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Deceitful Penguin posted:Considering how Japanese VAs sound when they try for another common, easier language like English I can only imagine how that might have ended. I've heard some decent German in a few anime, which I have a few theories about, but yeeeah...
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Jan 8, 2018 04:45
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Ace of Aces posted:I've heard some decent German in a few anime, which I have a few theories about, but yeeeah... Was the VA Tetsuya Kakihara? Because he was born and raised in Germany, thus is perfectly fluent in its language. He also knows English, Spanish and Latin, because the guy who voices Simon needs to be a badass who kicks reason to the curb.
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Jan 8, 2018 06:33
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Sordas Volantyr posted:He also wanted the fight with The End to be way, way longer, but then the team mutinied again.
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Jan 8, 2018 18:50
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Blaze Dragon posted:Was the VA Tetsuya Kakihara? Because he was born and raised in Germany, thus is perfectly fluent in its language. No, various actors in various roles in various anime. I think it may have something to do with the fact that you can speak German at a Japanese pace and it sounds reasonable to an untrained ear.
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Jan 9, 2018 03:01
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Ace of Aces posted:No, various actors in various roles in various anime. I think it may have something to do with the fact that you can speak German at a Japanese pace and it sounds reasonable to an untrained ear. I have literally once heard real, proper music in an anime and that was just the opening. Them actually talking would be cray
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Jan 9, 2018 19:56
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Bonus Update: The Solid Snake Starter Pack Like every other card-based game ever, Metal Gear Acid starts the player out with a pre-fabricated deck. And, like most of those, the starting deck in this game isn't great. But, to really properly set things up and to give everyone a frame of reference for how I improve things throughout the game, I just wanted to take a quick look at the cards in Snake's initial deck. The deck comprises 30 total cards, the smallest (and best) deck size you can run, made up of copies of 17 different cards. First up, let's look at Snake's weapons:  The first card is the SOCOM. This is Snake's first weapon from Metal Gear Solid and, in fact, most of the cards in the deck act to replicate Snake's "core" arsenal from that game. The SOCOM in this game kind of sucks, frankly (this is actually kind of an issue with all handguns in MGA). It's a severely underpowered weapon, firing 4 shots at 10 damage and 90% hit rate each. Even the weakest guards in the first couple missions have 40 max HP, so you need to land all four if you're on the front or the side, and three from the back. The SOCOM's accuracy also drops off when you're more than 2 squares away from a target, which is most of the time, so you have to be annoyingly close to guards if you want to kill them with this thing. Cameras are a little easier targets, with only 20 HP each, but can also be dealt with in other ways. The big "advantage" of the SOCOM is that it's silenced, but it's not at all a big enough deal to make this gun worth keeping in the deck very long.  The FAMAS is the second gun in the deck and, in my opinion, the main weapon here. It fires six shots, at 20 damage and 75% accuracy each, and the accuracy drops off after 4 squares. Compared to the SOCOM, the FAMAS is much more reliable - against those basic 40 HP guards, it's much more likely that you'll land two shots out of six than three or four out of four. The gunshot noise is technically a handicap, but it mostly comes down to being careful of your surroundings. Finally, similarly to the SOCOM, the FAMAS has an additional effect, adding 1 Cost to the enemy each time it hits, which can be used to manipulate the turn order in situations where you can't kill an enemy outright, such as boss fights. In the long run, the FAMAS isn't the best gun, especially because it's a Use-type (so you can't get too nuts with it) but it's not an albatross either.  In addition to his guns, Snake carries two Grenades into action. Grenades are a situational kind of thing. They deal 120 armour-piercing damage in a 3x3 square around them after 8 Cost passes, or after they're shot. They also make a fuckload of noise and if anyone's around to hear one, it's an instant alert. This means they're best used in crowded quarters after an alert has already gone off. Honestly, the way I like to approach the game isn't conducive to using Grenades. The fact that it's a 7 Cost card also makes Grenade a bad choice for movement. Grenade is a card I don't like, but that I could understand someone using.  The Stun Grenade card is a lot like the Grenade card except it goes off after 5 Cost instead of 8, knocks people out instead of killing them, and doesn't cause an instant alert. They're also only 5 Cost to use, so they're much better for movement. There's not much else to say here, I like Stun Grenades better than Grenades for general purpose use, but still don't use them a lot.  Claymores are a trap card, which enemies can activate by walking in front of them. When they do, the square directly in front of the mine and the mine's own square both take 80 damage. They're a neat tool if you set one up in a patrol path or lure a guard into them. I prefer a more direct approach, so I won't use Claymores often, but they're not strictly an awful card.  Kicking is, admittedly, not a weapon in the traditional sense, but Spin Kick is an attack at least. If you play this, Snake will do a roundhouse kick, which deals 60 damage to each square adjacent to Snake's own, plus it will knock any enemies it hits on their asses (which can knock them out entirely if timed properly). As far as I know, this does have perfect accuracy, barring defensive cards the enemy is using, so that's good. On the other hand, being right up next to an enemy isn't ideal in a stealth game, and there's only one Spin Kick card in the deck, so you can't rely on it being in your hand. Plus, 7 Cost is a little high for an attack card this restricted.  