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On 07/24/2017 at 02:45 PM by asrealasitgets

I've been playing FFXIV lately, and really enjoying it again. To catch y'all up, I started a new account on PS4 since PS3 ver. isn't supported anymore and I didn't transfer info over in time. It's been a while since I played it, so I needed to play from beginning to see changes anyway. I'm around lvl 40 and nearing the dead end that is the vertical level grind to end game before Expansions, which I haven't purchased yet. I'm spending my free month, with 1 subsc. month to grind endgame for ARR. I leveled up to 30 very quickly, but 30-50 is a really slow grind. Just logging in to do random dungeons for fast XP before pushing story. I've seen it all before.

Interesting about changes is that they made it more linear now. I think Diablo 3 started this move from freedom to less customization, but here it makes sense because in the past you had to level up multiple classes to get full abilities for you main job, which was a way of padding the grind and keep you subscribed longer, I guess? But what ended up happening is some player didn't bother to level up other classes because of time, or laziness, and would get yelled at in chat if you were missing an abiltity. It was like, "go level up conjurer and get cure you stupid idiot" ! Now it's just a straight line to the end and expansions, it seems, since you automatically get cross class abilities for your role without having to level others. I haven't played expansions, so I don't know if this is true for the rest of the game, but you generally had to level up a class, or classes before getting a cool job like Dragoon, or Bard.

Meanwhile, I tried The Secret World Legends again, and I actually enjoy it a lot more this time. It has become less customizable and lets you follow a more linear character role, unlike before where you could choose any mix of two weapons to create a unique class and abilities. A lot of people are mad about this. They liked the old customization freedom and hate the linearity of the new system of precreated classes, but they've also tweeked the combat with special meter bars and such. TSW also had an issue where if you didn't mix the right classes, you would have a much harder time as you progressed and had to level up the right combos of classes to get the best damage or whatever. It's more like a directed solo RPG now, and I liked what I played of it. I had problems soloing before and stopped, but I loved the world, characters and story. It was much harder to solo before due to mobs. It was designed as an MMO after all. I'll gladly get back to it when my sub for FFXIV ends.

I also just got Monster Hunter 4 for 3DS, and well it's pocket sized crack!!! I cannot stop playing this and the 3DS is just always near me in sleep mode so I can crack it open and keep playing here and there. I played hundreds of hours on WiiU and PSP, but this game is just glorious! It's definitely an improvement over the last iteration, although it doesn't seem that different, the game seems to offer more up front.

Speaking of crack...

I also just got Bayonetta 2 and Metal Gear Rising. I know I'm late to the game on this, but holy shit these games are amazing!!! It's strange how you go through a dry spell of sucky games, but then you just play a bunch of amazing shit in a row and you seriously cant choose or hate to put one down for the other. It's a good problem!

My brother just stared watching Game of Thrones for the first time with this season and he's all in. He's not really into video games or fantasy, or really any nerd stuff--mostly sports, but it's cool to have someone new discover a nerdy thing that I like, although GOT is more mainstream than nerdy. He anticipates every new episode and discusses the day after.

Also, really enjoying PREACHER Season 2 and TWIN PEAKS Season 3.

What gaming/TV crack are you all on?

Matt Snee Staff Writer

07/24/2017 at 03:07 PM

Twin Peaks is freakin awesome. Got a light?

I just bought a Switch, so I've been playing a lot of Zelda. Prior to that I was playing a lot of FF12 but... that might have to wait now. Zelda is amazing.

asrealasitgets

07/24/2017 at 05:14 PM

TP started off SO WEIRD, but all the threads are coming together, sort of. Too bad David Lynch stopped making films and TV shows. This makes up for all the lost time. Time is relative I guess. Its a greatest hits of DL, music, sound, visuals, all of it.

I've got my plate full at the moment with grindy games. I'll eventually get to zelda and I'm sure it will be great. I just cannot justify purchasing a new console to play one game-- even if it is Zelda.

07/24/2017 at 06:25 PM

yeah he didn't make a movie after INland Empire. I guess ten years passed. Man.

KnightDriver

07/24/2017 at 09:42 PM

There are those few games that I can say, alone, justify a console purchase. Zelda be one of them.

07/24/2017 at 10:50 PM

Yeah, Demons Souls PS3, Bloodborne PS4. I personally just cant justify a mid-year purchase THAT big for 1 game, although I do want to buy a switch to play it.

07/25/2017 at 11:01 PM

I wanted a Wii-U just for Pikmin 3. I still want that.

mothman

07/24/2017 at 07:25 PM

Twin Peaks is pretty much it for me other than X-Files which I'm currently on the 4th show of season 9. 14 more episodes and I can finally say I've seen every episode.

TP is SO good!

07/24/2017 at 09:43 PM

I'm really into Fire Emblem Echoes on my 3DS. I want to crack it right now as I write this, and I will seconds after I finish.

Also, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean. I nearly finished the story last weekend, but I'm already determined to go 100% on achievements with this one.

07/24/2017 at 10:44 PM

I think FE and MH quest mission structure keeps you coming back for another little bite. I played a couple of MH quests, then I ended up doing like 15 back to back. Of course, some are shorter little tutorial quests that are over quickly, but yeach, it pulled me in right away. I played MH3 on WiiU forever, actually the game I played the most on WiiU and probably PSP when I got Freedom many moons ago. I'm loving FE on ipad actually. I still Conquest/Birthright and Echoes after another run of Awakening of course.

07/25/2017 at 11:03 PM

Yea, short missions do the thing.

Super Step Contributing Writer

07/24/2017 at 09:46 PM

I watched the first couple GOT eps last week. I liked them.

07/24/2017 at 10:46 PM

Since you're a media guy, are you a David Lynch or Twin Peaks fan at all? You seem to enjoy getting in depth with things like film and even games. Seems like your kind of thing?

I feel like GOT is moving very fast now after the first episode. So many people are just cast aside very quickly to narrow down the narrative I guess.

07/25/2017 at 02:33 AM

Just to be clear, I watched first couple eps of s1, so i have no idea who's been killed recently. Lol

I haven't seen TP, but I like David Lynch's style. I believe he directed quite a few House of Cards eps.

Edit: never mind, that was fincher. I thought Lynch was a bit too weird for HoC when I typed that. I've seen a couple Lynch movies, like The Fly and the one with James Woods and video tapes.

Nick DiMola Director

07/25/2017 at 10:27 AM

Twin Peaks has been really great. Chessa and I caught the latest episode last night and it's cool to see the threads start coming together.

It's been tough not having Agent Cooper come into full cognition this far in. I kind of miss his presence. I like what they're doing with Dougie and somehow he's still one of the most memorable parts of the show, but I'm just pining for more good old Coop. I keep thinking he's just going to snap out of it at some point, but it just keeps not happening.

07/25/2017 at 12:58 PM

There are some trade offs for not having Cooper, but they are wonderful. We get to see Dianne, Gordon Cole (Lynch's detective character), Naomi Watts is great, also Kyle MacLachlan is playing three characters which are all great! All around great cast and acting, but TP is now a much bigger, also a different dark mirror world where wholesome good Coop can't really exist, so it makes sense,aesthetically, to me from that point of view that he is there but absent and powerless. I'm also loving all the write ups and discussions around the show online. AVClub has been particularly great analyzing all the episodes as is Idle Thumbs TP podcast. Oh, and the music! The MUSIC!!!!

Nicoleb1989

07/26/2017 at 12:08 AM

If you decide to do any of the multiplayer/higher rank stuff I might can join. I still have Monster Hunter 4 on the 3ds. I stopped playing it to play Generations and thrn stopped playing that after a time. I can probably get back in the swing of it though.

Ff12 has been getting a lot of my attention. Im almost back to the spot I was at on ps2 so Im quite happy with myself. Ive put like 60 hours into it.

I was playing Ever Oasis on 3DS however I did finish it. It was a really good and short rpg. Kinda glad it was, been playing all these long as rpgs these last few months.

