Wow.
I think I found something fairly rare: A modern JRPG that actually does very well with being played in small spurts. Usually they suck you in and expect for you to grind through the forces of evil for a good while. To be fair, they (usually) make it fun and worth your while; even so, the working gamer can have plenty of IRL issues that ruin a good old-fashioned dungeon crawl.
But Atelier Rorona is different. Because of the nature of the gameplay (especially how everything is time-sensitive) it actually rewards a fair bit of pre-session planning. Hell, it actually behooves the player to make a save, then play-and-reload so you can experiment and find particular synthesis results and work out schedules for exploration. I can't say I've encountered a game where you had to figure out how to get to the Dungeon of Bleak Terror to hunt down the Shiny Rock of Making Awesome Stuff, while also churning out +2 Alchemical Snowmen of Chilly Doom to give to the government. It's surprisingly addictive, and I've found a bit of satisfaction in figuring out how to beat some of the deadlines fairly early.
I'm not pulling off a perfect run; I've managed to fail some of the requests, and screw up some some relationship values by doing so. I feel that some of them are either grossly unfair or meant for a later part of the game/new game plus; I've found requests (especially from shopkeepers) that require materials I don't have any access to. There may or may not be a random number generator involved; I suspect there is, but I've also found things that look impossible to fulfill at first but are actually easily done if you just know where to look.
Another oddity of the game is that there are several synthesis items that come in different 'grades,' each one requiring a certain type and/or quality of the base materials. It has a good deal of logic behind it (better and more rare materials result in higher grades), the only real problem is that the grade is listed as an effect, which can cause some confusion to new players. It might have been corrected in later Atelier games (I broke down and tore through Atelier's wiki, which hinted at this), but for the moment it's a minor annoyance.
There are some surprising bits of humor to found as well. You can make metal ingots from random bones gathered from dungeons, therefore making our adorable heroine a producer of death metal! Plus you can effectively sidestep a mid-game mission's goal by using chemical warfare instead of normal combat. That's right, we have a (fully intentional) shortcut via spraying large-scale pesticide. In the spirit of the idea, it's expedient, but it has some side effects; you don't gain any experience for doing so, and you lose out on any drops normal combat would have yielded. It's somewhat clever, really.
I'd still like to know why alchemy has so little regard in-game at first. Some of it can be traced to the local alchemy master, Astrid McFrigid being a creepy woman with all the warm empathy of an internet troll, but I don't see how things devolved to where there's only one workshop, with that one workshop being run by a demented, lazy aspie, but I suppose we wouldn't have much of a plot otherwise.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Monday, March 28, 2016
LootCraft
Ah! This stuff is actually fairly relaxing. I should have started a Atelier game sooner.
There's just something satisfying about a game that lets you tear about the countryside, gathering all sorts of improbable things, and then going back to base and turning them into all sorts of ridiculous goodies. Plenty of RPGs have made this an integral mechanic, but sometimes it takes making crafting the core of the gameplay to scratch that sort of itch.
It's also very interesting to actually take orders from NPCs and hand out the fruits of the Harvest. I'm still somewhat aghast that somehow steam technology (even the semi-punk kind seen here) can render this sort of thing obsolete in-universe. Instead of pulling away, somebody should have thought about actually blending the two together, and seeing what wonders could result. We could be talking awesomesauce stuff like Final Fantasy VI style magitek, without all the nasty downsides. The government (hell, the closest thing we have to a villain) seems to dimly realize that this style of alchemy is not lightly thrown aside; the location of the workshop itself is somewhat inconvenient, and the original owner of the place is not exactly popular (far less about her chosen craft than the fact that she is an infuriating, lazy, know-it-all harpy.)
We can also take some solace in the time management aspect of the game. It gives you a good sense of urgency and prioritization. There are some rough spots, and it can be easy to screw up deadlines and scheduled events, but overall it just take a bit of practice and you're off.
The items themselves are fairly standard fare, but the variety of materials, products, and end results is pretty amazing. The in-game artwork and sprites for them are also fairly nice; they give a good sense of mystery and that cheerful fantasy look. They tend to pop out from the fairly drab menu windows and grab attention.
On a final note, Atelier Rorona has the distinction of being one of only a handful of games that I've actually wrote and accumulated notes for. It's hilarious that a game full of girly gala gunk that comes across like work and research is engrossing enough to actually elicit that sort of thing.
There's just something satisfying about a game that lets you tear about the countryside, gathering all sorts of improbable things, and then going back to base and turning them into all sorts of ridiculous goodies. Plenty of RPGs have made this an integral mechanic, but sometimes it takes making crafting the core of the gameplay to scratch that sort of itch.
