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@Interdimensional Observer I actually do the same kind of run for EO5

 

Run 1 was themeless, i just picked up class that i want to try

Dragoon - because i never left an EO game without a tank at the time

Warlock - because i remember how much i wish i have a magical attacker back in EO3/EOU so here i am taking them

Necromancer - the idea about them seems cool

Fencer - I thought they were the "basic physical class" turns out they were focused on chain attacks, and

Shaman - Buffer class. I know they are usually good

The starting version of the run ended up being "Necromancer casts Poison Bomb and the rest can do whatever' for the early game" which worked out because Fencer gimmick allows me to trade of actions with chains by using Shaman so Necro and Shaman ended up contributing "physical damage" this way. The finalization of the squad is the discovery of Buster Cannon and my obsession with it leds into Fire Spam squad with Buster Cannon as trump card backed by Union Skills for disabling purpose

 

For run 2 is specifically want to try Blade Master(Masurao Mastery that specializes in critical skill hits), so my comp was designed to support the Blade Master, with the remaining class pool of the game

The end result was Masurao/Pugilist/Harbinger/Rover/Botanist. Obviously with 3 disable oriented class, it took status ailments route, usually its Botanist disabling while Harb make it consistent, Pugilist buffing Masurao and Harb, and then proceed to spam moves while they are disabled. Its a shitons of fun to play with

 

Run 3 was me trying out specifically broken comps, so i run the Dragoon Spam comp. The original version is 4 Dragoon 1 Shaman, although i changed things up to run 3 Dragoon Shaman Necro to add some cheese to play with. It didn't end up being better than the original far as i can tell, but Necro as a class is just dirty. Haven't finished the run though(although i already know the image on how i want to run the final boss, and the bonus boss)

 

And yeah EOX is something i'm hyped up with, although i'm somewhat sad many of my favorite class from V didn't make it in, mainly Dragoon and Necro really.

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I've got a PS Vita and Persona 4 Golden. Certainly enjoying the game, having saved my younger cousin, romanced Yukiko, and took down the real curlprit. I've also finished all of the other PC's Social Links all in the span of a few real-life weeks since I started the game. While I usually never get emotional when playing a game, the events from November onwards was an exception. It was great to see my uncle and niece come to terms with their relationships with each other, and to see my friends similarly grow and move on. Now, that our investigation is all over (or so it feels...?) I guess I'll have to enjoy the ski trip, Valentines/White Day with Yukiko, and make the most of the remaining days before my time in Inaba is all over... Hopefully, our friendship shall stand the test of time...

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My favorite Final Fantasy is XV, with XIII close behind.  I don't mind actual criticisms (go ahead, neither are perfect), but trolling will result in a warning.  @Slumber, you're fine.

I need to play FF Type-0.  It's bloody and dark, two things I normally don't like.  BUT if I can make it through SMT IV with my sanity mostly intact, I think I can do FF0~!

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JRPGS, eh?

I loved playing Skies of Arcadia on Dreamcast. Sky Pirates ahoy, with a battle system I found to be a bit unique (in that I haven't found any other game that uses it). In addition to the normal ground battles, there are ship to ship battles as well! I found the story of following Vyse on his adventures to be quite enjoyable.

Grandia II remains one of my favorite games of all time due to it's battle system. I just love the special abilities, magics, and canceling enemy moves. The Trails series does something similar, but it goes entirely on a bar and skips over the "wait time," which I find to be a major part of the charm of Grandia II's system. I still need to get back to Trails in the Sky at some point, but at the moment I'm engaged in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 NG+.

Bravely Default was fun and I enjoyed my time with it, but it is one of those games one has to play constantly to keep track of things. I tried going back to mess around with it and I forgotten how I set up my party and the like. There is also that "major flaw" with the second half of the game which can detract enjoyment. // I do plan on picking up its sequel at some point, but I'll need to buy a new 3DS and I do not see this happening in the foreseeable future.

Of course, there's Xenoblade Chronicles and its franchise, but I think I said most of my opinions in the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 thread. In short, 1 has the better story, 2 has the better characters, and X has a world to explore and the best sidequests.

Dragon's Dogma leans more towards the Action RPG genre and may follow more Western RPG trends, but I think it can qualify for a JRPG. I just love this game and really wish Dragon's Dogma Online was localized to the west, or that it would receive a proper sequel. One way to describe it is Monster Hunter but in a Western Fantasy world (like D&D).

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RPGs (counting  Strategy/Tactical RPGS (not sure of the exact diffeence), but less ARPGs) are pretty much the only game genre I I play through.

For me aggod JRPGs must have either good characters, or a good world. For charatcers, I can do with bland characters, but absolutelly not for the unlikeable ones. Which is why, despite all the good I heard about Radiata Stories, I have a hard time getting into it.
And obviously, that's one of my my major issue with FFX. Most characters weren't really interresting so far (and the cliché romance that you know won't last was getting on my nerve.), but Tidus ends up doing something really bad, and the game actually support his choice. I was actually really loathing at this point.
As for the world, it doesn't need to be particularily complew or mysterious, but if I have fun discovering new places, and want to keep exploring, then it's fine. And I need to at least somewhat believe onit too. A great game world is actually one of the great strength of Pokémon games, especially later generations.

