Random thoughts on whatever JRPG you're currently playing?

[Cromwell]

I started aegis rim on yuzu I am seeing the third protagonist now and still have no fuckign idea whats even happening here.

 

[Puukko]

I started aegis rim on yuzu I am seeing the third protagonist now and still have no fuckign idea whats even happening here.

13 Sentinels.

 

[flyingjohn]

Playing dq 8 on the 3ds and one thing bugs me.The enemies run out of mp way too quickly.
Is this a 3ds change or was the original ps2 game like that too?

I like that you can see the enemies on screen,shame their loading kills my fps.

 

[Thorakitai]

I've recently finished Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky: First Chapter and I can honestly say that among the many JRPGs I've known, very few can actually feel like it's been crafted with love and effort.

Take the graphics for instance, it's not some technological marvel and the character models are chibi but the game puts out all the stops to make it a living breathing world and the few action cutscenes it has are well animated.

The gameplay is also nice to those new to JRPGs (for staters you can actually encounter monsters on the field and you can ambush or avoid them at will) while at the same time it's actually challenging when it can be.

I also liked how they managed to spice up the usual JRPG sidequest in many ways besides monster killing and materials collection. Some are puzzle missions, others have you making a crucial choice that gives you a bonus if get it right.

And of course, the story and characters are quite endearing and also engaging at the same time.

Now on to the Second Chapter, I've been keeping myself from reading any spoilers and I'm hyped to finally play it.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Ring of Red is a mech SRPG set in an alternate Cold War timeline. The divergence point begins in August 1945, when Japan does not surrender after the dropping of the bombs. The Soviets aren't intimidated and invade Japan, claiming the relatively undefended North while the Americans are bogged down fighting the Japanese in the South. Having exhausted their momentum and the war turning into a stalemate, the Allies decide to settle and thus Japan is partitioned between North and South.

A proxy war between the US and the USSR through their North and South puppets breaks out in 1950, but once again ends in a stalemate and the creation of a demilitarized zone in 1954. Another 10 years later, in August 1964, the plot of the game begins when a legendary Japanese war hero (who also fought in the Vietnam war) hijacks an experimental mech for the Soviets. The player's team is disavowed by the South Japanese as mercenaries and invades North Japan with a company of soldiers (and some assistance from rebels in NJ) to recover or destroy the stolen experimental mech.

In the story, mech development began in Germany, but wasn't ready in time to change Germany's fate. German engineers escaped to Japan and finished their work there. The mechs (called Armored Fighting Weapons, or AFWs) proved themselves in Japan's extremely mountainous terrain and have become a standard part of an army's arsenal.

You have a pretty interesting cast of characters. The main character is a half German, half Japanese boy who angsts over his blood. Two of your superior officers are Nazis who escaped to Japan, one of whom is a confirmed war criminal. You have an American marine who was discharged. An Italian who wants to prove that his race aren't cowards and volunteers to fight alongside his Japanese and German allies. Several child soldiers who have grown up knowing nothing but poverty and angst. An old man who has been leading a dwindling resistance movement in the mountains for 20 years. And one sane officer who recorded the events of the story in his journal.

Gameplay wise, the main gimmick is distance. Different AFWs are more effective or ineffective at different distances. Light chicken-walker AFWs totting around machineguns are strongest when at close range to their target, but are hit with a nasty damage and accuracy falloff the further away they are. Quad legged 4AFWs carrying huge artillery pieces are the opposite, being most effective at long range, but are ineffective at close range. Bipedal medium AFWs do pretty okay at any distance, but can also slug it out in close combat. AFWs are also accompanied by three squads of soldiers who can perform repairs, lay down landmines or electrical wire, clear debris out of the path of the mech, load special shells into the mech's gun, shoot at enemy soldiers, etc.

So the meta is this: your light chicken walkers and your heavy 4AFWs should engage the enemy first and take out their soldiers. Your Light AFWs should engage enemy 4AFWs at short range, where the enemy quad mech's weaponry is ineffective. Likewise your 4AFWs should engage enemy light AFWs at long range, where the enemy chicken walkers are ineffective. Wipe out the enemy soldiers accompanying the opposing AFW. The squads assigned to your light and 4AFWs should be dedicated to anti-personnel tactics, such as infantry squads or crews that can load incendiary ammunition into the mech. Then, you send in your medium AFWs who can concentrate on destroying the enemy AFW unharrased by enemy soldiers who can't deploy smoke or flashbangs to decrease your accuracy or deploy wires or landmines that prevent you from entering into melee range and clobbering the defenseless mech. Your medium AFWs should be escorted by squads that maximize damage against the enemy AFW, such as mortar squads or crews that can load HEAT ammunition into your mech.

The best part of Ring of Red is its cinematic presentation of combat. When two units enter into combat, a 90 second montage begins showing your mech slowly march into enemy fire. You can order your squads around. When the crew on your mech loads the next shell, you look down the scope at the enemy mech wait as the hit percentage slowly goes up. As your scope is zeroing in on the enemy mech, you can see your infantrymen lobbing grenades or being turned into pink mist or being gassed while intense music is playing. There is the fear that the enemy mech might fire first, and if they do hit your mech then your hit percentage resets (which means more time waiting for your accuracy to go up enough that you are likely to hit) and you've lost a shot in the engagement.

There is also the fear that your squads might be eviscerated before you can exit the scope and order your men to retreat behind your mech for protection, so there is pressure to fire your gun early before it is zeroed in on the enemy mech enough to likely hit. The 8 pilots are immortal and respawn in the next mission, but there is permadeath for your squads and they are limited in number. You arrive in North Japan with about 10 squads but can only recruit a couple dozen more squads of rebels. I had lost about 10 squads by the half way point of the game before I figured out the meta.

Unfortunately, the spectacular combat is also the game's great weakness. Often times, the combat sequences can take upwards of two minutes because time pauses when an infantry squadron is ordered to do something or a mech uses a special ability. It usually takes at least 2 or 3 combat sequences blow up an enemy mech (sometimes as much as 5 if an enemy mech is in a fortified position such as a city or if it is a boss mech). Missions can have you face 10 to 30 enemy mechs. A mission can easily take over an hour and a half, and there are 17 missions. So you're looking at a 30-50+ hour long game. Perhaps if you could fight up to 2 or 3 mechs in an engagement and cut down the number total engagements by 1/2 or 2/3, making the game into 10-20 hours long, the game would have been more enjoyable. After the novelty of the first few hours wears off, you really want to play the game on turbo.

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

Ring of Red is a mech SRPG set in an alternate Cold War timeline. The divergence point begins in August 1945, when Japan does not surrender after the dropping of the bombs. The Soviets aren't intimidated and invade Japan, claiming the relatively undefended North while the Americans are bogged down fighting the Japanese in the South. Having exhausted their momentum and the war turning into a stalemate, the Allies decide to settle and thus Japan is partitioned between North and South.

A proxy war between the US and the USSR through their North and South puppets breaks out in 1950, but once again ends in a stalemate and the creation of a demilitarized zone in 1954. Another 10 years later, in August 1964, the plot of the game begins when a legendary Japanese war hero (who also fought in the Vietnam war) hijacks an experimental mech for the Soviets. The player's team is disavowed by the South Japanese as mercenaries and invades North Japan with a company of soldiers (and some assistance from rebels in NJ) to recover or destroy the stolen experimental mech.

In the story, mech development began in Germany, but wasn't ready in time to change Germany's fate. German engineers escaped to Japan and finished their work there. The mechs (called Armored Fighting Weapons, or AFWs) proved themselves in Japan's extremely mountainous terrain and have become a standard part of an army's arsenal.

You have a pretty interesting cast of characters. The main character is a half German, half Japanese boy who angsts over his blood. Two of your superior officers are Nazis who escaped to Japan, one of whom is a confirmed war criminal. You have an American marine who was discharged. An Italian who wants to prove that his race aren't cowards and volunteers to fight alongside his Japanese and German allies. Several child soldiers who have grown up knowing nothing but poverty and angst. An old man who has been leading a dwindling resistance movement in the mountains for 20 years. And one sane officer who recorded the events of the story in his journal.

Gameplay wise, the main gimmick is distance. Different AFWs are more effective or ineffective at different distances. Light chicken-walker AFWs totting around machineguns are strongest when at close range to their target, but are hit with a nasty damage and accuracy falloff the further away they are. Quad legged 4AFWs carrying huge artillery pieces are the opposite, being most effective at long range, but are ineffective at close range. Bipedal medium AFWs do pretty okay at any distance, but can also slug it out in close combat. AFWs are also accompanied by three squads of soldiers who can perform repairs, lay down landmines or electrical wire, clear debris out of the path of the mech, load special shells into the mech's gun, shoot at enemy soldiers, etc.

So the meta is this: your light chicken walkers and your heavy 4AFWs should engage the enemy first and take out their soldiers. Your Light AFWs should engage enemy 4AFWs at short range, where the enemy quad mech's weaponry is ineffective. Likewise your 4AFWs should engage enemy light AFWs at long range, where the enemy chicken walkers are ineffective. Wipe out the enemy soldiers accompanying the opposing AFW. The squads assigned to your light and 4AFWs should be dedicated to anti-personnel tactics, such as infantry squads or crews that can load incendiary ammunition into the mech. Then, you send in your medium AFWs who can concentrate on destroying the enemy AFW unharrased by enemy soldiers who can't deploy smoke or flashbangs to decrease your accuracy or deploy wires or landmines that prevent you from entering into melee range and clobbering the defenseless mech. Your medium AFWs should be escorted by squads that maximize damage against the enemy AFW, such as mortar squads or crews that can load HEAT ammunition into your mech.

The best part of Ring of Red is its cinematic presentation of combat. When two units enter into combat, a 90 second montage begins showing your mech slowly march into enemy fire. You can order your squads around. When the crew on your mech loads the next shell, you look down the scope at the enemy mech wait as the hit percentage slowly goes up. As your scope is zeroing in on the enemy mech, you can see your infantrymen lobbing grenades or being turned into pink mist or being gassed while intense music is playing. There is the fear that the enemy mech might fire first, and if they do hit your mech then your hit percentage resets (which means more time waiting for your accuracy to go up enough that you are likely to hit) and you've lost a shot in the engagement.

There is also the fear that your squads might be eviscerated before you can exit the scope and order your men to retreat behind your mech for protection, so there is pressure to fire your gun early before it is zeroed in on the enemy mech enough to likely hit. The 8 pilots are immortal and respawn in the next mission, but there is permadeath for your squads and they are limited in number. You arrive in North Japan with about 10 squads but can only recruit a couple dozen more squads of rebels. I had lost about 10 squads by the half way point of the game before I figured out the meta.

Unfortunately, the spectacular combat is also the game's great weakness. Often times, the combat sequences can take upwards of two minutes because time pauses when an infantry squadron is ordered to do something or a mech uses a special ability. It usually takes at least 2 or 3 combat sequences blow up an enemy mech (sometimes as much as 5 if an enemy mech is in a fortified position such as a city or if it is a boss mech). Missions can have you face 10 to 30 enemy mechs. A mission can easily take over an hour and a half, and there are 17 missions. So you're looking at a 30-50+ hour long game. Perhaps if you could fight up to 2 or 3 mechs in an engagement and cut down the number total engagements by 1/2 or 2/3, making the game into 10-20 hours long, the game would have been more enjoyable. After the novelty of the first few hours wears off, you really want to play the game on turbo.

I got this game in the ps2 classics version on my ps3 and for my PS2, haven't played it past a few levels but the animation are beautiful for such and early PS2 game. I will do some cleanup of my half played games and get on with it, probably early next year.

 

[Yaksha]

Finished soul nomad and world eaters demon route last night , one if the coolest additions to the game which really alleviated the overall experience.
Compared to the base game it ramps up the difficulty significantly and doesnt have any filler fights , and ends up feeling like a boss rush of sorts .
For the most parts the fights are fair but challenging except two or three maps which just nuke you constantly.
The story works as a parallel to the main campaign, both presenting an alternative and filling the gaps and the motivations which were unanswered.
The first half has more comedic tone to it, contrasting the events .the second half takes the seriousness up a notch and becomes a bit messed up.

The reason it feels out of place is because that's a new soundtrack, the original for the PSX had a much more atmospheric soundtrack but a butchered localization. There's a partial soundtrack replacement mod but I can't personally vouch for it.

https://gamebanana.com/wips/68611

Tried the pack and it definitely fit the game better , thanks.

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

Honey, the year is finishing it's time for your yearly playthrough.

