The "What should I know before I play this game for the first time?" Q&A!

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Morpheus: Apr 18, 2008; My favourite little monsters

Mr E posted:

What should I know before going to the first dungeon in Onett in Earthbound?

Well, if you're pass that robot thing then you're pretty much set. Try not to run away from too many battles, explore everywhere, and make judicial use of your PSI powers, especially against the boss.

# ? Oct 8, 2008 00:26

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# ? Apr 20, 2024 12:22

Morpheus: Apr 18, 2008; My favourite little monsters

Pyrocat posted:

More questions about Disgaea DS. What the gently caress is transmigration and when should I bother with it?

Well, transm-

Wait gently caress it's on the DS? gently caress this, I'm going to the store now.

# ? Oct 8, 2008 00:27

Recycling Centerpiece: Apr 28, 2005; Turn around; Grimey Drawer

Mr E posted:

What should I know before going to the first dungeon in Onett in Earthbound?

About 2/3 of the way through it is an outdoor area that connects two caves. A PSI Butterfly commonly spawns out there, giving you back 20PP. Keep refreshing the area until you're full, letting you spam Lifeup and (Rockin) to your heart's content. You can use it as a "base of operations" if you need to level up for the boss. He can be a pain if you don't heal on EXACTLY the right turn or he gets a critical at the wrong time.

# ? Oct 8, 2008 00:33

Scrublord Prime: Nov 27, 2007

Mr E posted:

What should I know before going to the first dungeon in Onett in Earthbound?

- Don't worry too much about conserving PP. When you get outside (I think its 2/3rds of the way through) there's a magic butterfly that gives you 20PP for free and you can make it respawn by going back into the cave then goign outside again.

- PSI FavoriteThing is handy during the boss fight (he has two flunkies and PSI FavoriteThing hits all targets) and at that level it should be enough to win without much trouble by then (you learn it at level 10).

- There's a hidden clubhouse where a kid will give you a cap that's better than anything else available. I think its by the library with a kid standing guard so it shoudn't be hard to find. It isn't significant, but every bit helps.

# ? Oct 8, 2008 00:35

100 HOGS AGREE: Oct 13, 2007; Grimey Drawer

Mr E posted:

What should I know before going to the first dungeon in Onett in Earthbound?

You shouldn't have too much trouble, biggest danger are the black antoids that can call for help and the mice getting a lucky SMAAAAAAAAASH! attack on you (a trait all mice in the game seem to share). The attack slugs aren't a big deal, they come in big groups but barely do any damage.

There's a magic butterfly hanging about on the ledge where you have to exit and renenter the cave to continue, it will reset every time you enter the area, so you can use it to max out your HP and PP before the boss.

Edit: drat, beaten.

# ? Oct 8, 2008 00:35

Sentient Toaster: May 7, 2007; Not the fork, Master!

CloseFriend posted:

So I'm thinking about playing Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, but I can tell just by playing a few battles that the plot has multiple branches. Anything I should know about where the plot branches or how I can prepare for it? I know about grinding by having your party fight itself, but beyond that, I've only ever just guessed.

If you're worried, stick to using multiple saves so you can go back if you don't like the results. There are two critical choices that change the way the story plays out. These choices also change your leader's alignment, potentially barring him from using the class you want. This doesn't matter quite as much if you decide to go for his spoiler-y uber class near the end. The choices also change which special characters you can get your hands on. One specific path even includes all four sisters AND the nice sidequest associated with them.

At some points you can choose one of two battles. These usually have different rare equipment in them. Like the difference between getting a water and air bow or an earth and fire bow. Not a huge deal, but some of us get a little OCD over this game sometimes.

And if you want the super lazy grinding method, try this. Take two healers. Unequip them. Give them nothing but Heal. Set them against each other in training, both AI controlled. Go read a book or something while they slug it out, but hang around to press a button in case the spell quote comes up. They'll level up smacking each other around. Maybe stop every now and then to use them as punching bags for the rest of your party for ungodly amounts of experience. It's possible to get to a point where even high DEX characters have a 1% chance to hit from behind. Consider stunning them or something to make it easier.

# ? Oct 8, 2008 00:46

Dominic White: Nov 1, 2005

Pyrocat posted:

More questions about Disgaea DS. What the gently caress is transmigration and when should I bother with it?

It's basically a high-level feature for use in post-story content. It lets you kill off one of your characters, and ressurect them as a different (or same but higher-tier) class, carrying over some of their stats and abilities from their previous life. Done right, it's the key to making retardedly overpowered hybrid characters.

# ? Oct 8, 2008 00:54

Lord_Pigeonbane: Nov 24, 2002; Just the ladies, now!

Pyrocat posted:

More questions about Disgaea DS. What the gently caress is transmigration and when should I bother with it?

Transmigration lets you start a character over at level one. If they belong to a generic class, you can change their class as part of this process.

A good time to do this is when your character is pretty high in level, and you can afford to do it at "Genius" level. This will give you the highest possible stats to start out with. The higher a stat is at level one, the faster it will grow, which lets your character get stupidly powerful fast.

# ? Oct 8, 2008 01:03

Woffle: Jul 23, 2007

Thanks for the guide on X-Com. Requesting one for Age of Mythology please.

# ? Oct 8, 2008 01:44

Retroblique: Oct 16, 2002; Now the wild world is lost, in a desert of smoke and straight lines.

Thief: The Dark Project

Thief is a first-person sneaker, not a first-person shooter.
Many people gave up on the game without ever getting past the first level, all because they tried to play the game like a shooter. It sounds ridiculous now, but at the time Thief came out stealth-based elements in first-person games were a new concept to many gamers. Anyone used to the likes of Doom, Duke Nukem 3D and Quake defaulted to plowing through levels, taking enemies head-on. I lost count of the number of otherwise intelligent gamer friends who simple gave up on Thief, complaining, "The sword fighting is just too hard! I end up with a million guards chasing me through the level and it's impossible to kill them all!"
Seriously, if you're constantly getting into sword fights with enemies, you're not playing the game the right way. You could technically muddle through the game on the default "normal" skill setting if you choose the "sword & plow" method of gameplay, but you won't really have much fun. On the "expert" skill setting it's almost impossible to play this way, because you're not allowed to kill human NPCs.
You play Thief by sticking to the shadows (there's a light meter that indicates the ambient lighting of your current location), moving quietly (different surfaces create different sounds, speed is a factor), finding safe havens to evade enemy patrol routes, etc. If you want to take enemies out, sneak up on them, render them unconscious and hide their body. Enemies are intelligent enough to react if something looks out of place -- i.e., they come across a body, discover a locked door open, find an object missing, etc.
While it's not explicitly documented, you can play System Shock 2 (which uses the same tweaked Dark Engine as Thief II) the same way.
The skill levels don't add more enemies or give them more stamina and heightened awareness. They give you additional side missions, require you to collect more loot and ensure that you don't kill any humans. In other words, the "hard" and "expert" skill levels basically double the length of the game, open up more of the levels for you to explore and require that you generally act more thief-like. I recommend starting on "hard". The "normal" (easiest) skill level is just there as a concession to people who find stealth-like gameplay confusing.
Yeah, there's zombies to deal with. But their AI is pretty much identical to the human enemies, meaning you can hide from them in the shadows too. Not only that, but you can kill them without penalty and there's many interesting ways you can do that. Arrows dipped in holy water. Hammerite holy symbols dipped in holy water. Overheard sword strikes while they're unaware. If you want to evade them, they're pretty slow too. Trust me, you'll miss their presence in Thief II (a small cameo appearance aside).
Read all the scrolls and books you come across. There's lots of great world building there, as well as clues to secret caches of loot and hidden areas of the game. You sort of miss System Shock's method of voice recorded logs, but they function in much the same way. Thief II does give you voice recordings in later levels, but it's all done in a plausible way.
If you're buying this game on eBay (or anywhere else really), make sure it's the Thief Gold edition, not the vanilla Thief: The Dark Project. The former's the most common, but be careful. You can't patch vanilla Thief into Thief Gold. Thief Gold basically adds three new missions (which are interwoven into the existing story and not tacked on as optional extras), overhauls a couple of others and generally tweaks, optimizes and removes bugs in all of them.
The game's a complete bitch to get running on modern systems, but it's well worth it. You'll have a (slightly) easier time of it if you're running Vista and an 8x or 9x NVIDIA card (or ATI equivalent). It seems to be a lot more problematic on XP and older NVIDIA cards. The TTLG forums are full of knowledgeable people who can help solve most compatibility issues.
There's a very active fan community that still continues to churn out exceptionally well-designed levels. You'll need a front-end GUI called Dark Loader that makes the process painless. Keep an eye out for T2X: Shadows of the Metal Age. It's a full-length sequel to Thief II that borders on Looking Glass quality in places. Also look out for The Seventh Crystal, which features the best-designed/most atmospheric mansion mission that anyone's ever created for Thief. (Plus there's a great scare moment that will require you to be peeled off the ceiling.)
Many people on Thief's development team went on to work on System Shock 2 and BioShock. What more of an excuse do you need?

# ? Oct 10, 2008 16:09

HoAssHo: Mar 10, 2005

Scalding Coffee posted:

*Keep an open mind with the constant cutscenes and battle mechanics. I consider all of them awful but can be made fun.
*People say the third is the best but it shits on the storytelling due to cutbacks.
*Don't bother wasting tech points into stats and only into making your special moves into high speed.
*AWGS are almost useless but have tons of health, avoid flamers/heavy weapons as they make your slow machine slower.
*Do whatever you can to make your attacks elemental and debuff enemies with the opposite element.
*Buy enough of the anti-Gnosis items in Ep.3 to make your characters 100% immune to crystallization. Remember to buy 99 of that cheap full recovery item that has the deadly side-effect. You will be set.

Are the cutscenes skipable? And if not, can I just zone out during them or do I need to pay attention lest I find myself lost and having no idea what to do next? 'Cause I'd like to play this but I really don't know if I can deal with all the cutscenes. It's a game. If I wanted to watch anime, I'd watch anime (except that this will never happen.)

# ? Oct 10, 2008 23:05

Morpheus: Apr 18, 2008; My favourite little monsters

Sonance posted:

Thief: The Dark Project
*Yeah, there's zombies to deal with. But their AI is pretty much identical to the human enemies, meaning you can hide from them in the shadows too. Not only that, but you can kill them without penalty and there's many interesting ways you can do that. Arrows dipped in holy water. Hammerite holy symbols dipped in holy water. Overheard sword strikes while they're unaware. If you want to evade them, they're pretty slow too. Trust me, you'll miss their presence in Thief II (a small cameo appearance aside).

Are you sure? I seem to remember always having them find me in the shadows, no matter how well I was hidden.

Morpheus fucked around with this message at 23:35 on Oct 10, 2008

# ? Oct 10, 2008 23:30

Binowru: Feb 15, 2007; I never set out to be weird. It was always other people who called me weird.

I'm about to start Rogue Galaxy for the PS2 if anyone has some tips they'd like to share.

# ? Oct 10, 2008 23:32

muscles like this!: Jan 17, 2005

SammyWhereAreYou posted:

Are the cutscenes skipable? And if not, can I just zone out during them or do I need to pay attention lest I find myself lost and having no idea what to do next? 'Cause I'd like to play this but I really don't know if I can deal with all the cutscenes. It's a game. If I wanted to watch anime, I'd watch anime (except that this will never happen.)

If that's how you feel I'd say just skip the game entirely then. The gameplay isn't really that great and only serves as a vehicle for the story. Also if you don't like anime you'll never be able to stomach the series.

# ? Oct 10, 2008 23:36

HoAssHo: Mar 10, 2005

muscles like this? posted:

If that's how you feel I'd say just skip the game entirely then. The gameplay isn't really that great and only serves as a vehicle for the story. Also if you don't like anime you'll never be able to stomach the series.

Well, I've managed to make it through dozens of JRPG's over my life time, so I can stand the anime cutscenes within reason. But yeah, you convinced me that this one is probably more than I can stomach.

# ? Oct 10, 2008 23:56

Retroblique: Oct 16, 2002; Now the wild world is lost, in a desert of smoke and straight lines.

Morpheus posted:

Are you sure? I seem to remember always having them find me in the shadows, no matter how well I was hidden.

I think they're a bit more persistent with their searching once they're alerted to your presence, but by default they will behave like the guards and can pass within inches of you if you're hidden/undetected without them wanting to snack on your brain.

# ? Oct 11, 2008 02:24

Scalding Coffee: Jun 26, 2006; You're already dead

SammyWhereAreYou posted:

Well, I've managed to make it through dozens of JRPG's over my life time, so I can stand the anime cutscenes within reason. But yeah, you convinced me that this one is probably more than I can stomach.

You can easily skip all the scenes. It even has a "story so far" when you continue from saves, so you can ignore the wordy crap.
Remember to hate Shion.

# ? Oct 11, 2008 02:47

strangemusic: Aug 7, 2008; I shield you because I need charge
Is not because I like you or anything!

Monkey Lincoln posted:

Megaman 9
. You're not that old, it's just really loving hard.

Tornado man = DIAF.

# ? Oct 11, 2008 02:53

Lockback: Sep 3, 2006; All days are nights to see till I see thee; and nights bright days when dreams do show me thee.

Awesome thread.

Anyone have help for Crusader King and Europa Universalis III?

# ? Oct 11, 2008 06:54

Gray Stormy: Dec 19, 2006

Scalding Coffee posted:

Remember to hate Shion.

I did before the first gnosis attack...Christ what a whine-rear end...

# ? Oct 11, 2008 07:07

Heath: Apr 30, 2008; 🍂🎃🏞️💦

pee air posted:

Earthbound
-Don't give Jeff any IQ capsules, he doesn't need them.

If you give him your IQ capsules, he learns to repair broken items sooner and can get you some really powerful weapons earlier. I don't think IQ even does anything significant for the other characters.

Here's a good stat grinding trick: If you use a Rock Candy with a Condiment (I think Jar of Delisauce works best) when it pumps one of your stats, the condiment is consumed, but the rock candy isn't.

# ? Oct 11, 2008 07:12

Plank Walker: Aug 11, 2005

F-Zero GX
-Don't spend all your time on the story mode. In fact, maybe attempt to beat it once on normal difficulty. The real fun of this game is in Grand Prix.
-Each ship handles differently: find one you like.
-The easiest ship setup is 'A' or 'B' for boost, 'D' for body, and 'B' for handling. Also, it's mid weight so like 1500-1700.
(Also, you can adjust a ship's engine from acceleration-focused to max speed-focused, don't EVER go less than 75% in the direction of max speed EVER)
-If none of the character ships are to your liking, you can create your own, but this requires some playthroughs to get better parts.
-If your using the kind of ship setup I like, there is hardly any need to use the shoulder buttons while turning. You may need to press in the same direction a couple times, but the skid turn where you press "R" and Left or vice-versa is useless.
-There are 30 people on the track, you don't need first in each race. In fact, you don't need top 6 in each race. Learn to be offensive and take out your rivals and you can pretty much guarantee a win.
-Seriously, don't bother with story mode unless you're a masochist.

# ? Oct 11, 2008 08:41

thanks alot assbag: Feb 18, 2005; BLUUUUHHHHHH

Binowru posted:

I'm about to start Rogue Galaxy for the PS2 if anyone has some tips they'd like to share.

Return it.

Barring that, there's a one-on-one boss battle against an enemy who uses ranged attacks. You have to spend nearly the entire battle shielding and slowly inching closer to the enemy. It takes forever and this battle is what caused me to break and hate the game.

# ? Oct 11, 2008 08:47

Binowru: Feb 15, 2007; I never set out to be weird. It was always other people who called me weird.

thanks alot assbag posted:

Return it.

Barring that, there's a one-on-one boss battle against an enemy who uses ranged attacks. You have to spend nearly the entire battle shielding and slowly inching closer to the enemy. It takes forever and this battle is what caused me to break and hate the game.

Well, thanks for the advice. I bought this game based on the recommendation of a friend who plays a lot of RPGs and said it was one of the best he's ever played. I'll be on the lookout for that battle, though.

# ? Oct 11, 2008 09:34

Hipster Occultist: Aug 16, 2008; _{He's an ancient, obscure god. You probably haven't heard of him.}

CloseFriend posted:

So I'm thinking about playing Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, but I can tell just by playing a few battles that the plot has multiple branches. Anything I should know about where the plot branches or how I can prepare for it? I know about grinding by having your party fight itself, but beyond that, I've only ever just guessed.

Follow a step by step guide, there's so much you'll miss if you don't know exactly what you're doing.

# ? Oct 11, 2008 09:39

Solarin: Nov 15, 2007

How about System Shock 2? Including how to get it to run under Windows XP. I'm on an old game kick and would really like to play this but keep crashing trying to start a new game. I've tried compatibility mode with no success, anyone have any success getting it running under XP?

# ? Oct 11, 2008 10:31

I Greyhound: Apr 22, 2008; MusicKrew Dawn Patrol

Solarin posted:

How about System Shock 2? Including how to get it to run under Windows XP. I'm on an old game kick and would really like to play this but keep crashing trying to start a new game. I've tried compatibility mode with no success, anyone have any success getting it running under XP?

The game can't run on multi-threaded CPUs. Open SS2, then go to task manager and right click on the ss2.exe (whatever it is called), go to "Set affinity", and uncheck all but one box. This has to be done each time you run the program, but should let it run normally.

# ? Oct 11, 2008 13:26

Whispering Machines: Dec 27, 2005; Monsters? They look like monsters to you?

Silent Hill 5: Homecoming
-There's in game tips on the loading screens. The one about turning your flashlight off seemed to really only apply to the nurses and Schisms (hammerhead things) here for some reason- if you see a nurse before it sees you, turn off your flashlight. Then sneak up on it and kill it.

-Wait til the Smog monster opens up its lungs, then shoot it 2-3 times. Otherwise you'll waste 8-9 bullets on it when its lungs aren't exposed.

-Become good at dodging. Seriously. This game is much more combat based than previous games, and dodging blows will save you health and open up opportunities to strike at monsters/bosses.

-Health products are scarce in normal mode and even more so in hard mode. Use them only when in danger of dying.

-Siam are assholes. Shotgun 'em 2-3 times, or if you're fast and good at dodging, aim for the female side.

# ? Oct 11, 2008 13:57

Rikkmeister: Mar 20, 2006

Any tips for Silent Hill 2 for the PC? I've had it for like 2 years, it's about time I try it.

# ? Oct 11, 2008 15:25

Rirse: May 7, 2006; by R. Guyovich

Anyone got any tips for Bully, The Warriors, and Beyond Good and Evil?

# ? Oct 11, 2008 15:34

hambeef: Aug 21, 2004

Super Mario RPG:

If you ever bump into Bowyer, get outa there!!!

# ? Oct 11, 2008 15:57

HoAssHo: Mar 10, 2005

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time

Don't bother levelling up all your characters. You can pretty much ignore everyone but Fayt, Cliff, Maria and Nel. Just concentrate on those four.

# ? Oct 11, 2008 16:11

Scalding Coffee: Jun 26, 2006; You're already dead

Heath posted:

If you give him your IQ capsules, he learns to repair broken items sooner and can get you some really powerful weapons earlier. I don't think IQ even does anything significant for the other characters.

It increases your PP gain a level. Really useful for expensive caster Ness.

Bully
*You have unlimited stamina because you are a kid. Running is your walking.
*Let people hit you for a bit if prefects will see it so they will get punished.
*Each group will end up hating you and get reinforcements, so don't fight every single battle.
*Going to sleep outside of save spots have very minor penalties.
*Take your time with school work as your haste will end up hurting you in the long run when you aren't as prepared for outside work.
*Girls (some boys) are a source of power when you have flowers and if they like you enough to kiss you.
*You can redo failed money missions.

Warriors
*I wouldn't bother spray painting that much unless you want a big challenge for every stage.
*You have finishing moves depending on your multiple button presses and in rage mode.
*If someone keeps kicking you in the crotch if he gets near you, throw stuff at him.
*Mash your buttons if a cop catches you, they are tricky to deal with.

Silent Hill 2
I haven't played the PC version so...
*Patients are better avoided when you can.
*Your escort mission can be quick if you run to the building and she will spawn there in a cutscene.
*There was a hole here, but you won't use it.
*Monsters live under the floor so you better run.
*Don't keep shooting Pyramid Head when he retreats into the floor.

Super Mario RPG
*Timed attacks also work for some other kinds of spells.

Scalding Coffee fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Oct 11, 2008

# ? Oct 11, 2008 16:15

bucketmouse: Aug 16, 2004; we con-trol the ho-ri-zon-tal
we con-trol the verrr-ti-cal

hambeef posted:

Super Mario RPG:

If you ever bump into Bowyer, get outa there!!!

Super Mario RPG, for real this time

There are two levels of timed hit accuracy. Both have identical audio/visual cues, but the more accurate one does 25% more damage.

Never, EVER stop using Mario's basic Jump special, even when Superjump becomes available. Get the accessory that lets you damage spiked enemies with it. Spam it endlessly and repeatedly. NEVER EVER STOP. Every single time you use Jump Mario's base attack power goes up by 0.5. This caps at +127 attack after 254 jumps, which is roughly the amount you'll use if you play through the game without trying to powerlevel.

If you're having trouble with the endgame or hidden bosses, take the Fertilizer from walking off the right edge of the clouds in Nimbus Land's main town area and the Seed from the shy-away in bean valley to the crazy guy who lives in the back of Rose Town for the best armor in the entire game. Put it on Peach and have her use Group Hug every turn and it becomes literally impossible to die.

# ? Oct 11, 2008 16:21

graventy: Jul 28, 2006; Fun Shoe

Binowru posted:

Well, thanks for the advice. I bought this game based on the recommendation of a friend who plays a lot of RPGs and said it was one of the best he's ever played. I'll be on the lookout for that battle, though.

I like the game a lot, but I don't remember specific advice for you. The final boss sucks though.

# ? Oct 11, 2008 16:39

FUCK COREY PERRY: Apr 19, 2008

Binowru posted:

Well, thanks for the advice. I bought this game based on the recommendation of a friend who plays a lot of RPGs and said it was one of the best he's ever played. I'll be on the lookout for that battle, though.

I enjoyed the game, especially catching all of the bugs. I can't really think of any advice for you rather than be sure to try the extra things.

Also, every prediction you have about the story will come true.

# ? Oct 11, 2008 21:25

Reeoorb: Jun 25, 2006; is...is...is got communisms in it...

Warriors

Tag team is the way, grab an enemy and show them to your gangmates.
Bricks = Love.
Workout, every time you return to your HQ.

SW BF2

Bombers bombers bombers.
Work on the upgraded rifle, after you get it, learn the way its rate of fire pulses unlike the base rifle.
Never stop moving on Leia's mission, that rebel scum will drop right outta the ceiling on you.

Seriously... Do not pursue Lu Bu.

# ? Oct 11, 2008 22:04