Gaming Thread: Only & Only but Not Lonely [Archive]

Johnny

11-03-2006, 12:28 PM

Just a question for any Europeans that will be importing a Wii and/or PS3 (yeah, right /images/graemlins/relief1.gif) - which stepdown converter do you plan to use?
The Wii should be ok as it shouldn't be over 150w (I'm gonna go for this one (http://www.eurobatteries.com/sitepages/description3.asp?id=2111&cat=AC%20to%20AC) probably) but the PS3, although nothing official seems to have come from Sony, has been reported as using up to 380w meaning that a stepdown that would be the size of a small car and could power an entire house would likely be needed.

Anyway, the general consensus among other Wii importers on another forum seems to be that the one I linked to (300w) will be more than enough for the console. I'll be buying ASAP as I'd hate for the Wii to arrive but be unable to play it but if anyone has any other recommendations for cheaper/better ones I'd appreciate it /images/graemlins/happy.gif

Magus427

11-03-2006, 12:37 PM

I'm working my way through Valkyrie Profile 2. I'm at 12 hours in the middle of Chapter 3. Been spending some time leveling up so haven't completed the first dungeon (although I've gone through it for the most part and just have the boss left to defeat).

Granted, I should stop leveling up so much (I've leveled some characters high enough where I could free their souls, almost 3 of them) though because I'd like to finish the game by the end of next week so I can at least start FFXII or Tales of the Abyss before the Wii comes out. I know once that happens it's gonna be all Zelda all the time...

-Magus

Azumangaman

11-03-2006, 02:21 PM

I'm going to play FFXII right now!
OMG I'm actually getting back into gaming! YAY!

EmperorBrandon

11-03-2006, 02:46 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:

Ah that's good to know. Since unless I use an FAQ the first time I'm likely to get the B ending. At least some seem to act like you need an FAQ for the A ending. Which is where part of the dilemma comes up. The main reason I'm even considering VP is I'm thinking of trying VP2 itself. Although I'm not sure why myself.

So if I do decide to actually play VP before playing VP2. I then need to decide if I want to get the A ending to VP before moving to VP2. I'm not sure if I want to play VP multiple times before moving on to VP2. Of course for all I know it may not matter which ending I get in VP.

[/ QUOTE ]

The A Ending events are considered in Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, so it is the "true" ending (and the one you will want to see if you will be playing that afterwards). The other endings provide some useful insight as well, so you may want to get them too. Just try the C ending at any time by getting your evaluation to 0 (just keep skipping chapters until it reaches that, and when it does, keep going in towns and dungeons). The B Ending can be gotten even if you have done everything for the A Ending. Just save in Chapter 8, skip the event in that chapter which starts the A Ending, and let that chapter run out (then you will get the B Ending, but can go back to your save point and go for the A Ending later)

The main requirement for the A ending is that you have to have your Seal Rating at or below 37 immdediately before or during Chapter 7, you have to see certain events (most of them lower your Seal Rating so you will likely be seeing them all to meet the first requirement), and you have to send Lucian to Asgard before then.

The problem is, when you send characters up to Asgard (which is something you have to do to keep your Evaluation from getting too low), your Seal Rating will go up, messing up the work you've done at lowering it from the events. This is what usually keeps people who are normally playing the game from getting the A ending.

The recommended course of action is to start doing the events in Chapter 4. Look at tri-Ace Fanboy's FAQ on GameFAQs to check what the events are. You do not want to be doing them before Chap. 4 Send up your character at the start where you will have 100 Seal Rating at the start of the Chapter, then start hacking away at the Seal Value. The reason Chapter 4 is to place to start is because it's the first Chapter that you are required to do an A Ending event (that being the boss in the Tower of Lezard Valeth). Look at the FAQ mentioned above for more details. It won't spoil anything, so it's good to check.

[ QUOTE ]
Still limited leveling can make one thing "What if I like a later member? Will I be able to use her? Will I be forced to stick with the first set in order to have a chance to beat the game?" However if I don't have to worry that much about leveling up as I thought I would. I can be more comfortable altering my main party like I've done in other RPGs.

[/ QUOTE ]

Levelling people up at low levels to the point where you need them (to where they're not lagging behind the rest) is pretty easy. You get experience for your Exp. Orb in every dungeon by doing required tasks, and you can distribute this as you need. So you can level people you just get without even sending them into battles at all.

[ QUOTE ]

So it's like the evil twin of your generic new game+ then. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif Although since in the long run all it will really mean is taking longer to beat the game each time, I'll probably decline the option even if I decide to replay the game after beating it. Although it would be interesting to find out just how high the stats of the final boss can end up being or maybe not.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, evil twin of New Game+ is the perfect description of it. /images/graemlins/wink.gif All stats will continually go up, except RDM, RST, and ADV (which only go up the first time). If those kept going up, the enemies would eventually become impossible to damage. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif The other ones can be boosted up to 50 times, so enemies would end up taking much longer to kill as well as being able to easily wipe you out with a single attack . I suppose you would have to avoid enemy attacks and strike first as much as possible.

Johnny

11-03-2006, 03:46 PM

The latest Japanese hardware sales are in (23rd - 29th October):

1. DS Lite - 158,681 [5,364,012] units
2. PSP - 25,908 [1,449,748] units
3. PlayStation 2 - 21,832 [1,195,782] units
4. GBA SP - 1,858 [208,442] units
5. Xbox 360 - 1,565 [84,949] units
6. GB Micro - 1,351 [130,683] units
7. GameCube - 644 [69,006] units
8. Nintendo DS - 114 [956,161] units
9. GBA - 15 [3,181] units
10. Xbox - 7 [1,696] units

The difference between the DSL and the rest is still incredible. Of course, Pokemon Diamond/Pearl and the recently released Tales of the Tempest will have helped those sales but it's showing no signs of slowing down. It's going to be really interesting to see the hardware sales for this time in 6 months or this time in a year. No one could have bet the DS would make such a huge impression on Japan before its launch and so seeing how the Wii fares will be worth looking out for.

Another interesting figure is the 360 sales. 5th on the chart with over 1500 sales must be its best performance since launch in Japan. Obviously with Blue Dragon out next month there will have been some buying their console early but who knows, with Winning Eleven also out in December and Idolmaster in January, this could be the start of Microsoft leaving an impression on the Japanese market. A small impression, yes, but they need something because we all know once the PS3 hits and gets going, the 360 will have no chance in Japan without something of a miracle.

11-03-2006, 04:18 PM

[ QUOTE ]
EmperorBrandon said:
The B Ending can be gotten even if you have done everything for the A Ending. Just save in Chapter 8, skip the event in that chapter which starts the A Ending, and let that chapter run out (then you will get the B Ending, but can go back to your save point and go for the A Ending later)

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah well in that case it will take less time than I thought it would. I'll probably make use of the FAQ by tri-Ace Fanboy that you mentioned. Heh that evaluation vs seal thing is kind of sneaky if you ask me. To be on the safe side, I'll prepare space for two saves once I'm done with Xenogears. Even if VP is not the next PS1 RPG I play, that space will still be helpful anyway.

[ QUOTE ]
EmperorBrandon said:
You get experience for your Exp. Orb in every dungeon by doing required tasks, and you can distribute this as you need. So you can level people you just get without even sending them into battles at all.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah yes the Exp. Orb will definitely be quite helpful. Although how I will distribute the exp will depend on how I feel about each member. Let's just say if I really like someone and plan to keep that person as a member of the party, I'll probably give them more exp than usual. Although not too much to be on the safe side.

Wait that's brings another question. Does the level I send a character up at matter? Because if it doesn't, I'd rather save the exp for people I plan to keep until the end of the game or at least until I find a replacement. Which can happen and has happened before in other games.

EmperorBrandon

11-03-2006, 04:31 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:

Wait that's brings another question. Does the level I send a character up at matter? Because if it doesn't, I'd rather save the exp for people I plan to keep until the end of the game or at least until I find a replacement. Which can happen and has happened before in other games.

[/ QUOTE ]

The most important thing for characters you send up is Hero Value, which you can adjust with traits. Usually you have enough CP to max out traits by Lv. 3 or 4, and you can do it at 2 sometimes (if you have the Emerald Necklace equipped on them for one level). With the exception of Llewelyn and Badrach, maxing out the traits will be all you need to succeed in Valhalla. There are also traits that Freya requires of you which can slightly increase the amount of Evaluation and Materialize Points (used for buying stuff) you get, and giving the people you send up some decent equipment will give you extra evaluation points which you may need in order to get items from Odin (the most important reward for sending characters up).

Now, you shouldn't worry too much about Evaluation. As long as you send up ONE character per chapter (one is all you will need, not really necessary to send two), you probably won't have to worry about anything. You should take all artifacts you find in dungeons, even though they lower your Evaluation. You are only in trouble if your evaluation reaches 0, which will never happen if you send up at least one successful Einherjar per Chapter.

Javan

11-03-2006, 05:15 PM

I learned from another web site a new trailer for the upcoming "Super Smash Bros. Brawl":

Super Super Smash Bros. Brawl trailer page (http://www.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?id=2686)

This trailer introduces Fox McCloud from the "Starfox" franchise.

Fencedude

11-03-2006, 06:03 PM

Well, it seems OG2 has been moved up to the 14th.

YAY!

jecca-neko

11-03-2006, 06:13 PM

NWN2 is shipping soon Amazon says. Happy day! /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

Anyways, in the last thread johnny asked about launch plans. I am not getting a PS3 until price drop. However, I will get a Wii on launch day without a pre-order, no matter what gosh darn it. /images/graemlins/happy.gif I plan to get to a select store before it opens. If said store runs out for whatever reason I will immediately go over to another store (which opens about 2 hours AFTER the first store) and wait for it to open. If it somehow runs out... well, there's a TON of stores around me that will get the Wii in. I will visit them all until I get home with a Wii. Yup, that's about it. I'm ALMOST as bad as Cartman from that South Park episode which I found online last night. /images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif

ADC

11-03-2006, 06:25 PM

Anybody else notice how Star Wars-y this game is? There are Sand People!

jecca-neko

11-03-2006, 06:33 PM

[ QUOTE ]
ADC said:
Anybody else notice how Star Wars-y this game is? There are Sand People!

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you sure you're not playing KotOR? /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Chacranajxy

11-03-2006, 07:29 PM

Played through the first 4 sets and yeah... this absolutely kills the original game. Not only are the songs all worth playing through over and over (something that can't be said about most early songs in GH1), they're better laid out than in the first game too. The songs they chose for the game are spot on and wow... this game is just... really, really fun.

Azumangaman

11-03-2006, 08:31 PM

I'm unbearably slow when it comes to playing video games, so I played for about an hour 40 minutes today with FFXII. I'm definetly loving the fighting system. I got a taste of it with the DQ8 FFXII demo, so Its really exciting to be able to use it again. All year I've been craving anything but a slow turn-based game. This is very good. So so far I just watched the cutscene where the mysterious guy gives some sort of speech , and I have no idea WTF I'm supposed to do next.
As for the story, it really hasn't got me. It seems real dumb right now. Some country attacked another country which was a part of this city that was intertwined with this city blah, blah, blah. Dissapointing so far (but hells, its FF, so I'm going to love the plot)

Great Sound.

Absolutley stunningly orgasmic graphic. Ohmigosh, such beauty. The characters look absolutley phenomenal. The backdrops-ugh, such unbelieveable beauty. I'm not the only one who thinks this right?

Fencedude

11-03-2006, 08:33 PM

[ QUOTE ]
ADC said:
Anybody else notice how Star Wars-y this game is? There are Sand People!

[/ QUOTE ]

Believe me, EVERYONE has figured out that this game is, in fact, Star Wars.

indigo0086

11-03-2006, 10:19 PM

Interested in Zelda and Gears of war, and Possibly Halo3, check out the 1up show.

They explain just how good Gears of War plays, just how large and epic Zelda is, and just how awesome the multiplayer in Halo 3 is.

http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3145462

Johnny

11-04-2006, 03:38 AM

[ QUOTE ]
jecca-neko said:

Anyways, in the last thread johnny asked about launch plans. I am not getting a PS3 until price drop. However, I will get a Wii on launch day without a pre-order, no matter what gosh darn it. /images/graemlins/happy.gif I plan to get to a select store before it opens. If said store runs out for whatever reason I will immediately go over to another store (which opens about 2 hours AFTER the first store) and wait for it to open. If it somehow runs out... well, there's a TON of stores around me that will get the Wii in. I will visit them all until I get home with a Wii.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hope you get your hands on one /images/graemlins/happy.gif
There's a similar question of Christmas availability for the UK launch on some more UK-based gaming sites. Most people are quite rightly IMO, saying that all stock will be sold out shortly after the 8th December launch as parents and more casual gamers go for the cheapest new console, but considering Sony's dominance over here, a lot of people are guessing that parents will also be buying a lot of PSPs and PS2s as the latter is now under £100 and the former is still an expensive, Christmas-only console for many kids.

Apparently Nintendo are doing a UK wide tour in the run up to launch (including Belfast! So I may have to go along to that although in theory I should already have 2 Wii's by then /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif) to promote the Wii and quite honestly I think they'll need to really sell it over here otherwise it will be doomed to obscurity while it flourishes elsewhere in the world (*cough*DS*cough*).

Johnny

11-04-2006, 03:54 AM

Nintendo have revealed more info about the Virtual Console:

* Virtual Console games can be saved into the 512 MB internal memory, or onto a SD Card.
* Wii maintains a list of all downloads, if you deleted the game by accident, you can download the same game again free of charge.
* Virtual Console games copied onto SD Card are secured, and will not be playable on any other Wii console except the console which they were downloaded.
* If your Wii console became defective, you can contact Nintendo customer service to retrieve the Virtual Console games
* GameCube games are part of the Virtual Console, GameCube games can only be played with a GameCube controller, not the classic controller.
* All Virtual Console games can be played with classic controller, GameCube controller or Wii remote.
* Each Virtual Console game will come with digital copy of the game manual.
* Virtual Console games are not region free, an American Wii cannot download foreign games from Europe and Japan.
* Wii points can be purchased online in the Wii Shop, you can have a maximum of 10,000 popints in an Wii account.

I don't like the fact that downloaded games can't be played on any other Wii. Smells a bit like that Sony rumour everyone was up in arms about a while back. Not that it matters to me personally as I don't even know anyone who will be buying a Wii /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif
That all VC games can be played with the Wiimote is interesting...
I'm glad there's a virtual manual included but it sucks that it's not region free. Course, it doesn't affect me personally as I'll have a US and JPN Wii but let's hope there aren't any European exclusive VC titles /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

New Wii pics:

GT Pro Series (http://www.the-magicbox.com/0611/game061103a.shtml). I preordered this one too, pretty much because it looks and seems to play like Auto Modellista which I loved. The bundled steering wheel is a nice touch too.
Bleach (http://www.the-magicbox.com/0611/game061103f.shtml). Yeah, can't wait for this one /images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif
Sonic and the Secret Rings (http://www.the-magicbox.com/0611/game061103b.shtml)
Dragon Quest Swords (http://www.the-magicbox.com/0611/game061103c.shtml)
Necro Nesia (http://www.the-magicbox.com/0611/game061103d.shtml). This seems to be unkonown to most people and anyone who does know it seems to be very unenthusiastic. I'm really looking forward to it though /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

According to Nintendo, 4 million Wii's will be available in the 6 weeks after launch in the US.

And finally, some new Devil May Cry 4 screens (http://www.the-magicbox.com/0611/game061103e.shtml)

Azumangaman

11-04-2006, 06:21 AM

Ok, hope someone can help me soon, so here it is:

I started to play last night with Madden 07, but then the PS2 started making all of these freaky noises, and I kept playing (because I had no idea what was happening) and then the game froze. Then when I took it out the disc had tons and tons and tons of rings around it! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Then, about 20 minutes later, I tried FFXII. Needless to say, it did the same thing.

However, I CAN return FFXII to EB Games right? RIGHT? I didn't buy that dumb 3 buck warranty, but i've only had it for about 3 days.

Anyway, WTF IS WRONG WITH MY PS2? Is it gonna be ok? Help please!

Thanks,
Azumangaman

Johnny

11-04-2006, 07:15 AM

Is it an old, bulky PS2? If so, how old is it? There could be something loose inside (the laser possibly).
Do you play it (if it's a bulky one) on its side or flat? My brothers old one started slightly marking his games too and he had his on its side mostly.
There are guides online for opening up your PS2. It's fairly easy and allows you to get access to the laser. If you're careful, you could try cleaning it or just seeing if anything is not quite right in there.

EDIT: Ah, just read your post title. So it is the bulky one then.

PhilipReuben

11-04-2006, 08:44 AM

[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
* Virtual Console games are not region free, an American Wii cannot download foreign games from Europe and Japan.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ugh. Hopefully they still make games available in Europe that never came out in Europe (or we won't even get classics like Super Mario RPG).

