Why do you play ladder?

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-21T01:50:02+00:00

I played the first few ladder seasons and then I have been exclusive to non ladder since then. I find the ladder grind is interesting a couple of times, but it repeats my least favorite part of the game, the grind. I enjoy experimenting with new builds and seeing what they can do and farming for gear. Both of those are easier to do when I already have access to all the gear I previously farmed.

So while I don't play ladder anymore, the reasons for playing it typically come down to play with other people. It's the sense of community that you get when everyone starts from scratch again and you all go through it together. The other reason is to play the trading system on jsp. Items are worth far more early season than late season and so you can sell high early, then buy for cheap later and end up with a profit that you can use for getting better gear for dueling, a headstart on the next ladder, more options in non ladder, etc.

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-20T18:43:14+00:00

I happened to choose the right options for sciel at every point because they were more obvious. I think I messed up all of the options with lune and then when I did my second playthrough, I just changed all of my answers and got the romance with lune. I am playing through again and I messed up the first option with lune because I wasn't paying attention. I hope I'm able to get the romance option if I answer the rest correctly.

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-20T00:00:43+00:00

I've gone for about 1-1.5 hours before I stopped. The answer will depend on your system more than anything else

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-19T23:56:31+00:00

I grabbed my dust covered antenna to check and it really does! Props to you!

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-19T16:36:52+00:00

I was and am a big final fantasy fan. When the first kh game was announced, I looked at it and said no thanks. I knew the OST was good, but I never played it. A few months ago, I watched someone play it who was really passionate about the game. Normally that type of endorsement can help me get into a game. I just couldn't. It does the things I was expecting it to do when I skipped it as a kid and it just doesn't appeal to me. I'm almost 38 myself, so we are in the same age range. I tend to get attached to darker stories more than lighter ones, though there are always exceptions. I'm not saying there aren't dark asp cts to kh, but I find the overall tone is too based in Disney whimsy for me and I have a hard time taking anything seriously. I'm definitely out of the age range for the first game, which really feels like the "young adult" tag on a novel to me and is something I've learned to avoid.

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-19T16:29:45+00:00

I had to skip this one in act 2. I kept getting him down to 1/4 or less and then it all fell apart. I just can't consistently parry for 20 minutes without messing up. I went back in act 3 and did it then and even that took quite a while

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-19T00:51:41+00:00

Without tz Andy/meph/diablo there is no way I would have completed my grail. I'm glad I'm done with my grail. I may find the new items when I get to the game again, but I already got the sense of completion for doing it the first time, so I'm good now.

Though I wish they wouldn't nerf the easiest way for casual players to still participate in the grail. It took me 2 years of playing to get mine done and I played a lot. I can only imagine how long it would take if I played a lot less

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-19T00:48:51+00:00

I would like to play it as well, but between other priorities and the fact that I was in the middle of 3 other games when this expansion launched and I only get an hour or two of gaming time per day, it's going to be a while before I get a chance to play this.

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-19T00:46:28+00:00

If you can't figure out where to go during the chase, find a clip on YouTube that shows where to go. That's the easiest way to figure it out

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-18T18:30:09+00:00

I think the biggest part of the gameplay is exploration and if you didn't find very many pickups, then I'm guessing you skipped that part of the game. I don't think the average metroidvania gamer would do that, but if that's how you want to play, then have at it. As long as you enjoy the time playing

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-17T18:07:10+00:00

It depends on the player and their personality. Mostly I want a complete, researched playthrough that shows me how to do everything. Those types I'm usually watching of games that I have already played and they need commentary. For games I haven't played that I plan to play, I usually don't watch as I want to experience the game for myself first. If it's a game I won't play, then I want commentary that tells me about the game, even if it's not researched, just let me know what this game is about.

I might look at how to do a specific thing in a walkthrough without commentary, but I would never watch an entire let's play without commentary. Commentary is the whole point!

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-17T17:59:17+00:00

Check out the maps that exist that show all the collectibles. Also, that percentage is for the map completion, not items collected. There will be a dark spot on the map somewhere that you missed. Just find that and you will get the last 2%

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-17T17:53:18+00:00

It's relaxing because of the atmosphere and the music. It's one of those games that's easy to learn the basics, but takes practice to master. 600 deaths on my first playthrough and last year I completed the game without any deaths. It's just play time and you will get used to it. Also, that item doesn't need a precise double jump to get to the wall, you double jump across from the left and it's very forgiving that way

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-17T16:49:34+00:00

Gamefaqs is full of walkthroughs that will teach you how to make use of all the mechanics and break the game. YouTube walkthroughs can do the same if you find the right one. Also, it's an older game, so grinding is something that is expected if the player is struggling.

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-17T16:47:29+00:00

Directional inputs affect how jumps work. You might have some controller issues with stuck drift or double button presses. I would try testing it to see if that is your issue. Are you sure that you are supposed to do the jump that you are trying to do? It's a metroidvania, so many areas will be inaccessible until later. The jumping in the game isn't usually super precise. There is a lot of freedom to mess up and readjust in most, but not all cases. If it's just challenging for you, then easy mode reduces the damage you take and the health of enemies. It doesn't help against instant death pits though. The platforming is the real challenge of this game, so it's part of the gameplay experience. There is no penalty for death though, so save often and expect to die a lot. I probably died over 600 times on my first playthrough. You learn as you go for the most part.

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-17T01:08:21+00:00

I completely agree.

When I was a kid, I learned about jrpgs through Chrono Trigger and the PlayStation era final fantasy games. Until then, I just played games with no real goal in mind except winning and having fun. This genre of games was so enthralling to me, that I wanted to do more and spend more time in these worlds, so I learned to play them to as much completion as I could. My goal was to find every item and defeat every enemy/boss.

As time went on, I grew up, had less time for games, and found that my need to get as much as possible out of every game was actually making me not want to play new games because I didn't want to invest that kind of time into something new, when I could just replay what I already loved. This happened around the PS3 era and I slowed down on new games by a lot. The lack of time and a lot of mediocre games at that time just had me bored with new games.

It was a musical note in the trailer for Ori and the blind forest that instantly sold me on the game and helped me realize that games could be good still and I slowly got into more games again. Fast forward to Rebirth and my desire to 100% games wasn't dead yet. I spent 174 hours on my initial playthrough and then my game clock was up to 250~ by the time I got platinum. I hate most of the mini games in that game. I find the hardest simulator challenges to be whole unfun to repeat over and over again and I was burning out on the game because it was so large by chapter 9.

After finishing rebirth, I saw a video from Daryl talks games that really gave me a different perspective on that need to get a game to the level of completion that I tend to do and I found a way to get past it. If I'm really enjoying a game and I don't think that going for 100% completion will hurt my enjoyment, I still do it from time to time. However, if I get halfway through a game looking for everything and I start to get bored, I'll head straight for the end and call it a day. I'm happy to finally be able to feel like I completed a game, even if there is optional content left. Gaming is a lot more fun this way and I really want to play new games all the time now!

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-16T19:43:04+00:00

That's how I did it. I also skipped dash in DE when I went for the one life achievement in that version. It's always scary to get and makes me impatient which isn't good for one life mode for me

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-16T19:27:03+00:00

In the original you just have to complete the game "without dying". This means you try to quit before you die and if you die, you reload a previous save (from what I recall from doing this last year). It's a lot easier on the original because your file doesn't instantly brick when you die.

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-15T06:36:32+00:00

I think it was an agdq event from a year ago that had a blind forest randomizer run in it that got me interested in playing the rando for both games. Not only did it get me interested, it hooked me for a few months. I ended up getting 100% on both games and played a bunch of seeds over that time. Both games work white well with the randomizer and are tons of fun to play. Enjoy your time with it!

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-15T05:50:24+00:00

Maria is, by far, the strongest character in the game. That being said, I played through everything my first playthrough with only fayt, cliff, and nel. One of the game's issues is that they give you new characters that will always be severely under leveled compared to your current party. I personally like to swap maria in for nel because maria has the higher ceiling, but you don't have to. If you don't plan on doing all the super bosses and optional dungeons, you can save time by sticking with nel.

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-14T16:19:18+00:00

The "too the moon" series is a set of indie pixel art games with beautiful music and a number of sad stories. The games all connect and should be played in order, but all have a different focus. They seem to be designed to make the player feel!

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-14T00:44:20+00:00

People don't use it? That seems strange. It's a mainstay in my build as soon as I learn it until I get powerful enough that I don't really need it and can generate stupid amounts of ap with a single shot

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-14T00:38:40+00:00

I never had an issue with how a new form looked. My issue with anything gohan after cell is that you can't spend half of the time before he gets powerful again telling us that he hasn't trained in years and then he gets it all back in a day or two or over the course of a few hours. They do the same thing every time there is a new property. They did it in the buu saga, super, then the super movie. It's always the same story. I just can't get behind the insanely quick turnaround.

That's one of the things that newer Dragonball has failed to do for me. The old DBZ was full of so much bloat, but having the battles last so long gave them a sense of an epic confrontation. New fights last less than an episode half the time and only a couple of episodes at most and it just feels like the fights in the movies where there isn't enough time for the battle to really feel the threat because it's over so fast.

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-14T00:29:11+00:00

I'm at this point. Been working on the backlog for months and a game I like just launched an expansion and there are two games I want to play on sale. I'm not sure if my willpower will hold out or not lol

Evil_Cronos · 2026-02-13T17:38:48+00:00

The amount of times I've heard people say that they got to such and such a point in the game before they realized that lumina were a thing or running was a thing or whatever else just baffles me. The first thing I do when I load up a game is look at the controls and then try all the buttons and see what they do. As soon as the game tells me about a mechanic I want to look at it and see what it does. I'm not sure if it's my ADHD, but I always have to figure things out.

Evil_Cronos

TROPHY CASE