The Alliance alive is really freaking great. The cast is great. What I particularily like is the fact there are no real leaders here. Some have a more important role (Tiggy and Vivian comes to mind. Gene is more of a strategist. ANd then there's Galil...), but it's mostly everyone working together. The world is really interresting as well, with lots of incidental game building. You have an info dump at one point, but things stay pretty vague. There's such an attention to details, too. They registereed different sounds from everyone's footstep, and depending on what they're walking on (snow, grass, wooden interiors).

Which reminds me I still need to play through Suikoden and SaGA games one day. I'll always have been interrested by them, but never really got far into them.
BTW, how is Romancing SaGa on Vita ? Is there some big issues, or is it OK ?

I loved EOV despite the story, because (like every EO game), it creates a fascinating world. You want to always explore further, and see what new Stratum lies ahead. Besides, it has (relatively) good difficulty (at least on normal). The danger is part of the overall atmosphere, and solving each puzzles is incredibly rewarding. The game design is just incredible. A smart game that makes you feels smart.

 

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I loved EOV's story. It was really, really interesting and it felt like I was actually uncovering the secrets of Yggdrasil.

39 minutes ago, Tamanoir said:

The Alliance alive is really freaking great. The cast is great. What I particularily like is the fact there are no real leaders here. Some have a more important role (Tiggy and Vivian comes to mind. Gene is more of a strategist. ANd then there's Galil...), but it's mostly everyone working together. The world is really interresting as well, with lots of incidental game building. You have an info dump at one point, but things stay pretty vague. There's such an attention to details, too. They registereed different sounds from everyone's footstep, and depending on what they're walking on (snow, grass, wooden interiors).

Good to hear. I will definitely get this game once I finish Radiant Historia and Strange Journey.

Bravely Default and Bravely Second (Second especially) are and always will be among my absolute favourite games. I love the stories, the characters ("villains" included), the voice acting is pretty darn fantastic on both sides (though some are on the lower end of the spectrum) and the gameplay is incredibly fun.

As far as Persona 4 Golden is concerned, I will admit that I couldn't really get into it. I still have it, but I haven't finished it.
The dungeons are pretty bland, same with their respective musical themes, the characters range from great to unbearably annoying and it's probably the latter that turned me off of the game the most, since three of the unbearably annoying characters just so happen to be main characters.
It was probably a mistake to play Persona 5 before this one.

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11 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

I loved EOV's story. It was really, really interesting and it felt like I was actually uncovering the secrets of Yggdrasil.

Good to hear. I will definitely get this game once I finish Radiant Historia and Strange Journey.

Bravely Default and Bravely Second (Second especially) are and always will be among my absolute favourite games. I love the stories, the characters ("villains" included), the voice acting is pretty darn fantastic on both sides (though some are on the lower end of the spectrum) and the gameplay is incredibly fun.

As far as Persona 4 Golden is concerned, I will admit that I couldn't really get into it. I still have it, but I haven't finished it.
The dungeons are pretty bland, same with their respective musical themes, the characters range from great to unbearably annoying and it's probably the latter that turned me off of the game the most, since three of the unbearably annoying characters just so happen to be main characters.
It was probably a mistake to play Persona 5 before this one.

Uncovering Yggdrasil's secret is always EO main appeal. When I reched the 5th Stratum here, it really was something amazing. It was a while since I loved a game as much as EOV (

Radiant Historia was also really great. I think I enjoyed my time in The Alliance Alive more, but RH is a really high qualty RPGs, no doubt.

Bravely Default and Bravely Scond are really good, yeah. The only games where the romance doesn't annoys me. And that means a lot coming from me.
It shows how much I care about the characters. And..

Spoiler

Altair and Vega's love story in Bravely Second is really great on every ways. if felt pretty... grounded, for the lack of other words. It was something that could really happens to anyone. It was believable.And the final details on why Altair speaks with vegetable references is so damn cute. Just the icing on the cake on an already great game

SMT games aren't really for me, I think. I don't like to fuse monsters as soon as possible, and always ends up with my main being underprepared.

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I found this interview between Xeno's Tetsuya Takahashi and Persona's Katsura Hashino. Some pretty interesting stuff, though do note that the translate left out some Persona bits as he's unfamiliar with the series and he would rather have someone more knowledgeable with Persona translate those bits.

 

8 hours ago, Slumber said:

Which, for people who haven't played and don't really know what Dragon Quest is about, I think is worth going over.

Dragon Quest is generally a lot more open and less structured than most other JRPG franchises. Whereas a lot of other JRPG franchises tend to be very rigidly structured "Point A to Point B" kind of stuff with a ton of side quests and stuff, Dragon Quest kind of obscures this a bit. There's still point A to point B stuff, especially in more recent DQ games, but it's never shoved in your face quite as much as something like a Final Fantasy. Dragon Quest is more of a "We have to stop this evil jester! He went east. Figure the rest for yourself." kind of game. It leaves a lot for you to figure out for yourself, and not in an annoying way. Most of the time you'll just just be off killing monsters, following the road without a real lead to be had, and you'll see a town and sometimes suddenly you stumble onto the plot. Or maybe you explore a cave and you just randomly find a key item to a quest that you haven't even started yet.

It's a very unique feel that I don't many modern JRPGs capture quite so much.

Oh, that's pretty interesting. While it isn't a big interest, Dragon Quest has intrigued me more than Square Enix's other juggernaut, Final Fantasy, mainly because i have a friend who's played and really enjoyed Dragon Quest 9 (i think it was 9, i don't remember exactly). Once i finish most of the games i'm currently playing, i'll take a look at it, since i really like the approach that Dragon Quest takes, according to what you described. What's the best Dragon Quest to start with?

8 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

I can't really speak on behalf of the latter since I've never even played the older Final Fantasies.

Neither have i. I haven't actually played any Final Fantasy game. 

2 hours ago, Tamanoir said:

SMT games aren't really for me, I think. I don't like to fuse monsters as soon as possible, and always ends up with my main being underprepared.

I'm the same way except i haven't actually played an SMT game and the main reason for that is that is, from my very limited knowledge of the series, it feels too dark for me. I don't mind dark stories but SMT seems to lean on the "DESPAIR" side of things (which is also the reason why i have zero interest in Danganronpa but that's not a JRPG).

I also haven't played Persona either but i do have more interest in that since it doesn't seem to be as dark as SMT and also it's one big JoJo reference.

Edited by Armagon
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12 minutes ago, Armagon said:

I'm the same way except i haven't actually played an SMT game and the main reason for that is that is, from my very limited knowledge of the series, it feels too dark for me. I don't mind dark stories but SMT seems to lean on the "DESPAIR" side of things (which is also the reason why i have zero interest in Danganronpa but that's not a JRPG).

I also haven't played Persona either but i do have more interest in that since it doesn't seem to be as dark as SMT and also it's one big JoJo reference.

Majority of SMT games take place after the world has ended. And few games in the series are optimistic about the future state of the world in it's current direction. Speaking of, I'm playing SMT: Strange Journey Redux.

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6 hours ago, eclipse said:

I need to play FF Type-0.  It's bloody and dark, two things I normally don't like.  BUT if I can make it through SMT IV with my sanity mostly intact, I think I can do FF0~!

Challenge mode: Try not to want to bang your head on a wall whenever Machina is involved

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20 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Oh, that's pretty interesting. While it isn't a big interest, Dragon Quest has intrigued me more than Square Enix's other juggernaut, Final Fantasy, mainly because i have a friend who's played and really enjoyed Dragon Quest 9 (i think it was 9, i don't remember exactly). Once i finish most of the games i'm currently playing, i'll take a look at it, since i really like the approach that Dragon Quest takes, according to what you described. What's the best Dragon Quest to start with?

Dragon Quest also often have a pretty unique story structure. In most JRPGs (and games), you have a plot, and everything resolves around this plot. You try to stop the villain(s) and stop his(their) nefarious plans.
Dragon Quest is a little different, most of the time. While the Demon King is responsible for (almost) everything bad that hap

pens, it's more a sucession of short, self-contained stories, that are almost independant from one another. Unless it's a major antagonist, you rarely fight the same ennemy twice.
As for the best to start with... Well, by the time, DQXI may be already out, so that may be a decent choice. ANy games between DQIV and DQVIII are decent choices honnestly, depending iof what you expect. For DQIV to VI, the DS version is the best I think, and DQVII on 3DS.
I still need to play DQIII at some point, since it looks like a really good game.

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Good to see some praise for Alliance Alive here; I may have to check that out at some point. I finished but didn't really get into/enjoy its predecessor, Legend of Legacy, but from the sounds of things they addressed LoL's biggest concerns (and brought in the writer from Suikoden, which is IMO the best-overall-written RPG series) so... that'll probably be the next game in the genre I check out. That or Paper Mario 2.

11 hours ago, Reality said:

Final Fantasy started out with deeper roots in D&D systems than DQ, and the first game even had a kind of spell slot system. Really though, FF 1-4 do not bother me as such, as I can see them as a continuaton of the Dragon Warrior trend(and 4 is quite fun in its own right). My main gripe with Final Fantasy is how it developed from 5 onwards. I largely regard FF5 as being the major player in a paradigm shift across the majority of Japanese RPGs. 

Well, you certainly got me to raise my eyebrows with FF5, since I fundamentally disagree and feel that this is where Final Fantasy got good. If the series had ended after FF4 it'd long since be considered irrelevant by now, and I say that as someone who enjoyed FF1 and FF3 for what they were back in the day.


Yes, FF5 and its successors by and large let almost any party win, but I'd argue that, for the default difficulty, that's a good thing. Many players just want to play around with a fun class system and use what they like, not find the perfect combination. It may also surprise you to learn that not everyone finds these games (particularly FF5 and FF6) as easy as you do. When you have a complicated class system AND high challenge, it can be off-putting to players who haven't grasped the system yet.

Don't get me wrong, I rag on easier games and I'd be a lot happier with Final Fantasy if it had more difficulty, but to me the obvious solution is to just put in difficulty modes. FF7 was phenomenally successful and showed there's a market for that level of challenge. Low difficulty is good for enticing players in; just put in a harder one for veterans too.

I'm currently replaying Wild Arms XF, which is relevant to this conversation. It's got a good class system but unlike many other games, it doesn't let just any class combination win; different fights pose specific challenges and the game expects you to change classes to overcome them. I love Wild Arms XF, to me it's the best game on the PSP and one of the great games of its generation. I'm also in a minority. If you look at reviews, a lot of players didn't like that it "forced you to use certain classes" or that "there's only one setup that could beat this battle" (they're wrong by the way, there are almost always several, but I can't blame people for not figuring this out). So I think that with these sorts of big, sprawling systems, it's actually quite important that you let a lot of setups win, at least if you want more than niche appeal for your game.


I also have some pretty strong disagreements regarding your comments in the section on Fire Emblem but I feel this is enough for one post. :)

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Let's see, JRPG series I'm playing:

  • Trails 
  • Tales of
  • Shin Megami Tensei (including spin offs)


Tales of series is the series I have played the most game yet. I played Abyss and all possible PS3 parts including the two only JP ports (Vesperia and Berseria) and completed all except for the two Symphonias whose battle graphics I couldn't get used to. Of the completed ones I enjoyed each part except for Zestiria because it was poorly balanced. The game forced the player to be armatized for beating all the (optional) bosses. This made the game extremly frustrating.


Since dipping into the Trails of Cold Steel series I will Try out as many Falcom JRPGs as possible. Unfortunately some games didn't make it outside of Japan. I tried to play Y's 1, but this game is a bit different to a static JRPG. It's an Action RPG on a map, and I have my issues with this.


I also tried a few other series like Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy, but couldn't get into them.
 

 

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7 minutes ago, Hecatia Lapislazuli said:

Since dipping into the Trails of Cold Steel series I will Try out as many Falcom JRPGs as possible. Unfortunately some games didn't make it outside of Japan. I tried to play Y's 1, but this game is a bit different to a static JRPG. It's an Action RPG on a map, and I have my issues with this.

This reminds me that I still have Ys VIII on my backlog... whoops.

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26 minutes ago, Tamanoir said:

As for the best to start with... Well, by the time, DQXI may be already out, so that may be a decent choice. ANy games between DQIV and DQVIII are decent choices honnestly, depending iof what you expect. For DQIV to VI, the DS version is the best I think, and DQVII on 3DS.

So i should start anywhere between Dragon quest 4 and 7 (those are 4 and 7, right? I'm not good with Roman Numerals)? Good to know. What systems are they on (cuz i'm most likely emulating). I am aware of Dragon Quest 8 on the 3DS and the only reason i haven't bought it is because i don't feel like buying a 3DS game in 2018.

19 minutes ago, Hecatia Lapislazuli said:

I will Try out as many Falcom JRPGs as possible. Unfortunately some games didn't make it outside of Japan.

Which bothers me when it comes to the Trails series because the entire Crossbell arc isn't localized and the Trails series pretty much expects you to play the games in order.

28 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

This reminds me that I still have Ys VIII on my backlog... whoops.

And that's a game i plan on hopefully picking up next month. Heard good things about the Ys series over at it's general thread, heard.....not-so-great things about Ys 8's localization but i've seen the screenshots and it's not that bad imo. Apart from the parts where NISA just forgot to translate the text.

____________________________________________________

That talk about some games not getting localization reminds me of how Xenosaga Episode 2 was the only game in the Xenosaga trilogy that was localized in Europe, for whatever reason (this doesn't affect me, i'm American). Then there's the Xenosaga 1+2 remake on the DS, which contains a better version of Episode 2's story (for those who don't know, the PS2 version of Episode 2 wasn't written by series creator Tetsuya Takahashi and that's probably why the PS2 version of Episode 2 is regarded as the worst game in the series. Takahashi wrote the DS version so that's why it's better) but the DS remake was never released outside of Japan. If Namco ever decides to do a Xenosaga Trilogy remaster, i do hope they use the DS remake's version of Episode 2.

 

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9 hours ago, eclipse said:

BUT if I can make it through SMT IV with my sanity mostly intact

I can handle the SMT atmosphere most of the time. The one exception in SMTIV is

Spoiler

The Reverse Hills Building. On all four of my playthroughs, it never failed to make me want to just get it done and over with. The bleakness and the horror of the situation gets to me. Raising children into innocent red pill machines who you throw away when they're braindead from all the extraction is just sickening to the soul.

Bleakness is the epitome of SMT for me, that is what defines its "darkness". While I don't like The White or their ending, I can see where they are coming from. The battle between Law and Chaos, with Neutral stuck between can never actually end with one alignment victorious forever, and it'll always result in suffering. This is why SMT is bleak, there is no right answer, no remedy for eternity, each game is but a little battle for temporary ideological control (Blasted and Infernal Tokyos flip from Law and Chaos respectively to the inclusion of the other by the time you're done with them) of one world within a multiverse. One has to forget the reality impossibility of total victory and just emotively and subjectively embrace a cause to feel there is anything meaningful in existence.

 

3 hours ago, Armagon said:

I'm the same way except i haven't actually played an SMT game and the main reason for that is that is, from my very limited knowledge of the series, it feels too dark for me. I don't mind dark stories but SMT seems to lean on the "DESPAIR" side of things (which is also the reason why i have zero interest in Danganronpa but that's not a JRPG).

If you want to try one, well start with either Digital Devil Saga or either of the Devil Survivors. DDS is not really much darker than the now popular teenage dystopia literary/movie genre. There is plenty of cannibalism (if you don't devour in gameplay, you're not going to learn skills very fast), but it is never graphically depicted. It also has a rather likable cast, for me at least, something most games in the main line series are weak at (the beloved Nocturne included) because ideological disputes tend to leave the characters flat.

Devil Survivor 1 is more or less a mainline SMT in plot, but with some nice characters too, dark, but not overly so. Devil Survivor 2 is technically darker than 1 when you stand back and and look at the stakes. But in practice DS2 feels much lighter, with a good bit of humor, including a perverted scene where a few guys spy on the girls, which would be totally out of place in the first game (although there Midori is quite not-dark). There are still alignments, but they're more nontraditional, which I enjoyed, LNC can get dull. Get the 3DS versions, they're just plain better. I originally returned DS1 DS version thinking it was too dark, but later bought Overclocked years later and loved it to the end.

3 hours ago, Armagon said:

Oh, that's pretty interesting. While it isn't a big interest, Dragon Quest has intrigued me more than Square Enix's other juggernaut, Final Fantasy, mainly because i have a friend who's played and really enjoyed Dragon Quest 9 (i think it was 9, i don't remember exactly). Once i finish most of the games i'm currently playing, i'll take a look at it, since i really like the approach that Dragon Quest takes, according to what you described. What's the best Dragon Quest to start with?

I chose V as my starting point. Is the founder of DQ's favorite I think, and has a pretty good personalized narrative, I loved it even though I knew a spoiler or three of it. The gameplay... well I'd say there is better in the series, but if you can get used to the archaism of it, it's fine. 

That is my issue with DQ, it is archaic in some ways, too simple, too flat, the worlds aren't very strong and the plots don't always stand up to scrutiny. This can apply as much to gameplay as it can to story- how has it taken them to make magic good for non-group damage?  But this I guess is also one of its strengths. DQVIII (3DS version) I felt was fairly good, modern and yet simple at the same time.

 

11 hours ago, Slumber said:

FF4 is where they really started focusing on character/plot writing. And FF4's cast is pretty solid as a real "first attempt"(Not gonna count FF2 here).

I would certainly agree with this. The plot is nothing special by modern standards, but it did ye olde traditione with GUSTO (to mix SE properties together)! IV is where FF begins to sing in narrative, V elevates the gameplay, VI is the pinnacle of the SNES era, and then VII and VIII change things up in 3D, in ways for better, in ways perhaps that as just different.

14 hours ago, Slumber said:

While we're on the subject of ToS, part of the reason I can't get into it is because of how much I hate the "idiot shonen protagonist" archetype, and the game immediately tosses a bunch of other character cliches I hate at you.

I actually picked up on Colette's overuse of "I'm sorry" IRL, thinking I thought my parents thought I wasn't apologetic enough, years later, I still have the annoying trait. I really liked Genis too, Lloyd I was okay with, Kratos was really cool, and Presea for years served as my internal personification of my fear of my own mortality and the eventual inevitability of death. Zelos is kinda cool, self-loathing beneath a playboy exterior, it is just hard to see that deeply most of the time. Sheena's constantly exposed bra makes no sense and is annoying once I became aware of it, but otherwise I liked her. Raine was fine to me being an academic, and Regal was also cool.

Mind you, ToS was my first non-Pokemon/Paper Mario JRPG, around the age of.... 11? Originally I didn't want it, but my grandmother saw it in a Nintendo Power issue and bought it for me, for a time it became one of the foundation blocks of my life's outlook. Nowadays, I do see the issues with it and how in ways it is generic, and I do think ToS: DotNW philandered some of the characters with its writing. ToS is still the FFVII-esque breakout title for the series's reputation, not that it really means much about its quality.

 

6 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

Bravely Default and Bravely Second (Second especially) are and always will be among my absolute favourite games. I love the stories, the characters ("villains" included), the voice acting is pretty darn fantastic on both sides (though some are on the lower end of the spectrum) and the gameplay is incredibly fun.

The glaring fault of BD's plot aside, I do like it, and BS's isn't too bad either. As for VAs, Aimee had that audio lisp issue in BS, that I can remember. Character-wise, Lester, Victor, the Kaiser, Kikyo, Minette, and, somehow, Praline are all quite likeable for me. On the hero side, well BD Edea (but not the hungry monster she became in BS) is good, and Tiz, I still have something of a crush for him. 

I do love the gameplay, as class systems are always appealing to me and the Bravely games just have so much fun with them. Spellcraft is a concept I'll never forget, how can you not love messing with Resurrect/Benevolence Mist? All the quality of life improvements the series has is quite appreciated as well.

If there is anything the series needs fixed, it's presentation. Leaving the text to autoscroll and watching every scene feels rather slow as characters talk to each other before the battles begin. Not quite sure how they can fix this.

 

14 hours ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

Abyss had two characters I really liked (Luke and Tear) but the overarching plot had way too many wallbanger moments and was way too dragged out.

I found Tear to be a little too emotionless, but to be fair, that is part of her character. Luke, well his first arc self is... different, the remaining two-thirds can also potentially be annoying, but in a completely different way. Anise screams anime, and has her... plot issues (she is also the same age as Tear- 16). Jade I liked, but he got repetitive by the end. Guy was consistently good though. Ion was sweet, if nothing truly special. Natalia was just a standard princess. And outside of Ion and Guy, everyone starts the game on a very unlikable note, but get better with time.

Villain-wise...

Spoiler

Vandesdelca is just terribly dull. They did say he was the one used in the experiment that destroyed his home island, but you don't really feel for him.

Legretta... like Tear, I just didn't have much feeling for her. Arietta was too anime. Largo was okay. Asch (okay he is more of a hero), well outside of "Replicaaaaaaa!" he isn't bad. Dist was just creepy, unlikable and pathetic. Synch, he was the one God General I truly liked, I really pitied him.

I do like that, if only nominally, every God General has a PC counterpart. Luke-Asch, Tear-Legretta, Jade-Dist, Anise-Arietta, Natalia-Largo, and Guy-Synch (though this mutates into Anise-Synch). Makes every PC relevant.

 

Edited by Interdimensional Observer
Got Anise's age wrong
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4 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I can handle the SMT atmosphere most of the time. The one exception in SMTIV is

  Reveal hidden contents

The Reverse Hills Building. On all four of my playthroughs, it never failed to make me want to just get it done and over with. The bleakness and the horror of the situation gets to me. Raising children into innocent red pill machines who you throw away when they're braindead from all the extraction is just sickening to the soul.

Bleakness is the epitome of SMT for me, that is what defines its "darkness". While I don't like The White or their ending, I can see where they are coming from. The battle between Law and Chaos, with Neutral stuck between can never actually end with one alignment victorious forever, and it'll always result in suffering. This is why SMT is bleak, there is no right answer, no remedy for eternity, each game is but a little battle for temporary ideological control (Blasted and Infernal Tokyos flip from Law and Chaos respectively to the inclusion of the other by the time you're done with them) of one world within a multiverse. One has to forget the reality impossibility of total victory and just emotively and subjectively embrace a cause to feel there is anything meaningful in existence.

 

Yeah, that level was seriously messed up. I had less trouble wading through the Rockagong's stomach acid in Tales of Graces f than through there. It got my stomach churning more times than I'm comfortable with.

5 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I do love the gameplay, as class systems are always appealing to me and the Bravely games just have so much fun with them. Spellcraft is a concept I'll never forget, how can you not love messing with Resurrect/Benevolence Mist? All the quality of life improvements the series has is quite appreciated as well.

And how could you forget the beauty that is Meteor Rain? Good times, good times...

6 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I found Tear to be a little too emotionless, but to be fair, that is part of her character. Luke, well his first arc self is... different, the remaining two-thirds can also potentially be annoying, but in a completely different way. Anise screams anime, and has her... plot issues (she is also the same age as Tear- 16). Jade I liked, but he got repetitive by the end. Guy was consistently good though. Ion was sweet, if nothing truly special. Natalia was just a standard princess. And outside of Ion and Guy, everyone starts the game on a very unlikable note, but get better with time.

Villain-wise...

  Reveal hidden contents

Vandesdelca is just terribly dull. They did say he was the one used in the experiment that destroyed his home island, but you don't really feel for him.

Legretta... like Tear, I just didn't have much feeling for her. Arietta was too anime. Largo was okay. Asch (okay he is more of a hero), well outside of "Replicaaaaaaa!" he isn't bad. Dist was just creepy, unlikable and pathetic. Synch, he was the one God General I truly liked, I really pitied him.

I do like that, if only nominally, every God General has a PC counterpart. Luke-Asch, Tear-Legretta, Jade-Dist, Anise-Arietta, Natalia-Largo, and Guy-Synch (though this mutates into Anise-Synch). Makes every PC relevant.

 

Tear is still better than Azura in the execution of the "emotionless mysterious girl whose song has special, plot-related powers" concept.
#Talesdiditfirst

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1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I chose V as my starting point. Is the founder of DQ's favorite I think, and has a pretty good personalized narrative, I loved it even though I knew a spoiler or three of it. The gameplay... well I'd say there is better in the series, but if you can get used to the archaism of it, it's fine. 

I think i'll be fine with the gameplay. Dragon Quest 5 is on the SNES and most SNES JRPGs have aged pretty well. There's a PS2 and DS version as well. And a mobile version but it probably sucks ass like the rest of Square Enix's mobile ports of their classics.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Anise screams anime, and has her... plot issues (she is also the same age as Tear- 16)

That's not right

QD5avTf.png

Spoiler
1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Vandesdelca is just terribly dull. They did say he was the one used in the experiment that destroyed his home island, but you don't really feel for him.

Agreed. I actually had to look up his motivations since i had forgotten. I actually do remember being confused by him while watching the anime.

In general, i think Abyss' villains aren't that great. And from what i've played from Phantasia, Dhaos is probably worse since he's basic demon king 101. But i still haven't gotten past Moria Mine, so i wouldn't know.

 

Edited by Armagon
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2 hours ago, Armagon said:

So i should start anywhere between Dragon quest 4 and 7 (those are 4 and 7, right? I'm not good with Roman Numerals)? Good to know. What systems are they on (cuz i'm most likely emulating). I am aware of Dragon Quest 8 on the 3DS and the only reason i haven't bought it is because i don't feel like buying a 3DS game in 2018.

That would be between 4 and 8.

8 on the 3DS is really good(As is 7 on the 3DS).

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Tales of the Abyss ws my first 3DS game. I (well, my parents actually, since it was a christmas present) ended up paying twice the game for it. Probably my least liked Tales of game (somehow I liked Hearts slightly more, and Hearts have some glaring issues). The characters are pretty unlikable overall, so oit's hard to get inevseted. And Guy's backstory was one of the worst thing ever. Transforming a (really unfunny) joke into something really awfull in every term is a bad idea that should have never passed. Jade was cool. He was a total batsard, but a funny bastard.
My first Tales of game is the original one on SNES. The translation is apparently not totally true, but it's the one engraved in my mind. The game wasn't incredible, but it was fun.
I also played through Tales of Hearts R. The story have many big issues (having Koyaku as a zombie for half of the plot isn't really cool.), but the battle sytem as fun (even if I'm totally unable to perform the ultimate Artes... (don't have the exact name right now.) The battle system was really good.
The lat one I played through is Tales of Innocence. That's also still my favourite to this day. The characters are all really great. Luca (Ruka isn't a real name) is a great main character as well. And I liked the morale of the story. I played the DS Fan Translation at the time of releases, and haven't really started again. It also made me really doubt in my social abilitie, since I always chosed the worst answer on skits...

FF4cand FF6 are some of my very first RPGs (and game in general). With Pokémon, but Pokémon is a little different.So, I would be unable to say bad things about them. I actually played through almost every FF4 remake (FFII, J2e's translation of FF4, GBA and DS.). I've even bought the PSP version for TAY (which have some actual good parts, but also really bad ones...)
I never played through FF7, but my brother did. Watching my brother lay through the game is still one of my fondest gaming memories. I was really bad at playing at the time, so I could only watch him. I've only seen small, fragmented parts obviously.
I've played through all of the FF between 1 and 6 in some forms (1 and 2 only through the GBA remake). I actually prefer the original FF3 to the remake. It made some curious choices, ad mainly, it was extremely hard (at least in my memories).
What I've seen of FF9 pleases me. Though the game is freaking slow as hell. I should played more of FF8, but it didn't really hooked me.
And by now, you should all knows how I feel FFX. I almost quitted RPGs (and gaming) forever after that game. (thankfully I played through DQ7 later? Te old PS version actually.
It is so highly praised, yet was such a huge letdown (absolutely nothing works. I couldn't believe in the world. I couldn't believe in the characters And the romance... Let me say it again : It's Romeo and Juliet by people who don't udnerstand Romeo and Juliet. The music being actually great is actually more of a probklem, since it reminds me of that game...)
I actually liekd X-2 better, since at least it wasn't taking itself seriously. I'll still leave you with
this rocky remix of To Zanarkand,  since the fact tjis exisst still amazes me.
Haven't palyed any games afterwards, even if I'm really interrested in FFXII.

4 hours ago, Armagon said:

So i should start anywhere between Dragon quest 4 and 7 (those are 4 and 7, right? I'm not good with Roman Numerals)? Good to know. What systems are they on (cuz i'm most likely emulating). I am aware of Dragon Quest 8 on the 3DS and the only reason i haven't bought it is because i don't feel like buying a 3DS game in 2018.

 

Seems like I'm also bad with Roman Numbers... I meant between 4 and 8. I played through 8 on 3DS some times ago, and it was an excellent surprise .
4 through 6 are on the DS. 7 have a PS version and a 3DS version. If you don't mind the graphisms too much, the PS version is perfectly fine.

For 5 and 6, playing the SNES version isn't too bad (though the DS remakes actually makes some nice little changes to the scenario (taht I can't really details, since it will be spoiling. There's notably a point in the end game that wraps a loose end), so if you can play the DS version, it's better). 4 should definitely be played on DS (or DS Emulator, obviously) since it was originally on NES. The addition of a bag also really helps for Taloon's chapter.
I myself started with 6 (wel actully I started with DWM on Game Boy : the SMT-like spin-off. I didn't even knew what a Slime was back then...), on a terrible fan translation (it applied characters sentence to the wrong persons, making the game really hard to understand at time (since like old man sprite saying the sentence of  little girl...). Still enjoyed the game though...
5 have a pretty epic story. And then you will be able to say what your choice is (and we'll all tell you why it's the wrong ones.).
4 is more basic. It have a pretty interresting villain. It's separated in different chapters, with each a different hero, before they all join together.
I really like 6'setting. The difference between the dream world and the real world is really good. It also has a basic class system/
I really like DQ7's characters, and it's a really beautiful game. There are references to God in this game, though. It's not an issue for me, but be warned.
A fair warning about DQ8's system. Once you put points somewhere, it's over. You can't reset your settings. So chose carefully.
Whiel DQ IX have
one of my favourite music of all time (being able to evoke the idea of a flying train through music really impresses me.), it have some issues, so I don't think it's necessary the best as a first entry. It also have some references to old games that would just fly above your head.

DQ is really classic, that much is true. But I think, it's a good kind of classicism. The fact the music is really great obviously helps
 

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1 hour ago, Tamanoir said:

For 5 and 6, playing the SNES version isn't too bad (though the DS remakes actually makes some nice little changes to the scenario (taht I can't really details, since it will be spoiling. There's notably a point in the end game that wraps a loose end), so if you can play the DS version, it's better). 4 should definitely be played on DS (or DS Emulator, obviously) since it was originally on NES. The addition of a bag also really helps for Taloon's chapter.

Alright. Any good DS emulators out there? All the ones i've tried suck ass because there's just a lot of lag, even with frame skip. That isn't the case with SNES, PS1 and PSP emulators, which run near flawlessly for me.

Worst case scenario, i'll just play the SNES versions.

1 hour ago, Tamanoir said:

I really like DQ7's characters, and it's a really beautiful game. There are references to God in this game, though. It's not an issue for me, but be warned.

Oh, i'll be fine with the references. My favorite video game series is Xeno and that's a series with heavy religious references (Blade tones it down, at least in the English versions) to the point where it stops being a reference and you end up having Jesus Christ himself physically appear via a flashback in one of the games.

1 hour ago, Tamanoir said:

A fair warning about DQ8's system. Once you put points somewhere, it's over. You can't reset your settings. So chose carefully.

By points, is it like the Mario&Luigi system where you can choose which stat to raise when leveling up?

Btw, which Dragon Quest games require a fan-translation patch, if any?

Edited by Armagon
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52 minutes ago, Armagon said:

By points, is it like the Mario&Luigi system where you can choose which stat to raise when leveling up?

Btw, which Dragon Quest games require a fan-translation patch, if any?

None require fan translations, barring DQX, which is an MMORPG. All have at least one English release. Although some find DQIV's DS translation by Plus Alpha to be the devil. In which case, I say hail Satan! 

Here is a sample of the translation. It might look intimidating, but it doesn't take long to learn the dialects, since there are only so many terms to learn. And after Chapter 2, I felt they weren't as strong. Other games use some dialect, like DQV, VIII, and IX, but not at all as heavily for V and VIII.

I like them, even if they aren't true to the Japanese script. They're lighthearted and a little wacky, like DQ itself, plus it livens up generic text a bit. And since British English is not American English, is not Aussie English, is not Jamaican English, etc. it's realistic and builds the world. I sort of like figuring them out.

Although from your prior postings, I'm guessing you'll hate them.

 

52 minutes ago, Armagon said:

By points, is it like the Mario&Luigi system where you can choose which stat to raise when leveling up?

 

Well in PS2 VIII, you have to assign them upon leveling, in the 3DS version, you can ignore this and assign them whenever you want later. 3DS version also lets you see what each skill tree teaches and when.

You get 350 skill points by leveling, 200 of them by level 40 (final boss level). You have five traits per character you can invest up to 100 points in: three weapons, fisticuffs, and a personality trait of that character. Seeds of Skill and Super Seeds of Skill are necessary for getting the last 150 points to max all five skill trees, which you can farm for in the postgame should it suit you. You don't need to in the slightest though.

Edited by Interdimensional Observer
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22 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Here is a sample of the translation. It might look intimidating, but it doesn't take long to learn the dialects, since there are only so many terms to learn. And after Chapter 2, I felt they weren't as strong. Other games use some dialect, like DQV, VIII, and IX, but not at all as heavily for V and VIII.

I like them, even if they aren't true to the Japanese script. They're lighthearted and a little wacky, like DQ itself, plus it livens up generic text a bit. And since British English is not American English, is not Aussie English, is not Jamaican English, etc. it's realistic and builds the world. I sort of like figuring them out.

Although from your prior postings, I'm guessing you'll hate them.

On the contrary, i'd actually love them. I live for different dialects and accents. It adds a unique charm to a game.

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Yeah, ever since Chrono Cross, I've gotten used to a large variety of accents in a translation to build out a world. 

DQ4's translation was absolutely fine to me, as by and large, the content of the game wasn't changed, it was just given a bit more personality. 

Edited by Slumber
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8 hours ago, Armagon said:

Alright. Any good DS emulators out there? All the ones i've tried suck ass because there's just a lot of lag, even with frame skip. That isn't the case with SNES, PS1 and PSP emulators, which run near flawlessly for me.

Worst case scenario, i'll just play the SNES versions.

DeSMUme is decent enough. I didn't tested it with those games, though... Generally games are a little slower, but they're still playable.

DQ6 is the game that had the least amounts of great changes , then DQ5.

7 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

None require fan translations, barring DQX, which is an MMORPG. All have at least one English release. Although some find DQIV's DS translation by Plus Alpha to be the devil. In which case, I say hail Satan!

Oh yeah, I forgot about those changes since I didn't played the English version. (the fact they translate such a huge text in so many different language is still amazing.)

But that's a good occasion to reveal some interresting facts. There is one major antagonist named Balzack. He later gets a second form named Baalzack.
You may not think there's anything special with this name, but in the region he rules over, everyone speaks with some kind of French accent.

Well, turned out his name is a deformation of the famous French Writer Honoré de Balzac. His second forms combine this with Baal, because he has reached godly status.

Now I discovered this because in the French version, the french "acent" is replaced with an English accent (this happens more than you may think. Fantina in the Sinnoh games is apprently the other way around). So Balzack is named Dickenz (from Charles Dickens) and then Déickenz (Dei for god).

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