I gotta give Bethesda credit for announcing Fallout 4 just five months before it will hit shelves on November 10th. That doesn’t leave yours truly much time to be consumed with the task of deciding my character’s SPECIAL stats! As you may recall, Fallout builds were my specialty back in the blog’s early days, and not much has changed–I still love thinking about how to get the most out of my character.

And so, after watching today’s Bethesda press event, here are some thoughts I had about character development and combat. Naturally I payed close attention when SPECIAL was shown. These seven attributes have always played a big role in your character’s development and what weapons they can use.

This image right here confirms that you can sprint in Fallout 4–something you couldn’t do in Fallout 3 or New Vegas. Running consumes AP, and Endurance determines how quickly it recovers. AP, you may recall, is the same resource used by the series’ trademark aim-assisted VATS mode. That’s a pretty huge way to distinguish how character builds will function. AP can either be used to target enemies at a distance with projectiles, or run up and hit them in the face. This will make Endurance even more important for melee and unarmed fighters since it boosts their HP and ability to close in on targets. Conversely, Endurance will be even less important for those seeking long-range stealth kills.

Next up is Intelligence. Once the obvious choice for the “max” in min-max approaches, Intelligence used to provide your character with additional skill points upon leveling up. This meant smarter characters could master more skills. Now…

Intelligence simply gives you more EXP. Which, uh… In a game very likely to have a level cap… Well, that means at a certain point having high Intelligence will do nothing for you! “Well then, it’s settled! My character will be dumber than a mole rat!”
Not so fast, intrepid wasteland wanderer! Remember that in today’s reveal it was made clear that crafting will play a huge role in Fallout 4. Your base, your weapons, your armor–they can all be crafted, enhanced, and maintained through crafting. I’d wager there are some excellent crafting-related perks with Intelligence requirements to make this stat worthwhile.

Luck is a stat that I kept low in Fallout 3 because why rely on RNG for critical hits when getting a sneak attack always results in a critical hit? I dumped a few more points in Luck for Blackjack games in New Vegas, but otherwise Luck is a stat I’ve never really cared much about. Now, it looks like the Fallout 4 team may have made another smart balancing decision by attaching some form of timer to critical hits. I’d wager this timer also applies to sneak attack criticals, meaning an even more patient, stealthy style of gameplay will be required if this is your M.O.

Some other things to note:

• Perception now determines your accuracy in VATS
• Agility governs your ability to sneak
• The game will have a layered armor system

Have you noticed a trend? It seems many of the SPECIAL stats directly control a variety of aspects of gameplay once controlled by skills including sneaking and accuracy. It also seems there is no SPECIAL stat that affects how many skill points you receive upon leveling up. Could it be that the game has done away with skill points and the skill-based system in favor of just SPECIAL and perks? Examining the stat screen, I only see options for STATUS, SPECIAL, and PERKS, so that seems to back up my crazy theory.

Character builds in the last couple Fallout games were pretty similar, with maximizing skill points being the clear objective to end up with a character who was essentially good at everything. It looks like Fallout 4 may be taking a more balanced approach, making your abilities directly tied to your SPECIAL. I would definitely welcome this much needed change! Rest assured that I’ll be keeping my eyes out for any future evidence to back up or refute my crazy theories.

Nintendo doesn’t bring new IPs into the world very often (last one was Pikmin circa 2001), but when they do; fuck man, they do it right. Equal parts Portal and Jet Set Radio, Splatoon somehow provides all the joys I imagine one gets from the real shooters without the stress or the gravely narrators talking about alien invasion. My first weekend with Splatoon is a blur of vivid colored paint, fashionable clothes, and squid memes. I just couldn’t stop playing.

Recently I’ve been on a quest to find the gun that’s right for me. One that can cover a lot of territory but is still reliable in a firefight. And call me a hipster, but I also like to use weapons I don’t see other players rocking all that often. What can I say, I like to feel like a unique snowflake.

Ah, my first love: the Tentatek Splattershot. Splattershots in general are very well balanced in terms of rate of fire, paint consumption, and accuracy. I prefer this version to the standard model since its Special Weapon–the Inkzooka–is super effective at clearing paths or wrecking child-shaped squids. Got a lot of mileage out of this gun.

When I see someone with a Blaster, I worry about 2 things:

1. Guy Fieri somehow got a hold of a Wii U and is hunting me down like in that nightmare I keep having
2. I’m gonna get destroyed because, in the right hands, this thing is frightening.

The Blaster has a very low rate of fire, but it packs a paint-filled punch with each massive paint projectile. The bullets burst in mid-air, leaving plenty of room for error in aiming. This gun is better for holding the line against would-be Picass0s (I’m lookin’ at you, rollers) than it is for covering territory. The .52 Gal Deco is a uniquely decorated variant of the .52 Gal. Not only is it bejeweled to be fresh as fuck, it also has one of the most fun loadouts for a gun you’ll find early on (Level 11). Its Sub Weapon, the Seeker, is a remote controlled car combined with a proximity mine that leaves a trail of paint in its wake. These things are tons of fun and splatting your enemies with them makes you feel like a suave secret agent. Its Special Weapon is a missile that blasts a huge area, great for keeping your team’s color on the map.

Finally, my current sidearm: the .96 Gal. This baby really burns through paint, but it can cover wide swathes of the map quickly or splat foes in relatively few shots from a great distance. Its Sub Weapons are throw-able sprinklers that lay down a radius of your team’s paint color. These are great for playing defensively or getting sneaky by using them as distractions. The Special Weapon, the Echolocator, will show you what directions your enemies are. I use this ability to sneak into empty areas to lay down a coating of paint and rack up some major points.

Fun fact: did you know that when you activate your Special Weapon your paint tank is instantly refilled? This is huge on weapons like the .96 Gal where you will quickly extinguish your supply!

The character that Sarah and I are sharing is level 15, so there are still more weapons to try out between leveling up, clearing the story, and future updates from Nintendo. I look forward to trying them on for size and seeing how they compare to my favorites as the community becomes more and more skilled. Hope I can keep up!

• Our running YouTube LP series, Asobee
• Our educational Monster Hunter podcast series, My Fair Hunter (which we will be resuming with MH4U once our swanky new 3DS capture card arrives)
• Sarah’s blog where she covers our travels in Japan
• Sarah’s webcomic Gachi Maya, a dark yet humorous story of a tyrannical world where cooking is a forbidden art
• And, well… This blog right here!

Once we hit our $100 a month milestone, we’ll select a random patron each month who will receive the featured prize in our Patreon store! Doesn’t matter if you donate even just $1 a month–you’re still eligible to win. Our featured prizes are awesome, limited goods we find while exploring Japan. So yeah, this way we can kinda give back and make our experiences a little more tangible. Plus it validates all the shopping we do, heh.

I realize the blog has been slow lately, but I’m fixin’ to get back on the wagon… Or ball or whatever it is that one ride in a serious and methodical manner. So please consider checking our Patreon out and look forward to more from us, as always!

It’s not following PR announcements with all the the actual detail/shelf life of a ripe avocado.

It’s not writing long, sweeping articles about threats to the future of the industry as a respectable artistic medium.

Naw, I just want to play games and write about what I’m doing in ‘em and why. So that’s what I’ma do. So sit back and enjoy my accounts reflecting on what I’ve been doing with my gaming time. Or don’t. Whatever.
*End of Blog Update*

Now this is a change of pace. I’m hanging out in a forested path with two friends I’ve known on Twitter for years. We’ve taken down Elder Dragons in Monster Hunter together, podcasted together, and now we’re waiting for a certain quest to spawn in Final Fantasy 14–the MMO I just can’t stop playing (when I actually have the time, that is). We’ve been waiting a while, but wasting time with friends? Way better than flying solo. We’re chatting about our various in-game goals, the best ways to get cute gear, and why green tea candy is popular in Japan.

Flying solo had been my MO for nearly a year until I just recently payed Square Enix real money to change which server my character can sign into. Haven’t regretted this decision in the slightest. My friends definitely make me feel at home, eagerly helping me with tasks just like this one.

I’m trying to work my way through the worst grind I’ve probably ever faced in a game. Nine books. Each one demanding a trio of dungeons, 100 specific enemies, and these randomly timed quests. My reward for completing these formidable tomes? An upgrade of my current weapons–fists resembling white tiger heads–only they gain a GLOWING AURA. Fuck. Yeah. Is there a better thing to punch someone in the face with than a glowing white tiger head? Well, yeah, two of ‘em, duh.

I want to do this thing before Heavensward, Final Fantasy 14‘s beefy expansion, supposedly packed with a whole game’s worth of content. Gotta have some glowing fists going into that. And it don’t hurt to punch a little harder  when everything is bound to hit a little harder right back.

When the random quest finally spawns, my friends and I cut the convo short and quickly set about punching, slashing, and poking a group of enemies attacking some bumbling NPCs. Once the dust settles it’s clear to me this would have been a pretty stressful (potentially impossible) task solo. But instead, I had a great time even through the dullest moments (i.e., the waiting).

I completed those books the other day and my upgraded weapons are glorious. I’ll probably take it easy now that the main goal I set before Heavensward is crossed off my list. It’s pretty great knowing I’ll be diving into the expansion with some friends and a pair of glowing predatory cats at my side.

We’re back for more BBS! This episode we finish off the Enchanted Dominion with a tough boss battle against a weird pipe monster (I guess it’s actually a sewing machine???).

After that, we clear Castle of Dreams, where no one seems to talk about the animals that make dresses. Where are they, huh? I know you know, Cinderalla.

Patch 2.5 for Final Fantasy XIV released recently adding the Gold Saucer, Triple Triad, and chocobo breeding/racing. Since Final Fantasies 7 and 8 were a couple of the most formative games for me growing up (PSone era was a good era), this incited quite a bit of nostalgia in yours truly. And sooo, Sarah and I made our way to the Gold Saucer just as soon as we could, and recorded the whole thing! If you still remember breeding your first golden chocobo to get KoTR you should definitely check it out! And if you don’t… you should anyway.

Hello! Did you miss us? Roy and I are finally settling down after our move to Tokyo, and one of the first things we wanted to do is revive our short-lived Let’s Play series, Asobee.

A lot of time has passed since our last update, and a lot of things have changed. One thing that was a constant during the craziness of the past year was the Kingdom Hearts series. We beat the 2.5 HD Remix shortly after we moved, and we are looking to start something new with Birth By Sleep, which neither of us has played before. Please join us as we amble our way through a game that is considered to be one of the best in the series.

Episode Description:
Whoa, it’s been a while, eh? Asobee is BACK and this time Roy and Sarah are playing Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Watch as we try to understand the light, the darkness, why Nomura hates shirts, and more! (Plus balls)

Jeez, it’s been a long time. I’ve tried to write something here over the past few months, honest. But I just haven’t been able to. Maybe I’m afraid to start the site up again, maybe I’m afraid it’s officially the end. I’m gonna try and ignore those thoughts for now and just push on with this post.

I’m living in Japan now. Tokyo, to be more specific. Staying at a friend’s apartment that, as of the new year, will be my permanent place. That’s still a strange thought to me but it’s been starting to feel more real lately.

Last night that feeling was especially strong. I was having a beer while putting together a cat condo. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, cat condos are these wooden structures covered in fuzz for cats to climb and sleep on because cats like to go up high and they’ll shit all over your new Japanese apartment if they can’t.

Anyway, the instructions were all in Japanese. This was a first for me. But that wasn’t even the reason I messed up a couple times. Or the beer. The pictures going along with the instructions weren’t the best. For instance, the base of the thing is a rectangle but it appeared as a square in the instructions. So I had to backtrack at one point–unscrew some screws I had tightened with the confidence that I’d never have to un-tighten them. This kind of mundane task with its minor frustrations is one that made me realize: this is really happening. I’m really setting anchor in another country.

 My favorite beer I’ve had in Japan. Most beer here is pretty similar but flavorful microbrews are becoming more popular.

 From here I am predicting a snowball effect: it’s only going to feel more and more real. In December, I’m going back home to bring Sarah, our dumb cats, and whatever worldly possessions we can carry with us. Like a couple of pioneers, only without the hats. Maybe we will buy some of those hats. (Speaking of spooky hats, Sarah has something in the works you’ll definitely wanna check out if you’re into webcomics. I’ve been collaborating to some degree but it’s all her. I don’t want to give anything away, but yeah it’s gonna be dark and awesome.)

Get this: We actually have to walk the cats through the body scanners at the airport. My guess is that they want to be sure we haven’t inserted a condom filled with uncut Colombian cocaine in… one of their orifices.

Christ, the thought of having to drag my asshole cat through a crowd of disgruntled airline commuters… Well, it’s hilarious now but I know it’s going to be miserable when it happens.

I’m sounding negative, aren’t I? It’s almost like I didn’t hear myself say, “I’m living in Japan now.”

Let me tell you about living in Japan. The food… No, look at me. I’m serious here. This is serious. Right in the eyes. The food… is amazing. It’s actually shocking to me to eat somewhere and not love every morsel.

There is such an obsession with quality here when it comes to food. It’s as if the people who run the many restaurants I’ve been to know how great it is to eat a carefully prepared, fresh dish made by someone just for you. And they genuinely want to give that experience to you. Or rather, that is the ONLY experience. Shouldn’t it be?

The opposite of this, to me, is a place like The Cheesecake Factory. They are big in America, where everything is big because fuck you we invented cowboys.

To enter a Cheesecake Factory is like walking into–literally–a factory. It’s huge. Noisy as fuck–hope you didn’t want to hear anything because the only sound your ears will perceive is the steady roar of too many fucking people. Oh, but you can just make out the staff singing Happy Birthday to a child who’s eating himself into an early grave. His parents hate Obamacare.

The menu is a tome, because having more options is always better. The food is probably reheated from frozen by chefs you’ll never see in a kitchen you’ll never see. They’re just going through the motions to get paid because they work in a factory and that is what factory workers do. If they could be replaced with machines, you better believe they would be.

Factories are great because they are efficient, and efficiency means more money! More suckers entering the gaping maw of a Cheesecake Factory means more money right to the bottom line by the time they slide out its loose anus covered in a sticky film of Coke Zero.

So anyway. Japan’s approach to food is the exact opposite of The Cheesecake Factory. And I’m not saying places like the Cheesecake Factory don’t exist in Japan, I’m just saying the Cheesecake Factory is a great symbol for some unfortunate American values that permeate more than just the restaurant industry.

Here I eat relatively affordable food regularly. Often with fresh vegetables. Today I went to a restaurant that celebrates the green onion. Some places tell you what country their meat is from. You can often see the person cooking your food and they usually appear to be enjoying their work. And they’re good at it. And best of all, most places are small. They have to be because making food with any amount of care just can’t be done on a factory level.

 Eating lunch with some Fantasy Life

I love food, and so does Japan, so, yeah, this all makes me extremely happy.

I also have a great job! I’m officially working at 8-4 on video game localization. I respect and admire the people I work with, a feeling totally foreign to me. It makes me want to better myself and do the best work I can.

I hear people talk about games and the industry and gossip and predictions all day. I meet people who’ve worked on games I love and I can get the inside scoop on how those games came to be. There is a lot of drama behind a completed game, let me tell you…

The opposite of this was the worst job I’d ever had. I worked at a call center taking insurance claims over the phone. That meant 8 hours a day of talking to hysterical people about water damage, car accidents, and dog bites. But the kicker was, I couldn’t really DO anything. I was wholly powerless. I just took the data and passed it on up the chain of command.

You’re probably a normal, well-adjusted person. But let me tell you… There are a lot of fucking crazy people out there and they all have 3 things: insurance, a phone, and too much time on their hands.

I very nearly went insane. I started taking boxing classes and doing prison exercises in the “mental health” room during my breaks and I think if my alter ego invited me to create a fight club I would have obliged.

I poured myself into this blog during that time. It was my reason to feel like I mattered or that I was doing something that mattered or to cling to something that mattered to me. Because the lack of purpose or identity I had day to day robbed me of all that.

And then I came painfully close to getting, what I thought at the time, was my dream job (also in the gaming industry) out in LA. I’m much wiser now and know that LA is a putrid cesspool of self-centered, materialist assholes and an ever growing population of homeless people. My heart goes out to both groups. I hope they can get the help they need.

But working at that call center. And then being turned down for that job. That was the single lowest point in my human existence. I actually got the denial email while on a call at work.

One night shortly after all this, while out drinking with friends, I got pretty drunk and decided to punch a stop sign with all my inebriated might. Eh, that stop sign was asking for it. Naturally my knuckles were all mangled for a while. I still remember picking at this one flap of skin while on a call at my desk. It was hurricane season and a big one had just hit Missouri. Dark times.

This is an actual photo of me everyday

But now I have, arguably, my dream job! I work on amazing games with amazing people and learn new skills all the fucking time! Don’t give up on your dreams, kids. God, that’s such non-advice isn’t it? Well, to anyone actually looking for advice… I’d say you just make things and do things. Don’t just sit there, consuming things like the gaping maw of the Cheesecake Factory. When in doubt, look to the Cheesecake Factory and do the opposite.

But yeah, moving, huh? There will be things I miss, for sure. My family, which is really just my mom. The rest of my family might as well move to LA, they’d fit right in (hah). My mom is amazing and probably the single strongest and most compassionate person I know. Oh, and trees. There aren’t many trees in the city–I sure do miss seeing lots of green. Shucks, I never was one for city life but I think I’ll make a go of it.

So anyway, this is me letting you know where I am in life. I don’t know where the blog will go from here. I’ve got a lot on my plate at the moment, but I still love writing and video games so who knows.

Thanks readers–thanks blog–for giving me a purpose in my darkest times, and helping me get to where I am. I love you all.

Dark Souls 2 is out in less than a week, and I need to decide my starting class! Before I begin, two quick disclaimers:

1. I’d be lying if I told you that your starting class is critically important in any Souls game. Skill and determination play a much larger part.
2. Not all the facts are in yet, so I’m just going off of what the community has managed to dig up. Please don’t blame me if something ends up being fabulously wrong down the road.

Before we can talk about what makes one class better for you than  another, we should start with…

What The Stats Do

I’m dividing the game’s 9 stats into 2 categories: offensive stats and support stats.  Offensive stats are those which increase the damage of scaleable weapons or Miracles and Sorceries.  Now I know there is still a lot of confusion around this term, so I will explain — if you already know, simply skip ahead.

What are scaleable weapons?  I just wanna HIT stuff!  

Easy there, Billy. We’ll have you clobbering undead in no time, but first you have to understand why there are all those LETTERS on your weapon.  I’m talking S/A/B/C/D — remember those from Dark Souls? Those are telling you how greatly your character’s stats are affecting that weapon’s performance.  You just need to figure out which letter goes with which stat (there are icons which make this clear).

You want to equip the weapons that bring out your highest stat, not the ones that scale based on your lowest! For this reason, it’s wise to pick one offensive stat to go with based on how you like to play.  Settling on an offensive stat is probably the most important decision regarding your character’s growth that you can make.

OFFENSIVE STATS

• Strength: Smash everything! Strength is generally reserved for the game’s biggest, hardest-hitting weapons which are usually slow and best used while wearing heavy armor.  Guard Breaking is a new feature in which you, well… break the guarding posture of your foe and initiate a punishing attack similar to a backstab or a riposte.  The higher your strength the easier it will be to execute this trump card.
• Dexterity: Most Dexterity-based weapons aren’t big, they require close range (daggers, katana and the like) — but they get RESULTS.  Status effects like Bleed and Poison scale based on Dexterity now.  This is the trump card of a Dex-based character.  Get in close and quick, and leave them with a gaping wound filled with poison.
• Intelligence: Everyone laughed at you for your love of books. Let’s see who’s laughing when you’re raining thunderbolts upon them with your totally cool (not really that cool) wand!  But there’s more!  Intelligence now scales the power of Fire-based weapons.  That means if you want to swing around a flaming sword — and do it right — you gonna want youse some booklearnin’.
• Faith: “And you shall know my name as the lord, when I lay my vengeance upon thee…”  That’s what you’ll be saying when you whip some divine justice out on your foes — probably wielding a Talisman of some kind to do so.  Or maybe just heal yourself so you can conserve Estus Flasks for the heat of battle!  But there’s more!  Faith now scales the power of Lightning-based weapons.  That means if you want to poke foes with a Lightning Spear, you best go down to the river to pray, studyin’ about that good ol’ way.

Important Note re: Weapons: A lot of weapons that work well for one offensive stat may require a few points in another in order to equip.  For instance most longswords are designed for Strength builds, but require a bit of Dexterity.  Min/maxing is all well and good, but at the end of the day your weapon’s moveset is of the utmost importance.  If you’re not comfortable, swinging it, then you prolly gonna die.  So don’t be afraid to toss a few points into another offensive skill just so you can equip the weapon that works for you.

SUPPORT STATS

Support stats are those which don’t directly contribute to damage in any way, but you kinda totally need.

