And more skill points!
Today there wasn't any skill points that were too hard to get, just one that was tricky and was awarded when I thought I failed, and I got enough points to unlock the commentary bots!
Now sprinkled throughout all the levels are little robots that when you interact with them they play a recording of one of the dev team talking about the production of the game. This will and some freshness to the second play through, the draw back is that you can only hear them when you are close to the bot, so I can't get other skill points while listening...
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
ARRRRRG!
I sent 2 hours trying to just one stupid skill point in a flying level!
The skill point is to shoot 10 targets, but the targeting is so off that you can't hit them until they are right up close, and then you have half a second before they pass by. Compound this by the fact there is often several together, so you have half a second to shoot 2 or 3! Then if you miss any you have to either finish the mission and go back or reload the level, so missing the 10th one means trying to get them all over again!
I was almost at a point where I was going to just give up on the skill point and move on to the next game, but I then finally got all of them and saved for the night.
The skill point is to shoot 10 targets, but the targeting is so off that you can't hit them until they are right up close, and then you have half a second before they pass by. Compound this by the fact there is often several together, so you have half a second to shoot 2 or 3! Then if you miss any you have to either finish the mission and go back or reload the level, so missing the 10th one means trying to get them all over again!
I was almost at a point where I was going to just give up on the skill point and move on to the next game, but I then finally got all of them and saved for the night.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Do what I do, not what I say.
Collected a few more skill points today, one of them was rather frustrating...
The requirement was to use just the wrench until the half way point in the level, but that's actually only part of what's needed. The real task is to get to the half way point without using any destructive weapons other than the wrench, and to use all the methods of transport along the way.
This threw me fore a loop since at one point there is a section you can use a gun that shoots jello blocks to get to a higher area, or you can just jump around it. Since I figured that the jello gun counts as something other than a wrench, I would always jump around it, negating the unwritten second half of the task while unnecessarily avoiding the first. In fact you don't even need to use the wrench at all, just follow the correct path while avoiding all bad guys and you get the skill points!
At least with all the trial and error I got enough bolts to upgrade my super missile launcher (most powerful gun I have) to an ultra missile launcher!
The requirement was to use just the wrench until the half way point in the level, but that's actually only part of what's needed. The real task is to get to the half way point without using any destructive weapons other than the wrench, and to use all the methods of transport along the way.
This threw me fore a loop since at one point there is a section you can use a gun that shoots jello blocks to get to a higher area, or you can just jump around it. Since I figured that the jello gun counts as something other than a wrench, I would always jump around it, negating the unwritten second half of the task while unnecessarily avoiding the first. In fact you don't even need to use the wrench at all, just follow the correct path while avoiding all bad guys and you get the skill points!
At least with all the trial and error I got enough bolts to upgrade my super missile launcher (most powerful gun I have) to an ultra missile launcher!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Mega bolts!
Started off on the challenge play through and one thing that really stands out is how much more expensive everything is. In this mode the bad guys are much tougher, so to balance it there are super versions of all the guns, but they tacked on several zeroes to the price of all of them. To cover this increased cost the game now has a bolts multiplier, so the long Ratchet goes without getting hit the amount of bolts he earns increases exponentially.
I also have unlocked several of the cheats by pulling off some skill feats. On my first play through I only got a couple skill points at random, but now I'm looking up how and where to get each one.
So far I got cheats for:
-An old GDC trailer for the game
-Big head mode for Ratchet (more tiny/big/HUGE head mode)
-Neat concept art for the characters and some ships
-Enemy big head mode.
I also have unlocked several of the cheats by pulling off some skill feats. On my first play through I only got a couple skill points at random, but now I'm looking up how and where to get each one.
So far I got cheats for:
-An old GDC trailer for the game
-Big head mode for Ratchet (more tiny/big/HUGE head mode)
-Neat concept art for the characters and some ships
-Enemy big head mode.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Sequel bait
Well I finished ToD today, and it wasn't exactly the most epic of endings.
