Wednesday, 5 June 2013

Fire Emblem Awakening Character Analysis: Inigo

Base Class: Mercenary, Myrmidon, Barbarian
Possible Father: Avatar, Chrom, Frederick, Virion, Stahl, Kellam, Lon'qu, Vaike, Ricken, Gauis, Donnel, Gregor, Libra, Henry
Best Father: Frederick, Avatar
Suggested Skills: Galeforce, Sol, Pavise, Aegis, Armthrift, Limit Breaker
Ending Class: Hero
Attributes: Sol and Galeforce built in.

Introduction:
Inigo is the son of Olivia who happens to be a dancer. Olivia has a balanced but subpar stats. This is more of an indication that Inigo's cap stats will be quite balanced and will sway with the fathers. His growth rate is higher in the physical side (attack, defense) but with input from the father it could change. He can be capable of magic given time investment and the right father.

Inheritance:
Inigo is interesting in that her mother has Galeforce and he himself is part of the mercenary line. So in a sense Inigo has the potential of having Galeforce and Sol even without the involvement of a father. While he is somewhat inherently "broken" there is a way to enhance him through the addition of cavalier line and knight line through the father. The only father who can pass down cavalier line and knight line at the same time is Frederick or the Avatar. He could manage well with most fathers given that he gains more class options. He is built more like a physical attacker therefore his father should pass down more class options of a physical attack. He should not have Gregor as the father since their class set completely overlaps, so Gregor offers no new class options at all.

Skills:
Galeforce and Sol are the best combination in the game. He could get Pavise and Aegis together to guard against any attack. These two combinations are the most intuitive and effective in the game. Armthrift might also work for him if his luck surpasses 50, at that point legendary weapons can be given to him since they won't wear out in his hands.

Conclusion:
Inigo is built in a way that he has more inherent advantage than even characters from the second generation. He has Galeforce and Sol built in and he could also access Pavise and Aegis quite easily. Even if Inigo doesn't choose Frederick or Avatar as the father, choosing a father that offer more class options is still viable. Inigo is best suited as a hero and he has the fundamental skills to succeed.

Fire Emblem Awakening Character Analysis: Gerome

Base Classes: Wyvern rider line, Fighter line, Priest line.
Possible father: Frederick, Virion, Stahl, Vaike, Kellam, Lonqu, Ricken, Gauis, Donnel, Gregor, Libra, Henry.
Suggested Skills: Swordbreaker, Renewal, Sol, Iote's Shield, Resistance+10, Limit breaker, Aegis
Suggested father: Frederick, Stahl, Ricken.
Ending class: Wyvern Lord, Hero
Attributes: Somewhat of a glass cannon, huge attack but pathetic resistance.

Introduction:
Gerome start out as a wyvern rider just like his mother, Cherche. As a son of hers, he inherited large amount of physical attack but also really low resistance. However, all is not lost as he can access plenty of useful skills, many in the DLC, to help compensate for his obvious weaknesses. His weakness include, arrows, flying focused weapons, magic (especially wind magic), and dragon. It takes the majority of his skills slots to address all of these weaknesses. He just seem to be best suited as a wyvern lord, though being a masked hero also seem to be a cool idea. 

Inheritance:
Beyond all else, Aegis is a necessity for Germone due to his low resistance. Therefore any potential father with a  cavalier line are preferred, hence Frederick, Stahl or Ricken. This is actually the only skill worth passing on from the father's perspective. Chreche has exclusive troubadour line so you can pass on support+ as an option for Gerome.

Skills:
Most of the skills are set out to minimize the weakness that Gerome will suffer as a wyvern lord. First from the father's side he could inherit Aegis which will halve all tomes and arrows which are the bulk of his weaknesses. Unfortunately Aegis is dependent on the skill stat which is also quite low for a wyvern lord, you can activate it at around 40% of the time when most other character can have it at least around 50% of the time. The two next skills are from the DLC episodes, Iote's shield and resistance+10. Iote's Shield neutralizes all the flying type weaknesses, and resistance +10 further moderates his low resistance. Swordbreaker is quite effective at reducing threat of dragon weakness since most dragon slaying weapons are swords. Gerome is lucky enough to have two recovery skill from his base classes, Renewal and Sol. Generally speaking Sol is more preferable, but in Gerome's case his low skill actually hinders healing than aid it. Renewal actually seems to be more effective given its consistency regardless of the skill stat.

