Game News Wizardry-like Dungeon Crawler Elminage Gothic Released on Steam

[Mortmal]

As soon as Wasteland 2 is done downloading this game is next.

If it's half as good as Wizardry: Tale of the Foresaken Land then it will be worth every penny. The Japanese are fucking great at making dungeon crawlers, though it's a pity about the anime stuff they seem to insist on using.

While on youtube its filled with anime like elminage video, that steam elminage is not anime at all and looks like a western version .

 

[mindreader]

Perusing the wiki it makes it seem like lots of abilities and stuff are misleadingly mistranslated. I guess that didn't bother me when I was a teenager, but for some reason it bothers me now. I might give this a look after I deal with the onslaught of games I desperately want to play that have been coming out recently.

 

[Zeriel]

Perusing the wiki it makes it seem like lots of abilities and stuff are misleadingly mistranslated. I guess that didn't bother me when I was a teenager, but for some reason it bothers me now. I might give this a look after I deal with the onslaught of games I desperately want to play that have been coming out recently.

The wiki is for all the elminage games, including PSP stuff, so it doesn't neccessarily hold true for this. I wouldn't be surprised if the wiki hasn't been updated at all for this version.

 

[SuicideBunny]

this is a psp elminage. the only thing they did was localize and update art+gui. it came out 2 years ago for psp, the version on which the pc port is based, and last year for 3ds.

 

[Lady_Error]

First time in years that I'm downloading two new RPG's on the same day, as well.

What I like about this blobber is that the combat system and the character/skills system are almost exactly the same as in Wizardry. Also, the handcrafted images of the enemies are very well done.

There is one major issue I have with this game: the menus or usability. If you want to access the inventory or see your character stats, you cannot simply click on the character. There are not even hotkeys like F1-F6 for this. You have to laborously press 'Q' first, then select inventory or stats, then select the character. If you want to see the same for another character, you have to go back to that menu and do the whole dance again.

Another thing that is, of course, 'old school' is the lack of a mini-map. While some people may like drawing or memorizing dungeons, I am not one of them. Maybe using some sort of freeware map drawing program while having the game open in window mode can make this more fun. There are spells and items you can buy to take a look at the current floor of the dungeon but those are expensive or finite.

Also, I found the look of the first dungeon (a cave system) kind of uninspired. You get high-res wall tiles, but they look cheap like it's some sort of shovelware game. had they chosen more abstract dungeon graphics or better quality high-res ones, this would also add to the atmosphere. Looking at some screenshots, it seems that later dungeons will have better and more atmospheric tiles.

 

[H-K]

this is a psp elminage. the only thing they did was localize and update art+gui. it came out 2 years ago for psp, the version on which the pc port is based, and last year for 3ds.

Yes, but the wiki is for the 1st psp Elminage this is the 4th.

And the translation for the 1st game was atrocious, It seemed like all the mechanics, menus and items were machine translated and only the story was proofread by native English speakers. Oh and they removed all the item descriptions as well(in the 1st game on psp) but that localization wasn't done by ghostlight but UFO interactive so let's hope this is a lot better.

 

[Grauken]

this is a psp elminage. the only thing they did was localize and update art+gui. it came out 2 years ago for psp, the version on which the pc port is based, and last year for 3ds.

If I understand it correctly, Elminage Gothic is a port with fresh translation and for the first time in English.

 

[Lady_Error]

Yes, the translation is fine.

 

[Jasede]

Enjoy your shit anime non-RPG, just like Dark Souls.

 

[ben_reck]

I have no idea what Jasede is going on about. This is not an action-rpg. Is it a mock post?

It is something, though, something quite entrancing.

It's seems a bit opaque with the absence of documentation, with the translation issues not helping. For example, you might want to change classes at some point during a character's career and one overview uses the phrase "pass on" instead of "pass along" as in traits or abilities passed from one class to the next. Both are OK, I guess. But I was like, what does "pass on" mean? Give up? Miss?

Still. This is something. I want to say it's like Etrian but it seems to be both darker and deeper, perhaps.

 

[Jasede]

Just an expression of my bitterness for the Codex being dumb at times, ignore it. I'm glad we're seeing more crawlers.

 

[ben_reck]

Here are three things I immediately like:

No difficulty level.

You encounter adventurers fleeing from the first level of the dungeon.

The women zombies look straight out of a Japanese horror movie.

 

[GlutenBurger]

Sounds appealing. For people who have played it, is the dungeon design any good?

 

[Scroo]

Sounds appealing. For people who have played it, is the dungeon design any good?

So far it's quite good, I've only just reached the third floor of the first dungeon tho, which took me quite some time. The dungeons are very maze-like and confusing, but in a good way. I liked Wizardry VI' dungeon design better but of course I don't know what's to come and again, it's still good. I sometimes get confused about which direction I am walking to but I guess that's a personal issue

 

[H-K]

Sounds appealing. For people who have played it, is the dungeon design any good?

Here is a floor from the first dungeon, it's a bit pointlessly serpentine for my taste but I prefer it to a bland pushover. The red thing near the lower left is like a FOE in Etrian Odessy.

Spoiler

And here is a cute enemy from the first dungeon.

Spoiler

 

[ben_reck]

Oh, it's all disorienting, purposefully so, that first level. I blink -- I burn a magic map. I read there are some mapmaking aids to come.

There are some encounters or special events on the level but I'm not sure if they're just scenery or not. One has a couple of blokes lamenting about the need for a thief to disarm a trap. So I thought OK I'll grab a thief (instead of my hunter) and head back. But the scene just repeats itself. I think, now, it's just supposed to be a pointer about party composition.

If it is, I'm still fine with a hunter instead of a thief.

Brawler (last standing) -- Valkyrie (Swallow) -- Hunter -- (Random Treasure)
Priest (Hand of Kindness) -- Mage (Spirit Pact) -- Alchemist (Spirit Pact)

 

[Lady_Error]

I have no idea what Jasede is going on about. This is not an action-rpg. Is it a mock post?
It's seems a bit opaque with the absence of documentation, with the translation issues not helping.

If you bought it from Steam (and I'm not aware of other places selling this), then you can download a PDF manual.

The game does remind me of Etryan Odyssee, as well as Dark Spire. Though I like that the classes in this one are more Wizardry-like.

I fugured out that you can use Page Up/Page Down to go to another character when viewing them. Not exactly the most obvious keys for that...

So to rest, heal and memorize the spells - there is no other way than walking all the way back to town through the whole dungeon? I remember that Etryan Odyssee and Dark Spire were the same, though they also had shortcuts at some point (elevator etc.)

My Party: Brawler - Ninja - Thief - Bishop - Priest - Mage

I'm thinking about getting rid of the Priest and getting another good attack class instead. The long walk home to recharge the spells means that the magic classes are much, much less useful than the physical attack classes.

 

[Lady_Error]

H-K already posted the map of the third level of the first dungeon. Here are the first two levels as well:

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[ben_reck]

I'll have to grab the manual if only for some interesting reading!

I do know that the game basically breaks classes into three categories with the most advanced ones requiring 1.5x or more exp -- like the ninja. I'd replace the Bishop with an Alchemist. So it might make some sense to start with beginning/intermediate jobs before changing classes later.

It took me...a while to figure out how to even resurrect a character. Or even to know that I had to hit ENTER when my dead hunter was ushered off to the temple. I thought the game had froze.

 

[Lady_Error]

Man, this game can make you mad at times. So even if you save, if all of your part members die, you have to assemble another party with a few empty spots, go to the place where the first one was killed and retrieve a few characters of the original party that way. Then you need to go back to town, kick out the retriever party members and go back yet again to retrieve the remaining members of your party.

This is just awful...

 

[ben_reck]

huh..I didn't know about that. I remember having just a hell of a time even figuring out how to load a game. I'd saved one and then quit the game. When I loaded it, I was sitting in town sans party. I had to go the World Map menu, click the second cryptic icon, and then load/restore my party -- which I thought I had done in the first place.

 

[Lady_Error]

You're right. Thanks! Why in the world you would need to do that after loading is beyond me though.

 

[Coriolanus]

Man, this game can make you mad at times. So even if you save, if all of your part members die, you have to assemble another party with a few empty spots, go to the place where the first one was killed and retrieve a few characters of the original party that way. Then you need to go back to town, kick out the retriever party members and go back yet again to retrieve the remaining members of your party.

This is just awful...

'Rescue missions' can leave some memories for sure.

In Demise, a teleport spell required x/y/z input. Get it wrong, and you could get your whole party suffocated in a stone wall on some deep dungeon level.

 

[Zeriel]

If anything, I see that as a selling point. Iron-man enforced games are some of my favorites. Guess it's a case of different strokes for different folks, though.

 

[Dorateen]

Purchased and downloaded yesterday.

I have to say, this came as a surprise. Of course I'm aware that the Wizardry franchise and Wizardry-likes had shifted to Japan with further console releases. And I might have heard that there were plans for translated versions coming to the PC. But I was not expecting an English release at this time. What a great way to close out the year! I'm sure for a lot of us in the West, this is like a completely new RPG in the wave of 2014 incline.

By the way, I don't think I've had to use graph paper since 1995. I'm positively giddy.