 

[d1r]

BROs, started Shadow Hearts 3

Protag is decline popamole when compared to EMOBRO Yuri:

Spoiler

And gameplay looks much more complicated than in SH1 & 2 (materia, combos & shit):

But some things haven't changed.

a) B00ty:

b) Humor:

c) Total faggotry:

They don't make them like this anymore...

 

[Modron]

Should redo that with the full line of "Display Shania's Abilities."

 

[Puukko]

Done with Xenoblade 3, finally. Far from a completionist run thanks to all those side quests but I sought to do everything important, which resulted in 200+ hours clocked.

A review called the game's story 'meandering'. I don't strictly agree, as I found it went where it needed to and concluded when it was appropriate without any big hanging threads. The final dungeon was meaty and the final boss was a damn spectacle. What was meandering was the dialogue. Seriously, Takahashi needs an editor who'll tell him to cut half of it or more, because there's so much pep talk and life philosophy I'm about to hurl. If I have to hear the word 'future' one more time...

Anyway, a very strong entry overall. Apparently the second wave of DLC isn't far off but I'll have to see if I get to it right away or of I'll shelve it for when all of it is out.

 

[jungl]

played the fromsoft shadow tower games. Many people enjoy the second game more then the first but the first is superior. Why? because the difficulty is tighter where it feels like survival horror experience ontop of first person dungeon crawl. The second game also slower and the encumbrance system adds nothing but boredom to the experience.

The story in these two games is comically bad. Its really funny how all those youtuber kids popped up decade ago with their videos having millions views discussing their insights in demon or dark soul lore when at the end of the day they don't know these jap niggas. Fromsoft gives zero fucks about story in their games lol they just want to make 3d action games. jap game developers were never really story fags they either made pick up and play games or anime stories like grandia fromsoft is the former.

 

[flyingjohn]

Got all the original ps2 characters on the 3ds version of dq8.
It is just so fucking boring.

-Big world that is practically empty and actively discourages exploration.
-Dungeons are generic jrpg dungeons without a sliver of a puzzle.The first dq 7 dungeon is better then almost all dungeons i have been to.
-Game is just too easy. In theory enemies can use their various skills to screw you over,but that never materializes.
AOE just breaks the early game.A single cheap boomerang is more valuable then most of your stuff just because it can hit multiple stuff consistently.
-Leveling is obnoxiously slow.You can see enemies,but not the amount.If you get a low amount,it is practically not worth your time.
-The entire weapon skill allocation is a failure.You don't have a linear scale of getting weapons.It maybe hours before you get the stuff you put points and even then you will probably get a better weapon then what you put points into.
It is just mindbogglingly stupid.
And even then they gutted the amount of skills from dq7 and most skills are just cop pasted across the weapons.

It has the typical level 5 positives.A charming story and a decent crafting system.If the next dungeon is a linear corridors i will quit the game.

 

[Abu Antar]

I tried the Valkyrie Elysium demo. I went in with very low expectations. From the get go, you can sense that the game is very low budget. It isn't technically amazing, so that means smooth frame rate, right? Not on the PS4. Smashing breakable objects gives me Demon's Souls on PS3 vibes. Performance is okay in combat and exploration. So far, I have only seen one type of outdoors environment, and not much variety in indoors areas. Presentation is passable, but animations are also the type you would expect from a low budget game. The combat is serviceable, but a bit repetitive. You get some spells as you move along, that adds some variety. A chain lightning, a fire spell, and a healing spell. You can summon your Einhärjar (two in the demo), and they can help with elemental weaknesses that enemies have. There are some smaller "puzzles". You summon the one you need to break a boulder, or create ice platforms. That sort of thing. I'm not sure if you will get Equipment. Enemies drop different types of orbs that you use to level up your skills. Boost attack, HP, etc, or learn new moves, like double jump, double dash, new moves and so on. You can get health potions, and magic potions in chests. At save points, you can upgrade your weapon. Weapon upgrades, and skill upgrades use the same resources, so you have to choose which one to upgrade if you don't have enough orbs. In the map I was at, I obtained two side quests, but I couldn't actually do them. You pick them up, but don't do them until you go back to Valhalla and pick them from a menu. In other words, I think you will have to revisit maps more than once. Difficulty on normal is non-existent, but I have only done the tutorial, and mid-first mission. I healed once, to be sure, but it wasn't really necessary. In general, this seems to be a by-the-numbers action jrpg. Not awful, but it isn't a game I am in a hurry to pick up. Maybe, if I some day have no game to play, I could consider to pick this up. Or if I see it for around $15-20 and impulse buy.