In the final level you have to fight through many waves of bad guys, but since there is often an ammo vender near by there's not much to worry about, just destroy things with the most powerful gun and reload when you run out. The last boss battle didn't have a vender at hand but it was a very simple straight up boss fight, I just had to shoot it with everything until one of us died, and after a few time of that being me, he took his turn to die. There was no strategy, there was no multiple boss forms, just shoot and try not to die to win the game.
In the epilog the macguffin is broken and the little robot aliens show up out of nowhere (visible to all) and take Clank away to set up the sequels.
Like all R&C games, the game over screen is just half the game, now I'm going to play through on challenge mode to get all the guns, cheats, extras, and other goodies. Also I'll most likely will get the middle game, if for nothing else, just to hear more of Tara Strong as Talwyn (who is apparently not in the 3rd game).
In the final level you have to fight through many waves of bad guys, but since there is often an ammo vender near by there's not much to worry about, just destroy things with the most powerful gun and reload when you run out. The last boss battle didn't have a vender at hand but it was a very simple straight up boss fight, I just had to shoot it with everything until one of us died, and after a few time of that being me, he took his turn to die. There was no strategy, there was no multiple boss forms, just shoot and try not to die to win the game.
In the epilog the macguffin is broken and the little robot aliens show up out of nowhere (visible to all) and take Clank away to set up the sequels.
Like all R&C games, the game over screen is just half the game, now I'm going to play through on challenge mode to get all the guns, cheats, extras, and other goodies. Also I'll most likely will get the middle game, if for nothing else, just to hear more of Tara Strong as Talwyn (who is apparently not in the 3rd game).
Friday, July 15, 2011
Dread Pirate Lombax
Two more levels down, and it is getting even more challenging, but not quite for the right reasons.
The first area was pretty straight forwards, and even had a bonus side map for an extra item to collect up bolts from boxes. The end of the area though had a huge boss fight that started in a rail grinding segment and every time I died I had to do that segment all over again. The boss fight itself was tough too since the giant robot would take off a quarter of my health in one hit. Finally I beat the boss and ratchet got the macguffin, only to have it stolen by the pirates that have been bugging them the whole game.
Next was a huge level with hoards of pirates everywhere, and half a dozen mid boss fights, it was good that they had reload stations every 10 minutes since I was almost fully out of ammo every time I found one. The final section of the level started with Ratchet on a small air ship fighting off waves of pirates while every now and then a bigger ship would pull up beside and blast him with cannons. I was doing rather well my first time though, and then suddenly the other ship went away, I clear off the last of the pirates and waited for the next wave... and kept waiting...
The game had glitched out again and the next area wasn't loading, so I had to make Ratchet jump off the ship to re-spawn at the start again. This threw off my momentum and it took half a dozen tries to get back up to the final boss fight, but in the end I beat him and not only won the loyalty of the pirates but also a handy map tool that shows secret areas and power ups. Too bad Quark got away with the macguffin...
The first area was pretty straight forwards, and even had a bonus side map for an extra item to collect up bolts from boxes. The end of the area though had a huge boss fight that started in a rail grinding segment and every time I died I had to do that segment all over again. The boss fight itself was tough too since the giant robot would take off a quarter of my health in one hit. Finally I beat the boss and ratchet got the macguffin, only to have it stolen by the pirates that have been bugging them the whole game.
Next was a huge level with hoards of pirates everywhere, and half a dozen mid boss fights, it was good that they had reload stations every 10 minutes since I was almost fully out of ammo every time I found one. The final section of the level started with Ratchet on a small air ship fighting off waves of pirates while every now and then a bigger ship would pull up beside and blast him with cannons. I was doing rather well my first time though, and then suddenly the other ship went away, I clear off the last of the pirates and waited for the next wave... and kept waiting...
The game had glitched out again and the next area wasn't loading, so I had to make Ratchet jump off the ship to re-spawn at the start again. This threw off my momentum and it took half a dozen tries to get back up to the final boss fight, but in the end I beat him and not only won the loyalty of the pirates but also a handy map tool that shows secret areas and power ups. Too bad Quark got away with the macguffin...
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Great scott!
Finished a couple more levels of ToD today and the difficulty level is beginning to catch up with me, now it might take several attempts to get through a section.
First level I finished was the ice planet (more an asteroid with an atmosphere) that the space pirates hid a gigantic computer on that ratchet needed to access to find the macguffin. The second planet was a giant prison that Clank insisted that Ratchet had to go to to rescue a character that they met earlier.
These missions served to heavyhandedly show the schism forming between Ratchet's obsession with the macguffin and Clank's reliance on the invisible aliens. All of which will come to a head with dramatic effect when they get separated (as stated on the description of the sequels).
I also bought today on PSN all 5 parts (last not out yet) of the Back To the Future game for 10$ (thanks to my remaining free Playstation+ account). I only played a bit of it, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to lay more, but I doubt that I would see it for cheaper ever and I do want to play it.
First level I finished was the ice planet (more an asteroid with an atmosphere) that the space pirates hid a gigantic computer on that ratchet needed to access to find the macguffin. The second planet was a giant prison that Clank insisted that Ratchet had to go to to rescue a character that they met earlier.
These missions served to heavyhandedly show the schism forming between Ratchet's obsession with the macguffin and Clank's reliance on the invisible aliens. All of which will come to a head with dramatic effect when they get separated (as stated on the description of the sequels).
I also bought today on PSN all 5 parts (last not out yet) of the Back To the Future game for 10$ (thanks to my remaining free Playstation+ account). I only played a bit of it, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to lay more, but I doubt that I would see it for cheaper ever and I do want to play it.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Who's next?
The level of difficulty seems to be gradually rising just under the level I'm playing at, so these later levels are just as easy with my super weapons as the first one was with my basic weapons. If was wasn't leveling up as often they would most likely be harder, but then why would any one do that?
Plot wise Ratch and Clank have been hoping around from planet to planet looking for a old Lombax mcguffin that may or may not save or destroy the universe. Next stop is Deep Thought from HGttG.
Also along the way I stopped by the arena again to clear out the latest group of opponents, and finished all the new challenges with out much difficulty.
Plot wise Ratch and Clank have been hoping around from planet to planet looking for a old Lombax mcguffin that may or may not save or destroy the universe. Next stop is Deep Thought from HGttG.
Also along the way I stopped by the arena again to clear out the latest group of opponents, and finished all the new challenges with out much difficulty.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
This sure looks familiar...
Finished 2 areas of ToD today and one of them had the old WRPG standard of an arena battle, but more accurately it was the arena battle from the previous R&C games. I can't remember which game it was but this level had the same circular arena where waves after waves of bad guys would come in from all sides, it was hardly original but still lots of fun.
The other level had a weird gravity shifting element, where you alternate along the sides of a cube in space. By the end of the area you find out your next destination is a remote moon run by pirates.
The normally super powerful weapons in the game are are quickly upgrading themselves to be ridiculously over powered, and I have only found less then half of them. either the difficulty will increase steeply soon or this will end up being a explosive walk in the park.
The other level had a weird gravity shifting element, where you alternate along the sides of a cube in space. By the end of the area you find out your next destination is a remote moon run by pirates.
The normally super powerful weapons in the game are are quickly upgrading themselves to be ridiculously over powered, and I have only found less then half of them. either the difficulty will increase steeply soon or this will end up being a explosive walk in the park.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Instructions not included
I came across a couple bugs and design problems while playing today. First, when I started exploring the Lombax home world I spotted a path off to the side, so I followed it up and found a space ship repair part at the end. I was a bit confused as to what it was for until I went back to the start and just a few feet past the path was a cut-scene where Ratchet finds a broken ship and decides to repair it, but he needs 6 parts. They really should have arranged it so you could not get to the parts without first knowing why you need them.
Next design issue was in a part where I controlled Clank on his own. The section starts with 3 robot like floating aliens greeting him and saying they will help. Then i find myself stuck in the room with no way out and the only abilities Clank seems to have is a levitate option and to slow down time, neither are helpful. Turns out that Clank has an option when he's near the aliens so that they follow him around like Pikmin, but that is never told to the layer and I had to find it out by trial and error. The first time I was in the room I thought that the game had glitched and the next section didn't load right, this was backed upped by the fact that when I stood on a high rock and jumped all the textures on the ground would turn white.
After that section though things went smoother and I was able to collect up all the rocket parts and fixed the ship, so now I am free to travel to any of the planets I have been to before, or to go on to the next planet where an obvious trap awaits.
Next design issue was in a part where I controlled Clank on his own. The section starts with 3 robot like floating aliens greeting him and saying they will help. Then i find myself stuck in the room with no way out and the only abilities Clank seems to have is a levitate option and to slow down time, neither are helpful. Turns out that Clank has an option when he's near the aliens so that they follow him around like Pikmin, but that is never told to the layer and I had to find it out by trial and error. The first time I was in the room I thought that the game had glitched and the next section didn't load right, this was backed upped by the fact that when I stood on a high rock and jumped all the textures on the ground would turn white.
After that section though things went smoother and I was able to collect up all the rocket parts and fixed the ship, so now I am free to travel to any of the planets I have been to before, or to go on to the next planet where an obvious trap awaits.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
I expected something more grand, less... fuzzy.
After playing a few areas of ToD I remembered why I liked the series so much. Aside from the over the top humor, the game is filled with huge amounds of smashable destruction, and upgradeable weapons for even more crazy levels of chaos.
The story so far is that some evil alien is out to kill of all the Lombax and Ratchet is the last left, so to escape Ratche steals the guy's ship and rides it to the bad guy's home galaxy. I just made my way off of the first planet they get to and now landed on the ruined Lombax home world.
The upgrade to next get is pretty fluid, by Up Your Arsenal it was near next gen already, but for some reason they gave Ratchet an uneven fur filter on his skin so he looks like he has just thin clumps of hair here and there. I hope they balance it in the next game. Also the game has very pointless 6-axis segments here and there which seem to just serve to show "hey, Sony gave us a bunch of money to include this to justify motion control!".
The story so far is that some evil alien is out to kill of all the Lombax and Ratchet is the last left, so to escape Ratche steals the guy's ship and rides it to the bad guy's home galaxy. I just made my way off of the first planet they get to and now landed on the ruined Lombax home world.
The upgrade to next get is pretty fluid, by Up Your Arsenal it was near next gen already, but for some reason they gave Ratchet an uneven fur filter on his skin so he looks like he has just thin clumps of hair here and there. I hope they balance it in the next game. Also the game has very pointless 6-axis segments here and there which seem to just serve to show "hey, Sony gave us a bunch of money to include this to justify motion control!".
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Well that's fifty-one down...
Well Chapter 18 wasn't nearly as hard as Chapter 17, which is odd since it was the final battle.
The chapter had 2 parts, the first being an attack on the weak point of the super mobile fortress. The fight was very straight forwards, relying heavily on my anti-tank guys I took out the thing's turrets and then blasted a path to take out it's main weapon. All in all I finished it on my first shot.
The second half was a direct attack on the emoror who was responsible for the whole war, and it turns out the whole thing was to one up the other members of his royal family since he was not eligible to be king (and they tried to kill him). The fight consisted of taking out the generators powering his force field and then laying into him with the remaining turns. After Welkin's tank getting a prtable rail gun in the face on my first attempt, I changed out some of the squad for the first time since adding Vyse and Aika to add enough anti-tank guys to fill the squad. Using this over powered group I got into a pattern or quickly taking out the generators and then popping out and blasting while using the tank for both cover and extra fire power.
In then end everyone lived happily after and a new game plus was unlocked, which I'll lay if I ever get back to this. For now it's on to Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction!
The chapter had 2 parts, the first being an attack on the weak point of the super mobile fortress. The fight was very straight forwards, relying heavily on my anti-tank guys I took out the thing's turrets and then blasted a path to take out it's main weapon. All in all I finished it on my first shot.
The second half was a direct attack on the emoror who was responsible for the whole war, and it turns out the whole thing was to one up the other members of his royal family since he was not eligible to be king (and they tried to kill him). The fight consisted of taking out the generators powering his force field and then laying into him with the remaining turns. After Welkin's tank getting a prtable rail gun in the face on my first attempt, I changed out some of the squad for the first time since adding Vyse and Aika to add enough anti-tank guys to fill the squad. Using this over powered group I got into a pattern or quickly taking out the generators and then popping out and blasting while using the tank for both cover and extra fire power.
In then end everyone lived happily after and a new game plus was unlocked, which I'll lay if I ever get back to this. For now it's on to Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction!
Friday, July 8, 2011
All your base
Well I managed to finish chapter 17, but it took a lot of patients.
The problem I was having before was that I was trying to rush too much at once, and spreading my forces too thin. This wasn't a problem in the past since it meant I could kill off key bad guys before they caused any trouble, but the AI was too organized and strong for that to work here. So instead I opted for a more cautious route, where I would focus on securing one base at a time, and only move to the next when all opposition in the area was clear. Also I saved after each base was taken so I wouldn't lose much if something unexpected happened, and I managed to luck out some rounds where potentially fatal shots missed me.
In the end I got one of my few D ranks scores for taking so long, but I did manage to kill the tank. Next it's on to the final chapter.
The problem I was having before was that I was trying to rush too much at once, and spreading my forces too thin. This wasn't a problem in the past since it meant I could kill off key bad guys before they caused any trouble, but the AI was too organized and strong for that to work here. So instead I opted for a more cautious route, where I would focus on securing one base at a time, and only move to the next when all opposition in the area was clear. Also I saved after each base was taken so I wouldn't lose much if something unexpected happened, and I managed to luck out some rounds where potentially fatal shots missed me.
In the end I got one of my few D ranks scores for taking so long, but I did manage to kill the tank. Next it's on to the final chapter.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
I'll block your bullets with my internal organs!
Didn't get much progress done today, not from lack of trying though.
The mission in chapter 17 was to blow up the armored tank of the level boss, the problem is that it takes a lot of damage, repairs it's self between turns, and there is an endless army of soldiers defending it from all sides.
There are 4 bases that keep the tank running, yet by the time I secure one of them the other 3 are so fortified that they just swarm me. To make things worse, the enemy keeps nabbing downed troops, killing them off permanently, so I have to start the fight all over again to keep my no death streak.
Tomorrow I'll try again and hopefully find a way to win.
The mission in chapter 17 was to blow up the armored tank of the level boss, the problem is that it takes a lot of damage, repairs it's self between turns, and there is an endless army of soldiers defending it from all sides.
There are 4 bases that keep the tank running, yet by the time I secure one of them the other 3 are so fortified that they just swarm me. To make things worse, the enemy keeps nabbing downed troops, killing them off permanently, so I have to start the fight all over again to keep my no death streak.
Tomorrow I'll try again and hopefully find a way to win.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Stampede!
Today I bought "Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time" and "Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction" new for 15$ each. The original PS2 Ratchet & Clank games were my favorite series on that system and I finished all of them except "Size Matters" (witch was a poor port and not even from Insomniac), so I figured I'd get these ones considering the great price. There is also a 3rd PS3 game in the series that links them both together but that ones is download only and didn't get as good reviews, but if it goes on sale, or I get really hooked on the first one I may buy it to complete the set.
In VC today it was a simple enough mission, I had to use rock slides to direct the giant hover-tank to a trap. The only tricky part was getting my troops through a mine field, it seems that even being a foot away from the mines sets them off so half my squad was taken out there. The trap the whole mission was based on turned out to be a dud, so Alicia goes into Valkyria mode to sacrifice herself . Welkin manages to talk her out of it and proposes to her as the giant tank rolls along to the capital.
In VC today it was a simple enough mission, I had to use rock slides to direct the giant hover-tank to a trap. The only tricky part was getting my troops through a mine field, it seems that even being a foot away from the mines sets them off so half my squad was taken out there. The trap the whole mission was based on turned out to be a dud, so Alicia goes into Valkyria mode to sacrifice herself . Welkin manages to talk her out of it and proposes to her as the giant tank rolls along to the capital.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Your turn to explode
I finally managed to to finish the second mission of chapter 15 after a really drawn out fight.
The first part of the battle went well, where I flanked the Valkyria behind a smoke cloud, and managed to get up to her location, but she kept dodging everything I threw at her and healing what little damage I did. So then I figured that if I took all the bases in the map it would trigger the event to let me beat her, but that did nothing other than stopping enemy forces from spawning. Then I tried killing off all the other enemies in the level, but that also had no effect. So in the end I brought up the secondary tank to fire at her too, and i found that she could only dodge one tank at a time. So I eventually defeated her by alternating tanks until her health went down to zero.
In the following cut scene she then asks that Welkin's group lead her soldiers into custody while she stays back as the prisoner of the main army force. It turns out her plan was to make sure her soldiers and Welkin's group (who showed compassion even after defeating her) was out of range when she self destructed into a huge mushroom cloud of magical energy.
Next chapter looks interesting, the squad has to stop a gigantic hovercraft battle fortress.
The first part of the battle went well, where I flanked the Valkyria behind a smoke cloud, and managed to get up to her location, but she kept dodging everything I threw at her and healing what little damage I did. So then I figured that if I took all the bases in the map it would trigger the event to let me beat her, but that did nothing other than stopping enemy forces from spawning. Then I tried killing off all the other enemies in the level, but that also had no effect. So in the end I brought up the secondary tank to fire at her too, and i found that she could only dodge one tank at a time. So I eventually defeated her by alternating tanks until her health went down to zero.
In the following cut scene she then asks that Welkin's group lead her soldiers into custody while she stays back as the prisoner of the main army force. It turns out her plan was to make sure her soldiers and Welkin's group (who showed compassion even after defeating her) was out of range when she self destructed into a huge mushroom cloud of magical energy.
Next chapter looks interesting, the squad has to stop a gigantic hovercraft battle fortress.
Monday, July 4, 2011
I exploded, then exploded again!
Chapter 15 is another one with two missions, the first one I manged to get through, the second not so much.
The first mission is to like up some train tracks so the good guys can ram a train full of explosives right into the front door of the bad guy's fortress. The map was filled with mines, soldiers, tanks, and anti-artillery guns, so it took me a while to clear the place with my engineers, snipers, and heavy weapon guys. I finally got the place clear and switched the tracks after what felt like a long battle, but apparently it was quick enough to warrant the first A class mission result that I have ever gotten for a main story mission.
The second mission was a lot more tricky, in it the enemy Valkyria has the squad pinned down using a giant machine gun instead of her super powers and there's high walls on either side. After my first attempt, where she just mowed everyone down as soon as I tried to move them, I tried a new tactic and used the tanks' smoke bombs to cover my scouts as the snuck around the back. I then had the scouts take out the basses along the sides of the area and moved snipers and heavy artillery up there. This was going well an I was backing the Valkyria into a corner, so I brought up my tank to finish her off...
Then the "tank killer" super tank spotted me and blew the tank up, game over. it's too late to take another try at the mission so I'll finish it tomorow.
The first mission is to like up some train tracks so the good guys can ram a train full of explosives right into the front door of the bad guy's fortress. The map was filled with mines, soldiers, tanks, and anti-artillery guns, so it took me a while to clear the place with my engineers, snipers, and heavy weapon guys. I finally got the place clear and switched the tracks after what felt like a long battle, but apparently it was quick enough to warrant the first A class mission result that I have ever gotten for a main story mission.
The second mission was a lot more tricky, in it the enemy Valkyria has the squad pinned down using a giant machine gun instead of her super powers and there's high walls on either side. After my first attempt, where she just mowed everyone down as soon as I tried to move them, I tried a new tactic and used the tanks' smoke bombs to cover my scouts as the snuck around the back. I then had the scouts take out the basses along the sides of the area and moved snipers and heavy artillery up there. This was going well an I was backing the Valkyria into a corner, so I brought up my tank to finish her off...
Then the "tank killer" super tank spotted me and blew the tank up, game over. it's too late to take another try at the mission so I'll finish it tomorow.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
A whole lot going on
Played a lot of VC today and finished chapters 12, 13, and 14, and also several side quests.
