The Witcher has very nice environments that are very Polish. It's refreshing to play a fantasy RPG that is based on a place that is actually familiar to you.
The Witcher has very nice environments that are very Polish. It's refreshing to play a fantasy RPG that is based on a place that is actually familiar to you.
I've really been enjoying the battle system for I am Setsuna, it's a nice evolution to Chrono Trigger's without straying too far from what made CT's battle system so good. I've also been digging the cast for the most part and and their stories have had some interesting twists and turns, especially Nidr. Of anything, I feel the tone and mood of the game is perfect for the story and definitely hit all of the notes I felt was lacking in games with a similar premise to it.
True beauty exists in things that last only for a moment.
Current Mood: And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe. Maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself. To hold on to these moments as they pass...
I picked up Romancing SaGa 3 again about a week ago and the sheer amount of things Square managed to do right in this title, even in its slightly rushed state, never fails to impress me:
They implemented one of -- if not the -- best versions of scaling enemy encounters they've ever put out. With their conservative use of fixed encounters and only at key locations, Square managed to require certain levels of character development and/or strategy (usually the latter) to win certain important fights, while still providing normal battles and bosses that are always manageable to the player and never trap them in unbeatable areas. Furthermore, by limiting character core statistical growth to just hp and weapon/magic points and levels, Square was better able to gauge character growth than in RS1, and so enemies scale at a FAR more reasonable level, as they are always linked to valuable stat ups the player has received.
They kept all of the weapon classes useful and interesting. With no particularly bad weapon class, and definite advantages to each, players can freely elect to create parties around strong weapons they intend to find, weapons the characters they want to use are particularly adept with, or whatever weapons they personally prefer to use, all without feeling like they are losing something or making a bad choice. Additionally, even within these choices Square provided certain perks and penalties, as characters using the same weapon classes will quickly learn and master all of the techs in the tree, but they won't all get to use the best weapons, whereas everyone in a more balanced spread will have to learn techs on their own, but will always have access to the ultimate gear. It's a good mix, and both are equally viable.
They balanced magic well between all of the schools. Like they did with weapons, there isn't a magic school that is particularly bad to specialize in, and each can benefit both physical or magically oriented characters. Fire magic, for instance, offers weak offensive options until level 20, which a fire mage will easily hit, but a fighter can easily reap the benefit from Reviver regardless of magic level; Sun magic does excellent AoE damage for mages, but the 30% magic shield helps warriors too. Beyond this, all of the magical schools can create their own field effects, and certain gear, magic, and strategies play well with these. Moon Bones, for instance, provide magic resistance on their own, but also regeneration when a moon field is in effects, as does the water ball/pole spell in a water field.
They changed up the 'row' concept, and they did it damn well. While the Final Fantasy series used front and back rows to affect damage and targeting, and RS3 uses formations instead, with each offering different unique advantages and disadvantages. The Desert Lance formation, for example, places a single character in the front of the party and increases their defense and chances of being hit, allowing a defensive character to soak damage for the party, while the the Tiger's Cave formation slows the party and cuts all damage received in half provided a character hasn't acted yet, and it works well with heavy armor suits, which offer fantastic defense but greatly slow your characters.
They included a second (main) combat system for the game. Aside from the normal system where orders are issued to each character, the player can choose to play in 'commander mode'. In this mode, all characters regain a bit of health each turn and general orders, such as attempt to strike first, are issued instead of individual ones. Additionally, formations gain 'team' techs, such as x-slash and comet, with the available techs and requirements changing with each formation. These techs consume team tech points which are generated each turn and tend to be quite powerful.
They made almost all characters easily recruitable. No clearing the Phoenix Cave to re-recruit Locke. Sure, several characters DO require certain quests be completed before you get them, but few of the relatively large cast are impractical to grab after starting the game. (Though the far eastern characters in particular can be a pain to get back to the west with after you get them.)
They made many characters unique, even if you aren't always explicitly told about it. Zo, for instance, is the only character that can wield two handed weapons with a single hand, Sharl's hand is crippled and he gets SIGNIFICANTLY better if you give him the Silver Hand, Ellen cannot be charmed by male characters, the workshop delivers double the quantity of created items to Mikhail if he is on his throne and do not require consumable resources to order, Undine and Boston deal extra damage with water magic, ect. Along with unique learning patterns and fixed stats, these little bits add flavor and definition to characters without ever dominating their role.
They implemented two solid minigames (war and corporation/economic) that add flavor to the experience without ever being intrusive or offering overwhelming benefits for participating in them. That said, both have some notable depth to them and there are monetary rewards for solid performance in each, so it isn't although they are entirely without reward if a player wants to invest in them. This is especially true for the war system with Mikhail, who can learn additional formations and tactics based on his performance and increase his nation's standing and treasury through conquest. If there's something bad to be said about either game, it is only that they stop where they do and don't have a greater impact on the world.