 

[kites]

I’m about 6-7 hours into shin megami tensei 4.. slapped down the minotaur/medusa - now in Tokyo and it still feels a bit middling, was hoping for a bigger difficulty curve and deeper dungeons that aren’t hallways.. though after playing the series sporadically over years it may be a souls situation where I’ve adapted to it



I will say a major complaint is how fusions/skills work.. I don’t feel like I’m building a team as much as I’m constantly frankenstein-ing them about. I don’t remember every demon having “optimal” builds in other games.. sure you could grind and reset for unreal hours in the original Nocturne to do so



Should I skip to Apocalypse?

 

[Great Deceiver]

I tried the Valkyrie Elysium demo. I went in with very low expectations. From the get go, you can sense that the game is very low budget. It isn't technically amazing, so that means smooth frame rate, right? Not on the PS4. Smashing breakable objects gives me Demon's Souls on PS3 vibes. Performance is okay in combat and exploration. So far, I have only seen one type of outdoors environment, and not much variety in indoors areas. Presentation is passable, but animations are also the type you would expect from a low budget game. The combat is serviceable, but a bit repetitive. You get some spells as you move along, that adds some variety. A chain lightning, a fire spell, and a healing spell. You can summon your Einhärjar (two in the demo), and they can help with elemental weaknesses that enemies have. There are some smaller "puzzles". You summon the one you need to break a boulder, or create ice platforms. That sort of thing. I'm not sure if you will get Equipment. Enemies drop different types of orbs that you use to level up your skills. Boost attack, HP, etc, or learn new moves, like double jump, double dash, new moves and so on. You can get health potions, and magic potions in chests. At save points, you can upgrade your weapon. Weapon upgrades, and skill upgrades use the same resources, so you have to choose which one to upgrade if you don't have enough orbs. In the map I was at, I obtained two side quests, but I couldn't actually do them. You pick them up, but don't do them until you go back to Valhalla and pick them from a menu. In other words, I think you will have to revisit maps more than once. Difficulty on normal is non-existent, but I have only done the tutorial, and mid-first mission. I healed once, to be sure, but it wasn't really necessary. In general, this seems to be a by-the-numbers action jrpg. Not awful, but it isn't a game I am in a hurry to pick up. Maybe, if I some day have no game to play, I could consider to pick this up. Or if I see it for around $15-20 and impulse buy.

I played the demo on a PS5 and had mostly similar impressions. Feels like a budget, much uglier and slower DMC clone with an unstable framerate and too much empty space. I'm sure they could have pulled this off on PS3-level hardware. It's hilarious they're asking full price for this, I wouldn't even pay 10 bucks.

 

[Puukko]

I’m about 6-7 hours into shin megami tensei 4.. slapped down the minotaur/medusa - now in Tokyo and it still feels a bit middling, was hoping for a bigger difficulty curve and deeper dungeons that aren’t hallways.. though after playing the series sporadically over years it may be a souls situation where I’ve adapted to it



I will say a major complaint is how fusions/skills work.. I don’t feel like I’m building a team as much as I’m constantly frankenstein-ing them about. I don’t remember every demon having “optimal” builds in other games.. sure you could grind and reset for unreal hours in the original Nocturne to do so



Should I skip to Apocalypse?

IV unfortunately goes limp in the difficulty front right where you're at, until the DLC. Its strengths are the music and atmosphere. Apocalypse heavily relies on IV since it's a what if scenario. But I'm not going to pretend IV is worth playing no matter what just for Apocalypse.

 

[Melmoth]

Just skip to SMT5, the real SMT4

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Smt4 is worth playing if you crank up the difficulty. It has atmosphere while smt5 is flat, as a unispired clone of Nocturne.

