Random thoughts on whatever JRPG you're currently playing?

[NerevarineKing]

My issue was NNK 1 was the horrible combat system that took the worst aspects of real-time and turn-based. I don't care if Studio Ghibli is involved if playing the game sucks.

 

[Thac0]

Playing Ni No Kuni Wrath of the White Witch. "Playing" I mean like hating myself trudging through it. It was all cool and dandy until the grind and realization hit me.
The story is pretty good and full of heart but that gameplay... It can just fuck off. The grind is relentless. That semi real-time, semi turn based combat with dead AI, bad controls, animation cancelling animations and given orders. How anyone could say: 'yeah that's great design'. So finishing it with cheat engine table just to enjoy the story without getting grinded to dust by the grind. Awful, awful combat design. That's probably why they skipped all that pokemon shit in the sequel.

...what the hell are you talking about? NNK1 is ridiculously easy. You never have to repeat a single battle, unless you want to. You even had to use Cheat Engine? The sequel is even easier, by the way.

Lack of difficulty and no need to level up was NNK1's main problem. I remember my 5 year old cousin grabbed the controller one time and beat some random encounters by mashing X, and I was severely underleveled. It's a ridiculously easy game, and the sequel is even worse in that regard.

There is a pretty substantial difficulty spike in the game at some random point (somewhere between getting the boat and the airship). Suddenly the combat gets really fucking frustrating, as everything which is not one specific very overpowered mon gets two shot by the enemies. That is fine for yourself, but the AI is genuinly retarded and keeps dying.
Most of the mid-late and late game I played solo with the two others down, because they are worthless anyway.
Honestly it was more fun before the spike, I guess it is technically possible to make a combat system so shit it becomes less fun when it stops being able to be won by facerolling.

My issue was NNK 1 was the horrible combat system that took the worst aspects of real-time and turn-based. I don't care if Studio Ghibli is involved if playing the game sucks.

The original Ni No Kuni for DS (no Wrath of the White Witch included) was traditional turn based.
I really want to play that version one day if I find the time.

Spoiler

https://cdromance.com/nds-roms/ni-no-kuni-shikkoku-no-madoushi-english-patched/

 

[aweigh]

There is a pretty substantial difficulty spike in the game at some random point (somewhere between getting the boat and the airship). Suddenly the combat gets really fucking frustrating, as everything which is not one specific very overpowered mon gets two shot by the enemies. That is fine for yourself, but the AI is genuinly retarded and keeps dying.
Most of the mid-late and late game I played solo with the two others down, because they are worthless anyway.
Honestly it was more fun before the spike, I guess it is technically possible to make a combat system so shit it becomes less fun when it stops being able to be won by facerolling.



The original Ni No Kuni for DS (no Wrath of the White Witch included) was traditional turn based.
I really want to play that version one day if I find the time.

Spoiler

https://cdromance.com/nds-roms/ni-no-kuni-shikkoku-no-madoushi-english-patched/

Don't know what to tell ya. Never encountered any difficulty spike whatsoever. Game always remained the same for me. At the end I remember I killed those mushroom enemies that were XP bags for fun, mostly out of boredom (at the time it was the only game I had available).

I dunno it probably helped that I liked NNK1's combat, so it didn't seem like a chore to me. I never grinded to beat anything though, only at the very end right before the Witch herself I chose to beat up the mushroom XP bags just for fun, maybe boosted like 4 levels max, and it was the only time in the entire game that I ever sought out extra combat encounters.

Dunno. It's weird. Last thing I imagined anyone complaining about with NNK1 was that it was too difficult. NNK2 is a huge downgrade from the first game, entirety of the game is pathetically easy and mindless "Action combat", even on Hardest difficulty bosses die in like 10 hits. Cast of characters is also weaker.

 

[Thac0]

Don't know what to tell ya. Never encountered any difficulty spike whatsoever. Game always remained the same for me. At the end I remember I killed those mushroom enemies that were XP bags for fun, mostly out of boredom (at the time it was the only game I had available).

I definitly got my shit shoved in 3-5 times when first setting feet on the ice continent. I was quite surprised, since that was the first time I even ever saw the game over screen. Maybe I was supposed to do some more sidequests on the other islands tho.
That or it depends on the choice of pokemon. I used some awfull creatures, because I like their designs and the game is easy anyway.
This floating piece of shit has to be the worst pokemon in the game, but I used it all the way because I like the looks.

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

Two games right now, Caligula Effect Overdose which i already talked about in this thread and started The Last Remnant, finished the tutorial and recruited 2 guys at the Guild. It's early to say but i'm having fun with the combat, very unique and there's tutorial explaining it which makes you wonder if journos just skip all text while playing games.

 

[Duraframe300]

Two games right now, Caligula Effect Overdose which i already talked about in this thread and started The Last Remnant, finished the tutorial and recruited 2 guys at the Guild. It's early to say but i'm having fun with the combat, very unique and there's tutorial explaining it which makes you wonder if journos just skip all text while playing games.

Well that and some people (players and journos, here too) get really anal if they don’t have a full explanation of a games systems.

Specifically with Last Remnant a lot of players fell into the trap of the *Battle Rank* mechanic.

 

[lightbane]

After playing Deltarune Chapter 2, on a whim I decided to replay the Mother/Earthbound trilogy... Or at least tried to. Becoming older, having to work and knowing the plot makes these games less fun as they used to. Not even QoL mods and such help (or perhaps they just suck, ie: Avoid Mother 2 Deluxe, that one can die in a fire).


Either way, now I'm completing Mother 3, not sure what game to play next, either LISA or Omori. I read that Jimmy and the P. Mass is good too, but I dunno which one yet. Any advice?

 

[Falksi]

Ys 8 - shit. Real open world trashy shit.

 

[Malamert]

Finished Zwei The Arges Adventure. Quite a charming and lovely game. A tad short, only took me 31 hours to beat.
The combat is sort of alright. It starts off rather slow, but as you advance and gain access to more elements it gets better. My issue with it is that you don't really have much control as to what enemies are attacked. Say there's a cannoneer that you want to blow away with some magic, but your spells automatically lock on to the mob right next to him and there's not much you can do about it. Rather annoying, but it's not that big of a deal since the combat is pretty fast paced. The game does something unique when it comes to gaining XP. Only way to obtain experience is by eating food dropped by enemies. The stronger the enemy, the better food and thus more XP. You can even exchange ten of the same type of food for one different type of food that gives way more XP. It's neat, but the problem is that food drops aren't guaranteed, so if you're really unlucky you can end up finishing a dungeon and only get three or four items from it. I don't think you need to grind in order to finish the game, but I ended up grinding quite a lot to not fall behind in levels. May have grinded a bit too much as by the end of the game I pretty much facetanked all mobs and the final boss was a joke. Speaking of bosses, there are some neat encounters in this game, though some feel as if they have a bit too much HP, especially early on.
It's a Falcom game, so NPCs back in town have quite a lot to say whenever you advance the story and some are pretty entertaining. The localization is rather lelsoradumbxDDDD at times and I can see it getting on some people's nerves, but I didn't really mind it. The protagonists, Pokkle & Pipiro are entertaining enough. Pokkle is blasting puns left and right nonstop and Pipiro is a lovable brat.
The graphics are great, provided you launch the game with the --pixel_perfect command to avoid the image being blurred to hell and back. Character and monster designs are all great and very wholesome. Dungeon environments are a mixed bag, unfortunately. Most of them are just generic and uninteresting, but there are a few near the end of the game that are pretty bitchin.
Game has two soundtrack options: Original & Arrange. Didn't really care much for the arrange tracks, so I just played the game with the original soundtrack.
Not much to say about the story other than it's there and there's nothing really to it. The six idols were stolen, now go get them back so Pipiro can spend the reward money on clothes.
So, yea, it was an enjoyable little adventure. Might give NG+ a go one of these days.

Oh and the Ys typing mini-game is rather unbalanced near the end with bosses machinegun firing letters at you.

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

Jesus Christ, the grinding for materials on The Last Remnant.

 

[ghostdog]

Playing Dark Souls for the n-th time.. still love this fucking game.

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

Playing Dark Souls for the n-th time.. still love this fucking game.

Dark Souls is one of those games i played the fuck out from, i'm talking about at least 20 playthroughs and getting all trophies, until this day i never had the thought in my mind about replaying it, i haven't even played DS3, Sekiro or Elden Ring (don't even know if it's out). It's been 10 years since i last played the game, haven't played the DLC neither.

 

[ghostdog]

Playing Dark Souls for the n-th time.. still love this fucking game.

Dark Souls is one of those games i played the fuck out from, i'm talking about at least 20 playthroughs and getting all trophies, until this day i never had the thought in my mind about replaying it, i haven't even played DS3, Sekiro or Elden Ring (don't even know if it's out). It's been 10 years since i last played the game, haven't played the DLC neither.

Understandable, you burned out with all those playthroughts in one go. I don't really care about trophies, so I just replay it when I feel like it. The DLC is pretty good BTW.

 

[spekkio]

BROs, finished Devil Survivor 2 - Record Breaker

funny pics inside

A Young Fellow telling Io it how it is:

Boyfriend? What boyfriend? Team Makoto all the way, baby! :D

I love all the choices you get in these games. Esp the choice to fucking beat up everyone:

Or the choice to join the Sheitan against the Master Controller:

Or game's diplomacy (for example beating up girls from your harem to obedience):

Which shouldn't be that hard if you go crazyyy in the Cathedral:

The Boob Brigade ready for action:

During the final day, Makoto has a chance to catch up with her previous boss:

Seconds later:

What can I say? Hoes before bros, dude!

Only one thing left:

And after (pathetically easy when compared to DeSu1) final fight...

Only ~50 hours? Weak. Anyway...

Pros:

• Both DeSu games are easily one of the best japtacticals ever made. I've played a lot of these (Ogre Battle clones, Fire Emblems, Front Missions) and I don't think anything can beat the sheer fun of utilizing all the game's systems to your advantage.
• Great mission design, requiring different skills, with the ability to quickly traverse the map being essential most of the time - which is sadly underused in other "tactical" games.
• The only games I played where the VN mechanics actually make sense (saving characters, increasing social links).
• New skills make the game even more complex and fun that DeSu1.
• No retarded "solve a puzzle to win" boss battles.
• CYOA done right. Your choices will literally change game's world. Multiple playthroughs galore.
• Don't like some character? Fucking kill him / wait for somebody to do it for you.
• Cheesy writing is fun, fuck the haters. Apocalypse or not, we must hit on every chick that still remains!
• Boobies!

Cons:

• Much easier than DeSu1, and I don't think it's the fault of me (still being traumatized after DeSu1) choosing the Blessed difficulty. Will check the bonus scenario on Hard later.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Character design can be too much for some people. I would've preferred something less animu too (similar to Strange Journey's art for example).
• If you want complex characters, world exploration, deep emotions and gay romances, look elsewhere. This game is 25% combat, 50% browsing menus to prepare for combat and 25% reading cheesy dialogues.

Now if only somebody made a proper HQ Texture pack for these games (which would IMO require extracting some game files and making a romfs mod) - that would've been hevan.

fuck the haters

Imma play myself some Fire Emblem for a slight mood change and then I plan to go back to DeSu1 and clear another ending. And then Triangulum.



Kudos to fAtlus for not bringing itz best games (SMT, DeSu, SJ) to PC / Steam, and locking them to some dead handheld console instead.

Maybe some indiefags will resurrect the genre in the future, same way it happened with Resident Evil / Silent Hill recently. I mean just ditch demons and lore for obvious reasons, go with recruitable characters with different skills / some tweakable androids or shit, to get sth similar to this (multiple teams with different "race / job" and "individual" skills):

And you're set. A couple thousands copies sold. At best.

 

[Thac0]

And you're set. A couple thousands copies sold. At best.

I wouldn't be so pessimistic, there is a lot of hype for Triangle Strategy in mainstream JRPG forums, so if that isn't complete vomit the SRPG subgenre may just revive. Fire Emblem Awakening laid the foundations for that.
If that happens Atlus may look at what IPs they hold to capitalise on the success, and given that SRPGs are a very hardcore fanbase there is a realistic chance DESU rises like the phoenix from the ashes.

Spoiler

That or we get Persona Tactics with a more marketable name and even bigger tits

 

[lightbane]

Shame the writing in DeSu 2 is shit-tier, I tried multiple times to play it but nope, it's just too bad. Also, it is pretty much wannabe-Evangelion with SMT demons shoved in, there's even a Gayworu dude.

 

[Malamert]

Finished Zwei The Ilvard Insurrection. It's quite a step up from the first game. It's a very charming, lovely and, at times, grand adventure. It's still a bit too short, unfortunately. Only took me 53 hours to beat and I even took my time talking with everyone between boss fights and farmed quite a bit.
The combat is way better than in the first game. It's faster, more responsive and beating up enemies just feels good, y'know? XP works the same as in the first game, but this time food drops are increased by quite a lot and there's an easy way to boost yourself to level 30 in no time. The cool part about maxing yourself early on is that you also obtain an item that can increase dungeon levels to 30, so enemies will always pose a threat. The protagonist is a treasure hunter and he can advance in ranks by finishing dungeons with higher scores. It's quite worth it to Platinum or at least Gold most of the dungeons and boss fights since one of the higher level rewards pretty much makes the magic character an unstoppable killing machine. Boss fights are pretty rad, spectacular and amazing, also none of them were damage sponges like some from the first game.
There are quite a good deal of entertaining and hilarious characters present in Ilvard. Had a blast revisiting each location after boss fights to see what the denizens of the floating island were up to and what they had to say. Ragna and Alwen are enjoyable protagonists with some neat banter here and there. Events are good fun and quite a riot at times, though it felt as if Pokkle and Pipiro came off a bit too much like two silly goofballs. Sure, they are quite a tad silly in the first game, but come on, they beat up a demon lord, they're competent fighters. Anyway, the localization is also a lot better this time.
Force some anti-aliasing and the graphics are splendid. Character, monster and boss designs are all charming, lovely, radical and the real deal. Environments are also absolutely superb. There are some amazing areas in this game.
The soundtrack is also quite an improvement, but I wish the game had an ED song. Ah well, at least the OP is tubular.
Story's nothing amazing or original, but it works well enough and it leads to some cool moments.
So, yea, enjoyed this a lot more than the first game. Definitely worth a play. Might have to blast NG+ soon.

Oh, I'm also very proud of myself for not confusing a certain character for a boy.

 

[Reinhardt]

Damn, Super Robot Wars is gud. Playing V right now, my first game in series ever and having much fun. ~30 hours in and i'm not even halfway first playthrough. Not even skipping animations. If they are all this good i'm glad i decided to start.
Pity game is one of the easiest in the series from what i heard but at least it means i can level people i like instead of people i need. I think there is only one character i level because of things he do in game - Maito, because he brings me more funds just for existing on battlefield. Gave him parts for generating income for every step he walks.

 

[Kaivokz]

Had some time to play handheld recently:

Dragon Quest IV (DS Remake) w/ the party banter patch

The perspective chapters make an otherwise vanilla story more enjoyable. Ragnar McRyan is a pretty sweet name for a castle guard: it's a shame his chapter with Healie was so short. I think I'm about on the end of Alena's chapter now (just did the competition) and it feels 3 or 4 times as long as Ragnar's. On a side note, I would play DQ Heroes just to kick things around as Ragnar--too bad they locked him to the Jap only switch version. Party banter does include a lot of characterization. Not a lot more to say about it other than that it's a comfy kind of game.


SaGa 1 (from the switch Saga collection)

Loving this one. I played SaGa 3 a lot when I was a kid and the first game is fun for a lot of the same reasons. I intend to play 2 and 3 again, maybe the fan translations of the DS remakes, but wanted to play 1 first. The writing is surprisingly refreshing despite how little there is. Toward the beginning when you're gathering the sword, shield and armor of the hero to gain access to the tower, one of the castle's advisors poisons the king and the dialogue goes something to the effect of: "Please spare me!" "You betrayed your king. Traitors deserve death." and then you kill the advisor; no 10 minute cut-scene or fluff.

I made a party of 1 male human, 1 female mutant, and 2 monsters. I think I've just gotten to the fourth tier of the tower. So far the human and mutant have been carrying the team and the monsters barely contribute anything (except becoming hornets and healing the others ). I've just transformed one of them into an ogre (I think?) and he does about 150 damage a hit, while the human is hitting for 800 damage with a sword (and not even the strongest sword I have) and the mutant either hits for 300 with her psi knife or ~300 to a stack with magic and can heal for a ton with rods. Human has 408 health because I haven't found anything higher than HP400 potions yet, while mutant is almost at 900. It took me awhile to figure out that I had to investigate the palm tree from the side to get the air seed so I could go to the palace at the bottom of the sea (I kept inspecting right on top of it), so I might be over leveled a bit; the mutant also has 99+ mag and agi. Seems like mutants are objectively the best right now (even though their abilities randomly change; magic + use-based stat gains are really good), but maybe there are some strong monsters later.

Supposedly there was some "censoring" of the game, but it mostly seems like grammatical fixes and some item names changed for unknown reasons. At least with SaGa 1 there isn't really much dialogue to butcher (and males still have higher strength while females have higher agility).

 

[Miner 2049er]

Brigandine - The legend of Runersia
One of a kind (except the predecessor that I have never played). Rich tactical layer. Character management with class changing. Rich strategy layer. It even manages to put in a lot of worldbuilding and story. Epic in scope and ambition. Successfully pulled off.

 

[Modron]

I am about to finish Trails in the Sky Second Chapter, is the third one entirely skippable? I've heard it's basically a big ass lore dump wrapped around one big dungeon crawl, does it have any redeeming features to make up for the decline in pacing and design?

 

[Reinhardt]

I asked same question year ago in trails thread. Play it, it's gud.

 

[Falksi]

DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition (4 / 10) - As I wrote above, I hate the classic turn-based combat. And in general, no offense to the fans, but I consider the Dragon Quest series one of the worst.

Wha?

Don't get me wrong I think DQ11's a piece of shit too, but you "hate the classic turn-based combat", yet have the username "Jrpglover"?

Do you have an alt called "CRPGlover" where you despise party-based exploration?

 

[jrpglover]

DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition (4 / 10) - As I wrote above, I hate the classic turn-based combat. And in general, no offense to the fans, but I consider the Dragon Quest series one of the worst.

Wha?

Don't get me wrong I think DQ11's a piece of shit too, but you "hate the classic turn-based combat", yet have the username "Jrpglover"?

Do you have an alt called "CRPGlover" where you despise party-based exploration?

Well, I don't like most old JRPGs, and my first JRPG was Vagrant Story, so it's no surprise that after such a masterpiece, Dragon Quest's shitty combat seems disgusting and intolerable

It was followed by the Grandia tetralogy, Dark Cloud duology, King's Field: The Ancient City (is it considered a JRPG?), the Shadow Hearts trilogy, the original .hack tetralogy, Wild Arms 5, Final Fantasy XII, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, etc.

Of course, after the combat system of these games, the classic turn-based combat became a piece of crap for me :D

 

[Reinhardt]

Of course

no