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KickStarter Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark - Final Fantasy Tactics-like RPG

jungl

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whatever happened to that other tactics kickstarter game I believe had 2 people developing it.
 

Shackleton

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture
This game is really good bros. I've not been so absorbed in an SRPG since the days of FFT. Really scratches the itch when it comes to building characters and unlocking classes, planning out how to best utilise the class/ subclass to get the best synergy and passives. I'd like weapon skills as well, but can't have everything!

It doesn't really make the best first impression with the oversized UI and mish-mash of art styles, but I'm so glad I stuck with it past the first couple of maps. Now just got resist the temptation to grind easier maps so I don't overlevel the main ones.

Game deserves more codex love, shame it's tucked away here in the incline forum and not in the 'strategy' forum.

:thumbsup:
 

Shackleton

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture
One little thing I really like is the way they handle items in this. As a hoarder, I always tend to save my consumables when playing, 'just in case' a really tough battle or specific situation occurs. Which of course it rarely does so consumables are always a bit under-utilised. Here, they limit the consumable usage in battle, but once they're unlocked or upgraded through crafting, they're refilled after every map so you have no incentive to NOT use them. A well-placed rock or potion has saved me on more than one occasion.

I'm playing on the basic 'hard' setting and finding it a pretty good balance for me. I'm generally redoing every map at least once after the story battle for the XP and not obsessing about grinding on maps, but finding the story battles are still a good challenge but doable with a death or two.
 

Abu Antar

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Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
How about the characters and main story? Those are the things I worry about the most.
 

Jinn

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How about the characters and main story? Those are the things I worry about the most.

Story in the first 10-15 hours has honestly been pretty mediocre, especially when compared to FFT and Tactics Ogre, but to be fair those two have some of the best stories in video game history.

What I do like is the introduction to a somewhat unique setting and I've found the characters to be very likeable. The writing catches me off guard sometimes with how subtle it can be, and how it can kind of pull me in without realizing it. I become invested sometimes when I least expect to be might be a good way of putting it.

I'd say play primarily for gameplay, and be open to the story, but not expecting something too grand. Could change later in the game for all I know.
 
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Shackleton

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture
How about the characters and main story? Those are the things I worry about the most.

Story in the first 10-15 hours has honestly been pretty mediocre, especially when compared to FFT and Tactics Ogre, but to be fair those two have some of the best stories in video game history.

What I do like is the introduction to a somewhat unique setting and I've found the characters to be very likeable. The writing catches me off guard sometimes with how subtle it can be, and how it can kind of pull me in without realizing it. I become invested sometimes when I least expect to be might be a good way of putting it.

I'd say play primarily for gameplay, and be open to the story, but not expecting something too grand. Could change later in the game for all I know.

Yes, early days but the story is passable so far. It does the job of driving the characters on, but it's started with a rather typical 'chase after a baddie who appears to have friends in high places'. As Jinn says, it's a strategy game first and foremost and the story is just there to give you a reason to keep moving on towards the next node. I'm sure there'll be a twist somewhere and characters might be added or removed etc etc, but this is a turn based strategy game, not a storyfag game.

Regarding the characters, I hesitate to say this, but stay away from it if you are easily triggered by all the 'sjw' stuff. Personally I'm not particularly bothered, but the main char is very much in the 'strong independent woman' role and her sidekicks are another younger, strong independent woman and a man who follows her around and does all the cooking. I know there are posters on Codex who start frothing at the mouth over stuff like this, so it would be remiss not to mention it. If you can see past that and have any interest at all in the genre, get it. There's about 30-odd classes you can level up, all with different skills and stat growth, loads of weapons and items and a decent challenge.
 

Abu Antar

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Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
It bothers me to some degree, but it won’t stop me from buying the game at some point, probably during the summer sale. Stronk wymyn isn’t a big problem if presented well, though.

If it’s fun to play, and it scratches the FF Tactics or Tactics Ogre style gameplay itch that I have, I’m good.
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
It bothers me to some degree, but it won’t stop me from buying the game at some point, probably during the summer sale. Stronk wymyn isn’t a big problem if presented well, though.

If it’s fun to play, and it scratches the FF Tactics or Tactics Ogre style gameplay itch that I have, I’m good.
From what I've seen from my couple of hours of playtime said women have been "competent at their job" -variants, not "wimminz rule, men drool, lolz" -cases.

Liking the combats so far, but FFT style games are new experience for me.
 

Abu Antar

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Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
It bothers me to some degree, but it won’t stop me from buying the game at some point, probably during the summer sale. Stronk wymyn isn’t a big problem if presented well, though.

If it’s fun to play, and it scratches the FF Tactics or Tactics Ogre style gameplay itch that I have, I’m good.
From what I've seen from my couple of hours of playtime said women have been "competent at their job" -variants, not "wimminz rule, men drool, lolz" -cases.

Liking the combats so far, but FFT style games are new experience for me.
If ever you get the chance, try out both Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre. They are great.
 

Modron

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From what I've seen from my couple of hours of playtime said women have been "competent at their job" -variants, not "wimminz rule, men drool, lolz" -cases.