 

[Melmoth]

SMT4 is not worth playing to the end even if there was a hardtype mod. he just experienced the best six hours of the game. Maybe Apocalypse is sugoi i dunno

SMT5 has atmosphere and levels that are larger than a shoebox diorama. Is it groundbreaking, abstract and totally out there like nocturne? no theres too much animu but the execution is at least competent. i can't say that for smt4, which is jarring, toneless, and especially incoherent. i havent regretted finishing a game that much since i played ff7. if you have to play one smt that has no dungeons in it, at least play the one that did it deliberately

 

[spekkio]

SMTIV's abysmal interface + inability to avoid encounters without winning a qte minigame was enough for me to skip it.

 

[kites]

I made it 20 hours into SMTIV in between breaks at work, and I think that’s all I can muster.. I feel like I completely broke the game doing challenge quests for about 2 of those hours - I went from level 25 to 45, and frankly I don’t know what to do or why to care in these later tokyo areas

 

[Yaksha]

Finished Langrisser 1 and halfway through the second game.
First of all while i appreciate the effort, the chibby units and the new portraits give it a mobile port look.

First game being a product of it's time doesn't have much when it comes to story and characters.

You spend the time Before each battle in a hub area where you can upgrade each character, which increases health and mp and unlocks new abilities and mercenary units .
You could also sell and buy items , but there is really no need for that.

At the start of each battle you can move leader characters around, have and overview of the map and hire units.
The map layouts and the objectives are pretty straight forward save for a few exceptions.
Combat itself is simplistic, each character gets units assigned to them and as long as the units remain in a certain range from their leader, they get a buff to their stats they also get a buff against units which are weak to them, and a debuff in the reverse scenario.
In each turn units can either move around and attack, or wait , the main cast can also cast spells or de/buffs.
There is a good variety to the units starting with usual swords and spear men and archers, going to catapults and Griffins and such.
Each of the mercenary archetypes also have tiers, improving the stats and making them more costly.

now this where the remake of the first game starts to fall apart, as the game is pretty generous when it comes to money and exp , there is little to no reason to stick with lower tier units , on top of that since enemy units don't get upgraded the rock-paper-scissors structure of the game goes out of window and you can easily overpower opposing units.

TL;dr : cool systems and ideas, falls apart for being too easy.

 

[Random_Weeb]

Conception 2: The poor man's visual novel. Combat seems interesting and the game has decent-tier waifus. So I'll continue playing.

 

[infidel]

Played 13 hours of Digimon Story: Cybersleuth on Steam. I ignored the franchise before because I thought it was basically a clone of Pokemon for kids. However, after stumbling on it on a stream I decided to try it because I liked the game's look. I was pleasantly surprised. Firstly, you could consider it a Japanese cyberpunk for teenagers. The whole plot gimmick of the protag becoming completely digital in real world sounds like fun. After the initial encounter the protag is quickly picked by hot detective babe under her wing as an assistant which is another setup I like in JRPGs from Raidu Kuzunoha days. There's of course no actual detective gameplay, just plot dialogues, dungeons and running around but that's a given.

I don't know how they manage to do it but you can always distinguish J-art from anything else:

They do something with the palette that looks very pleasing in depictions of modern day. Anyway the cyberdungeons and the VR world all look cool:

Great animation here, too.
The character designs for the females all lean heavily into fanservice. Your detective boss:

Your female buddy (her name is Nokia):

Oh, that guy also designed Devil Survivor boobs, I mean, female chars:

So anyway, the music is dope, too. Check this out:


Recently I've come to appreciate Japanese mixing much more. All the punchiness and electronica rhythms and instruments are there but the subs and lows are quite soft and clear compared to any stuff that Americans do.

Now for the bad. Kinda like in Persona games, you manage a lot of digimon. Each needs to be leveled to max and then evolved into something better with better abilities and passives with higher max level. The game says it has 700 digimon. You can do it manually or dump them into the farm so that they level by themselves passively. Just a little of that and a tiny dungeon which gave great XP and my party has completely outleveled the content. The boss fights are like sorta what you would expect from normal difficulty but the random encounters are all trash. The threads say hard difficulty is mostly the same with some boss fights being unfair. Thankfully, there is an auto-fight button and x2 speed from Cheat Engine that makes it all very smooth. The dungeons are small (I guess it's due to the game released on a handheld first) and you will be returning to them multiple times in the course of side quests. For me, the good clearly outweighs the bad so far.

UPD: Forgot to add. Just check out this corpo psycho bitch! CP2077 needs way more chars like this: