Friday, April 29, 2011

Why I love Monster Hunter



Yeah, I know I'm terrible.

AHEM, anyways. I love MH. I used to hate it when I started playing MH Freedom Unite. I had no idea what to do. Fortunately, I am enough of an avid gamer to actually read some stuff online before I drop it. I give games a good chance (unless it's an MMO, where the first 30 mins will dictate if I will keep playing or not, because I won't waste too much time on it if it's not fun throughout the experience). After understanding what I could do in Pokke Village and beyond, I was in for a joyride. It's a great game, and with MHP3's release in Japan last December, I just had to play the demo. However, I did wait out for an English patch, and now I'm playing it again.


1. Difficulty
It's hard. It's BALLS HARD. That's why I like it. It's a niche game. No other game will make you scratch your head or bash it on a nice solid surface out of frustration, or give you so much gratification for killing some of the most bad-arse monsters the world has ever seen. Like many games, it takes time, but you need to devote some time on this game anyways that it's not a big deal.

2. Gameplay
First off, I will say these three words: NO. LOCK. ON. Yes. There is no lock on function. The game relies on one thing only, and that is the player wielding the controller/handheld. Accuracy with the analog stick is a skill you need to develop. It's one of the reasons this game has a high skill cap. Also, your character moves with regards to the laws of physics. You can't expect to swing a greatsword so quickly like you would, let's say, a fly swatter. It just doesn't work. You can't instantly get up on a ledge, your character puts a bit of effort climbing on them. Of course, a good thing is that there is no fall damage, because there's a lot of high falls thru areas in the game.

3. The World
Lush forests, barren deserts, creepy swamps. It's got them all. The environments have been well-done, an even on the PSP's limited graphics capability, it still makes you want to stop and admire it. Well, as long as you don't have Tigrex on your arse.

4. Choices... LOTS OF IT.
Like any other RPG, you get a lot of choices as a player. First off, weapon selection. In MHFU you get 11 different weapons, including a greatsword, sword and shield, gunlance, and bowguns. MHP3 introduces the Switch Axe onto the Portable/Freedom series (it was first released on MH Tri for the Wii). On top of that, you also need to upgrade these properly, depending on what you are facing. That adds more strategy. Will I try to defeat monsters with pure, undirected raw damage,  exploit an elemental weakness, or attempt to target a susceptible body part in order to increase my advantage?


Either way, out of all the action RPG's on the PSP (Phantasy Star, God Eater), this is definitely the best. No wonder the game had over 8 million players even before the release of MHFU in the west (though MHP2G already had a solid playerbase). It's like the World of Warcraft of Japan, except less trolling (unless you're outside of Japan).

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Rescue Me!

 

Though I don't need that much rescuing. I have lost interest at League of Legends at the moment. The culprit? Monster Hunter. Of course, I could play that on the side, but it just requires so much time as LoL. I'll still play, but not at the rate I did before.

Also, incoming STEINS;GATE EP4 post later today. Class in 2 hours, and I still need to finish my homework.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Theorycrafting: Rumble - The Mechanized Menace



*Note: Yes, I know I am too new to theorycraft. With only 200+ wins, I know I need more experience. However, I am confident with my learning speed, and I have more than just the basics down.

Rumble, as a melee champion by heart, needs beefiness in order to carry out his destructive will. With that said, I think an off-tank role with some AP is great for him, kinda like Maokai, except much more damaging. He also has his own protection through Scrap Shield.


(Q) Flamespitter: Rumble torches the area in front of him with his flamethrower dealing damage to all units in a cone for several seconds. While in the “Danger Zone,” this spell deals additional damage.
Ok, this is Rumble's bread and butter skill. Similar to Corki's Gatling Gun, Flamespitter deals damage per second over 3 seconds in a cone AOE. It seems that it has about a 0.5 AP ratio. Not a lot IMO, but still a good one. Max this first.

(W) Scrap Shield: Rumble creates a shield blocking incoming damage for several seconds and granting a short duration speed boost. While in the “Danger Zone,” the shield’s strength and speed boost increase.
This is your main form of protection and escape. AP scaling is about 0.4, but the biggest concern here is the speed boost. It has a lower cooldown than Electro-Harpoon, and does not require you to turn around and shoot. Max this second.

(E) Electro-Harpoon: Rumble launches a projectile that deals magic damage and applies a stackable slow on the target. A second shot can be fired for no additional cost within several seconds. While in the “Danger Zone,” the damage and slow percentage is increased.
This is your CC. It's a stacking slow. What's good with it is that you can hit someone for 10% slow, and hit them again within 3 seconds for an additional 10% (at Rank 1). For that reason, you really do not need to level this up as much. AP ratio is at 0.5.