Liking the combats so far, but FFT style games are new experience for me.
If ever you get the chance, try out both Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre. They are great.
Make sure to play Ogre battle 64 as well and Front Mission 1/3 (plus 2 if you enjoyed those and maybe 4).
 

Serious_Business

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Played this at a buddy's house yersterday. This is really made for people who liked FFT and Ogre Tactics - the formula is entirely the same. I haven't played it enough to figure if it was refined, but it seems so : the difficulty settings, notably, seem to allow a greater complexity of gameplay. To me FFT and Ogre are worth to be put in the the tactics patheon alongside X-Com, Jagged Alliance and Battle Brothers, but if you're of a differing opinion, you won't like this. And if you don't like the main character to be female, you can go slit your own wrists right now, you sad fuck
 

Monkeyfinger

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This is an FFT clone for people who are drawn to tinkering with job combos. There's a huge variety of jobs and abilities and higher difficulties are hard enough to make you suffer if you can't figure out which combos are good.

A lot of people liked FFT for the story, which was heavy on cutscene time and full of dirty politics, backroom deal porn, and struggles of the small folk. Fell Seal doesn't have that, it's a by the books "ancient evil has broken loose, go kill him" story with very light presentation.
 

jungl

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I was never a big fan of the ps1/psp FFT. its one of the worst tactics game I played and I played a shit ton from vandal hearts to indie Russian stuff like night watch. Gameplay too slow, grindy and story was whatever. The first gba final fantasy tactics game was a lot better.
 

Darth Canoli

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I was never a big fan of the ps1/psp FFT. its one of the worst tactics game I played and I played a shit ton from vandal hearts to indie Russian stuff like night watch. Gameplay too slow, grindy and story was whatever. The first gba final fantasy tactics game was a lot better.

I agree, tried to replay them last year and finally end up playing this one which was quite enjoyable, ogre tactics (not sure which one) was a pain, you start with a couple of fights where you control one or a few characters and then, you jump in a full scale fight with 9 to control and it's a huge mess.

To me FFT and Ogre are worth to be put in the the tactics patheon alongside X-Com, Jagged Alliance and Battle Brothers, but if you're of a differing opinion, you won't like this.

I wouldn't go that far, best TB PC games >>>>>>>>> tactics console games and the original x-com is out of FFT and tactics ogre's league, even my beloved Shining Force 1 & 2 can't compete.
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/122246-fell-seal-arbiter-s-mark-reviews.html

OnlySP 4/5:

The most impressive aspect of Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark is how accessible the game is without sacrificing the in-depth complexity the tactical RPG is loved for. Specific terminology is explained with a press of the touchpad, and new enemy types are introduced at an even pace. The smoothly interwoven story and addictive combat can make entire afternoons disappear.

Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark embodies the heart of an epic adventure. A spiritual sequel to one of the most beloved titles in gaming, the game holds its own as a clever tactical experience that anyone can enjoy.​

PlayStation LifeStyle 8.5/10:

My other main takeaway was that despite the dirge-like pace that the gameplay processed, the experience still felt like it wasn’t long enough. Sure, I’m more than willing to admit that this feeling may have been the byproduct of enjoying the game so much that I simply didn’t want it to end. However, I felt that there was far more depth in the world that was waiting to be explored. We had simply scratched the surface of a much bigger universe, which despite delivering a great experience, still left me slightly unfulfilled.

One of the staples of an awesome game is the fact that it leaves you jonesing for more. Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark accomplishes this with a style and grace of a bygone era of game design. Here’s to hoping there is more content on the way, because I can’t wait for my next dose of tactical action.​

TheXboxHub 5/5:

In conclusion then and I have no issues with saying that Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark is a truly great game. One of the problems that I always face is finding the time to play all the games that are currently on my list. Having a game like this – one that demands that I keep playing just to see what happens – makes the balancing act even more difficult. The hook, the draw, the sheer bloody difficulty of the game and the strong, strong urge to see what becomes of Kyrie almost refused to let me play anything else until this review and my overall thoughts were complete.

As a tactical strategy game, this is very close to the old Fire Emblem games, and praise doesn’t come any higher than that.​

Turn Based Lovers 7/10:

Despite my misgivings, I still wouldn’t call Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark a bad game. In fact, I would additionally like to praise its visuals, that are not some shoddy pixel graphics, but hi-res 2d-sprites. And artists still crafted them to remind of Final Fantasy style of the 90-s.

Ultimately, a choice to buy the game or not depends on your priorities. If you wanted a dramatic and deep story, with memorable characters that jRPGs are known for – sorry, wrong game. And don’t expect some original world either.

But if you’re in for turn-based tactics, where you use crafty combos and tricky maneuvers to accomplish your mission – Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark will provide it in abundance. In addition, it allows very fine tuning of difficulty.​

Digitally Downloaded 4.5/5:

Fell Seal came out of nowhere. That's my fault because I don't really follow Kickstarter these days, and that's where this one got its start. But I'm so glad that I had the chance to play it. It's the perfect blend of a classical, nostalgic love letter to the genesis of the tactics RPG, while at the same time offering just enough to subvert expectations so that even genre veterans will have trouble putting this one down.​

Indie Game Reviewer 4.5/5:

Add in a rudimentary crafting system and a variety of class-dependent weapons, and you can end up spending as much time fiddling with your characters’ abilities and gear as you do in combat. There’s enough to play around with here to appeal to longtime fans of the genre, but it unlocks at an accessible pace to keep beginners from feeling too overwhelmed.