Chacranajxy

11-04-2006, 08:54 AM

I don't like the inability to back up games... at all. Luckily, all of my retro gaming needs are fulfilled either by old carts that I have or upcoming compilations.

Johnny

11-04-2006, 08:58 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Chacranajxy said:
I don't like the inability to back up games... at all. Luckily, all of my retro gaming needs are fulfilled either by old carts that I have or upcoming compilations.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, no two ways about it - it's shit.
As for retro games, like you, I already own the best stuff/stuff I want on cartridge/CD or on compilations. Getting consoles online kinda goes over my head a lot of the time (I'm still not on Live) but considering the Wii goes online using the DS wifi connector, which is so easy it's a joke, chances are I'll be downloading 90% of VC games as they become available, just to have them in one place. Web browsing with it sounds great too and the whole WiiConnect24 thing will be amazing.

Johnny

11-04-2006, 09:01 AM

[ QUOTE ]
indigo0086 said:
Interested in Zelda and Gears of war, and Possibly Halo3, check out the 1up show.

They explain just how good Gears of War plays, just how large and epic Zelda is, and just how awesome the multiplayer in Halo 3 is.

http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3145462

[/ QUOTE ]

Gears of War next week. I can't take the waiting. I'm not going to be subtle - this game will be fucking incredible.

Chacranajxy

11-04-2006, 09:06 AM

[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
[ QUOTE ]
indigo0086 said:
Interested in Zelda and Gears of war, and Possibly Halo3, check out the 1up show.

They explain just how good Gears of War plays, just how large and epic Zelda is, and just how awesome the multiplayer in Halo 3 is.

http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3145462

[/ QUOTE ]

Gears of War next week. I can't take the waiting. I'm not going to be subtle - this game will be fucking incredible.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I can't wait either. I'm really glad that the emphasis here is on the single player mode since that's really what matters to me most... this game has a ton of potential and Epic probably won't disappoint seeing as how they're an extremely talented developer.

BluWacky

11-04-2006, 09:12 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Philip Reuben said:
Ugh. Hopefully they still make games available in Europe that never came out in Europe (or we won't even get classics like Super Mario RPG).

[/ QUOTE ]

It's already been confirmed that only European releases will be available in Europe, US releases in the US etc. You have to buy a Wii from the States or Japan to get those games, and use US/Japan Wii points to buy them (plus it voids your warranty).

So while we'll still get Terranigma and the States won't, it's yet another opportunity to give us Chrono Trigger that's not going to happen.

I'll be interested to see what Sony's policy is for their PSP PS1 emulation...

11-04-2006, 09:24 AM

[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
* Virtual Console games are not region free, an American Wii cannot download foreign games from Europe and Japan.

[/ QUOTE ]

I should have figured that would be the case. Darn it, but then again it's not like I read Japanese. I'll just stick with the hope for a remake method. As it will increase the chances of the said game coming out here. 10% is still better than 0%

Johnny

11-04-2006, 09:25 AM

[ QUOTE ]
BluWacky said:

I'll be interested to see what Sony's policy is for their PSP PS1 emulation...

[/ QUOTE ]

I reckon it'll be like the PSP with you needing to register your PS3 online thus limiting yourself to only games from the region of the console/region you live in.
I'd love to be wrong though and theoretically I could be considering the PSP is region free and the PS3 supposedly is too.
This is Sony though and lately they seem to be doing things the hard/illogical way so I guess we'll need to play the waiting game.

flowerettefan

11-04-2006, 09:34 AM

[ QUOTE ]
BluWacky said:
[ QUOTE ]
Philip Reuben said:
Ugh. Hopefully they still make games available in Europe that never came out in Europe (or we won't even get classics like Super Mario RPG).

[/ QUOTE ]

It's already been confirmed that only European releases will be available in Europe, US releases in the US etc. You have to buy a Wii from the States or Japan to get those games, and use US/Japan Wii points to buy them (plus it voids your warranty).
So while we'll still get Terranigma and the States won't, it's yet another opportunity to give us Chrono Trigger that's not going to happen.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which is a shame really. I'd expect Nintendo Europe could make a killing by taking games like Chrono Trigger and Mario RPG and marking them up as "Virtual Console Exclusives" or something of that ilk.

GetterBeam

11-04-2006, 10:05 AM

There's nothing to say Nin couldn't release/translate games into regions they didn't in the past. Remember, it was an EXPENSIVE gamble to do so in the past...no longer by comparison. They have to make it so Wii games saved to SD or such can't be played on other folk's systems...else it would defeat the whole purpose/business model when one dude shares all with others. Not like the Wii itself isn't practically portable.

I dunno where the "no backup thing" comes from. Save games to SD card, remove SD card, insert OTHER SD card, repeat. All it seems to be saying is that after you've paid for your initial download, you can download the same thing as necessary as ya feel like it, space dictates, etc.

BluWacky

11-04-2006, 10:41 AM

[ QUOTE ]
FloweretteFan said:
Which is a shame really. I'd expect Nintendo Europe could make a killing by taking games like Chrono Trigger and Mario RPG and marking them up as "Virtual Console Exclusives" or something of that ilk.

[/ QUOTE ]

You, I, and most other people in the UK probably think this is a great idea.

However, Nintendo Europe is based in Germany. Whilst Germany is a big market for Japanese RPGs, none of these games we want to see have been translated into any European language other than English; I can't see Nintendo Gmbh bothering to translate games which are over ten years old into French, Spanish, Italian etc. just for Virtual Console sales, and get their programming teams to change the graphics output to PAL/SECAM instead of NTSC. It's not cost-effective, unfortunately.

It's more likely that some of them will eventually get ported to the DS or something along those lines, at which point there's a vague possibility we'll see them. Given, however, that most people who care will have either played these games by emulation or imported them somehow (I imported Final Fantasy Chronicles from the States for Chrono Trigger which I've never finished, despite playing through it several times emulated on SNES), once more Europe will be screwed over when it comes to certain games most probably.

jecca-neko

11-04-2006, 11:06 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Chacranajxy said:
Played through the first 4 sets and yeah... this absolutely kills the original game. Not only are the songs all worth playing through over and over (something that can't be said about most early songs in GH1), they're better laid out than in the first game too. The songs they chose for the game are spot on and wow... this game is just... really, really fun.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow. That's good to hear. I had heard that with GH2 you can play lead or bass guitar. How does that work? Can you only choose in multiplayer or can you play the bass in single player too?

jecca-neko

11-04-2006, 11:39 AM

[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
According to Nintendo, 4 million Wii's will be available in the 6 weeks after launch in the US.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep. That's my "crap, I was REALLY unlucky" plan for if I can't find a Wii on launch day - get my hands on the second shipment.

I'm glad to hear VC games have the choice of controllers. I think I'll still buy the classic controllers though. I've never really cared for the Gamecube controller so I'll only use that for Gamecube games most likely.

Johnny

11-04-2006, 12:54 PM

I just started playing KiraKira Music Hour on the DS and although I wasn't expecting much, it's actually really good.
Sure, it's sickeningly cute (gotta buy all those costumes to get the best photo though! /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif) and fairly simplistic (on easy at least), when on medium it's more than just touching whichever of the 3 panels lights up as you also have to scroll across it rather than touch it, scroll from left to right and so on. By comparison, it's slightly deeper than Ouendan.
So, anyone who is into this sort of game needs to buy this one ASAP. No chance of a US release so buy now while the LE is still available! /images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif

Digi man you especially. This is the perfect precursor to IdolM@ster - dress up young girls and watch 'em dance! /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

DiGiKerot

11-04-2006, 01:36 PM

There are some new iDOLM@STER (http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20061103/imas.htm) screens and details up on Gamewatch. It's mostly talk of the online details - you'll be able to select whether you want to play the auditions offline or online (like in the Arcade version). There are also going to do monthly clothing releases (I've heard elsewhere that it's going to be a mixture of free and charge items). It's also mentioned that new items other than clothes will be made available at some point - I'd be surprised if they don't make some new songs available (at a cost) at some point...

Oh, and they've also announced another new song, taking the total up to 14 for the 360 version - up from 10 in the Arcade version.

DiGiKerot

11-04-2006, 01:37 PM

[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
Digi man you especially. This is the perfect precursor to IdolM@ster - dress up young girls and watch 'em dance! /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

How is the music?

ADC

11-04-2006, 01:41 PM

[ QUOTE ]
jecca-neko said:
I'm glad to hear VC games have the choice of controllers. I think I'll still buy the classic controllers though. I've never really cared for the Gamecube controller so I'll only use that for Gamecube games most likely.

[/ QUOTE ]
For my part, it isn't that I don't like the GCN controller (I do), but that the Wii Classic is just a SNES pad with omnidirectional sticks, and the SNES pad is the best controller ever made by any company. It's a bit of a bummer that the Wii Classic won't work with GCN games, but I'm pretty satisfied with my Wavebird for that purpose.

Johnny

11-04-2006, 01:50 PM

[ QUOTE ]
DiGiKerot said:
[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
Digi man you especially. This is the perfect precursor to IdolM@ster - dress up young girls and watch 'em dance! /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

How is the music?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, at the start you get to choose from 6 types (Parapara, j-pop, rock and some others) but I'm not quite sure how this is implemented as you have to visit different towns to take on different characters. I chose Parapara and have faced two different characters. The first was kinda classical and the second was more upbeat but with Parapara I expecting Eurobeat and so far haven't experienced it yet.
So far the music has been okay but is nothing more than your average NES/SNES/GBA style BGM.

ADC

11-04-2006, 01:56 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Azumangaman said:
However, I CAN return FFXII to EB Games right? RIGHT? I didn't buy that dumb 3 buck warranty, but i've only had it for about 3 days.

[/ QUOTE ]
They should replace it for you without question. Sometimes, this sort of thing has to go through the store manager, but if you're a regular and s/he isn't a hardass, it shouldn't be a problem. And anyway, they'll usually prefer to eat the cost (and hope you come back and spend more in the future) than send you home with a negative customer experience that gets discussed with your friends (real, virtual, and imaginary) and ends up biting them in the ass for more than the $30 cost of the game.

Johnny

11-04-2006, 02:00 PM

[ QUOTE ]
DiGiKerot said:
There are also going to do monthly clothing releases (I've heard elsewhere that it's going to be a mixture of free and charge items). It's also mentioned that new items other than clothes will be made available at some point - I'd be surprised if they don't make some new songs available (at a cost) at some point...

Oh, and they've also announced another new song, taking the total up to 14 for the 360 version - up from 10 in the Arcade version.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll have to get Live sorted out before this arrives as I feel the urge to buy all those new outfits as they are released /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif
Another new song is nice too, although with only 14 it's probably only a matter of time before they become very repetitive (yes, even with Go My Way!) so hopefully, like you said, new songs will be available over Live at some stage.

Azumangaman

11-04-2006, 02:04 PM

[ QUOTE ]
ADC said:
[ QUOTE ]
Azumangaman said:
However, I CAN return FFXII to EB Games right? RIGHT? I didn't buy that dumb 3 buck warranty, but i've only had it for about 3 days.

[/ QUOTE ]
They should replace it for you without question. Sometimes, this sort of thing has to go through the store manager, but if you're a regular and s/he isn't a hardass, it shouldn't be a problem. And anyway, they'll usually prefer to eat the cost (and hope you come back and spend more in the future) than send you home with a negative customer experience that gets discussed with your friends (real, virtual, and imaginary) and ends up biting them in the ass for more than the $30 cost of the game.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you. I'm not really a regular but the manager is really nice from what I remember. I'm pretty sure that guy was the manager. Yep, nice guy.

P.S.- Does EB Games do disc resurfacing? Because I bought Madden from a different store and it was a while ago so I couldn't return it there. But if I can get the disk fixed for like 3-5 bucks, thats awesome. Do they fix PS2s by any chance? Although I'll try what Johnny said, I'm not really sure how to "clean" my PS2. Any ideas?

DiGiKerot

11-04-2006, 02:14 PM

[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
I'll have to get Live sorted out before this arrives as I feel the urge to buy all those new outfits as they are released /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif
Another new song is nice too, although with only 14 it's probably only a matter of time before they become very repetitive (yes, even with Go My Way!) so hopefully, like you said, new songs will be available over Live at some stage.

[/ QUOTE ]

You'd probably be surprised how much milage they can get from so few songs - one thing you have to remember is that they have the vocal track recorded for each of the seperate girls, and they can mix and match individual lines from each of the girls. Basically, there are, like, dozens of variations of each track. Honestly, adding a music track to iDOLM@STER is probably a hell of a lot of work. Still, with a few months left until release, there is plenty of time for them to announce a further track or two.

Speaking of which, I got the iDOLM@STER Masters Box yesterday, which has the solo versions of the ten songs from the Arcade version with the arcade versions nine characters (well, technically 10, but the twins versions are the same). It's nice, though I do just end up looping through every characters version of Here We Go!! I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with the new tracks releases.

(Oh, and for anyone wondering about the thread title - it's a line from Go My Way!)

Johnny

11-04-2006, 02:48 PM

[ QUOTE ]
DiGiKerot said:
[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
I'll have to get Live sorted out before this arrives as I feel the urge to buy all those new outfits as they are released /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif
Another new song is nice too, although with only 14 it's probably only a matter of time before they become very repetitive (yes, even with Go My Way!) so hopefully, like you said, new songs will be available over Live at some stage.

[/ QUOTE ]

You'd probably be surprised how much milage they can get from so few songs - one thing you have to remember is that they have the vocal track recorded for each of the seperate girls, and they can mix and match individual lines from each of the girls. Basically, there are, like, dozens of variations of each track. Honestly, adding a music track to iDOLM@STER is probably a hell of a lot of work. Still, with a few months left until release, there is plenty of time for them to announce a further track or two.

Speaking of which, I got the iDOLM@STER Masters Box yesterday, which has the solo versions of the ten songs from the Arcade version with the arcade versions nine characters (well, technically 10, but the twins versions are the same). It's nice, though I do just end up looping through every characters version of Here We Go!! I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with the new tracks releases.

(Oh, and for anyone wondering about the thread title - it's a line from Go My Way!)

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, that's true I guess.
That's cool you got the Masters Box - I'm trying to hold off on buying any music from the game as the LE is costing me £150 /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif Incidentally, has it been 100% confirmed what's in the LE? Aside from the game I know there's a faceplate and of course the figures, but I've heard about DVDs/CDs with nothing fully confirmed. Any idea?

Oh yeah and personally I prefer the "Ganbatte yukimasho" (or however it's spelt/pronounced) bit from Go My Way but that's just me being picky /images/graemlins/tongue.gif
Damn man, look at what we're like with over 2 months to go until release /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif

juliant59

11-04-2006, 03:15 PM

Still playing Vice City Stories. I do have Capcom Classics Reloaded unplayed yet but that gonna be a while as I have VCS to go through. One thing I was happy about is that VCS has the song from Tango and Cash where Teri Hatcher is dancing. That song rules and I'm glad to listen to it /images/graemlins/tongue.gif. I'm only 2 percent complete so far in the game /images/graemlins/tongue.gif. I suck, lol. Hopefully I can try and go get Killzone in the next week, and Socom comes out this week as well. I didn't want Socom before but I played the demo and it was a good solid game, so I'll probably pick that up now. Too much games on PSP now to get. This is a great time to be a PSP gamer. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

Johnny

11-04-2006, 03:35 PM

[ QUOTE ]
juliant59 said:
Still playing Vice City Stories. I do have Capcom Classics Reloaded unplayed yet but that gonna be a while as I have VCS to go through. One thing I was happy about is that VCS has the song from Tango and Cash where Teri Hatcher is dancing. That song rules and I'm glad to listen to it /images/graemlins/tongue.gif. I'm only 2 percent complete so far in the game /images/graemlins/tongue.gif. I suck, lol.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm loving the empire building aspect to the game. Basically taking the gang element from San Andreas, sticking it into Vice City and improving on it is a great idea. I'm only around 10% into it (although I've heard the main game only takes something like 9 hours to finish) and am really, really loving it so far.
Looking at the map there are loads of possible buildings to turn into empires, so once the main story and missions are complete, it will be awesome to make every one of them a profitable business /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

On the bad side, the lock-on system is still hit and miss, especially after playing Saints Row on the 360. There is quite a bit of pop-up and have you noticed the music skipping when the game is trying to load a lot of scenery and stuff? Also, sometimes at night it seems like it's too dark and it's hard to see what you're doing. You can tell the PSP is really being pushed with this game.

Still, like I said I'm loving it a lot. Although the story seems a bit sub-par for a GTA game, it has that awesome humour and there have been loads of times I've actually laughed out loud at the dialogue /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

Did you get Ace Combat? I can't remember /images/graemlins/tongue.gif If you did, how is it?

DiGiKerot

11-04-2006, 03:50 PM

[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
Yeah, that's true I guess.
That's cool you got the Masters Box - I'm trying to hold off on buying any music from the game as the LE is costing me £150 /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif Incidentally, has it been 100% confirmed what's in the LE? Aside from the game I know there's a faceplate and of course the figures, but I've heard about DVDs/CDs with nothing fully confirmed. Any idea?

[/ QUOTE ]

Figures, Faceplate, "Visual Music" DVD (whatever the heck that means) and a booklet of some form, from what I gather.

Johnny

11-04-2006, 03:55 PM

[ QUOTE ]
DiGiKerot said:
[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
Yeah, that's true I guess.
That's cool you got the Masters Box - I'm trying to hold off on buying any music from the game as the LE is costing me £150 /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif Incidentally, has it been 100% confirmed what's in the LE? Aside from the game I know there's a faceplate and of course the figures, but I've heard about DVDs/CDs with nothing fully confirmed. Any idea?

[/ QUOTE ]

Figures, Faceplate, "Visual Music" DVD (whatever the heck that means) and a booklet of some form, from what I gather.

[/ QUOTE ]

Cool, thanks. Oh yeah I meant to ask, have you picked which girl is your favourite yet? /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif

DiGiKerot

11-04-2006, 04:39 PM

[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
Cool, thanks. Oh yeah I meant to ask, have you picked which girl is your favourite yet? /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmmm, probably Ritsuko (the meganeko) and Iori (forehead /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif). Thats pretty much sorely based on liking girls who wear glasses and liking Iori's (admittedly a little squeaky) singing voice.

Zanza Hiro

11-04-2006, 05:05 PM

hey Cha-kun, i can't find the exact post but i remember you talking about Guitar Hero II a little while back. saw it at my local Futureshop, the version with the guitar? was thinking of getting it but, how well do you hafta be able to play guitar? i've never played a guitar before, is that fine? i dunno if this is one of those games you will only enjoy if you can actually play the instrument, thx dude

Loafy

11-04-2006, 05:07 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Zanza said:
hey Cha-kun, i can't find the exact post but i remember you talking about Guitar Hero II a little while back. saw it at my local Futureshop, the version with the guitar? was thinking of getting it but, how well do you hafta be able to play guitar? i've never played a guitar before, is that fine? i dunno if this is one of those games you will only enjoy if you can actually play the instrument, thx dude

[/ QUOTE ]

I have friends who play it and none of them play guitar and they LOVE IT. Probably helps if you're drunk and it's 4am after a night of karoake. It helps them anyhow...

Azumangaman

11-04-2006, 05:07 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Zanza said:
hey Cha-kun, i can't find the exact post but i remember you talking about Guitar Hero II a little while back. saw it at my local Futureshop, the version with the guitar? was thinking of getting it but, how well do you hafta be able to play guitar? i've never played a guitar before, is that fine? i dunno if this is one of those games you will only enjoy if you can actually play the instrument, thx dude

[/ QUOTE ]

Heehee, Zanza not to worry.
I couldn't play a guitar to save my life.
I LOVE Guitar Hero.
As long as you can hold a guitar, you'll be fine.
Go buy!
*Although you may wanna get GH1 first, its up to you*

Zanza Hiro

11-04-2006, 05:10 PM

hahaha, ok cool, thx for the advice guys!

so basically i need to find GH1, and get drunk and try it at 4am, DONE! /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

p.s. Azumangaman, any reason why i should try GH1 first? does it have a tutorial that GH2 doesn't have or? i only ask cuz Guitar Hero 2 w/ guitar is at my local store but, i didn't see GH1. wondering if i should just get GH2 and play it or hold off until i can find a copy of GH1

jecca-neko

11-04-2006, 05:31 PM

I've heard Guitar Hero 2 is a bit more difficult than the first game, but as I won't get it until Monday I don't know for sure. Either way, no you don't need guitar skills and you don't need to be drunk. Well, that may be a bonus for some people, but it's entirely optional. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

ape2020

11-04-2006, 06:05 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Zanza said:
hahaha, ok cool, thx for the advice guys!

so basically i need to find GH1, and get drunk and try it at 4am, DONE! /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

p.s. Azumangaman, any reason why i should try GH1 first? does it have a tutorial that GH2 doesn't have or? i only ask cuz Guitar Hero 2 w/ guitar is at my local store but, i didn't see GH1. wondering if i should just get GH2 and play it or hold off until i can find a copy of GH1

[/ QUOTE ]

You know I've heard that those that can play guitar and play GH say its nothing like playing a real guitar.

-chimp1010

indigo0086

11-04-2006, 07:05 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Chacranajxy said:
[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
[ QUOTE ]
indigo0086 said:
Interested in Zelda and Gears of war, and Possibly Halo3, check out the 1up show.

They explain just how good Gears of War plays, just how large and epic Zelda is, and just how awesome the multiplayer in Halo 3 is.

http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3145462

[/ QUOTE ]

Gears of War next week. I can't take the waiting. I'm not going to be subtle - this game will be fucking incredible.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I can't wait either. I'm really glad that the emphasis here is on the single player mode since that's really what matters to me most... this game has a ton of potential and Epic probably won't disappoint seeing as how they're an extremely talented developer.

[/ QUOTE ]

let it be known that the 1up guys mentioned that it was the most polished game epic has ever released. I don't doubt from the vids. I was glad that they said thatr the 4 v 4 was perfect given the gameplay elements. I just can't get over the "curb stomping" and "ko" elements. If a guy is damaged enough they fall and lay bleeding out, they can either be revived by an ally or have their head stomped in by an enemy. Can't wait till jack Thompson looks at this game, and can't wait for what Cliffy B. responds.

11-04-2006, 07:20 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Azumangaman said:
Then, about 20 minutes later, I tried FFXII. Needless to say, it did the same thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm just curious here, but if you had one game attacked by your PS2 then why put another game in there? Especially only 20 minutes later. I personally would have decided right then and there to hide the games from the now possessed PS2.

Chacranajxy

11-04-2006, 07:31 PM

[ QUOTE ]
jecca-neko said:
[ QUOTE ]
Chacranajxy said:
Played through the first 4 sets and yeah... this absolutely kills the original game. Not only are the songs all worth playing through over and over (something that can't be said about most early songs in GH1), they're better laid out than in the first game too. The songs they chose for the game are spot on and wow... this game is just... really, really fun.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow. That's good to hear. I had heard that with GH2 you can play lead or bass guitar. How does that work? Can you only choose in multiplayer or can you play the bass in single player too?

[/ QUOTE ]

I dunno if you can play bass in the single player mode, but it's great in co-op. You simply choose a song and then one player chooses either bass or the lead and the other person plays the other part. It works really, really well and I was playing co-op for about 3 hours at my friend's house today... it is a ton of fun.

The other thing I've noticed is that the way the songs are laid out is just... more interesting. It feels like there's a greater variety of notes... God, this game is so good.

jecca-neko

11-04-2006, 07:32 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
[ QUOTE ]
Azumangaman said:
Then, about 20 minutes later, I tried FFXII. Needless to say, it did the same thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm just curious here, but if you had one game attacked by your PS2 then why put another game in there? Especially only 20 minutes later. I personally would have decided right then and there to hide the games from the now possessed PS2.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would've tried a demo disc or something personally. Especially since I've had this happen before. Not with a PS2, but with a PC CD burning drive. After having it for a couple of years it started to leave marks on the bottom of any disc I put in it. The discs are still perfectly playable, but I didn't want to risk it. I got rid of that drive and bought a new one.

11-04-2006, 07:42 PM

[ QUOTE ]
jecca-neko said:Especially since I've had this happen before. Not with a PS2, but with a PC CD burning drive.

[/ QUOTE ]

Heh I had a CD drive that decided to eat my CD. Thankfully it was a CD-R with nothing of major importance on it. If it had been rare stuff or say some expensive CD I bought, I would have been rather pissed. Okay I probably was, but I'd have been even more upset.

ADC

11-04-2006, 07:45 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
I'm just curious here, but if you had one game attacked by your PS2 then why put another game in there? Especially only 20 minutes later. I personally would have decided right then and there to hide the games from the now possessed PS2.

[/ QUOTE ]
Or, better still, you could have taken the PS2 to Gamestop/EB and traded it in! (This sort of depends on how long it takes before the PS2 eats your game; if it's under a minute, it won't fly. That's about how long they play-test it before taking it in trade.) Just be sure you're taking it to the store you don't shop often. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

I mean, maybe it makes me a bastard, but when my fat PS2 was having trouble with DVD9s and the K Chassis were becoming commonly available, that's what I did. Trade it in before it's a paperweight, use the store credit before someone else finds out!

Ah, the good old days. That PS2 was an opening-day model and it lasted over four years before it had any problems.

11-04-2006, 08:12 PM

As expected I'm still on Xenogears. So far I have Fei, Bart, Citan, Rico, Elly and Billy. Also Fei finally woke up which should give an idea of how far I am. All I know is the last boss I fought in human mode seemed to get a random amount of turns. It also made it quite clear I should start using a safe save. That was a close one. I could have easily been forced to start completely over and that would have really sucked. It's also an easy way to kill motivation. Hence why I need to make a safe save.

Battle wise I'll probably keep rotating between the characters. However I kind of like using Citan, Billy and Elly. Citan is cool, Billy is a healer, and well Elly's magic is nice for attacking groups even if it fails. Fei is decent and so is Bart. I don't care much for Rico. His lack of ether abilities bothers me. Sure he's a strong brawler, but sometimes you need something else to fall back on when simply attacking won't work. Okay so the lack of ether abilities problem can be said about Bart as well. Either way my party has a severe lack of female presence which hopefully will be changed soon.

jecca-neko

11-04-2006, 08:25 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said: Either way my party has a severe lack of female presence which hopefully will be changed soon.

[/ QUOTE ]

There are 2 more characters you will get in the party, both are which are female. One of them I'm thinking you'll like a LOT knowing your tastes in female anime/game characters. My party late in the game tended to be Fei, Citan, and that female character. Citan because he's awesome but he also has some healing abilities. Fei gets pretty powerful later in the game. The female character because, well, you'll see.

ADC

11-04-2006, 08:31 PM

I spent an hour and a half today in the Henne Mines and didn't accomplish much of anything (but my license boards are getting pretty full). It turns out that there are a few areas where you need area-effect Black Magic, but I don't have much in that vein, so I'm going to have to go back to Rabanastre and get some.

Belias is pretty awesome.

Edit: Forgot to ask, but who's your favorite so far? I've been mostly swapping out as each character increases in level, but right now my most useful character is Ashe. Made her a white mage with battle skills. And as aggressive as I am in FFs, I need white mages.

Lovely

11-04-2006, 08:39 PM

[ QUOTE ]
jecca-neko said:
[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said: Either way my party has a severe lack of female presence which hopefully will be changed soon.

[/ QUOTE ]

There are 2 more characters you will get in the party, both are which are female. One of them I'm thinking you'll like a LOT knowing your tastes in female anime/game characters.

[/ QUOTE ]

You'll think he'll go for ChuChu huh? Yeah, I could see that XD .

TOTALLY kidding /images/graemlins/happy.gif. Yeah, I think he'll like that other female character too. I dunno though in gear battles she's great, but in human battles, other characters can do a bit better. (though she IS adorable ^^.)
OH. I forgot about Emeralda. That's who you were talking about right Jecca? I was thinking you were talking about Maria.

Oh, and Rob, in "normal" non gear battles, Rico is also a good deal slower than the other characters, so you're right, he's a hard character to want to keep in your party ^^;.

Putting Xenogears aside for a bit. Lately I've been playing a lot of Phantasy Star Universe. Um... that's it /images/graemlins/happy.gif . It's a lot of fun online, I haven't really played the offline mode though. I don't want to play two story games at once is all (I still have TotAbyss to get back too.)

jecca-neko

11-04-2006, 08:45 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Lovely said:
[ QUOTE ]
jecca-neko said:
[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said: Either way my party has a severe lack of female presence which hopefully will be changed soon.

[/ QUOTE ]

There are 2 more characters you will get in the party, both are which are female. One of them I'm thinking you'll like a LOT knowing your tastes in female anime/game characters.

[/ QUOTE ]

You'll think he'll go for ChuChu huh? Yeah, I could see that XD .

[/ QUOTE ]

I forgot her because I never used her. Fine, there's 3 characters. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Edit: To Lovely, I thought Yuzu would like Emeralda.

Leon_Belmont

11-04-2006, 08:54 PM

[ QUOTE ]
ADC said:
I spent an hour and a half today in the Henne Mines and didn't accomplish much of anything (but my license boards are getting pretty full). It turns out that there are a few areas where you need area-effect Black Magic, but I don't have much in that vein, so I'm going to have to go back to Rabanastre and get some.

Belias is pretty awesome.

Edit: Forgot to ask, but who's your favorite so far? I've been mostly swapping out as each character increases in level, but right now my most useful character is Ashe. Made her a white mage with battle skills. And as aggressive as I am in FFs, I need white mages.

[/ QUOTE ]

What I found helps a lot is to leave one of the characters in and let him get skewed upward to hell. Of course, that one still dies occasionally, but its helped me a lot. I went with plain old Vaan since I believe the male characters have a little more strength. Now I'm not so concerned with keeping him equipped with the Embroidered Tippet. I let him loot to hell with the Thiefs Cuffs or help me see traps with the Bangle if we're in a fairly trap prone environment.

But it's helpful, because when you're running through dungeons or level gaining, its nice to have a character that can do some pretty severe damage and clear things off the screen quickly. Then you're not wasting time being concerned about clearing mobs, or can just one shot and move straight through an area.

Anyone else have Haste, Protect, and Shell set to cast on low priority so you're characters are boosted full time (increase their priority for bosses so at least one character is casting)? Haste is especially helpful. Nothing like taking the normies out before they can get more than maybe one hit in.

Chacranajxy

11-04-2006, 09:16 PM

You don't need to play any instruments or have any musical talent to play GH and have fun with it... I've never played guitar, but I've played piano for 10 years so I might not be the most qualified to talk about not needing musical talent for GH, but my friends haven't had any issue playing the game.

At the same time, 99.9% of the people at my college are absolutely terrible at the game... man. It's like they want to fail.

Chacranajxy

11-04-2006, 09:18 PM

[ QUOTE ]
jecca-neko said:
I've heard Guitar Hero 2 is a bit more difficult than the first game, but as I won't get it until Monday I don't know for sure. Either way, no you don't need guitar skills and you don't need to be drunk. Well, that may be a bonus for some people, but it's entirely optional. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I actually think GH 2 is better for getting started. The practice mode is a good addition and the game controls much, much better... runs are actually doable in GH2 so I went from constantly screwing those up in GH1 to tearing those up without a problem in GH2. Nice to see my guitar playing style represented. Some of the songs on expert are starting to get nasty... damn fun though.

Azumangaman

11-04-2006, 09:23 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Zanza said:
p.s. Azumangaman, any reason why i should try GH1 first? does it have a tutorial that GH2 doesn't have or? i only ask cuz Guitar Hero 2 w/ guitar is at my local store but, i didn't see GH1. wondering if i should just get GH2 and play it or hold off until i can find a copy of GH1

[/ QUOTE ]

No, I don't think you need to wait till you find GH1. Unless you want a black guitar. There's always a chance that you were one of those people that absolutley MUST have the first of a series no matter what happens. But I don't have GH2 so I can't really say.

BTW, I believe the GH2 Guitar is red. So if colour really matters...

Azumangaman

11-04-2006, 09:29 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
[ QUOTE ]
Azumangaman said:
Then, about 20 minutes later, I tried FFXII. Needless to say, it did the same thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm just curious here, but if you had one game attacked by your PS2 then why put another game in there? Especially only 20 minutes later. I personally would have decided right then and there to hide the games from the now possessed PS2.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why? Because I'm dang stupid thats why!
No seriously? WTF was I thinking?
Oh well, you know I think the games still work but they have like 100000000000000 rings around them now.
Grrr. I'm mad at my brother. I'm like don't play the PS2 and hes like ITS ALL YOUR FAULT! IT'S BECAUSE YOU PUT THAT STUPID FF GAME IN!
So then he played Battlefront II today. The game played fine, but again, it has 100000000000 rings around. That made me really mad.
As for trading in a fat PS2, I beleive they're already paperweights. I'll call around and see what I can get for one. You can get slim PS2's on the cheap right?

Azumangaman

11-04-2006, 10:47 PM

Ok guys (oh crap triple post! Bad me bad!)

I was browsing through Play Asia and saw a Samurai 7 game. I know I'll have NO FRIGGIN IDEA how to play the thing, but there is a limited edition that is $100 off at 29.90 USD! WOW! What the F is in this thing? I looked on the official site and it seemed as if there was a DVD and some other stuff! Anybody know what said stuff is?
Because if the stuff is worth 29.99, I'd probably buy the game.

GHardin

11-04-2006, 11:56 PM

I've been all over the place lately...

Haven't really started FFXII, I've sort of put Tales on the burner; instead, when I'm not fighting my computer to get the damn internet to work, I'm trying BF2142 out. I thought it was pretty fun playing with my cousin...even if it has been a while since I last played a BF game! /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

On another note, I thought it was rather nice how Gamestop had their Wii demo kiosk set up. It's just easier to get on the system when they ask a driver's license from you. So the wait to test Excite Truck wasn't that long (actually, it was only about five minutes). I don't know if the game was easy or if the guys in front of me weren't all that good, but getting first place on four out of five courses on your first try is amusing, to say the least. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif The controls were simple enough; for the most part, steering was very responsive; othertimes, I turned the wheel, and my truck goes straight off into the wilderness. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

distantmantra

11-05-2006, 02:35 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Azumangaman said:
Ok guys (oh crap triple post! Bad me bad!)

I was browsing through Play Asia and saw a Samurai 7 game. I know I'll have NO FRIGGIN IDEA how to play the thing, but there is a limited edition that is $100 off at 29.90 USD! WOW! What the F is in this thing? I looked on the official site and it seemed as if there was a DVD and some other stuff! Anybody know what said stuff is?
Because if the stuff is worth 29.99, I'd probably buy the game.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's a 2D art/text-based adventure game with some strategy elements. If you can't read Japanese, you'll be absolutely lost. I saw that over on Play-Asia a couple months ago, so seeing how they still have it even at $100 off MSRP, that should tell you something about the quality and importability of the title.

From NCSX:

"The PS2 game uses animation sequences from the source material as well as new animations exclusive to the adventure. As an added bonus for fans of the series, background information on the seven samurai will also be revealed in the game. Samurai 7 follows the strategy-battle theme of familiar Idea Factory games and an affinity system is used where the player's level of interaction and trust with each samurai affects their performance in battle. While the game follows the story arc of the animation series, there are alternate routes which lead to new stories and developments which affect the course of the game. The affinity system extends to the rapport that the protagonist shares with the villagers which affects how they support the team of samurai throughout the game.

Preorders are welcome for the regular edition of the game which ships on May 25. Idea Factory has also opened up preorders for a limited edition of Samurai 7 which is bundled with an art booklet filled with illustrations of the samurai and villagers and a bonus DVD which contains an original Samurai 7 video animation."

Johnny

11-05-2006, 04:35 AM

[ QUOTE ]
indigo0086 said:

let it be known that the 1up guys mentioned that it was the most polished game epic has ever released. I don't doubt from the vids. I was glad that they said thatr the 4 v 4 was perfect given the gameplay elements. I just can't get over the "curb stomping" and "ko" elements. If a guy is damaged enough they fall and lay bleeding out, they can either be revived by an ally or have their head stomped in by an enemy. Can't wait till jack Thompson looks at this game, and can't wait for what Cliffy B. responds.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I saw that interview. It's amazing that they had pretty much nothing bad to say about it too.
IMO though, amazing as this is going to be, Lost Planet will be even better. It looks so ridiculously good it's not even funny. Plus it's Capcom who can do no wrong lately.

Johnny

11-05-2006, 07:38 AM

[ QUOTE ]
DiGiKerot said:
[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
Cool, thanks. Oh yeah I meant to ask, have you picked which girl is your favourite yet? /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmmm, probably Ritsuko (the meganeko) and Iori (forehead /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif). Thats pretty much sorely based on liking girls who wear glasses and liking Iori's (admittedly a little squeaky) singing voice.

[/ QUOTE ]

Heh. My favourite, in terms of looks anyway, would probably be Makoto (she seems to be the tomboy of the group, in looks at least).

Soulblazer

11-05-2006, 10:38 AM

Well one is not really female. It just looks female /images/graemlins/happy.gif.

jecca-neko

11-05-2006, 10:41 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Soulblazer said:
Well one is not really female. It just looks female /images/graemlins/happy.gif.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you're referring to Xenogears, Chuchu is female. She refers to herself as a she in the game. She also gets that silly crush on Fei...

Soulblazer

11-05-2006, 10:44 AM

I was talking about Xenogears. Emeralda is a nano-machine colony that looks female.

jecca-neko

11-05-2006, 10:48 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Soulblazer said:
 I was talking about Xenogears. Emeralda is a nano-machine colony that looks female. 

[/ QUOTE ]

Okay. Well, you're right there. But I still see her as female, darn it. Especially because the incarnation of Fei that created her saw her as his daughter, even though of course he knew that she was nanomachines.

jecca-neko

11-05-2006, 12:34 PM

The original game, not Origins. I can get this for $10 new (with the bonus soundtrack) from TRU. Thoughts? Is this game worth it?

Chacranajxy

11-05-2006, 12:54 PM

I really didn't like what I played of the game. The story and characters were uninteresting and the combat system was broken... the whole card system really felt like an unnecessary addition... it really doesn't do anything meaningful to benefit the game -- it's just a more confusing way of managing inventory and attacking in battle.

Lovely

11-05-2006, 02:06 PM

I played about.... 25 hours or so of Baten Kaitos before I put it aside.

The card system has its high and low points. It's an interesting concept, but it takes a lot of work that just turns into a pain after a while. Basically, some cards will change over time into useless cards. So, besides always messing with your deck to put in stronger cards; which wouldn't have been so bad by itself, You're forced to mess with your deck even MORE by constantly switching out the cards that have become useless or harmfull.
(for example, a card that started off as a healing card will turn into a useless stick or even poison.)It's just annoying.

This wouldn't of been TOO bad if the story and characters were interesting but... they're not. The characters are dull and just seem to be there. The story, from what I've played of it was basically, go here, go here, go here. With nothing really interesting to keep you wanting to see what happens next.

The voice acting in the game is god awful, and I'm a dub fan! I tried to tough it out, but eventually the female leads oddly lilting voice grated on me so much that I had to turn the voices off (thank God that option is in the game.)

On the other hand...
Apparently, there is a great plot twist about halfway through the game (which I read spoilers on) which actually sounds very interesting, unfortunatly, I never made it to that point. Maybe someday...
The game is gorgeous. As in the backgrounds and the lighting etc, etc... very pretty. And the design of the towns and the like is pretty nifty.
The concept of the character you play as in the game was a great idea too. Basically, you play a spirit who is helping the main character. So that was something that I thought was clever.
And when you have a useable deck of cards, the battle system is kind of interesting.

For $10? Mmmm... It's hard to say. I guess it just depends on what kind of rpg gamer you are.

jecca-neko

11-05-2006, 02:16 PM

Hmm... Thanks Cha-kun and Lovely. I probably won't bother then. I wanted to pick up some of the good Gamecube games I don't have before they get hard to find. It doesn't sound like this is one I would enjoy very much. I knew the battle system was card based but I wouldn't like having to constantly change my deck. That seems more trouble than its worth.

Another question then - what are the good Gamecube games that I should try to track down? My Gamecube collection is pretty small. I have the Resident Evil games, Smash Bros Melee, Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon XD, Animal Crossing, and Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix.

Edit: Forgot Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.

Johnny

11-05-2006, 02:33 PM

[ QUOTE ]
jecca-neko said:

Another question then - what are the good Gamecube games that I should try to track down? My Gamecube collection is pretty small. I have the Resident Evil games, Smash Bros Melee, Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon XD, Animal Crossing, and Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmm let's see. Looking at my Cube collection, the games other than those you listed I would recommend you check out would be:

Donkey Konga 1-3 (you're a DDR/rhythm action game fan so get one or more of these games and a set of bongos and you're all set!)
Battle Stadium DON (IIRC you're not much of a Dragonball/One Piece/Naruto fan but this is similar to Smash Bros with less characters)
Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen 1-4 (you don't need to be a Naruto fan to appreciate these fighters. Up to 4 players too)
Kururin Squash (awesome puzzle game in which you move a spinning stick through mazes. Japan only but very recommended as is the GBA version)
Sonic Gems Collection (unless you have the PS2 version. GC one features Streets of Rage 1-3)
Ikaruga (classic shooter)
Killer 7 (also on PS2. Criminally overlooked game which is very bizarre but very good)
Starfox Adventures/Assault (not the best Starfox games but fun nonetheless)
Metroid Prime 1 and 2 (first one is better but both are pretty essential. I'm not a FPS person but I love the games)
Paper Mario (get this now!)
F-Zero GX (F-Zero as you know and love it)
Viewtiful Joe 1 and 2 (also on PS2. Takes 2D platformers and side scrollers and mixes them with Sentai parodies and cool gameplay features)
Luigi's Mansion (seems to be ignored by a lot of people. Not a traditional Mario game but it should be very cheap now as it was a launch title and is well worth a look)
Mario Sunshine (not the best 3D Mario but worth playing)
Pikmin 1 and 2 (didn't play the second one but it's an original puzzle type game)
Zelda Wind Waker (aside from the sailing sections, this is stuning)
Warioworld (not as good as Mario Sunshine but not bad)
Mario Kart Double Dash (definitely worth checking out of you're a Mario Kart fan)
Skies of Arcadia Legends (classic RPG with IIRC more than the Dreamcast version)

juliant59

11-05-2006, 02:41 PM

I agree on most of those for the GC. Konga is very addictive though it can hurt your hands /images/graemlins/tongue.gif. Ikaruga is good as well. Paper Mario, now that game ruled, can't wait for Super Paper Mario! /images/graemlins/happy.gif. Viewtiful Joe I only played the first and it's a very good game. Another one of Capcom's innovative games with the slow down fighting gameplay. Sunshine as well, and Double Dash and Mansion were all great games. I might need to get some more GC Games as I rented most of the ones I'm talking about /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Lovely

11-05-2006, 03:10 PM

I think you might of mentioned once that you weren't really a fan of the "Tales" series of games? Ah, well, if that wasn't you, than I would definetly suggest Tales of Symphonia. Yeah, the main story is kind of standard, but the characters are loveable as heck.
Also, the game has moments where it is supprisingly non-linear. Basically, there is a segment where you have to go to five places, but you can basically go to them in whatever order you want.

I didn't realise this the first time I played, but on the second run through, it was pretty nifty how little things changed when going "the slightly harder, non standard way."

Another game I would recomend is Harvest Moon:Another Wonderful Life. Basically, the girl version of A Wonderful Life. It's just.. it's so cute ^^. I really had a suprisingly good time with it (though granted, it was my first Harvest Moon game.)

Fencedude

11-05-2006, 03:15 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Soulblazer said:
 I was talking about Xenogears. Emeralda is a nano-machine colony that looks female. 

[/ QUOTE ]

Since when did that matter? I don't see anyone doubting the gender's of the Kiddy Grade characters, and they are the exact same thing.

Randall Flagg

11-05-2006, 03:41 PM

The only traditional* RPG that I've really tried to play is FF8. Got 2 discs into it and got tired of it. Loved the story but hated the levelling up factor. I don't want to have to spend 10 hours powering my characters up just to fight the next boss for 10 minutes. Way too boring for me. I have tried to play others, but only for an hour or two.

Are there any somewhat short, straight-forward RPGs out there that could ease me into the more epic games?

Systems:
All Nintendo (except Wii, of course)
PS1
Sega Saturn

*Traditional defined by me as those RPGs that you have to spend ridiculous amounts of time levelling up your characters just to advance in the game.

kaiyouske

11-05-2006, 04:16 PM

You need to get Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance pronto.

Johnny

11-05-2006, 04:27 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Lovely said:
I think you might of mentioned once that you weren't really a fan of the "Tales" series of games? Ah, well, if that wasn't you, than I would definetly suggest Tales of Symphonia.

[/ QUOTE ]

Gah! How did I forget this? Thanks Lovely! /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif

Magus427

11-05-2006, 05:01 PM

I want to add a few more to that list Johnny:

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance ($19.99 now!)
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=220433

Battalion Wars
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=220546

Soul Calibur II (if you want another fighting game)
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=916292

Star Wars: Rogue Leader (Rogue Squadron II)
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=916052

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (an admirable re-do)
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=916385

Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (pretty fun Sonic game with good music)
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=916078

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Warrior Within, and Two Thrones (these actually looked very good on the Gamecube and the controls were pretty decent as well)
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=916354
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=916503
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=916611

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (I know this was mentioned already, but thought I'd provide a picture, really an excellent game)
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=220431

LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (if you want some brainless fun)
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=220594

Wave Race: Blue Storm (overlooked launch title, but a hell of a lot of fun!)
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=916061

Please note while it might be worthwhile to play the first game, it isn't necessary (it will enhance enjoyment of the story in 2nd one though):

Lost Kingdoms (card battle RPG with a pretty decent story)
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=916107

Lost Kingdoms II (follow-up to the first, much better everything, including graphics, music, and story)
http://www.amazon.com/Activision-Lost-Kingdoms-II/dp/B00008DHNO

Ok, that's it for my additions. Between Johnny's and my lists, you should find something to get. The Gamecube does have quite a few good games for it.

-Magus

Soulblazer

11-05-2006, 05:02 PM

If you like RPG's, I would definitely pick up Skies of Arcadia Legends and Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube if you can find them.

RedComet

11-05-2006, 05:35 PM

I picked up Final Fantasy 12 yesterday. It's pretty awesome and I've put a good amount of time into it. I haven't really understood Quickenings up until now. I can get one with Vaan and have had one with Basch. I intend on using them against Judge Ghis.

11-05-2006, 05:37 PM

[ QUOTE ]
jecca-neko said:
I forgot her because I never used her. Fine, there's 3 characters. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Edit: To Lovely, I thought Yuzu would like Emeralda.

[/ QUOTE ]

For the record I already know who the remaining three party members are. I've watched my brother play on occasion and even talked with him about the game. It just that it took me a long time to get the motivation to really play the game. Thus I'm just not sure when the three will actually join the party. Although I have in a sense met all of them already.

Between Emeralda, Maria, and Chuchu, I'm not sure who I'll like best yet. Okay granted I'll prefer Emerald and Maria to Chuchu. However that's a given, it's not that I automatically hate cutesy creatures, but I also don't exactly worship them either.

In any case given where I am in the game, I'll be able to get an idea of what Maria is like soon. So far I find her rather cute. I like her hair for some reason. So yeah whenever she joins, I'll be using her for awhile. Same thing for Emeralda and Chuchu. Spend some time with each of them to get an idea what they are like.

As for Lovely's comment about Rico, let's just say my motivation to use him is even lower now. Either way I did make use of him earlier in the game and used him on occasion. So yeah Rico's had his chance to shine anyway. He can just relax and let others do the work. Although perhaps I should on occasion upgrade his gear. Just in case certain things happen.

ADC

11-05-2006, 06:02 PM

[ QUOTE ]
RedComet said:
I picked up Final Fantasy 12 yesterday. It's pretty awesome and I've put a good amount of time into it. I haven't really understood Quickenings up until now. I can get one with Vaan and have had one with Basch. I intend on using them against Judge Ghis.

[/ QUOTE ]
I still haven't assigned a single Quickening — but I did give Belias to Basch. As I'm getting more comfortable with the ADB battle system, I'm starting to work in a lot more Magicks and Technicks.

Also, the tip? I seem to recall it's Accessories 8 which includes a Golden … Something. Wearing it gets that character double License Points. That's the goods.

jecca-neko

11-05-2006, 06:07 PM

Wow, thanks everyone for the Gamecube suggestions. I'll have to pick up some of those games at some point. I'll let you guys know which ones I get. /images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif

11-05-2006, 06:08 PM

Okay, since I started working out the other week, I've calmed down on In The Groove (you can only do so much cardio!). So out of ALL the games that I have in my backlog (to many), I decided to go for Kingdom Hearts. I'm loving it so far. Simple gameplay thats not going to numb my mind, and a enjoyable plot. Yeah, I'm behind the times, but I have KH2 ready to play once I'm done with KH1.

RedComet

11-05-2006, 06:10 PM

[ QUOTE ]
ADC said:
[ QUOTE ]
RedComet said:
I picked up Final Fantasy 12 yesterday. It's pretty awesome and I've put a good amount of time into it. I haven't really understood Quickenings up until now. I can get one with Vaan and have had one with Basch. I intend on using them against Judge Ghis.

[/ QUOTE ]
I still haven't assigned a single Quickening — but I did give Belias to Basch. As I'm getting more comfortable with the ADB battle system, I'm starting to work in a lot more Magicks and Technicks.

Also, the tip? I seem to recall it's Accessories 8 which includes a Golden … Something. Wearing it gets that character double License Points. That's the goods.

[/ QUOTE ]
Should I even assign black magic onto Gambits or just manually order them? All my gambits are basicly heal anybody under 60%, cast Protect on the leader, and then attack enemy. Once I have enough Gambit slots should I create one for curing each status affect?

11-05-2006, 06:10 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Fencedude said:
[ QUOTE ]
Soulblazer said:
 I was talking about Xenogears. Emeralda is a nano-machine colony that looks female. 

[/ QUOTE ]

Since when did that matter? I don't see anyone doubting the gender's of the Kiddy Grade characters, and they are the exact same thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

It really has been too long since I've watched Kiddy Grade since I don't remember that aspect myself. As for the character in question from Xenogears. I will consider her female. Simply because for all intent and purposes that's what she's represented as in terms of the story as far as I can tell anyway. Also I'd find it rather boring and lame to call her "it", so I'm just not going to.

Leon_Belmont

11-05-2006, 07:20 PM

[ QUOTE ]
ADC said:
[ QUOTE ]
RedComet said:
I picked up Final Fantasy 12 yesterday. It's pretty awesome and I've put a good amount of time into it. I haven't really understood Quickenings up until now. I can get one with Vaan and have had one with Basch. I intend on using them against Judge Ghis.

[/ QUOTE ]
I still haven't assigned a single Quickening — but I did give Belias to Basch. As I'm getting more comfortable with the ADB battle system, I'm starting to work in a lot more Magicks and Technicks.

Also, the tip? I seem to recall it's Accessories 8 which includes a Golden … Something. Wearing it gets that character double License Points. That's the goods.

[/ QUOTE ]

You want to assign the quickenings. Having two doubles your magic. Having three triples it. Don't hesitate as long as I did. There's enough for everybody. If anyone's heading down a unique path probably want to save that slot for them instead of giving them three off the bat, but that's the only word of caution.

ADC

11-05-2006, 07:30 PM

[ QUOTE ]
RedComet said:
Should I even assign black magic onto Gambits or just manually order them? All my gambits are basicly heal anybody under 60%, cast Protect on the leader, and then attack enemy. Once I have enough Gambit slots should I create one for curing each status affect?

[/ QUOTE ]
My preference is to leave the attacking and healing Magicks up to the Gambit system and micro-manage the attack and support Magicks. One thing I will recommend, though, is making your top Gambit "Foe = HP Critical: Attack." If you actually need to use healing at that point, I'd recommend using Items instead of Magicks because they're faster. I've found that I need to heal less when I just take care of my bidness and take out the SOS enemies.

Having said that, I don't spend much on Gambit slots. I'd rather get things like the Lores and make my attacks and Magicks stronger. Most of my characters have only five or six Gambits, and that's only so I can have different levels of Cure — "Ally HP ≤ 40%: Cura" and "Ally HP ≤ 60%: Cure," with the Cura at the top and the Cure a bit further down (third or fourth). I did not map Raise or Protect to any Gambit slots, so if I'm going into a boss battle, I get my Protect on before the boss is in range. As a result, I generally don't need to use Raise at all.

My favorite critter so far is the Woolly Gator. So cute!

11-05-2006, 08:19 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:
*Traditional defined by me as those RPGs that you have to spend ridiculous amounts of time levelling up your characters just to advance in the game.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which makes your mention of Final Fantasy 8 rather interesting. Since it is not a level up fest RPG. In point of fact it punishes players for power leveling and hoping the game will let them win if they gain enough levels. The enemies grow stronger as you level up in the game.

You're far better off exploiting the junction system than you are power leveling. As for how to exploit that's another story. Still you could consider the fact you're punished for gaining levels a negative towards the game itself. Depends on how you feel about it.

As for what to recommend? I'm not sure myself since there are a quite a few to choose from. It also depends on what style you feel like trying. Basic RPGs like most Final Fantasy, Strategy like Final Fantasy Tactics, and Action like Tales or Star Ocean.

Final Fantasy Tactics can be a good strategy RPG to try. Sure you may have a bit of trouble at first, but once you get used to the job class system it becomes a lot more interesting. It's kind of fun to mix and match abilities to see what helps you win

Tales of Symphonia is something I'd recommend for action RPGs. It's rather polished over all. The characters can be quite interesting. Especially if you watch the skits that come up. Plus well it looks rather nice over all in my view.

Final Fantasy 6 can work for basic. As it's a mixture of individualism and customization. For example Relm is a painter and has sketch. However you can also teach her spells to use in battle and effect her stats a bit.

Finally in terms of length. What would define as somewhat short? It seems in my experience 30-60 hours is the range to complete many RPGs. Okay some are much longer and some quite a bit shorter. A bit of information to be more realistic.

11-05-2006, 10:14 PM

Seems like the system gets quite a bit more complex that I've seen so far. Was kinda hoping that wouldn't be the case (I'm old and lazy now and don't like setting up this kind of stuff anymore /images/graemlins/tongue.gif). I picked up FF12 over the weekend as kind of a "last chance" for me and the Final Fantasy series. I really kinda resonated with what Tycho over at Penny Arcade said about the game..... about it being a good game but just not being for him anymore. That's how I felt too, like the series has left me behind but that doesn't make the game bad. I almost didn't pick it up because I expected to hate it and the new battles system with a passion, but I did anyway because FF always used to be so important to me.

Well, after getting some play time in I must say my impressions are very, very positive. Both the gameplay and the story have far exceeded my expectations and I've put about 13 hours in over the weekend in which is just profound for me. The last game I played until 5am was FF 7. So, very cool so far, though I'm still worried the battle/gambit/license system will become stupidly complex and in need of micro-management as the game goes on which will definitely hurt my enjoyment of the game. If they can't design a system that's rich but still easy to manage all the way through then it's just not a good system. The Job System still stands as the pinnacle of FF battle systems, even though Tactics was incredibly menu-heavy about it there was nothing overwhelming about the setup.

It's also nice to see the voice acting so good this time around. I actually think it complements the game now compared to FF X's awful showing. I love the voice they chose for Fran. She rocks. /images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif Hitoshi Sakimoto's score fits the game perfectly so far too, but I knew his style would work well for it judging from his great work on FF Tactics.

So all in all a big surprise and I'm happy and relieved to once again find a FF game I can love. I hated FF X with a passion and felt the series pretty much ended for me with that one. Coming from such a passionate FF lover over the years since the original it really felt heavy to come to such a realization. I still haven't figured out how I want to "steer" my characters yet on the license board. Can't decide between light and heavy armor (or whether to have somebody use mystic armor for that matter), and I want somebody to go the spear route but I don't know who (wanted Fran but the game sets her up as an archer from the beginning which seems to suit her, I'm just thinking of making her mirror Freya from FF 9 really). Spoiler-free advice is always appreciated. /images/graemlins/happy.gif

jecca-neko

11-05-2006, 10:18 PM

Speaking of Final Fantasy, who is planning to get Final Fantasy III for DS? I've been looking forward to the game for a really long time and it is one of the reasons I bought a DS in the first place. I am debating on whether I should get it in November or hold off for a little while though.

Magus427

11-05-2006, 10:35 PM

[ QUOTE ]
jecca-neko said:
Speaking of Final Fantasy, who is planning to get Final Fantasy III for DS? I've been looking forward to the game for a really long time and it is one of the reasons I bought a DS in the first place. I am debating on whether I should get it in November or hold off for a little while though.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm gonna hold off, I've got too much stuff to play. I hear that when Nintendo was doing testing for Zelda, the testers took over 70 hours to complete the game. That said, from everything I've read, it looks like the game will AT LEAST be a good 50 or 60 hours (and that's without doing side quests, etc.).

Zelda will be my priority when Wii comes out, after that I'll have to get back to Valkryie Profile 2 (unless I somehow finish it in the next couple of weeks, but I doubt it) and take time to play FFXII and Tales of the Abyss along with a slew of other PS2 RPGs.

My next DS game will be Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin followed by Phoenix Wright: Justice for All, both of which I'll be hard pressed to touch within the same time period.

-Magus

ADC

11-05-2006, 10:36 PM

What I've noticed so far is that light armor and mystic armor actually tend to have better stats, which was a bit of a shocker. I think it's not a bad idea to upgrade across two of the three paths — maybe have a character who switches between heavy and mystic, for example. This depends on how patient you are with building up licenses, of course. I've been very patient so far, which is why I have so many licenses that I can afford to take that advice.

On the other hand, I have to think that the best idea is to choose a weapon track and stick with it. I started upgrading Penelo in guns, then in spears, and now she's using poles and she's one of my best offensive people — and she's also upgraded all the way through level 8 black Magicks, even though I can't purchase anything beyond about level 3 yet. So she's going to be a powerhouse on both ends once I'm deeper into the game.

The Gambit system is only as complex as you make it. As I mentioned earlier, I stopped buying Gambit slots once everybody had about five, and all I use it for is to have some automatic healing if things get dirty, and to keep everybody attacking when they're not healing. I call the other stuff myself when I deem it appropriate.

ADC

11-05-2006, 10:40 PM

11-05-2006, 11:05 PM

So far I really haven't seen the benefit of the mystic armor. There is definitely a hint of Tactics influence in how the light armor boosts HP and the heavy boosts stats but I'll have to see more to feel comfortable. As much as I just wander and level-up I can probably afford a pretty liberal license boards approach. I assume the game explains the quickenings in a tutorial but I apparently haven't gotten far enough to see it yet. I have no clue what they are yet at this point. I don't think the game intended for me to run into one on the boards as soon as I have, but I'm leaving it alone for now because I have no clue what it is and the game warned me that it could only be applied to one character. /images/graemlins/sweat200.gif

distantmantra

11-05-2006, 11:10 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:
So far I really haven't seen the benefit of the mystic armor. There is definitely a hint of Tactics influence in how the light armor boosts HP and the heavy boosts stats but I'll have to see more to feel comfortable. As much as I just wander and level-up I can probably afford a pretty liberal license boards approach. I assume the game explains the quickenings in a tutorial but I apparently haven't gotten far enough to see it yet. I have no clue what they are yet at this point. I don't think the game intended for me to run into one on the boards as soon as I have, but I'm leaving it alone for now because I have no clue what it is and the game warned me that it could only be applied to one character. /images/graemlins/sweat200.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Quickenings are basically FFXII's version of limit breaks. I've unlocked one so far with Fran, I think it's called Feral Instincts. Your MP has to be at full to use them, and then they deplete that character's MP completely after.

I absolutely love Final Fantasy XII. The story is so much more grown up. Even though it's very reminiscent of Star Wars, it's a major improvement from the half-assed anime storyline of Final Fantasy X.

As for FFIII on the DS, I put it on my Christmas list (along with Elite Beat Agents) for my wife, parents, family members, etc. I'm not touching another game (not even Twilight Princess on the Gamecube) until FFXII is finished.

Randall Flagg

11-05-2006, 11:15 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:
*Traditional defined by me as those RPGs that you have to spend ridiculous amounts of time levelling up your characters just to advance in the game.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which makes your mention of Final Fantasy 8 rather interesting. Since it is not a level up fest RPG. In point of fact it punishes players for power leveling and hoping the game will let them win if they gain enough levels. The enemies grow stronger as you level up in the game.

You're far better off exploiting the junction system than you are power leveling. As for how to exploit that's another story. Still you could consider the fact you're punished for gaining levels a negative towards the game itself. Depends on how you feel about it.

[/ QUOTE ]
Hmmm, maybe that's why I started getting my ass handed to me on a silver platter before I quit.
[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
As for what to recommend? I'm not sure myself since there are a quite a few to choose from. It also depends on what style you feel like trying. Basic RPGs like most Final Fantasy, Strategy like Final Fantasy Tactics, and Action like Tales or Star Ocean.

Final Fantasy Tactics can be a good strategy RPG to try. Sure you may have a bit of trouble at first, but once you get used to the job class system it becomes a lot more interesting. It's kind of fun to mix and match abilities to see what helps you win

Tales of Symphonia is something I'd recommend for action RPGs. It's rather polished over all. The characters can be quite interesting. Especially if you watch the skits that come up. Plus well it looks rather nice over all in my view.

Final Fantasy 6 can work for basic. As it's a mixture of individualism and customization. For example Relm is a painter and has sketch. However you can also teach her spells to use in battle and effect her stats a bit.

[/ QUOTE ]
Does action RPG mean anything like you do the actual fighting, rather than the game telling you whether or not you hit the enemy? If so, that's what I'd probably be most interested in.
[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
Finally in terms of length. What would define as somewhat short? It seems in my experience 30-60 hours is the range to complete many RPGs. Okay some are much longer and some quite a bit shorter. A bit of information to be more realistic.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I guess I should see if I can't explain myself better about the time. I don't mind putting in many hours in games if I feel it warrants it. I'm the type of player that likes to find every hidden area/object/secret in Mario and Zelda (my favorite game series) games, so I have no problem with putting in the hours for those because it feels like I'm always actually doing something.

In other words, if I spend 30 hours playing a game, I feel it was worth it if most of that was spent exploring and fighting and such. If I spend 30 hours playing a game and spent 20 of it just levelling up, that's not something I would find worth it. I would rather spend that time finding secrets.

I do hope my lengthy ramblings made at least a little sense. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

11-05-2006, 11:18 PM

[ QUOTE ]
jecca-neko said:
Speaking of Final Fantasy, who is planning to get Final Fantasy III for DS?

[/ QUOTE ]

I still haven't gotten around to getting my own DS. However my eldest brother plans to get it if I remember right. Of course he's likely to want to play it first. I'm just hoping it has at least two saves on it. In some ways I'm more interested in FFIII than I am FFXII.

It's not that I think FFXII sucks. I haven't played it yet obviously with the other stuff I'm working on. It's just that FFIII is one of those long time coming games. Also I'm interested to see how the changes effect the feel of the game. Especially the part about the four orphans being well actual characters.

Of course besides FFIII there is also FFV for me to considers. As I was kind of fond of it in some ways. Apparently the new job classes are gotten very late in the game. Which is kind of annoying since I wanted to try them out as part of my strategy. However I found out who the special secret boss in FFV is. Or at least the most important one. You get to face Enuo and if you know enough of FFV's story you can see how special that sounds. Well for people who like FFV of course.

11-05-2006, 11:42 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:
Does action RPG mean anything like you do the actual fighting, rather than the game telling you whether or not you hit the enemy? If so, that's what I'd probably be most interested in.

[/ QUOTE ]

In general yes you do the actual fighting. You control one of the party members while the others are controlled by the computer. You move around the battle field, you attack, you use special moves, you on occasion may call up a menu to change some settings, use items, or give other members specific orders. In some cases these games can be multiplayer.

Granted there is more to it than that depending on the game, but that's the basic idea. Note there are potential downsides. First there is always the worry about AI. Second depending on the game battles can get hectic for some. Third just as you don't have to wait your turn, well neither does your enemy. They can repeatedly attack, move around, etc.

[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:If I spend 30 hours playing a game and spent 20 of it just levelling up, that's not something I would find worth it.

[/ QUOTE ]

In essence you don't want a level up fest. Which is understandable as they can get boring. Although I don't mind the occasional need to level up as long as the pacing is good. 2-3 levels every other chapter is not so bad. 7-10 levels every single chapter probably is. Okay not the best example, but whatever.

Johnny

11-06-2006, 10:45 AM

Johnny

11-06-2006, 11:01 AM

Bit weird this. Playasia have PS3s up for preorder at their site after removing them/cancelling preorders after the Lik-Sang incident.
The catch is they won't ship to Europe /images/graemlins/cry00000.gif

Bastards, I would definitely have paid the $999 they're asking.

Yesasia are doing the same but won't ship to Europe either. Only they're charging $1900 Anyone want to buy and ship one to me? (from Playasia that is) /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif /images/graemlins/relief1.gif

11-06-2006, 11:20 AM

[ QUOTE ]
distantmantra said:
[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:
So far I really haven't seen the benefit of the mystic armor. There is definitely a hint of Tactics influence in how the light armor boosts HP and the heavy boosts stats but I'll have to see more to feel comfortable. As much as I just wander and level-up I can probably afford a pretty liberal license boards approach. I assume the game explains the quickenings in a tutorial but I apparently haven't gotten far enough to see it yet. I have no clue what they are yet at this point. I don't think the game intended for me to run into one on the boards as soon as I have, but I'm leaving it alone for now because I have no clue what it is and the game warned me that it could only be applied to one character. /images/graemlins/sweat200.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Quickenings are basically FFXII's version of limit breaks. I've unlocked one so far with Fran, I think it's called Feral Instincts. Your MP has to be at full to use them, and then they deplete that character's MP completely after.

I absolutely love Final Fantasy XII. The story is so much more grown up. Even though it's very reminiscent of Star Wars, it's a major improvement from the half-assed anime storyline of Final Fantasy X.