I also got back into Warframe. They kinda made it very destinyish but if it makes any sense they seem to do Destiny better than Bungie actually does. It just got a big update that apparently gives a big open world space on one of the planets. I havent played yet since the update but Im excited to.

07/26/2017 at 01:35 AM

Cool! Im currently finishing up level 2 Caravan and Guild Quests. Some of the hunts, bosses, are getting harder to kill without resources and proper gear so I've started to redo quests for gold and farming material for upgrades. Is multiplayer complicated to setup? I guess we should share friend codes. Mine is written in my profile. I'm still far off from high level quests though. What is the easiest way to get gold, upgrade material? Redoing quests, or multiplayer for harder bosses perhaps?

I read about the open world in Warframe. I need to lvl up a main in that game to get ready for it. I think the game is quite good, but got busy with other things. Do you have a Warframe guild or something? Some ppl in that game are assholes. Anyway, I think the open world is expected later in the year, but I can be wrong.

Any tips for MH4 for leveling. Appreciate it!

07/29/2017 at 10:50 PM

My friend code is 2767-0363-5360

MH4 isnt hard to get started online, you just go to the online guild area and setting up a room is pretty simple from that part. When you set up a room you can give it a password so not just anyone can join. The community on MH can be highly Toxic so that password feature is def handy. Getting to higher ranks can be kind of a drag however doing it in the singleplayer side can greatly help you with multiplayer. I did a huge junk of the offline stuff before doing anything online. I learned how to use my weapon of choice*as good as possible, im no pro* and a routine of what to bring each quest. Make more than one armor set, have different ones, they all have there pros and cons. If you have a armor set that has good skills and doesnt take much damage to the element attacks of a particular monster then it can really save your ass. So this will require repeat quest however that also helps with money. I never had money issues with MH because of that alone. Again Ill gladly play the guild quest with you as long as Im not at work or without internet. I am I think either in G rank or High rank. I cant remember which but regardless I will help. I mostly use the Hunting Horn or Switch Axe.

Warframe can be bad, I had to turn the chat off the other day. The shit they were saying was just wrong on all levels. I think it is due later on for the opne world, it had a huge update the other day so I thought they had added it. Im currently using Mag but I really want Ivara. I dont know if I should buy her or farm the materials.

08/02/2017 at 03:30 AM

okay. I added you to my friends list on 3ds.

Are you playing warframe on pc or ps4? I remember some ppl being shitty on there (ps4), so I stopped playing. I don't think the open world launches until fall. I want to check it out again. Its a recurring trend it seems. Revisiting old mmos to check out new updates. The ones I revisit, I generally enjoy.

08/02/2017 at 12:29 PM

Warframe I play on ps4. I dont have a pc to run it. My laptop can only play certain things. They def made some changes to it. I was surprised when I booted it back up.

08/02/2017 at 02:58 PM

cool. since my ffxiv sub is ending, I can focus on Warframe and other things now.

Blake Turner Staff Writer

07/30/2017 at 06:30 AM

Enjoy the Platinum games. Bayonetta is amazing, and some of the Nintendo costumes are really well done.

I had a bit of trouble getting into Secret World Legends. Idk, I should try it again but I just wasn't enjoying it so I went back to guild wars.

07/30/2017 at 05:10 PM

Bayonetta is quite something amazing! Coincidentally, I'm also playing Metal Gear Rising, not sure how involved Platinum was with that game, but I'm loving these ridiculously fast paced action games after playing grindy MMOs and horror games.

The short game breaks from Mario 3D World/Bayonetta/MH juxtoposed to Metro and FFXIV is quite jarring. They all happen to be really good games so I'm hitting some kind of stride with all of it.

My main issue with TSW in the past were the mobs. I found it frustrating to kill them down to progress the main story after the first main zone. I've done a few missions already, but it seems to be a lot easier to solo now, and I was immediately drawn into the world again because of that opening Racoon-city like scenario. Visuals and comabat haven't really changed tremendously, but I've read enemies are easier to solo through now so we'll see. I'm using hammer build, whatever it's called.

PixlBit