Pika Pik! This reminds me of "Hey you, Pikachu!" for the Nintendo 64. Only less mini games and more hanging out and talking to Pikachu in a mic.
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Pika Pik! This reminds me of "Hey you, Pikachu!" for the Nintendo 64. Only less mini games and more hanging out and talking to Pikachu in a mic.
I loved that game when I was littleQuote:
Originally Posted by ToriJ
This Pokemon game takes place in the region of Sinnoh. Like all the Pokemon RPG's, you go out and catch Pokemon and try to beat the Elite Four and become a Pokemon Master. Some other stuff happens I guess. I dunno, I was busy catching cute Pokemon.
First you pick your male or female hero, and then you get a choice of three starter Pokemon of grass, fire, or water type. The choices this time are between Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup. I of course chose Piplup. Afterwards you go out and fight Pokemon to gain EXP, which will allow your Pokemon to get stronger, learn new skills, and maybe even evolve. You can also catch Pokemon by weakening them and throwing a Pokeball at them, after which you can name them and train them. Then you go around beating gym leaders and collecting gym badges, with the end goal of battling and defeating the elite four.
You've already heard part of this story. I wanted to play Pokemon games since forever and ever but life didn't let me until I lived on my own. Even when I was younger and had consoles, the man I was living with wouldn't get me a handheld because he said they were a waste of money and you couldn't see anything on that tiny screen anyway. Much sadness. But eventually I saved up and got myself a DS Lite and Pokemon Diamond. It was my first Pokemon RPG and I was super happy with it. I had stopped watching the show by that point so I didn't know who a lot of the Pokemon were, but that made it kind of special because every new Pokemon was a surprise! Overall I've had a lot of fun with Pokemon Diamond.
So I see you like Pokemon.
How much higher up the list is Platinum? Because it's quite a bit better than Diamond and Pearl.
I've heard it was better, though I never looked into the improvements it made; Pokemon Pearl is actually my favorite entry in the series and I might have to give Platinum another look if you say it is that much better.
Never played Platinum :monster:
Pika Park, while not even a game that makes a blip on my radar, is actually silly fun. It's little minigames are good for a group of people to goof around with when they're taking a break from something like fighting games.
Final Fantasy Theatrythm is about the heroes from different Final Fantasy games banding together to defeat Chaos in the name of Cosmos by... using music or whatever.
This is a rhythm game. There are three types of stages. You have battle music stages, field music stages, and event music stages. They each play slightly differently and are set to different Final Fantasy songs. Basically you will slide or tap your stylus in different ways as instructed. You can select different games from which to play the levels, or you can take a go at the Chaos Shrine and try to unlock characters more quickly.
I'd never played a rhythm game before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but my goodness did I ever play this game. I bought it to save for a road trip and ended up playing hours of it the night before. While some of it was difficult, I did eventually improve with some practice. I had so much fun that the sequel was one of my only first day purchases ever. I loved unlocking new characters, new levels, listening to the beautiful Final Fantasy music. Overall it was a really enjoyable experience and a fun little game to waste time on when you just want something more lighthearted.
I really like this game. Not a huge rhythm game fan, but I thought this game was great.
I didn't think it was a great game, but I played the everloving crap out of it.
Tomodachi Life basically follows a bunch of people you create who all live in the same apartment building if and until they get married and move in to one of the neighbouring houses. You watch them do their thing, make friends, go on dates, fall in love, and maybe have some babies.
As you're watching your Mii's do all of this, you can also play some mini-games with them, such as putting on a concert, helping them propose, playing guessing games, or just generally offering them advice when they ask for it. You can change their clothes and their apartments as well.
I adored this game and I played it nonstop for a good while, and I fully intend to go back and play it again. Watching the Mii's grow in to people, engage with others, get married, raise families, the epic rap battles, the cute clothing, the funny item descriptions. All of it was great and so much fun. It can be a major time sink but you really grow to care for these tiny fake humans.
I'm grouping together Mario Tennis for the N64 and Power Tennis for the Wii. If I had to pick one I'd go for the Wii because you'll actually get a workout. I'm not sure what the story is other than Tennis tournament.
This is a Tennis game. So basically hit the ball when it comes in to your court and get it in to the opponents court and hope they miss it. There's also some gimmick levels, like ones where the fields move or you get stunned or other such things. You can play singles or doubles and of course can have your friends play with you.
Tennis is one of my favourite sports so this game is a lot of fun for me. Especially since you can play whenever and not have to worry about weather or finding a court or whatever. The Wii version especially will give you a very good arm workout if you play it enough. It's just a fun game if Tennis is a sport you enjoy.
Favourite character: Daisy Attachment 62592
Honourable mentions: Yoshi, Peach Attachment 62593Attachment 62594
I like Daisy's spunky attitude, especially in a largely male ensemble such as this. Yoshi makes the most adorable noises and I enjoy Peach's effects when she uses her special hits and all that fun stuff.
I've only played Mario Tennis on the N64, but I loved that game. That and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater were a staple every time I visited a certain friend's house. I need to play that game again.
Goddammit, Ultros! I thought we got rid of you?
Big fan of Tomodachi Life and Mario Tennis, though I only played the N64 game like Scotty and haven't even played the former. I owe my liking it due to Proto's Let's Play.
So much Nintendo goin' on right now. Which means I haven't played most of the recent games. :shobon:
Um I don't quite remember what the story is about. I think the King of the Cosmos has lost his memory and there's also a depressed, passive-aggressive robot version of himself who destroyed a bunch of planets and stuff, and they have The Prince and his cousins go out and roll stuff in to a ball to make new planets and restore the King's memory.
In this game, you roll stuff in to a ball. Hey, where are you going! I swear it's more fun than it sounds. You get goals for different levels, a lot of them are to make your ball a certain size, but you also get some like roll up a certain type of item or whatever. And you can also roll up Cousins, which will let you control a different little character. Then you get graded and berated by the King or his robot counter part.
I'm awful at this game and I don't appreciate the remarks I get when I complete a difficult level, but the game is amazingly fun. When I heard the description it sounded like the dumbest thing ever, and it kind of is, but it's actually really fun and pretty funny. You get the weirdest music too and then you roll up stuff like giraffes and people and you can still see their legs kicking. It's so absurd that it just works and it's actually a good mood booster because of how silly it is.
Oh man I love everything katamari
Great series. Only played the first game so far. I need to get my hands on the other titles.
You made me remember how much I loved it so I made it my new set
It's a pretty good set.
You should have seen me talking her into trying this game, and the first 5 minutes of her playing this game.
Going on a bit of an early schedule because I'll be away tonight. So last one for today will be up in a few hours. In the meantime
Luminous Arc 2 is about the Knights and the Witches putting aside their age old racism and feuding in order to join together and stop a rogue witch and her posse who is setting out to do something very dangerous. Our young hero also manages to get a magical device stuck on him by accident which gives him great powers.
This is a Strategy RPG, so every turn you can move your characters a certain number of squares on the battle map, and then act by attacking or using a skill. This game does have some unique features. When you land a hit, you have a bar that will increase. There are 3 total bars you can fill. These bars can be spent on either special attacks or on making regular skills stronger. The main character can also “engage” with certain witches, which will give him access to their skills and special attacks. This game also has relationship meters, and bringing specifically indicated characters in to battles will allow you to have extra scenes with them after the fight is over. The game is divided in to chapters, with each chapter taking a break from the main story to show you a short about “Kopin” (see picture below).
General impressions:
I'd heard good things about Luminous Arc 2 so I decided to give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised, overall. It had a good sense of humour, interesting large cast of characters (I'm a big fan of large casts of characters), and while the story wasn't anything special, it did keep me interested. The game could get a bit difficult if you didn't do a bunch of level grinding so that could get tedious, but overall it was pretty fun.
Story:
While the story wasn't anything special, it wasn't bad either. I'm not sure if it would have had more impact if I'd played the first game, although I don't think they are direct sequels. More like the Suikoden games where you can play them out of order but they are still related? I could be wrong about that so its better to look it up. What was good about the story was the way it was told. The dialogue flowed well and it had some good down time and a really good sense of humour, making it pretty lighthearted. It was kind of refreshing because a lot of strategy RPG's like this one have such heavy stories.
Gameplay:
It could be a bit difficult at times, but overall it was easy to pick up on. Really the difficult part just came from all of the grinding needed. But I enjoyed having character scenes at the end of it if you brought the right character in to battle, and there was a good range of characters to use for different strategies.
World:
Being the type of game it is, the world isn't really explorable in the traditional sense. All you really have is like a background image except for the battle maps. But the map was pretty large and there were some pretty areas. Just not a lot of exploration to it.
Characters:
I'd say this is the strong point of the game. The characters are all pretty interesting, I like their interactions, and they're mostly pretty funny. There's a certain charm to them that I really enjoyed and watching the character scenes was my favourite part of the game.
Favourite character: Dia Attachment 62607
Honourable mention: Althea Attachment 62608
I wasn't expecting to like Miss Dia that much (it's weird to just hear her called Dia) because she's not my usual type of preferred character. But she grew on me a lot and actually has a surprising amount of depth for this game. She's snarky and self-assured and headstrong, but she's also a bit immature for who she's supposed to be and you can see her confidence wane from time to time. Althea is just a sweet girl and she sticks to her goals and she works hard, which is very admirable.
Overall this game doesn't have the most depth and it has more than enough cliche's, but overall it was a fun, lighthearted experience with some great and funny character interactions and simple, fun gameplay.
Last one for today!
61. Record of Agarest War 2 (PlayStation 3)
A.K.A Agarest Senki and Agarest: Generations of War 2
Attachment 62611
Agarest War 2 is the story of Weiss, an amnesiac man who killed a God, and has to make up for it by essentially giving his own life and also involving his child and grandchild because this is an Agarest War game and your debts never end with you.
The gameplay for this game is pretty unique and complicated and rather hard to explain. The easy part is that this game has a dating sim aspect. The game spans 3 generations. The first two generations can end up with one of 3 ladies and their child will be the next generation's hero. The last generation can be paired with any remaining female party member. One way to improve relationships is your decisions in conversations and the other one is an unspeakable evil that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole and also one of the reasons this game ranked lower than its already fanservicy enough predecessors. In this game you can have 4 characters in battle, and your formation will depend on which character you select as a sort of “lead”. Then you'll have different attacks depending on which button you press (Triangle, Square, O, or X), and can also activate special attacks when you build up a certain gauge. I could go in to linking and all of that but just trust me when I say its easier to understand when you play it.
General impressions:
So I wasn't sure what to expect with this one. I loved the first two (yes, Agarest War 2 is actually the third one both in release and timeline) but I'd heard this one switched stuff up a good deal. In some ways this was a good thing because battles in the other two were tedious and this game made huge improvements in that regard, but on the other hand the characters and story were less interesting and this game took it way overboard with the fanservice to the point where I was genuinely uncomfortable. And for this series, that's saying something.
Story:
While there wasn't really anything wrong with the story, in fact some spots were quite interesting, it lacked the same charm of the other two games. It wasn't told in the best way and it didn't really live up to its potential. But it did have its moments and it wasn't a bad story either.
Gameplay:
The best thing about this game and a huge improvement over the other two. You can actually walk around the world map, battles were made faster (but not easier if you're used to the other system), there are a lot more story events and a lot less fights to do. Even towns were made more explorable. It's an improvement on the series gameplay in almost every way.
World:
The world is pretty interesting and it has it's good spots. It's still not graphically the best game but it still had some neat areas and places to explore. The battle maps do get a bit repetitive though. But the best thing is that you can actually explore the map in this game.
Characters:
The characters lacked the same depth as they had in previous games and became more cliche than ever. There were still some good ones but they just didn't have as much personality to them and some of them were just downright unlikeable. But there's still a large cast so there's bound to be someone I like.
Favourite character: Aina Attachment 62616
Honourable mention: Fiona Attachment 62617
Aina was just such a sweet woman, very soft spoken, very caring. It was nice to see, especially in contrast with the main character, Weiss, and she did soften him up a little. Same thing with Fiona. Fiona also tugged at my heart strings because can you imagine being a kid and suddenly waking up and no one you know is around and your parents are gone and everything is strange and different?
Overall this game is a huge improvement on the series in terms of gameplay. The maps are explorable, battles no longer take forever, there's much more scenes and story. But the game doesn't have the same charm and depth, the fanservice is WAY over the top, and it just isn't as interesting. But it's still a fun game for fans of the series.
And tomorrow we finish up the 60's and head in to the 50's yaaay~~
The games did look fun for people who want they old school grindy feel to their RPGs.
Just waiting for Agarest Wars 3: The Harem Saga
Every time I see this game I keep wanting to read it as "Record of Lodoss War."
Cool list so far Pumpkin, you sure have a wide/diverse taste in games :)
Xenosaga Episode II takes place immediately after the conclusion of Episode I, so I would not recommend playing it before I. This episode largely explores the Miltian Conflict, an event that happened over a decade prior to the story and had a large effect on the events. It also focuses a lot on the character Jr. And his past. A good portion of the game is exploring the past and as such there is only a little actual story progression for the series.
This game switched things up a bit from the first one. Characters now have different types of attacks by pressing different buttons that are targeted at a certain “zone”. By finding a “break zone” the player will have an advantage in battle and be able to do things like knock the enemy in the air or on to the ground. Players are free to teach their characters any ability so long as they have the correct points, meaning character roles will vary greatly depending on you you customize them. The big A.G.W.S. mechs have been replaced by the even bigger mechs, the E.S., which are used at certain set points in the game. This game also has combo attacks between the characters, and a large number of sidequests called the G.S. Campaign (Global Samaritan Campaign) where you go around helping those who ask. There are 7 total playable characters with 1 kind of guest character and 3 usable in battle at a time.
General impressions:
I absolutely loved the first Xenosaga game, so needless to say, I was pumped for this one. I watched the trailers so many times. In the end, I was more impressed with it than most people seemed to be. The character design changes were pretty jarring and I was not really a fan of them at all. Also some voice changes to. Especially when a game is supposed to take place right after the first one, those changes have a big impact. But overall I still liked it. I enjoyed the gameplay much more as it wasn't as needlessly complicated as the original, I loved the G.S. Campaign, and it had some wonderfully told story moments. Not as good as the rest of the series, but still a very good game that I've replayed more than once.
Story:
My main complaint about the story is how little it did to progress things overall. Very little happens to move things along and advance things, and that was pretty frustrating because I had left with a bunch of mysteries and questions and this game didn't answer very many of them. But it did a great job of telling some back story for two of my favourite characters, and my favourite antagonist, and some of the moments were really touching and captivating.
Gameplay:
I actually am probably the only person who prefers II's gameplay to I. I liked being able to customize my characters how I wanted them, I liked the simpler battle system, and the sidequests in this game were much more involving and interesting. It had some downsides to it, but overall I thought it was really fun.
World:
There's a few interesting locations but this game is pretty hit or miss for me. Some spots were great and I loved exploring them. Others were drab and boring and I was happy when it was time to move on. Overall I think the world was pretty decent and I really liked Second Miltia because it was so bright and lively and busy, something not all that common in the series. I also really liked the subconscious domain in both spring and winter.
Characters:
The cast is pretty strong I think and pretty unique. They all bring something different to the table and I enjoy their interactions with each other. Unfortunately this game does give a lot of them the backseat for this story, focusing more on a select few.
Favourite character: MOMO Attachment 62642
Honourable mention: Jr. Attachment 62643
MOMO was my favourite in I and archer characters are my favourite to use in RPGs, so imagine how happy I was when they took my favourite character and made her an archer! From an objective standpoint it was weird for her to go from using a rod to a bow in a matter of hours, but from a personal standpoint I was like HECK YEAH ARCHER MOMO. She was just a very sweet girl and we get to learn a bit more about her... let's say family life in this game. I found Jr. to be one of the more interesting characters and some of his scenes in this game were just really great and helped me like him even more.
Overall this game is quite a change from the first, but it's still a good game, it's fun to play, and it gives some wonderfully told back story for some of the characters. But the changes can be pretty jarring for fans of the first game so it might not be for everybody.
And that is the end of the 60's! Next entry kicks off the 50's! almost halfway done, whoooo~
I only played the first game. I enjoyed it. Can't remember how far into the first game I got. It had some long ass cut-scenes.
Still not sure what the story is other than use music from the series to defeat evil or something. Is that even still the story? I don't know, I play it for the music.
This game is pretty similar to the other Theatrhythm, with a few changes. The EMS seem to have been removed entirely and there is a much larger music, game, and character selection now. There is also a quest medly mode where you move around the map from song to song, getting keys and treasures long the way before finally facing the boss(es). When a boss is defeated it will give crystal shards which unlock a selection of characters.
This game was just as fun as the first one, except it improved it. Mostly. I do miss the event music stages even though I sucked at them. But the quest medley mode was a lot of fun, if not very difficult. There were many more characters and songs, which is obviously a good thing, and overall I found the game easier. Especially in terms of unlocking characters. It's just a good, fun game to play and it's good for relaxing and decompressing and enjoying some awesome music of the Final Fantasy series.
I wish I had waited for this instead of sinking so many hours into the original. I'll probably buy it several years from now to scratch the itch again.
I haven't played either Theatrhythm game. My 3DS is Final Fantasy music-less. )':
Have you ever wanted to take pictures of Pokemon? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then this game is for you! This is about a Pokemon photographer who goes out and... takes pictures of Pokemon, which are then judged by Prof. Oak for reasons I wasn't paying attention to.
In Pokemon Snap, you will go through several levels on rails and take pictures of Pokemon in the wild. You'll also get some gadgets as the game moves along to help you get more Pokemon or to get different reactions from Pokemon you've already seen. The gadgets include things like throwing an apple, or a stinkball, or a musical flute thing. After you finish the level you will report back to Professor Oak and be given allowed to sort through your photos and select one per Pokemon to be graded. You can revisit later and try to top your score. Certain levels will also have conditions on them for you to move on to the next level.
This game was so much fun. Just going around taking pictures of Pokemon. I don't even know why it was so fun. It's very short but it's just so great to play, especially if you want something silly and lighthearted. I loved going back over the levels and trying to get new pictures and throwing apples at them and seeing what new things I could find. There were some good levels and a decent amount of Pokemon as well. The only sad things is I can no longer go play at Blockbuster and print out photos of my Pokemon.
Theathythm Curtain Call and Pokemon snap? smurf yeah baby!
ARGH there's another one I forgot! I'm working on putting together my own list right now and I keep remembering great games
Pokemon Snap is the best Pokemon game. (kind of joking but then again... kind of not).
Oh snap!
I'm only here for Doduo and Electrodude.
I wish they'd do another pokemon snap for the 3DS using the camera, that'd be super cool
I don't know what the story was guys, its a fighting game. Jun and Kazuya had a son named Jin and Ogre killed Jun and Heihachi is old. It takes place like 15-16 years after Tekken 2. You fight things, there's your story.
Tekken is a fighting game so you basically fight other fighters with your selected character. Different buttons represent different limbs and you can do throws and stuff. I think there are 21 total playable characters. There's also the super awesome volleyball game that I sunk much time in to.
Tekken 3 was a big improvement on the last two installments. It just feels like the turning point. It introduced a lot of new characters who would become series staples, as well as one of my all time favourite characters, Xiaoyu. I very much liked Tekken 2, but 3 brought things to a whole new level. This is the game in the series that basically cemented Tekken as my all time favourite fighting game series and has made me excited for every game since. While there are some games I like more, this game is really a great moment for the series as a whole.
Woooo, best Tekken.
Dr. B. 4lyfe.
Actually King for life.
Ah the nostalgia. I used to play this game with my two older brothers so much. It was such good fun.
I like Ling Xiaoyu. Except as a fighter because a lot of her moves are vaguely defensive so I really struggle to use her well. xD
I love Pokemon Snap, I love Tekken 3. Thank you Pumpykin. You're alright, you are.
Question on Pokémon Snap:
Why the heck hasn't it been remade for the Wii U? It seems like a perfect game for use with the GamePad.
I wonder if Pumpkin has seen the Tekken movie.
No and she never willQuote:
Originally Posted by ToriJ
Still waiting for the Pokémon MMO. When it happens, I'll jump back into Pokéworld. It's probably the only potential MMO out there that could have a strong chance of knocking WoW off the number one spot.
I think there's a better chance of Pumpkin watching the Tekken movie than Nintendo learning how to use the internet.
I bet a Call of Duty MMO could do it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Loony BoB
Hmm, maybe. But I'm not as sure as I am about PokéMMOn.Quote:
Originally Posted by PsychoticI bet a Call of Duty MMO could do it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Loony BoB
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freya
Pokémon Snap for the Wii U, with ALL the pokémon and tons of areas, would immediately sell 1 billion copies.Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyblade
Suikoden IV takes place in the island nations long before the other Suikoden games. Our hero, Lazlo (or whatever you name him) has just graduated in to a full-fledged knight, but because this is a video game, and a Suikoden one no less, he soon finds himself outlawed. His troubled don't end there because he also inherits the Rune of Punishment. In case you couldn't tell by its name, it isn't a good thing.
This is a Suikoden game and plays much like the others save a few differences. For one, battle takes place with parties of 4 instead of 6. Most travel is also done long distances over sea on a ship instead of walking around a world map. Like other Suikoden games, you have to try to recruit the 108 Stars of Destiny. Magic takes place in the form of 'Runes' which you can purchase and attach to certain characters. There are ship battles as well as rock-paper-scissor type duels. As usual, you have a headquarters, this time on a ship, which contains several mini-games. There are at least 108 recruit able characters, and 56 characters usable in battle (including guest and non-stars of destiny).