It's also very interesting to actually take orders from NPCs and hand out the fruits of the Harvest. I'm still somewhat aghast that somehow steam technology (even the semi-punk kind seen here) can render this sort of thing obsolete in-universe. Instead of pulling away, somebody should have thought about actually blending the two together, and seeing what wonders could result. We could be talking awesomesauce stuff like Final Fantasy VI style magitek, without all the nasty downsides. The government (hell, the closest thing we have to a villain) seems to dimly realize that this style of alchemy is not lightly thrown aside; the location of the workshop itself is somewhat inconvenient, and the original owner of the place is not exactly popular (far less about her chosen craft than the fact that she is an infuriating, lazy, know-it-all harpy.)
We can also take some solace in the time management aspect of the game. It gives you a good sense of urgency and prioritization. There are some rough spots, and it can be easy to screw up deadlines and scheduled events, but overall it just take a bit of practice and you're off.
The items themselves are fairly standard fare, but the variety of materials, products, and end results is pretty amazing. The in-game artwork and sprites for them are also fairly nice; they give a good sense of mystery and that cheerful fantasy look. They tend to pop out from the fairly drab menu windows and grab attention.
On a final note, Atelier Rorona has the distinction of being one of only a handful of games that I've actually wrote and accumulated notes for. It's hilarious that a game full of girly gala gunk that comes across like work and research is engrossing enough to actually elicit that sort of thing.
Friday, March 25, 2016
Monster Hunter Moe Edition
Hoo boy, where to start?
So, Atelier Rorona. How does a concept so laced, coated, and inundated with girly-gala-gunk with combat mechanics that are actually dumbed down from Atelier Iris trilogy's stuff wind up being so damn appealing?
Yes, it's got crafting; they've even managed to up the ante for it be making more complex recipe chains (with the potential for making them recursive to boot i.e. making Tonics from crappier Tonics). A nice little feature is the Dismantle mechanic, getting materials back from equipment; I haven't really used it yet, since the early game seems to revel in making you choose between getting stuff to make equipment, and y'know, not lose the game. It gets better later, and I must admit that some of it is my own noob mistakes.
The characters are fairly entertaining (but your mileage may vary; I can barely stand Astrid), and the story is refreshingly down-to-earth and low-scale. Your whole mission is to crank out goodies using Atelier-style crafting and give them to the government to justify your's workshop's continued presence. The 'villain' of the piece is a watered down mix of evil chancellor and robber-baron capitalist. The man is not even all that evil, really; he pulls 80's cartoon hijinx and a bit of crappy intrigue to sabotage your quest, but the guy could just literally order impossible goals and make it stick. Why doesn't he? I dunno, I'd say he's actually kinda bored and is trying to get his sovereign's attention. "Bleh, I'm so evil! I sure don't hope the king will stop terrorizing the local wildlife and actually do king stuff instead of letting me run amok! That would stop my schemes for sure, hint hint!" Seriously, its like Animal Crossing was being slowly conquered by Blue Laser Commander, but only half-heartedly, and only so somebody would actually notice. It's hilarious.
The game is girly as all hell, but its more like a happy take on things, allowing you to see what it would be like if the Harvest was being carried out by a pack of shoujo manga (I hope I spelled that right) cliches, backed up by some of the fanciest-dressed badasses ever. We've got typical dude concepts like the knight with a big ass sword (wears a fancy full suit with a big knightly-esque cloak), a fairly rad short order cook that kills stuff with an iron skillet and serves Waffle House fare as a heal spell (almost another full suit, but sans the jacket, and with a nametag and a wierd fanny-pack apron thing, still dapper as hell), and similar stuff. This game holds the distinction of actually making me want to go out and buy some formal wear, but my normal activities would shred the things, and cosplay's pointless if you're like me and don't have the resources to attend conventions. Hell, I forgot how to tie a tie anyway.
This game's version of the Harvest is fairly fun, as well. You have turn-based combat where you smack freaks, and then you root through the drops, looking for materials to make the best stuff. This is augmented by harvesting points where you find even more materials, plus shops that carry several convenient (and often high-quality) things. Once you get going, you actually get a homunculus minion to help gather all sorts of goodies, bringing the Harvest to a whole new level.
Well, anyway, the whole thing is proving to be a nice change of pace, and something of a palate cleanser to help get a break from all the world-saving, mind screws, and and in the grim dark future there is only GAR.
Oh, and a character has a skill that summons friggin' hitmen.
So, Atelier Rorona. How does a concept so laced, coated, and inundated with girly-gala-gunk with combat mechanics that are actually dumbed down from Atelier Iris trilogy's stuff wind up being so damn appealing?
Yes, it's got crafting; they've even managed to up the ante for it be making more complex recipe chains (with the potential for making them recursive to boot i.e. making Tonics from crappier Tonics). A nice little feature is the Dismantle mechanic, getting materials back from equipment; I haven't really used it yet, since the early game seems to revel in making you choose between getting stuff to make equipment, and y'know, not lose the game. It gets better later, and I must admit that some of it is my own noob mistakes.