And, finally, they made the last boss is difficult. As a general rule in most classic Square RPGs, the final boss tends to be a bit of a letdown, sometimes offset by a super boss somewhere to provide a challenge to players. Not so here -- the 'hidden' boss in the game is a joke, and the final boss is the real uphill battle of the game. With the ability to dispel ALL buffs, attack multiple times per turn, a unique field effect that does damage every turn independent of its actions, and the ability to attack your living characters with dead ones, it can be a surprisingly difficult boss fight without a solid strategy going into the fight, and I GREATLY appreciate that. Add on to that the ability to give the boss up to four additional forms depending on your actions and you've got one of the most satisfying bosses Square has ever rolled out.
I'm sad that I can't say the game is perfect, but, as I said before, Square did so many little things right in the game, and provided the player so many choices through those things, that I can't help but love it.
Ffxiv is amazing fun and so much to do. And I feel good when I dont die as a dragoon cos they always die. Its great and I love this game
I'm already digging the characters of Persona 4 much more than I did for P3. And the TV world is much more enjoyable than Tartarus.
Proud to be the Unofficial Secret Illegal Enforcer of Eyes on Final Fantasy!
When I grow up, I want to go toBovineTrump University! - Ralph Wiggum
I got a 23 Killstreak with Symmetra. And I made a Bastion ragequit in the middle of a fight with Sombra. I followed him around and everytime he went into "IMMA GET A PLAY A DA GAME BY NOT DOING NUTTING" Mode, I hacked him out of it. After the third time, he disappeared and Xx_LonewolfSilverDragon_xX has left the game. Not his real name obviously.
WoFF is cute. I'm liking the battle and stacking system so far. The battles are a little slow though, but I'm sure that'll pick up. I like Reynn and the sylph.
Zombie Driver.
This is a pretty fun game. Decent Challenge, solid controls, satisfying when you finish the levels.
World of Final Fantasy: So adorable, cute mons, good humour, fun
Fran Bow: Creative and quirky
Megadimension Neptunia VII: ACCESSORRIIESS and good characters
Princess Evangile: Good sense of humour, likeable cast, good protag
Costume Quest 2: Cute and quirky
Ni No Kuni: Beautiful and detailed
Simple Planes gives so much freedom to build whatever you want to build in the game, the possibilities are endless (and a lot of fun)!
Exist Archive:
Adorable chibi outfits.
Eternal Darkness:
Creative sanity meter aspect.
Star Ocean V:
Crafting and stuff is mega fun. Good NPC designs.
World of Final Fantasy:
CUTE CHIBI MIRAGES!
Ni No Kuni:
So beautifully detailed.
Bully:
Uhh, some freedom of choice?
Himawari:
Cute story so far.
The Witcher III:
I have a horse :3
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time:
Nostalgia~
Beyond Eyes:
Started and finished it today. Really neat art style and touching story.
MHGen still, and it's god damn smurfing amazing, and everything is magnificent, and the swaxe is the meaning of life.
I finally created HR Evade+2 set, with a maxed out Barak Sedition, but then started looking into Prowlers and haven't touched my human main. I spent so much time on it, too.
Gravity Rush 2 still features Kat and she can still fall about a really unique and vibrant world. Kat remains one of the most adorable protagonists of all time. The main city here reminds me a lot of Lestallum from FFXV except a) it's bigger, b) it's got people in it, c) those people aren't dressed identically and d) it's floating thousands of feet in the sky.
You start off with most or all of your upgraded abilities from the original, and there's some new stuff to get on top of that. They've really improved the way gravity throwing objects works, which is great although it is a touch overpowered at this point. They've also added a photo mode and some optional online treasure hunts that I haven't tried out yet, but it gave me all the bonus costumes I unlocked from the original (Cat-Kat! Maid-Kat! Soldier-Kat!) and there's a bunch more to unlock. Usually I'm not one for costume hunting but I desperately need to take pictures of Kat in every outfit I can find for her, so I'm gonna find 'em all!
One of the things I loved about the original was going around collecting all the precious gems. Usually, again, I really don't care for collectibles. But in Gravity Rush scattering the gems about really works as it makes you play with all the gravity shifting systems, which are just a joy to use. It taps into that same 'get all the coins' mentality I would get in games like Spyro or Mario 64. I was worried for a while that they'd broken the gem collecting in GR2 - the first 2 hours of the game all my gems were hidden away in weird pods that I had to smash open. Luckily though, that seems to just be a prologue/mission things; now I'm in the main big area there are gems everywhere again as they should be.
Last edited by Fox; 01-22-2017 at 10:49 PM.
I just finished Rise of the Tomb Raider. Lara continues to kick some serious ass and I cannot wait for the sequel.
10/10
Last edited by Sephiroth; 01-23-2017 at 02:11 AM.
Dragon Quest is so much better in every way on the 3DS!
Hotline Miami 2 does an awesome job making you roleplay as a destroy-everything-maniac.
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