As for FFIII on the DS, I put it on my Christmas list (along with Elite Beat Agents) for my wife, parents, family members, etc. I'm not touching another game (not even Twilight Princess on the Gamecube) until FFXII is finished.

[/ QUOTE ]

You know I was just thinking the game does have a bit of a Star Wars vibe to it. It also tries to play up the FF nostalgia factor, but unlike FF 9 it actually succeeds in a strange way. One downer was the opening theme music. I should've squealed in delight at it's presence but instead I found myself thinking "how cheap" instead. It's always FF4 that gets paid tribute for stuff like this. I think 4 probably represents more of what FF is than any other in the series, but it still bugs me they don't pay more tribute to 6 with it being my personal favorite. The best version of the opening theme is found in 6 too IMO. /images/graemlins/happy.gif

Enough rambling from me though. Could you clarify one thing for me? When I see a quickening on the license board is that exact same quickening there in that spot for all characters? Or are the quickenings unique to that character's board in that only that person can learn them and they show up only on that person's board? If it's the former then when I find one on the grid I can give it to any character I want but then it's done and nobody else can have it I assume. The descriptions don't give much of a hint as to what would be a good match for a character so I figured maybe they're there just for that person.

Leon_Belmont

11-06-2006, 11:39 AM

There's enough to get all three for each character, but only ONE character can claim each quickening spot. Check the paths you're sending your characters done and reserve any spots along the ends of it for them, but don't hesitate to claim possible spots otherwise. They help a lot. 2 quickenings doubles your magic even.

DiGiKerot

11-06-2006, 01:03 PM

[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
Bastards, I would definitely have paid the $999 they're asking.

Yesasia are doing the same but won't ship to Europe either. Only they're charging $1900 Anyone want to buy and ship one to me? (from Playasia that is) /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif /images/graemlins/relief1.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

To be honest, Johnny, I'd think you'd be better off putting that PS3 money towards a nice HDTV or something this year and waiting on the PS3 a bit. You'd probably appreciate the difference in technical improvements more, for one thing.

Johnny

11-06-2006, 01:07 PM

[ QUOTE ]
DiGiKerot said:
[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
Bastards, I would definitely have paid the $999 they're asking.

Yesasia are doing the same but won't ship to Europe either. Only they're charging $1900 Anyone want to buy and ship one to me? (from Playasia that is) /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif /images/graemlins/relief1.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

To be honest, Johnny, I'd think you'd be better off putting that PS3 money towards a nice HDTV or something this year and waiting on the PS3 a bit. You'd probably appreciate the difference in technical improvements more, for one thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I plan on getting an HDTV before my birthday in March. But instead of a PS3? Who do you take me for, a reasonable person? /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif
In all honesty though, HD would be nice but it's about the gaming first and foremost for me (although reading your reports on how great Idolm@ster looks in HD does have me tempted. Plus I could buy a 360 HD player too...)

DiGiKerot

11-06-2006, 01:12 PM

[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
[ QUOTE ]
DiGiKerot said:
[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
Bastards, I would definitely have paid the $999 they're asking.

Yesasia are doing the same but won't ship to Europe either. Only they're charging $1900 Anyone want to buy and ship one to me? (from Playasia that is) /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif /images/graemlins/relief1.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

To be honest, Johnny, I'd think you'd be better off putting that PS3 money towards a nice HDTV or something this year and waiting on the PS3 a bit. You'd probably appreciate the difference in technical improvements more, for one thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I plan on getting an HDTV before my birthday in March. But instead of a PS3? Who do you take me for, a reasonable person? /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif
In all honesty though, HD would be nice but it's about the gaming first and foremost for me (although reading your reports on how great Idolm@ster looks in HD does have me tempted. Plus I could buy a 360 HD player too...)

[/ QUOTE ]

Speaking of which, they put another video clip up on both Marketplace and the Idolmaster website over the weekend /images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif

11-06-2006, 01:21 PM

[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
Yesasia are doing the same but won't ship to Europe either. Only they're charging $1900 Anyone want to buy and ship one to me? (from Playasia that is) /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif /images/graemlins/relief1.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

$1900? Are they insane? Is this normal for them when it comes to systems? *Checks the price for the Wii* Granted they list the U.S. version, but regardless here it is. They list it like this "US$459.00 List: US$499.99 Save: US$40.99 (8%)" Sheesh even the Wii is over priced and last I checked there's no dramatic shortage of epic portions spelling the end of this universe in terms of the Wii. All I can say is I'm glad I don't use that place to get systems.

Johnny

11-06-2006, 01:35 PM

So, Yesasia have US Wii's for preorder at $450 (£90 more than the normal price). I'm actually considering placing a preorder to get even more chance of getting one at launch (as I think they close preorders when they have "sold" their allocation) but they don't allow orders to be cancelled.
I don't mind paying the extra £90 but don't want to end up with 2 Wii's - anyone want to be my backup plan to sell one to if I end up with two? (i.e. if you want one but not necessarily at launch. I wouldn't charge the extra £90).

11-06-2006, 01:46 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:
You know I was just thinking the game does have a bit of a Star Wars vibe to it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Heh people have been saying FF has a Star Wars vibe ever since well Final Fantasy IV. So this while thing about FFXII being Star Wars kind of doesn't surprise me. Although I'm sure if I ever seriously watch Star Wars, I'll notice more of the references and such, but I just don't feel like it.

11-06-2006, 01:49 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:
You know I was just thinking the game does have a bit of a Star Wars vibe to it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Heh people have been saying FF has a Star Wars vibe ever since well Final Fantasy IV. So this while thing about FFXII being Star Wars kind of doesn't surprise me. Although I'm sure if I ever seriously watch Star Wars, I'll notice more of the references and such, but I just don't feel like it.

[/ QUOTE ]

The bucketheads Biggs and Wedge don't count IMO. /images/graemlins/wink.gif I mean the whole game.... visually, storywise, presentation wise, storytelling style..... has a subtle star wars influence to it. Just enough to notice but not enough to criticize over or seem cheesy. I'm loving it personally. Even the traditional Empire to hate feels more like The Empire from star wars. /images/graemlins/happy.gif I get a huge kick out of the british accents they gave to all of the imperials, it cracks me up.

Randall Flagg

11-06-2006, 02:54 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:
Does action RPG mean anything like you do the actual fighting, rather than the game telling you whether or not you hit the enemy? If so, that's what I'd probably be most interested in.

[/ QUOTE ]

In general yes you do the actual fighting. You control one of the party members while the others are controlled by the computer. You move around the battle field, you attack, you use special moves, you on occasion may call up a menu to change some settings, use items, or give other members specific orders. In some cases these games can be multiplayer.

Granted there is more to it than that depending on the game, but that's the basic idea. Note there are potential downsides. First there is always the worry about AI. Second depending on the game battles can get hectic for some. Third just as you don't have to wait your turn, well neither does your enemy. They can repeatedly attack, move around, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]
Sounds like somthing I'll definitely have to check out.

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:If I spend 30 hours playing a game and spent 20 of it just levelling up, that's not something I would find worth it.

[/ QUOTE ]

In essence you don't want a level up fest. Which is understandable as they can get boring. Although I don't mind the occasional need to level up as long as the pacing is good. 2-3 levels every other chapter is not so bad. 7-10 levels every single chapter probably is. Okay not the best example, but whatever.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's actually a good example of what I'm not looking for. I would have no problem at all with 2-3 levels every other (or even every) chapter. It's the 7-10 levels that are ridiculous.

Since you mentioned that FF8 is a game that you really don't want to level up insanely high, maybe I'll dig it out and give it another go. Just let my characters progress somewhat naturally and see what happens.

Would the games you mentioned in your other post be good starter games, or are there others I should start with first? It's a genre of games that I really would like to try and get more into, I just don't really know where to begin.

And, also, many thanks for taking the time to go over all of this with me.

11-06-2006, 04:31 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:
Sounds like somthing I'll definitely have to check out.

[/ QUOTE ]

Here is an example video from youtube (http://youtube.com/watch?v=Kb2ATE8IDJk) itself. It took awhile to find one that wasn't too spoilerish. In short it's a normal battle with some of the party members you can use that shows off a combo.

[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:
Since you mentioned that FF8 is a game that you really don't want to level up insanely high, maybe I'll dig it out and give it another go. Just let my characters progress somewhat naturally and see what happens.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah that would be a good idea. Heck you may even consider studying the junction system or perhaps asking for advice on how to work with it. Which can be a good idea even if you're a veteran at RPGs. As you may end up playing something you're not used to.

[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:
Would the games you mentioned in your other post be good starter games, or are there others I should start with first? It's a genre of games that I really would like to try and get more into, I just don't really know where to begin.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd consider them decent games to start with. However part of the problem is this. Like many with experience with RPGs, it can be hard to remember what it was like when even the routine stuff was new and confusing. In point of fact my first RPG was Dragon Quest 1, but it was Final Fantasy 4 that got me into RPGs. So you could consider FF4 my starter RPG.

However it isn't just what you decide to play. No matter what RPG you decide to play if you're new to 90% to 100% of the game's features instead of say 20% to 40%. You'll just end being lost and confused. As many of us were. I'm not counting those who can beat games just by blinking. So what actually matters most is getting help with what you play first. Now by help let me explain one thing.

I don't mean things like how to beat each dungeon, defeat every boss, etc. Instead I mean things like having someone explain the battle system, tell you some tricks of the trade, give you advice on how to use party members and abilities. Stuff along those lines. As you play more games the need for advice will lower, but will probably never completely go away for some. Heck I still ask advice on occasion depending on what RPG I'm playing.

[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:
And, also, many thanks for taking the time to go over all of this with me.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah you're welcome and hopefully things will work out for you in terms of RPGs. Another piece of advice. As with any genre be balanced. In short don't expect RPGs to be clones of each other, but at the same time don't be shocked when things seem familiar between games.

11-06-2006, 04:44 PM

Just to offer you a contrasting opinion, I think the Junction system of FF8 is by far the most broken of all FF battle systems. What you inevitably end up doing every single time you run into a monster with a spell you haven't drawn before is spending 30 minutes in that battle drawing from it until everybody has 100 of that spell. Once you begin to find powerful spells to junction your characters take enourmous leaps in power with those spells junctioned to certain stats. Very unbalanced overall, but it doesn't significantly take away from the game unless you dislike tedious level building. Because that's all it is is another form of tedious level building only with spell drawing instead of killing greater quantities of monsters.

11-06-2006, 05:12 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:
Just to offer you a contrasting opinion, I think the Junction system of FF8 is by far the most broken of all FF battle systems. What you inevitably end up doing every single time you run into a monster with a spell you haven't drawn before is spending 30 minutes in that battle drawing from it until everybody has 100 of that spell. Once you begin to find powerful spells to junction your characters take enourmous leaps in power with those spells junctioned to certain stats. Very unbalanced overall, but it doesn't significantly take away from the game unless you dislike tedious level building. Because that's all it is is another form of tedious level building only with spell drawing instead of killing greater quantities of monsters.

[/ QUOTE ]

You know, there's a MUCH easier way to abuse FFVIII. All you do is take your airship to that hell island, turn off random battles, and draw like a mofo! Everything is sooooooooooooooooooo fucking easy after that.

11-06-2006, 05:22 PM

While drawing can potentially get tedious, it doesn't have to be. The higher your spirit stat the more you draw at once. Also there is nothing saying you have to draw 300 spells in a single battle. Then there is the obvious refine stuff alternative. Still in general drawing is probably more tedious in the early game than the later game. Since the later in the game you are the more likely you'll already have a bunch of the said spell stocked.

Of course to be fair I can see why one would to draw 300 of a spell in a single sitting. The whole just get it over with mentality comes to mind. Heck I'll admit to drawing a lot myself. At the very least I wanted to make sure to get a good supply of each spell before moving forward. Although in several cases, I was like "Eh I'll draw more later" which I guess is a slight admittance of tediousness.

Then again just as you said drawing in FF8 is akin to killing monsters to level up. At the same time you can also look at it this way. You could spend 2 hours getting from level 8 to level 9 near the first town or instead spend half an hour getting from level 8 to level 9 in the second town.

Also the whole draw 300 at once reminds me of how I'd be with items. In the past I'd be like must get 99 of each item. Now in some cases I'll just get say 20-30 of each items. Sometimes increasing the size of my supply by 10-20 as I progress forward in the story. I guess it depends on much an item costs and how often I'm using it.

Tsukebe

11-06-2006, 05:23 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Hysoka said:
[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:
Just to offer you a contrasting opinion, I think the Junction system of FF8 is by far the most broken of all FF battle systems. What you inevitably end up doing every single time you run into a monster with a spell you haven't drawn before is spending 30 minutes in that battle drawing from it until everybody has 100 of that spell. Once you begin to find powerful spells to junction your characters take enourmous leaps in power with those spells junctioned to certain stats. Very unbalanced overall, but it doesn't significantly take away from the game unless you dislike tedious level building. Because that's all it is is another form of tedious level building only with spell drawing instead of killing greater quantities of monsters.

[/ QUOTE ]

You know, there's a MUCH easier way to abuse FFVIII. All you do is take your airship to that hell island, turn off random battles, and draw like a mofo! Everything is sooooooooooooooooooo fucking easy after that.

[/ QUOTE ]

As much as I will like to agree with you that FF8's battle system is very bad in the series, FF2 is alot worse. Worse than the SaGa series. It's the only FF game that I couldn't bring myself to complete and I even completed FF Mystic Quest. Who came up with the idea that in order to "level up", you have to whack yourself?

Tsukebe

11-06-2006, 05:27 PM

Speaking of FF, this has to be the FF year. I don't recall seeing sooo many FF titles released in a single year. FF7-AC, FF-DoC, FFV, FFIII and FFXII.

NickFalzarano

11-06-2006, 06:08 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Tsukebe said:
As much as I will like to agree with you that FF8's battle system is very bad in the series, FF2 is alot worse. Worse than the SaGa series. It's the only FF game that I couldn't bring myself to complete and I even completed FF Mystic Quest. Who came up with the idea that in order to "level up", you have to whack yourself?

[/ QUOTE ]

Personally, I loved Final Fantasy II. Granted, I did the same thing you did (wacked myself to raise stats) but I get the feeling that isn't how its supposed to be played.

I think you are simply supposed to go around, and once you are in danger and the like, the game adjusts your stats. Simple. I've never actually tried to play that way, admittedly.

11-06-2006, 06:23 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Tsukebe said:
Who came up with the idea that in order to "level up", you have to whack yourself?

[/ QUOTE ]

The main reason for whacking yourself in Final Fantasy 2 was to cheat the system and level up faster. Which can be hard to resist to be honest. Heck even I took advantage of it. It's kind of like giving someone an exp egg in Final Fantasy 6. Except potentially better since it works great even while around weak enemies.

It would be like being in the first town in an average RPG and the amount of EXP the enemies gave you kept increasing. You'd be able to go from level 1 to level 50 in the first area with not much problem. Which in a sense can be considered a huge flaw of FF2. That you can cheat the system like that.

Of course thankfully in later versions of the system, they tweak things. Such as making it so you can't beat yourself up to level up faster. As well as making it so HP is randomly increased over time regardless of what you do in battle. No more need to make sure you lose your HP. For the most part.

11-06-2006, 06:31 PM

Final Fantasy 2 is based on the idea you level up based on what you do and what you need. In other words to gain MP, you have to actually use MP. You gain HP because you were damaged and need HP. From what I can gather the stronger the enemies the more likely you'll level up.

This for two reasons. First stronger enemies will do more damage and thus you're more likely to gain HP from a battle. Second if I remember right you gain more hidden exp towards leveling up a spell or weapon, the stronger the enemy is and the lower the level of the spell or weapon is.

Also note that level 16 is the max for spells or weapons. Level 16 for the entire game. So in a very real sense they probably weren't planning for players to face the first real boss with level 16 spells, level 16 weapons, 4,000 HP, etc. More likely they wanted you to improve over time and maybe on occasion force some improvement by facing enemies along the way.

Isuzu Inugami

11-06-2006, 07:01 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
While drawing can potentially get tedious, it doesn't have to be. The higher your spirit stat the more you draw at once. Also there is nothing saying you have to draw 300 spells in a single battle.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, IIRC there are a couple of spells you can only pull from bosses, where you'd want 300. But usually I'd just have someone who could draw 10 or 12 at a time max out, then shift the spells over to whoever sucked at drawing, and finish up next time. Drawing wasn't such a burden, especially since I just skipped the low and mid level elemental spells. There's more benefit to drawing than leveling up, since junctioning your spells can have some really nice effects (So help me, I'll never be poisoned again!) Of course, this was after I restarted the game, having been a dolt about it the first time through. But once you figure it out, it isn't that hard to uber-ize characters in FFVIII.

11-07-2006, 12:49 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Hysoka said:
[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:
Just to offer you a contrasting opinion, I think the Junction system of FF8 is by far the most broken of all FF battle systems. What you inevitably end up doing every single time you run into a monster with a spell you haven't drawn before is spending 30 minutes in that battle drawing from it until everybody has 100 of that spell. Once you begin to find powerful spells to junction your characters take enourmous leaps in power with those spells junctioned to certain stats. Very unbalanced overall, but it doesn't significantly take away from the game unless you dislike tedious level building. Because that's all it is is another form of tedious level building only with spell drawing instead of killing greater quantities of monsters.

[/ QUOTE ]

You know, there's a MUCH easier way to abuse FFVIII. All you do is take your airship to that hell island, turn off random battles, and draw like a mofo! Everything is sooooooooooooooooooo fucking easy after that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure but that's not until later in the game. I thought the ability to disable random battles was idiotic yet at the sime time invaluable. It's always been my opinion that if your game needs a feature like that then you really ought to take a hard look at how good a job you've done making your battle system in the first place.

11-07-2006, 12:52 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Tsukebe said:
[ QUOTE ]
Hysoka said:
[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:
Just to offer you a contrasting opinion, I think the Junction system of FF8 is by far the most broken of all FF battle systems. What you inevitably end up doing every single time you run into a monster with a spell you haven't drawn before is spending 30 minutes in that battle drawing from it until everybody has 100 of that spell. Once you begin to find powerful spells to junction your characters take enourmous leaps in power with those spells junctioned to certain stats. Very unbalanced overall, but it doesn't significantly take away from the game unless you dislike tedious level building. Because that's all it is is another form of tedious level building only with spell drawing instead of killing greater quantities of monsters.

[/ QUOTE ]

You know, there's a MUCH easier way to abuse FFVIII. All you do is take your airship to that hell island, turn off random battles, and draw like a mofo! Everything is sooooooooooooooooooo fucking easy after that.

[/ QUOTE ]

As much as I will like to agree with you that FF8's battle system is very bad in the series, FF2 is alot worse. Worse than the SaGa series. It's the only FF game that I couldn't bring myself to complete and I even completed FF Mystic Quest. Who came up with the idea that in order to "level up", you have to whack yourself?

[/ QUOTE ]

Crap. I forgot all about it. I too have never completed FF2. Without any more than a real barebones story and tha aforementioned battle system (which I found rather enjoyable after the leveling feature was tweaked for use in Final Fantasy Legends 2 for gameboy) it just couldn't bring myself to waste time on it. It is indeed hopelessly broken but the concept was pretty novel and out there for it's time compared to everything else. I always found that even after cheat-leveling a whole bunch certain monsters and bosses were still overwhelmingly powerful. Bad balance in that game. I'd chalk it up to being a geezer now but the origial FF was no cakewalk and I've never struggled in that game.

Honestly they could just put the Job System in every game and few people would complain.

Johnny

11-07-2006, 11:20 AM

So, anyone picked up Gears of War yet? It's out in the US and Asia today and has been getting some pretty (http://www.gamebrink.com/xbox-360/1456-Gears_of_War-reviews.html) crazy (http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/objects/747/747891.html#reviews) review scores.
My SE Asian version (only £25! /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif) shipped today and it had better be here by the weekend. It's "killer app" time people! /images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif (although there's a nasty rumour going about that the Euro version is being delayed until December to combat the Wii launch...)

Chacranajxy

11-07-2006, 12:14 PM

I was shocked by the 9.6 from Gamespot. I'm glad this game turned out well and I really hope that the score for this is justified... I do NOT want to experience another Halo. Anyway, It's about time the 360 got a killer app and I can't wait to grab this.

Njr Scrawl

11-07-2006, 12:29 PM

Just ordered DOA Xtreme Volleyball 2 for my 360. Play.com say the UK release is 8 December.

Only the 3rd game for my 360 so far, can it play XB games as well? I'd like to pick up DOA2 & XVB 1 without getting another console?

Will DOA ever be made anime?

Chacranajxy

11-07-2006, 12:32 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Wrath of the Njr said:
Just ordered DOA Xtreme Volleyball 2 for my 360. Play.com say the UK release is 8 December.

Only the 3rd game for my 360 so far, can it play XB games as well? I'd like to pick up DOA2 & XVB 1 without getting another console?

Will DOA ever be made anime?

[/ QUOTE ]

The 360 is somewhat backwards compatible... there's a list of games on the Xbox website... unfortunately, the vast majority of the games that work on the 360 are garbage while gems like Panzer Dragoon Orta are not compatible. Glad I kept my Xbox 1...

Perfect_Cell

11-07-2006, 12:49 PM

Tell me about it, the list hasn't been updated since August. /images/graemlins/depresse.gif

Johnny

11-07-2006, 12:59 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Wrath of the Njr said:
Just ordered DOA Xtreme Volleyball 2 for my 360. Play.com say the UK release is 8 December.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm fighting a losing battle over preordering that game. I'm well aware it's just 100% fanservice but I'm sure I'll crack and preordered eventually /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif
On a related note, anyone else read the news that Tomonobu Itagaki is up against sexual harrassment charges? /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

Sexual harrassment? Bah! Research for DoA Xtreme 2 obviously /images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif

11-07-2006, 01:08 PM

So apparently Maria has no deathblows? I guess she's supposed to be the "Summoner" of Xenogears giving two abilities she currently has. I guess on the negative side, I'll have to use her EP more often. While on the positive side, I don't have to bother learning death blows with her or decide if I should save AP. Instead I can just have her do constant damage or use items.

*Peeks at an FAQ to see what Maria can learn* Hmm so she gains attacks that damage multiple targets and all her abilities are none-elemental. Heh that's good to know that she won't be accidentally healing the enemy. In which case I will make use of her. It's not like this is the first time I've used someone who sucks at fighting and is better at using magic for lack of a better generic term.

11-07-2006, 01:27 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:
Honestly they could just put the Job System in every game and few people would complain.

[/ QUOTE ]

For certain I wouldn't mind if every FF used the Job System. Since it brings a comfortable and familiar feel to play. However I'd hope for tweaks with each Job System. New Classes, new way to mix abilities, etc. Stuff along those lines. Still no matter what a series does, some people will gripe. Some hate it when things change and some hate it when things remain the same. It's just the way things are.

Azumangaman

11-07-2006, 02:41 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Chacranajxy said:
[ QUOTE ]
Wrath of the Njr said:
Just ordered DOA Xtreme Volleyball 2 for my 360. Play.com say the UK release is 8 December.

Only the 3rd game for my 360 so far, can it play XB games as well? I'd like to pick up DOA2 & XVB 1 without getting another console?

Will DOA ever be made anime?

[/ QUOTE ]

The 360 is somewhat backwards compatible... there's a list of games on the Xbox website... unfortunately, the vast majority of the games that work on the 360 are garbage while gems like Panzer Dragoon Orta are not compatible. Glad I kept my Xbox 1...

[/ QUOTE ]

So...would you reccomend that I hunt down a cheap XBOX Original this holiday season? Because there are LOTS of XBOX games that I want. Hmmm, I'll have to check the XBOX website to see if they're the ones I want.

P.S...Do you have a link to said list? I can't find it.

Chacranajxy

11-07-2006, 03:19 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Azumangaman said:
[ QUOTE ]
Chacranajxy said:
[ QUOTE ]
Wrath of the Njr said:
Just ordered DOA Xtreme Volleyball 2 for my 360. Play.com say the UK release is 8 December.

Only the 3rd game for my 360 so far, can it play XB games as well? I'd like to pick up DOA2 & XVB 1 without getting another console?

Will DOA ever be made anime?

[/ QUOTE ]

The 360 is somewhat backwards compatible... there's a list of games on the Xbox website... unfortunately, the vast majority of the games that work on the 360 are garbage while gems like Panzer Dragoon Orta are not compatible. Glad I kept my Xbox 1...

[/ QUOTE ]

So...would you reccomend that I hunt down a cheap XBOX Original this holiday season? Because there are LOTS of XBOX games that I want. Hmmm, I'll have to check the XBOX website to see if they're the ones I want.

P.S...Do you have a link to said list? I can't find it.

[/ QUOTE ]

List is here: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/backwardcompatibilitygameslist.htm

I think that the Xbox's lineup of exclusives was pretty shitty for the most part, but if there's a number of games that you want to play, then yes, I'd pick up a cheap one rather than rely on the 360.

Johnny

11-07-2006, 03:24 PM

Uh-oh. Looks like someone else may be neglecting Europe. According to Kotaku (http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/wii/rumor-playcom-cant-fill-wii-preorders-213057.php) (bear in mind they are essentially tabloid gaming news and very sensationalist), Play.com are unable to supply preordered Euro Wii's.

That said, it also seems to be coming from Play themselves who are fairly trustworthy. I wonder how the Wii60/anti-Sony brigade will deal with this one if it proves to be true? /images/graemlins/icon_rolleyes.gif

Azumangaman

11-07-2006, 03:30 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Chacranajxy said:
[ QUOTE ]
Azumangaman said:
[ QUOTE ]
Chacranajxy said:
[ QUOTE ]
Wrath of the Njr said:
Just ordered DOA Xtreme Volleyball 2 for my 360. Play.com say the UK release is 8 December.

Only the 3rd game for my 360 so far, can it play XB games as well? I'd like to pick up DOA2 & XVB 1 without getting another console?

Will DOA ever be made anime?

[/ QUOTE ]

The 360 is somewhat backwards compatible... there's a list of games on the Xbox website... unfortunately, the vast majority of the games that work on the 360 are garbage while gems like Panzer Dragoon Orta are not compatible. Glad I kept my Xbox 1...

[/ QUOTE ]

So...would you reccomend that I hunt down a cheap XBOX Original this holiday season? Because there are LOTS of XBOX games that I want. Hmmm, I'll have to check the XBOX website to see if they're the ones I want.

P.S...Do you have a link to said list? I can't find it.

[/ QUOTE ]

List is here: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/backwardcompatibilitygameslist.htm

I think that the Xbox's lineup of exclusives was pretty shitty for the most part, but if there's a number of games that you want to play, then yes, I'd pick up a cheap one rather than rely on the 360.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmm...Well if I can find a dirt cheap XBOX I'll probably get it anyway. Seems like a 360 will be good for me though (I can name like 10 titles that have my interest very much for the 360).

GetterBeam

11-07-2006, 04:06 PM

I'm not surprised. I know I'd hate to be in a position waiting for months on a pre-order because the site/place I had in mind didn't know when to say when and cared not for their customer's convenience. Wii will sell lots...hell...there's no telling how many pre-orders have already been made in the grand scheme of things across the net and brick and mortar realm.

Point is, around the world, more folk will get their desire sated around the launch for each region AND more subsequent folk will be handled faster with each weekly shipment as they work round the clock to manufacture the things.

I'm sure Nin likes selling their Wii so I doubt all that many will be left wanting for terribly long unless the demand suddenly eats folk alive in a DSL/FFIII/latest Pokemon style.

Magus427

11-07-2006, 04:09 PM

I think the lead developer might be getting the boot pretty soon if he keeps on behaving like this:

Itagaki drinking on the job (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/05/itagaki-confesses-to-drinking-on-the-job/)

Itagaki charged with sexual harassment (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/07/scalding-sake-itagaki-charged-with-sexual-harassment-by-real-w/)

-Magus

Chacranajxy

11-07-2006, 04:28 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Magus427 said:
I think the lead developer might be getting the boot pretty soon if he keeps on behaving like this:

Itagaki drinking on the job (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/05/itagaki-confesses-to-drinking-on-the-job/)

Itagaki charged with sexual harassment (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/07/scalding-sake-itagaki-charged-with-sexual-harassment-by-real-w/)

-Magus

[/ QUOTE ]

This just in:

Itagaki's a badass (http://)

Yeah, okay, say what you want about sexual harrasment, but the fact that this guy talks the talk and then does something like this is somehow... respectable.

lostnomad84

11-07-2006, 06:12 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Magus427 said:
I think the lead developer might be getting the boot pretty soon if he keeps on behaving like this:

Itagaki drinking on the job (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/05/itagaki-confesses-to-drinking-on-the-job/)

Itagaki charged with sexual harassment (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/07/scalding-sake-itagaki-charged-with-sexual-harassment-by-real-w/)

-Magus

[/ QUOTE ]

He is one of the few reasons why Tecmo is still around (even though Team Ninja only develops for the 360 and it is lackluster in Japan), so I doubt they would give him the boot so easily.

Randall Flagg

11-07-2006, 10:56 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:
Sounds like somthing I'll definitely have to check out.

[/ QUOTE ]

Here is an example video from youtube (http://youtube.com/watch?v=Kb2ATE8IDJk) itself. It took awhile to find one that wasn't too spoilerish. In short it's a normal battle with some of the party members you can use that shows off a combo.

[/ QUOTE ]

That looks pretty cool. Skimmed part of the review for it at IGN, and the action and puzzle solving sound good. I think I'm gonna definitely pick it up and give it a go.

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:
Since you mentioned that FF8 is a game that you really don't want to level up insanely high, maybe I'll dig it out and give it another go. Just let my characters progress somewhat naturally and see what happens.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah that would be a good idea. Heck you may even consider studying the junction system or perhaps asking for advice on how to work with it. Which can be a good idea even if you're a veteran at RPGs. As you may end up playing something you're not used to.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah, the junction system. I had forgotten about that. I remember it throwing me for quite a loop when I originally tried to play it. The older I get, the less I'm able to adapt my old gamer's brain to things like that.

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:
Would the games you mentioned in your other post be good starter games, or are there others I should start with first? It's a genre of games that I really would like to try and get more into, I just don't really know where to begin.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd consider them decent games to start with. However part of the problem is this. Like many with experience with RPGs, it can be hard to remember what it was like when even the routine stuff was new and confusing. In point of fact my first RPG was Dragon Quest 1, but it was Final Fantasy 4 that got me into RPGs. So you could consider FF4 my starter RPG.

However it isn't just what you decide to play. No matter what RPG you decide to play if you're new to 90% to 100% of the game's features instead of say 20% to 40%. You'll just end being lost and confused. As many of us were. I'm not counting those who can beat games just by blinking. So what actually matters most is getting help with what you play first. Now by help let me explain one thing.

I don't mean things like how to beat each dungeon, defeat every boss, etc. Instead I mean things like having someone explain the battle system, tell you some tricks of the trade, give you advice on how to use party members and abilities. Stuff along those lines. As you play more games the need for advice will lower, but will probably never completely go away for some. Heck I still ask advice on occasion depending on what RPG I'm playing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I doubt I'd ask for help about a dungeon, etc. unless I was completely stuck and about to just give up. I love that feeling of finally figuring something out after fighting with it for a while.

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:
And, also, many thanks for taking the time to go over all of this with me.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah you're welcome and hopefully things will work out for you in terms of RPGs. Another piece of advice. As with any genre be balanced. In short don't expect RPGs to be clones of each other, but at the same time don't be shocked when things seem familiar between games.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think I'll be turned off by things seeming familiar. I mean, as much as I love the Zelda games, they pretty much all come down to enter a dungeon, get an item, beat dungeon boss with that item, repeat a few times, save Hyrule. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

11-07-2006, 11:01 PM

It's official, Maria is awesome. At least that's my current impression of her. Sure she has no death blows, but it's nice being able to clear out a group of enemies in one attack. It can also potentially lessen the damage I'll take and lower the amount of EP I use. Depending on how many enemies I face and the turn order of course. Which is probably why she has a single target skills. I have her with an economether for obvious reasons.

As for Chuchu, I need to use her a bit more. However she has potential. Simply because her way of fighting in gear battles means she won't be adding to the expenses.. Plus her spells make me think "defensive" character. Plus the fact she can speak during normal text on occasion unlike the others makes Chuchu all-powerful! /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

In any case currently I'm at the point where you're trying with Bart and Margie to get the treasure hidden in Nisan by the way of the Fatima Jasper Kind of funny how at one point when Maria is talking, they have her name as Emeralda. Wow I didn't know Maria could channel the spirit of Emeralda. Yeah I know it's an error, but err let me daydream.

Now besides using both Maria and Chuchu a bit more, all that's left is to spend some quality time with Emeralda. Whenever that will be. Hopefully she'll be awesome because she does look rather nice in the images I've seen of her.

Randall Flagg

11-07-2006, 11:02 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:...but it doesn't significantly take away from the game unless you dislike tedious level building...

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I do despise having to level up characters. I remember never being able to get the hang of the junction system.