The characters are fairly entertaining (but your mileage may vary; I can barely stand Astrid), and the story is refreshingly down-to-earth and low-scale. Your whole mission is to crank out goodies using Atelier-style crafting and give them to the government to justify your's workshop's continued presence. The 'villain' of the piece is a watered down mix of evil chancellor and robber-baron capitalist. The man is not even all that evil, really; he pulls 80's cartoon hijinx and a bit of crappy intrigue to sabotage your quest, but the guy could just literally order impossible goals and make it stick. Why doesn't he? I dunno, I'd say he's actually kinda bored and is trying to get his sovereign's attention. "Bleh, I'm so evil! I sure don't hope the king will stop terrorizing the local wildlife and actually do king stuff instead of letting me run amok! That would stop my schemes for sure, hint hint!" Seriously, its like Animal Crossing was being slowly conquered by Blue Laser Commander, but only half-heartedly, and only so somebody would actually notice. It's hilarious.
The game is girly as all hell, but its more like a happy take on things, allowing you to see what it would be like if the Harvest was being carried out by a pack of shoujo manga (I hope I spelled that right) cliches, backed up by some of the fanciest-dressed badasses ever. We've got typical dude concepts like the knight with a big ass sword (wears a fancy full suit with a big knightly-esque cloak), a fairly rad short order cook that kills stuff with an iron skillet and serves Waffle House fare as a heal spell (almost another full suit, but sans the jacket, and with a nametag and a wierd fanny-pack apron thing, still dapper as hell), and similar stuff. This game holds the distinction of actually making me want to go out and buy some formal wear, but my normal activities would shred the things, and cosplay's pointless if you're like me and don't have the resources to attend conventions. Hell, I forgot how to tie a tie anyway.
This game's version of the Harvest is fairly fun, as well. You have turn-based combat where you smack freaks, and then you root through the drops, looking for materials to make the best stuff. This is augmented by harvesting points where you find even more materials, plus shops that carry several convenient (and often high-quality) things. Once you get going, you actually get a homunculus minion to help gather all sorts of goodies, bringing the Harvest to a whole new level.
Well, anyway, the whole thing is proving to be a nice change of pace, and something of a palate cleanser to help get a break from all the world-saving, mind screws, and and in the grim dark future there is only GAR.
Oh, and a character has a skill that summons friggin' hitmen.
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Stirrin' the Cauldron
Ah!
It's usually a least a few days of drudgery before I go on my next campaign. However, some circumstances came up, and I decided to go ahead and turn the lemons into lemon-scented craters. Plugged in Atelier Rorona (the vanilla PS3 version, might grab the Plus one, but not now) and got to crafting.
It's kinda funny. I've been tearing my way through these dark, epic RPGs for a good while now; they've haven't been all grimdark and gritty, but they haven't been all sweetness and goofy critters either. There was plenty of fun along the way, and discovering the Tales series was very worthwhile.
But there comes a time, a season when you need to shoo out all the angst and grit and doom. There comes a season where you have to drop all the epic world-saving and warring against the forces of doom and suffering and stuff. There comes a season where you just grab some sugary, girly game and just have some adventures wandering around town and terrorizing the local wildlife. This is that kind of game.
It's like Monster Hunter for girls. The whole game revolves around going out and harvesting stuff to make all sorts of items and gadgets and potions and things. It's all about the crafting and taking assignments and making everybody happy. You're not saving the world, just saving the alchemy workshop (mostly because your master is a lazy twit). Everybody is dressed like a fashion magazine cover. The town is all happy and bright, and the local idea of evil...well, I haven't found it yet. Found a character I can't stand, and a random jackass official being officious, but no actual villains. And I love it.
Why? Hell, some of it's reasons I've gone over already. Some is that I have a thing for screwing around with crafting systems, and Atelier is pretty much Crafting System: The RPG Series. Don't get me wrong, we've got enough exploration and combat to work with here, and we've also got a badass voiced by Liam O'Brien helping us tear about the countryside and mash mooks. Bonus points for just being a nice guy and a badass, no strings attached or backstabbing to sweat. He puts the manly in gentlemanly today.
In any case, here's to a bit of happy-go-lucky RPG nuttiness. Hell, I should've started it earlier, it would've been a nice counter-balance to the Tales marathon.
And why the hell hasn't somebody done a ponies crossover yet?!
It's usually a least a few days of drudgery before I go on my next campaign. However, some circumstances came up, and I decided to go ahead and turn the lemons into lemon-scented craters. Plugged in Atelier Rorona (the vanilla PS3 version, might grab the Plus one, but not now) and got to crafting.
It's kinda funny. I've been tearing my way through these dark, epic RPGs for a good while now; they've haven't been all grimdark and gritty, but they haven't been all sweetness and goofy critters either. There was plenty of fun along the way, and discovering the Tales series was very worthwhile.
But there comes a time, a season when you need to shoo out all the angst and grit and doom. There comes a season where you have to drop all the epic world-saving and warring against the forces of doom and suffering and stuff. There comes a season where you just grab some sugary, girly game and just have some adventures wandering around town and terrorizing the local wildlife. This is that kind of game.
It's like Monster Hunter for girls. The whole game revolves around going out and harvesting stuff to make all sorts of items and gadgets and potions and things. It's all about the crafting and taking assignments and making everybody happy. You're not saving the world, just saving the alchemy workshop (mostly because your master is a lazy twit). Everybody is dressed like a fashion magazine cover. The town is all happy and bright, and the local idea of evil...well, I haven't found it yet. Found a character I can't stand, and a random jackass official being officious, but no actual villains. And I love it.
Why? Hell, some of it's reasons I've gone over already. Some is that I have a thing for screwing around with crafting systems, and Atelier is pretty much Crafting System: The RPG Series. Don't get me wrong, we've got enough exploration and combat to work with here, and we've also got a badass voiced by Liam O'Brien helping us tear about the countryside and mash mooks. Bonus points for just being a nice guy and a badass, no strings attached or backstabbing to sweat. He puts the manly in gentlemanly today.
In any case, here's to a bit of happy-go-lucky RPG nuttiness. Hell, I should've started it earlier, it would've been a nice counter-balance to the Tales marathon.
And why the hell hasn't somebody done a ponies crossover yet?!
Friday, March 18, 2016
And Let The Credits Roll.
So.
It is finally finished. I can put Blue Dragon to bed, and move on to another campaign. For all intents and purposes, this should be considered my definitive thoughts on the game.
The core gameplay is very solid, and you can tell it's got a JRPG pedigree and made with that polish only the veterans of the business can deliver. The Shadow Class system works out quite well, giving both a sense of customization and some of that sense of power you can get when you crack a old-schooler wide open. The combat is fun and fluid, with only two real gripes. The first is that a lot of the enemy mobs have attacks that have too much wind-up and reset animation (robo enemies are really bad for this,) which breaks the flow somewhat. It doesn't get too bad, but it can be annoying in some places, especially the final dungeon, where you can set a few minutes waiting for a pack of mooks to get through their motions. A second, somewhat related one is that Corporeal attacks (this game's combination of Limit Breaks and Summons) are a bit longer to go through than they should be, with no option to speed things up. They're very cinematic and flavorful, and their presence as a late-game 'finale' technique fit fairly well; just a bit too long.
The dungeons are fairly straightforward, with few 'gimmick' ideas and puzzles. Somebody realized that Zelda puzzles need to stay in Zelda games. Using predetermined encounters was a nice touch, especially with all the avoidance options the game will give you as time goes on. The game has a major 'press A and search everywhere' theme, with lots of little rewards everywhere. With apparently one major, bizarre exception: the interior of the final dungeon. I'm hoping that I just missed in it my final push to beat the game.
The minigames...hoo boy, the minigames. Most of them are the tradition innocuous button-masher affairs (with achievements for perfect play), and can be a nice change of pace. However, the game's signature minigame, is really jarring. This is the Mechat stage, an old-style rail shooter. It's not bad, but there's some questionable decisions involved. They decided to use a control scheme reminiscent of 8- and 16-bit games, except on an Xbox controller. Y'know, the kind with trigger buttons made for shooters? The end result is that you can suffer and get really frustrated really quickly if you're unprepared. The first of the stages is really bad for this, both because it's the first one and because you have no upgrades for your vehicle, making it very much an example of early game hell. No, I didn't get three game overs in a row and resorted to easy mode here (and creative combinations of profanity,) why d'you ask? The other two stages (one of them optional and repeatable) work better overall, especially with all the little upgrades scattered everywhere. Those are much more palatable.
And finally the story and world-building. The developers deliberately went for a absurd plot, full of wonderful, traditional RPG cliches. It's not everybody's cup of tea, but I found it overall both nostalgic and refreshing. You are running a pack of plucky teenagers, later joined by a mascot character (that thankfully was not useless and gimmicky) and the standard stoic mercenary type (that happens to be a hot bandit chick.) Your village gets wrecked, the bad guy is really just there to be the bad guy, everybody is living in small towns, huddled against the hordes of freaks tearing about in the wild world. There are some funny touches, like the one organized military force (on your side) are knightly types that wield swords and lances, but also wear modern-style helmets with goggles and toss potato-masher grenades. They're both badass and hilarious. We have critters that are literally living mounds of poop (that can also poop items, a veritable fractal of crap) creepy robots, and the usual gallery of RPG freaks. Akira Toriyama is in charge of the visuals, and it very much shows. It all comes together pretty well. My only real gripe is that the big bad evil guy doesn't really do much besides act all evil. He does have a nasty little plot involving our heroes, and is actually pretty damn clever about it; he just doesn't really show much motivation (in-game, at least.)
In the end, Blue Dragon is a nice homage to old-school JRPG goodness, and gets extra points for not pretending to be anything else. These guys know their business, all right. I give this one a hearty recommendation for anybody looking to capture a bit of the old-school on a newer system. Anybody else: if you don't like JRPG stuff already, then I doubt this will change your mind.