General impressions:
Suikoden IV is the black sheep of the Suikoden family. It isn't as good as the others. The HQ isn't as nice, the battle party was lowered to 4, the characters aren't as interesting on the whole. But it is by no means a bad game. It still had a very interesting story, some solid characters, some very pretty locations, and my second favourite True Rune story of the series. It has some fun things like the confessionals, and it has some of my favourite character designs as well. It also has my favourite Jeane and Viki designs. I don't enjoy it as much as the rest of the series, but it's still a very good game and I really like it.
Story:
I'd say it's a strong point in this game, despite everyone disagreeing with me :P. I liked the Rune of Punishment because it wasn't just a rune you could spam for power (well it was, but not story wise). I liked learning some back story for the history of the Suikoden world, and seeing some old (young?) faces like Ted, which tied in with the first game. I liked the politics of this one a bit more than most other Suikoden games as well, and while the characters and gameplay weren't as good, I thought a lot of the dialogue flowed well in this one.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is by no means bad, I think the biggest issue is that it was a departure from the rest of the series. When you have as many characters to level grind as a Suikoden game, 4 in a party is not nearly enough. Those extra 2 party members make a difference. Also, as much as I liked the beautiful water environments, getting from place to place with little going on was just very dull. Other than that the gameplay was fine and I did actually enjoy the ship battles.
World:
As I mentioned above, both pretty and dull. The ocean is vast and beautiful, but having to traverse it forever to get somewhere was not fun. But the islands for the most part were pretty interesting and it had some memorable areas.
Characters:
The characters didn't have the same charm as in the other Suikoden games, but it still had some strong ones that I enjoyed. As usual I appreciate the diversity of character types you find in this series, and it was certainly interesting having an older, drunk woman as your strategist.
Favourite character: Flare Attachment 62672
Honourable mention: Kika Attachment 62673
I liked both of these ladies because while they were very different people, they were both strong and determined and excellent allies. Plus Flare is an archer and I love me some archer characters.
Overall it is the weakest in the Suikoden series, but it is still a solid, fun, enjoyable game that I will continue to play. It has a strong story and some interesting characters.
You know, I think I have this one, but I have yet play a single Suikoden.
This Spyro game is about saving poor baby dragons from yet another comical dragon hating villain. There's also a love story.
This game plays about the same as Spyro games from the time. You travel to different worlds via portals and collect gems and dragon eggs. You can glide and breathe fire and headbutt things, and there are also mini-games like skateboarding and the like. In this game you can also control different characters in set locations to do mini-levels.
This is my favouritest Spyro game. I have so much fun playing it. I love the worlds and the side characters and the mini-games. The story stuck out to me much more, although it's still a Spyro game. But most of all I love all the different baby dragons and there funny little skits and names! Just bought it again recently and have had a bunch of fun playing it again!
Remember back when Spyro was fun and cute? Because Activision doesn't.
but Pepperidge Farms does.
Suikoden IV is the only one I have played. I remember finishing it but not getting all 108 characters. I also remember some runes being very OP and the ship battles were awesome even though they weren't very challenging. Agreed on some dull environments. I liked sailing from one port to another buying and selling goods for a profit.
Spyro 3!!! Not sure if I prefer it over 1, but I definitely love it. One of the best platformers of the PSX/N64(/Jaguar?) generation.
The last good Spyro game.
Another Tekken game?? Don't worry, there's only one left after this
I'm lumping together both of them. Tekken Tag Tournaments 1 and 2 are about beating up your opponent in some time paradox where there dead are brought back to life and a 40-50 year old Michelle looks like she's 17. Also, does it bother anyone else that she supposedly adopted Julia but Julia looks JUST LIKE HER?! What are the chances she adopted her clone now really. Anyways I'm getting off topic. Michelle is pretty cool regardless.
In Tekken Tag Tournament you pick two characters and you swap between them while beating up another tag team. Some health will recover on the one not currently fighting depending on the damage bar. It fights like all Tekken games where the buttons correspond to different limbs. It also has large amounts of characters from the entire series, so even if your favourite was killed off, you can use them in the Tag games.
I like both games a lot and my favourite part is having pretty much all of the characters available. There's so many to choose from and you can use two at once, which is fun. Tag 2 is pretty much an improvement on Tag in every way, but I have a few issues with it. I feel like the sexualization is starting to get over the top, and not just for characters like Anna where I expect it, and the customization system is a really big step down from 6, in my opinion, which was disappointing because it was one of the things I was looking forward to most. But aside from that they are both incredibly fun games and I really enjoy them. Especially since the first one had bowling at that was incredibly fun!
Favourite character: Lili Attachment 62703
Honourable mentions: Xiaoyu, Anna, Jun Attachment 62702Attachment 62704Attachment 62705
Lili has dethroned Xiaoyu has my favourite Tekken character since Tekken 6. I just enjoy using her more. But Xiaoyu is still really up there and I like how quick and agile she is. Anna and Jun return as favourites for the reasons I listed in my Tekken 2 review. I like Jun almost purely out of nostalgia though because I don't click that well with her fighting style.
I got to play this with my brother and nephew and I kicked so much ass as Nina.
Ni No Kuni is about a young boy named Oliver who ends up in a strange and magical world and becomes a wizard to save his mother. While he's there he learns about “soul mates”, people who are connected to people from his world, he restores broken hearts, and he meets some new friends.
This game has a lot of stuff to keep track of. You can catch and tame monsters and also evolve them. The monsters will do a lot of the fighting for you in battle. You learn spells which not only work in battle, but serve a wide range of purposes outside of battle as well. Such as unlocking locks, growing plants quickly, or speaking to ghosts. You also get a cauldron for items. Another part of the game is taking certain heart qualities (such as enthusiasm) from those with an abundance and giving it to the “heart broken” to make them feel better. You also travel between the two worlds to find people's “soul mates”, because helping one from one world will generally help the other. There are 3 playable characters and they can each have a certain amount of monsters available to use in battle.
General impressions:
This game is beautiful, there's no doubt about that. You're basically playing a Studio Ghibli film. A very very long one. While I love the art style, the beautiful and wonderful world, the likeable protagonist, and the interesting story, something about it is just... off. I can't figure out what. Maybe it's just too much stuff going on and it makes it too overwhelming. I don't know. But on paper it is an amazing fantasy game and I'm glad I played it and I would certainly play it again. There is an incredible amount of detail in it, from your magic book actually being a book with wonderful drawings and such to the fact that this is one of the only games where the character uses stairs properly. Major points in my book just for that one thing.
Story:
The story is very interesting, although it has some glaring faults to it and is incredibly slowly paced. But it's actually very good, it kept my interest and it kept me wanting to see more and play more. The plot twist near the end with (SPOILER)Pea was excellent and touching and it had some incredible fantastical moments that just suck you right in.
Gameplay:
There is so much going on in this game I don't even know where to begin. It's very interesting to me to have magic more useful outside of battle. I loved collecting heart pieces and helping people out. The monsters were cuties and I liked using them, but some of them were infuriating to catch. The game is a lot of fun, but it's hard to keep up with everything, especially if it's a game you put down for a while and come back to. As I mentioned, for all of its good qualities on paper, something is a bit off about it and I often found if I played it too much I would get big headaches, which was pretty odd. And this game is long. This game is very very long. Also each area provides a considerable difficulty spike, but it doesn't take long to catch up.
World:
Beautiful, stunning, gorgeous. Seriously, I would play it just for the beautiful world. They tricked me at first with the smaller map but it is vast and fun to explore. There are too many gorgeous areas to count, but the towns also feel lively and vibrant, especially when you help out the townsfolk. It's just great, top 5 video game worlds for me easily.
Characters:
This is the weak point for me. I like the characters just fine but I don't love any of them and I hate our last entry fellow. There's lots of cute and nifty monsters to use though. And Oliver is a cool kid with a touching story. But overall they didn't really stand out to me, which is a shame.
Overall this game is absolutely beautiful when it comes to world, graphics, and story. The game has a lot of elements to it but it somehow manages to be less than the sum of its parts, and so that is why it is so low on the list despite it's strong qualities. Excellent fantasy game, though.
I really enjoyed that game but the combat was just awful. I mean "awful" is too strong...I just hate not being able to truly control my characters. Very clunky and poor support AI. Gorgeous world though, and sweet story.
I never beat the final boss :sigh:
I really need to get this and finish playing it.
Last one for tonight! Tomorrow we finish out the 50's, so we will be about halfway done, whoooo~
Tales of Legendia is about Shirley and Senel as they end up on a giant ship and Senel has to rescue her because she holds some kind of special powers or position in society, although what exactly it is is not known at first. Senel teams up with some others with similar goals as he attempts to get her back from those who would use her.
This game is a bit different from most Tales games of the time, but it still had it's similarities. X button attacks, O uses arts. Attacking restores the TP needed to use arts. Pressing a directional button with O uses different arts. In this game there will be some sort of... gel bubbles in certain paths, protecting chests usually. Entering a fight while inside one of these will trigger a stronger than usual monster. The game also has block puzzles to do in most dungeons. There are 8 playable characters with 4 used in battle at a time.
General impressions:
I was a bit nervous to try this one because it's the black sheep of the Tales family. Sure enough, it wasn't as good as the others I had played. But it was still quite good, especially later on when things start to pick up more. The characters were interesting and the story was excellent. The gameplay is alright but certainly the worst from the series. But despite its faults, it kept getting better and I would definitely play it again.
Story:
The story is the best part of the game. It's hard to go in to much detail without spoilers, but it really had me interested when things started to pick up. I liked learning about the different types of people and how the world got to where it was. I also really like the deconstruction that this game used. The main character views his previous lover as perfect and she's shown as such in some flashbacks, but as time goes on you learn that he was seeing her through rose-coloured glasses (SPOILER)and she was actually kind of a jerk. She did do some good things but she wasn't the perfect maiden we were led to think she was. I really liked the story, although it did feel a bit slowly paced at times.
Gameplay:
One of the weak points. It isn't as fun as the rest of the series, the 2D battle screen gets a bit confusing and difficult, and the block puzzles were awful later on. The AI is also a bit stupid and your main healer likes to not heal until the last possible second, which often leads to dead characters. Cooking was much less exciting. But other than that it was fine.
World:
The world actually has some very interesting locations that I had a lot of fun exploring. The world felt very large and vast and there were some very pretty places. The best thing about it though was the teleport things they had everywhere to minimize back tracking. It was an excellent feature and took away the potential for something tedious.
Characters:
While this game by no means has my favourite characters in video games, they are overall well written and interesting. A lot of them felt and acted like real people. It was actually hard for me to choose favourites because they don't stand out much, but their interactions and scenes are well written and I like the cast more as an ensemble than as individuals.
Favourite character: Norma Attachment 62739
Honourable mention: Shirley Attachment 62740
Norma was just a big silly goofball and some of her stuff made me laugh out loud. She just brought a lightheartedness, and she was silly and goofy and fun. She was also pretty positive and picked herself back up when she was down. Shirley is generally hated and I can see why in some instances. Her voice is annoying and she gets kidnapped a bajillion times. But she's a heroic and selfless character deep down and she has some of the most interesting development and scenes, especially with her changy parts.
Overall this is a weak entry for the Tales series, but still a really good game overall. Good characters, great story, so-so gameplay. Good history to it as well. A lot of fun and I will definitely play it again.
Ni No Kuni is awesome in many aspects, but something is off indeed. The game does way too much handholding, and while the battles can be challenging the actual puzzles and fetch quests are mostly lame. The characters literally tell you which spells to use to solve a quest/puzzle, and you can only cast them and finish that quest until you have talked to them enough. Let me think for myself please, I'm not dumb :cry:
But man does this game go out with a bang. It has one of the strongest endings I have seen in a long long time.
Woke up early today
The game centers largely around the four Crystals, which at the beginning we see engulfed in darkness. Meanwhile, one of our characters hometown is swallowed up by the Earth. He teams up with the vestal of Wind and two other companions as they attempt to revive the Crystals.
This game plays like some old school Final Fantasy games with some differences. You have 4 characters, all 4 usable in battle. There are many job classes to choose from and each serves its own purpose. You can switch to any of the ones you have anytime outside of battle and for any character you want. In Bravely Default, jobs are obtained by defeating enemies of the job at certain points in the story or through sidequests. It also has the Brave/Default system, where you can borrow against or save up turns in battle.
General impressions:
This game was one of the reasons I got my 2DS. I was so excited to play it. But every time I went to get a new game, I was never in the mood for this one. Eventually I was and I picked it up and for the first few days I could not put it down. My 2DS was constantly on the charger because I was draining the battery like a crazy person. I was so interested, so excited. But I noticed that the further in I got, the more my interest waned. I realized I didn't really like the characters, the story was incredibly predictable, and the game was really kind of hard, even on easy. I still like the game, don't get me wrong, but I suppose it didn't live up to what I expected it to.
Story:
At first the story really grabbed me. I couldn't wait to see what happened next, to get the next character, to go to the next area. What was going to happen!? As it went on though, I realized the story was absurdly predictable. I saw pretty much every twist coming, and that's saying a lot because I'm really bad at that. Especially the (SPOILER)“Things aren't black and white!” twist because Edea spent the whole game shoving black and white morality down my throat at every opportunity. If they'd been a bit more subtle about it, it would have had more of an impact. Instead it was “Okay, when's the reveal, let's get on with it.” But the story is still pretty solid and I liked that the villains for the most part had some depth to them instead of just being evil badbads.
Gameplay:
I'm split on this so I'll start with the negatives. I like to play video games ALONE. I won't even VS players in fighting games anymore, I'll just take turns. I want to play games A L O N E. I don't want to turn on StreetPass, I don't want to connect with other players, I want to play it as if no one else exists. I hated that this game penalized me for that. Oh you want to rebuild the town? Well it's going to take 10 years because you prefer to play without linking to your friends. You don't get the special friend attacks. And we are going to remind you every time you boot up the game that you will not have it as easy because you play by yourself. I don't play with other people. I don't like that. Awesome if you do, but don't penalize me if I don't. Also this game was hard and really repetitive towards the end and also in dungeons. Now that that's over with, this was refreshing if you enjoy games like FFV and the job system. I LOVE the job system. So many jobs, so many cute outfits, they get to keep those jobs in scenes. So much fun. The Brave/Default option was also really cool and made the regular fights much quicker and easier. It was also good that they had battle and difficulty settings.
World:
The games world was quite interesting and I did like it. The towns were very pretty and artistically done and I always liked seeing what the next town would look like. Very pretty, great diversity. Only negative I can think of were the repetitive dungeon maps. Other than that, no complaints, really great world.
Characters:
Another weak point for me personally, although a lot of people love the characters. I thought I would love Agnes and made her my main lady, giving her my favourite job classes and such. She is a good person but I don't know, she didn't stand out to me. I didn't really like the others, although I didn't dislike them either. I guess Tiz would probably be my favourite of the bunch, but not enough to give him his own section in this review. I'd say some of the villains were more interesting to me. But I did enjoy their interactions and little character skits.
Overall this is a good game, especially if you like old school Final Fantasy. It definitely goes back to its roots. It was a bit repetitive and predictable, but it's good fun to play, especially for fans of the job system.
I wouldn't mind another go at a Tales game someday, and Bravely Default too. Hopefully they get a port to a console I currently make use of sometime.
I expect I'll buy Ni No Kuni sometime.
Norma is great. I thought she was a really funny, fun character. She attacks with bubbles for Pete's sake.
BD fairy is creepy as smurf.
Bit of an early schedule today. Let's finish up the 50's!
50. .hack//series (Infection, Mutation, Outbreak, Quarantine)I'm including all four games in the series because it's hard to judge them individually. It would be like judging each disc of the PS1 FF games individually instead of as a whole. Anyways, these games are about MMO players in The World as some strange junk goes on. People playing the games are going in to coma's in real life, and newbie player Kite gets some weird messages and powers. It soon becomes obvious that this isn't a typical video game and Kite and his gang need to set things straight before more people get hurt.
This game is a single player RPG meant to mimic an MMO, since an MMO is the setting of the game. So in the game you go to different maps by entering different keywords, you have safe zones, and you call up your party members to come join you instead of them being readily available at all times. Sometimes they will be busy with “real life” and will be unavailable to you in game. There are also some sidequests to do and such. Each character has a job class that he/she specializes in. There are a lot of playable characters, some story mandatory, and some you can recruit by doing sidequests.
General impressions:
I actually didn't know what an MMO was when I started playing this, but that didn't stop it from being fun! It should also be noted that this game is more than just a game, it's got a whole experience with it. You even get short movies to watch with the games to show what's going on in “the real world” as you progress the story events in game. There's also an anime that is pretty connected, but it isn't necessary to watch to complete the game. Because it has so much around it, and you even get like a little messages thing and you can customize your background before you officially join the game and stuff, it really makes for a very immersive experience, something I enjoy a good bit.
Story:
the story is excellent and really had me hooked. I was a bit creeped out and scared, but excited and wanting to know more and see more. I wanted to understand what was happening and why. It has some very interesting lore to it, it's well told, and overall is just a very gripping story. The story is by no means a horror, but it does have some thriller aspects to it, which is a genre I really enjoy. Great story.
Gameplay:
The game is really fun to play. There's a bunch of maps to explore, the world really changes with the events, and even the menu screen before entering the game itself is fun because you can customize it and stuff. I like the realism aspect of not having everyone available to you at all times, although it was a bummer sometimes to not have access to a character you use frequently. The sidequests and mini-games and such were also much fun.
World:
My biggest complaint here is that some of the maps get repetitive. But other than that it's good, it has some nice locations, and it changes with the games and the story, which was pretty neat. Nothing special but not bad at all either.
Characters:
With so many characters, there's bound to be some you like! There were quite a few I really enjoyed using and it was interesting to see some of the personalities you got along the way. There was also a good variety so you could adjust your parties for your personal play style.
Favourite character: Mistral Attachment 62758
Honourable mention: Elk, Natsume Attachment 62759Attachment 62760
Mistral is sweet, bubbly, and kind. She's also fun to have around and makes some silly comments. (SPOILER)I was sad that she became unavailable for a good chunk of time, but overall she's a great character. Natsume was very naive and had low self-esteem, but she melted my heart and I liked having her around. Elk has one of the saddest stories and I couldn't help but feel for the poor guy.
Overall great game with great atmosphere. Excellent story, really fun to play. The games cost an arm and a leg now though, which is a shame because I really like them and wish I could play them again.
This evening we kick off the 40's, yaaay!
I cannot believe how expensive these games are. Particularly because each individual title is only like 8 hours long (I've only played one but I've looked into the rest of them in terms of gameplay length).
In this game, you play a farmer who has a choice of moving to one of two villages. One will focus more on raising livestock while the other will focus more on growing crops. You also have to try and restore the friendship of the two towns by participating in the weeklyish cooking contests for some reason. As usual in a Harvest Moon game, you can get married as well.
This plays like most Harvest Moon games. You take care of crops and livestock. Time passes at about 1 minute per second and the villagers have their own schedule. There are 4 months representing the 4 seasons, which affects things like which crops can be grown. You can get married of course. This game also places emphasis on the cooking contest every week or so, where the villages will go up against each other in a themed cooking contest.
This is my favourite Harvest Moon game. I feel like it's become easier to play, it fixed a lot of the previous issues, and it's a lot of fun! There were quite a few characters I liked which adds replay value for the marriage part. The downside is that heart events are random, which can be rather frustrating. But other than that, it's probably the most intuitive that I've played, they teach you how to do things well, and it's very fun!
Favourite character: Laney Attachment 62765
Honourable mentions: Georgia, Nori Attachment 62766Attachment 62767
Laney is a really sweet and caring woman who I always enjoyed talking to. She's also very easy to get gifts for because you can find stuff for her outside for free. Georgia is pretty and kind and Nori is a nice, motherly type. It is a Harvest Moon game though, so they're all abnormally nice.
Well we're about halfway done my list now, so tomorrow I will have a special thingy! It will only be one post, and I know I've been going fast so it'll give people a chance to catch up on my first half. So look forward to that! :plumcheer::kaocheer:
I hope everyone is having fun :kaoclove:
This description applies to every handheld game Square-Enix has ever released. They're so good at making them addictive, and so bad at fleshing them out and keeping them interesting.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pumpkin
Interesting. Do you have some other examples? I'm curious nowQuote:
Originally Posted by metagloriaThis description applies to every handheld game Square-Enix has ever released. They're so good at making them addictive, and so bad at fleshing them out and keeping them interesting.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pumpkin
Well more or less, like I said, you can throw pretty much any Square-Enix handheld game in there...Quote:
Originally Posted by PumpkinInteresting. Do you have some other examples? I'm curious nowQuote:
Originally Posted by metagloriaThis description applies to every handheld game Square-Enix has ever released. They're so good at making them addictive, and so bad at fleshing them out and keeping them interesting.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pumpkin
- Dissidia: hey neat an FF fighting game! (40 hours later) meh. Am I done yet?
- Theatrhythm: hey neat an FF rhythm game! (40 hours later) meh. Am I done yet?
- Revenant Wings: hey neat an FF strategy game! (40 hours later) meh. Am I done yet?
- Dragon Quest IX: hey neat a handheld Dragon Quest flagship title! (160 hours later) ...okay this is getting ridiculous, I should stop running grottos while sitting in front of the RNG calculator
- FF 4 Heroes of Light: hey neat a throwback game with an old-school job system! (40 hours later) meh. Am I done yet?