• Vigor: You’re brimming with life, and would like to keep it that way. Vigor raises your max HP and nothing more.  Mostly important if you imagine yourself ever getting hit.  If you’re fast on your feet, you can probably keep your Vigor on the low side.
• Endurance: Increases your Stamina.  Stamina is used for evading and blocking, so this is pretty important since if you’re not doing one of those things, you’re doing the other.  This stat is even MORE important now that you can exhaust your stamina. By executing any action that would bring your stamina below zero, your character will become “dizzy”.  When this happens, other players can do one of those punishing, unavoidable, and highly demeaning attacks to you (see riposte, backstab, etc.).  I honestly can’t think of a play-style that doesn’t benefit from Endurance.
• Vitality: This adjusts your Equip Load. The main benefit of having a high equip load is that you can execute different evasive rolls depending on how burdened you are.  Less burdened = faster, farther roll.  More burdened = slower, weaker roll.  I think you also run faster when not uber-burdened as well, but I’m not sure.  If you’re the type who wears light gear, you can keep your vitality low. Likewise, if you have EXTREMELY effective defenses — I’m talking a shield that can stop a truck — you can avoid evading entirely.
• Attunement: They STILL won’t take you seriously? Is it the wand?  It’s the wand isn’t it. Beef up your Attunement and you can smite them with your magics before they can utter a laugh!  That’s right: Attunement boosts spell casting-speed.  It also increase the number of spells you can equip.  Spells are  finite after all, needing to be replenished at bonfires.  Attunement is pretty worthless to those who just wanna swing big weapons — though it never hurts to enchant said big weapon?  Alternatively, Attunement could be ignored for those who want to use their high Intelligence or Faith for only Elemental weapons.  This one is really only important if you’re casting offensive spells.
• Adaptability: This stat is new and fairly mysterious.  Current theories suggest it helps increase how well your character can evade — as in the number of invulnerability frames.  If this is true, Adaptability will be massively important to characters who want to be nimble.  What we know for sure about this stat, is that it increases defenses as well as resistances to status effects like Bleed and Poison.  Truly, all characters will want to dump some points into Adaptability.

Now let’s take a look at our starting classes and see how they excel and where they are lacking.  All the following data is coming from this wiki.

THE CLASSES

Warrior – “I know I want a Strength build with some wiggle room.”
Highest Offensive stat: Strength – 15
Highest Support stat: Vigor – 7
This class is designed for a standard Strength build.  All stats related to magic and most support stats are average.  If you know you want big weapons early on, and that’s about it, this isn’t a bad place to start.  This class is pretty forgiving if you decide to throw in a splash of either Sorcery or Miracles down the line.

Knight – “I want to be a Strength build and an iron wall.”
Highest Offensive stat: Strength – 11
Highest Support stat: Vigor – 12
Lowest stat: Intelligence – 3
The Knight has a ton of HP and high Adaptability (which I suppose is why he doesn’t get a shield).  Knights are also pretty awful when it comes to Magic, with the 2nd lowest investment in Faith, Intelligence, and Attunement.  I honestly like the support stats on the Knight better than the Warrior — I am thinking with a minor boost to Strength and Dexterity (and a shield) this character could be a better starting point for a pure Strength build.  Could also be a contender for a Miracle-casting knight.

Swordsman – “I want to start strong & fast, and I’m confidant in my abilities.”
Highest Offensive stat: Dexterity – 16
Highest Support stat: Endurance – 8
Lowest stat: Vigor – 4
This character is set up to hit hard early on, with the highest offensive stat and weapons (yup, two of ‘em) that are already upgraded.  However, having the lowest Vigor score of any class, terrible Vitality, AND sad Adaptability make the Swordsman exceptionally vulnerable.  Did I mention no shield as well? Yikes!  With 7 points in Intelligence and 6 in Attunement, becoming a Dex/Int hybrid seems like a good bet, but spreading this character any thinner too early on is dangerous IMHO.  A big Adaptability boost might be sufficient to make up for the lack of other support stats, with this character relying strongly on evading.

Bandit – “I have no interest in magic, just weapons (Strength or Dex)”
Highest Offensive stat: Dexterity – 14
Highest Support stat: Vitality – 11
Lowest stat: Intelligence – 1
The Bandit is a weird one.  I love how this class is as dumb as a brick!  You could probably take this character in either a Strength or Dex direction, though I think the support stats are better for a Strength user…  Despite a high Faith stat, the Bandit is BEST suited to completely ignore magic entirely: its combined Faith, Int, and Attunement is only 11 points.  That means this is the best starting point for any players looking to entirely ignore casting Sorceries and Miracles.  The Bandit, like the Knight and Warrior, seems pretty forgiving for a first playthrough since it can go in multiple directions easily.

Cleric – “I want to cast Miracles and maybe play as a holy knight.”
Highest Offensive stat: Faith – 12
 Highest Support stat: Vigor & Attunement – 10
Lowest stat: Endurance – 3
A Cleric is best suited as a miracle spammer, with the option to become a Miracle-casting Knight type down the road, thanks to decent Strength, Vigor, and Vitality. The low Dex stat will limit this character to Axes and Maces as your only offense for a while.  If you can wield these weapons well, you could probably get away without boosting Dex very much at all.  No better place to start if you want to be a holy knight type or a Miracle spammer.

Sorcerer – “I want to cast Sorceries and maybe become a quick Dex build.”
Highest Offensive stat: Intelligence – 14
Highest Support stat: Attunement – 12
Lowest stat: Strength – 3
The Sorcerer and Swordsman are both strong on offense right out of the gate, relying on evasion to keep them alive (they both have 10 points invested in Adaptablity and Endurance).  Low strength means it could be a while before this character can wield a sword, but Soul Arrow should be enough to keep you alive.  The Sorcerer could either stay the course of a Magic caster, or become a Dex/Int hybrid, much like the Swordsman.

Explorer – “I know exactly what I want, I just need the items to get me there.”
Highest Offensive stat: Strength/Dexterity – 6
Highest Support stat: Adaptability – 12
Lowest stat: Faith & Intelligence – 5
Haha, this one is my favorite!  I think I decided about halfway through writing this that I want to be an Explorer.  OK, so here’s what this job is all about: high support stats and low offenses.  Why? Well, this class is described as coming “equipped with many items.”  This means (most importantly) consumable items that deal damage to foes, a la Firebombs in Dark Souls.  The basic premise here is to use those items until you find a weapon that suits you and then pump whatever offensive stats you need to utilize it!  Cool huh?  This character really is designed to be an explorer!  I can see this becoming a favorite of speed-runners, or those who want to get a key weapon as early as possible.  For this reason, despite my excitement, Explorer may be a better bet for a second playthrough.

Deprived- “I’m naked lol.”
All stats: 6 (and this character is naked teehee)
Originally I was excited that this class was Soul Level 1, since I assumed it would offer great freedom in character building.  In reality, I’m thinking the only real benefit is the novelty of being naked.

So. Now that I’ve written all this, who’s it gonna be? Jeez…

Here is what I am thinking:

1. Sorcerer or Swordsman: Both characters start as glass cannons, with great offenses and a reliance on evading to survive.  Both can potentially become effective Dex builds with a splash of  Sorceries on the side.  This is basically what I want for my first character, it’s just a question of what I want first: upgraded swords or Soul Arrow.  
2. Bandit: I have a weird idea with this guy, but hear me out.  I’m thinking he could be a Faith hybrid who never actually casts Miracles.  Rather than pump up his Attunement to get a slot, I could ignore the stat entirely but pump Faith with the sole purpose of having a strong Lightning weapon.  Leaving my Intelligence at 1 and my Attunement at 2 would make me really happy, because that is some effective Min/Maxing.  The points I save from investing in Attunement can go into support stats or towards equipping the perfect weapon.
3. Knight: This class starts out pretty resilient, and could probably carry me far enough into the game to take it in one of several directions.  I could see it becoming a pure Strength build, a Miracle-casting knight, and even a Faith/Dex hybrid.  This may be one of the most forgiving classes as long as you know you want to ignore Intelligence.
4. Explorer: It’s totally possible that as soon as I find an awesome weapon with my first character, I will start a new game and try to run to it.  The Explorer is designed to do just this.

Wow, this got realllly long.  Sorry about that!  I hope in wading though all this you have a better idea of how you want to start in Dark Souls 2.  The Souls series can certainly induce anxiety with its infamous difficulty, so not having to worry about your starting class come March 11th should be a huge relief.  Good luck out there, don’t let the game crush your spirit. Or, in other words… “You have a heart of gold… Don’t let them take it from you!”

Hello! Sarah here. Roy’s still living it up in Tokyo while I’m saddled with holding down the fort at our home base in New England. Between starting a new job, wrestling our two cats, digging my car out of the snow multiple times, and attempting to keep sane during the winter months of 2014…let’s just say he better be bringing me back some awesome souvenirs. In the meantime, he passed along a review copy of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc since I had told him I was looking for a new game to play. And he was too busy to review it since he was, y’know, mingling with dog statues and eating enough ramen to fill a bath tub.

