Recommend me anything

[Fifthfiend]

Literally anything. What particular thing do you think I should know more about and take an interest in? An interesting activity? A clever methodology? A delightful entertainment? A high-quality product available at scandalously low prices? Please, enlighten me.

[stefan]

absinthe.

No, seriously. its a drink with a very interesting history, and there's a lot of stuff to talk about it. I suggest checking out the Wormwood Society.

[bluestarultor]

Persona 4 for the PS2. It takes everything that was ever bad about Persona 3, a good game in its own right, and tosses it out the window, then takes everything that was ever good about it and makes it even better. The game is simply sublime and my only major complaint is that I spoiled myself by reading the Wikipedia article before I bought it.

The characters are all incredibly human with human flaws, rather than the generic stocks (albeit GOOD generic stocks) that Persona 3 had, and while you may end up hating one or two of them, you'll end up doing so because you logically realize that they can't hear you yelling at them through the screen to stop being so immature. The cast is quite three-dimensional. Symbolism is more subtle this time around, but the enemy types do tend to reflect bits of people's psyches that really hint at the inner thoughts and fears of the people you're trying to rescue.

The interface has been streamlined from Persona 3's often-long sequences for social link stuff and other grievances, as have damage types, with all physical damage counting as a single type, which works surprisingly well with the system now treating it much more like an element, with the overall effect of it paradoxically mattering more than in P3.

Your social links actually have direct combat effects now, too. By advancing your relationships with individual party members, they gain helpful abilities in combat that range from executing instant critical hits to taking fatal hits for you, which is a literal lifesaver given the game still ends if the main character dies. It also ends if you fail to save people from being murdered, but unlike P3's driving pace making the game feel like a second job with a horrible boss, P4 gives you plenty of time to work with and encourages you to train as much as you like before beating the next boss. In many cases, you'll end up with over a week of in-game free time to work with to increase your social stats.

Finding it at this point may be hard and expensive, but if you like turn-based combat systems with an emphasis on tactics, mysteries, and role-playing, it's well worth the effort and money.

[BattyAsHell]

Originally Posted by bluestarultor

Persona 4 for the PS2. It takes everything that was ever bad about Persona 3, a good game in its own right, and tosses it out the window, then takes everything that was ever good about it and makes it even better. The game is simply sublime and my only major complaint is that I spoiled myself by reading the Wikipedia article before I bought it.

The characters are all incredibly human with human flaws, rather than the generic stocks (albeit GOOD generic stocks) that Persona 3 had, and while you may end up hating one or two of them, you'll end up doing so because you logically realize that they can't hear you yelling at them through the screen to stop being so immature. The cast is quite three-dimensional. Symbolism is more subtle this time around, but the enemy types do tend to reflect bits of people's psyches that really hint at the inner thoughts and fears of the people you're trying to rescue.

The interface has been streamlined from Persona 3's often-long sequences for social link stuff and other grievances, as have damage types, with all physical damage counting as a single type, which works surprisingly well with the system now treating it much more like an element, with the overall effect of it paradoxically mattering more than in P3.

Your social links actually have direct combat effects now, too. By advancing your relationships with individual party members, they gain helpful abilities in combat that range from executing instant critical hits to taking fatal hits for you, which is a literal lifesaver given the game still ends if the main character dies. It also ends if you fail to save people from being murdered, but unlike P3's driving pace making the game feel like a second job with a horrible boss, P4 gives you plenty of time to work with and encourages you to train as much as you like before beating the next boss. In many cases, you'll end up with over a week of in-game free time to work with to increase your social stats.

Finding it at this point may be hard and expensive, but if you like turn-based combat systems with an emphasis on tactics, mysteries, and role-playing, it's well worth the effort and money.

If it's between this or Shadow Hearts: Covenant, do you still recommend Persona 4?

I have SH:C collecting dust, and figure maybe I'll get Persona when I finish it.. But I have a feeling maybe I should get it while the gettings good, considering the PS2 titles are slowly but surely disappearing off store shelves and starting to generally become harder to find..

[BattyAsHell]

I hope recommending another sprite comic isn't breaking an unspoken rule, but here's my recommendation:

The only great pseudo sprite web comic.

8 Bit and Captain SNES are the two great sprite web comics, but Kidd Radd technically makes fake sprites, so that's why I call it "pseudo sprite". But it's a fantastic read.. One of the best webcomics ever.

Unfortunately, the homepage is dead, but I linked you to an existing archive of the entire webcomic. It has some issues with IE, so you'll need to play it in Firefox.. And even than, the few times they use music it won't work right.

If you can somehow get an old copy of IE, that would be ideal.. But yeah, just read it. It's too good not to experience once..

[bluestarultor]

Originally Posted by BattyAsHell

If it's between this or Shadow Hearts: Covenant, do you still recommend Persona 4?

I have SH:C collecting dust, and figure maybe I'll get Persona when I finish it.. But I have a feeling maybe I should get it while the gettings good, considering the PS2 titles are slowly but surely disappearing off store shelves and starting to generally become harder to find..

I don't own the Shadow Hearts series, but I have seen the first game a bit from an old friend. I can say it's a totally different feel. Maybe Persona 3 would be closer, but Persona 4 is a much lighter affair.

That said, if you're in for a much lighter affair, and a look into the life of a Japanese high school student, it's a great example of a mish-mash that just works, like how on paper, Cowboy Bebop being a mixture of jazz and space opera sounds odd, but turns out to be the best thing ever. Persona 4 mixes exploring generated dungeons with dating sim sequences and some pretty sweet music that splits the difference between J-pop and hip-hop with a bit of jazz that has near-universal appeal, with a heaping dose of world lore ranging from Japanese mythology to Hindu to the Goethe to Kabbalism and more, wraps it up in a serial murder mystery, and populates it with characters that transcend simple stocks most JRPGs use to pad the roster.

Originally Posted by Invisible Queen

For a dude, I think the term would be dongjazzle. Or wangbling. Fo'shizzle.

Tool-jewel.

[BloodyMage]

Gossip Girl.

[Fifthfiend]

Originally Posted by BloodyMage

Gossip Girl.

Get out.

[Pip Boy]

Doctor! We're losing him! Get him 20 cc's of Billy Mays! Stat!

[Bard The 5th LW]

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Gaia.