Oh. Hey. My disc copy of Soulcalibur V has now mysteriously vanished. That's awesome.

LUIGI DON'T PLAY

I remember a friend casually mentioning it on LJ back in the day. I thought it would be so perfect for tracking my progress, but all it did was give me a nice way to say, "Okay, I have these games, now it is time to get those games~"

I basically finished it in a weekend! It's not too long if you just focus on the story and don't bother with the side quests. Trust me, they aren't worth it.

There are other endings to get though. You unlock the paths to getting those endings once you finish it the first time, but I didn't feel like going through more of that game after the credits rolled. Maybe someday!

Nooooooo!

It has been, though! It's just difficult to believe how much time has passed since then. I can still remember discovering this site and making my account, yeesh.

Glad I could help! I should be starting Lightning Returns real soon myself. I am excite.

Enjoying Drakengard? I've never played the series and even tho you don't have to play the first games before 3, I kinda wanna go check em out.

Oh my god, when you put it that way...

Feels weird to know that I've been on here six years, though!

It's basically all of the above, haha. These games have always been very ambitious in terms of world building and story, but the gameplay has always been lackluster. It's repetitive and it basically stays that way throughout despite some cool segments. I have an odd fascination with the series, but I would never call any of them particularly "good." Mindless fun, sure, but not good.

I would recommend Nier (if you haven't played it). It's from the same team and is (technically) in the same universe, but, unlike Drakengard, it manages to live up to its lofty ambitions. It has an incredible world, story and one of the best soundtracks I've heard in any game. Plus, I found the gameplay to be a lot more enjoyable (although I know many who weren't a fan so your mileage may vary).

Nah, I don't think you need to abandon ship. Here's a list of some places you can find higher level monster mats [Link]

If you'd like some monster recommendations, I'd suggest Chichu for COM (he's small but a real heavy hitter) with a max level of 70. [Link]
Dragoon is solid but it's max level being so low kind of holds it back.

I also strongly recommend use of the SYN monster Yakshini. It's Feral Link is one of the best in the game (casts Bravery, Faith, Protect, Shell, Veil and Vigilance on the party) and it's also got one of the quickest casting animations of any monster. It also has a max level of 70 and having had an endgame party with both a max level Chichu and max level Yakshini (also a lv99 Blue Chocobo) I had very few issues with regular enemies.
[Link]

I never min-maxed Serah or Noel, just maxed out the roles I wanted them to specialize in but I really do believe that a recipe for success is having a good rotation of monsters.

Yeah, that part gets a bit tough. Have you been putting much time into what monsters you keep in your party?

I'm really sorry about that. Hopefully now you'll be able to keep track of it if it happens again, even if you can't stop it.

Why hello there :0 whaddya need? I do love me some FFXIII-2.

I have a friend who found himself in a similar situation and ended up using his BL to keep track of which games "disappeared." Handy stuff!

I do actually! Say hi to Riss and pick away: [Link]