Snake's final weapon is the H.F. Blade, which deals 100 damage to an enemy directly in front of Snake, but that can't be used against machines like Patrol Bots. This is a fairly high amount of damage, and it won't miss by itself, just like Spin Kick. In this initial deck, though, there's only one copy of the card, so you can't rely on it too much - I kind of like the H.F. Blade later on, when you can put 4 in your deck, but here it's too rare to plan around and Snake doesn't have the movement capability to really set up a melee weapon deck, either. From a meta-game perspective, this is a weird card to have in the starting deck. Solid Snake explicitly doesn't want the H.F. Blade in MGS2, so why would he have one here?   The H.F. Blade is also subject to a weird mechanic: rarely, you can start the deck with a Cyborg Ninja card in your deck instead of the H.F. Blade. The Cyborg Ninja will deal 50 damage to any single target on the map. That makes it more interesting, in my opinion, but the fairly low damage keeps it from having long-term potential. This is the only card in the starting deck that ever changes, as far as I know.So that's everything for Snake's weapons. There are seven of them, with 3 each of the guns, 2 of each type of explosive, 1 kick, and 1 sword. The deck has 14 weapon cards in total, so the odds are reasonable that you'll have some way to attack a guard in any given hand (in addition to using the regular punch from the menu). It's an important angle to cover, but I feel like having all of these here gives the player too many options, too many of which are going to be the "wrong" one for any given situation. A good deck will generally focus in on one type of weapon and build to support that, but the angle here looks to have been giving the player a taste of everything (which is understandable, from a game design standpoint). Moving on from weapons, Snake has equipment:  Scope is a card that's loving garbage in this deck. It has an effect, but to use that effect, you have to attach it to an Equip-type gun. The starting deck has no Equip-type guns in it. So instead, the Scope is a 5-cost, 3-square movement card. There are other cards from non-MGS1 packs in the deck, so I have no earthly idea why it wasn't replaced with one of the MGS2 pack's movement cards. Snake being able to move slightly more would not have broken the game. gently caress to Scope.  Body Armor is an equipment card that has a 50% chance to knock 50 points off any incoming damage. Handy if you think you're going to get shot, but this will probably mainly be used for movement. Since this is the starting deck, made to be used in the first couple missions where enemies are still weak and few in number, this probably could have been replaced, but it's not particularly offensive. At least you can use it.  Box A is one of four cardboard boxes in the game. You can use a cardboard box to hide from enemy attention - as long as you're not directly in their path, a guard won't look too closely at a box. It's a great stealth tool, and a Metal Gear staple. Just don't let people see you running around.  Snake's also carrying one single Mine Detector around. This lets the devs put a minefield in the game without having to worry about the player not having a mine detector. Pretty much purely a gameplay conceit, but not one I consider a bad choice. In practice, this card is a 3-square movement option. Replace it when you get the chance, unless you're in a mission that has mines. Of course, the first time you play the game, that means you'll either get rid of the detector and forget or you'll carry it around and waste space in your deck.  Rations are healing items, using one restores Snake's HP by 150. Having a couple of these is probably a good idea. Since they're only 4 Cost (as is the Mine D.) they're also no more expensive than a Move card, but will only take you three squares.  Styptic is a healing item that stops the bleeding status effect. If Snake is bleeding, he'll take HP damage at the start of each turn, which is bad. I have no idea why this is in here, specifically, instead of another Ration, or like any other card in the game. It's not even from the MGS1 pack, it's from the MGS2 pack. What a weird fuckin' pull. Oh, and there's only one copy in the deck. Those 10 cards are Snake's equipment. He has two copies of each, except the Mine D. and the Styptic. They're mostly semi-useful, except the Scope and the Styptic. This brings us to the final category, miscellaneous cards:  Action + gives Snake an extra action on his turn. Not a bad play, if you've got something to do. Action + is a card that relies strongly on the makeup of the rest of your deck - this deck will rarely deal you a hand that can do three really important things in a single turn, but Action + is a good choice for inclusion in the decks you build later on. Only having one copy isn't ideal, though.  Front Evade LV. 1 is an equippable card that gives Snake a 50% chance to dodge an attack from the front. It's okay if you think you're going to get attacked from the front, or can make that happen. I believe it only works once, though, so don't rely on it long-term. This is, to my mind, a weird choice for a starter deck because it's just a little too specific to be useful to players "in general".  Cost reduction cards are useful to players "in general" and Cost -4 makes sense for the starter deck, since it's the lowest-value one in the game. This is a good inclusion, and the only problem with it is that there's only one of them. Every deck should have Cost reduction cards, so I'm glad that it's here to be accessible to players early on.  Finally, Snake has the Genome Soldier Move card. Four squares for four Cost. Like the Cost -4, this is the first "level" of an essential card type. Movement is the most important task in the game, and the only one that every deck has to deal with, so the only problem here is that there aren't more Move cards. Generally, you'll want 8 or 10 in your deck, at least. Having only 3 Genome Soldiers slows Snake down a bit, since the odds are well against you actually drawing one at any given time. And that's the deck! Overall, I think it's just a bit too scattered. There's a definite needle to thread in a game like this, where you want to give a new player a chance to try out a few different things and not pigeonhole people into one playstyle, but it also just doesn't make for an amazing deck. It doesn't give you a really good backbone to build on, either, because you're probably going to end up replacing most of this stuff as you build your own deck. This starter deck is passable for the first few missions, but really it's not very good. Cool Ghost fucked around with this message at 22:12 on Feb 8, 2018 |
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Jan 16, 2018 03:42
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You know, it's weird how much sense it makes, making this series into a weird card game
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Jan 16, 2018 08:57
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What happens if you use up all the cards in your deck? Does it get reshuffled?
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Jan 16, 2018 10:59
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Deceitful Penguin posted:You know, it's weird how much sense it makes, making this series into a weird card game It's all about abstraction and breaking down mechanics. Look at XCom these days - it's a tactical squad shooter presented almost like a boardgame. It takes some real good design to do, but you'd be surprised how many genres can be "transferred" in this way. There's a Doom RPG, for example.
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Jan 16, 2018 11:11
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Zereth posted:What happens if you use up all the cards in your deck? Does it get reshuffled? Yeah, it just shuffles everything back in. There's a 10 Cost penalty for it happening, though.
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Jan 16, 2018 16:21
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Do equipment cards get shuffled into the deck if you currently have them equipped? Say you only had one box in your deck, equipped it, and shuffled the deck on your next turn. Could you potentially draw that box card while you're hiding in the box? I suppose things should work that way because otherwise equip type guns would be unusable until you got two cards with the same ammo type, but I honestly can't remember.
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Jan 18, 2018 18:30
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I believe they are, but I've never actually stopped to count.
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Jan 18, 2018 20:17
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Bonus Update: Extra Missions  After finishing the Office mission, a new feature is unlocked.  The game's actual tutorial text is a little misleading on this, but you can start playing Extra Missions immediately after finishing the Office. These missions are for point farming, and there are three available on every map from the Office on (so, everything actually inside the complex). Since they're for grinding, you can do Extra Missions as many times as you like.  Starting one is just the same as starting a regular story mission, you don't get to choose which objective set you'll take on at this point.   See, each Extra Mission has a special condition for its completion. The two main ones, which show up on every map, are "don't get spotted" and "kill everyone." On top of these, each map also has a semi-unique condition for its third mission, but it didn't show up for me here while I was collecting these screens. For the record, on the Office map, the third condition is that the exit door is locked, so you have to take out the guard who locked it.  Before each mission, you get a little briefing, but it's delivered by a system message instead of Roger. Other than that, there's not much to say about the actual execution of Extra Missions. They're the same maps and usually the same enemy setups.  While I'm back at the Office, though, I thought I'd just point out that the MGS1 pack I picked up here before is now gone forever. You can't farm free cards by replaying missions, sorry.  The sneaking mission in the Office looks a lot like the story mission, except you don't have to go west first, the destination is always the east exit.   Nothing exciting happens if you get spotted, you just get booted back to the Intermission.  Finishing an Extra Mission gets you the same number of points that finishing a story mission does. Since they can be replayed, what this means is that you find one mission you can do easily and quickly, and you just do that over and over for points. Which, I guess, is how I would describe the concept of grinding to someone unfamiliar. There's no reward for doing them all, either, so there's nothing wrong with just doing your favourite one.  You also get the same type of clear bonuses you get from story missions.  And a little bit of positive reinforcement.  The elimination mission in the Office is the longer of the two maps, since you have to actually go after all the guards.   I also took the opportunity to get the MGS1 packs lying around, if you were worried that I had left cards on the table during the story pass.  The Patrol Bot also drops an MGS1 pack, and you have to kill it. I took the Grenades out of my deck, so that was the  Since I didn't do this quickly (my deck isn't really set up to kill a bunch of people efficiently) I only got a B rank. Technically speaking, you should always aim for the S on extra missions, since it's more points and the Card Shop will refresh after every mission (i.e., higher rank = more cards) but practically speaking, it barely makes any difference. If you're trying to complete your card collection or get something specific, you're better off save-scumming the shop than doing a bunch of missions, so just having enough points to buy one pack is enough.  It's impossible to get the No Kills bonus on an elimination mission, so you'll never see more than two bonus cards after one.    For elimination missions, you don't actually have to go to the purple target to finish. Anyway, that's about all the substance there is to Extra Missions. Like I said, there's not really much to these visually, so I'm not likely to show off any more of them. You can just assume I'm doing them off-screen as necessary to get points when I need them.
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Jan 25, 2018 20:22
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I'm sure this game is completable without having to do these extra missions, but it would make the game a lot more of a slog, especially after that look at how bad the starting deck is. I only ever did Extra Missions on one map so I didn't realize the reward was tied to the original mission reward. I'm curious which mission ends up being the optimal grinding map.
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Jan 26, 2018 18:17
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Part Seven: The Wall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9738uFvId1s  After the mission in the Office, the game immediately jumps to a video. These little videos are the only voiced content I'm aware of in Metal Gear Acid, which is kind of an odd choice.   This one announces that new cards are available from the Card Shop in the form of the MGS1 pack.  And, after that, it's back to the Intermission, where there's a small tutorial on the Card Shop.  Here's the shop in all its glory. As you can see, only the MGS1 pack is available right now. If you look below the icon, you can see that there are 10 packs left in stock, and each pack costs 600 points. Now all those points I've been getting after missions are actually useful for something.  Buying a pack gives you the exact same stuff as finding one on a mission: three cards from the set, chosen randomly. This is why I wasn't worried too much about getting the card packs earlier. It's much more convenient to collect points, then jump in here and hit Circle.  The other advantage of using the Card Shop is that you can savescum. If you don't like what you got, just reload a save and try again. This is the best method for getting a specific card (say, a rare to complete your collection) so you should always save the game before you buy anything. The "intended" way is that you buy packs, then do an Extra Mission, then come back and buy more, but savescumming is faster. If you do grind with Extra Missions, though, the shop is restocked every time you finish a mission, so availability isn't a problem.  Other than that, there's not really much to say about the Card Shop.  So let's move on to Stage 3A, the Lower Ruins. There are a few stages in the game that are split up into different areas like this. It's a big sign of an area you'll have to come back to later.  As usual, the mission starts with a call. Roger: Going straight along this path to the east should get you to the residential quarters.  A lot of time is about to be wasted.   Off he goes.  And the mission starts.     The standard enemies are here, but it can be hard to see the guards on the middle level under some of the structures. Looking at the FOV markers is handy if you can't tell which direction a guard is facing.  I use my first turn to move Snake over to this little hole in the staircase.  By crawling, you can move through the hole, out of sight the whole way. This is something to keep in mind on other maps, but you have to do it here.   There's a camera right above the hole, so only the tile directly on the other side is safe.  If this guy sees me shoot out the camera, he'll get suspicious and come down. So I have to wait a couple turns for him to look away.  And then, once the camera's gone, moving one square forward triggers this scene.   This is a classic Metal Gear obstacle. Someone has built a wall in Snake's path for some reason. This trick is taken to its logical extreme in the first Metal Gear game, when somebody apparently builds a room around Solid Snake. Snake: Looks like it's just been repaired. The wall surface is smooth as glass. I can't even climb it. If you look up at the screenshot, the wall surface actually looks like poo poo. Also, the ruins are full of ankle-high walls that Snake can't cross, so I assume it's less "can't" and more "won't." Roger: I see... Snake: But I can't do anything with the equipment I have here. Well, there goes our simple trip to the residential area.   Thanks, Alice.    Snake and Roger taking two very different interests in this information. Alice: Yes. It's as clear as day. Roger: If you could get your hands on some "C4", you could blast through the wall. Just as having a wall in the player's path is a standard Metal Gear obstacle, blowing that wall up with C4 is the standard Metal Gear solution.  Here's our new objective: busy work. Snake: To the west, right? Got it.   Finishing this mission is as simple as doing what you did to start it, but in reverse.  Back through the hole, over to the gate.  Yes, this counts as a real mission.   You even get points and a clear bonus for doing it.   In case you forgot.  Back to the Intermission!  Coming back to Intermission after these early missions, there are a bunch of little tutorials about mechanics and such. This one's about the top-down camera toggle. They're handy for new players, but some of the features probably should have been explained in that first tutorial on the Forest map.  If you're so inclined, you can go back to the Ruins. Roger: There must be some "C4" stocked in the armory. Get in there on the double. Snake: Right. Roger: We're counting on you, Snake.  No point to doing this at all, other than that little scene. It does refill the Card Shop, though, if you're flush with points but already bought everything.  The destination at the moment is the Lower Minefield. Like the Ruins was stage "3A", this is "4A". Also, if you took it out, it's a good idea to put the Mine Detector back into your deck.  There's no call or ceremony for this one. The Lower Minefield is a pretty boring map.    There are only three guards here, but it's a small space and they cover it well.  So, like I said, it's a good idea to have a Mine Detector on hand for this one.   Because of the mines.  After equipping a Mine Detector, the next order of business is to jump into this little shack.  Over in this corner is our first MGS2 pack. It'll be a bit before these are in the Card Shop, so it's a good idea to pick it up.  If you go past these boxes, nobody will see you on this turn, but on the next turn one of the guards will catch a glimpse of Snake and make trouble.   Next step: hide under the truck.   Then it's just waiting for these dickheads to look the other way.  Or, if you're lucky with the numbers...  ...you can miss enough shots with the SOCOM to knock one of them out.  I need to reduce my Cost to do this next part. This isn't a good plan.   But, with a little luck on the draw, I can set it up for two turns in a row.  And there it is.  No celebration for finishing the mission, either.  This is an easy S rank.  And the MGS2 pack contains three useful cards!  The clear bonus just makes kind of a neat image. The Roy Campbell card is a rare one, and it can be useful if you set your deck up right.  The Marines card is the first non-Genome Soldier movement card I've got, which is good because the deck is still short on movement. I included the description here because I like that the character quote is some Marine's death scream.
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Jan 28, 2018 00:23
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I'm doing some deck building a bit further ahead in the game, and I just figured I'd put it to the thread: would y'all prefer that I keep doing the stealthy-stealth/no kills approach, or do you want to see Solid Snake get up to some of the old ultraviolence on these guards?
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Jan 28, 2018 06:02
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Variety is the spice of life, add a dash of violence!
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Jan 28, 2018 06:08
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I agree, let’s do some missions stealth and some missions slaughter.
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Jan 28, 2018 07:46
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RudeCat posted:Variety is the spice of life, add a dash of violence!
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Jan 28, 2018 08:22
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I learned young that killing your enemies felt good. Really good. In America, my friends, my family...they helped me forget the devil inside...but who am I kidding? I was born to kill! I'm saying Jack is back!