It is finally finished. I can put Blue Dragon to bed, and move on to another campaign. For all intents and purposes, this should be considered my definitive thoughts on the game.
The core gameplay is very solid, and you can tell it's got a JRPG pedigree and made with that polish only the veterans of the business can deliver. The Shadow Class system works out quite well, giving both a sense of customization and some of that sense of power you can get when you crack a old-schooler wide open. The combat is fun and fluid, with only two real gripes. The first is that a lot of the enemy mobs have attacks that have too much wind-up and reset animation (robo enemies are really bad for this,) which breaks the flow somewhat. It doesn't get too bad, but it can be annoying in some places, especially the final dungeon, where you can set a few minutes waiting for a pack of mooks to get through their motions. A second, somewhat related one is that Corporeal attacks (this game's combination of Limit Breaks and Summons) are a bit longer to go through than they should be, with no option to speed things up. They're very cinematic and flavorful, and their presence as a late-game 'finale' technique fit fairly well; just a bit too long.
The dungeons are fairly straightforward, with few 'gimmick' ideas and puzzles. Somebody realized that Zelda puzzles need to stay in Zelda games. Using predetermined encounters was a nice touch, especially with all the avoidance options the game will give you as time goes on. The game has a major 'press A and search everywhere' theme, with lots of little rewards everywhere. With apparently one major, bizarre exception: the interior of the final dungeon. I'm hoping that I just missed in it my final push to beat the game.
The minigames...hoo boy, the minigames. Most of them are the tradition innocuous button-masher affairs (with achievements for perfect play), and can be a nice change of pace. However, the game's signature minigame, is really jarring. This is the Mechat stage, an old-style rail shooter. It's not bad, but there's some questionable decisions involved. They decided to use a control scheme reminiscent of 8- and 16-bit games, except on an Xbox controller. Y'know, the kind with trigger buttons made for shooters? The end result is that you can suffer and get really frustrated really quickly if you're unprepared. The first of the stages is really bad for this, both because it's the first one and because you have no upgrades for your vehicle, making it very much an example of early game hell. No, I didn't get three game overs in a row and resorted to easy mode here (and creative combinations of profanity,) why d'you ask? The other two stages (one of them optional and repeatable) work better overall, especially with all the little upgrades scattered everywhere. Those are much more palatable.
And finally the story and world-building. The developers deliberately went for a absurd plot, full of wonderful, traditional RPG cliches. It's not everybody's cup of tea, but I found it overall both nostalgic and refreshing. You are running a pack of plucky teenagers, later joined by a mascot character (that thankfully was not useless and gimmicky) and the standard stoic mercenary type (that happens to be a hot bandit chick.) Your village gets wrecked, the bad guy is really just there to be the bad guy, everybody is living in small towns, huddled against the hordes of freaks tearing about in the wild world. There are some funny touches, like the one organized military force (on your side) are knightly types that wield swords and lances, but also wear modern-style helmets with goggles and toss potato-masher grenades. They're both badass and hilarious. We have critters that are literally living mounds of poop (that can also poop items, a veritable fractal of crap) creepy robots, and the usual gallery of RPG freaks. Akira Toriyama is in charge of the visuals, and it very much shows. It all comes together pretty well. My only real gripe is that the big bad evil guy doesn't really do much besides act all evil. He does have a nasty little plot involving our heroes, and is actually pretty damn clever about it; he just doesn't really show much motivation (in-game, at least.)
In the end, Blue Dragon is a nice homage to old-school JRPG goodness, and gets extra points for not pretending to be anything else. These guys know their business, all right. I give this one a hearty recommendation for anybody looking to capture a bit of the old-school on a newer system. Anybody else: if you don't like JRPG stuff already, then I doubt this will change your mind.
Forcing The Final Confrontation
So, it has all come down to this.
The sidequests (well, the ones I plan to mess with; I'm not fond of superbosses) are finally over and done with for Blue Dragon. All that remains is the final dungeon and the final boss at the end.
Laugh all you want, but this is pretty much the hobby I have left, so I take it (way too) seriously these days.
An added wrinkly is that this is the point where I usually just choke and put the game away. I've never been able to explain why, to be honest. I've probably babbled on about it in this blog at some point or another; I get to the final portion of a game, have all the sidequests done and get all the ducks in a row; then I just stop. Its an old, very bad habit (started all the way back with Final Fantasy VI) that I've had a tough time breaking. I'm not intimidated by the final challenges of the dungeon itself or the baddos that live there. I'm not worried about finding a sucky and/or mind screwy ending (JRPGs have a long tradition of those). I don't have a definitive answer. Maybe sometimes I don't want the ride to end. That said, there are some fun games that I beat conclusively and then just played them again down the road.
Oh well. This one should be on the kill list, and a final review/rant should be up on here soon. This one has begun to worn out it's welcome, and it's high time it's taken its place on the completed list. Let the Harvest be unleashed!
The sidequests (well, the ones I plan to mess with; I'm not fond of superbosses) are finally over and done with for Blue Dragon. All that remains is the final dungeon and the final boss at the end.
Laugh all you want, but this is pretty much the hobby I have left, so I take it (way too) seriously these days.
An added wrinkly is that this is the point where I usually just choke and put the game away. I've never been able to explain why, to be honest. I've probably babbled on about it in this blog at some point or another; I get to the final portion of a game, have all the sidequests done and get all the ducks in a row; then I just stop. Its an old, very bad habit (started all the way back with Final Fantasy VI) that I've had a tough time breaking. I'm not intimidated by the final challenges of the dungeon itself or the baddos that live there. I'm not worried about finding a sucky and/or mind screwy ending (JRPGs have a long tradition of those). I don't have a definitive answer. Maybe sometimes I don't want the ride to end. That said, there are some fun games that I beat conclusively and then just played them again down the road.
Oh well. This one should be on the kill list, and a final review/rant should be up on here soon. This one has begun to worn out it's welcome, and it's high time it's taken its place on the completed list. Let the Harvest be unleashed!
Monday, March 14, 2016
Sidequestin'
Well, as predicted, I've gotten the Blue Dragon campaign to the point of absurd sidequests and distraction galore. It's a long and glorious RPG tradition; you get whatever the game's equivalent of airship and/or fast travel (in this case the airship, fast travel is useful, but you need the airship to get the extra dungeons), the game tells you its the time of reckoning. Speeches are often made, camaraderie affirmed, sometimes the oh-so-hidden love is confessed. But then the player regains agency, and you wander about through the Scary Dungeon of Neverheardofit, Plunder the Region of Obscurehint, then finally smack around the Fearsome Beast Didyoubuyaguideyet. All of this so you can acquire the MacGuffin of Unlocktherealgoodies and access the Equipment Set of Whythehelldoesntthebadguyusethisheisanidiot.
It can be fun; while we usually wind up with recolored caves and ruins, sometimes we get a game that actually has interesting and flavorful extra dungeons. I am happy to report that so far, Blue Dragon's stuff belongs to the latter catergory. There is some of the obligatory backtracking and unlocking things you couldn't get the first time, but its actually fairly painless and gives good rewards. It can also give an opportunity to find all those search points (and wonderful, wonderful Nothings) you've managed to skip. And at the very least, we don't seem to have That One Sidequest where you waste two weeks of your life racing and juicing up birds over and over again. Even us fans never learned to like that one.
In any case, hopefully I put this one to bed at the end of the week, rampage about in a hack-and-slash palate cleanser like Diablo and move on to a Atelier game or something. We're still on course for the Craft System, Dork Factor Three!
It can be fun; while we usually wind up with recolored caves and ruins, sometimes we get a game that actually has interesting and flavorful extra dungeons. I am happy to report that so far, Blue Dragon's stuff belongs to the latter catergory. There is some of the obligatory backtracking and unlocking things you couldn't get the first time, but its actually fairly painless and gives good rewards. It can also give an opportunity to find all those search points (and wonderful, wonderful Nothings) you've managed to skip. And at the very least, we don't seem to have That One Sidequest where you waste two weeks of your life racing and juicing up birds over and over again. Even us fans never learned to like that one.
In any case, hopefully I put this one to bed at the end of the week, rampage about in a hack-and-slash palate cleanser like Diablo and move on to a Atelier game or something. We're still on course for the Craft System, Dork Factor Three!
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
StuffCraft
Well, its beginning; Blue Dragon is finally winding down, and hopefully I'll have it on the score sheet in a week or so (the joys of the working nerd). Really we're down to all the little backtracking and sidequesting that is very much RPG tradition. They've finally seen fit to give me the airship equivalent, and with that means that the Harvest can reach into all the nooks and crannies and convert the forces of badness in shinies. Bring on the shinies.
I've had a good bit of fun. Blue Dragon is very much a 16-bit RPG transported into modern gaming, and it was quite refreshing. We don't need grim darkness is grim all the time. But then something started nagging me. It felt like there was something cut out, or maybe omitted before they even started to code this little monster.
Then it finally hit me. I've probably mentioned it at the campaign's start, but there's no crafting system. This game has been throwing stuff at me left and right, but everything has been either a one-shot or gear. There's a token 'transformation' mechanic, but it's very sparse, with the only reusable instance being too little, too late to be practical (an NPC that takes a low-tier curative and makes it into a mid-tier one; the highest-tier ones are already available and plentiful.)
But I've got that itch again. I don't just want to have an excuse to twink a -2 Butter Knife of Bland Dullness into +5 Alchemic Carbide Sword of Flashy Choppy Death (+7 Anything That Annoys Me's Bane.) That's plenty fun, though. I want to take a system and play with it. Figure out thing like how somebody actually made an analogue to real chemistry and metallurgy and stuff.
Oh, and we need to find a way to include bismuth crystals. That's some cool looking stuff! I don't want to rip somebody else's pics off, so I try to describe it. Basically they look like a helical staircase made of rainbows. Natural ones are quite pretty and gemmy to look at, while artifically created ones (supposedly easy to do) look even cooler, since you have some element of control over how it forms. You'd think that a real life mineral like that would get an awesome upgrade into a Material of Coolness for a fantasy game; but no, I've only encountered bismuth once (Romancing SaGa), as a generic mineral for tempering stuff, without a single pic or description. It's somewhat tragic.
That's it, the next campaign is a damn Atelier game. Set course for the crafting system, Moe Factor Three.
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Third Disc's The Charm
Heh.
The Blue Dragon campaign is finally starting to wind down somewhat. I'm on the third and final disc, where the plot has decided to thicken a bit. Some of the usual RPG cliches have been played straight and then tossed on their ear a bit.
I won't go into details until the campaign itself is done, but suffice to say the usual "hero winds up helping the bad guy" happens, with a dash of "the cool character vanishes --nope not a spy" and now we're at the lowest point of morale for the good guys. The big epiphany is forthcoming, willpower will be raised to the max, yadda yadda.
But hell, it's not the story itself so much as how it's put together. This is still a fun little ride. The battle system is well put together; you can break it with traditional RPG munchkining, but it doesn't get too broken until you're ready to strut your stuff against the local forces of ultimate badness (which is the best time to do so in any case). The enemies are actually somewhat refreshing; they've just enough whimsy and have just enough variety of forms and skillsets to keep you on your toes. The "Monster Fight" gimmick is solid, but can be tricky to pull off if you're not using and abusing the field skill mechanics.
It's helped some by keeping away from the numerical escalation of many modern JRPGs. It's very clear that some the brains behind the wonders of Chrono Trigger decided to have something of a spiritual successor with this game. You only have 5 characters tops, the enemies use all sorts of techniques but are meant to be outwitted instead of outgunned, there's an emphasis on special accessories and rewarding the use of basic attacks instead of constant spells/techniques. A good example comes from my previous post. Using passive skills and gear effects, a basic attack can be charged, have an elemental property, generate gold, have a chance to steal an item, and drain health or magic, all at the same time. It's not hard to figure out; it doesn't require a counter-intuitive build or crazy amount of grinding. The game just gives you the tool box and tells you to go nuts, essentially.
The game takes advantage of it's relative small scale (of the combat system), and divvies out plenty of goodies for the magically-inclined as well. We've got stuff like specialized area effect spells, traditional elemental rock-paper-scissors nastiness, multi-target heals and buffs, and extra effects attached to direct damage dealers. This is stuff most games will either not bother with (for fear of trivializing combat), refuse to hand out until it's almost too late to matter or without excessive grinding (ditto), or force you to use and abuse just for survival (hard game is hard). Instead, we are expected to find our preferred flavor of flashy death and go nuts. You have to use some variety--there's plenty of critters that will punish you if stick to just one or two tactics all the time--and you'd better understand how the turn queue works. But other than that, we are good to go on unleashing the Harvest at any time.
The only way this would be any better is if we got Combo Techs.
The Blue Dragon campaign is finally starting to wind down somewhat. I'm on the third and final disc, where the plot has decided to thicken a bit. Some of the usual RPG cliches have been played straight and then tossed on their ear a bit.
I won't go into details until the campaign itself is done, but suffice to say the usual "hero winds up helping the bad guy" happens, with a dash of "the cool character vanishes --nope not a spy" and now we're at the lowest point of morale for the good guys. The big epiphany is forthcoming, willpower will be raised to the max, yadda yadda.
But hell, it's not the story itself so much as how it's put together. This is still a fun little ride. The battle system is well put together; you can break it with traditional RPG munchkining, but it doesn't get too broken until you're ready to strut your stuff against the local forces of ultimate badness (which is the best time to do so in any case). The enemies are actually somewhat refreshing; they've just enough whimsy and have just enough variety of forms and skillsets to keep you on your toes. The "Monster Fight" gimmick is solid, but can be tricky to pull off if you're not using and abusing the field skill mechanics.
It's helped some by keeping away from the numerical escalation of many modern JRPGs. It's very clear that some the brains behind the wonders of Chrono Trigger decided to have something of a spiritual successor with this game. You only have 5 characters tops, the enemies use all sorts of techniques but are meant to be outwitted instead of outgunned, there's an emphasis on special accessories and rewarding the use of basic attacks instead of constant spells/techniques. A good example comes from my previous post. Using passive skills and gear effects, a basic attack can be charged, have an elemental property, generate gold, have a chance to steal an item, and drain health or magic, all at the same time. It's not hard to figure out; it doesn't require a counter-intuitive build or crazy amount of grinding. The game just gives you the tool box and tells you to go nuts, essentially.