- Bravely Default: as you described
- even Crisis Core, as great as it was, the later missions became a slog because there was no variety.
That's the keyword...variety. At some point, every handheld title just begins to pad itself with repetition, whether in broad swaths (Bravely Default's chapters) or small ones (Theatrhythm's small song collection, RW's battles).
You forgot the best.Quote:
Originally Posted by metagloriaWell more or less, like I said, you can throw pretty much any Square-Enix handheld game in there...Quote:
Originally Posted by PumpkinInteresting. Do you have some other examples? I'm curious nowQuote:
Originally Posted by metagloriaThis description applies to every handheld game Square-Enix has ever released. They're so good at making them addictive, and so bad at fleshing them out and keeping them interesting.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pumpkin
- Dissidia: hey neat an FF fighting game! (40 hours later) meh. Am I done yet?
- Theatrhythm: hey neat an FF rhythm game! (40 hours later) meh. Am I done yet?
- Revenant Wings: hey neat an FF strategy game! (40 hours later) meh. Am I done yet?
- Dragon Quest IX: hey neat a handheld Dragon Quest flagship title! (160 hours later) ...okay this is getting ridiculous, I should stop running grottos while sitting in front of the RNG calculator
- FF 4 Heroes of Light: hey neat a throwback game with an old-school job system! (40 hours later) meh. Am I done yet?
- Bravely Default: as you described
- even Crisis Core, as great as it was, the later missions became a slog because there was no variety.
That's the keyword...variety. At some point, every handheld title just begins to pad itself with repetition, whether in broad swaths (Bravely Default's chapters) or small ones (Theatrhythm's small song collection, RW's battles).
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
:kaoclove::kaoclove:HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE:kaoclove::kaoclove:
Here's my special post of the day. Remember how *someone* here wanted me to compromise my list by finding 3 more games I didn't feel deserved to be on the list on to the list? Well good news, since I started posting it about 2 weeks ago, I have actually played 3 more games I would add to the list, yay!
I'm not going to bother numbering them because while 2 of them would be at the end of the list, one of them would have made it about 10 spots up and I don't feel like reordering stuff.
So here are some mini-reviews of those three games!
Wedding Designer (Nintendo DS)
Attachment 62773
This is a cute little game where you plan some weddings for some women. You choose out her dress, makeup, bouquet, venue, music, invitations, other stuff, and for some reason bedroom and look of the groom. That's right, as all powerful wedding planner, you can change the groom from a black man to an asian man if you so choose because why not. The game is pretty simple, it's incredibly hard to make a mistake since the bride will frown at any selections you make that she doesn't like, so you just kind of... don't pick those. And then you get on with the wedding and take some photos before moving on the the next client! It's fun and cute, but a little bit short. Could do with a more fleshed out sequel
Just Dance (Nintendo Wii)
Attachment 62774
I have a lot of fun playing this, and best of all, it's a very good workout. It's a shame it'll all be undone with Valentine's Day sweets. Anyways, I have the first and second one. The first one I really like. It has some fun dances and some cheesy songs and a few songs I like. It's a bit difficult but I enjoy it. The second one I don't like as much. It's more forgiving but I don't find it as fun and I don't like the song selection as much
Style Savvy (Nintendo DS)
Attachment 62775
I tried this game because a lot of people who like another game coming soon on my list recommend this one. And I tell ya, I can not get enough of it. You basically own your own clothing store. So you go to the buyer's center, buy clothing from all different designers (they aren't all available all the time) and then it'll go to your storage where you sell it to customers. In your store, you click on the customer to serve and you'll get a small description and then they'll ask you for something in particular. Sometimes it's a whole outfit. Then you have to try and find something they like based on their style. You get to show them 3 outfits consequence free and the fourth time you have to make them try on clothes. If they don't like what you pick out by the fourth time, you'll lose the sale. But they'll be back so it doesn't matter much. If they like what you pick, they'll buy it. You can also design mannequins and some people will come in and buy the whole display set. You also get to pick from different store designs and music, which you can change anytime. Of course you can change the looks of your avatar character as well. There's also fashion shows but I don't like those much to be honest. Anyways, it's a ton of fun for someone like me who loves dress up games and I'm hoping to try the newer 3DS version soon!
And those are my 3 games that could have made the cut had I played them sooner! That'll be all the updates today and tomorrow we will resume with the top half of my list!
What can we expect? Well, more Final Fantasy games, obviously. I said I have 14 on my list and I've only posted 4 so far. Also more Zeldas, more Xenos, more Tales, and more Suikodens. Some other series. Some stand alone games. MORE GAMES MUCH EXCITE
Very interesting list, Pumpkin. A whole lot of games I never played. Was kinda surprised by some of the games & not @ all surprised by others. Never took you for a Fighting game fan. Can't wait to see the rest!
Let's start the list back up with the last Tekken game
Same as the other Tekkens. It's a fighting tournament. You fight your opponents. Desirable outcome being that you win.
This plays like other Tekken games. Triangle, Square, O, and X all correspond to different limbs. You can do combos and stuff. This game also has a story mode that I can't remember what it's called, but you go from level to level beating bad guys until you generally get to a boss and beat him/her up. There are a lot of levels and the dialogue will vary from one character to the next. You can also customize your character with game monies you earn, or by using the characters and collecting treasure chests in the previous game mode I mentioned. There are several other modes like Team Attack and Survival that are present in most Tekken games.
This is my favourite Tekken game! It brought in my new favourite Tekken character, I loved the customization and the outfit selections and choices, it had a large cast, the graphics were good, I liked the story type mode and seeing the differences in dialogue and stuff, and overall it was just so much fun! It has it's faults of course, but most of the stuff I hear about I've never had a problem with because I play against the game on Easy mode so even though I don't know what I'm doing, I still do really well! Overall just so much fun.
Favourite character: Lili Attachment 62783
Honourable mentions: Xiaoyu, Anna Attachment 62784Attachment 62785
I love Lili's fighting style and just her style in general. I had so many outfits for her that I loved. She seems like kind of a snob though. But I'm pretty good at using her. Xiaoyu and Anna still on the list, still fun to use.
Suikoden is the story of a young boy from the empire, son of the renowned General Teo. One day, his best friend Ted comes to him and reveals a secret about a certain True Rune he possesses. One thing leads to another and eventually the young man is leading his own rebel army.
This game plays like most Suikoden games (shocking). You go around trying to recruit the 108 Stars of Destiny. The battle parties are made up of six characters, and magic takes the form of Runes. There are also many mini-games to be played around your headquarters depending on who you recruit. There are also duels and army type battles, both of which are sort of rock-paper-scissor type events. Losing units in the army type battles can result in their permanent death, making them unusable for the rest of the game. There are 78 total playable characters in battle, including guests and non-stars of destiny.
General impressions:
I think this was the third Suikoden game I played. I really like it, it was a lot of fun. The characters as interesting, the story is interesting. The gameplay is certainly less refined than the later entries but it is still very Suikoden. Also, Toran (the default HQ name) is the name I always use now when needing to name a town or building or farm or whatever in other games. Including other Suikoden games. The biggest frustration I had was the big rock-paper-scissors army battles where I would have characters die and have to start the fights all over again. Other than that very fun and has some good scenes in there to help you with some backstory for the rest of the series.
Story:
A strong point. They managed to make it very touching, especially in the beginning with (SPOILER)Ted and needing to run away. Then there was of course (SPOILER) Odessa's death and getting the new headquarters. It's paced very well and really well told. You can really feel the desperation and the sadness of everything happening to the hero pretty much at once. And the game gets more positive as it goes on, really making you feel like you're making a difference and that you're starting to win the war. But going back to face the emperor at the end is still very sad and touching and really hits home with how far you've come since everything started. Not the best story in the series, but very strong and interesting.
Gameplay:
It's less refined than the later entries, which wasn't too surprising, but it's still a basic Suikoden game and if you like the way Suikoden games play then you'll like this one too. Recruiting the Stars of Destiny in this one is challenging, but not impossible, and there's some fun mini-games to keep you occupied.
World:
Strong world with a lot of memorable locations. Almost every area has a history and a feel to it, which might be helped by the large cast of characters and the fact that they come from these places. There's good variety and it actually feels big and vast, even though it's only one section of the whole Suikoden world.
Characters:
Not the strongest in the series because things were still getting started, but a lot of good and interesting ones. Also good for fans of Leknaat because she probably has the most going on in this game. She's not just the woman who gives you your tablet, you can actually go to her home, see her with Luc, learn about her Rune and her sister. Also there's obviously a lot of series classics that debut here, like Flik and Viktor and Futch for example. Also with such a large cast, it's good to see a variety of unexpected character types, like Gremio.
Favourite character: Viktor Attachment 62792
Honourable mentions: Lotte, Viki, Hix Attachment 62793Attachment 62794Attachment 62795
Viktor is a big awesome bear man with a secret heart of gold and a foul-mouthed sword. Lotte is the adorable cat girl, Viki is the ditz who can teleport you (insanely useful) and Hix is kind of dumb but also the sweetest thing in the world.
Overall it isn't the strongest in the series, but it's certainly a great game worthy of the time to put in to it. Especially if you're a fan of the later games, you can see the origins of a lot of stuff mentioned later on.
Suikoden is the only game in the series I've played. And, while it was enjoyable, it didn't earn a spot on my top 108. Once I got the one guy with the super powerful stick attack (looking it up...Kai), the rest of the game was a breeze as far as difficulty. But I remember some of the missions and areas being interesting, and the HQ-building was fun. I'll have to wait and see which Suikoden gets the highest spot on your list and think about adding it to my giant queue.
Record of Agarest War Zero follows our hero Sieghart during a time of war when basically you're trying to save the world from evil. During that time he tries to save a young girl named Mimel, dies in the process, and is then revived. This game spans two generations and has many playable characters.
This game is a rather complex strategy RPG game. It involves linking characters and AP points. Each character has extended squares that it can link to, and if a character is placed in one of those squares, the characters will be linked. Linking characters allows them to perform on the same turn. So if you have all six party characters linked, they can all attack on the first characters turn instead of waiting for their turn. It's a bit more complicated, but that's the gist. This game also has a dating sim aspect, and the hero of generation 2 will be the result of whoever you end up with in the first generation out of three possible bachelorettes. The second generation hero can be matched with any remaining party member. Relationships can be improved through dialogue choices or through vacation days by chatting with the characters.
General impressions:
This was my firs Agarest War game and what got me in to the series. I like dating sims and I like dialogue choices and this has both! It also has a political story that for once I didn't have trouble following and I liked the dialogue for the most part. It's characters seem pretty stereotypical, and in some cases are, but I was happy to see most of them had some depth. It also had a good sense of humour to it. There were only 2 generations in this game, which on the one hand was good because you had more time to decide on your future bride, but on the other I would have liked it to have more than that. The worst things about this game are the difficulty, the sheer amount of battles you need to fight, and the fanservice. But on the brightside, it wasn't nearly as fanservicy as I was led to believe, although it is very much there.
Story:
A good story, but not the best video game story by any means. It was good for me because I'm terrible at political dramas, but this one was clear and easy to follow, which I really appreciated. It's a very character driven story, which is something I'm also fond of. Overall it was enjoyable and I liked it, but it wasn't anything special.
Gameplay:
Worst thing about this game for me. So many fights. SO MANY FIGHTS. Just to get like 5 minutes of scenes. And I played the game for the scenes. Add that to the fact that I suck at strategy games and there was no easy mode. Each fight would take me like a half hour and you usually have to do 3 or 4 just to get to the 5-10 minute story event. There was an auto battle but you needed to fight enemies weaker than you, so it was for the most part useless. Also bosses WILL kill you. It's kind of designed in to the game unless you're massively overleveled, and death only gives you a point boost for your special attacks. This game is not easy to just get stronger than the enemy, you need to actually know what you're doing.
World:
Not good. You travel to dots on the map. The battle backgrounds and town backgrounds get very repetitive. On the plus side, it has vacation days that let you explore, but not really. Not good for those who want an open world to explore.
Characters:
One of my favourite things. I like dating sim elements and having the hero be based off of your previous coupling. The characters seem pretty shallow but most of them surprised me with some added depth to them, which was great. I loved the interactions and I loved seeing how my dialogue choices would affect the relationship ratings.
Favourite character: Alice Attachment 62803
Honourable mention: Routier, Sayane Attachment 62804Attachment 62805
What I like about Alice is she's just a good, normal person. No exaggerated personality. She cares about her friends, she works hard, she makes jokes, but it's never in your face or shoved down your throat. Plus she has a demi-God demon crab-man servant and that's something special. And her battle shuffle is adorable. Routier is just a sweetheart. I expected to be annoyed with Sayane because it seemed they were trying to hard to make her perfect (look, she's beautiful, smart, kind, and funny!) but she wasn't overbearing in the least and was actually beautiful and smart and funny and kind. Pretty impressed with the cast overall.
This game has long, complicated, difficult gameplay, and too much fanservice, but it's worth it for the story and the characters. Very much enjoyed, I just wish it was easier.
Tekken 5 and 6 were pretty solid entries. I really enjoyed them, but I'm not a fan of the prevalence of the bound system.
The Legend of Mana has a vague overarching plot, focusing more on several character plots with three major storylines and a bunch of side stories. The first major story arc is about the Jumi who have nearly been hunted to extinction for their jewel hearts. The second follows a brother and sister dragoons who fight on opposite ends of a war by different dragon masters. And the third is a complicated love story about four childhood friends and their different paths in life. There are many smaller story arc. There is one main playable characters, but you recruit several along the way depending on decisions you make. Some are guests. You can also have monsters accompany you and golems you've created as well.
This game is extremely non-linear. The world is built by obtaining artifacts, which when placed on the map will make new locations. Battles are on set points in the map where you press different buttons to perform different skills, most of which can be customized on the menu. You can also catch and raise monster eggs and monsters, make your own golems to fight with you, and grow your own odd fruit from the fruit trees. In order to finish the game, you need to complete one of the three main story arcs. It's hard to get everything in this game because it's very finicky about when you do what, so a guide might be needed if you want to see everything it has to offer the first playthrough.
General impressions:
This game has a very unique art style, which is one of the first things I noticed. I'm actually not a fan of the character designs, but they are very creative and well-done, it's more just personal preference. The locations are beautifully drawn and it looks like a work of art. The game is extremely non-linear, which is great and adds replay value. However, if you're a completionist it might get pretty frustrating. I played with a guide for this list so I could be sure to see everything. The battles can get pretty repetitive and as pretty as the maps are, some of them are very easy to get lost in. But this game has a very unique way of story telling and it was refreshing in that it was quite different from anything I'd ever played. I also very much enjoy games that spawn theories, and I like that this one can be looked at as starting over “after the end” or even as telling the stories of “before the end”. It brings a different and much more desperate feel if you look at it the second way, and I love how much the tone can change from that.
Story:
The overarching story in this game is incredibly vague and hard to pinpoint. Instead, you mostly follow several mini character stories. I was okay with this because I love character driven plots. With that being said, it was a bit odd as it seemed the main hero was just thrown in to these situations, ranged from silly to incredibly serious, and the hero had little to nothing to do with them. Some of the stories were a bit hard to follow. But overall there were some more fun and silly ones, but also some very deep and serious ones. Of the three main stories, my favourite was the one with the childhood friends, but the Jumi one was excellent too. I liked the love story because it was a very unique and fresh take on love stories and it really got me invested and feeling for them.
Gameplay:
The gameplay overall is nothing special and at times could be quite frustrating, but that will be covered more in the world section. I wouldn't say it was boring, but battles could be a bit odd because of the positioning of things. But there was a ton of customization available, the world building was so awesome, and there were a good bit off side things to do like make the golems and grow the fruit. The game was also incredibly easy, which I could appreciate.
World:
The world itself was beautiful and had some amazing locations. It was diverse, it was beautifully drawn, and it was interesting. The downside was that certain maps were horrible and so easy to get lost in. I had a map in front of me and I still got lost all the time. It can turn a 10 minute thing in to a 40 minute thing. But aside from that it was beautiful and fun to explore.
Characters:
This is a very character driven game and one of the best things about it is that the characters are not stereotypical or black and white. Sometimes it was hard to pinpoint who exactly was the good guy or the bad guy. Because it wasn't always clearly a good or bad guy, just different people. Except Niccolo, that guy was a jerk. But the cast was diverse and interesting and we got to watch a lot of them in some great moments.
Favourite character: Pearl/Blackpearl Attachment 62814Attachment 62815
Honourable mentions: Matilda, Esmeralda Attachment 62816Attachment 62817
I've always enjoyed split personality characters and Pearl was very interesting to me. On the one hand I liked her because Pearl was soft spoken, polite, kind, and caring. She was kind of a drag in battle though. But as Blackpearl she was strong, confident, intelligent, and amazing in battle. Both were awesome characters. I liked Matlida because I found her to be a pretty unique character and I really liked her story, and the same thing with Esmeralda but in a different way. All of these characters had very touching stories.
Overall beautiful game, strong character, very unique and refreshing. Great non-linear gameplay, but a bit dull with the battles and stuff and some very frustrating maps. Still it's a very unique game worth checking out.
I see what you mean about the character design. They remind me of those troll toys. The game looks really pretty in general other than that, though!
The whole game is great.
Some people found the two player option a little clunky, but I really enjoyed the fact that a friend could pick up a controller and play as one of the other party members in battle.
The hero of this story has amnesia and can also turn in to a sheep like monster. But one day he wakes up in a new town and is given a home inside a big special tree. Because this is a spinoff of Harvest Moon, you will do farming, socializing with the visitors, courting a bachelorette of choice, and participating in events. But the next part comes from going out and fighting monsters and defeating bosses to help Micah regain his memory.
This game has the typical Harvest Moon aspects. You do some crop farming. Livestock in this game takes the form of monsters. You catch monsters and they will work your farm or give you products. You can expand your home to include things like a pharmacy or a kitchen so you can make items to help you on your quest. Time passes in game as do days and there are different months representing the different seasons. There are events to participate in. You can also court a bachelorette of choice. The second part of the game is fighting enemies, gaining experience and leveling up, and fighting bosses to regain Micah's memory. You can also ask certain villagers to accompany you in to battle.
General impressions:
I was a bit nervous about this game which is why it took me so long to play it. I really like the Harvest Moon games, but they take up full game days just to do farming and socializing, so I was worried about how I would do both of those things and still find time to go adventuring. I saw sharky play another Rune Factory game on the PS3 and it seemed really enjoyable so I gave this one a try. The game is actually pretty well balanced to make that easy for you so you have ample time to get everything done. There's also no in game time limit so you can dilly dally all you want. The characters were fun and interesting, the game was easy to play and very intuitive as far as controls, very fluid. The game was pretty short (if you don't drag it on) and the world was pretty small, but overall it was very fun and I enjoyed it.
Story:
Not the deepest story by any means but still fun and interesting. Mostly the stories revolve around the individual characters and learning more about them, with the overarching plot being about Micah dealing with his transformations and worrying about some of the villagers who aren't as fond of monsters. The story is basically background noise in this game, which focuses more on gameplay and characters.
Gameplay:
A strong point for this game. It's a lot of fun, it's very easy to play (not just in difficulty) and there's always something to do. Whether it be cooking dishes, tending your farm, doing requests, socializing, fishing, fighting monsters, participating in events, or any other number of things. My favourite thing was doing requests, although the downside of them was that you could sometimes be offered to do requests that you couldn't complete and you'd have to wait another game day before accepting another one from that location. Other than that it was really fun.
World:
The world was very small, but it did have it's interesting spots. I was also happy that my bachelorette of choice liked my favourite icy location as her date spot. But the village did feel very lively, especially since the characters would have their own routine and wouldn't just be static and standing there.
Characters:
Another strong point for this game. There's a lot of interesting and unique characters, the dialogue and interactions are well written, and they really make you care about them. My favourite thing was that they would have their own relationships and conversations separate from the hero, which you don't see often. Sometimes they would include Micah, but other times you could just listen to them converse.
Favourite character: Sofia Attachment 62825
Honourable mentions: Gaius, Marian Attachment 62826Attachment 62827
It was actually hard to narrow down my favourites list, there's so many good characters. I liked Sofia and her quirky backwards talk and how cheep she was to find gifts for. Her story of why she talks that way was also pretty touching. Gaius is silly and hardworking and absolutely adorable. I wish this game had a female option. I wasn't expecting to like Marian but she was quirky enough to make her way in.
Overall this is a great game if you like something very open. You make your own schedule and do what you want. The story takes a backseat, the game is short, the world is small, but the characters are awesome, they feel very genuine, and it's a lot of fun to play.
I also really dislike the character design of a lot of the Mana games.
Rune Factory 3 is fantastic. So glad you like it. More people need to play it.
Atelier Escha & Logy follows two alchemists hired to the town's R&D department. They have certain jobs to complete and also spend some time working towards exploring some mysterious ruins.
There's a lot of stuff to do in this game. It has typical RPG fighting elements to it. In this game you will have 3 characters fighting with 3 as support for those characters, and they can be switched outside of or during battles. Unlike the other Atelier games I've played, this game allows support attack and defense for everyone, including support characters, as opposed to just support for the main character. Time management is also an important aspect. Every few months you will receive a list of tasks to complete. There is one mandatory one needed to be done to progress the game, and several smaller ones for extra points. Alchemy is also a large part. You can craft items from ingredients to healing items to weapons using alchemy. Every action takes a certain amount of time to do, like gathering, fighting, or creating items. You have a time limit for your tasks. Atelier Escha & Logy offers you the choice of which of the two protagonists to play as, but both will be present for most of the game.
