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Gar's Gaming Blog (Animal Crossing: New Leaf)

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Gargravarr
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« Reply #225 on: 16 November, 2009, 06:14:55 pm »

New entry: Monday 16th November

Shade Impulse 1 – A Truth Lost (Cloud playthrough)
Let’s get straight into it. Level 1 wasn’t too much trouble, though it did introduce me to the collective gimmick of all Shade Impulse battles: Omega Stages. Every battlefield in Dissidia has an Omega version, which is the same for the most part but involves some kind of gimmick, usually to do with the stage’s BP pool. Some stages move elements around, changing the layout of the stage, and some introduce more hazards. Other simply mean the BP pool will change when certain conditions are met. I will be listing the gimmicks of each Omega stage as I play them. In level one I fought on Old Chaos Shrine, Pandaemonium and World of Darkness.

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Old Chaos Shrine
The gimmick of Omega Old Chaos Shrine is that the BP of you and your opponent is constantly slowly drained into the stage’s BP pool, so it’s increasing all the time. It wasn’t too bad to deal with, but it’s geared towards a more offensive play style than I usually employ.

Pandaemonium
The gimmick for Pandaemonium is a bit nastier. It causes certain areas of the floor to sprout damaging spikes from time to time, though only when the floor bricks turn from blue to red. There are also “safe zones” in the form of grey bricks. When someone is hit by the spikes, the stages BP pool increases, so it’s kinda like the stage itself has just used a Brave attack on you. Ideally you need to try and knock your opponent into the spike zones, I suppose, but I just found myself staying in the safe zones or in the air, despairing the fact that Pandaemonium has become even more cramped than usual.

World of Darkness
The gimmick for Omega World of Darkness is that the stage itself completely changes depending on how far away from your opponent you are when darkness falls over the stage, so there’s essentially three stages in one: the default stage, the stage that appears if you’re close to your opponent, and the stage that appears when you’re far away from your opponent. The stage BP pool continually rises whenever you’re playing on one of the two non-default stages. The close-proximity stage basically reduces the floorspace and turns the level into a more vertical one, with large cuboid structures piled on top of each other. The long-range stage consists of a large amount of big crystal-like platforms in two layers linked by thin beams of light that you can grind up and down on.

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Level 2 brought the first “Strange” battle piece of Shade Impulse. You know the kind. 1HP? Often spams attacks? Is often stupidly good at dodging? Well that was this guy. It was a Tidus copy that kept spamming Energy Rain. Combine his insane evasion with all Cloud’s HP attacks having pretty long wind-up times and you have the beginnings of a headache. The only nice thing about this fight was that I was able to see the close-proximity version of World of Darkness. The rest of the level passed without much incident, including the boss fight with Kefka. The new Omega stages I got to try out are as follows:

Lunar Subterrane
Nothing changes apart from a few more destroyable structures, as the stage BP pool increases as stage structures are damaged/destroyed. The fight was over before I really got to experience it.

The Rift
This is another stage that changes physically as time goes on, so I’m looking forward to trying it out properly. I think there are three outcomes including the default stage, like World of Darkness, but I think it’s totally random which stage you’ll get. Another similarity is that the BP pool continually rises while the stage is transformed.

Kefka’s Tower
This stage is rather like Omega Pandaemonium in that it’s more hazardous than the normal stage. Small jets of steam gush from certain areas of the stage that cause damage, and the stage BP increases whenever steam is vented.

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Level 3 provided me with fights long enough to see the changing stages of The Rift and World of Darkness properly. It was pretty interesting, especially on The Rift where structures could simply disappear from under your feet. Level 3 was a little annoying, however, as it had an awkward layout that severely limited the number of opportunities to chain battles together and therefore save DP. Level 2 had this problem as well. It’s not necessary right now to get high DP scores, but it’s still irritating…
I’m really starting to dislike fighting Tidus. I fought a nasty copy of him on Level 4 that was really good at dodging and kept spamming his Jecht Shot attack. The bad thing was that he had a normal amount of HP, so… Actually the battles are generally getting harder now. The enemies are nearer my own level and its getting harder to get DP chances. The boss fight with Jecht wasn’t too bad, though. And it gave me the only new Omega stage this level.

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Dream’s End
Dream’s end is one of the stages where the gimmick hasn’t (so far) altered my matches very much. The basic idea is that the stage BP pool rises as attacks connect, so it’s kinda like the opposite effect of Omega Old Chaos Shrine.

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And so we enter the final level of Chapter 1. One thing I discovered is that trying to build up a full EX Gauge (for an upcoming DP challenge) while fighting a high-levelled HP-attack-happy Jecht copy and keeping him away from EX Cores (for another DP challenge) on Omega Pandaemonium is an absolutely hellish experience. It also really doesn’t help that the enemies are now starting to make pretty heavy use of Accessories while I still have no understanding at all of how they work. Many retries later I finally managed it, and all without throwing my PSP across the room. What’s not so good is that I’ll now have to do it at least nine more times… I’m really dreading fighting on Omega Pandaemonium with Firion, as he has possibly the worst aerial game of any character. The final boss fight against Exdeath was a total walkover in comparison.

Well, that’s the first chapter of Shade Impulse, and I survived my first playthrough without too much trouble overall. As I said in my previous entry, I’ll only document events from the rest of the heroes’ journeys through Shade Impulse if I feel they’re major enough, so I really don’t know who my next entry will be about. It could have a bit about Cecil, or it might skip ahead further down the list, depending on how their playthroughs go. In any case, my next major entry will be about Cloud’s playthrough of Shade Impulse 2.
« Last Edit: 17 November, 2009, 08:18:54 am by Mayuri Kurotsuchi » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #226 on: 17 November, 2009, 12:01:53 am »

Just curious, which level is your Cloud?
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« Reply #227 on: 17 November, 2009, 12:18:04 am »

After finishing Shade Impulse 1, he's now level 48, although at least two of those levels came from the numerous retries of the aforementioned hellish Jecht fight.
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« Reply #228 on: 17 November, 2009, 12:40:11 am »

Just to tell you, when you level up while losing but retry without fleeing, you do not retain the earned experience.

And level 48... if your equipment, follows, then good, but else... good luck for the end!
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« Reply #229 on: 17 November, 2009, 02:06:56 am »

After I'd done enough retries to guarantee myself a negative level score, I'd flee the battle and restart the level instead, so that's where some of the levels came from.


And yeah, I try to update my equipment. I have yet to try using Accessories, though.
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« Reply #230 on: 17 November, 2009, 02:58:17 am »

For accessories, I guess (Physical) attack+ and every multiplier you can get (being close of opponent work good on Cloud, for example, executing brave attacks is a good idea too, maybe maxHP if you have it...). Since getting level 50+ equipment requires some arena battling anyway, you'll need it.
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« Reply #231 on: 17 November, 2009, 03:27:42 am »

Don't the really useful accessories break though?
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« Reply #232 on: 17 November, 2009, 08:06:01 am »

Forget about these for now, you don't really need these anyway. There are accessories that remove / diminish the chance of breaking. Useful for any XP bonus accessories for Lvl 100 characters.
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« Reply #233 on: 17 November, 2009, 09:10:10 am »

Good read. The jecht fightsounded hard though.
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« Reply #234 on: 05 December, 2009, 06:03:23 pm »

New entry – Saturday 5th December

Shade Impulse 1 – Other Playthroughs

Cecil
I forgot to mention another nasty enemy in the form of a “Strange” Terra copy in level 4. This one has 1HP, is insanely good at dodging, spams Meltdown, and her DP chance is to land a critical hit on her within 10 seconds. Not an easy task when she can dodge so brokenly. The Jecht copy battle in level 5 was a bit easier with Cecil, only taking me a couple of retries. Maybe it was because I’m more experienced, maybe it was because Cecil has a better aerial game than Cloud. I’m not sure. I didn’t have to waste DP getting chests either, as I’ve already opened most of them during Cloud’s playthrough.

Tidus
Having done Chapter 1 with two characters, I’ve now gathered enough points to gain a 4-star rating for the chapter. This means I now have to be more strategic with the levels. Not only am I avoiding the “Ultimate” battle pieces that spawn in certain levels (which can be upwards of level 78), but I’m also getting all the new chests and summonstones that I can gain access to. I also got to see two Tidus-exclusive cutscenes in level 4, one before the Jecht boss fight and one after. See, all the heroes face each of the villains in the same order as they progress through Shade Impulse. When a hero faces his or her corresponding villain in a boss fight (Terra vs Kefka or Tidus vs Jecht, for example), you get to see cutscenes exclusive to that hero’s playthrough. I’m not sure what happens when the villain is the final boss of an entire chapter, though. When a villain is a final boss, like Exdeath is to Chapter 1, the cutscenes play out no matter who you’re playing as. I have yet to see whether playing as the corresponding hero (in this case Bartz) would change anything.

