Kenogu Labz

Darksiders 2 sounded horribly generic to me as well. I found nothing to really draw me into the soundtrack at all; no hooks, no clear motifs. In terms of soundtracks that mimic film-style composition and still succeed gloriously in game context, see Bear McCreary's soundtrack to . The influence of his TV background is pretty clear, but the strong motifs and excellent instrumental variety really, really makes it strong soundtrack material.It could be that the choice of instrumentation leads some people to be lazy in their composition ("oh, as long as it has the right tone, people will enjoy it"). And, to a point, that may be true; in the heat of battle, you probably won't stop to smell the grace notes. But that doesn't mean a composition can't be more effective in context by tying in motifs and themes. That is the strongest hook a soundtrack can provide in my mind, regardless of instrumental medium. It's a way to engage the user, interact with them by hinting tying them emotionally to the narrative. As a motif is used in specific points in gameplay, the player slowly comes to attach that motif with corresponding themes in the game. What a powerful mechanism, and how little it is used in modern composition! Even well-composed soundtracks that are pleasant to listen to on their own can be poor soundtracks because they don't leverage their power with the player. </meandering-train-of-thought>

Ditto. For portable buds, they are quite adequate; unlike old Skullcandy wires that were rounded and easily broken, the flat wire casing has proven to be much more long-lived on my pair. I've been using these for at least a year and a half, now, with no signs of wear.

First off, look into Ubiktune, a chiptune label that consistently releases top-notch chiptune albums from top-of-the-line artists. You should find plenty of material to start from there! For a particular album, C-jeff's Preschtale would have to be my current go-to. It's fake-bit in that it doesn't adhere to chiptune restrictions, and includes acoustic drums, guitar, and piano at times, but it's certainly quite a ride regardless. Disasterpeace's soundtrack to Fez is basically heavily-processed chiptune, and it is simply powerful; even more effective if you've ever played the game itself, too. Jake Kaufman's FX3 and FX4 prog-chip albums are incredible translations of a genre into full chiptune form, complete with all the restrictions involved. The first is simulated NES 2A03 chip; the second is actually an emulated composition written using Famitracker. Both are very authentic-sounding, and show well the depth of composition that can be produced with these machines. Danimal Cannon and Zef's tag-teamed Parallel Processing is both a compositional and technical marvel. It's a set of compositions written for and played by two Gameboy systems side-by-side, and the sounds that come out of these things are nothing like what you'd ever expect. SoulEye's PPPPPP (the soundtrack to VVVVVV, obviously) is another fake-bit soundtrack, but it certainly sticks in your eardrums. Such catchy, much grooving. The arrangement album, PPPPPPowerup!, is excellent too; however, that's a separate topic altogether and is distinctly not chiptune. _ensnare_ (also known as nervous_testpilot, the composer for Frozen Synapse) has released a few fakebit EDM albums, his latest being . Worth checking out.

I live in the Seattle area; StreetPass filled up two-and-a-half times while on the waterfront. I was rather surprised. I also regularly get a bunch of tags from nearby downtown Bellevue. Then there were all the delicious duels to be had on the ferry ride back home thanks to all the 'A Link Between Worlds' tags. <3

I don't really see it as being a good idea to put one track on repeat for an entire battle, and I doubt you'll find many that have proper looping anyway. One way you could pull this off would be to mix up several different themed playlists and pull out one per battle. Then you either let it run through in its entirety, or spin up a track to loop each turn. In terms of actual album suggestions: Illusions - Thomas Bergersen (!!) The Spirit Engine 2 - Josh Whelchel Hero of Many - Matus Siroky Dark Void - Bear McCreary Any Jeremy Soule soundtrack Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (not the best, but has some suitable tracks)

Incidentally, Etrian Odyssey is the first game I've seen that both provides a 'manual map' mode AND gives you the tools you need to make manual cartography viable. Call me a pencil-pusher, but I find that part to be a lot of fun.

Eh, you can break most Final Fantasies with a little grinding.

Yes; however, a few rough bosses doesn't make the whole game unforgiving. Dark Souls is unforgiving; FFX is merely mean-spirited on occasion. Either way, I still enjoyed the game enough, and I think it could actually be a fair intro to the series, though not necessarily representative of the majority.

Wait. FFX, unforgiving? Hah

4527-8707-7870 Not that I have much to use this feature with as of yet...

It was the translation that was the issue, if I recall. Getting the 'War of the Lions' update might make it a lot easier to follow.

There is the caveat, Jovian, of IX being intended to represent Final Fantasy as a whole; it's even better after having played at least a few of the traditional entries. And Final Fantasy only had a 'uniform' setting for around five entries, only two of which really started reaching into true worldbuilding territory. Also, while VI didn't have the traditional jobs, the characters did fall into sort of broad classes: Terra the Swiss Army Mage, Edgar the Gadgeteering Warrior, Locke the 'Treasure Hunter', Shadow the Ninja, Relm the Artistic Bard, etc. Just because they played with the roles doesn't mean they aren't there. Also, the magic mechanics here actually fit the story, which I personally find to be a fantastic feat on its own.

Instead of just recommending a specific game, since that's already been done up and down the board, I'll just give a little of what to expect no matter which you go with: Prepare to get swept away in a great story! This is perhaps the primary reason these games are considered to be classics. Combat may vary in appeal or quality between games, but this is pretty much a constant, especially starting with IV and beyond. Leave suspension of disbelief and details nitpicking to the side until you've finished the game. You'll find you have a much more fun time if you just go along for the ride. The emotions and wonder of the worlds they build generally come naturally if you just play, even if the logical steps the story takes don't always feel that logical. Get ready for a fresh combat system with each entry! This series continually changes its combat mechanics with each new entry, which means that you get to learn something new every time. A lot of concepts, themes and mechanics remain, so you also don't have to completely start from the ground up. Tune your ears in to the gorgeous music! Each entry has its own unique soundtrack, fine-tuned for the story and setting at hand. As an added bonus, the more you play, the more subtle references you'll catch as the series progresses. IX is the best example of this, and not just in the music aspect. If I were to recommend, I'd start with VI, simply for the tightest integration in the series between the characters, the music, the gameplay, and the world. This game, more than any other, has left the imprint of its story in my mind for years; it's told so simply, and yet so powerfully. Plus it's a blast to play, even if the system has some rather amusing flaws. Then again, maybe you should hit it last so you end your tour of the series on a high note. EDIT: Also, counting down the time until 'favorites list' -> locked

Dredging this topic up again, and for good reason. There was a relatively recent performance of this concert in Tokyo, released in the form of Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo. While the core composition of the arrangements remains the same, the implementation is even stronger here; a lot of the muddiness has been removed, and some small instrumentation tweaks will leap out to anyone who's heard the original performance. It feels like the orchestra had a much longer period to practice beforehand, and the rough bits in the original are smoothed over here. The entire orchestra does a better job at staying in sync in the sections with more unusual meter involved (looking at you, Chrono Cross' 'Gale'.) The shining gem of this latest performance, though, is undoubtedly the Final Boss Encore, which has undergone a full rewrite and is simply beyond incredible. I actually think giving too much detail constitutes as a musical spoiler, so I will just let you hear it for yourself. Just listen carefully toward the end of the track: the choir's lyrics might surprise you! Encore: Final Boss Suite (Also contains the entire performance)

so excite much pumped great chip c-jeff glorious too great

They have borderless windowed, so you have the benefit of alt-tab compatibility without sacrificing resolution. It can be a bit of a pain to accidentally click outside the window, which is why I usually try to avoid anything less than fullscreen.

Heh, just ask around. Recruiting does seem to be dampened, but call out, ask around. People will jump all over you, in a good way. What's your in-game name? I can add you to my contacts and see if we can pull you into POV.

Pretty much this. There's also guild-based buffs and missions you can participate in; while you can also partake of some of these from outside the guild, you would certainly be missing out on the tighter-knit community of a guild. Some guilds are formed with a specific purpose, such as World v. World coordination or dungeon-running, so if you have specific interests, you could always try joining one of those. But having a community guild under your belt can make the game experience richer, especially when you're able to directly assist each other with various goals on a regular basis.

... ... .... Darke, maybe that last one shouldn't have been in white text...

... Natural Selection 2.

Honestly, they ended Brotherhood conclusively, and with a relative minimum of pseudo-philosophical rambling, and they avoided making it a bad Mind Screw Ending, which is pretty typical in many series. The final fight may have been brief, but it wasn't ridiculous to either extreme of being overly easy or impossibly difficult for Ed to handle. They tied up character arcs in a very satisfactory manner, too. I really couldn't ask more of an ending than that.

Took you long enough.

The kickstarter is in its final hours, and BGC's streaming on his Twitch.tv channel with some other guests. Jump on in!