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Jan 28, 2018 09:22
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RudeCat posted:Variety is the spice of life, add a dash of violence!
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Jan 28, 2018 09:29
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Say, would you mind mentioning what the unique objectives in the extra missions are for those maps? And how do the non "kill everybody" objectives work in that map where the mission is "look at a wall then turn around and leave"?
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Jan 28, 2018 10:59
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You can't go back into the Ruins as long as the wall is up, so there are no extra missions there. I can take a look at some of the other maps, though, sure.
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Jan 28, 2018 17:48
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Kase moch posted:I agree, let’s do some missions stealth and some missions slaughter. And knowing the game inside and out I'd bet you know the best approach to take for various missions!
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Jan 31, 2018 11:25
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Zereth posted:Say, would you mind mentioning what the unique objectives in the extra missions are for those maps? I went back to the minefield and the ruins, and I actually couldn't trigger a special objective on either. Considering I used the minefield to grind for a couple hours, I doubt it's bad luck. MysticalMachineGun posted:And knowing the game inside and out I'd bet you know the best approach to take for various missions! But I also think it should be noted that I know Metal Gear Acid 2 better than this game. On top of that, this game isn't as well-documented as FF8 was. So, I have a pretty good understanding of a lot of mechanics, but I also don't have any reference to look at for details.
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Feb 6, 2018 02:22
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Just wanted to follow up on the starter deck post: the SOCOM and FAMAS actually have a couple of additional features that you skipped over, and in both cases they're pretty useful. When the SOCOM hits a target that is vulnerable to it, it inflicts Fall (same as Spin Kick or the no-card melee attack). A target subjected to Fall has a card discarded from their hand; if a target is reduced to 0 cards in hand, they Faint, which is identical to being knocked out in a regular Metal Gear Solid title. It lasts for... I want to say 3 cost, so if you're going to use it you need to make really good on it, and if an enemy comes across a Fainted unit they'll be like "wat" and investigate. The early access to the SOCOM is probably the best reason to include Action+ cards early, since if you can faint a target with the SOCOM you then get 2 actions to move past them and into a spot that will let you rest off your Cost debt while they wake up and are like "aaa". The FAMAS adds 1 cost per hit on the target, which can potentially stop a fat target from actually getting a turn on you (and potentially stop an alert depending on how near/far enemies are). It's actually very useful against the game's few bosses for this reason.
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Feb 6, 2018 08:07
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Cool Ghost posted:I went back to the minefield and the ruins, and I actually couldn't trigger a special objective on either. Considering I used the minefield to grind for a couple hours, I doubt it's bad luck.  I guess that's not likely to work, then.
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Feb 6, 2018 08:21
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Ace of Aces posted:Just wanted to follow up on the starter deck post: the SOCOM and FAMAS actually have a couple of additional features that you skipped over, and in both cases they're pretty useful. When the SOCOM hits a target that is vulnerable to it, it inflicts Fall (same as Spin Kick or the no-card melee attack). A target subjected to Fall has a card discarded from their hand; if a target is reduced to 0 cards in hand, they Faint, which is identical to being knocked out in a regular Metal Gear Solid title. It lasts for... I want to say 3 cost, so if you're going to use it you need to make really good on it, and if an enemy comes across a Fainted unit they'll be like "wat" and investigate. The early access to the SOCOM is probably the best reason to include Action+ cards early, since if you can faint a target with the SOCOM you then get 2 actions to move past them and into a spot that will let you rest off your Cost debt while they wake up and are like "aaa". I've used/mentioned the SOCOM fall effect in one of the proper updates, but I haven't had occasion to do the FAMAS thing, so I'll add a line about it to the deck rundown.
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Feb 8, 2018 22:09
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Part Eight: What Does a Snake Need in an Armoury? Having gone through the Lower Minefield, the next stop is the Armory. But first, an establishing shot of some mysterious door.  Psych! It's just Snake entering the building.  I've got it on good authority that S-End is the internal term for referring to Snake's rear end.  Roger: You know, "C4" isn't the only thing you'll find of use in there, Snake. Snake: How do you know? You probably know where this is going, but Snake sounds like a dipshit who thinks the whole building is just C4 storage here. Roger: Well, Alice said that, uh...  Alice: Those who have made weapons, used weapons, lost their lives to weapons... Such items often contain spiritual residues... Snake: Which you can view with your "special powers"?  Alice can't see Snake's use of scare quotes. Snake: Roger, is it stated in the fine print somewhere that we have to trust Little Miss Tarot Card here?  Read this with the intonation of someone calling a relative out for using a slur in conversation.   Tired of Snake's repeated insults, Alice leaves in a strop. For the record, I don't know exactly how old Alice is supposed to be, but I would say early teens or so. She's carrying a doll in her radio portrait, but I think that's more neotenous than showing her being 5 years old. Snake: ... Roger: Snake, both the FBI and CIA have treated her as a guest of honor. And I received a detailed statement explaining her qualifications in advance. Maybe you need to grow up a little. Roger has a point here, Snake is being weirdly petulant about this. Snake: Since when does a grown-up put his life in the hands of a child? Roger: I'll deal with Alice. You need to get into that armory and find the "C4". I know you can do it. Snake: Right.  So, let's start the mission.    The part of the Armory we're going through here is set up in a C shape. These guys are on the bottom arm of the C.   And these two are on top. Something to note is that the guards in this area are using the same setup as the guard from way back outside the gate:  (This guy.) That is to say, they only have 25 HP but they also have body armour to soak up some extra damage if you try to kill them.  The immediate goal is to go over to this stairway, which is right at the "bottom corner" of the C shape.   The deck I'm using right now is set up for low-cost movement rather than combat, so I'm going right to the box. I also just like to use boxes.  It helps that the guards like to just stare at walls in their patrol routes.   I forgot how I did this, but I certainly did it. The bottom of the stairs is a good spot for the box, because guards won't look at you.   So I could shoot out the camera with a SOCOM, then pop into another box. The destination is, again, upstairs, but first let's have a small non-canonical sojourn down the hall.  This guard is a big problem if you want to go down this way. There's only one path in, and he likes to watch it.  The camera also covers the far door.  Anyway, the reason I'm not really going down this hall is that both rooms just contain MGS1 packs, and it's not worth the extra Cost.  I did want to show off a handy trick, though. It involves Chaff Grenades.  When a Chaff Grenade goes off, it'll gently caress up all the electronic devices in the area, but it also makes noise. Unlike a regular Grenade, which explodes and causes an Alert Phase, a Chaff Grenade just draws attention.  So, by throwing one, you can get a guard to move to a specific spot. It's kind of like long-distance knocking.  This would allow me to sneak Snake in here and grab an MGS1 pack.  But instead, I just jumped up the stairs to the area change.   Unfortunately, my movement is stopped by a cutscene.   Roger doesn't know his internet catchphrases very well. Snake: Yeah. Roger: According to Alice, "C4" is stored somewhere on the second floor. She stormed out again after telling me that. This girl is starting to get difficult.   Pictured: Roger regretting Solid Snake on this job instead of just sending Private Jones.   So, on to the second floor.    Something to note about the second floor of the Armory is that there are no people here, only machines.   Roger: Gun Cameras are mounted on the walls. This call is canonically five seconds after the last one. Roger: They've been programmed to attack anyone that triggers their motion sensors. If they make things difficult for you, disable them while the lamp is green. As far as I know, you can disable a gun camera even after it sees you, but it still pays to be proactive. Roger: Also, be careful of the infra-red sensors. Pass one and Danger Mode will be activated. Snake: Ah, I've seen them around. Snake is a loving liar. There haven't been any IR sensors up to this point.  The C4 is kept on this floor, pretty much straight in front of the stairs in this small room. The problem is this gun camera.  If you throw a Chaff Grenade in front of a camera, it doesn't care.  This part of the mission is extremely easy if you have Chaff.   I only had to stop because of the goddamn door thing. Roger: Looks like you got your hands on some "C4". You can use it to destroy the wall. Get the hell out of there. Looks like the only way out is where you came in. Get back to the hall, Snake.  Unfortunately, you can't just use the return to intermission option, you do actually have to walk out.   Box on, down the stairs, around the corner. Easy peasy.   This is not a hard mission.  There's the C4.  And the clear bonus.  But there's one last call before we actually get back to the Intermission. Roger: Looks like you made it out in one piece. Head for the wall blocking off the residential quarters. Once you get past that wall, go find Flemming on the other side. This game loves reminding the player what you're supposed to do. Roger: Getting in touch with him should give us an idea of where Pythagoras is located. Looks like you'll be up on that mountaintop, taking in those breathtaking views much quicker than expected. The bit about the mountaintop seems like a non-sequitur, but Snake was climbing a mountain when Roger called him up. It's just not pointed out in the script when Snake's first introduced. Snake: If we can trust Gary, that is. There's something about that guy I just don't like. There has not been a single character introduced so far that Snake does like. Because Snake is an rear end in a top hat.  Roger isn't even listening. Roger: We'll find out if he's been telling the truth once you get to the residential quarters. Proceed with caution. Snake: Right. And that's the end of the mission!  As a last preparation before the next mission, I go to the Card Shop.  Now that I have C4, additional C4 is available from the MGS1 pack. Since you need to use it to finish the next mission, it's a very good idea to pick up a couple extras.   So, putting 3 C4 cards and the Timer I got from the MGS2 pack in the Minefield is the end of my setup, and Mr. Snake is ready to tear down this wall.
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Feb 12, 2018 20:31
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I think the reason the game reminds you what you're doing after each mission is in case you've been grinding out side missions - I know I appreciated it a lot when I was playing through.
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Feb 15, 2018 02:44
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"Snake! Watch out for those giant targets on the stairs!" "...targets?!?"
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Feb 15, 2018 11:31
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Ace of Aces posted:I think the reason the game reminds you what you're doing after each mission is in case you've been grinding out side missions - I know I appreciated it a lot when I was playing through. I didn't really think of this, but it makes sense. I've definitely been grateful for similar features in other games.