(R) The Equalizer: Rumble calls down a line of rockets over the target location. Enemies in the scorched area take damage over time and are slowed.
It's pretty weird to aim this, but the cast range for the initial point of impact is massive. However, the AOE line it drops isn't as wide as you might expect, but still a good one. Placement of this skill is crucial, as you actually want to hit champions for the initial damage, as well as getting them in the AOE slow. Max this whenever possible

Junkyard Titan (Passive): Rumble's abilities generate heat. When Rumble is above 50 heat, he is in the "Danger Zone," causing all his basic spells to have additional effects. When Rumble reaches 100 heat he overheats, silencing himself and causing his physical attacks to deal additional magic damage. Rumble loses heat over time.
Heat management is similar to Renekton's Fury system, but when it hits 100%, you are silenced but gain a massive magic damage bonus to your auto-attacks. Make sure that in teamfights, that you are always hitting 50% and above, to ensure an Overheat, and start pummeling enemy champs.


Runes
Greater Mark of Insight - Magic Penetration
Greater Seal of Resilience - Flat Armor OR Greater Seal of Vitality - Scaling HP
Greater Glyph of Warding - Flat MR OR Greater Glyph of Potency - Flat AP
Greater Quintessence of Fortitude - Flat HP OR Greater Quintessence of Potency - Flat AP


Masteries
9/21/0


Core Items
Haunting Guise
Mercury's Treads
Rylai's Crystal Scepter

Viable Items
Rabadon's Deathcap
Will of the Ancients
Sunfire Cape
Banshee's Veil
Rod of Ages
Sorcerer's Shoes


Default Build
Leaguecraft - Rumble Default Build

Monday, April 25, 2011

Ranked Games: I dogone did it~

Y-Y-Y-You what?!

It was a great first win, but we ended up with bad teammates plus people who can't talk in English for shit, so it was disappointing. I was duo-queued with xPrTx. He did great on the first game, but he ended up playing at a less-than-desirable level in the next two, but still managed to keep his KDA ratio positive.

Game #1, he played as Brand, and I was jungling as Irelia. I never have jungled with her before, but I do have some paths that I use for most junglers (Lee Sin starting at Wraiths, Yi starting at tiny golems), and I have jungled with Master Yi and Olaf before. I had a couple of successful ganks early game, but when midgame came, I decided to deviate from my regular build and add an item before it. Bad idea. I suffered heavily from that (what made me do it in ranked, idk). However, it did get into the 50-min mark, and I was able to recuperate and redo my build. 5/11/29

Game #2, I changed to Jarvan IV. I wanted to make a DPS build for that game, but it was terrible. I kept getting focused whether or not I initiate, forcing me to rebuild offtank. Also, my masteries page bugged out while I was filling it up, adding more problems. The rebuild was too late, grabbing us a loss. 11/10/18

Game #3, I changed to Xin Zhao, since I was second pick. This is when the terribad kids who could barely talk in english came in. Of course, that wasn't the only reason. They were also bad. Of course, I also blame myself, because at the end of that game, I went 2/8/2.


All in all, it was a great experience. When there's something on the line, I tend to play more serious. However, the number of ranked-viable champs I play is low. I do intend on fixing that, and hopefully the next few games turn out better.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Hana Saku Iroha 04 - "Grey Heron Rhapsody" ~spoilers~

Episode 4 marks the start of the school trimester, and so we finally see the gang in seifuku~ 8D

Ahem... anyways, the trio is back in class, with Ohana's optimism hoping that they are all in the same class. To her surprise and approval, she is placed in the same class as Minko, though she still has a cold demeanor against Ohana. We are then introduced to a new character, Yuina, who "saves" Ohana from the new student syndrome and discovers that she is the heir to the "rival" inn in the city.


As Ohana and Nako eat lunch together, they overhear Minko and guy who confesses to her, but is of course sharply declined. He asks what type of person she likes, Minko goes into much details about it, seemingly too specific for him. As they go back to work, Tomoe is enraged about how her life is all about the inn, and no men are interested in her. Ohana's tongue slips about Ko, and she feels the "wrath" of Tomoe for hilarity. Nako and Ohana take a trip to the Fukuya for errands, and they spend some time together in a shrine Nako frequents.



Ohana goes back to work, and is still confused as to whether or not she should reply to Ko's message. While setting up dinner, Tohru once again gives Ohana a hard time, and when Minko takes over for her, she sees this as an act of kindness. In the bathhouse, Ohana attempts to call Minko by nickname, using her dislike for Tohru as a "common interest" between them. However, it is then revealed that Minko feels the opposite with Tohru, as he has every single concrete detail that Minko enumerated earlier. The next morning, Ohana attempts to apologize, and both of them see Tohru on his bike. As Minko attempts to call out, they see Yuina, and seeing her actions, it felt like Tohru was more interested in her. This hits Minko hard, and runs for it, while Ohana is blocked by another grey heron.