can fool a good sum of crew, but the vigilant search squad will look in the lockers.

"If you have any beefs with Santa, do remember to SETTLE IT IN SMASH!" Quote by Edveed

• Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan:

If your opponent is an Imperial, know that they can use the much-reviled Overdrive attack when they're low on HP and overheated their blade three or more times. And said attack deals so much damage that there's a chance that your party may not make it alive. There are plenty of ways to avoid that fate, but all of them require a careful preparation and some out-of-the-box thinking.

• Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon:

Look very carefully in each corner, wall or cache. Some Gems are cleverly hidden in them (looking at you, gems from the Catacombs >_>).

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Breath of the Wild:

• Going all Leeroy Jenkins on an overworld boss and certainly on Lynels is a very, very dumb idea.
• If you save and quit on a Cryonis block, you will reload the save on the last bit of dry land. Woe betide those who get interrupted by real life while trying to cross to Eventide.
• You can't mix food effects.
• Sometimes trying to cook food with fun effects is a bit of a waste. Sometimes you just need the hearts.
• Hearty foods are Game Breakers. Try to use only one or two Hearty ingredients per meal to have a bunch of full-restore meals rather than one or two super-dinners.
• Mipha's Grace is a safety net, not a clever way to heal yourself.
• Revali's Gale turns most of the game's exploration challenges into a joke. It by no means helps with every such challenge. It is also not a one-stop solution for all your mobility needs (though it is for most of them)

edited 5th Jul '17 10:34:14 PM by LinkToTheFuture

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison

The game's a little floaty in how it plays. Compared to other back-to-block fighters, blocking isn't instant as soon as you hold back or down.

This is because against tried and true logic, CC 2 had the "genius" idea of having the game run at 30 FPS instead of the typical 60 FPS fighting games use. This was one of the game's biggest criticisms as it results in inputs feeling unresponsive and a bit sluggish.

Dragon Age Origins

• enemy mages are capable of demolishing your party, even one. Prioritize and destroy or risk getting wrecked
• getting frozen and stunned are fate-deciding things. There's usually a good chance you're toast if you get either fighting an enemy mob.
• tanking isn't nearly as effective as it is in Inquisition. You can't expect alistar to pull a Cassandra and abuse guard mechanics to survive a dragon fight entire way through. In fact Alistar tends to die an awful lot if you try.
• Get spirit mage specialization ASAP and ALWAYS have one in your party. being able to revive and party heal will save you much frustration.
• shapeshifter class is eh, but Ranger class is surprisingly legit. Poisonous Spiders have the overwhelm ability which is legit one of the nastiest moves in the game.

I just flew to eventide from a shrine at a high mountain (needs Gale + 2 1/2 circles of stamina to land at Eventide without food though)...

Also I think there's a boat on a dock about way east of eventide.

---

Respiration of the Savages a.k.a. BOTW

• You can magnesis a metal object to drive a raft. No need to bring those korok leaves anymore!
• When a Hinox is holding a tree, wait for it to toss that before aiming arrows at its eye. I (literally) didn't see that tree coming because I was squinting. (It would also help if I wasn't missing shots to blind it.)
• Sword trial:
  • Use everything on the 12th beginner stage it is the last of those. Also don't die on said stage because you will feel true rage, like I did.
  • My girlfriend is better than me at BOTW.
• When there's a lightning storm, swimming causes a near-instant strike.
• If there's a shrine encased in rock, sometimes you might hear accordion music.

Revalis of Aether

• Wrastor sucks. (Spamming jump kicks repeatedly is fun though!)
• There's no edge grabbing. Meaning if you go off the side of a stage, you might as well drop a stock. Unless you're using Kragg or Maypul.
• There's no shield.
• The computer is godlike at parrying.
• Play Abyss a lot as practice. Even for Smash.

edited 6th Jul '17 1:48:47 AM by Malco

My DA account... I draw stuff sometimes!

You should get Mana Clash (AKA Mage-B-Gone) on your spellcaster of choice ASAP; that basically kills any and all mages (except for bosses) in one hit and might kill their ally mages if they're too close together.

The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground

Speaking of Super Mario Kart, Longfellow's LP really impressed my can't-beat-100-cc-flower-or-star self. And it's not even a speedrun, which are even more impressive.

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."

There's a raft at the island with a shrine between the coast and Eventide, so you can fly or warp there and then raft the rest of the way.

Speaking of Breath of the Wild

• As hilarious as it is to see an enemy archer waste an enemy you're directly fighting with a Bomb Arrow, remember who he was actually aiming at and remember that he's got more. Accordingly, MOVE YOUR ASS.
• Enemy archers shooting Bomb Arrows really ought to be the first ones to go.

Never be normal.

Another Darkest Dungeon lesson learned: the Shrieker hits like a truck and dodges most of the attacks you throw at it. Sometimes it's best to just concentrate on destroying its nest.