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Feb 15, 2018 16:53
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Part Nine: The Wall Comes Down Now that Snake has the C4, the next destination is the Lower Ruins again.   A nice thing is that, if the C4 isn't in your deck, this call pops up immediately. Roger: Cards must be put into the deck in order to use them. Don't forget. Snake: Thanks, Roger. I'll keep that in mind.  So, if you were wondering, no, you can't not include the C4 in your deck and get stuck at the wall again. They did pay enough attention that it's a different scene than if you try to come in before hitting the Armoury, though. The other thing to note about this scene is that it actually does refresh the Card Shop, if you're flush with points.  This time we're going in for real.  Of course, there's still a call here. Roger: Even though the wall has been repaired, it could take a good four weeks for the cement to fully harden. The area repaired is still pliable enough for a little "C4" to make its mark. "C4" can be detonated by shooting, as well as with a detonator or a timer. Got it? One of the things that actually makes C4 useful is that it won't blow up if it's shot (or burned, or struck hard). Of course, if they actually stuck to that, you'd have no way to detonate it if you didn't get lucky and pull a Timer/Detonator card from that one MGS2 pack.Snake: Right.  And here we are!   Again, this one guard and camera are the only things to worry about before the wall.  The enemy layout is the same as before, but this Patrol Bot has showed up to reinforce them.   Just like before, I crawl through the hole and shoot out the camera.  And then it's time to set the C4. I'm using my Timer here, instead of shooting it.  This lets me use a cardboard box, which is about to be very useful.  The C4 blows up the wall no problem.  Before the smoke clears, an Alert Phase starts up.  And the guards start moving in. Most times that there's an explosion on the map, enemies that hear it will move towards the site.  Despite its being deaf, the alert attracts the Patrol Bot as well.  There's one last scene on this side of the hole.   Roger: OK, time to put the clock back! Snake: Right. I don't know what Roger's line here means.    Now there's an actual destination on the map.  There's just enough time to get to the other side of the opening before the guards reach the area, but you can just barely see Snake in a box at the bottom of some stairs in this shot. Since he's not directly in their path, the guards won't look under the box, even during an alert. This gives me the chance to wait until the guards start moving back to their normal patrols and sneak through unseen. The way alerts work in Metal Gear Acid is pretty simple. In the Alert Phase, the little bar under Snake's life is red and the guards go to his last known location, or where something blew up, things like that. New guards also show up in this phase to reinforce the normal enemies. The alert gauge runs down every turn as long as the guard don't find Snake again and nothing else explodes.  Here you can see that I'm basically pinned down. If I had been more daring, I might have been able to move past the guards while they closed in, but as it stands I'm safe as houses.  I'm stuck on the stairs through the whole Evasion Phase, while guards spread out and look for the bomber.  And during the Caution Phase.  But, once the alert is over, I start moving towards the goal.  This includes picking up a Stinger launcher. Just like how Snake found the C4, there are sometimes single weapons placed around the maps in addition to the card packs you can pick up.  After an alert ends, the guards just go back to their original positions and patrol routes.  Also, this map is loving miserable for seeing what's going on on the lower level. The ruined structures frequently block the player's view of the ground.  But there's also not much to see, just me waiting for guards to move so I can hit the exit.   The result on this one was, uh, not great. I could have tried again to get a more efficient route and try for that S rank, but this was at the end of a play session and I didn't really feel like doing the whole mission again. It's not like points are hard to come by, either.  The Stinger is a pretty useful card for blowing up Patrol Bots and other machines, but you can't use it on non-machines. It has pretty high damage and it locks on, so it doesn't miss.  Only one on the clear bonus this time.   Snake: What is it? Roger: New info has come in from headquarters. Investigators have confirmed that "Pythagoras" is the name of a research project being conducted at Lobito Physics and Chemistry Laboratory. Our mission is to find out more about this Pythagoras research, and Flemming -- the man behind it. Another fact has been confirmed regarding Flemming's research. He was conducting drug-related tests and production in this lab. As we close in on the residential area and Flemming, we're starting to learn more about Pythagoras. The pace of the story is picking up a bit, as we're moving into the next big section of the game.  Snake thinks Flemming was working on next-gen 'roids.  Roger: Candidates from various countries were sought and used for clinical testing. The candidates signed an agreement -- basically an acknowledgement of the life-threatening dangers involved in the testing they were to take part in. Oh great, it sounds like the guys running the Lobito Lab were really in the right here and I'm just super glad Snake's on their side. Roger: Perhaps a large sum of money is what persuaded them to endure such horrors...  Snake's more interested in exactly what dangers these people were exposed to. Roger: All sorts of viruses were shot into the test subjects in order to monitor the effects of a new drug. Lobito Lab is famous for its innovations in the field of ethical violations. Snake: I get it. He must've chosen this remote island as a way to cover up what he was researching.  Snake: What the hell is it? What's going down in here?   Yeah, that's what I thought.Roger: Let's focus on the mission at hand for now. Get a hold of Flemming, and things should become clear. You should head for the residential quarters now. I'll continue probing for details on Flemming's whereabouts. Snake: ...Right.  Even as he finds his mission getting more and more complicated, Snake has no choice but to move forward and keep trying to find Flemming.  Before he does, though, let's check in with Viggo and the Plane Crew. Lena: Who? Viggo: The kid in the back.  The camera slides to the right a little bit. The red-haired girl in the row behind Lena and Viggo has always been visible, so you might have already expected we'd learn more about her.   Their portraits both being on the right makes me think that Lena is talking to Minette without actually looking at her. Lena: Yes? Minette: I'm, eh...mmm...my name's Minette. Lena: Minette?  And so we're introduced to a new character, Minette Donnel, a girl stuck on Flight 326. Lena: You all by yourself? Minette: Well...I'm going to see my daddy. Lena: Where's your mom? Minette: Well...Mommy really hates Daddy now, so she didn't come. Lena: Oh, I see. Aren't you scared to ride on a plane all by yourself?  Lena: You're pretty brave, kiddo. Viggo: I'm used to riding on planes, too... but this is a first for me. Do you think Viggo means it's his first time being gassed and having a bunch of murders happen around him, or it's his first time talking to a child?  Viggo: I didn't mean to startle you. It's just that they keep pumping these drat drugs into me.   While Viggo explains his unpleasant body experiences, let's complete our Flight 326 experience by checking in on these two.  Frances isn't impressed with Elsie's screaming.  Elsie: Help, Sis! I'm scared... What should I do? Frances: ... Elsie: Th-The stewardess lady in the back... She...she's all bloody... She was killed! Great. This flight was full of anaesthetic gas and talking dolls and now there's no drink service. Elsie: There's a blood-thirsty killer on this plane, Sis! Frances: You killed her, huh? Elsie: How come you found out so easy?  Elsie: That's no fun. Frances: Did you do as I said?  A third number. Now we have 1, 14, and 11. Soon we'll get a bingo. Elsie: Just like you told me to. Frances: Hm. Elsie: Am I a good girl? Frances: Uh-huh. You're a real good girl.  And now it's back to Viggo, whose mind has gone so "nutzo" that he's... somehow gotten a hold of a phone we can't see. Viggo: Both Lena and I can only move our fingertips. Even putting these earphones on was like pulling teeth. It's those drat drugs..they've paralyzed us.  There are no beats or anything in the text to indicate when the other person on the line is talking, so this sequence looks a little weird. Viggo: Even if I could, you think I'd really give a drat about the other passengers?  Someone's reading Viggo the earlier part of the update.   Earlier, the dolls were asking Viggo about Pythagoras, now Lena's asking him about the lab. I think Senator Hach might know something about Lobito.  Lena: But...if you-know-what falls into the wrong hands, everything could go public...and... Viggo: I know, I know. Dammit! Why did this have to happen? We can't let that...monster live now, can we?! I'm beginning to think people should vote for the other guy.   Huh, sounds like Viggo's offscreen friend told him about our protagonist. Viggo: Oh. Aha... I see... So that's also a viable option...  I guess we can add "who the gently caress is Emilio" to our list of questions. Viggo: I heard he's been saying and doing some pretty disturbing things lately. Going against the agreement made between him and the organization...  Must be talking about Alice now. Viggo: All right, then. Help us. Only one of us can move...  So, uh, somehow Minette can apparently move. Remember that earlier Lena was mobile enough to check out the cockpit, but Viggo's basically paralysed.   Viggo's gotta talk to someone else, so let's join Elsie and Frances to make fun of him. Frances: He's deluding himself. Elsie: Deluding himself? What does that mean? Is it more fun than killing people? Frances: Elsie, sometimes you can be so...  Fair point re: air travel. Frances: No killing for a little while, OK? Elsie: Borrrrrrring... I wanna go home!   Back to these guys, it looks like Alice is on the line with Minette. Minette: Minette Donnel. Alice: Minette, I have a favor to ask you. Minette: I don't feel good... Alice: But you can move, right? Don't be selfish, now. The fate of all on board rests in your hands. You're their only hope. No pressure, though.  Minette is not enthused. Alice: Listen, OK? Now... There's a bomb somewhere on the plane. If you can find it, then everyone might be saved. Alice really underselling the difficulty of disarming a bomb here. Minette: Really? Alice: Really. It's a race against time. Look around, and do exactly as I say, OK? Minette: ...hm...mm-hm...   Good team.   And, before we wrap up here, it's back to these two. Frances: I was gonna save this for later, but... Since you're so bored, I guess we'll have to make a little change in plans. Elsie: What is it?! C'mon, Sis! Tell me! Something fun?  
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Feb 18, 2018 00:43
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Just a guess, but "OK, time to put the clock back!" sounds like a mistranslation meaning to say "Now you're back on the clock." or similar. This is near the era of "Whose secondhand?" after all.
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Feb 18, 2018 01:21
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I'm a little surprised the plane sideplot is already connecting to Snake's team. Given how much screen time they got though, it's probably a good thing. Also, there's no way Minette is a random kid. She's probably Flemming's kid, right? I wanna look up spoilers to see if I'm right, but if I'm wrong I don't wanna ruin the surprise.
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Feb 18, 2018 01:41
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My advice is definitely don't read spoilers for this game.
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Feb 18, 2018 01:48
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I liked this game growing up, played a ton of both this and the sequel. I remember that they both did feel like a MGS game, quite impressive. Nice to see a knowledgeable player go through it.
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Feb 18, 2018 03:16
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GOONS! 
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Feb 18, 2018 05:59
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W.T. Fits posted:GOONS! How did I miss that
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Feb 19, 2018 00:40
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If I'm right, this is the end of the page. Edit: I was right, update's on the next one. Cool Ghost fucked around with this message at 22:52 on Feb 26, 2018 |
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Feb 26, 2018 22:47
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