AngelCityOutlaw

Guys, I have no doubt MGSV is the cat's ass, but UNTIL DAWWWWWWNNNNNnnnnnn

I really wanna play the first two now. 4 does get better, for sure, but it's not without problems. Edge gets stuck on tiny rocks or some other trivial object on the map for no reason at all, the targeting system is garbage and the difficulty is really unbalanced in some places. Like, Tamiel is only the third boss or so and he seems to be the one most people have problems with. However, after him, you fight the armaros manifest on Aeos who is laughably easy and I had Meracle dealing 30-50,000 damage no problem. Also, the phantom soldiers, the mini-boss before armaros manifest, are arguably the hardest part of the entire game. Lastly, it takes way too long to get the complete party - the last guy joins about 70-80% of the way through the main story. I also played the living shit out of Fire Emblem: Awakening

Of course you are. I know this forum is dead as hell, but whatever. https://soundcloud.com/angelcityoutlaw/disintegrate

Anyway, The end is nigh for Star Ocean 4. I never made it this far before (the end of the game) and I like it. The BEAT system is cool and the bonus board is a good idea because you can fight monsters along the way to the boss and if you've got it loaded with blue crystals, you're almost always sufficiently leveled (assuming you powered up your skills too) by the time you make it there - while stats are certainly important in most battles, the game makes it easy and kinda fun to haul ass on the leveling. Good game. After this, I shall try one of the suggestions put forth in the thread.

To be fair, you don't seem to have it tagged as a "mod-review".

Some days, I regret selling my Wii U.

Next year, I'm going to run into people walking around like they're lost or there will be some random person in the driveway. "What the hell are you doing?" I'll ask, "Hold up, I'm trying to catch Pikachu!" They will say, as they show me the watch-like device attached to their wrist - their eyes never leaving their phone. "They've promised that dreams can come true - but forgot to mention that nightmares are dreams, too." - Oscar Wilde, on "Pokemon Go".

Well, most of the VGM that has simple and repetitive melodies suitable for EDM types of music are soundtracks from older games. Unfortunately, a lot of games now use orchestral scores highly dependent on texture rather than melody. Not saying you can't find anything recent, but I'd look at platform, fighting and action games from the PS2 era and before. As far as DnB music goes, composition is pretty simple. Like most EDM, it tends to be based on repetitive riffs and adds in layers every phrase or so until it breaks down and starts again. Use fast, 170-175bpm breakbeats and the bass is usually a sine mixed with a saw or square, heavily distorted in the upper frequencies and the rhythm is created by automating the cutoff filter giving you that "wub". Also, the bass tends to have a bit more sub frequencies in it than other genres. Really, beyond that, it's all up to you.

Holy crap Tons of great suggestions in here! Thanks a lot, people. On a cold winter morning...in the time before the light

Step on it, Strader! It's so good.

Yes, but as mindwanderer said and I posted in the OP, these kinds of RPGs aren't solely dependent on stats to decide victory. Like, in (older) Fire Emblem, even if your pegasus knight is a total badass, she's still going to get wrecked in the event that she is surrounded by archers. Even in Awakening, which it's very easy to break the game via stats, I only classed up two characters once on my playthrough and still beat the game via legit strategy. Like, the reason I can't do games like MOST Final Fantasies, is because I came to the realization that the final boss is no more "difficult" than the game's weakest enemy - (s)he just has higher numbers. So long as your numbers can at least compete or ideally, are superior, victory is essentially guaranteed. The menus and stuff just progress toward the inevitable. Come to think of it, I might have played one of the Front Missions. I remember a tactical RPG on the PS2 way back about some French girl and giant robots, but I don't remember what it was like beyond that.

OMG OMG OMG. So, not only is this game the first high-budget game/interactive-movie I've ever seen that takes place in my homeland of Alberta, Canada - it's just freaking awesome. I literally just finished my first playthrough with a couple of friends and since sleep is not possible this night, I figured I would talk about it with you people. It was one of the most exciting and intense games I've played recently. Only two people died on me, Matt and Josh. Interesting note, I also managed to get Jessica down to her underwear at the cabin somehow, which everyone else I've talked to says that didn't happen in their playthrough and they don't know what choices lead to that. So much detail - even what the characters might wear is variable. Well, who lived and died on your playthrough(s)? What do you think of the game?

Some interesting suggestions thus far! I haven't witnessed many JRPG storylines that actually make sense.

So recently, I've been thinking of booting up "Star Ocean: The Last Hope" for the first time in 5 years and I was wondering what are some other good tactical or "action" rpgs that I should play? Some others I have enjoyed: Kingdom Hearts Deus Ex Fire Emblem FF Tactics Vampire: Bloodlines Basically, RPG games that actually require skill and strategy beyond "My stat numbers are higher than the enemies', therefore I win."

Chili and hot dogs are two things that should not go together anyway.

You've got way too much time on your hands.

br00tal

I agree, a badass heroes album would be legit.

I sent an update via email, but I'll have another update later in the week.

Sounds awesome, as usual! Long live Playstation I've recently been playing some PS1 and 2 games and the nostalgia hits hard. I definitely get that Ridge Racer/Gran Turismo kinda vibe from a few of these tracks.

One step ahead of ya, Neblix

What!? How did they drop the ball? They're one of the only bands where I love all of their albums almost equally. Enigmatic: Calling is my favorite though.

Thy wish be granted Also, you could go to loopmasters and download some of the free demo packs and practice mixing the loops together.

I don't want to derail this thread any further past this post, but Who are these "theory nerds" you speak of, who can't compose a song? I've personally never met a musician who knew a lot of about music theory who were flat-out unable to compose. It doesn't really make any logical sense to say that someone who has a strong understanding of musical terms, how it functions etc. wouldn't put those into practice. Maybe you mean some of these "nerds" don't compose music you like. Or maybe if they feel they can't do it, it stems from a lack of experience actually practicing it. It doesn't mean they wouldn't know what they're doing, though. As for the "classical nerds", well "classical" music historically was often a lot more strict and composed rather than Jazz which has historically been spontaneous. That being said, improvisation is still based on the same musical principles as regular composition because the only difference is that in improvisation, it happens spontaneously. If a classical musician supposedly can't improvise, I suspect this means they can't improvise to your liking or simply don't do enough of it. None of these invalidate the worth of music theory. I can agree that at a certain point, some concepts of music theory don't serve much in the way of practical uses for composing or performing music. Flip that switch and I will still be able to explain what you did and why it worked (or maybe didn't) with theory anyway. When I'm composing music, I don't really consciously think about music theory beyond what key, scales and chords I'm using, but just because I'm not over-thinking it doesn't mean the knowledge isn't actively being put to use.

If something sounds "good" to your ears, there tends to be a logical reason why. Theory offers to put the reasons into words that can be universal among musicians. It's just a shame that many musicians have an aversion to learning it.