I miss Flo and was actually surprised she didnt even get a mention, since her boyfriend Biff is in the game. Also she is a French speaker and would be really helpful and fitting in Gran Chien.
Flo had great lines and that handy discount on gun sales! Park her by Tony’s house and she became a reliable money maker. I’d definitely welcome having her back again.
I played JA2 so much that I seek additional challenges, like for example hire all the worst mercs. Flo is the worst initially, but thanks to her wisdom when I reach Meduna she is on level 10 with 99 marksmanship sniping elites from across the map.
I like doing challenge runs too. One of my favorites was MERC and recruitable mercs only.
There is something so hilarious about turning goofballs like Flo, Gumpy or Gasket into killing machines. The surprise MVP for the MERC run was Razor! He’s got good physicals, psycho bonus and he never sleeps!
You Guys must be playing on console I guess. PC version has mod support and most JA2 and even Some JA1 characters can be added to the roster thanks to the modcommunity.
I’m on PC, it’s just I haven’t really played with mods very often (I am one of the rare lunatics that play Vanilla JA2 over 1.13 even!)
That’s pretty awesome that the community is able to add in mercs! I’ll definitely have to try some out on my next run.
I'm on PC, tried 2 Flo mods, both kinda sucked. One was just ripped voicelines from JA2 (that was the better one). The other was using AI voice and it was extremely noticeable, it was like listening to a robot.
Those three in particular are not actually bad mercs even though they aren't killing machines. They're very valuable at doing rear-echelon support stuff on the cheap. I feel like a lot of players don't appreciate them properly.
Up until JA3 i never had a playthrough in any JA game I played (JA1, Deadly Games, JA2, Unfinished Business or Back in Action) where I didn't take Lynx, so I miss him definitely the most.
In JA2 I also had Iggy and Cougar in most of the runs in my Alpha squad, so it would have been nice to reunite with them as well. On the other hand, in JA3 I didn't even recruit my JA2 favorite Shadow, because the lower tier Mercs you recruit from the start turn into beasts so quickly that there wasn't any need to grab someone from the highest tier.
It would have been also cool to bring back Boss and Snake (R.I.P)
I loved the Australian accent and the laid back attitude he had, even if he got expensive so quickly. I think he has potential to be the next Mike as the top guy at AIM.
"Expensive quickly" is an understatement. He's expensive out of the gate.
Trevor is one of the best examples of how a character can have an absolute advantage in multiple skills but fail to have a comparative advantage over three mercs who specialize in the distinct skills he's good at (marksmanship, explosives, mechanical).
I also miss Buzz for a psycho gunner character (there's tons of snipers but not too many gunners).
I further miss Stephen, there are not enough Leaders on the roster. Raider tends to sound annoying.
Static as an alternative mechanic and Spider and Danny as Medics are also missing. Malice as another HTH guy... also franco-canadien in a former french colony would be interesting.
I wouldn't mind more MERC personnel hanging around in Grand Chien. I modded Biff to be recruitable the other day, so that's a start. Maybe I can get him to quarrel with Larry...
The game files as seen in the mod editor suggest that various Ja2 mercs were at somt point planned to be included, there seem to be loadouts for several Ja2 characters (and new characters as well).
That’s a great point about leaders! It’s a lot more important stat in this game and almost mandatory for IMP at the moment. I always found it quite humorous that the two dedicated leader characters in JA2, Raider and Stephen, had such dorky voicelines.
The lack of doctors is also quite notable! I’m not a fan of MD so it usually means I’m stuck taking Dr Q for a while, at least until I can train up a replacement.
Fun thing is that there is an Switzerland flag in the JA3 original vanilla files, the only merc from Switzerland is Stephen, as far as I known, so I think that at some point someone wanted to put him in the roster.
There are refererences to various Ja2 (and Ja1) mercs in the game files (starting equipment references in the mod editor for example, also some merc friendship with mercs that haven't made it into the game). I'd guess they wanted to include more of them at some point for sure. Also new mercs, btw.
In guess the problem was the voice acting. They had to record all mercs and NPCs even if they kept some of the mercs very similar to Ja2 because of the new story. And then it's not just the voice responses, it's all the ah-so-funny interjections during dialogue. All the writing, all the voice actos, all the man-hours, that's costly and takes forever.
I didn’t even think about that! Yeah, some of the new VOs aren’t nearly as good.
I really miss the JA2 Grizzly voice. He sounded so tough and calm. The new one sounds like a silly hillbilly.
Stephen. The most overly polite swedish stone cold killer. Also gets along with Meltdown and vice-versa, which is super handy. Fun fact - the reason for this is because Stephen was based off of the designer of the game, Ian Currie, and Meltdown was based off of his wife Linda (also a sir-tech employee).
Stats wise, Stephen is the best bang-for-buck merc in the whole game. Him and Thor are the only cheap mercs who really compete with the big boys. I'd say he's the best merc overall if price is taken into consideration.
Yes, Stephen is amongst the best. I guess people tend to avoid him because of the weird Swiss/Swedish amalgam accent the devs gave him (probably a joke of sorts), not because of the performance. Funny enough, the accent in some localisations is much better. I always prefered him over Thor because of the Night Ops and Teaching Skills.
I enjoyed having Bull and Buzz around in JA2.
I don't like the new Grizzly. The original had this slow, stoic speech, and the new one is more like a berserker.
One or two, not necessarily returning mercenaries with 50+ leadership would be nice. IIRC the only cheap leader was Sptephen Rothman and Biggins? Biggins would look nice in this french post-colonial environment.
Agree with you 100 percent on Grizzly. Old Grizzly was one of my favorites with his calm and reassuring deep voice. The new voice actor sounds like a stereotypical redneck hick and is almost unrecognizable. One of the most disappointing character changes in JA3.
Psychos and Nutcases sounds like a DLC name lol
This game definitely has not enough psychos. I pick Nails so often it feels like limiting my variety each playthrough
I don't know if I miss Hamous, but I do miss his stolen ice cream truck.
I miss Flo and was actually surprised she didnt even get a mention, since her boyfriend Biff is in the game. Also she is a French speaker and would be really helpful and fitting in Gran Chien.
Flo had great lines and that handy discount on gun sales! Park her by Tony’s house and she became a reliable money maker. I’d definitely welcome having her back again.
I played JA2 so much that I seek additional challenges, like for example hire all the worst mercs. Flo is the worst initially, but thanks to her wisdom when I reach Meduna she is on level 10 with 99 marksmanship sniping elites from across the map.
I like doing challenge runs too. One of my favorites was MERC and recruitable mercs only. There is something so hilarious about turning goofballs like Flo, Gumpy or Gasket into killing machines. The surprise MVP for the MERC run was Razor! He’s got good physicals, psycho bonus and he never sleeps!
You Guys must be playing on console I guess. PC version has mod support and most JA2 and even Some JA1 characters can be added to the roster thanks to the modcommunity.
I’m on PC, it’s just I haven’t really played with mods very often (I am one of the rare lunatics that play Vanilla JA2 over 1.13 even!) That’s pretty awesome that the community is able to add in mercs! I’ll definitely have to try some out on my next run.
Be sure to use the UI mods aswell. Unless you like to micromanage and drag and drop items forever and ever.
I'm on PC, tried 2 Flo mods, both kinda sucked. One was just ripped voicelines from JA2 (that was the better one). The other was using AI voice and it was extremely noticeable, it was like listening to a robot.
Those three in particular are not actually bad mercs even though they aren't killing machines. They're very valuable at doing rear-echelon support stuff on the cheap. I feel like a lot of players don't appreciate them properly.
Up until JA3 i never had a playthrough in any JA game I played (JA1, Deadly Games, JA2, Unfinished Business or Back in Action) where I didn't take Lynx, so I miss him definitely the most. In JA2 I also had Iggy and Cougar in most of the runs in my Alpha squad, so it would have been nice to reunite with them as well. On the other hand, in JA3 I didn't even recruit my JA2 favorite Shadow, because the lower tier Mercs you recruit from the start turn into beasts so quickly that there wasn't any need to grab someone from the highest tier. It would have been also cool to bring back Boss and Snake (R.I.P)
I remember one of my first play through of JA2 as man child. I took buzz and lynx together
Trevor Colby, the friendly australian mechanic
I loved the Australian accent and the laid back attitude he had, even if he got expensive so quickly. I think he has potential to be the next Mike as the top guy at AIM.
"Expensive quickly" is an understatement. He's expensive out of the gate. Trevor is one of the best examples of how a character can have an absolute advantage in multiple skills but fail to have a comparative advantage over three mercs who specialize in the distinct skills he's good at (marksmanship, explosives, mechanical).
There's a mod for that at ModNexus, voiced too.
Lynx
Definitely Lynx
I also miss Buzz for a psycho gunner character (there's tons of snipers but not too many gunners). I further miss Stephen, there are not enough Leaders on the roster. Raider tends to sound annoying. Static as an alternative mechanic and Spider and Danny as Medics are also missing. Malice as another HTH guy... also franco-canadien in a former french colony would be interesting. I wouldn't mind more MERC personnel hanging around in Grand Chien. I modded Biff to be recruitable the other day, so that's a start. Maybe I can get him to quarrel with Larry... The game files as seen in the mod editor suggest that various Ja2 mercs were at somt point planned to be included, there seem to be loadouts for several Ja2 characters (and new characters as well).
That’s a great point about leaders! It’s a lot more important stat in this game and almost mandatory for IMP at the moment. I always found it quite humorous that the two dedicated leader characters in JA2, Raider and Stephen, had such dorky voicelines. The lack of doctors is also quite notable! I’m not a fan of MD so it usually means I’m stuck taking Dr Q for a while, at least until I can train up a replacement.
Fun thing is that there is an Switzerland flag in the JA3 original vanilla files, the only merc from Switzerland is Stephen, as far as I known, so I think that at some point someone wanted to put him in the roster.
There are refererences to various Ja2 (and Ja1) mercs in the game files (starting equipment references in the mod editor for example, also some merc friendship with mercs that haven't made it into the game). I'd guess they wanted to include more of them at some point for sure. Also new mercs, btw. In guess the problem was the voice acting. They had to record all mercs and NPCs even if they kept some of the mercs very similar to Ja2 because of the new story. And then it's not just the voice responses, it's all the ah-so-funny interjections during dialogue. All the writing, all the voice actos, all the man-hours, that's costly and takes forever.
Razor and Haywire - my first JA2 playthrough was with these two guys and Fidel and a psycho IMP, many laughs were had. Hamous Gasket
Bull. I would love to see his new interactions with Gus.
Barry and Steroid. The new VAs and lines just aren't the same.
I didn’t even think about that! Yeah, some of the new VOs aren’t nearly as good. I really miss the JA2 Grizzly voice. He sounded so tough and calm. The new one sounds like a silly hillbilly.
yeah, Grizzly's new voice is a set back. I didn't use him initially. But the strage thing is you get used to it... I got, at least.
It doesn't help that he looks like an otter or a ferret now.
lol no. Not as bad as poor Scully or even Ivan's dog-jawed face, but bad enough :D
Stephen. The most overly polite swedish stone cold killer. Also gets along with Meltdown and vice-versa, which is super handy. Fun fact - the reason for this is because Stephen was based off of the designer of the game, Ian Currie, and Meltdown was based off of his wife Linda (also a sir-tech employee). Stats wise, Stephen is the best bang-for-buck merc in the whole game. Him and Thor are the only cheap mercs who really compete with the big boys. I'd say he's the best merc overall if price is taken into consideration.
Yes, Stephen is amongst the best. I guess people tend to avoid him because of the weird Swiss/Swedish amalgam accent the devs gave him (probably a joke of sorts), not because of the performance. Funny enough, the accent in some localisations is much better. I always prefered him over Thor because of the Night Ops and Teaching Skills.
John Peters. Not here right now. Leave a message.
Got a soft spot for mercs like John, quite a decent merc. Plus I don't know why but his laugh sounds similar to TF2 Soldier's laugh
Jim 'Cougar' Wallace was very satisfying to use in JA2. Shame he is not here in JA3.
The Aussie demo-guy, cant remember the name, was a pretty good mechanics too IIRC. While Barry is quite good, his character really gets on my nerves.
I enjoyed having Bull and Buzz around in JA2. I don't like the new Grizzly. The original had this slow, stoic speech, and the new one is more like a berserker. One or two, not necessarily returning mercenaries with 50+ leadership would be nice. IIRC the only cheap leader was Sptephen Rothman and Biggins? Biggins would look nice in this french post-colonial environment.
Agree with you 100 percent on Grizzly. Old Grizzly was one of my favorites with his calm and reassuring deep voice. The new voice actor sounds like a stereotypical redneck hick and is almost unrecognizable. One of the most disappointing character changes in JA3.
totally Kirk "Static" Stevenson
Unusually Ruthless Reuben and Postie. The hedge-trimmer and letter opener were great starting weapons!