Chapter 12 was about the taking back of Welkin's home town, which was overrun by the invading force at the start of the game. It was a straight forward mission, literally since it was going straight down the main street, but the tricky part was all the snipers and anti tank encampments. With excessive use of my mechanic I was able to win by keeping my own snipers stocked up on bullets and constantly repairing the tank.
In chapter 13 the battle took place on a large muddy plane filled with trenches. The first half of the fight was getting a group of scouts over to the other side and take over the enemy based that was calling in air strikes. The second half was more chaotic, since the enemy valkyria showed up and started blasting everything in sight. I hid my tank in a hole and popped it out every now and then to shoot a stunning blast at her. While doing that I lead my scouts and some anti-tank guys further into the enemy base and took it over to win the round.
At the end of the chapter Alicia is shot by a sniper, in a clear ploy to awaken her valkyria powers (it was explained earlier they they manifest when close to death). The plan works and chapter 14 starts with her kicking the butt of the enemy valkyria, all the while in a trance and looking like Kanade Tachibana from Angel Beats. Then during game play she effortlessly takes out all the enemy tanks and gun encampments, making it an easy run to take over the base. With the objective complete Alicia returns to normal and passes out.
At first I thought that the mission was meant to be short and simple to keep the story moving, but it turns out the whole thing was a trap to power down Alicia, and then 2 huge tanks that shoot flame mortars moved in from either side along with an endless stream of troops. The first time I played the mission I was caught completely unprepared, and the enemy scouts quickly took back the base since it only had 1 scout defending it. After that I changed my strategy, before claiming the base I moved most of my forces to around the base, leaving 2 anti-tank gunners to take out the tank on the south end when it showed up. Then it was a matter of blowing up the south tank and thinning out the endless line of troopers as my other anti-tank gunner slowly made his way to the northern tank.
The side missions were rather easy, or I was just over powered at that point, but they did shed some interesting light on the side characters. One neat part is that they take place out side of the normal chronological order, so one mission took place before Welkin's sister was killed and it was nice to see her again (most likely for the last time).
Chapter 12 was about the taking back of Welkin's home town, which was overrun by the invading force at the start of the game. It was a straight forward mission, literally since it was going straight down the main street, but the tricky part was all the snipers and anti tank encampments. With excessive use of my mechanic I was able to win by keeping my own snipers stocked up on bullets and constantly repairing the tank.
In chapter 13 the battle took place on a large muddy plane filled with trenches. The first half of the fight was getting a group of scouts over to the other side and take over the enemy based that was calling in air strikes. The second half was more chaotic, since the enemy valkyria showed up and started blasting everything in sight. I hid my tank in a hole and popped it out every now and then to shoot a stunning blast at her. While doing that I lead my scouts and some anti-tank guys further into the enemy base and took it over to win the round.
At the end of the chapter Alicia is shot by a sniper, in a clear ploy to awaken her valkyria powers (it was explained earlier they they manifest when close to death). The plan works and chapter 14 starts with her kicking the butt of the enemy valkyria, all the while in a trance and looking like Kanade Tachibana from Angel Beats. Then during game play she effortlessly takes out all the enemy tanks and gun encampments, making it an easy run to take over the base. With the objective complete Alicia returns to normal and passes out.
At first I thought that the mission was meant to be short and simple to keep the story moving, but it turns out the whole thing was a trap to power down Alicia, and then 2 huge tanks that shoot flame mortars moved in from either side along with an endless stream of troops. The first time I played the mission I was caught completely unprepared, and the enemy scouts quickly took back the base since it only had 1 scout defending it. After that I changed my strategy, before claiming the base I moved most of my forces to around the base, leaving 2 anti-tank gunners to take out the tank on the south end when it showed up. Then it was a matter of blowing up the south tank and thinning out the endless line of troopers as my other anti-tank gunner slowly made his way to the northern tank.
The side missions were rather easy, or I was just over powered at that point, but they did shed some interesting light on the side characters. One neat part is that they take place out side of the normal chronological order, so one mission took place before Welkin's sister was killed and it was nice to see her again (most likely for the last time).
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Well that was unexpected
Finished chapters 10 and 11 today, and they were rather downers.
