The Phalanx

I'm considering purchasing Mechassault for the DS. I've heard its fun, but the graphics are pretty meh--like early N64-style. Personally I care little about how it looks, but how it plays, and I'd love for a portable mech-style game. Anyone tried it yet?

M'kay, to paraphrase my brother on this: When you select a quickening, a little menu with three options and a white line appear on the bottom. The line is essentially your timer, which is 4 seconds. Sometimes, there won't be any options when you start; rapidly refresh the menu with L2/R2 until something comes up. Then, press the appropriate button and bam, an attack. The screen will then switch to whoever has any available Mist, continuing from the original 4-second timer. Sometimes, a Mist Charge will appear--hit that immediately, as that refreshed both the timer and mist charges. It is possible to keep connecting with a Quickening through a bit of luck and timing, but the timer itself keeps getting faster with little to no pauses in it. Thats the short of it, anyway.

I can imagine FFT coming first, but not inbetween them. Personally, I consider FFT and FFTA/FF12 to be different universes altogether. What connects FF12 to FFTA is, mainly, Monteblanc. He exists in both games, after all, and looks pretty much the same. Either moogles live a long time or he's just an ancestor to the FFTA one is debatable. My guess is that the world of FF12 was laid down in a book and, over time and space, began to pick up a sort of 'real dream' aspect to it. Like an artifact in D&D. My brother got FF12 on Halloween, and I've been watching him play it on and off. Just from observation my mind has been changed by it, and I find it to be a fantastic game. The turning away from the previous ATB system was just NEEDED, and the Gambit system doesn't just sit there and play it for you like some may think. ...but am I the only one who thinks, with a bit of tweaking, it could have benefited from a two-player mode? I kinda like having my RPG's two-player, being one reason why a friend and I played the shit outta Legend of Mana, and I can fully imagine FF12 doing the same.

There's a boss in Romancing Saga for the PS2, which looks like a giant-ass toad. He has something like 30,000 hit points, and can land an attack that dishes out about a grand of damage to the entire party every couple of rounds. Needless to say, my friend has yet to beat him... I'd have to say any boss from a Natsume game, esp. Shadow of the Ninja and Shatterhand. Completely unfair.

In Armored Core 3, there's a particular mission that drove a friend and I simply insane for the longest time. In it, you have to defeat a giant AC in the desert. It starts off by firing a barrage of missiles, in a swarm as endless as the stars in the sky--his range is limited, thankfully, and you can sort of cheese him out by backing away with a good FCS and keep a broken wreckage between you and him. However, when you deal enough damage, he splits into two forms, one of which continues to fire missiles and move around at an annoyingly fast rate. The other lumbers along and fires a high-powered laser. They will circle you, putting you in a pincher tactic and utterly RAPE your AP. Its only marginally difficult if you decide to bring in a friendly AC to help out, but if you want the Moonlight you have to do it alone. My friend beat it, barely, but he called me up and screamed fuck louder than an Xbox live kid in joy. Which, really, is what a tough boss should do to you.

TheGlassMoon[e1m8] is probably my favorite track, due in part because of the vivid memory of my first time playing that level. I remember tearing through the two hordes of pink demons, only to rise up an elevator and find myself before two ominous-looking pillars, thinking "What the fuck is..." And then the two Barons of Hell stroll out, and I bugged the fuck OUT. Scary moment for a 12-year-old.