Conclusion:
Gerome is an absolute powerhouse as a physical attacker, and perhaps the most suited character as a wyvern lord. Most of his skills will be geared towards minimizing his weakness of flying, dragon and just awful low resistance. Aegis is recommended to get through the father, and the a few of the skills are from the DLC. His comparative low skill is upsetting for Aegis but is still necessary. Renewal might work better due to the same reason.

Fire Emblem Awakening Character Analysis: Nah

Base Classes: Manakate, Wyvern rider line, Mage line.
Possible father: Frederick, Virion, Stahl, Vaike, Kellam, Lonqu, Ricken, Gauis, Donnel, Gregor, Libra, Henry.
Suggested Skills: Swordbreaker, Galforce, Sol, Armthrift, Support+, Limit Breaker
Suggested father: Gauis, Donnel, Avatar (access the pegasus line and sol skill)
Ending class: Manakate
Attributes: very well rounded stats with good attack range.

Introduction:
Nah is the third Manakate and the only Manakate to be in the second generation. Like any Manakate, she has very balanced stat but not at all mediocre. She does set herself apart from the fact that she could inherit much more class options from her father therefore more skills. Other Manakate, such as Tiki and Nowi are forever constrained by the fact they could not learn any other skills beyond their base class, this fact alone makes Nah stand out as the best Manakate in the game and a force to be recon with.

Inheritance:
One of the forefront thing to consider is for Nah to inherit the pegasus line from either Gauis, Avatar or Donnel. Naturally Avatar would always be considered the best father in any pairing, but in this scenario Donnel would serve as a sufficient alternative. Donnel can pass down both the pegasus line and the mercenary line, which means Nah can have access to both Sol and Galeforce. Gauis could theoretically pass down the Sol skill separately, but Donnel can also pass on Armthrift which is in the mercenary line. Donnel is sufficient in unlocking all the potentials Nah has to offer. Avatar could pass down the cavalier and knight line to bolster Nah's defense, even if they were good to begin with.

Skills:
Galeforce and Sol are both coveted skills separately and all the more powerful in combination. Galeforce increases maneuverability, options and map clearing capabilities. Sol can activate in either term and can activate two separate times in a double attack. If Nah is a Manakate, which she should end as, her attack range is capable of countering most attacks. Even if an enemy is using long bow or mire, Nah can attack up to twice to eliminate those out of range. Sword breaker is sufficient to deal with the Manakate weakness as most weapons that exploit this weakness are swords. Armthrift is recommended in game to stop the wear on dragon stones which happens to be a rare and expensive commodity. Support+ could make her useful as a support unit. Avatar also offers Pavise and Aegis to further bolster the defensive capabilities.

Conclusion:
Nah is blessed with naturally high stats that are further reinforced through the use of dragonstones. Gifting her Sol and Galeforce makes her one of the most formidable units to use. Pavise and Aegis could be used, though swordbreaker may be a worthy alternative as it addresses the Manakate weakness and Nah already has high defenses. Manakate are already formidable as they are, however, with skills from more classes they can be downright deadly.

Tuesday, 27 November 2012

Paper Mario: Sticker Star impressions

Paper Mario: Sticker Star is one of the more standout 3DS game available this holiday season. I personally thought the game would provide experience that no other game could offer. And I was right.

Sticker Star aced in concept and creative artistic direction. The visuals are impressive as though the entire Mario world are literally made of paper and stickers. Cranking up the 3D shows incredible layering of the game and give it significantly more depth. The 3D element really immerse the game play more than any other games on the 3DS. The concept of having stickers for multiple purpose in the over world and in battle is really quite well done. There are different attributes to different stickers that makes them useful in certain conditions, however, I rarely have the time or effort to experiment with the stickers.

The game used an over world large map that breaks down the progress of the game which is a double edged sword. For one, the player can access more resources much more easily. It takes no time at all to find a shop or go to sling a thing for more powerful stickers. This also allows the player to revisit levels and stock up on their favorite stickers to aid in combat. The downside of the this elements would be that there will be a lot of backtracking involved. Backtracking though not necessary, there are some situations where you have to find specific stickers to solve puzzles.

Some of the most frustrating elements of this game is the battle and some puzzles. Certain puzzles warrants a specific sticker without any hints being given. The paper crown could offer more helpful advice, but instead it reiterates the current situation and gave useless or no tips at all. Backtracking for the sticker is not difficult at all considering the level designs are often short and easy to remember, the problem lies in the intuitiveness of the puzzle. I would have never knew that simply jumping on a faucet turns the faucet itself. This could easily be remedied by giving more helpful hints throughout the game. More powerful stickers are always necessary to win against a boss fight even if not specifically stated.

The second and most frustrating element in this game is the battle system. While experimenting stickers with various enemies are encouraged there is often no point. For starter, the damage output of the stickers are predetermined and cannot therefore be enhanced. The only enhancement it gets is from cuing the sticker at the right time. Even pressing the right button at the right time, the damage output is too low to kill even one enemy.

Battling does not give any experience points, meaning the concept of level is completely gone. I would have liked that they keep the the leveling system and have the levels magnify the damage or most stickers. This way the weak sticker can still have some usage. Battling also yields at most two coins, this is a really small return on lost stickers are lost health. There is really small incentive for battling considering it depletes too much resources.

 Another detriment about not having the level system is that Mario will continue to have low health unless you discover upgrades. This is frustrating considering it makes Mario extremely frail for the bulk of the game. The final nail in the coffin comes in the inability for paper mario to dodge. In Mario RPGs there are typically a way to dodge and counterattack but this mechanism is completely absent. Not only is Mario low on health, low on quality sticker fire power, it also cannot avoid taking damage. All the above factors makes Mario especially susceptible to death and more so if engaged in multiple useless battles.

The reward system is completely absent given it is a turn based RPG game. Stickers serve as precious resources yet it is constantly being used on useless endeavors such as fighting weak enemies who will most likely survive one turn and inflict some damage upon you. Aside from the broken battle system, the game is visually appealing. The best advice is to avoid battling enemies and stock up on rare stickers. Put the rare stickers in the museum first and the exact location of where it is from will be on record. Rare stickers tend to respawn after you exit a level.

Thursday, 22 November 2012

Game Tips: Scribblenauts Unlimited 3DS version

This is not a walk through or spoiler for the game, rather these are suggestions that should enhance the gaming experience.

1. First thing you need to learn in the scribblenauts game is learn to fly. There is plenty of ways in which this can be achieved, by writing down wings, jet pack, magic blanket etc. There is literally dozens if not hundreds of ways to achieve this, the goal is to reach every corner on the map with ease so you can find and solve puzzles. Saving your flying method of choice in the backpack is very helpful.

2. In this game, conflict could arise at any seconds. Out of nowhere a shark, zombie, or T-rex could be attacking you. Instead of writing down a weapon and risk your life fighting these fearsome beasts, try putting down adjectives. Making a beast "dead" can instantly immobilized them and stop them from inflicting any extra damage. If "dead" is too harsh a word, try words such as "tired","paralyzed" etc. this way you can go on about your business without being harassed. (you can remove the adjective "dead" and the beast will come back alive)

3. In some cases you might kill a character who needs help, thus effectively ending your ability to do the puzzle. However, simply resetting the level can return all character on the map to their default stage. Resetting the map will erase any extra objects you created inside the level, but the solved puzzles are still completed so you don't have to redo all the puzzles.

Scribblenauts Unlimited Bundle

While most people know that Scribblenauts Unlimited came out for the Wii U and PC, most people wouldn't know about Scribblenauts Unlimited on the 3DS. Granted that the PC version is cheaper than the 3DS version and most people probably would have a PC than a 3DS, there is good news for 3DS owners. The exclusive bundle from EB games or Gamestop comes with a specialized pencil stylus and Maxwell 3DS case. The case has Maxwell's face as you open the 3DS, and the stylus is the replica of Maxwell's pencil in game.

All this goodness comes at a standard price of 39.99 CAD just like any other 3DS games.