The game takes advantage of it's relative small scale (of the combat system), and divvies out plenty of goodies for the magically-inclined as well. We've got stuff like specialized area effect spells, traditional elemental rock-paper-scissors nastiness, multi-target heals and buffs, and extra effects attached to direct damage dealers. This is stuff most games will either not bother with (for fear of trivializing combat), refuse to hand out until it's almost too late to matter or without excessive grinding (ditto), or force you to use and abuse just for survival (hard game is hard). Instead, we are expected to find our preferred flavor of flashy death and go nuts. You have to use some variety--there's plenty of critters that will punish you if stick to just one or two tactics all the time--and you'd better understand how the turn queue works. But other than that, we are good to go on unleashing the Harvest at any time.
The only way this would be any better is if we got Combo Techs.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
The Shadow Harvest Continues
Heh, you spambots haven't gotten me yet!
The Harvest continues in Blue Dragon. Too bad there isn't a dedicated crafting system, but whatyougonnado?
So far things are still going fairly well; you can tell that this game was done people that really turned the JRPG into an art form. The default difficulty is just easy enough to make you confident, then randomly knocks you on your ass when you get cocky. The battle mechanics are polished, with traditional turn-based attacks and spellcasting and whatnot. Remember how JRPGs used to abandon the ol' Attack command a few hours in in favor of flashy special moves, spells, theft, and the like? How, maybe, sometimes, a game would give you a way (or ways) to make that Attack command crazy broken, but you had to wait until around 30-40 hours in (FF6 and the Genji Glove/Offering combo comes readily to mind) so you needed other flashiness? Well, with just a bit of effort, your humble, dirt-basic Attack command can become a charged punch of doom that absorbs the target's HP and steals (al a Final Fantasy's traditional Mug) very quickly, and with even more effort, absorb MP and double-strike (!!!!!1!!!one!) Throw in other craziness like a barrier that auto-kills most mooks, invisible ninja shenanigans, and actual red-on-red combat scenarios, and it's plain to see why they won't give you the Limit Break equivalent until about 2/3 into the game.
It's all about the Skill system. Much like, say, FF5, you have classes to pick from (as stated in the blog before), and after gaining enough SP (shadow points) the current class gains a rank, and at certain milestones, you get a skill, usually something like a new command or a passive, and you can mix-and-match at will. It gets insane with the Generalist class, where you trade the stat boosts and innate skills of other classes for...an extra accessory slot. Sounds terrible, right? Well, (again like FF5), looks are deceiving here. Progress through the ranks, and you wind up with more accessory slots, and more importantly, more skill slots. Once you wind up with, say, Skill+4 (easily gained, even without dedicated grinding), you can jump back into your favored specialty and let the doom roll! Throw in the effects of special accessories, and the forces of badness are in deep doodoo.
And they know it, too. The field symbols for a lot of minions have a 'flee' command, and they use it a lot.
The little shooter minigame is terrible, though. More on that later.
The Harvest continues in Blue Dragon. Too bad there isn't a dedicated crafting system, but whatyougonnado?
So far things are still going fairly well; you can tell that this game was done people that really turned the JRPG into an art form. The default difficulty is just easy enough to make you confident, then randomly knocks you on your ass when you get cocky. The battle mechanics are polished, with traditional turn-based attacks and spellcasting and whatnot. Remember how JRPGs used to abandon the ol' Attack command a few hours in in favor of flashy special moves, spells, theft, and the like? How, maybe, sometimes, a game would give you a way (or ways) to make that Attack command crazy broken, but you had to wait until around 30-40 hours in (FF6 and the Genji Glove/Offering combo comes readily to mind) so you needed other flashiness? Well, with just a bit of effort, your humble, dirt-basic Attack command can become a charged punch of doom that absorbs the target's HP and steals (al a Final Fantasy's traditional Mug) very quickly, and with even more effort, absorb MP and double-strike (!!!!!1!!!one!) Throw in other craziness like a barrier that auto-kills most mooks, invisible ninja shenanigans, and actual red-on-red combat scenarios, and it's plain to see why they won't give you the Limit Break equivalent until about 2/3 into the game.
It's all about the Skill system. Much like, say, FF5, you have classes to pick from (as stated in the blog before), and after gaining enough SP (shadow points) the current class gains a rank, and at certain milestones, you get a skill, usually something like a new command or a passive, and you can mix-and-match at will. It gets insane with the Generalist class, where you trade the stat boosts and innate skills of other classes for...an extra accessory slot. Sounds terrible, right? Well, (again like FF5), looks are deceiving here. Progress through the ranks, and you wind up with more accessory slots, and more importantly, more skill slots. Once you wind up with, say, Skill+4 (easily gained, even without dedicated grinding), you can jump back into your favored specialty and let the doom roll! Throw in the effects of special accessories, and the forces of badness are in deep doodoo.
And they know it, too. The field symbols for a lot of minions have a 'flee' command, and they use it a lot.
The little shooter minigame is terrible, though. More on that later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)