Randall Flagg

11-07-2006, 11:13 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Hysoka said:
[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:
Just to offer you a contrasting opinion, I think the Junction system of FF8 is by far the most broken of all FF battle systems. What you inevitably end up doing every single time you run into a monster with a spell you haven't drawn before is spending 30 minutes in that battle drawing from it until everybody has 100 of that spell. Once you begin to find powerful spells to junction your characters take enourmous leaps in power with those spells junctioned to certain stats. Very unbalanced overall, but it doesn't significantly take away from the game unless you dislike tedious level building. Because that's all it is is another form of tedious level building only with spell drawing instead of killing greater quantities of monsters.

[/ QUOTE ]

You know, there's a MUCH easier way to abuse FFVIII. All you do is take your airship to that hell island, turn off random battles, and draw like a mofo! Everything is sooooooooooooooooooo fucking easy after that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Where exactly in the game is that? I believe I was on disc 3 when I gave up.

11-07-2006, 11:19 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:
That looks pretty cool. Skimmed part of the review for it at IGN, and the action and puzzle solving sound good. I think I'm gonna definitely pick it up and give it a go.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hopefully you'll find it enjoyable as I did. Personally I'm quite fond of Presea and Colette. They're my favorites and the two I'd personally control directly in Tales of Symphonia. The only negative side to becoming a Tales fan is knowing some games have not come out here and with each new release hoping Namco will bring that out. Still I'm glad to play what I have been able to play. Sooner or later I need to play Tales of the Abyss, but I have other games to work on.

[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:
I don't think I'll be turned off by things seeming familiar.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah that's good to know and nice example with Zelda. Still it's nice to on occasion save Hyrule. Although it has been a long time since I bothered to save Hyrule myself. I guess the citizens are probably angry or something.

Soulblazer

11-08-2006, 06:00 AM

Don't miss the side quest to upgrade Emeralda's body to an adult form.

untoldsorrow

11-08-2006, 10:35 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Chacranajxy said:
I was shocked by the 9.6 from Gamespot. I'm glad this game turned out well and I really hope that the score for this is justified... I do NOT want to experience another Halo. Anyway, It's about time the 360 got a killer app and I can't wait to grab this.

[/ QUOTE ]

Played it last bight with a gruop of friends in co-op, AWESOME FUEAKIN GAME! It actually lives up to the hype, by far the best game this year and I don't even like shooters, 3rd or first (besides RE 4). The amount of detail and fast action blows you away plus its hard as hell.

Johnny

11-08-2006, 10:50 AM

Now this could be another one of those Sony statements where someone blurts something out only to have someone else comment a day or so later saying it was all lies, but from The Magicbox:

[ QUOTE ]
Dav Karraker, senior director of Sony Corp., said that there is a good chance players can download and play Sega Saturn games on PlayStation 3 in future.

[/ QUOTE ]

Loafy

11-08-2006, 11:01 AM

[ QUOTE ]
untoldsorrow said:
[ QUOTE ]
Chacranajxy said:
I was shocked by the 9.6 from Gamespot. I'm glad this game turned out well and I really hope that the score for this is justified... I do NOT want to experience another Halo. Anyway, It's about time the 360 got a killer app and I can't wait to grab this.

[/ QUOTE ]

Played it last bight with a gruop of friends in co-op, AWESOME FUEAKIN GAME! It actually lives up to the hype, by far the best game this year and I don't even like shooters, 3rd or first (besides RE 4). The amount of detail and fast action blows you away plus its hard as hell.

[/ QUOTE ]

I haven't played it yet but the commercial is fanFRIKKINtastic. Just gameplay set too REM's MAD WORLD song. It's haunting and awesome looking. Sheer genius marketing campaign.

11-08-2006, 11:37 AM

[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
Now this could be another one of those Sony statements where someone blurts something out only to have someone else comment a day or so later saying it was all lies, but from The Magicbox:

[ QUOTE ]
Dav Karraker, senior director of Sony Corp., said that there is a good chance players can download and play Sega Saturn games on PlayStation 3 in future.

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

Two words: Dragon Force.

Johnny

11-08-2006, 11:39 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:
[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
Now this could be another one of those Sony statements where someone blurts something out only to have someone else comment a day or so later saying it was all lies, but from The Magicbox:

[ QUOTE ]
Dav Karraker, senior director of Sony Corp., said that there is a good chance players can download and play Sega Saturn games on PlayStation 3 in future.

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

Two words: Dragon Force.

[/ QUOTE ]

Two even better words:

Radiant. Silvergun. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

indigo0086

11-08-2006, 11:42 AM

It's gears of war night, can't wait until school's over.

11-08-2006, 01:02 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Soulblazer said:
Don't miss the side quest to upgrade Emeralda's body to an adult form.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah that's one side quest, I'll have to do. So once I have her, I should probably check one of the FAQs. Still I may want to spend some time with her in child form before moving on to the adult form. I guess I could always do the following. Perhaps stop moving forward, put her in the battle party, and in general fight battles to improve my party a bit. Including the "money for expenses" aspect. Then after I'm content with the improvement. Aka any further improvement would be too tedious. I'll just move forward and do the side quest as soon as Ican.

11-08-2006, 01:38 PM

If this is true, I could see it as a second chance at increasing my Saturn collection. Assuming of course the games are still around when/if I get a PS3. Of course the only question would be which ones to consider.

Johnny

11-08-2006, 01:44 PM

[ QUOTE ]
lostnomad84 said:
[ QUOTE ]
Magus427 said:
I think the lead developer might be getting the boot pretty soon if he keeps on behaving like this:

Itagaki drinking on the job (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/05/itagaki-confesses-to-drinking-on-the-job/)

Itagaki charged with sexual harassment (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/07/scalding-sake-itagaki-charged-with-sexual-harassment-by-real-w/)

-Magus

[/ QUOTE ]

He is one of the few reasons why Tecmo is still around (even though Team Ninja only develops for the 360 and it is lackluster in Japan), so I doubt they would give him the boot so easily.

[/ QUOTE ]

He's made some great games but it's fairly obvious his head is way too far up his own ass.
Wearing sunglasses 100% of the time may be acceptable, but the way he treats interviews/interviewers is pretty arrogant.

Although I guess, depending on your own personal feelings, his behaviour may seem like a good thing.

Randall Flagg

11-08-2006, 01:56 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
Although it has been a long time since I bothered to save Hyrule myself. I guess the citizens are probably angry or something.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, they probably won't be building a statue of you anytime soon. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

Isuzu Inugami

11-08-2006, 02:15 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Randall Flagg said:
[ QUOTE ]
Xcalibur said:...but it doesn't significantly take away from the game unless you dislike tedious level building...

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I do despise having to level up characters. I remember never being able to get the hang of the junction system.

[/ QUOTE ]

GFs are like suits of clothing--you should never go out in public without them. And it's a cold, harsh world out there, so wear as many as you can. I screwed up my first time by worrying about the compatibility rating and assigned GF to specific characters, whether they were in my active party or not. Bad! All GFs should be on active party members at all times. This isn't hard to do, though, because the game gives you the option to transfer GFs plus all junctioned spells between characters whenever you change them.

Each GF has certain stats you can junction spells to--the more you have of the spell, the greater the effect on the stats. So junctioning enough of the right spell may make you immune to fire magic, or even regenerate hp from it. Or raise your strength or defense stats. Different spells are more effective on some stats than others, so try them in different places (you'll see the effect when you're setting it up). As a rule of thumb, rarer, more powerful spells have more oomph than more common ones, so it is worthwhile to try to hang in there and draw 300 from that boss with Aura, for example. (Incidentally, there are more spells in the game than you have slots to hold them, so be careful to keep a slot open for drawing in case you run into something you need during a boss battle. You can shift extra, not so useful spells to your non-active characters and basically use them as a storehouse)

Different GFs allow you to junction to different stat sets, but if you get all of them and learn all junctioning abilities, you can set them up for close to 100% coverage for all three active characters. Pick the right spells, and you'll max out most of your physical stats, eat elemental spells, and be immune to status effect ones. FFVIII is probably the easiest RPG to uberize your characters in I've ever seen.

Yoda47

11-08-2006, 02:35 PM

I'm not sure what all systems it's out for, but Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is very good.

distantmantra

11-08-2006, 02:40 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yoda47 said:
I'm not sure what all systems it's out for, but Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is very good.

[/ QUOTE ]

Xbox and PC. Same thing with the good but inferior, sequel.

Lovely

11-08-2006, 02:43 PM

Well, I've never been a fan of FFVIII myself. But a lot of that had to do with my dislike of Squall.

Anyhoo, after some thought, I figured the most obvious choice for introducing someone to rpg's is: Final Fantasy VII.
Alright here me out here, yes, the game is currently being sequeled to heck and back, but it was a pretty good rpg to play back in the day. For the most part, it's not too difficult. It has a good cast and story. And heck, it's the game that introduced a lot of folks to RPG's. Might as well give it a try ^_~ .

FFVII isn't really short though... But I can't really think of any short PS1 rpg's at the moment.

Leon_Belmont

11-08-2006, 03:33 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Lovely said:
Well, I've never been a fan of FFVIII myself. But a lot of that had to do with my dislike of Squall.

Anyhoo, after some thought, I figured the most obvious choice for introducing someone to rpg's is: Final Fantasy VII.
Alright here me out here, yes, the game is currently being sequeled to heck and back, but it was a pretty good rpg to play back in the day. For the most part, it's not too difficult. It has a good cast and story. And heck, it's the game that introduced a lot of folks to RPG's. Might as well give it a try ^_~ .

FFVII isn't really short though... But I can't really think of any short PS1 rpg's at the moment.

[/ QUOTE ]

There's no way FFVII would be a good introductory RPG nowadays. It certainly was for its time, as its incredibly large fandom indicates, but there are far easier to comprehend games with significantly shorter load times nowadays. And of course better looking. I hate to admit it due to its "meh"ness with me, but X would be a far better starter now. Though I personally think KH trumps them both. Its not a smack in the face like a normal command driven game, you get to do a lot of the movement yourself. Plus, you can set it on easy, and it's...well....pretty easy.

ADC

11-08-2006, 03:42 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Hot Otak said:
I hate to admit it due to its "meh"ness with me, but X would be a far better starter now.

[/ QUOTE ]
I think that, if you're trying to introduce someone to 'traditional' RPGs with something of decent difficulty and good fun and play value, you're far better off with FFX-2 than its predecessor. Still, I like FF7 for the role, and I'd also say FF6 if you have the SNES version ready to roll (the PSX version is way too slow), if you're sticking with the Big Series. Else I'd probably recommend Dragon Quest VIII out of the Generation 6 RPGs.

PhilipReuben

11-08-2006, 03:48 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Though I personally think KH trumps them both. Its not a smack in the face like a normal command driven game, you get to do a lot of the movement yourself. Plus, you can set it on easy, and it's...well....pretty easy.

[/ QUOTE ]

KH's gameplay is nothing like a "typical" RPG, and it also has a weaker story than many of the more popular ones. There's also the fact that it focuses around Disney characters, which some may feel is too "kiddy." Not to mention that the cameos from FF characters would be lost on any new player. Personally I feel it would be a terrible introductory RPG.

I would say FFVII is perfect as long as they can cope with the dated graphics, but obviously YMMV with that one...

jecca-neko

11-08-2006, 04:17 PM

[ QUOTE ]
distantmantra said:
[ QUOTE ]
Yoda47 said:
I'm not sure what all systems it's out for, but Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is very good.

[/ QUOTE ]

Xbox and PC. Same thing with the good but inferior, sequel.

[/ QUOTE ]

I personally think the only reason the sequel is inferior is because 1) Obsidian isn't as good at designing fun levels as Bioware and 2) there were bugs and the incomplete feeling to it. Otherwise, the additional abilities were great and the story had potential to be great. It just didn't have much of an ending.

I still like the original KotOR better, but I think KotOR2 gets more bad rap than it deserves.

Lovely

11-08-2006, 05:03 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Hot Otak said:
[ QUOTE ]
Lovely said:
Well, I've never been a fan of FFVIII myself. But a lot of that had to do with my dislike of Squall.

Anyhoo, after some thought, I figured the most obvious choice for introducing someone to rpg's is: Final Fantasy VII.
Alright here me out here, yes, the game is currently being sequeled to heck and back, but it was a pretty good rpg to play back in the day. For the most part, it's not too difficult. It has a good cast and story. And heck, it's the game that introduced a lot of folks to RPG's. Might as well give it a try ^_~ .

FFVII isn't really short though... But I can't really think of any short PS1 rpg's at the moment.

[/ QUOTE ]

There's no way FFVII would be a good introductory RPG nowadays. It certainly was for its time, as its incredibly large fandom indicates, but there are far easier to comprehend games with significantly shorter load times nowadays. And of course better looking. ...

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, but the person asking for recomendations said he had a PS1 but not a PS2. So that cut my options for recomndations. If PS2 was included, I would of said Wild Arms 4 without hesitation /images/graemlins/happy.gif .

Soulblazer

11-08-2006, 05:32 PM

You don't have to worry about it too soon. If I remember right, it is something you do towards the end of the game since there is also a shop in the dungeon with good mech upgrades (maybe even the best upgrades if I remember right). In any case they help because you can't level up mechs to get around the tough mech boss fights near the end.

ADC

11-08-2006, 06:24 PM

Per Gamestop's article (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6161333.html?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6161333), the ESRB have rated the following games E for Everyone:

• Punch-Out (Mr Dream version)
• Pro Wrestling
• Kirby's Adventure
• Kid Icarus
• Hogan's Alley
• Wild Gunman
• Duck Hunt
• Pilotwings

I guess the Mike Tyson version would have drawn an M.

Mateo_home

11-08-2006, 06:46 PM

[ QUOTE ]
ADC said:
I guess the Mike Tyson version would have drawn an M.

[/ QUOTE ]

Looks that way. Mike Tyson alone is suitable for an M rating.

BTW, even though I have the GBA version, I'm looking forward to Kirby's adventure. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

11-08-2006, 07:40 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Lovely said:
If PS2 was included, I would of said Wild Arms 4 without hesitation /images/graemlins/happy.gif .

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually that would be a rather good choice over all. Mainly because it's a linear RPG where you use the same four characters through out most of the game. Which actually makes it perfect for new players.

The linear aspect gives structure helping to ease players into the genre. While having to use the same four characters removes the need to decide who to use in the party. It also makes you constantly practice with them as you progress forward.

Thus one learns how to combine their individual advantages for the greater good. While learning how to have each of them make up for the others' disadvantages. This can be good experience that one can later apply to RPGs with strict characters.

Finally it also helps that Wild Arms 4 is actually a good game. So that definitely works in its favor. Well yeah there has to be that factor right? If the game was bleh to me it would be hard to recommend it. Too bad the main problem is still the lack of PS2.

ADC

11-08-2006, 07:54 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Mateo said:
Looks that way. Mike Tyson alone is suitable for an M rating.

[/ QUOTE ]
Better watch it, bucko. He'll eat your children. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

11-08-2006, 07:59 PM

Ah yes gears in Xenogears. It's not about training, but buying your way to victory. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif Heh speaking of mech shops, I wonder when I'll get parts to restore fuel or maybe I'm already at that point for all I know and just over looked it.

As for the Emeralda thing. That's good to know. Regardless, I'll be making use of her as much as I can. Especially given how late she's going to be joining at this rate. I still have yet to get her in the party. Yeah I know she joins eventually, but I'm err an impatient person. Okay maybe not ultra impatient, but the sooner I get her the better.

Currently I'm at the point where the party decides to destroy the gate under the Ethos Central Headquarters. Also a plan has been formed and my two parties decided for me. Which probably means I should get around to improving various characters and gears.

ADC

11-08-2006, 08:15 PM

Join the new thread (http://forums.animeondvd.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1464012&page=0&view=colla psed&sb=5&o=7&fpart=1) today, Mac!

ColoradoJim

11-08-2006, 08:19 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Mateo said:
[ QUOTE ]
ADC said:
I guess the Mike Tyson version would have drawn an M.

[/ QUOTE ]

Looks that way. Mike Tyson alone is suitable for an M rating.

[/ QUOTE ]

I never did care much for the Mike Tyson version as I played Punchout in the arcade and Mr Sandman is so much cooler. I still have the SNES Punchout, I should dig that out soon and replay it along with Actraiser.

hub

11-08-2006, 08:21 PM

[ QUOTE ]
johnny said:
He's made some great games but it's fairly obvious his head is way too far up his own ass.
Wearing sunglasses 100% of the time may be acceptable, but the way he treats interviews/interviewers is pretty arrogant.

Although I guess, depending on your own personal feelings, his behaviour may seem like a good thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmm, on the one hand I commend the man for making some great games in the past (I still remember how jaw-dropping DOA2 was the day I bought my Dreamcast, and NG helped define its console generation imo), but some of his personal habits are pretty moronic. It's okay to rag on Tekken or anything else you hate, but to do it in (almost) every interview?

Still, I'm not at all surprised considering this latest snaffu. The man's got a big ego, and it's bound to bite him in the ass sooner or later.