[Guillotine]

I played casually a lot of games in the series, mostly because ehi mom, I AM building a robot afterall. 5/VD are the first entries I am thoroughly enjoying, likely because the (non working in 5) enhanced multiplayer factor. 4A I didn't like much because you basically are flying indefinitely, and in heated action I just couldn't tell what was up from down, while 5/VD has a pacing I can enjoy.

[boojiboy7]

[Felix]

we've talked about this, booji

I have a big problem with that era's combination of "let's just make more ugly spare world geometry since we don't have enough money to provide this new hardware with an adequate workload," HDTV-transition-anxiety leading to games with weird and terrible menus/UI/fonts (talbain reminded me how important this is to me when he name dropped the FFT menu guy in the unsung story discussion), and (this is the big one) limp player characters due to the heavy use of middleware to just get things up and running (and open world games' success somehow making that as popular as it was).

I know we here at selectbutton have many affections for various garbage milieus in gaming, but this is one I've never liked at all -- also a large part of why I never had any affection for the 360, because in my mind the time right around when this period ended was when the PS3 turned into a non-trainwreck and the 360 interface simultaneously got all marketing-y; by that time I'd switched from being like 75% a console person to 75% a PC/tabletop person (granted I also didn't upgrade my PC hardware until 2009 so I played Gears and CoD4 on an Athlon XP and a Radeon 9600, which was sort of great) and I've been enthusiastically wading through the PS3's back catalog since I finally got one in 2011.

[boojiboy7]

well yeah, i get that, but man, there are some solid gems there. like the original dead rising (so superior to anything after it) and the AC4 series (also on ps3) and a whole other bunch of silly stuff that came out on the xbox that just wouldn't right now (edf 2017 (yes, i know 2025 is coming out, but that is because 2017 did susprisingly well and IA), senko no ronde, nuts and bolts, culdcept, etc.) the ps3 never really got there for this sorta fringe stuff, because by the time the ps3 came around, there was enough major stuff that publishers were largely leaving the fringe stuff out, sad as that may be.

Especially with AC, you are only hurting yourself with this rule, as AC4 has a lot of what you like in 5, and 4a has things like bossfights you can actually play.

[boojiboy7]

i do agree with you on the xbox getting ugly as sin later on, which is why you just turn on the "skip the menu" option there, whatever it is.

[Felix]

yeah, I mean, I've since gone back and played everything you've listed (except AC 4/A), and I have very mixed feelings on most of it. it's not a hard and fast rule so much as a bias that's made me think twice before investing time or money into any of them, and AC is a title that requires investment, and I really love Verdict Day, and here we are.

[Felix]

hey so were we still planning on doing something this weekend? I've reached a part in the story where I'm starting to make slower progress (67% cleared) and I feel like I might be a halfway competent addition to an online team.

also

[Guillotine]

I'm up for whenever you see me up (Oswaldk9o), I'm merc-ing most of the time anyway.

[jjsimpso]

Last night the South Islands were lost to those Venide bastards.

I was online at the time and tried to mount a defense, but I really have no idea how this online stuff works! I did win two normal sorties, one of which was a defense mission against another team(with only one human player). I wish there was a way to pick an area on the map to attack or defend, but it appears that the only control you have is via the Normal Sortie search filters. Anyone else try this yet?

Last I checked I was at 41% cleared and the missions are definitely getting a little harder. I've finally succeeded in building a light AC that is really fast and nimble, but I haven't had a lot of success with it in the Story missions so far.
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PSN: TaipeiGamer

[Felix]

I'm at 80% story clear as of last night (that was you online? Number 00? Or a different time zone?) so I'm about good for online :)

[jjsimpso]

Yep, I'm 00.

After the war ended last night, I attempted one of those unidentified weapon missions with a couple of UNACs. I, uh, lost and got stuck with a $400,000 repair bill for my trouble. I won't be doing that again soon.

I'm now at 50% complete, so I'm slowly getting there.
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PSN: TaipeiGamer

[Felix]

nice. I've gone into the red for the first time after mission 49 which was a son of a bitch. though I just invested about a million credits into my UNAC AI before that, so, eh. trying to avoid selling any unique parts just in case but I'm probably sitting on another half million there no problem -- though I really like how easy it is to (lose and) make money back in this game.

11 more to go!

[Felix]

95% -- 3 more to go!

guys can we please play this together on saturday

[Geo Mantle]

Felix are you on 360 or ps3?

[Felix]

PS3. I'm 03 in the sb team.

[Guillotine]

i rarely see anyone on because Europe and stuff, let's put an hour down maybe?

[Gironika]

i have been meaning to progress in this game, but never got around to do that … but if it's possible, I just might drop by and be your massive handicap™?
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[Felix]

I got to the last mission and it's so difficult that I have no real desire to try to beat it when it would take heavy respec'ing and I've already come this far and have online waiting for me

(plus the second-to-last, which was awesome, seemed to have more variety)

the problem with me playing PS3 games at GMT-friendly times is that my PS3 is hooked to a not-that-bright projector in a room that gets a lot of sun before 5pm PST so you're very unlikely to see me online unless I've made plans in advance to draw the drapes at noon.

...want me to draw the drapes at noon tomorrow?

[Guillotine]

I don't want to impose, and we do need 4 people anyway... but I tend to play games between GMT +1 0:00 - 2:00 lately and I've seen someone online at times just when I'm about to quit, so if a few people can gather around that hour I'll play a few sorties no problem.

The final boss is cake if you build a tank with dual autocannon and ciws, plus maybe a similar unac.

[Felix]

GMT +1 2:00 is right around when the sun sets here currently, so I think I can try to jump the gun by a couple hours!

my unac ("Lyndon") is an autocannon / howitzer tank precisely because I didn't want to play that build myself. I figured I could probably respec for this fight but seeing as I made it through 59 other missions playing the agile mech I wanted to, I'm not sure I want it badly enough.

I think I've been disadvantaged for high-level play in just about every aRPG I've ever really gotten into because I have a very strong inclination to play a jack-of-all-trades character and eventually that doesn't cut it

[jjsimpso]

So, the servers have been down for how many days now? According to their facebook page Namco is working on it, but damn, this is a long outage. I've been doing story missions and am now way in the hole. I could really use some online sorties right about now to make some cash!

Apologies to Namco if the servers have been fixed since last night!
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PSN: TaipeiGamer

[Felix]

oh, no kidding? I haven't turned the game on for a week since I failed to get anyone organized to play online and I'm at the end of the story mode.

good timing I guess :(

[jjsimpso]

Servers still down all weekend, so I finished up the Story missions. I really hope the player base isn't lost for good due to this long outage. I think I'd enjoy the online mode quite a bit.

If it does come back, we should upload some of our AC designs into the Trade section. I always like seeing what other people come up with in AC games.

In the meantime, I guess I'll work on clearing out all those D's in my story mission history. I don't think I have the stamina to go for 100% S ranks, but all those D's are a mark of shame.
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PSN: TaipeiGamer

[jjsimpso]

The servers are back! This is just conjecture on my part, but yesterday's PS3 update may have been part of the fix. If so, we now know what Sony means by "stability updates."

Seems like quite a few teams were playing as well, so that is good news. I did some normal sorties and managed to bring SelectButton up from F- to F. This is progress folks.

For the most part, me and my UNACs got our asses handed to us, but we did succeed once against an A- ranked team. I felt good about that. The default UNACS have impressed me quite a bit. They are probably the most capable AI companions I've seen in a game.
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PSN: TaipeiGamer

[ChairTax]

Cross-posting because this is $7.39 on the Live Marketplace and 360 owners should play with me.

[Mr. Apol]

hey i bought this

are you guys still playing?
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[Felix]

we never really managed to play together but I had a great time with the single player, I'd be up for it anytime!

[rye]

there's going to be a PSN sale on this game starting tomorrow and running for the rest of the week.

$9.99 without PS+, $5.00 with PS+. FYI

I don't know if there are any verdict day activities still progressing but i'll be getting the game then.
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[another god]

I'm definitely buying Verdict Day for $5
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interdimensional

[muteaid]

Last chance to get Verdict Day on discount. Go now.