Firion
I’m very glad I no longer have to rely on Straightarrow as Firion’s only HP attack, as that would make this a horrible experience. His other HP attacks are much more useful, and I now even have some attacks that can chain directly into an HP attack, so that’s very nice. Something I’ve noticed with Firion, and other characters I guess, is that when he’s in a chase sequence, whenever you use a Brave attack to knock the opponent “upwards”, it just looks like he’s kicking them in the nads. I’m also very grateful for his Blood Weapons bonus in EX Mode. Healing with HP attacks? Yes please. Fighting the Jecht copy on level 5 wasn’t so bad either, partly because Firion’s most useful attacks involve reeling the opponent in, then either knocking them away again or chaining into an HP attack. As long as I stayed away from the spike areas, I was fine, despite Firion’s ground-heavy moveset.

Squall
Not much to say here, really, except that I really like his Beat Fang Brave Attack. I found it highly useful in this chapter, especially against the Jecht copy on level 5. Then again, Squall’s BP game in general is brutal, especially in EX Mode, where he seems to score a ridiculous number of critical hits. Though that may just be due to the sheer number of strikes in his combos.

Zidane
Nothing to report. Sorry if that disappoints anyone…

Bartz
As it transpires, nothing different happens when you face a certain hero’s respective villain as the final boss of a chapter. Or at least, nothing happens in the Exdeath cutscenes, since Bartz does most of the heroes’ talking in those cutscenes no matter who you’re playing as. In other news, I was able to fulfil a DP requirement against a Golbez copy in level 5 with just 0.03 seconds remaining.

Onion Knight
My main hope for Onion Knight’s playthrough was to Master as many of his attacks as possible, and thereby opening up new attack options. As I mentioned in my impressions of him, Onion Knight only has four Brave Attacks, but each of those attacks can later be chained into another Brave Attack, or eventually into HP attacks. I basically want to unlock al these options as soon as possible.
It might just be due to all the practice I’ve been doing, but the Jecht copy in level 5 was quite a bit easier this time around, despite Onion Knight’s attacks being a great deal weaker than the enemy’s. Though I will admit I had to use EX Mode to even the odds, forcing me to gather a full EX Gauge again. In the end it came down to sudden death. Each of us had enough BP to ensure a one-hit kill. He dashed towards me and tried to use Triumphant Grasp, but I just managed to get in there first with Wind Shear. The match was mine, and I only lost less than a quarter of my HP.

Terra
Finally, after eight playthroughs of this chapter, I finally get to see the proper cutscenes before and after the Kefka boss fight. It was pretty cool, especially his “death” scene after the battle. Once again, getting used to Terra’s ranged style was tricky, particularly as I’ve started trying to master Meteor (a widely acclaimed attack) and Graviga (a widely criticised attack), neither of which I’m used to yet. Same with her recently acquired HP attack, Meltdown. I’ve just learned that it has three different levels of attack, so I’m trying to get used to those as well. Overall, however, Terra’s playthrough could’ve gone a lot worse.

Warrior of Light
Again, not much to report. However, I have become fond of activating an EX Burst with his Bitter End Brave-to-HP attack combo, simply because the animations seem to flow into each other so smoothly. He’s also a bit of a beast in EX Mode, as more hits are added to each of his strikes.

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Well, that's it for now. Stay tuned for possible minor updates while I level up the characters some more, and I will eventually document my experiences in Shade Impulse 2.
« Last Edit: 05 December, 2009, 06:17:17 pm by Mayuri Kurotsuchi » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #235 on: 05 December, 2009, 06:08:57 pm »

Alls fair in love and war. Even in FF games.

Nut kicking is totally fair as well. So you've gone through Shade Impulse with all heroes now?
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« Reply #236 on: 05 December, 2009, 06:21:49 pm »

The first chapter, yes. Three more to go. And that's not counting the levelling up between each one.
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« Reply #237 on: 05 December, 2009, 06:23:52 pm »

How much of a level difference is there approximately between each chapter?
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« Reply #238 on: 05 December, 2009, 06:33:00 pm »

How much of a level difference is there approximately between each chapter?

I've already made a note of it:

Quote from: "Dissidia Plan" work document
Max. level regular* enemies in Shade Impulse
Shade Impulse 1 – 37
Shade Impulse 2 – 51
Shade Impulse 3 – 71
Shade Impulse 4 – 48

*Not counting Ultimate battle pieces. Only Expert or lower.
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« Reply #239 on: 05 December, 2009, 06:34:41 pm »

Is Shade Impulse 4 easier than Shade Impulse 3?
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