General impressions:
I'd finished up Atelier Totori and Atelier Meruru and I was wanting to try another one. I'd read good reviews about Escha & Logy and how it was apparently easier than the others I'd played, which is a huge plus for me. I was a bit iffy about it because the environments were more drab than the other two games. That is one of my complaints, but overall it is a fun game, it improved on a lot of stuff, and it was much easier. It loses points for being more drab and having characters that interest me less, plus having too many DLC characters, but it's still a fun game.
Story:
The Atelier games I've played do have a story, but it mostly takes a backseat to gameplay and characters, and this one is no different. You're basically working Alchemists with a job to do every month and some mini-jobs to earn more points and money. I would say that this story interested me very little, but I'm not sure how much had to do with the characters and the presentation.
Gameplay:
A lot of fun, and improved on the others quite a bit. Alchemy is made more involving, the time limit is broken down in to smaller fragments, making the game easier, being able to support for and with every character and also being able to swap characters in the heat of battle so that your other ones can recover. Probably the biggest improvement is that when you return home your items are refilled so you don't have to spend precious days making more healing salves. Although the limitations on how many items you could bring were annoying. But overall it was really fun and the gameplay improved most of my complaints from the other ones.
World:
I don't have a lot good to say about the world. There were a few neat areas but overall it was drab, boring, and unpleasant. I didn't look forward to exploring or seeing more. But apparently there was some bad event called “The Dusk” that kind of ruined the place so I suppose it's justified. But I would have preferred brighter and more interesting environments.
Characters:
There were a lot of characters that I liked fine, but none of them had me excited or inspired. There were a few I really disliked. I was a bit disappointed that some characters with story involvement that I thought would be playable turned out to be DLC characters. I really hate when they expect me to pay more money for more of them and not just guests from previous games or something but characters that should very well be playable without me having to pay even more.
Favourite character: Lucille Attachment 62835
Honourable mention: Linca Attachment 62836
I thought both were very sweet. Lucille, while kind of out of nowhere, was precious and her baskets were cute in battle. She was actually a pretty useful fighter despite her appearance. Linca was great in battle and I enjoyed seeing a character who wasn't perfect and had her own struggles. There was some really funny scenes with her trying to make friends.
Overall the world is kind of drab and the characters, while good, aren't anything special. But the gameplay is great, there's a lot to do, and it's a big improvement. It's a really fun game to play if not a bit short.
And tomorrow we finish up the 40's!
This game is about two friends named Aden and Sonja who randomly end up somewhere they don't know and also oh yeah Sonja is trapped in Aden's body. This is of course not a situation they want to live with forever so they embark on a somewhat epic although mostly just nice quest to get Sonja her body back.
As this is a spin-off of Harvest Moon, there is of course the option to court some of the villagers and get married and have a baby. There is once again an in game clock that progresses the time and four months representing the four seasons. There are of course festivals and events. Farming is present in this game as well although it is a bit different. You'll get four farming islands as the story progresses, each of which can grow and produce different things. You recruit monsters to do your growing for you, so no need to water stuff. There's of course also the fighting part where you will go to certain islands and fight beasts with weapons of your choice. You can also expand your house and add things like a kitchen. Tamed monsters can accompany you on fights.
General impressions:
I watched sharky play a lot of this game and, as I mentioned in my Rune Factory 3 review, it eased a lot of my concerns with the series. Eventually, after watching him play about a year in game, I decided to try it for myself! I knew most of the story and stuff so I was mostly checking out the gameplay. It was fun and I really enjoyed it and I look forward to a full and proper playthrough sometime down the road. I would say a negative is that you don't get to play as Sonja, the female lead, until you've finished the main storyline, and there are a good deal less bachelors than bachelorettes. So you kind of have it stacked against you if you want to play a female character.
Story:
The story was pretty interesting, I think. I do find how upbeat and positive it is pretty amusing. You have a woman literally trapped inside a man's body, both of whom are aware of the fact, they've woken up on a strange island with a bunch of strangers, and they have to go defeat monsters and stuff to figure out what's going on. That story could have taken a much darker tone, but instead none of it is treated as anything more than a minor annoyance and everyone is just so happy and nice. It was pretty funny to me.
Gameplay:
The gameplay isn't as good as Rune Factory 3. The controls are kind of awkward and it's a bit difficult to get the hang of. They also don't really explain some stuff that they should. Farming is much easier but it feels more disconnected since a lot of it is done by your monster slave labour. But stuff like how to give them cookies, they don't explain that you just need it in your inventory so you're sitting there trying to figure out how to feed them. But I do like that now you can cancel and accept requests as often as you want with no limit. But they do get repetitive.
World:
The world feels both big and small. The ocean outside of the island is massive and it can take days (in game) to get to your destination. But the island is very small, so it gets kind of boring after a while. But still it was a very nice town and there are some interesting islands and some very cool dungeons.
Characters:
I am convinced that Fennith Island, the main game location, is a utopia. Everyone is so nice and so happy. Everyone helps everyone, everyone gets along. The worst thing to happen is like a kind of half-assed attempted burglary and a child having a tantrum. Other than that these people are the nicest people ever. I do wish there was more interaction and stuff, but I was quite fond of the cast and I can't think of one character that I disliked.
Favourite character: Electra Attachment 62850
Honourable mentions: Lily, Bismarck Attachment 62851Attachment 62852
Electra wasn't even on my radar originally, but I just found her very sweet and kind and polite. She was also an incredible hard worker and she does what she can to help out the family. Lily was like the older sister I never had and she had some really funny and sweet moments. Bismark is a nerdy workaholic, he's extremely shy, but he'll stand up for himself and others if he needs to.
Overall this game is cheesy and upbeat, but it's also just a lot of fun, it's sweet, and it has a good sense of humour. There's a lot of stuff to do to keep you occupied, but it isn't for someone who wants a more serious game.
I really enjoyed Tides of Destiny. It's not perfect, but I think it does most of what it does well.
I appreciated the crafting systems, and the fact that you could ad your little craft areas to the house. You could make food, clothing, weapons, healing items, and furniture.
The hardest part about the crafting was finding ways to up increase your skill level so that you could complete the higher level crafting requests.
The combat system plays like a hack 'n' slash platformer, and it can be a little awkward on occasion, but it's decent.
I also agree that it's just a happy, positive, fun game. All the characters are pretty great, and it's fun giving them clothes or finding what their favorite food is.
This is the one game in the series I haven't played. I find it hard to believe that it's better than RF3, though. I'll have to try it at some time to find out for myself.
Okay so I'm thinking Pumpkin is my official go-to person whenever I want to know anything about a JRPG! This is a great thread :D
I personally liked it better :shrug:Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyblade
Thanks :D I'm glad you like itQuote:
Originally Posted by Mister Adequate
Sorry, a bit late with the update, power outage. I'll post the third one up in about 3-4 hours
Atelier Meruru follows our protagonist, Meruru, a Princess trying to become an alchemist. Unfortunately her father isn't too keen on the idea, so they strike a deal. She has a few years to prove that alchemy can benefit and grow their tiny kingdom.
The game is an RPG and time management game. You have a set amount of time to accomplish certain goals, mostly growing the population. Almost everything in this game takes time, from resting to synthesizing to gathering and fighting. You will be given certain smaller quests to complete to go towards your rank, which you can use to develop the Kingdom and grow the population. You can also accept quests to improve your popularity and earn some extra coin. A big part of the game is synthesizing items that you'll need for the various quests. The battles are turn based, allowing three party members in battle at once. There is a good amount of playable characters and multiple available endings.
General Impressions:
Atelier Meruru was my first game in the series. I mostly got it because I was looking for Totori, but I couldn't find her game without ordering it online. But she was in this game so I gave it a try. At first I found it very stressful because of the time limit. I think you get 5 years total with a check up at 3. Which seems like massive amounts of time, but really isn't. Everything takes time. It goes by very very quickly. Honestly, having played other games in the series, I wouldn't recommend this one first as I find it more difficult. But it was easier when I went back and played after finishing Totori because I had a better grasp on what I was doing.
Story:
The story for an RPG is pretty shallow, but that's okay. As I said, time goes by quickly and before you know it you've spent five years fighting bunnies and making random stuff in your atelier. This game is much more character focused than story driven. You get to learn a lot about your companions if you trigger the right scenes and see how they get along and interact with each other. Heck even the shop owners get personalities in this game. So not a super strong story, but fine if you want something more lighthearted.
Gameplay:
The battles are overall pretty easy, although there were a few hard ones here and there. Synthesizing the right items definitely makes a difference if you can afford the time. The time management is the hard part. Knowing when to gather, when to synthesize, when to go fight. How much to gather in the dungeon. How much time to spend resting and recharging. But the good thing, if you like that type of thing, is that you aren't micromanaged. You chose which quests to focus on, where to distribute your points, how you spend your days. It's a refreshing kind of freedom rarely seen in RPG's.
World:
The world is very bright and cheery, which reflects well with the lighthearted tone of the game. You're not out to save the world from destruction, you're just trying to help a girl follow her dreams and help her country. The music is whimsical, which really adds to the atmosphere of the areas. The whole thing is just light and happy, which is a good thing. Some of the areas are gorgeous. There are also adorable little bubbles over the gathering areas.
Characters:
The characters are where the game shines for me. A lot of it is cliche stuff, but they still have solid personalities and strong interactions. The character development scenes were always what I looked forward to the most. Also a lot of the character art is gorgeous.
Favourite character: Totori Attachment 62865
Honourable mentions: Mimi, Meruru Attachment 62866Attachment 62867
I of course adored Totori. She was sweet, she was kind, she respected others and the weird ways they showed their affection. In battle she was pretty weak, but it was always cool to have a secondary item user. Mimi grew up a lot from Totori, acknowledged her faults, and worked to become a better person. While she isn't perfect, at least she's trying. I love the friendship between her and Totori. And she's pretty badass in battle. Meruru grew on me. I was worried about finding her annoyingly perky, but her determination and positivity won me over. Her angry silly moments also helped.
Overall it's a more lighthearted game, focusing a lot on time management. The characters are strong and interact well with each other. There's a lot of independence in how you play. It has good replay value for trying things differently and unlocking different endings, although you might need a guide because it gets pretty complicated. The atmosphere is very bright and upbeat.
Very interesting list so far Pumpkin, seeing lots of games I don't know which I feel tempted to check out now :)
I've hardly played any of the games on this list so far xD But good job with it!
Thanks! Which games are catching your eye?Quote:
Originally Posted by Egami
This is a game about Sora, the wielder of the Keyblade, and also Donald and Goofy because why not. Sora travels from Disney world to Disney world meeting Final Fantasy and Disney characters and defeating the Heartless and the Nobodies. And no, they aren't just jerks and losers (well, debatable I suppose), they're actual monster things.
I think this is an action RPG, but I'm bad with genres so I could be wrong. But anyways you take Sora and you beat stuff up with his Keyblade. He can also cast magic and transform a la Sailor Moon. Donald, Goofy, and Guest Character From Relevant World will assist you as backup and their actions can be set as far as what you want them to do/not do. You can jump and flip and skateboard and there's also a space ship shooting game thing but I prefer not to speak of that.
General impressions:
Some of you already know my Kingdom Hearts I horror story, but basically I didn't get to play it for many many years despite the fact that I should have been able to play it, so I moved on to II. And it was so much funness! I loved traveling to new worlds and interacting with my favourite Disney characters. I love the amount of detail such as the outfit changes in different worlds and also the different command menu. Oh I loved those command menus. It was a lot of fun, it wasn't difficult, and it kept me interested. I did not like the Gummi ship things and I hated the beginning part with Roxas. Hated. I keep meaning to have a save right past that part to start up on because it's awful and long and drawn out. But other than that, it is so far the only KH game I enjoy.
Story:
I'll admit I'm a bit lost on some of it because I don't own every console in existence so that I can play all the games. Plus I skipped the first one. But I did like what I saw and there was some stuff that had me very interested, like Namine and the Nobodies. Mostly I just preferred the individual smaller stories of the worlds themselves.
Gameplay:
So much fun! It's easy, the controls always worked well for me, I like having the guest characters a lot and being able to play with Disney and Final Fantasy favourites. The worlds were a lot of fun to explore and I always enjoy games that let me jump everywhere. The game was somewhat linear but they changed things up enough that it didn't really bother me.
World:
Excellent because there are so many worlds. Some of them felt a bit small, but most were very exciting and fun and interesting. I especially liked the Nightmare Before Christmas world because it really felt like I was in the movie. There were some other great ones too, like Mulan world which was big and had some diverse areas in it.
Characters:
I like pretty much everyone in this game except Roxas but none of them stood out as I favourite. I liked how sweet Sora was and I found him pretty unique as far as most protagonists go. I like that just seeing the difference from KHI and KHII now that I've played both, you can tell how much more comfortable he is with his Keyblade. Goofy is also awesome because Goofy
Overall the story is interesting and it has good atmosphere, the characters are fun and cute, but I mostly like it for the gameplay and the visuals as well as just exploring the Disney worlds I loved as a child.
And that concludes the 40's! Thirties start tomorrow~
Ni No Kuni and Tales of Legendia, for example.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pumpkin
And Kingdom Hearts...which I've never played for some mysterious reason that shall forever elude me.
Just wanna echo Hux and Egami. I really feel you describe games in a way that makes me want to play them. You go into just enough detail and throw in just enough pictures to encourage people to read without making it a long-winded review (which are still good, but only when you are specifically looking for detail on a game, not so much when you're just being told about one randomly).
:omgomg: KH2 :omgomg:
And now for a game no one cares about except for me!
In this game you are an aspiring super model in high school, without the drinking, drugs, or eating disorders. It's a very kid friendly game. But your goal is to climb to the top of the model ladder over several in game years.
There are a few different things do do in this game. You start out by creating your own avatar character. The main thing is photo shoots. Every month you have 5 photo shoots to do, including a special one that might be posing with another model or a cover shoot. Each one will have a criteria, like “Pink skirt and sporty look” for example. (Yes, there are weird combos like that). Then you select from the massive selection of clothing to make the required look. There's a nifty search feature to help you narrow the clothing down, so you can input “sporty” or “pink” for example, and the clothing is separated in different categories like skirts, sweaters, dresses, etc. If your boss lady likes your outfit, you get to pick your pose and decorate your fashion page with many different options. You get paid for each job and you get paid more depending on your popularity. Once all 5 jobs are completed, you move on to the next month. Besides the main job, you can also audition for separate fashion spreads and such, but you'll have to pay for your own wardrobe, hair, makeup, and photos to submit. There's also some hanging out with friends events and you can spend your money on your own fashions and looks for your character.
To understand why this silly game ranked so high on my list, you have to understand my quest for the perfect dress up game. I love dress up games, I don't know why. I'm not even that in to clothing or getting dressed really. But anyways, those little kids games you can play, those are super fun to me, but they last like 5 minutes and there's minimal clothing selection. So it's fun but then it's done and I'm bored again. But this game is the first decent length dress up game I've found and it has an amazingly large selection of clothing. I didn't get bored at all and it took me like 2 weeks to finish instead of the time it takes to watch a commercial on TV. It's cute, it's fun, it's positive and upbeat. You get to make your own character, you get to see tons of clothing combinations, and you can replay it again and make totally different outfits and covers and stuff. This certainly won't be the most popular game on my list, but I think it's awesome and it's pretty close to my ideal dress up game. It's also a game I play for something lighthearted just to relax since you can step away from it for a while and come back without being lost. Much fun.
I'm listening...Quote:
Originally Posted by Pumpkin
*yawn* Pass.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pumpkin
She made me pick outfits.
Then she made fun of my choices.
#stopbullying :colbert:
Bullying over fashion modeling? Sounds pretty realistic to me.
I didn't bully him. I just said it was interesting that he decided to pair a navy blue and white horizontally striped sweater with some camo pants and heels is all
I mean it fit the criteria (somehow) it was just not the most flattering outfit he could have come up with
This game follows a group of demon hunters from the Church of the Holy Maiden, and a new demon hunter named Prier in her hopes to become the new Maiden of Light. Her brother joins her as well as some odd characters she encounters on her journey.
This is a strategy RPG. It's pretty typical, move and act, but with some twists. There are certain areas you can purify, and standing on one of the floor panels that contains these squares will allow you to change the direction of it. Enemies and allies standing on it when you purify it will receive damage (or be healed with the right colour). You can also recruit monsters that you meet and train them to become stronger in battle. But don't train them too much without rewards or they'll leave you. There's a large selection of playable characters if you include monsters.
General impressions:
This was one of my first ever SRPG's, so at the time I didn't really know what I was getting in to. But it was a lot of fun, and I loved being able to recruit cute monsters with cute names and the silly little things they say. The battles were fun and not too complicated, although the game can get pretty difficult. It's overall pretty funny, it has some good, well written humour. I bought it again not to long ago and I loved it just as much.
Story:
The story is overall pretty forgettable, although there are a few scenes here and there that stood out to me and gave me the feels. I think the individual character stories were more interesting than the overarching plot, but I don't think it was poorly written either. Just not my favourite.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is really pretty fun when you get the hang of it and there's some pretty cute attacks. I like learning the strengths of the different monsters I recruit and how to use my parties as best as I can. The negatives would be that the game can be quite difficult, and eventually the monsters start becoming stronger pallet swaps so then it gets frustrating if you spent all that time level grinding a monster for a stronger one to just come along, especially for me because I didn't like having more than one type of monster. Other than that it was very fun.
World:
There's some pretty neat areas, but not really an explorable world map in the traditional RPG sense. You mostly explore it through the battle maps, and the few townish maps you get are 2D. But there was some good area diversity and it stayed interesting.
Characters:
I'd say this is the strong point of the game. The characters are well written, have good depth, and are quite interesting. Even though she wasn't one of my favourites, Prier was particularly well fleshed out I think and you get to see a strong young lady, and not just in the way she shows you. I didn't really dislike any of them.
Favourite character: Eclair/Dark Eclair Attachment 62897Attachment 62898
Honourable mention: Alouette Attachment 62899
Like I mentioned in my Legend of Mana review, I enjoy characters with split personalities, and that was Eclair. Shy and sweet on one hand and open and aggressive on the other. Also they both had different fighting styles. Alouette was like the mentor lady and I like her now mostly out of nostalgia because I loved her when I first played. But she is kind and her story is really interesting.
Overall it's a fun, silly game with some touching moments thrown in. The gameplay is fun and easy to get in to, but it can get a bit difficult. But the characters are where the game really shines and it has a great cast.
Overall I enjoyed La Pucelle, but I found the battle system did get a bit more tedious than most tactical RPGs, especially as you progressed. It had some interesting ideas, they just didn't all work out.
Last one for tonight. Also, fun fact, this is the game my current forum set is from!
This game has our favourite video game consoles turned in to attractive and kind of crazy anime ladies. In this one, our hero Neptune is sent to an alternate dimension where she meets alternate dimension versions of her friends and needs to find a way back home when she isn't busy slacking off for several years. Meanwhile, there's some bad guys and stuff.
This is an RPG game. You'll see enemies on the maps and if you hit them to initiate a battle, you'll start with the upperhand. If they get you from behind you'll be ambushed. In battles you'll have a targeting square, the size will vary based on weapons, and when you attack you'll hit all enemies in that targeting square. Your attacks can be customized on the menu. You can also use abilities, and at a certain point you can transform in to the powerful HDD mode, which also gives access to special skills. There are four characters usable in battle at a time, and you can have support characters linked to them as well.
General impressions:
I was a bit nervous about this game because it is very fanservicy, but I heard it was funny and that Victory was the best one, so I gave it a try. I really liked it a lot. It was a lot of fun, it was very funny, and the characters were great. It also taught me a lot of stuff about the game industry since I had to look up some of the jokes. But with that being said, it is way too fanservicy, which made me very uncomfortable, and there's a lot of grinding needed. There's also a huge amount of breaking the fourth wall, which never bothered me but might bother some.
Story:
The story is pretty memorable, but it's not deep or involving. This is a silly game so the story is pretty silly as well. It does have a lot to do with the video game industry, so if that's something you're interested in, it might be pretty fun.
Gameplay:
I did like the gameplay, although it wasn't anything special and the targeting system could be frustrating. My biggest complaint was that there were quite a few times I had to stop and grind like 10 levels and it took a while and I'm not super in to grinding like I used to be. But other than that it was fun, and I loved the battle quotes, especially since a lot of them are things I actually think while playing an RPG.
World:
Pretty much a low point in this game. A lot of areas are recycled and none of them are really that interesting to begin with. There's some fun ones I guess but I don't have much positive to say about this.
Characters:
This for me is what makes the game worth playing. On the downside, the characters are way too fanservicy, which I hated. But other than that I like most of them in their own way. They're just absurd and crazy and silly. I actually really did find them pretty funny and I thought a lot of their dialogue flowed well and felt genuine. Like stupid conversations I would have with my friends. Great characters. Also, most of them fit the split personality thing I enjoy (it's a part of the game).
Favourite character: Vert Attachment 62908
Honourable mentions: Neptune, Noire Attachment 62906Attachment 62907
I had a hard time narrowing this one down too. I like Plutia a lot, but not her transformation. I like Nepgear because she's sweet and kind, but she's not as funny or interesting. Anyways so on to my favourites, I like Vert a lot because she's an odd combination of proper lady, snob, and neckbeard gamer shut in, and you just don't get that combination very often. Noire is like the one sane man, but still not very sane. I love her voice though. And Neptune is an excellent character for her slang and attitude alone. Her slang is both the best and worst thing ever.
Overall this game is ridiculous, but that's what makes it fun. The humour can be pretty crude and it's very fanservicy, things I didn't like, but I loved the characters and it had me laughing out loud quite often.
This looks like a game I would really enjoy and never admit that to anyone.
This game follows the gang of Final Fantasy IV many years after the end of the first game. Rosa and Cecil's son is growing and taking his test to join the Red Wings, but soon things take a turn for the worst, and a mysterious girl who looks like Rydia arrives, fully equipped with summons, and starts stirring bad stuff up.
This game plays very much like Final Fantasy IV with a few differences. It's turn based combat with each character having a certain role or job they fulfill, meaning the action commands differ by character. There are also combo attacks available. One of the key differences is that in this game battles are affected by phases of the moon. Different phases of the moon will lower one type of attack or skill and augment another. These can be changed by sleeping at an Inn for example and can affect the outcome of battles. There are 22 playable characters, although some can be lost, and also 9 temporarily playable guest characters.
General impressions:
I wasn't sure what to expect with this game because it seems to get some mixed reviews. But I'd really enjoyed Final Fantasy IV, so I wanted to give it a try, and I also wanted to own a physical copy of IV so I bought the PSP collection. I will say this game starts out very very strong and the beginning had me more excited than IV did. The turning point comes in the fact that it's separated by character chapters, and some characters didn't interest me much or their chapters weren't fun for me, so those dragged the game down a bit. But overall I enjoyed it, it was fun, and it was nice to see the group again.
Story:
I think it has a really strong story, although some of the credit is due to IV for laying the foundation for it. But it always had me guessing, wanting to know and see what would happen next, and the music mixed with it well to create good ambiance. It was a really strong story and certainly a high point of the game, although the storytelling was a bit odd and some of the time frames were a bit wonky or at least hard to follow.
Gameplay:
I enjoyed IV's gameplay and this is very similar, so I enjoyed this too. I did think the moon phases were a neat touch and they brought a unique element to the game. It was important to know what did what if you had trouble with a boss fight or something for example. I did find this game a bit on the hard side, unfortunately, and some of the bonus dungeons were awful so I didn't bother to complete most of them. Overall it was good.
World:
Pretty much the same world as in IV, which I liked. It was nice seeing all the places again, but they did actually feel like years in the future and it was really fun to see how everything had changed. It's not the FF world that stands out most to me, but I don't have any particular complaints either.
Characters:
This is the strong point of the game for me. IV has such a strong cast so seeing where they are many years later and catching back up with them was awesomeness. It also has an incredibly large cast, which I love, and added a few new interesting and likeable characters.
Favourite character: Porom Attachment 62918
Honourable mentions: Ursula, Leonora Attachment 62919Attachment 62920
I wanted Rosa to make the list but she doesn't stand out as much in this game. But Porom is of course still my favourite because she's as awesome and loveable as ever. I hated her new pink hair at first but it has grown on me and I like it now. I like Ursula for her strength of character. She fights for what she believes in and she doesn't give up. Leonora is similar and she works really hard, plus I just like her attitude.
Overall not as great as IV, but still a game very much worth playing. It had some awesome chapters and storytelling, an amazing, large cast of characters, and some new and unique aspects to the gameplay.
I bought the FFIV PSP collection myself recently for my Vita. I haven't played either so am very much looking forward to them!
Xenoblade Chronicles is about two giant robots and the people who live on them. On the one, we have the human type people called Homs (and some cute puffball type people called Nopon) and on the other you have the Mechon, these machine type monsters who come over and attack and destroy. But there is one weapon, the Monado, which can damage the Mechon in ways that normal weapons can't.
This is I think an action RPG. You control one character of your choice in a party of three. I'm trying to give details but the gameplay took a while for me to pick up on and I haven't played it in months so I've forgotten some of it. You auto-attack I think until you select a skill. The skill icon will then start to “refill” before you can use it again, and each character has different skills. You can also customize your characters to a certain degree. Also, character outfits change with equipment, which is pretty cool.
General impressions:
I will say this game unfortunately did not interest me at all at first. We got it because it was expensive but had gone down in price and was starting to get hard to find. So we picked it up while we could. Sharky decided to play it first, at the first parts I saw did not catch my attention. It was like 2 giant robots fighting (not my deal) followed by some dudes with British accents fighting some robots (still not my deal) with a gameplay style that was slightly confusing, in some dark environment (doesn't interest me). Plus, I'm sorry to say this, the character faces creep me the heck out, I really hate them. Their faces look like melty and sunken and it's just... it's just weird. Anyways, point is I'm glad I decided to play it anyways because past that point the game is pretty awesome. It's got a great story, typical for a Xeno game, and the world is absolutely gorgeous. Beautiful, large, free to explore. Overall to me it is a very strong game with a weak beginning.
Story:
Like I said, this is a Xeno game, so the story is awesome. Plot twists galore. Some of them were slightly predictable, but a lot of it came out of nowhere and really had me surprised. That does add some replay value as well because you can go back and play it again and see things differently. But yeah the game had me on the edge of my seat, wanting so much to know what would happen next.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is good, but wasn't great for me. The best part was just the sheer amount of sidequests, which was awesome if you wanted a break from the main storyline and it gave you something to do while grinding. But the game was hard near the beginning. That one boss that gave me so much trouble, can't remember his name. It does get a bit easier, but not as easy as I would have liked, and the gameplay did have me confused at first. I did get the hang of it and got pretty good at it, but it isn't a game I can go back and just play like I'd never left, I'd have to relearn the battle system. Another problem that was really a personal thing was how big some enemies were, which I found to be very intimidating. But that wasn't a fault in the game, just personal preference.
World:
Best part of this game, hands down, and one of the best of any game I've ever played. So many beautiful and gorgeous areas, very explorable. You can spend hours just going around and finding stuff and seeing the sights. There was not one location I disliked and a lot I absolutely loved. Some areas were literally breathtaking and I would just stand and stare at them. I'd always heard it it had an awesome game world, and that was no exaggeration. It is stunning. I don't have enough pictures in this review to show you all the great locations, so google some if you'd like
Characters:
Kind of a weak point for me, otherwise this game would have ranked probably a good 10 spots higher. The character designs, like I said, creep me the heck out. Although it's neat to see them in their current armor in the scenes. I didn't have anything against the characters per se, but none of them really grabbed me in a way that made me care as much as I could. Not to say they were poorly written because a lot of them had good story and development, just that none of them meshed with me that much. Also, they yell way too much during battle. “IT'S REYN TIME!!!!!!!”
Favourite character: Melia Attachment 62930
Honourable mention: Shulk Attachment 62931
I like Melia because I found her very sweet and awkward. She seems kind of snobbish but doing some sidequests and stuff you can see that she really does care, she just isn't always sure of herself or how she should act. I put Shulk as second simply for his development and writing.
Overall this is a very strong game with amazing writing, interesting gameplay, and one of the most gorgeous video game worlds I've ever experienced. It's a great adventure and RPG so I'd recommend it to fans of the genre.
Also, please let me know if the images are working~ Was acting a bit weird
All images are working. They're working "Thanks to the power of the Monado!"
A massive game with hours of things to accomplish in a massive world.
It has Shadow of the Colossus amounts of environmental and enemy ambiance.
XENOBLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also, on TAY, I'm really ashamed to admit this, but I've spent way too much time on Rydia's chapter on the iOS version because the 3D model uses the I censored version of her outfit.. I'm sorry, I'm a disgusting human being :G
This game follows our hero Link as he has just turned of age to receive his cool green clothes in honour of that other Link dude from that other game. But because there wouldn't be much of a plot if we all just ate cake and partied (well that would be a different type of game) Link's sister gets kidnapped and Link has to hitch a ride with some pirates to go rescue her.
This plays like most Zelda games. You play as Link and go around beating up monsters and evil plants, solving dungeon puzzles, and killing bosses and absorbing their hearts (that is what happens right?) You get some cool gadgets along the way like a boomerang and a giant leaf among other things. A large part of this game takes place on the ocean in a boat traveling from island to island.
General impressions:
I wasn't too sure about this game because having only seriously played OoT and MM (I'd tried a few of the handhelds but never sunk many hours in to them) the art style of this one kind of turned me off. It looked too cartoonish. But when I started this list and heard good things about it I decided to give it a try and I was happy I did. I'm still not a huge fan of Link's new look, although he is much more expressive, but I actually enjoyed the light, cartoonish environments, especially the waves when travelling by boat. I also very much enjoy water areas and well... you know. This game does have it's faults, I think the beginning half was very linear and it didn't let me explore, and some of the areas were frustratingly difficult, although that last part is typical Zelda for me. Overall it was really fun and I quite enjoyed it.
Story:
I do enjoy the story in this game and I enjoy the added personal element of Link having to rescue his sister instead of just a kid going to save the world because why not. With that being said, it wasn't super deep and a lot of it was predictable, (SPOILER)especially the Zelda part. As soon as I met our pirate lady friend I was just counting down the minutes until her reveal as Zelda. But the story was still interesting. I did like that it was actually an “after the end” type of thing, but it was still lighthearted ad cheerful.
Gameplay:
As I mentioned above, my biggest issue was them giving me a huge sea to explore and telling me “We can't go that way right now!” It was very linear at the beginning, and the dungeons were too close together for my liking. Other than that the game was really fun, even if some of the dungeon puzzles were confusing. I think this game did a great job of also having some puzzles be solved by objects other than the key item you get for the dungeon, and it made me have to think a lot harder about my surroundings and not just about what I had in my inventory.
World:
I really liked the world, I thought it was bright and vibrant, but with some diversity as well. Sailing the sea was a lot of fun of course and a lot of the towns were lively and cute. I really did enjoy exploring new places and I always got so excited to see where I would go next and what it would be like.
Characters:
Surprisingly strong for a Zelda game. I think Link emotes much more in this game than the others, which gave him some personality despite being silent. A lot of the extra characters had me excited to meet them and learn more about them as well.
Favourite character: Medli Attachment 62938
I love Medli, I think she's so sweet and adorable and I always felt bad for sending her flying in to a wall because I wasn't sure what I was doing. But yeah I always got super excited when I would see her.
Overall it's a very fun game, and other than the art style is similar to the other Zelda games I've played. It's a bit linear at first but it does open up, the world and characters are charming, and the puzzles are fun.
That's all for today!
I like pretty much everything about Wind Waker except the low dungeon count and the sailing. Take those two things out of the equation and I'd ague it's probably the best Zelda since the SNES that wasn't named Majora's Mask.
Have you played Link Between Worlds yet?Quote:
Originally Posted by Vivi22
Anyway, this is a great game. Similar to Vivi, I only have a couple complaints.
Since the HD version made the sailing a lot better, those complaints are basically all of the islands with nothing to do. The Reef Islands, Seven Star Island and its ilk, etcetera. Nothing ruins the adventures of sailing like finding one of these incredibly boring islands.
Xenoblade is WAYYY TOO LOW and the characters are awesome and IT'S DEFINITELY REYN TIME but I totally respect all the great things you said about it.
Now what's this I hear about uncensored Rydia?
I have actually. I just forgot about it when I said that. :exdee:Quote:
Originally Posted by SkybladeHave you played Link Between Worlds yet?Quote:
Originally Posted by Vivi22
I do like Link Between Worlds more than Wind Waker, but it's hard not to when it's a fairly original take on the classic formula and does pretty much everything right.
I need to go back and play some more Wind Waker, but before that I need to finish playing Majora's Mask.
Windwaker! <3
Dungeon count doesn't make or break a Zelda game for me. A Link to the Past has the highest dungeon count, but I consider that game kinda annoying rather than fun or challenging. If a dungeon is going to be included, I'd rather the quality be good rather than the quantity. Majora's Mask as four dungeons, and I consider those some of the best of the series. I know a lot of people love their dungeons, and so do I, but having even so much as the standard 8-count isn't necessary for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Vivi22
http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...a_in_Kaipo.pngQuote:
Originally Posted by metagloria
It's criminal that I haven't played Windwaker yet but having never owned a Gamecube I suppose it makes sense.
I will eventually pick up a Wii U and Windwaker HD will be at the top of my list. MissH and I played through The Phantom Hourglass last year which was really enjoyable.
Yes Vivi, as a MM fan you should know that dungeon count isn't the most important thing ;)
Also
My gosh you're fussyQuote:
Originally Posted by metagloria
THIS IS THE POWER OF THE MONADO!!!!!
This game is about our hero, Fang, who pulls a “wish granting” “sword” from a stone in the hopes of wishing for some food. Instead he meets a fairy named Eryn who recruits him on a quest to save the world and revive the Goddess. After his initial bump dat noise reaction, he agrees to become a Fencer to help Eryn regain her memories. Along the way they are joined by some... eccentric allies (including a guy with a bad Canadian accent?) and defeat some... also eccentric villains.
This game has some unique gameplay elements to it. You have a range as to where you can attack that can be increased. You can unlock the ability to attack several times in a row and customize which attacks to use. You can also transform when certain conditions are met. Each character has a primary weapon they use but can use up to four weapons types which are changed simply by selecting different attacks or skills. There are two types of playable characters, the first being the Fencers, who act as your party members in battle, and the second being the “Fairies” like Eryn who become the weapons with which the fencers attack. You can also collect Fairies by defeating bosses and the like after which you an sort of customize them, equip them to your characters, or even equip them to the different locations to customize the dungeons. There are missable characters.
General impressions:
I was interested in this game because I liked Hyperdimesnion Neptunia for it's silly humour and wanted to try another funny RPG. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised and this game exceeded my expectations. For a while there I wouldn't put it down. It was just as funny, it had great characters, but it did an even better job with the gameplay and story. There were a few things I didn't like as much but overall it was a huge improvement and I enjoyed it much more than I expected. It was also easier. There was a bit much fanservice, but it wasn't too over the top either.
Story:
Once again this story is mostly corny, cheesy, and silly fun. But more than that it had some actually serious and well written moments. I cried at one point. Sure I cry at the drop of a hat, but I certainly wasn't expecting that from such a silly game. It had some very cliche moments to it and will never be a deep Xeno type of story, but I was invested, I cared, and it did surprise me at times. The game does at one point repeat, as in you go back in time and re-recruit your allies, which was a bit of a pain, but it did a god job of switching up the story and the music and stuff so it still felt new. This game also handled a love triangle extremely well, which was refreshing because love triangles can get ugly.
Gameplay:
Wasn't the best in the world but was actually pretty fun. There were a few things that weren't explained to me properly, which would be my biggest complaint. Like they didn't explain that your weapon could turn in to other types of weapons, so I thought I would have to get a new one or something, when really you can learn the other weapon types whenever you want. And how to do more than one attack in a row. But overall it was great fun, I loved the skill animations, and I loved how fun it was. Be warned though: The battle music when transforming/transformed during the first section of the game is atrocious.
World:
Kind of a weak point. It reused a lot of areas, but there were some pretty ones and you could customize things like how many points you would get and what enemies would appear. But overall nothing really special.
Attachment 62958
This image has nothing to do with anything, I just find it cute.
He has an afro with a sword stuck in it.
And look at his little change purse, so cute!
Characters:
Best part of the game. Very few of them are likeable in the traditional sense, but their eccentricities make them stand out more. I also loved how they would act with each other. I do think the characters had good depth and development, especially considering the type of game and how not serious it is. A lot of them really surprised me. Oh and you could customize some outfit accessories which is awesome.
Favourite character: Tiara Attachment 62959
Honourable mentions: Karin, Eryn Attachment 62960Attachment 62961
It was hard to narrow these down too because there were a lot of great ones. I thought I would hate Tiara because she was kind of a stuck up jerk, but she ended up having some of the best development and a lot of the best scenes. Plus her little shoes were adorable and I would pay SO MUCH MONEY FOR THOSE. Karin had some very funny scenes, I just wish I'd seen more of her. And she was a Fairy and could turn in to a bow for battles and those are my favourite RPG weapons. And Eryn was a sweet and caring girl.
Overall this is a silly, lighthearted game with really weird characters and some unnecessary fanservice and an uninspiring world. But there's some great story moments, great characters and character development, and it was overall just a lot of fun to play.
That surprises me, because my one big-time-Zelda-loving friend says Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks are unbearable because of the repetitive elements. I never played PH but in ST, the dungeons are great but eventually using the train to move around becomes a huge pain in the neck.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bubba
Dungeon count isn't all that matters in a Zelda game, but when a Zelda game has almost nothing to do outside of them that's all that fun and there are at least two mini dungeons that feel more like they got cut to meet a deadline than were intentionally added that way it definitely hurts a game.
Majora's Mask can get away with a low dungeon count because everything else is so different and so much more involving than they usually are in a Zelda title.
My main problem with the dungeons in WW is that I felt a few of them were spaced to closely together :lol:
It was like yay, finished up the dungeon time to go to a new town and... another dungeon? Really?
Dungeons are actually my least favourite part of Zelda games which might be why I only like 4 Zelda games :erm:
Bit earlier today because I was up early and posted the first one early
In this game you go on a quest to become a Pokemon master by catching Pokemon and defeating the Elite Four. I assume. That's usually the story, isn't it? There's also the whole Mega-Evolution happening this time and as usual an evil organization.
This is played similar to most Pokemon games. You get a starter Pokemon, choosing between a water, fire, and grass type. The types each have a weakness and a strength to other types. Then you go fight Pokemon to increase your EXP and level up your Pokemon, who will sometimes evolve in to new Pokemon. You can also catch wild Pokemon and add them to your team. You can carry a large amount of Pokemon but can only bring 6 with you at a time. In this game you can also ride certain Pokemon as well as customize your character's look and clothing. There's also some games you can play with your Pokemon.
This is my favourite Pokemon game for a few reasons. The first being the character and outfit customization. It's been established I liked to play dress up so this already made the game awesome to me. I loved the cute Pokemon Amie games. The graphics were better, there were some new, cutie Pokemon. And most importantly, it returned my precious Squirtle to me. It also had some awesome areas to explore as well. Overall it's just awesome and fun and so far the best Pokemon has to offer for me.
Attachment 62967
This is actually incredibly close to what
my character looked like
So I stole this one instead of having to upload my own pics
Really fantastic game. Lacking in two major areas. Endgame content, and the main storyline. Other than that, brilliant and probably the best overall game in the series.
So some news, this is actually my last "short style" review as the rest of the games on my list are more story and character heavy. So long short reviews, you served me well, especially for a lot of the games near the bottom of the list.
And the honour of last short review game goes to...
This is a game about some monkeys taking over all of the TV channels to uhh... I don't know, there was a goal in mind I think. The story isn't really the important part of the game. It involves monkeys and TV. You can choose between the male and female character.
In this game you will travel from TV station to TV station capturing monkeys with your cool gadgets like a hula hoop that makes you go fast and a little RC car, among many others. Also a net. The net is important. And on top of that you can transform! It is a platforming game so you'll be jumping and avoiding obstacles and occasionally a monkey will beat you up and take your net. Very serious stuff.
This game is just so much fun. An old friend not very in to video games gave it to me because he said it was a lot of fun, and the premise sounded stupid, but it had me laughing. It's easy to play, it has so many interesting and diverse levels, and it was just fun. You also get monkey horoscopes and you can check on your monkeys to get little info bits and stuff. Overall just a really fun and easy going game for something more lighthearted. I also liked the outfit changes with the transformations and my favourite was the ninja.
Tomorrow we start on the top 30!!!
oh snap Ape Escape I played the trout out of the original it was so good
I don't think I ever played 3! I loved the first two games though! I should play 3.
I've only played the third one!
Time for the top 30!
In Tales of Vesperia, the towns and cities are protected by magical barriers of sorts to keep the monsters outside. At the start of the game, former Knight Yuri decides to track down the thief of an aqua blastia core, the absence of which is causing some water problems for his friends. While tracking down the thief, he meets a young lady named Estelle and learns they have a friend in common. Soon they have to venture out in search of the thief and their friend Flynn, learning that there's more going on in the world than they knew.
This game is played similar to most Tales games with finer details I couldn't describe because I couldn't pull them off. You attack with the B button and perform arts with A, which consumes TP. TP is restored by attacking or winning a battle (or by using items). Abilities are learned through equipped items. You can change your on screen character and which character you use in battle. They don't have to be the same character. You can also find recipes and have your characters cook to restore HP and TP and such. There are 4 characters usable in battle at a time. There are 7 playable characters in this version with one guest, but there's some extra stuff in the PS3 version.
General impressions:
This is one of the Tales games I'd heard the most about, but I don't have a 360 so I couldn't really play it. But eventually I got some other games to play on the system and my boyfriend let me borrow the 360 from work, so I got to try it out a few months ago! I wasn't sure what to expect, I just knew that people love Yuri and Rita and it's the favourite of a lot of people. Overall I think it's a great game, look how high up it made it on my list, but it wasn't my favourite Tales game. There was a bit too much politics and I have a hard time keeping up with that type of story so I was a bit lost at times. But it does have an interesting story, it's fun to play, and has a strong cast of characters. Also the skits were a bit weird in this one.
Story:
The story isn't bad or weak by any means, but I did have a hard time keeping up with some of it because there was a lot of political drama and I just don't have a mind for politics. I was always getting people confused and I'd get lost at certain points. But the parts I did understand were great and the game wasn't all politics. The more fantasy storyline very much had me excited and interested and there were some great moments and some really touching and sad ones.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is the same as most Tales games but I liked it a bit less because they didn't do a good job of explaining the finer details, and there were a lot of them, and so it just became a big confusing mess at the end and basically all I had down was attack and skills. Not to mention the button reversal on a controller I wasn't familiar with made things more difficult than necessary.
World:
Pretty strong. There were some gorgeous areas, there was good diversity, the places felt alive. There were a great many places I looked forward to seeing and exploring and they were all very cinematic in how they were presented as well. My favourite was Halure because of the beautiful tree and the unique style of the homes and such.
Characters:
Very strong cast of characters and great relationships. One of my favourite things about Tales games is how each character relates to each other and not just to the main two. They truly feel like an ensemble. I didn't like Rita like I was expecting to, but there were some awesome characters.
Favourite character: Estelle Attachment 62992
Honourable mentions: Repede, Judith, Yuri Attachment 62993Attachment 62994Attachment 62995
Yep, lot's of favourites, I had trouble narrowing it down. Estelle was just great. She was sweet and kind, although a bit naive. She was just such a good friend and she grew a lot during the journey. And her pink hair was cute. Repede was just a cool dog with an attitude. I wasn't expecting to like Judith but she became my favourite to use and I did enjoy her scenes and found her very interesting. Yuri was just well written, good voice acted, and brought a certain depth and change from most protagonists.
Overall strong game with an interesting story, beautiful world, and awesome cast of characters. Gamepay is a bit bloated and not well explained though.
I'm in exactly the same boat here. I was extremely disinclined to like Judith, but she quickly became one of my favorites in the game. I actually liked her character-wise and outright adored using her in battle -- she's super floaty and I loved juggling enemies. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Pumpkin
Downloading ToV immediately.
shi, this thread is fantastic btw. I love how you're breaking down the games, especially your JRPG breakdowns.
Thank you! Had you played Tales of Vesperia before?Quote:
Originally Posted by chionos
Skies of Arcadia is about a group of Sky Pirates, in particular a young man named Vyse and a young woman named Aika, when they discover a young woman named Fina being chased by the evil empire type entity. They don't know why she's being chased, but they're determined to protect her and things become even more personal when the empire arrives at the Sky Pirate hideout.
The game plays like a lot of RPG's. You get in to random encounters where you fight enemies and can use magic and items and stuff. Something different about this game is the element stones which allow you to change the element on your weapons with just the push of a button during the characters turn, allowing you to deal more or less damage to the enemies. The element of your weapon at the end of the fight will also determine what type of spells your points go to. The world map is traversed by airship, and you gain access to new locations with ship upgrades that come throughout the game. There are a total of 6 playable characters, and some characters you can recruit to your cause later on (that aren't playable).
General impressions:
Sharky loves this game so he highly recommended I try it for this list here. I'd tried it briefly before but stopped very shortly in because I was worried Aika was going to turn in to one of those characters I hate. I was pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case at all. This game, despite technically being post-apocalyptic, is absurdly positive, happy and cheerful, which was pleasant to see. The main character, Vyse, is ridiculously upbeat and happy, never succumbing to depression despite quite a few situations where no one would blame him. It was refreshing to have such an upbeat game, almost like being a child again when all the kids shows are just so happy no matter what. That isn't to say the game doesn't have depth, it does, but it deals with it in a different way than a lot of games.
Story:
The story starts out pretty stereotypical good guys vs bad empire, and for the most part it stays that campy, but it has some hidden depths to it. (SPOILER)Along the way we learn that the world of Skies of Arcadia is actually after a massive apocalypse, we learn the heartbreaking story of why Drachma hunts that whale so much, not to mention the actual scene with the whale later on that is truly heartbreaking. One of the moments that touched me most is when Vyse and crew arrive on a town that used to be full of opportunity but now lays forgotten, the people have given up on life, their dreams. They're sad and miserable and hate their lives. At first it's easy to see why, they were promised things they never got, they lost a lot of people, and they were left stranded out there. But then Vyse shows up and tells them how much they could accomplish despite their crappy circumstances, and it really hits you and makes you think about all the opportunities people let go to waste because they don't at least try. That's a message I've kept with me since, and it is a special game that will give something like that to you.
Gameplay:
The gameplay was overall pretty good. I liked the added elements to the weapons and how the characters learned their abilities. It had a lot of fun sidequests, and you could do some fun stuff like customize your HQ and your flag. I'm always a fan of recruiting people thanks to Suikoden. The negatives for me would have to be the dungeons, which can be very long and annoying, and the ship battles. I did not like the ship battles, especially since some of them last forever. I'd say gameplay is this game's weakness, but it was still fun.
World:
The world is pretty unique in that it takes place on islands in the skies. I also enjoy how the areas are affected by the different moons. You have the forest, the desert, the ice area. Each one brought a lot of diversity so you didn't feel like you were staring at the same thing over and over again, which I really liked. The downside is a lot of the towns felt rather small.
Characters:
The characters are just as campy as the story! But still very likeable for the most part. They're all so happy and positive no matter what happens to them. This game is also pretty unique in that almost every NPC has their own look.
Favourite character: Fina Attachment 63007
Honourable mentions: Vyse, Aika Attachment 63008Attachment 63009
The main three were my favourites. It might be because they had a lot of time to develop. Like I said, they're all just so happy and upbeat and they don't let anything stop them or keep them down. They're determined, kind, and they care deeply about each other. It's really something I admire.
Overall if you're in to dark and edgy, this game isn't for you. It's bright and happy, it's a lot of fun, it's got some cool customization, it's got airship battles, and it has a lot of heart. I'm glad I gave it a chance because it really is a great game.
I think I downloaded the demo when it first came out but I don't know that I ever played it. I've certainly never played the full game. Actually, I believe this will be my first Tales game altogether.
Awesome. It's a pretty great series and Vesperia is one of the most loved
Vesperia is great but some of the characters were super lame. It's probably my least favorite of the three Tales games I've played, but still excellent.
Okay the long story short version of this is that a man named Leonhardt dies trying to save a young elf girl. He is brought back to life on the condition that himself and four generations of his descendants will sacrifice themselves to merge with the five pillars of the world to prevent bad stuff from happening, basically.
This is a strategy RPG and boy is it ever. I covered a lot of it in Agarest Zero review. You get six characters in battle and abig part of fights is linking to other characters to gain a strategic advantage. Each character has certain squares he/she can link to and putting a character in one of those squares will allow them to link. Linked characters can combine attacks and can all act in the same turn instead of waiting for their individual turns. This can literally be a life saver. There is also a dating sim aspect and an alignment gauge always present during scenes. The alignment will change based on your story decisions. For the first four generations you will have 3 bachelorettes, and their compatibility will change based on your decisions. The resulting child will be the hero of the next generation. The fifth generation can be paired with any remaining female character. As this game spans five generations it is long and there are tons of playable characters.
General impressions:
This was the second one I'd played in the series and I loved it. For starters it had an easy mode, making it that much better. There's some things it did worse, like removing vacation days, but a lot of it was better. I liked that the game had 5 generations of matchmaking, but this did sadly lead to some of the characters being less fleshed out. I'd say the first generation was most guilty, I barely got to know my potential brides. But overall it had really strong characters, and an interesting and well told story.
Story:
Again, Agarest manages to tell a political drama I can actually follow and that actually keeps me interested. The downsides being that scenes are short and far between, meaning I have to do like an hour of battling for 10 minutes of scenes, and it could be a bit jarring when going through the time skips, not just in story but in gameplay. But the story was really interesting and since this game is character driven I was very happy with how it was told.
Gameplay:
I liked the gameplay much better than in Agarest War Zero because there was an easy mode. The game still wasn't as easy as I would have liked, but it did make a visible difference. Also turning off the battle animations made a world of difference in time. With that being said the ratio of story to battles was still very off and I would have liked it much more had their been less fighting to do. But as far as strategy games go, this one was pretty unique compared to most that I've played and it was fun enough. Another thing I mentioned in story was changing generations was jarring, as there was always a battle party and formation I was accustomed to and I'd have to find something new each time, which was a bit weird. It was almost like starting back at zero.
World:
The low point of the game again, but not quite as bad. You do get a bit of scenery change when you switch generations but once again most maps are just travelling from dot to dot. You could move around typical RPG style in certain dungeons, but I didn't like that as much because you weren't healed between battles and it was easy to get lost, plus they usually ended in boss fights.
Characters:
Best part of the game. The characters are a bit too fanservicy, so you'd think they lacked depth, but I was pleasantly surprised at most of them. Despite a lot of them only being there for one generation, they were very well written and interesting and the story was told really well through them.
Favourite characters: Yayoi, Sherufanir Attachment 63016Attachment 63017
Honourable mentions: Vira-Lorr, Lavinia Attachment 63018Attachment 63019
Yayoi and Sherufanir are pretty much tied and are both from the second generation. Yayoi was just the sweetest thing and one of the only properly dressed ladies of the game. In fact, she has an abundance of clothing. But she was kind, she was pleasant, and I liked her a lot. Sherufanir is originally shown as flirty and mischievous but she's one of the deepest characters, acting as a big sister to her love rival, showing her hidden hatred for the war, and just having a lot of depth. Vira-Lorr is no-nonsense, get things done, and speaks her mind, and I really admired her strength of character. Despite the fact that her people are hunted, she shows her third eye without shame. Lavinia is from the gen 3. I wasn't expecting to like her because of her cold demeanor (and terrible outfit) but she was very well written when they showed her vulnerable and caring side
Overall this game has way too many fights, a dull world, and is way too fanservicy. But the story is excellent and the characters are interesting and well-written, which makes it worth it for me in the end.
Attachment 63020
I love this picture because it shows that even though she could be killed for that third eye
she never hides who she is
Final Fantasy IV follows our hero Cecil as he comes to terms with his dark deeds in order to better himself and save the world as the Crystals are being stolen. He recruits allies from all corners of the world to help him.
Final Fantasy IV plays similar to most Final Fantasy games. You can have 5 characters in battle where you will issue commands such as attack, summon, black magic, item, among others. Each character has different skills and abilities they can use and fit in to general Final Fantasy jobs, such as White Mage or Dark Knight. There are 12 total playable characters.
General impressions:
I was a bit (really) late on the Final Fantasy IV train and only finished it last year. I'd tried it a few years ago but I got sad when Palom and Porom died so I took a break and didn't come back for a long time. Eventually I did come back and started over and this time played to completion. I have to say that I understand the love for this game. While it isn't my favourite, it's still an enjoyable experience. The characters are great and well written. I didn't feel any of them suffered from a lack of personality. The story was interesting and engaging. The game even made me like some of its villains. There were also some truly touching moments. I think it suffered a bit of a difficulty spike towards the end, and some of the dungeons were mind numbingly long, but overall this is a great game.
Story:
The story was great. There were some truly heartbreaking moments, (SPOILER)like when everyone dies ever, especially Tellah because that's the one that sticks. I especially was touched by later moments when Golbez comes to his senses. It was excellent story writing because they showed how he had remorse for his actions, but also understood if others couldn't forgive him, and he gave Cecil his space. So when Cecil sucked it up and forgave him before he left, it was such a beautiful moment. You really grow to care about the characters, which makes the story that much better because you're so invested. There's also a good number of twists and turns to keep you on your toes, especially if you don't know what's going to happen.
Gameplay:
The gameplay I would say is average. It was fun, I have very few complaints, but I didn't find it to be anything special either. Although I am a fan of characters having their set roles. My biggest complaints, as I mentioned, was the sudden difficulty spike and the long long long long dungeons. Eventually you stop caring and just started rushing through them because you have other things to do and just want to get to it already. But overall it was fine and fun to play.
World:
The locations themselves were fine, although not many of them stood out to me. I think the most positive thing about the world is how it contributed to the tone of the whole game. Plus there are three world maps, which is quite unique in itself.
Characters:
Well I covered this a bit in the story section already. The characters were great, very well written, and they really make you care. While some of them fit some cliches, I would say they're more than the some of their parts and they feel like real people. Watching them grow and develop was a lot of fun, (SPOILER)and seeing some of them die, fake or otherwise, was a punch in the stomach because you didn't want them to die or even leave your party.
Favourite character: Porom Attachment 63044
Honourable mentions: Rosa, Cid Attachment 63045Attachment 63046
I think Porom is just the sweetest thing, she's smart and wise beyond her years, and her interactions with her brother are cute. I actually liked Rosa and found her to be a strong character. Sure she has her damsel moments, but she always sticks it out, works hard, and helps others. I wasn't expecting to like Cid but his absurdly positive attitude grew on me. He was a hard worker and he never gave up.
Overall I'm really glad I gave this game a try. It really shows what Final Fantasy has to offer to RPG lovers, it's character centric, which I absolutely love, there were moments that had me teary eyed, and the whole game was a lot of fun. Definitely deserves the praise it gets.
I encourage everyone to play Skies of Arcadia, and if you don't like it, you can go be wrong somewhere else. :colbert:
Tales of the Abyss follows our hero, Luke, who was stuck in his noble family's mansion ever since he was kidnapped when he was little. Things get shook up a bit one day when a mysterious woman arrives and attempts to assassinate his trainer. Things go wrong though and before he knows it, the mystery assassin and himself find themselves far away in the enemy kingdom while the two kingdoms are on the brink of war.
This game plays pretty similar to other Tales games. X button attacks, O button uses skills. You can do different skills by combining O will different directional buttons. This game also has different elemental fields that will change and adjust magic, but I was never good with that so I never bothered. Cooking is still present. The character on screen and the character you control in battle are up to you and do not have to be the same character. There are 4 characters usable in battle, 6 playable characters, and 1 guest.
General impressions:
I think I may have played this game when I was younger for a brief period of time, because Tear looked very familiar to me, but I can't remember clearly so I don't really count it as my first Tales game. I got this one after playing the Xillia games and loving them and also to see Tear because she did look so familiar to me. People warned me that the main character was annoying, but he never bothered me that much. Overall the game is pretty strong for me, I liked the characters, I liked the story, and it has a definite RPG feel that I look for. It was also easy to play except for that one horrible boss near the beginning of the game.
Story:
I'd say it's a strong point. Even though a lot of the plot twists were pretty obvious, it didn't leave me any less interested, and I was very much invested to see how things would be dealt with and what would happen. I liked how the game was not black and white and how you had good, bad, and neutral people from all different sides and you'd sometimes find help where you wouldn't expect it. This game is also very character driven, which we all know I like, so it was not just about the story for me but about how the characters would react to the story that made me like it so much.
Gameplay:
One of the easier Tales games to play and get the hang of, which I liked, but some of the controls were a bit stiffer than some of the other entries. I'd say a big problem was that money was harder to come by than I liked, and most of my grinding was not for levels but for money for new equipment. Because of that, I also didn't get to enjoy the cooking as much as I would have liked. Other than that the game was fun and I have little to complain about.
World:
Excellent world, I think it's actually my favourite of the whole Tales series, which is saying a lot because the Tales games have pretty great worlds. There was a wide variety of environment and a lot of them were stunning. My favourites would be Keterburg because I love snowy areas, and Grand Chokmah because there is so much water and there's like A WATERFALL BEHIND THE PALACE. The place is just surrounded by water and it's gorgeous.
Characters:
While there were less characters that made me go WOW the ensemble itself was really strong and they worked excellently as a group. The characters individually had good depth to them and there were a range of personalities. A few of them really surprised me because they weren't really cliche's of what you would expect by looking at them. They all had pretty strong development as well.
Favourite character: Natalia Attachment 63062
Honourable mention: Mieu Attachment 63063
I didn't think I would like Natalia because she seemed pretty snobby and stuck up, but she quickly proved me wrong. She's very sweet and caring and isn't afraid to get right in to things to help people in need and she works hard to make life as good as she can for everyone. Plus she an archer and I love archers. I like Mieu second most because come on. Look at him.
Overall this is a really strong game, it has a great cast of characters, and an interesting story. The gameplay is a bit clunky but it's easy to get in to and fun to play.
My favorite Tales game.
I still have no idea how you are supposed to use 90% of the game mechanics.
We have now reached my top 25 :plumcheer: Very excite!
Atelier Totori is about a young girl named Totori who has studied to become an alchemist and now works to gain her adventurer's license so that she can go out and find her mother. Her mother was a famous adventurer but one day she never came home. Totori and her friend Gino work hard so that they too can become adventurers.
There are a few elements to this game. The first obviously being alchemy. You combine ingredients to make items that you can use to make more items or equip or bring with you to heal or attack enemies. This game also operates on a time limit, and you have a few in game years to do certain tasks like renew your adventurers license. There are also multiple endings depending on what you accomplish during the time frame. The battles are RPG style, with a battle party of 3 members which you can switch by going and speaking with other available characters. In battle there is a turn order and different characters have different skills they can execute. Alchemists are the only ones who can use items, which range from healing to bombs which deal damage. Most actions in game take up a certain time, from alchemy to battles, to gathering materials, to traveling. You can also take on requests.
General impressions:
This is the Atelier game I wanted most because it has Totori and Totori is adorable. I ended up buying it a while after finishing Meruru, even this one comes beforehand in the timeline. It was interesting to see the characters and how far they'd come from this game to Meruru and also to discover some backstory. Overall I found this game to be easier and more lenient with the time frame. Some stuff it did worse like the slow world map travel, but I preferred the story much more and found it much more investing.
Story:
The story still isn't the main focus and this is more of a gameplay and character driven game, but I did actually really like this one. I liked wondering where Totori's mother was and uncovering secrets about her that Totori didn't know. I also liked the aspect of going from a small town to a big city and they did a good job of conveying the feeling, I felt. It also had some really touching moments.
Gameplay:
I thought it was a lot of fun. It put less emphasis on battle than the other two I've played, having only one mandatory boss fight (if you got that far in the game). The time frame was easier to follow and less stressful overall, I was better at making equipment and managing my time, and I felt things were given to me slower so I could adjust to them more easily. Overall the game was really fun and I could waste hours on it without even noticing.
World:
Not as bright as in Meruru, but still very upbeat and cheerful with a good range of different locations. I still liked the little gathering bubble icon. The towns were fun to explore and I liked when new areas opened up to see what they had to offer and see the new things I could find.
Characters:
The best part of the game. Even a lot of non-playable characters had good personalities and a good sense of humour and the people really did feel like coworkers and acquaintances that you would see over several years. I liked learning more about everyone and there was a good variety of playable characters for different play styles.
Favourite character: Totori Attachment 63072
Honourable mentions: Rorona, Melvia Attachment 63073Attachment 63074
Totori is of course my favourite. I liked seeing her grow and mature and gain more confidence in herself. I really liked how determined she was and how she never gave up even when she would fail several times. She was also very caring and gentle. I like Melvia because she had a good sense of humour and wasn't afraid to be who she was. I liked Rorona a lot because she was just so ditzy and weird that I couldn't help but laugh. She was less mature than her student.
Overall it has a touching story, fun gameplay, and an amazing cast of characters. It's a sweet little adventure and it has some beautiful art.
Eternal Sonata is the story of Frederic Chopin's dying dream. In this dream, we meet a young girl named Polka who has a fatal illness, but also grants her magical powers. The dream world is ruled by the comically evil Count Waltz, who is pushing something called Mineral Powder on his citizens, and all of our heroes have reason to stop him.
This is a somewhat unique RPG in terms of gameplay. Each characters turn has a time limit during which you can move and attack until time runs out. When attacking you'll build up a combo bar or sorts, which is always a good thing. Another unique aspect of the game is that there are light areas and dark areas which will affect skills. For example, if you're in a sunny field, a certain skill might be a healing one, but if you move under the shade of a cloud that healing skill will become a different skill. Each battle area will have access to light and dark areas. Like a dark ship having light pools from the hanging lights. There are 10 playable characters total in the Xbox version, one temporary and/or missable, and 12 playable in the PS3 version.
General impressions:
I want to start by saying that I had no idea this game had a PS3 version until AFTER I bought the Xbox 360 version. Then I moved and lost it and said this time I will get the PS3 version, since it has extra characters, switchable outfits (I think), and is on a console I can more easily access. But I couldn't find that version until after I caved and bought the Xbox version again. The whole thing is quite frustrating. It's super cheap now so maybe I'll end up with the PS3 version someday anyway. Anywho, about the actual game, I think it's incredibly charming, beautiful, and has some great characters. Music in video games has never been the most important thing to me but if you're in to that this game has some beautiful music. Since one of the main characters is Chopin and all. Speaking of which, between the chapters you get some neat little info history sections about his life with some of the wonderful music playing in the background. It's a nice touch.
Story:
This is the weak point of the game to me. I was much more invested in the individual characters than I was in the main story and it's honestly pretty forgettable overall. I wouldn't say it's bad, just doesn't stand out. The part that does stand out is that they took a real person from history and invented a fantasy world for him, and spend the game trying to figure out if the people and the world in his dreams are real or not. That part was pretty neat. But the whole Mineral Powder story seemed more tacked on just to give it a goal.
Gameplay:
It's pretty fun and more involving than a lot of RPG's where you stand there and select a command (not that I dislike those at all). I really liked the light and dark element and how that could affect the battle, especially in places where the light or shadow would move, so one second you're using one attack and then the cloud moves and you have to adapt really quickly. I also liked the aspect of manually shooting the Viola's bow, but I sucked at it, so I wasn't the best. But overall very fun and involving gameplay.
World:
Beautiful world, one of my favourite video game worlds ever. Some of the locations are breath taking and I have a hard time narrowing down my favourite areas. Each new spot brought something different and there were just so many that I can't wait to see again when I replay the game. If I had to pick favourite areas, it would be Baroque because pretty snow city, Elegy of the Moon for it's uniqueness, and Ritardando despite it's stupid name.
Characters:
I loved the characters. A lot of them are cheesy cliches, but I don't even care, they're cliches that make me care about them and make me invested in their story. Even the annoying ones didn't really annoy me that much, and the whole cast just made me smile. I also liked how often the party would switch, giving you different perspectives of the story and seeing different people and areas. They also all had cute musical names.
Favourite character: Viola Attachment 63082
Honourable mentions: March, Polka, Claves Attachment 63083Attachment 63084Attachment 63085
Viola kicks butt, she's strong willed, and she doesn't take crap from anybody. But she's still sweet. Plus she's an awesome archer which we know I love. March was very useful in battle and was quiet and sweet, it's just a shame she doesn't join until later on. Polka is dying and hated by everyone, but that doesn't stop her from being sweet and kind and helping everyone she can. And I'll be honest, a lot of why I like Claves is actually her look and femininity.
Overall this is a cute sweet game with some touching moments but an overall forgettable story. But the gameplay is fun, the characters are sweet, the music is great, and the world is beautiful. It's a very magical adventure.
Wow. I enjoyed that game, but 24 is awfully high! I agree with all the stuff you said pretty much. Thought it got pretty weak in both story and gameplay near the end. Once you can do 5-6 harmony chains, combat is a joke.
haha weak story is putting it mildly.
It made approximately no sense and then had like a three hour ending FMV which tied it up nicely. And by that I mean didn't explain anything.
I really liked the game :(
Oh well that's why these lists are subjective huh :monster:
I really liked Eternal Sonata. :shobon:
Any game where you get to play as Chopin mowing down enemies with musical names is a top game to me.
Misunderstood your comment, my mistake :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Shauna
I was half asleep :shifty:
It's thousands of years in to the future and humanity is now in space somewhere, a log way from Earth. The story follows Shion, a young engineer, her android KOS-MOS, and some other peeps as they have an absurdly long journey through space trying to get to one planet. Along the way they're attacked by alien type creatures known as Gnosis and in some cases have to face up to their past to move forward.
Xenosaga is a pretty unique RPG in terms of gameplay. It would take a while to explain it all. Basically to attack, you press triangle or square and to open the menu for ether (magic) and items and such you press X. Depending on certain conditions, you can also press O for a stronger attack, known as a Tech Attack. Characters also have boost gauges which when used will give them the next turn, unless the enemy boosts over that. You can also fight in big mechs called A.G.W.S. if you so choose. There are 6 playable characters and two temporarily playable characters.
General impressions:
I wasn't expecting to like Xenosaga as much as I did. My mom bought it shortly after I moved back in with her, a few years after it came out. She figured I would like it because there were a lot of girls on the cover, and even at 12 I've always preferred female characters. The funny part was we thought chaos was a girl looking at it. Anyways, it looked way too sci-fi for my tastes but I gave it a try and I'm really glad I did. It's one of my favourite game series ever and I think that it tells an amazing story and it does it better than most games. As an added bonus, I learned a lot playing the games, because I constantly had to look up references (like Albedo, Nigredo, Rubedo) and what they really meant. It also prompted me to start looking at things differently and notice deeper meanings in certain stories, something which also applies to video games, and if I'd never started doing that thanks to this game then my games list would look a whole lot different today.
Story:
The story is the bread and butter of this game. It tells an amazingly complex and interesting story, it presents it beautifully, and it always leaves me wanting to know more. The cliffhangers were annoying because I wanted to know what would happen so much. The whole game keeps you on your toes and guessing, and it really sucks you in and leaves you at the edge of your seat. A lot of people complain about the hours of cinematics, which I can see be annoying for some, but for me it made the game that much better. Sometimes I didn't care about playing the game, I wanted to watch this amazing story unfold. There are some beautiful and touching moments, and the ending still makes me cry. It also allows you to go back and play after you finish the series and look at things in a different light. The story is amazing, one of the best I've ever come across in a video game.
Gameplay:
The gameplay was the weak point for me. If you enjoy more unique systems then awesome, but not so much for me. I've gotten used to it over the years, but especially at first it was hard. The tutorials aren't super clear, leaving you to figure some stuff out on your own, stuff like why you need to switch your techs to Hi ASAP because it will make a world of difference. I made it almost the whole way through the game the first time without realizing that and I gotta tell ya, it made it a massive challenge. And I am not a fan of challenging games. I found the combat system to be unnecessarily complicated, basically. It also has a very big difficulty spike around the Song of Nephilim and some absurdly difficult bosses to fight. I couldn't comment on the A.G.W.S. Because I never used them. The game is also very linear but I honestly never felt it because the story was so interesting. I only noticed after it was pointed out to me and I thought about it for a while. The mini games, especially poker, were super fun.
World:
You're in space. Honestly while some of the cinematics are stunning, the world itself is generally not. You get some nice places here and there, but most of it is grey corridor, inside of giant space whale alien, more grey corridors, some white corridors, aaaand some more grey corridors. But although they may not have been visually appealing, a lot of areas had interesting stories behind them, which I really liked.
Characters:
On the whole I like the characters. I'd say this game is more story driven than character driven, but that doesn't mean the characters don't get a fair amount of attention. Their personalities are varied, their backstories are interesting and mostly heartbreaking. The biggest fault would be just how much the game focuses on Shion, leaving the others to almost always take a backseat, although Shion is actually pretty likeable in this game.
Favourite character: MOMO Attachment 63096
Honourable mentions: Jr. Attachment 63097
MOMO was my favourite because I mean come on. She's a sweet robot girl who whose father is widely regarded as a psycho and whose mother can barely even look at her. Despite this she still tries so hard to make friends and be useful. And she's incredibly smart, which is to be expected. Jr. got better in the sequels but even in this game he has an interesting story. And he's got some of my favourite tech attacks.
Overall this is not a game for everybody. Both the plot and the gameplay are convoluted and complicated, but if you enjoy sci-fi fantasy with psychology and religious references and deeper hidden plot points and some robots then I'd definitely say give it a try. Really the story is glorious if you get in to it.
I loved Xenogears but never played a Xenosaga game...:(
I wasn't took taken with Ep 1 so I never played the second or third, but I've always intended to revisit the series at some point, and your post on it reinforces that intention!
Episode 1 is still my favorite of the trilogy! It was so good!
Final Fantasy V starts with a mysterious meteor crashing near where Bartz is chillin with his Chocobo friend Boko, when things start to go awry. The Wind Crystal shatters and they have to work hard to prevent the next three from falling to the same fate.
This is played like a lot of Final Fantasy games. In battle you select from a list of commands ranging from attack to item when it's your turn. This game has job classes that you can switch freely between outside of battle. You will have access to different skills and abilities depending on your characters jobs. You'll also be riding in a wide variety of cool rides, such as boats, airships, and Chocobos!
General impressions:
I think V was my first pre-PS1 era Final Fantasy game, so I wasn't too sure what to expect going in to it, but I ended up loving it. The strange thing about V for me is that I seem to like it more when I'm playing it then when I'm looking back on it, and it's usually the opposite. But this was a charming little game, it had a good sense of humour, and it had the beloved job class system. Hard to go wrong with this classic Final Fantasy game.
Story:
Not the strongest story in the series, but still very solid and it kept me interested. There were some wonderfully touching moments, like going to Bartz's home town, learning more about Galuf, and the moments between Faris and Lenna that I absolutely loved, and this game did get me teary eyed at certain spots, like most of the scenes with Syldra. Tugs at the heart strings. This game does an amazing job of having those touching moments and still having a good sense of humour and making me laugh along with them. So while the story isn't the strongest on its own, the story-telling is wonderful.
Gameplay:
A lot of fun, sine I'm a big fan of the job class system and this is one of the games that did it best. I loved the little outfits, I loved the wide variety of jobs, and none of them were impossible to master, although some took some time. The game was also pretty easy overall with a few more difficult things thrown in here and there. Overall it was a good deal of fun, especially for a big fan of the series.
World:
Pretty good. You do get several different world maps, which adds some variety, and there was a good deal of locations to explore with some good diversity. It even had a Moogle's Forest which was really cute. It didn't stand out to me too much but I don't really have any complaints either.
Characters:
Very much a strong point. I'm usually a fan of larger casts of characters and this one is pretty short on them, but the characters were were given were all very strong and made the story one hundred time more awesome. I liked every single one of them and they each had moments that made me care about them and feel for them. They worked great as a group as well.
Favourite character: Lenna Attachment 63105
I'm not going to put an honourable mention because it boils down to ALL OF THEM and then it's not really an honourable second best character mention anymore. They're all just awesome and I have such a hard time picking favourites. I liked Lenna a lot because she was sweet and sacrificing, risking her life for others and doing her best to be supportive of everyone. Faris was great for being one of the strongest people there, and not compromising who she was, Bartz was great for his positive attitude, Galuf worked great with the others and had his (SPOILER)badass dying scene, and Krile was great for being a strong little lady who did her best for her grandfather.
Overall great game, fun and easy to play with one of the best examples of the job class system this series has to offer. But where it really shines is the characters and how they could bring humour to the situation but still have their touching and memorable moments.
Good one Pumpkin! FF V is a really great and charming game. My favorite of the SNES era. What did you think of (SPOILER)ExDeath as a villain and the last part, the Cleft of Dimension?
(SPOILER)I liked ExDeath okay, I don't think he was a particularly weak villain. Plus awesome name I mean really. The Cleft of Dimension never particularly stood out to me so I'd say so-so. Some final dungeons are tedious and some are great, this one was kinda in between for meQuote:
Originally Posted by Egami
Xenosaga Ep.1 and FF5 are both pretty fantastic.
I'm like the only guy that likes Ziggy, but I'm pretty sure there are other Galuf fans.
There better be.
Ziggy is a cool guy.
Not a Ziggy fan. But also not really a Momo fan so :shrug:
But FFV!!!! :dance:
We're getting in to my top spots which means more Final Fantasy's!
Final Fantasy Tactics is a political drama about... ummm... Remember how I said I was bad at political stories? I don't remember much about the overarching plot except for there's like a war over the successor of the throne I think? And some noble houses are supporting one side or the other? But I know much more about the smaller details of the story, like those in poverty who hate the nobles and the Ramza family drama llama, and of course the whole Delita thing. So basically what I'm saying is I know more about the smaller character plots within the major plot.
This is a strategy RPG with job classes! You get in to fights along the map between story events, and there you can move your characters and have them attack or use skills. Some skills or magic have a wait time, so it's important to check turn order and make sure your enemy won't move before the execution of the action! There's a wide variety of job classes, most of which are unlocked by using other job classes. Acting and such gives you JP to spend towards learning abilities for the jobs you're using. There are story mandatory characters but you can also get generic soldiers for a small fee. I personally gave each character two jobs to master.
General impressions:
I've always loved this game and it's job class system, although it is sadly on the harder side since I suck at tactics games. I'm actually pretty sure that I get worse at it as time goes on. But that doesn't stop me from playing it and getting excited everytime. I will say that when going through my top games list, this game did go down quite a few spots when I stopped to look at it more, but it's still an awesome game, it's one of my favourite strategy game ever, and it has some amazing moments and great atmosphere.
Story:
As I mentioned above, I do have a hard tome following the overarching storyline, instead focusing on the smaller stories within the story. Those I did find very interesting and the game does a good job of making the world feel very real and making you feel like a small part in a bigger event. It was well written and lots of moments really gave the feels. It also had some good shades of grey in there, which I could appreciate, making morality more complicated than the typical right vs wrong.
Gameplay:
It's really fun to play but really hard as well. Like you should grind but you shouldn't grind too much because then the enemies will level with you but you'll be stuck with more basic equipment since you haven't progressed the story yet. So finding the right balance can be tricky. And there's some very complicated and difficult bosses. But I loved the job class system and all the different combinations you could come up with and I liked having to think about my environment and my turns and such. It wasn't a game to just mash the X button with, I actually had to put thought in to my actions, and I like that.
World:
The world is kind of drab and largely unexplorable other than battles and moving along little dots on the map. But there were some interesting maps that added some strategy to the fights. Overall though not really great at all.
Characters:
A strong point for this game. There's so much going on and so many people, but they make you care about them and they're written very well so you really get immersed in their stories. The characters really do make the whole story and it's am experience watching them go through the war and how they're affected and what actions they take.
Favourite character: Alma Attachment 63121
Honourable mention: Ovelia Attachment 63122
I liked both these ladies because they kind of get swept up in things and Ovelia especially gets used a lot, but they still stay strong and kind and don't let it break their spirit. I also enjoyed Alma being more of a background than a central character because it felt more genuine to not have everyone at the center of everything like you get in a lot of RPGs.
Overall a good game with really strong characters and awesome gameplay. A great example of the job system and a lot of fun for fans of Strategy RPG's. Heavy political story with shades of grey for those who enjoy those types of things.
Great to see FFV so high on the list. I keep forgetting to put my PSP back in my bag so I've not made progress on FFT recently, but I'll try to remember and that way I can keep doing my 1-2 battles per tram journey home like I was before.
Oh look, we are at the top 20!! :party: Less than a week left on this list
At the start of Dark Cloud, some evil rich dude revives the dark genie and commands it to destroy the world. But the King of fairies is having none of that (I'm not making any of this up) and at the last minute manages to trap people and buildings and such in to floating balls called Atla, which are conveniently spread across the dungeons of the land. Our hero, Toan, after witnessing his village get destroyed, is contacted by the fairy King and given a gemstone called the Atlamilia, which will allow him to open the Atla and restore the world.
There are two main sections of this game. The first is going through dungeons, collecting Atla, defeating enemies, and beating bosses. In dungeons, on top of keeping track of your own HP, you must also watch out for your weapon HP and your thirst meter. If your thirst meter is depleted your HP will begin to drain. This can be restored with items or in a healing fountain. Your weapon loses HP through use and if depleted your weapon will break. Weapons can also be customized and evolved in to stronger weapons, so it's important not to break them. The second aspect of the game is town building. Each Atla you find in the dungeons will contain anything from a house to a person to a lamp. The items fit in specific houses and the houses can be placed anywhere in the village you're rebuilding, along with roads and trees and such. The villagers will also make requests as to where they'd like their houses because just saving their lives isn't enough, although a lot of the requests are optional to fulfill and just give you an extra prize if you complete the requests for the whole village.
General impressions:
This is one of the first games I had for the PS2 (along with Jak and Daxter) and I played it non-stop for a good while. I loved it. I loved the town building, the weapon evolving, some of the characters. Something to note about this game is it's a rare case of a game getting much easier the further in you go. The beginning of the game is the hardest part because you don't have a shop, have limited resources, have low HP, WHP, and thirst, little money, and weak weapons. The first dungeon is incredibly frustrating for those reasons but the game gets much easier after that and once you build up your thirst bar enough, it's never even an issue anymore.
Story:
I really like the story although it's not the deepest. I think it's very well told, especially in the beginning when you really feel the lonely desperation of poor Toan and the mayor, being two of the only people left. It's not a character driven story, but it's still very sweet and has some incredibly touching moments, and it did surprise me towards the end when things shifted around a bit. This isn't the deepest or best told of games, but the story is charming and kept me interested.
Gameplay:
It's a lot of fun when you get past that initial difficult bump I mentioned. There's a good amount of characters with different play styles so you can find someone who matches yours (although don't neglect the others or you'll regret it!) and I always got super excited when it came time to evolve my weapons to see what new thing would come up. Town building was excellent and I liked being able to play over and over and never have a town be the same.
World:
The world is excellent, there's a great diversity in areas and I liked most of them, especially the starting town, the forest village, and the town by the ocean. What's more is you pretty much decide where the roads, trees, houses, shops, all of that stuff goes so they towns are highly customizable. Complaint would be that they're small and I would have loved to see them be bigger with more to customize.
Characters:
This is not a character driven story and the characters beyond their introduction parts get very little in the way of scenes or dialogue. Really they're all pretty disposable. But they were still charming and fun to use and as an added bonus the NPC's were all different and had their own personalities and felt like real people. As did some of the villains.
Favourite character: Xiao Attachment 63130
Honourable mentions: Ruby, Steve Attachment 63129Attachment 63131
Xiao was an adorable cat girl (for once in the non-perverted sense) who made cute slingshot shooting noises and had an adorable run. She was also very fast, which I liked. Ruby was fun to use because I like long distance magic attacks. Steve is a talking slingshot who makes smart-ass remarks and stupid jokes while you fight. Really what's not to love? Also, according to him Xiao has huge eyesAttachment 63132
Overall this is a cute game with a charming story and fun gameplay. You can customize the towns, the world is excellent, and even though the characters don't get much time in the sun they're still fun to use.
You're 1000% right about the difficulty barrier. I didn't beat the game for a very long time because I couldn't beat the first boss! But once I eventually did, I was totally engrossed and the rest of it was very diverse and fun. I like the randomness to the dungeons and the way you were sort of forced to use other characters. It had a really neat mix of gameplay elements.
Ah nostalgic feelings coming up. My brother and I borrowed this game from a friend for like a month and we had a blast playing through it. It had a lot of interesting concepts and I remember actually liking the Quick Time Event parts. Don't remember much of the overall story, but I do remember that it was just really fun to play. Don't recall if we ever beat the final boss.
We never did figure out how fishing works.
No really, someone said it earlier but now I know if I need advice on JRPGs, Pumpkin is now my go to girl! Heck I may just go back through this thread if I have a question on a game, I'm sure i'll see it in here.
Thanks for the positive feedbacks guys!
Suikoden III mostly takes place in Zexen and the Grasslands. Zexen is full of knights and brick buildings, and the Grasslands consists of several tribes of people who largely live with nature. These two nations are bumping heads and it seems like war is imminent. We get to experience the story through three heroes: a young man named Hugo, son of one of the Grassland chiefs, Chris, a famous knight of Zexen, and Geddoe, a mercenary and his group. As we watch the situation deteriorate between the two places they soon discover that they may share a common foe.
This game is largely similar to most Suikoden games with a few differences. In this game, you will experience most of the story through the eyes of the three main characters. The game is divided in to 5 chapters and you will play 3 chapters with the main 3 in any order you choose. From there, you will choose a hero among the three to continue the adventure in chapters 4 and 5. There are also a few side stories you can experience. While that part differs from the series, the rest is very much the same. You recruit as many of the 108 Stars of Destiny as you can, magic takes the form of Runes that you equip on characters, and you have battle parties of 6. You build up an headquarters and can play mini-games and such depending on who you have recruited. There's also rock paper scissor inspired duels and war battles that are played sort of like a board game. There are a total of 78 playable characters in this game including non-stars of destiny and guests.
General impressions:
This was my first game in the series, and I'd say on the whole it's a good introduction. The character recruitment in Suikoden III is easier than most of the other games in the series, it's well explained, it's intuitive, and it has an interesting and easy to follow story, making it good for newcomers to the series. So if you haven't played a Suikoden game then I'd say this is a very good starting point. It also has my favourite headquarters and some of my favourite mini-games, like the plays. It was funny casting some people in the role of Romeo and Juliet for example who didn't suit the part at all.
Story:
It's got some politics in there but it's overall easy to follow and the politics kind of act as background noise anyway. I like how the game kind of snowballs so what you start with is nothing like what you end with and I really liked that about it because it got more and more investing and less predictable. Your enemies are no longer enemies and some friends are no longer friends. It was also a neat touch to watch the conflict happen from different points of view, although I never enjoyed playing Geddoe and his story felt very disconnected from the others.
Gameplay:
Very good and a great example of the series. It was fun, easy to get in to, and improved on a few things. I liked the new skill thing where you could increase your characters attributes and add more to increase, it added a bit of customization. The war type battles were quite interesting in this one although I found them harder than the other games. And the mini-games were some of the best in the series. The game was also pretty easy and character recruitment was also easy for the series, which could be refreshing. It's also one of the only ones I bothered with trading.
World:
The world travel is a bit odd, like they didn't know how to incorporate a world map, but still there managed to be a lot of diversity in the areas and a lot of really interesting places. I really liked the Duck Clan village and Chisha Village (despite not going there often) but there were a lot of great areas and Budehuc Castle was gorgeous and an awesome headquarters to have.
Characters:
Lot's of great characters, which is bound to happen when you have such a large cast. Surprisingly, I liked the main cast less than the main casts in the rest of the series and much preferred a lot of the side characters.
Favourite character: Iku Attachment 63142
Honourable mentions: Percival, Yumi, Fubar, Sarah Attachment 63143Attachment 63144Attachment 63145Attachment 63146
Iku, although not usable in battle, was just an awesomely sweet and adorable woman and I've always loved her hairstyle. She has one of my favourite love stories. Percival was just amusing and Suave. Yumi showed a lot of strength despite not being in the limelight much and I loved using her in battle. Fubar because I mean come on. And Sarah because I felt for her in a weird way and I really appreciated her sense of loyalty. Plus she was badass in battle.
Overall a great example of the series and awesome for newcomers. I have very little complaints, the game was fun and engaging and I'm excited to play it again.
I should go back and play more Dark Cloud sometime, but I've been spoiled by Dark Cloud 2. I played them both pretty close together, and the difficulty of the first one made it less approachable.
Suikoden III is my favorite Suikoden, and I still enjoy going back to play it occasionally. I really liked the "Wheel of Destiny" or whatever it was called, and found the rest of the game to also be a good blend of solid gameplay and innovative ideas.
That's really cool and I wonder why more games don't feature stuff like this. Aside from the very brief Locke/Sabin/Terra split in FFVI, Square has never incorporated branched gameplay like that. Imagine how much cooler XIII would be if you could partially choose the chapter sequence in the first half of the game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pumpkin
I "wrote" a mock Final Fantasy game (in massive detail) when I was 15, and after one of the disc changes, half your party went to one continent and half went to another, and you got to choose which order to play them in before reconvening for the final disc.
It occurs to me that I haven't ranted on about how bad Final Fantasy Tactics is recently. I'll need to correct that some time, especially with it blighting so many of these "best games" lists.
I don't like it either, but the difference is shion is actually explaining why she likes stuff from a personal perspective and talking about stuff like her favorite characters and all that. Plus she admits the thing has faults, which is a refreshing breeze from a Tactics fan!Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyblade
PS Suikoden III fourth-best Suikoden (which still puts it as one of the best games ever)
Woah woah woah.
You get to play as a Griffon?
I need Suikoden III.
Also, I played Dark Cloud back when I first got the PS2. I was so excited, but then I just couldn't get into it at all. It was so hard and I was terrible at games. I wish I could find my copy again as I've been wanting to attempt it again. I have a bad feeling that I gave it to someone or sold it, though.
Hehe, what didn't you like about it? :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Skyblade
Suikoden III's intro = <3
Suikoden III's intro is the best <3
Now time for another game no one likes!
This game follows Edge and Reimi, two young space explorers as they go out and... explore space. But things go a teensy bit wrong and one of their space ship bros goes missing and they have to travel from planet to planet to find it, meeting aliens and exploring planets in the process.
This is an RPG in which you control one character in battle but you can decide which one that character is. I can't remember all of the specific controls, but it's easy once you get in to it and well explained. You attack, use skills, and if your timing is right you can blindside the enemy (my favourite thing to do) which will help land a critical hit. You also have a bonus board that fills up if you complete certain requirements in battle which will do things like double exp or money and other such things. Taking a critical hit can break some of the bonus board. The game also comes with selectable difficulty levels and an invention thing where your characters brainstorm ideas and then you can make the items from there. There are 9 total playable characters with 4 usable in battle at a time.
General impressions:
I loved this game both times I played it so I was pretty surprised to learn that most people hate it. Oh well! I got it as a present and I'd played Star Ocean 3 before but it never really stuck with me and I didn't finish it. Not that it was a bad game it just didn't do anything special for me. But I was pleased to find that I adored this one. It's another game that I could barely put down and I found myself staying up later than I should have because I wanted to keep playing. There is one horrible spot though that I hated and some of the bosses were much too hard for easy mode, but other than that I felt like it was a great game.
Story:
Wasn't the best RPG story out there, but I did enjoy it and I was always looking forward to what was going to happen next. Overall I think it was well told, I liked the pacing. There were a few really good moments and a few really cheesy moments so I guess it would even out to average.
Gameplay:
A lot of fun, I really liked it. Especially since I could use an archer character and I think in terms of pure gameplay, she would be my favourite archer to use out of any video game. I liked the bonus board (although it was bum that it would be gone if you turned off the game and started back up) I liked the abilities and the blindsides, and I thought that the battles were fast paced and exciting. My only other complaint was that bosses were much harder than they should have been for easy mode.
World:
I really like the world because it's actually many different worlds. There were some I hated and the Cardonian Mothership (I think it was called) was horrible, drawn out, unattractive, and just really bad. That part of the game almost made me quit. But I'm glad I stuck it out because there were some good places after that and some good places before. Overall I'm really impressed.
Characters:
So not the strongest cast but I did like a few of them. The biggest problem would be the atrocious voice acting which was hard to look past. There were some good characters and some characters I didn't really like. I wouldn't say the cast was anything special.
Favourite character: Reimi Attachment 63161
Honourable mention: Faize Attachment 63162
As I said I love Reimi in battle because she's an archer, but she's overall my favourite. She steps in when she needs to and she surprised me because she doesn't seem like the leadership type. She's also just sweet and adorable. I thought Faize was very well written and his development interested me the most. (SPOILER)Shame about him becoming the bad guy though.
Overall for all of it's glaring faults I had a wonderful time playing this game. I did like the story, I liked inventing, I liked seeing the characters interact, I loved exploring the worlds, the gameplay was fun, and it has my favourite archer to use ever. At the end of the day I had so much fun, and that's a large point of playing the game!
Screw the haters, SO4 rules.
While I have some issues with SO4, primarily the lack of a manual targeting option in the original version and Edge for about half of it, I still think very highly of the game overall. I like the visited worlds, combat was well executed, I liked using most of the characters, puzzles weren't annoying, I got to ride a bunny. Good stuff overall.
Reimi is also a COMPLETE monster in combat, almost Maria levels of powerful, and I can see why she'd be awesome for an archer fan. :D Quite amusingly I only found her rough to use in one area, the Cardianon Mothership (where several enemies are programmed to directly prioritize her), and you listed it as one of your least favorite areas. Not that I disagree; that place sucks. >: |
I forgot about the bunnies!
I'm going to be honest here, I know very little about the story because I started playing it on a very small screen and I couldn't read the dialogue and stuff. But it does seem there is a crystal and that your character, like every character, is special in some way.
This game is an MMO so you play in a world with other players from everywhere. You make your own character(s) and choose their job which will determine where you start. As you level up and do different quests you'll be able to do different jobs and also do some side jobs like weaver and such. You pretty much go at your own pace but the game will dial you back if you're overleveled for story events. And of course you can do things with other players but I mostly played solo.
General impressions:
I've always wanted to try this game because CHARACTER CREATION but I didn't want to have to pay for a game every month. I decided to get it and start with the free trial and go from there. I loved it. The world was so vast, character creation was everything I'd wanted, it has a good sense of humour (from what I can read now on the bigger screen) it has a million things to do, and everyone is so nice! Not just the people from EoFF, who have been awesome about helping me out, but strangers too. I was very nervous because if you recall my rant on the Bravely Default review, I do not enjoy playing games with other people and I get self conscious very easily. So I was super nervous about real people seeing me play and seeing all my flops and mistakes, but no one made fun of me or made me feel bad and I always had a helping hand when I needed it. I was super happy to find out I didn't need to do a monthly payment but could instead buy cards so that way I can take a break (like I am now) without worrying about draining the bank account.
Story:
Like I said, I'm not too far in the story yet and most of what I've seen I couldn't... well, see. So I can't comment much on this. But I do like how you also get little side stories with your job guild. I'll probably be able to comment more on this when I play some more but in the meantime maybe someone else can fill in the blanks.
Gameplay:
Super fun and so much stuff to do. SO. MUCH. STUFF. I loved being able to create my won characters and grow them and learn new skills and start doing things like cooking and fishing and doing the little quests here and there and participating in those fate things. I'll be interested to play more of it and see about maybe trying a group thing although I'm still pretty nervous about that. A few tasks could get a bit tedious but overall it was fun and I have very little complaints.
World:
Gorgeous gorgeous world with a lot to see and explore and do and I haven't even explored it all yet. There's so many beautiful areas that I would just stop and look at and I always got really excited to go check out every nook and cranny. I thought Limsa Lominsa would be my favourite because water everywhere (and it is really awesome) but I ended up liking Gridania more. I just found it so nice and peaceful.
Characters:
You are the characters so chances are you'll like them! I made three characters and I would tell you about them but chances are you don't care. They're super cute anyways. There's also obviously the story relevant NPC's but I've missed most of their dialogue so I couldn't tell you much.
Overall this is a super fun game and worth the time cards when I feel like playing it. I loved creating my own characters, exploring the beautiful world, and also the other players are great and helpful. Awesome game, I'm glad it was my first (and probably only) MMO. Anyways, lesson is buy a bigger TV.
In Fire Emblem: Awakening, your avatar character wakes up with amnesia and is discovered by some pretty important people who throw caution to the wind and recruit you to their cause almost immediately. There's some political stuff going on, but more than that, there's some demon-ish type creatures that start appearing and well... that's some bad news right there. So it's your job to save the future for your kids because even in times of war people still need love.
This is a strategy game, so you move your dudes and dudettes across certain squares depending on their move. Afterwards, you can heal your allies or attack your enemies, depending on the characters job. Eventually they can change jobs or become stronger ones if you have the proper items and such. You can also smoosh two of your people together to make one more powerful unit. Also your characters get friendship points and stuff from doing battle together and then you get scenes between them and eventually they can get married!
General impressions:
This game has a dating sim aspect to it that doesn't involve any nudity which is 100% of the reason I picked it up, not gonna lie. But the game was super hard, even on casual, so I stopped playing. Eventually I said that no strategy game was going to stand in the way of me playing matchmaker so I picked it back up. This time I could play it, although it was never easy. Anyways there's something that made it easier. You can buy monster boxes for grinding. At first I didn't want to do this because I couldn't afford it, but I realized that the loot you get in battle almost always makes up the difference. So being able to grind did make the game much easier and more enjoyable. As expected, the character interactions are marvelous and you have a wide variety of matchmaking choices. I just wish it was easier.
Story:
The story is interesting enough, and it had some very touching moments to it. Most of the good storytelling and interesting bits are very character focused, and there were some plot twists I didn't see coming. With that being said I wouldn't say it was amazing. I feel like I should have more to say but I don't so there you have it.
Gameplay:
The battles and stuff are too hard. I'm glad there was a casual option or all of my characters would be dead. I just don't have a mind for strategy as sad as that makes me. But the character relationships and matchmaking was excellently superbly excellent and that's what made this game rank so high. The conversations, not just among potential partners, but also between friends were touching, well written, funny, and flowed really well. It was fun trying to pair each character up.
World:
As is the case for most strategy games, you don't get much in terms of world. There are different battle maps and stuff but towns are not explorable and nowhere really stood out to me. There's not much more to say, it was par for the course as far as strategy RPG worlds.
Characters:
Best thing about this game hands down. As I mentioned the characters are well written and likeable, their interactions are amazing, ranging from very touching to funny, and there's a very large cast as well, which I really enjoy. Plus you get to have the characters get married and stuff which is great since I love dating sims.
Favourite character: Olivia Attachment 63188
Honourable mentions: Ricken, Frederick, Morgan (Male) Attachment 63189Attachment 63190Attachment 63191
It was reeeealllly hard to narrow this down because there were so many awesome characters. I liked Olivia because she was a sweetheart and had some great support conversations. Ricken was like my MVP, being my best mage and actually being able to take a hit. Frederick is who I chose as my avatar husband because he's pretty close to my type and Morgan was adorable and sweet and goofy and also very useful in battle.
Overall this game is very difficult, but it has an interesting story, touching moments, and a really awesome cast of characters with great interactions between them.
Am I a bad person for buying Theatrhythm instead of this when I got my 2DS? Probably. Do I care? Probably not.
As long as you enjoy Theatrythm then how could you be a bad person? I'd still recommend giving this one a try in the future if it seems like your cup of tea
It would be. I was just in the mood for something a bit more casual at the time and FF music is hard to go wrong with.
When you said "smoosh two units together to make one more powerful unit", I wasn't sure whether you were referring to Pair Up or the child unit system. :D
I love this game, and I'm glad you liked it. I would recommend the Golden Gaffe DLC pack for you. It makes grinding MUCH easier and gives you tons of money. Also, if you like the Support conversations, get the Scramble Pack. They add in a lot more character moments in three special maps that aren't really difficult.
As great as this game is, it did have issues. The difficulty was a bit off as Intelligent Systems were trying to balance the utterly broken Pair Up system. And the maps are rather bland for the series, with too many open fields.
Aw yis!
Star Ocean 4 and Fire Emblem: Awakening!
SO4 had great game play, but the voice acting made me play the entire game in silence. :C
FE:A was super legit and my first ever Fire Emblem game.
Always awesome to see FFXIV so high on these kind of lists. :D Really glad you're enjoying it! The world really is stunning, and also it's got Gold Saucer as of now so you can also do chocobo racing and Triple Triad, so you should nip on and check them out. Oh, and it's a minion giveaway in our FC this weekend, Ashton, so be sure to check the Facebook page and vote for some timeslots.
Final Fantasy X is the story of our hero, Tidus, as he gets swept up by some mysterious giant icky whale and ends up somewhere where supposedly the place he lives was destroyed a thousand years before. While trying to find his way back home, he joins a summoner, Yuna, who's job is to defeat Sin, the same Sin that sent him to this strange place.
Final Fantasy X is a bit different than the average Final Fantasy game. There is no ATB bar, instead characters have a turn order displayed on the side. Three characters are playable in battle, but characters can be freely switched in and out. Summons in this game will stay on the battlefield until they are KO'd or dismissed, replacing the regular party. There is no leveling up, instead characters receive points to spend on a sphere grid, which will allow them to increase their stats and learn new abilities. There are 7 total playable characters and one guest.
General impressions:
Final Fantasy X was one of my first Final Fantasy games and I loved it from the moment I played. Yuna is actually the character that got me in to the series, although it was her X-2 version, but that's another story. My opinion of this game has diminished over time, but as you can see I still like it very much or it wouldn't be this high on the list. I think this game has an excellent story, some really strong characters, and is just overall a lot of fun to play. Other than the one mandatory blitzball section, the game never feels like a chore. Instead I just find it a joy to play and an interesting and involving adventure.
Story:
The story is my favourite part of the game. At first I was so curious about Spira and Zanarkand and what the differences were and what had happened. Was Tidus in the future? Would he ever get home? Soon I found myself focusing on the summoner and her pilgrimage. I love the contrast in this game between the environment and the mood. Most areas are bright, sunny. But the people in this bright and sunny places live in constant fear of Sin. They regularly suffer the loss of their homes and their loved ones. You can just feel the mood. The tone gets darker as the story goes on, but it still kept me hooked. The game kept going past when I expected it to, (SPOILER)past Zanarkand, and the game had done a great job of making Zanarkand feel like the end game. Even now when I know what's going to happen, I'm still touched by a lot of the moments, (SPOILER)like Tidus finding out the truth about what will happen to Yuna, her standing up for what she believes in, and so many more great moments.
Gampelay:
The gameplay isn't so great. I mean it isn't bad but Final Fantasy has certainly come up with better. I like the ATB system, and the sphere grid was more of an annoyance than anything. The forced Blitzball match was horrible. I'm happy its available as a mini-game for those who enjoy it but the mandatory round is the thing I dread most in the game. What I did like was the summons sticking around and fighting and being able to swap characters in and out of battle easily. Also the overdrive system was great.
World:
The world in this game is stunning. There are so many beautiful locations, from Besaid Island to the Moonflow to Zanarkand itself. And the locations have so much life and atmosphere to them. Zanarkand especially. My favourites are probably the beautiful snowy Lake Macalania and the beautiful and snowy Mt. Gagazet. I think snow is pretty, in case that hasn't been made obvious at this point.
Characters:
My opinions of the characters has changed drastically since I first played. I used to think Rikku was awesome, Auron was so badass, Lulu was the coolest. Now they don't do as much for me, although I don't dislike them either. But overall the cast was strong and I think they really worked well as an ensemble.
Favourite character: Yuna Attachment 63199
Honourable mentions: Kimahri Attachment 63200
I thought I would hate Kimahri when I first played. It's like a giant blue cat thing, really now. But I've really come to love his character. He's devoted to Yuna and he literally risks his life to save her. He's her protector and he's awesome. His moments with Biran and Yanke have me cheering him on. There's not a bad bone in his giant blue body. Yuna has just recently taken the top spot. I just love who she is, how strong and selfless and honest she is. She struggles but she still stays a sweet, caring, and awesome person. She wants to help the people of Spira and she continues to press towards that goal long after others would have given up, (SPOILER)like after being condemned by Yevon. She's just such an amazing person.
Overall I think this is a really strong game and a great Final Fantasy. Engaging story, strong cast of characters, easy to get in to gameplay, beautiful world. The game is just a lot of fun and the story always sucks me right in.
Well, there's my personal favorite non-VN game. I still vividly remember how I revisited this game a few years back and fell in love with it all over again. And every time I hear or play To Zanarkand it just takes me right back. :love:
Pumpkin will fuss about this, but the griffon's name is Fubar because he leaves his enemies smurfed up beyond all recognition. :smug:Quote:
Originally Posted by Scotty_ffgamer
Fubar the warrrior.
The indomitable trio.
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fsSdV2WOBn4/maxresdefault.jpg
It's no secret around here that I dislike FFX because of the three primary characters - Tidus, Yuna and Seymour. Other than those three I actually don't mind the game that match, but they're such a massive part of it that it just left a bad taste in my mouth. I can see how people who don't mind those characters could love the game so much, though, because the world itself and the battle system are beautiful, and I really like the other playable characters and the minigames.
I agree with Pumpkin's views on Yuna, and I really like her. Tidus isn't terribly good, but he's by no means awful.Quote:
Originally Posted by Loony BoB
Seymour is a character I utterly loathe, though. But the gameplay, solid story, fantastic side characters, and engaging world let me enjoy the game regardless.
I actually have more fun with the sequel, though. Even though I don't like several of the changes, I love the number and variety of side quests. It's like FFTA2 in that regard.
Seymour is actually my least favourite antagonist of any game ever
I'm sorry but when you kill a guy 3 times, he needs to stay dead. Just sayin
GOD YES I LOVE FFX
It's the best in my humble opinion :shobon:
And yet it's not even on your list of video games :colbert:Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister Adequate
We're not done with Final Fantasy yet. There's a reason I'm on a FF forum
Have you noticed my new forum set? Coincidentally, sharky and I have decided to replay FFXII together yesterday. Which means we will be playing the game very slowly while fussing at each other for doing it wrong
Final Fantasy XII is about sky pirates. Well not really but I'm going to say sky pirates. Also there's a war going on and some supposed traitors and some nation being taken over and some dudes with long hair and a princess who can never bend down to pick anything up ever. Ahem, um a nation takes over some other nations and the old King, after surrendering, is assassinated. There's some more political stuff going on.
In this game there are 6 playable characters along with several guest characters. You will control one character out of a party of 3 and set up gambits for your allies, such as heal when HP is below 40% or attack leader's target and other such things. Characters are highly customizable via the license board. On the license boards you can select what magic the character can use, which techs, which weapons they use, which armor they can equip, and even select status augments for them. Afterwards, you'll need to buy the corresponding item so your character can use it. There are also hunts to do for a sidequest.
General impressions:
When I first played this game, it would have been at the bottom of the list, if it made it at all. I was quite disappointed by it. Why were the enemies visible instead of random encounters? Why weren't they all lined up in battle where I would give them each commands? What happened to the traditional summons? All of these things upset me because it wasn't my idea of a Final Fantasy game. But it had its merits so I tried it again. I've played it quite a few times since then and when I stopped looking at it for what I expected it to be and started looking at it for what it was, my opinion of it greatly improved, and now it's one of my favourite Final Fantasy games ever. (Except the summon thing, that still bugs me). The game is a lot of fun, it has a strong cast (although it could have done much more with them), it has a mature story, a great world to explore, and best of all: the license board.
Story:
It doesn't have the most memorable story to me, but it was still enjoyable and unique from what I've come to expect from Final Fantasy games, which makes it a bit refreshing. The whole things feels more mature and real, instead of, well, fantasy. There's obviously some fantastical elements to it, but it felt a bit more grounded, if I'm making any sense. I did enjoy the overall story, although it was by no means my favourite, but I very much enjoyed the smaller character driven stories. Which surprises no one if who has been following this list.
Gameplay:
Some areas of gameplay I love and others not so much. I am a big fan of the more traditional Final fantasy battle style and in that regard this is a bit disappointing. But since I was stuck only controlling one character, I did enjoy how the gambits were set up because I could have my characters take care of stuff I normally would and I don't really have to think about it. As I mentioned, I love the license board, it's probably my favourite ability system of any game ever because it gives a lot of freedom to customize your characters in your way, as opposed to what's already laid out for them. It could have been improved, but overall I thought it was great. My main complaints would be that the game really drags on and it gets quite difficult around the Phon Coast.
World:
Great world, very vast and explorable. It feels like a real world, very large and almost limitless. There's a great many different areas with different looks and stuff and I loved exploring it all and seeing the newest places. My favourite areas were Eruyt Village and Mt. Bur-Omisace. The biggest complaint would be the Sandsea's because it's so long and so much sand everywhere. Just sand. Forever. But overall awesome world.
Characters:
I've come to appreciate the characters more and more and the fact that most of them have more subtle personalities rather than in your face tropes or cliches. At least to me. I just wish they had more involvement with the story. I enjoyed their individual stories but it seemed they were not present for most of the overarching storyline, which was a shame. I also appreciated the lack of a traditional love story. I have nothing against love stories but it's nice to be without one once in a while.
Favourite character: Penelo Attachment 63221
Honourable mentions: Fran, Balthier Attachment 63222Attachment 63223
I actually like all of the characters. Ashe used to be my favourite but now I find her, I dunno, a bit too harsh I guess? I like Penelo because I think she's sweet and kind and she's kind of like the straight man for Vaan. She wasn't what I was expecting from her looks. Fran and Balthier were both interesting and well written personalities and I liked Fran's quiet confidence but then also being able to see a different side of her when we went to her home.
Overall a really fun game, awesome character customization, vast explorable world, and a really strong cast of characters. Great game and I'm glad I gave it a second chance.
It is, you just have to take letters from some of the games to form the name. That is the genius of his list, very much every game you think should be there is already there implicitly.Quote:
Originally Posted by metagloria
Final Fantasy XII, huh. Four words: International Zodiac Job System. Takes the gameplay up to 11. It better get released as an HD Remaster over here.
What worries me about the IZJS is that I don't want to lose my black mage archer :ohdear: