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[Kuro Madoushi]

Blah I played further into the desert area and still more fucking tutorials. I don't give a shit if BiS had it as well. Teach your fucking audience through gameplay how to play. I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE, I'M CERTAIN YOU KNOW HOW TO GODDAMN JUMP!

Despite all the shit hand holding in this and BiS, it's still better than sticker star but below Bis. And I like what I am able to play; when they don't forcibly grab my hand and show me how to do simple shit. There is a red button, I can figure out it stops you. Arrow going the other way? Well geez, maybe it turns your platform the other way. The puzzles aren't so hard that you can use a very minute amount of brain power and trial and error to solve it. If people can figure out new tools and how to use them in Zelda without all the text, I'm sure you can do the same here.

 

[Derrick01]

It's a shame to hear about the increasingly troubling problem with Nintendo and their casual hand-holding (it's becoming more like suffocating). I liked the previous games and I'd like to get this when I eventually get a 3DS, hopefully later this year. But all this talk about 10 hour tutorials or whatever and it's really scaring me off.

 

[ffdgh]

So i'm near the end and everything has been great...but the final giant battle is...was a lot of trial and error...for me.

 

[Sora_N]

I don't mind the tutorials, I just wish they did it in a way where it's not some random fucking character screaming instructions in my face.

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

It's a shame to hear about the increasingly troubling problem with Nintendo and their casual hand-holding (it's becoming more like suffocating). I liked the previous games and I'd like to get this when I eventually get a 3DS, hopefully later this year. But all this talk about 10 hour tutorials or whatever and it's really scaring me off.

They don't do it in all of their games though. The other recent Mario RPG, Sticker Star, teaches you the basic mechanics in the beginning and then leaves you alone. And it is a much less annoying game because of it.

 

[El Odio]

Okay, Dreambert asking if I knew how to move when you learn the cone form/dreamy spin jump was just about the most insulting thing ever.

 

[Berordn]

Okay, Dreambert asking if I knew how to move when you learn the cone form/dreamy spin jump was just about the most insulting thing ever.

He's actually asking if you can, not if you know how. No less obnoxious, but all the same.

 

[DaBoss]

Well I think the Dozing Sands area had 2 things that bugged me. Near the beginning, when you first ask Britta to go up to the area you want to go to, she explains that maybe it has to do with the statues, but that felt like they thought you were stupid. It was already explained, and then they explain it again.

The other area was the long drill tutorial that Britta gives you. You already know how to use it, she can easily have showed what the buttons and block did in one short tutorial, but it was longer than it needed to be. Went back and forth 4 times I think, and then had you go back to the starting area.

I'll also chalk up Dreambert asking if you knew how to do the Luiginary Stack as something due to not having it done in a long time, but I may have felt like that was nothing because my last play session was 3 days ago.

 

[Frost_Ace]

Just got to Somnom Woods, the music is AMAZING.

 

[PorygonVandal]

Just bought this game from Amazon!

Can't wait for it to arrive!

 

[Katsuragi]

The Wakeport town theme is so good!

 

[DeVeAn]

I remember loving Superstar Saga so much. Got partner's in time played very little, babies annoyed me. Bought Bis and its still sealed. Playing Dream Team and I am in the desert. The tutorials are a little much. It breaks the flow and makes me want to stop playing. I still love the battle system though.

 

[Gonzo The Great]

They don't do it in all of their games though. The other recent Mario RPG, Sticker Star, teaches you the basic mechanics in the beginning and then leaves you alone. And it is a much less annoying game because of it.

Not a chance. I'd take a few tutorials over an obtuse, tedious game of rock, paper, scissors any day of the week.

 

[Currygan]

I remember loving Superstar Saga so much. Got partner's in time played very little, babies annoyed me. Bought Bis and its still sealed. Playing Dream Team and I am in the desert. The tutorials are a little much. It breaks the flow and makes me want to stop playing. I still love the battle system though.

you have BIS sealed? why son, why

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

Not a chance. I'd take a few tutorials over an obtuse, tedious game of rock, paper, scissors any day of the week.

Fair enough, I guess it is a matter of preference. There was only one moment in Sticker Star where I became infuriated because I had no idea what to do. Dream Team consistently tests my patience. I still enjoy the core game though.

 

[DeVeAn]

you have BIS sealed? why son, why

I know one of those buy 2 get 1 free deals. Never got to it.

 

[Nohar]

So... What bonuses did you choose when you ranked up? It seems that we can only get 4 of them, so I better choose wisely (even if the game isn't that hard).

I went for ATT+1 as my first choice, figuring out that if I end up at level 40 or 50 in the end-game, that would be a whooping +40/50 ATT in the long run, which is kind of nice (a new gear slot would have been better for immediate bonuses though). Next I plan to get Gear+1, and Gear+1 again (from what I gathered, we can pick this one two times). That would leave me with Ironclad as the 4th bonus (unless there are other kind of bonuses which will be available later).

 

[Sorian]

It's a shame to hear about the increasingly troubling problem with Nintendo and their casual hand-holding (it's becoming more like suffocating). I liked the previous games and I'd like to get this when I eventually get a 3DS, hopefully later this year. But all this talk about 10 hour tutorials or whatever and it's really scaring me off.

It's the exact same as the previous games. If you liked them then you will be getting the same here. As far as I see, there are only tutorials for "new" mechanics (I put it in quotes because it will be new to this iteration but something you've done multiple times over if you've played the last installments) and they add new mechanics all the way through until the end of the game. What it boils down to is when you enter a new area you will usually get one battle tutorial and maybe an overworld tutorial but after that you have free reign to the dungeon/area and there is little hand-holding the rest of the way. Starlow may pop into to be a pain in the ass and say "look over there, a door" but its so quick and non-intrusive that I barely remember it happened a minute later.

 

[SuperSah]

Just got Dream Team, i'm excited to play.

 

[eojoko]

So... What bonuses did you choose when you ranked up? It seems that we can only get 4 of them, so I better choose wisely (even if the game isn't that hard).

Actually,

Spoiler

I believe you can choose 5 slots if you reach level 40.

I went with POW+1 for Loogie and Badge+1 for Mario as my first choices. I regret the POW+1 for Loogie, but am really happy with Badge+1. I think the badge slots are VERY useful in this game.

Spoiler

No damage for 6 turns! x4 badge slots! every boss is cake.

It would be spoilery to talk about my later choices.

I'd say Badge slots and Gear slots are pretty useful, but honestly, anything you pick will be fine. The only mistake I think you could make is choosing a stat boosting one late. Other than that, seems like anything will be useful.

Also, I'll say again that I just absolutely love this game.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Gear Slot +1 is a must

 

[Berordn]

The first thing I went for were the gear slots. They're probably less useful in the long run, but some of the Mush Jams and scarves ended up being really useful.

 

[Gartooth]

Finished the game! Final playtime was around 33 hours, definitely the longest game in the series as the other three were around 20 hours. Final levels for the Bros. were level 34 each. Overall the final boss wasn't that difficult, thought previous final bosses in the series were harder. Of course, I think the "withstand 6 attacks" badge ability (which I used a majority of the game) is just plain broken and takes a lot of the difficulty away.

For my rank up abilities the first I did for each was quick level so that grinding would be easier, after that I gave each bro another gear slot, and then finally (there is another rank but I didn't level up to get it) I gave Mario half BP for specials, and Luigi 200% healing items.

Overall game was great! The first few hours were killer with the tutorials and bad pacing leading me to feeling a little burnt out early on. However overall the game for the most part had a genius design, a lot of really cool subsystems and battle mechanics. The dream world in particular led to some of my favorite parts of the game as I loved the battle system and Giant Luigi battles

Spoiler

(although the finishing move on the last battle took forever for me to get it right)

but I thought just level traversal in the 2D areas wasn't nearly as fun as going around the 3D environments and solving puzzles in the real world.


The Dream World was a great concept and fun for this game, but I don't think it should return in the next one. I would love for AlphaDream to have another go at Bowser personally. Overall, I think my ranking for the series would be BiS > DT > SS > PiT.

 

[ConradCervantes]

Hit a wall once I got to the Desert. Nothing particularly game-breaking, although the humor is nowhere near the level of its predecessor due to Bowser returning to the sidelines most of the time. So far I'd rank it third in the series just above PiT.

 

[Futureman]

if pressing B doesnt work there's nothing you can do, sadly. Must be a glitch, like DaBoss said

yea if you listen right near the end, Mario stops jumping and I'm still hitting a button (B) and Luigi doesn't react.

I'll try booting it up again today to see if it still happens. Really enjoy the game though, will probably pick it up eventually.

 

[Nohar]

I think I'll not use the "withstand x attacks" badges... It's way too broken.

 

[Currygan]

yea if you listen right near the end, Mario stops jumping and I'm still hitting a button (B) and Luigi doesn't react.

I'll try booting it up again today to see if it still happens. Really enjoy the game though, will probably pick it up eventually.

yeah one thing for sure, that glitch aint in the game. In fact i think i havent experienced a single one during my playtime

 

[Frost_Ace]

Jesus Christ the Dreamy Somnom woods theme is fantastic.

 

[Marjar]

Okay now this game is kinda irritating me. :/

It seems like there's way too much trial and error with certain enemies and bosses. The other M&L games weren't like this at all. You could always predict how to counter certain attacks after getting hit once, or even when you first see the attack. It takes like several times for me to even understand the timing for some attacks in this game. It feels really cheap and unfun.

 

[MYeager]

Okay now this game is kinda irritating me. :/

It seems like there's way too much trial and error with certain enemies and bosses. The other M&L games weren't like this at all. You could always predict how to counter certain attacks after getting hit once, or even when you first see the attack. It takes like several times for me to even understand the timing for some attacks in this game. It feels really cheap and unfun.

Some of the enemy tells are a bit more subtle than others in this game compared to past games, some of the tells last just a second before the attack. If you're having trouble in the Dream Land, some defense/counter moves require you to use the joystick in addition to pressing a button, something which I know tripped me up a few times.

 

[Amikami]

Okay now this game is kinda irritating me. :/

It seems like there's way too much trial and error with certain enemies and bosses. The other M&L games weren't like this at all. You could always predict how to counter certain attacks after getting hit once, or even when you first see the attack. It takes like several times for me to even understand the timing for some attacks in this game. It feels really cheap and unfun.

I'm only 10 hours in but so far I'm actually enjoying that. The enemies are more subtle with there signals, and they have more variations to their attacks. Keeps me on my toes. Some enemies are definitely harder than others to learn.

 

[El Odio]

Okay now this game is kinda irritating me. :/

It seems like there's way too much trial and error with certain enemies and bosses. The other M&L games weren't like this at all. You could always predict how to counter certain attacks after getting hit once, or even when you first see the attack. It takes like several times for me to even understand the timing for some attacks in this game. It feels really cheap and unfun.

What's annoying me more is I've fought most enemies if encountered and shouldn't feel under leveled and yet most bosses have attacks that can still KO me in one hit if I'm not in full health. It's really irritating.

 

[Penguin]

Okay in the Mountain Dream World, boss question

Spoiler

When he charges at you and the game tells you to slide, what are you supposed to do? I keep sliding the stylus across the touch screen but nothing happens so imagine I'm missing something here.

 

[Secret Fawful]

I bought this game and SMT4, and so far Dream Team has been fantastic. The tutorials are awful, but most of them are skippable, and the ones that aren't can be skipped relatively fast. Even with the tutorials, the game is pretty difficult. It honestly feels like a Falcom game with Mario in it at times, and it's filled with personality, charm, expressiveness, and imagination.

Glad I didn't listen to Gaf on this one.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

It's a shame to hear about the increasingly troubling problem with Nintendo and their casual hand-holding (it's becoming more like suffocating). I liked the previous games and I'd like to get this when I eventually get a 3DS, hopefully later this year. But all this talk about 10 hour tutorials or whatever and it's really scaring me off.

Its the internet. Things are overblown. Yes you may see a tutorial for something 8 hours in, but its not like you where playing a basic and boring tutorial map for the entire time. The game is fun and being scared off by a slow first few hours and ignoring the heaps of praise for the rest seems a bit silly.

 

[Derrick01]

It's the exact same as the previous games. If you liked them then you will be getting the same here. As far as I see, there are only tutorials for "new" mechanics (I put it in quotes because it will be new to this iteration but something you've done multiple times over if you've played the last installments) and they add new mechanics all the way through until the end of the game. What it boils down to is when you enter a new area you will usually get one battle tutorial and maybe an overworld tutorial but after that you have free reign to the dungeon/area and there is little hand-holding the rest of the way. Starlow may pop into to be a pain in the ass and say "look over there, a door" but its so quick and non-intrusive that I barely remember it happened a minute later.

I guess that's not too bad. I was likely going to get the game no matter what anyway but I was dreading a FF13 type scenario.

 

[Busaiku]

Augh, how are some of these Nommon puzzles possible.

 

[pariah164]

Augh, how are some of these Nommon puzzles possible.

My thoughts exactly. I turned the game off yesterday and haven't come back because they're so infuriating.

 

[ffdgh]

The nommon puzzles weren't too bad after I stared at them for a bit to find a route.

 

[Marjar]

Another thing that's been a problem with the M&L series in general is the speed of battles. Superstar Saga had really quick battles, really quick Bros. attacks, and just overall felt really fucking fast. Every entry in this series after the first feel sluggish in comparison, and this game is no different.

In fact, the extremely slow pace of battles in BIS was the main reason why I consider it the worst one. Bowser's gameplay was just absurdly slow and boring to me, and it really ruined the gameplay. This game is much, much better, but still the Bros. attacks and some attacks from enemies just take way too long and really drag out battles sometimes. I miss the super quick, reflex focused Bros. attacks in the first game.

 

[Chezzymann]

I'm pissed off because I spent the past 3 hours constantly grinding because it was impossible to beat the part of the "beef off" you have to do in three moves. After I got Mario and Luigi both leveled up to 16 and their power levels to 70, it still wasn't enough to beat this one guy so I just wimped out and did the battles in easy mode. After I got to the boss, it was impossible for me to beat him and (I didn't want to do another fight in easy mode again) so I was forced to exit to the title screen since they don't give you any other options. Apparently I lost 3 hours of grinding now because I forgot to save. Ugh. I'm done with this game for a while.

 

[Penguin]

I'm pissed off because I spent the past 3 hours constantly grinding because it was impossible to beat the part of the "beef off" you have to do in three moves. After I got Mario and Luigi both leveled up to 16 and their power levels to 70, it still wasn't enough to beat this one guy so I just wimped out and did the battles in easy mode. After I got to the boss, it was impossible for me to beat him and (I didn't want to do another fight in easy mode again) so I was forced to exit to the title screen since they don't give you any other options. Apparently I lost 3 hours of grinding now because I forgot to save. Ugh. I'm done with this game for a while.

I found the key to that battle was just spam the Bro Attack moves for everything!

 

[Chezzymann]

I found the key to that battle was just spam the Bro Attack moves for everything!

Bros. attacks moves are for the real world. But not really lol, jumping on their head does more damage than a "luiginary" attack from what I've seen. (Jumping on their head does around 80-90 for me, while a luiginary attack does around 70ish.)

 

[Busaiku]

Bros. attacks moves are for the real world. But not really lol, jumping on their head does more damage than a "luiginary" attack from what I've seen. (Jumping on their head does around 80-90 for me, while a luiginary attack does around 70ish.)

Are you missing on the proper timing for Luiginary Stomp (don't remember if you get it by that point or not, but I think so)?
Cause that does like 150+ easy on Great or Excellent.

And I never put a single point into POW.

 

[Chezzymann]

Are you missing on the proper timing for Luiginary Stomp (don't remember if you get it by that point or not, but I think so)?
Cause that does like 150+ easy on Great or Excellent.

And I never put a single point into POW.

I only have the ball one right now. Did anyone else have to grind a shitload to increase their POW so they could beat the beef off? Cause this is unusually hard for me. I can't find any way around it though because of the whole "YOU MUST BEAT THIS GUY IN THREE MOVES" shebang. Its reaaaally annoying.

 

[Busaiku]

I never went back to grind or anything, but I always made sure to clear every enemy in an area.
But again, I never put any into POW, always Stache.

Yeah, you do get Luiginary Stack by that point (it's in Dreamy Dozing Sands).

 

[eojoko]

I only have the ball one right now. Did anyone else have to grind a shitload to increase their POW so they could beat the beef off? Cause this is unusually hard for me. I can't find any way around it though because of the whole "YOU MUST BEAT THIS GUY IN THREE MOVES" shebang. Its reaaaally annoying.

No, I did not have to grind at all for anything in this game. For that particular battle, I just used Luiginary stack 2 or 3 times before he was dead. If you patiently explore the game you should always be at an adequate level, and you should have that Luiginary attack by that point.

 

[elohel]

debating picking this up with the eshop 30 dollar bonus funds

either that or ocarina of time

 

[Chezzymann]

No, I did not have to grind at all for anything in this game. For that particular battle, I just used Luiginary stack 2 or 3 times before he was dead. If you patiently explore the game you should always be at an adequate level, and you should have that Luiginary attack by that point.

I patiently explore the game lol. I talk to all the NPCS and look at everything in each area. I don't know how I missed the luiginary stack.

Where do you get the luiginary stack? Is it from the puzzle pieces in the dream world?

 

[ffdgh]

You should have had it in the sand dream world. Probably missed a few pieces.