Chapter 10 made it clear that the dark haired race was the Jews of this alternative world history, where the mission was to stop a mining operation that was using them as slave labor in a concentration camp. The mission was in two parts, the first being a straight forwards sneaking mission to get into the camp, the second part was to blow up the heavy artillery train that was guarding the place. After winning the battle though it's revealed that the retreating bad guys forced all the workers into a wooden building and burned the place down, just to be evil.
This lead the main story gunner to regret the racist things she said the Welkin's half sister, but she's too suborn and has trouble getting around to express it. Going by the preview images of chapter 11 I got the feeling that the gunner was going to die in the story before she could make amends, but after storming a beach head in the mission she does apologize to her. I was thinking "oh, guess I was wrong about her dying", when suddenly the half sister is shot and killed by a retreating enemy.
Nooooo.....
The weirdest part is after the mission all the menu NPC's say the same cheerful default dialogue, which comes off as rather callous when the protagonist's sister was just killed. I guess they couldn't program speical dialogue just for that one segment, but it really takes you out of the story they built up so well.
Chapter 10 made it clear that the dark haired race was the Jews of this alternative world history, where the mission was to stop a mining operation that was using them as slave labor in a concentration camp. The mission was in two parts, the first being a straight forwards sneaking mission to get into the camp, the second part was to blow up the heavy artillery train that was guarding the place. After winning the battle though it's revealed that the retreating bad guys forced all the workers into a wooden building and burned the place down, just to be evil.
This lead the main story gunner to regret the racist things she said the Welkin's half sister, but she's too suborn and has trouble getting around to express it. Going by the preview images of chapter 11 I got the feeling that the gunner was going to die in the story before she could make amends, but after storming a beach head in the mission she does apologize to her. I was thinking "oh, guess I was wrong about her dying", when suddenly the half sister is shot and killed by a retreating enemy.
Nooooo.....
The weirdest part is after the mission all the menu NPC's say the same cheerful default dialogue, which comes off as rather callous when the protagonist's sister was just killed. I guess they couldn't program speical dialogue just for that one segment, but it really takes you out of the story they built up so well.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Mario never faced an APC
Chapter 9 was rather plot heavy with a relatively small mission.
During a grand gala (not of the galloping variety), the queen announces in an unenthusiastic tone that will be joining forces with western Europe to not only drive out the invading east but to conquer them too. This is odd considering that the independent country the story takes place is normally strongly neutral to both sides, and has no interest in merging or expanding it's territory.
It's soon revealed that it's all a plan by the west to take over everything, and the queen did not approve but was bullied into it by her advisers. Then in an odd move the ambassador of the west tries to kidnap the queen, and Welkin's squad has to save her. If he had just left things going as they were the west would have controlled the country without opposition within a matter of time, but the kidnapping ruined the unification plans and set back any future attempts at a union. The mission was pretty straight forwards, it only took me a couple of tries to figure out the movements of the APC the queen was in and then send a couple of gunners to shoot out it's engine.
After that a new side story unlocked where the main characters went to the beach to relax, with equal parts character advancement and fan service. Also a new menu section opened for the metals and awards collected during the game, I guess it was meant to be like Achievements before the PS3 had trophies.
During a grand gala (not of the galloping variety), the queen announces in an unenthusiastic tone that will be joining forces with western Europe to not only drive out the invading east but to conquer them too. This is odd considering that the independent country the story takes place is normally strongly neutral to both sides, and has no interest in merging or expanding it's territory.
It's soon revealed that it's all a plan by the west to take over everything, and the queen did not approve but was bullied into it by her advisers. Then in an odd move the ambassador of the west tries to kidnap the queen, and Welkin's squad has to save her. If he had just left things going as they were the west would have controlled the country without opposition within a matter of time, but the kidnapping ruined the unification plans and set back any future attempts at a union. The mission was pretty straight forwards, it only took me a couple of tries to figure out the movements of the APC the queen was in and then send a couple of gunners to shoot out it's engine.
After that a new side story unlocked where the main characters went to the beach to relax, with equal parts character advancement and fan service. Also a new menu section opened for the metals and awards collected during the game, I guess it was meant to be like Achievements before the PS3 had trophies.
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