Between its compelling combat, compulsive character customization and just plain charm, Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark is as good as any of the classic tactical RPGs that inspired it. If you’re the least bit interested in the genre, this is a must-play.​
 

Removal

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It's pretty gud, easy to pick up and play for a bit.
biggest issue I'm seeing so far is the sameness of encounters, pretty much every fight is "eliminate all enemies" or "eliminate commander hiding behind the enemies" and a lot of the maps aren't super interesting
 

Blaine

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Grab the Codex by the pussy
Regarding the characters, I hesitate to say this, but stay away from it if you are easily triggered by all the 'sjw' stuff. Personally I'm not particularly bothered, but the main char is very much in the 'strong independent woman' role and her sidekicks are another younger, strong independent woman and a man who follows her around and does all the cooking. I know there are posters on Codex who start frothing at the mouth over stuff like this, so it would be remiss not to mention it. If you can see past that and have any interest at all in the genre, get it. There's about 30-odd classes you can level up, all with different skills and stat growth, loads of weapons and items and a decent challenge.

From what I've seen from my couple of hours of playtime said women have been "competent at their job" -variants, not "wimminz rule, men drool, lolz" -cases.

The captain and lieutenant in this medieval fantasy combat game are both women, while the cook is a man; the first (main?) villain is an extremely white aristocrat. (I imagine he'll start a cult bent on gassing the entire goblin race somewhere along the way.)

This is very slightly suspicious given that the game was developed by people who are almost certainly left-wingers existing in today's highly interesting political environment.

Not thirty minutes into the game, the evil white male villain insults the captain and lieutenant, calling them "little girls." The lieutenant responds (paraphrasing): "If we're just little girls, how did you let us capture you, then?".

The inherent dual ironies are apparently lost on the game's developers: firstly, that women were dominated by men for thousands of years; and secondly, that women by and large only manage to be physically intimidating in fiction. Reality imposes few limits on the imagination—but outside of fantasy and outright delusion, female police officers and soldiers generally have a bad time when shit actually gets real despite the many subtle and unspoken ways in which they're kept more protected than their male counterparts.

All that being said, the dynamic here probably isn't terribly different than the dynamic you might have seen in Xena: Warrior Princess or even She-Ra back in the day, except that the underlying identity politics rhetoric has become far more radicalized and zealous with the passage of time.
 
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Hyperion

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the first (main?) villain is an extremely white aristocrat.
I'm not very far in the game yet, but the story is a mish-mash of trying to be like FFT and a pretty typical cheesy JRPG, and it meshes as well as the portraits do. The guy you're talking about is more of a Cardinal Draclau-type. Same fate, same exact type of fight, actually. But more of a bonehead. Not in the "hurr durr, white men are st00pit" style, but the game is full of bumbling idiots, because it doesn't know if it wants to be FFT or Disgaea. Quality is about on par with the latter for sure. The bipedal insectoid makes lots of corny, sometimes inappropriate jokes. Maybe I'm a sick fuck, but I definitely noticed a 'facial' joke being made at the protag's expense during the rescue mission. I'm playing with customized difficulty* but the bugman definitely didn't need saving, and kicked way more ass than my girls did.

The captain and lieutenant in this medieval fantasy combat game are both women
Both get their power from extraordinary means. One through a curse, the other through being a bit of a 'chosen one,' because she can't be bought by nobles and the like.

while the cook is a man
All the world's best chefs are men, we've known this for a long time. And he's a master of espionage from what I gather. Though the game's version of espionage is searching through a dude's boots and finding a convenient plot, and party-saving document. He also outdamages the fuck out of both of them right now as a Gunner / Scoundrel. Kyrie as a Templar has better Burst though. That class is incredible, fuck me.

*Customizable difficulty is my favorite part of the game so far. I turned off injuries because I think they're kinda dumb (game also has a terrible habit of you missing with 95%+ hit chance at the most inopportune times, straight outta Fire Emblem), but added Extra + Elite enemies, Max Equipment, Skills, some Upward Level Scaling, lots of enemies using items and revive stuff, and may have given enemies a slight stat boost but I don't recall.

Besides the plot being painfully dull, enemies infrequently dropping components only is highly disappointing, and a mark of modern RPG decline. I HATE having to farm rare materials just to craft an item. Takes away any sense of wonder, and challenge from getting cool shit. I'd rather steal the Genji shit from Elmdor again. The obvious conflict between the game and portrait art is jarring, to say the least. Some of the portraits look as though they belong in Pillars or Baldur's Gate, while others are clearly photos of backers made into characters. The shopkeeper portrait in Centina made me laugh out loud, and probably belongs in the Omega Turbodweeb Thread.
 

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