Knowing nothing about DR:THH except that it was a Vita (!!) game, I dove right in. What greeted me was a Battle Royale-esque character-driven story combined with stylish visuals and ridiculous action sequences. I was hooked.

The premise of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc revolves around a group of elite students that are accepted into Hope Academy, a school with such high standards that incoming classes are gossiped about on Internet message boards. Each character has some unique ability (baseball, gambling, swimming, programming etc) save the protagonist who only describes himself as average yet incredibly lucky to have been accepted. The new group of 15 students find themselves knocked out and woken up by a psychotic bear called Monokuma, who informs them that they are to live the rest of their lives in the school, unless they can graduate.

How to graduate? Ya gotta kill someone and get away with it.

This sets the course for the game in which classmates are murdered, friends double cross each other, and nobody seems to be who they are at first glance.

Game Play

For the most part, the game features visual novel style story progression. While trying to unravel the mysteries of the school, you can choose which classmates to spend your free time with and get closer to. Giving them a present that suits their character will give you extra skills that can be equipped during debates at the class trial. Presents can be bought at the school store using coins found by exploring rooms (similar to hint coins in the Layton series) or earned after a successful class trial.

Because Monokuma is a bloodthirsty little bear, he will occasionally show up to ramp up the stakes and provide incentives for students to off one another. This adds depth to the story as characters start to wonder what will drive someone to murder. It’s quickly established that you shouldn’t apply your own set of moral codes to anyone else, as something seemingly benign to you might just drive someone else over the edge.

After an “incident” occurs, time is spent searching for clues, which are logged as “truth bullets” meant to be used in class trials. Once enough time lapses and clues are gathered a trial begins, where a nonstop debate occurs between characters. You have to use a truth bullet to smash apart contradictions or weak statements made by characters, indicated by yellow text.

This system gains further complexity as you progress: multiple bullets can be loaded, not all yellow text will be contradictions, and you can actually use yellow text to create new one-use bullets. Random “white noise” also obscures character’s statements to add to the intensity.

A pitfall of this set up is that it can be frustrating to figure out what combination of bullets and weak statements will allow you to progress. If you can’t figure it out during one round of debates then you will keep starting over with the time still running (did I mention you’re timed during all of this?). In some cases you will need to use a statement made at the end of a round of debates in order to break a statement made by a character at the beginning. This is as confusing as it sounds, and at certain points I found myself ignoring the statements entirely and just randomly trying out different combinations.

Once the trial comes to a head and the suspect is singled out, you have to cinch your case by putting together a comic book of events by filling in some missing panels. This is also timed, but feels like a nice break from the intensity of lobbing bullets of truth at sentences that fly around the screen.

You will also occasionally have to dismantle an especially disgruntled character’s statements through a rhythm game, either during the trial or after the comic book puzzle game. There’s also a hangman-style mini game where you have to target letters in order to spell out a key clue.

Overall the complexity of the trials compensate for the otherwise straightforward nature of the story, and rewards you for being attentive to small details (in other words, this is not a game for those who skim over dialog and flavor text).

Visuals

Danganronpa carries an impressive range of styles, which include 2D, pixel art, 3D, and paper craft style animated cut scenes, which are especially trippy. The variation in visuals feels stylish and keeps the story feeling fresh and unpredictable. Maps and menus are clean and easy to navigate, and feels on par with Persona 4‘s interface.

The art direction lends itself well to the creepy atmosphere of the game and can switch from cute to terrifying in an instant, matching the chaotic vibes of the story.

Story

The story is engaging. I found myself really trying to pay attention to every little thing, because even though some clues are obvious, the more subtle ones will still be mentioned in trials, which encourages the player to pay attention. The character dialog and interactions feel believable and are well localized and translated, which is important when every sentence counts.

Danganronpa‘s themes range from comedic to thought-provoking, and despite the numerous characters, it isn’t difficult to keep track of who’s who because of their unique personalities and interactions.

Conclusion

I recommend this game for people who enjoy dark humor, murder mysteries, and are a fan of use-yer-noggin’ puzzles. It’s great for people who like to take their time with games and really explore all aspects of a title (and this game rewards you for doing so). I wouldn’t recommend it for those who like to blaze through games – not that Danganronpa would let you, anyway.