Buried alive, buried alive...
So Tales of Graces f is going along splendidly, actually. The Tales version of New Game Plus can be a real boon, since you can enable some things to give you a leg up right out of the gate, especially the Herb Bonus (you keep the bonus stats gained by using special herbs) and keeping the titles from your previous playthrough (enabling special attacks very early compared to a first time run , plus TONS of bonus stats). It isn't quite the brokenness of the Chrono Series NG+, but it works out rather well, since there's still plenty of challenge ahead.
I've finally worked out the battle system well enough to know what I'm doing. It only took something like 50-60 hours of game-time. But the pure undiluted badass that this game can deliver is something to behold. Have you seen the crazy, glowy attacks of doom that most RPGs deliver one after another? Well, Tales has a tradition of having them fire off simultaneously, creating a symphony of flashy monster-mulching, and Graces f is still one of the best to behold.
Oh, and it introduces you to the theoretical wonders of Indiscriminate Planetary Smackdown Machines. I have no idea what they are, but I want one. The Harvest never rests!
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Saturday, March 4, 2017
A Personal Loot Replicator
Well, things seem to be looking up so far in my impromptu Tales rampage. I managed to tear my way through the last few bits of Legendia without a whole lot of bother. I still find it hilariously awesome that you can craft a special move with the express purpose of throwing around a goddess of entropy and despair.
Overall, the experience worked out rather well, though there were some hiccups along the way, and inheriting the little 'skit' cutscenes turned out to be something of a mistake, making the characters' development seem a little more dry and contrived somehow. It's a bit odd to feel like this, since I can't say I've seen anything quite like the skits outside of this series (except maybe the personal events in Star Ocean) but now that I know they're there, the absence is noticeable. But all in all, good times were had by all and I put the game away on a very high note.
After working my way through the nerdiest fear of commitment ever, and waffling on the idea of a Rune Factory game (until I realized there were some dating sim mechanics, NO), I went ahead and popped in Tales of Graces f for the Playstation 3. Holy crap, New Game Plus is awesomeness here. Thanks to inheriting titles, the Eleth Mixer (still the coolest item crafting helper this side of Atelier), and my herb bonuses (!) I wound up with a crew of badass li'l munchkins totally wrecking the monster's faces right out of the gate.
But that was just the tip of the iceberg, since I went ahead and picked the enhancements for the Mixer and to inherit all the recipes I gained. With the help of some luck, I started cranking out crafting goodies pretty quickly, I can only see things getting even better in the future. For the uninitiated, the Eleth Mixer is pretty much a magical version of Star Trek's replicator, with consumes eleth (this game's word for mana) to produce just about any non-equipment item that has been in your inventory (like the replicator, it needs a pattern to work with) at random while you're wandering around outside of battle. It can produce curatives and other consumables, but it's true strength lies in cooking meals in mid-battle (each meal has a specific effect and trigger) and producing crafting materials to use in the game's 'dualize' system. It's fairly complex but also fairly straightforward.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that New Game plus for Tales of Graces f can start you off with what you need to commence a crafting rampage rarely seen outside of open-world RPGs, and I enjoy it so. The Harvest Has Triumphed, and Unleashed Once More.
Overall, the experience worked out rather well, though there were some hiccups along the way, and inheriting the little 'skit' cutscenes turned out to be something of a mistake, making the characters' development seem a little more dry and contrived somehow. It's a bit odd to feel like this, since I can't say I've seen anything quite like the skits outside of this series (except maybe the personal events in Star Ocean) but now that I know they're there, the absence is noticeable. But all in all, good times were had by all and I put the game away on a very high note.
After working my way through the nerdiest fear of commitment ever, and waffling on the idea of a Rune Factory game (until I realized there were some dating sim mechanics, NO), I went ahead and popped in Tales of Graces f for the Playstation 3. Holy crap, New Game Plus is awesomeness here. Thanks to inheriting titles, the Eleth Mixer (still the coolest item crafting helper this side of Atelier), and my herb bonuses (!) I wound up with a crew of badass li'l munchkins totally wrecking the monster's faces right out of the gate.
But that was just the tip of the iceberg, since I went ahead and picked the enhancements for the Mixer and to inherit all the recipes I gained. With the help of some luck, I started cranking out crafting goodies pretty quickly, I can only see things getting even better in the future. For the uninitiated, the Eleth Mixer is pretty much a magical version of Star Trek's replicator, with consumes eleth (this game's word for mana) to produce just about any non-equipment item that has been in your inventory (like the replicator, it needs a pattern to work with) at random while you're wandering around outside of battle. It can produce curatives and other consumables, but it's true strength lies in cooking meals in mid-battle (each meal has a specific effect and trigger) and producing crafting materials to use in the game's 'dualize' system. It's fairly complex but also fairly straightforward.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that New Game plus for Tales of Graces f can start you off with what you need to commence a crafting rampage rarely seen outside of open-world RPGs, and I enjoy it so. The Harvest Has Triumphed, and Unleashed Once More.
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