Hello!
I managed to pull off a glorious victory in Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of The Cursed King, and finally can put that game to rest for a while. The final boss battle was actually quest fun, staying just tense enough to keep me on my toes (most turn-based games suck at this, being heavily in my favor or that of the boss). The ending itself was fairly satisfying, and had the added bonus of being playable, letting the hero tear around a bit and revel in accolades and a bit of daring-do.
Now that we've reached the end of the main game (there's some serious post-game content, but I'm staying away for now), I have some final thoughts to share.
The Alchemy Pot mechanic is horribly flawed; I know I've been beating this poor mummified horse, but in the end this mechanic stretched what have been a 60 or so hour game into just shy of 90. Thirty hours devoted to grinding and keeping the equipment up to snuff. I'm grateful that they fixed it in the remake.
The Monster Arena is far more enjoyable, letting my collect a few critters and conquering other critters. The final rank was very enjoyable, with some fun cameos, spectacle, and a very tense final battle (with Hackzilla the dinosaur lumberjack snatching victory in desperate combat for my team, all hail Vanguard Critters). This was a side-game done right!
Speaking of which, the monsters themselves were an absolute blast, with just the right combination of ebullient silliness and danger to keep things fresh. They were part and parcel of how this game and the series advocates that video games should be fun. Fun fact: Most of the spells are funky onomatopoeia, and there's an explosive elemental set (!) named Bang, Boom, and Kaboom. Yes we have a game where you can spam Kaboom to harvest your foes if you so wish (or you can Fizzle, Sizzle, Crackle, Zap, Woosh, or Whack them). And you can summon a swarm of angry geezers to trample your foes!
In any case, it was an absolute blast; The Harvest Has Triumphed once again. I'm staying away for overwrought angst-fest RPGs for a little while longer, and playing Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny once again. Bring on the crafting!
Showing posts with label the harvest has triumphed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the harvest has triumphed. Show all posts
Thursday, July 27, 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.
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Another Day, Another Dragon
Well, it finally happened; Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is finally beaten. It took a far bit of effort this go-around, but at least it didn't have that nasty event flag bug happen all over again. I did encounter a few others, from the harmless (characters tend to load in standing and healthy, then kneel or flop over and start writhing like actors finding a mark), to the infuriating (a fair few broken sidequests -- more than the previous playthrough) to the unexpectedly badass (clipping and ragdoll physics left me buried in a pile of Jottun I just smashed).
Overall, there isn't a whole to be said for Amalur that didn't get said on the last campaign. The final areas are actually fairly fun and great to look at. There were lots of cool crystalline formations and freaky blue plants to gawk at. It was distinct, and actually across as pretty alien. It was marred a bit by having dungeons that came across as palette swaps except for part of the very final one. I'll give it a pass for that anyway, since the game's dungeons actually have a good bit of visual variety anyway.
The final boss fight was...okay. Somebody at the developer's office must have played Dragon's Dogma, since the (SPOILER WARNINGS) final boss shows up, squashed the main villain like a bitch, and then goes on about how it brought you back and fate and yadda yadda. The cinematics and last bit of storyline are pretty fun, but the battle itself was somewhat underwhelming especially since you're fighting a bigass demon dragon that slurp the fate out of you.
In the end, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning rates as a pretty damn fun game, and well worth the attention of the RPG enthusiast. It's not perfect, and it's a damn shame that sequels of any kind are extremely unlikely (yay corporate shenanigans), but it's plenty of fun, has it's own distinct world and underlying mythos, and its pretty badass (dual wielding bat'leths, Tron Frisbees of Doom, getting to be Scorpion and Sub-Zero at the same time, oh and ripping fate out of baddies and smiting them with it 300-style).
We shall see what come next, but for now the Harvest Has Triumphed!
Overall, there isn't a whole to be said for Amalur that didn't get said on the last campaign. The final areas are actually fairly fun and great to look at. There were lots of cool crystalline formations and freaky blue plants to gawk at. It was distinct, and actually across as pretty alien. It was marred a bit by having dungeons that came across as palette swaps except for part of the very final one. I'll give it a pass for that anyway, since the game's dungeons actually have a good bit of visual variety anyway.
The final boss fight was...okay. Somebody at the developer's office must have played Dragon's Dogma, since the (SPOILER WARNINGS) final boss shows up, squashed the main villain like a bitch, and then goes on about how it brought you back and fate and yadda yadda. The cinematics and last bit of storyline are pretty fun, but the battle itself was somewhat underwhelming especially since you're fighting a bigass demon dragon that slurp the fate out of you.
In the end, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning rates as a pretty damn fun game, and well worth the attention of the RPG enthusiast. It's not perfect, and it's a damn shame that sequels of any kind are extremely unlikely (yay corporate shenanigans), but it's plenty of fun, has it's own distinct world and underlying mythos, and its pretty badass (dual wielding bat'leths, Tron Frisbees of Doom, getting to be Scorpion and Sub-Zero at the same time, oh and ripping fate out of baddies and smiting them with it 300-style).
We shall see what come next, but for now the Harvest Has Triumphed!
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Lunar Victory
What can I say? Lunar Silver Star Story is now on my list of completed campaigns. It was actually a very fun ride overall. While it wasn't very long (especially by JRPG standards), clocking in at just over 25 hours with stops for grinding, it still turned out to a very full journey.
The final dungeon had just the right mix of interesting and infuriatingly dangerous, throwing in some of the most lethal mook fights I've encountered from the PS1 era. Of particular note was the 'curse' section, leaving you with two or more party members out of action at the beginning of every encounter, combined with forced encounters. It's a healthy reminder of just much of your party's resources can be yanked away with the loss of a character. The actual final boss just reinforced the lesson, often leaving me with choosing between reviving party members or trying to keep the remainder alive. This combined with a very nasty AI pattern made for what may well be the most infuriating RPG final boss I've battled in quite a long while.
It added spice to the whole thing, certainly, but Ghaleon mashed me flat a couple of times and threatened to leave me with a failed campaign, and that is not something I wanted to deal with. Fortunately the dork side came to my aid and I eked out a win. Protip: swap out status protection for regeneration and straight defensive stat-boosting accessories, and make sure everybody has resurrection and mana heals on tap before plunging in.
Overall, LSSC proved to a very pleasant experience, sometimes irreverent and quirky, sometimes fairy blunt and grim. It all wound up on the uplifting side of things, and was a worthwhile game. I still haven't decided on the next game, but for now, The Harvest Has Triumphed.
The final dungeon had just the right mix of interesting and infuriatingly dangerous, throwing in some of the most lethal mook fights I've encountered from the PS1 era. Of particular note was the 'curse' section, leaving you with two or more party members out of action at the beginning of every encounter, combined with forced encounters. It's a healthy reminder of just much of your party's resources can be yanked away with the loss of a character. The actual final boss just reinforced the lesson, often leaving me with choosing between reviving party members or trying to keep the remainder alive. This combined with a very nasty AI pattern made for what may well be the most infuriating RPG final boss I've battled in quite a long while.
It added spice to the whole thing, certainly, but Ghaleon mashed me flat a couple of times and threatened to leave me with a failed campaign, and that is not something I wanted to deal with. Fortunately the dork side came to my aid and I eked out a win. Protip: swap out status protection for regeneration and straight defensive stat-boosting accessories, and make sure everybody has resurrection and mana heals on tap before plunging in.
Overall, LSSC proved to a very pleasant experience, sometimes irreverent and quirky, sometimes fairy blunt and grim. It all wound up on the uplifting side of things, and was a worthwhile game. I still haven't decided on the next game, but for now, The Harvest Has Triumphed.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
You're so Vayne
After a bit of trial and tribulation, Final Fantasy XII is now officially on my kill list. There's still some stuff to be done left over (I really wanted to take on the Necrohol and snag the Zodiac Spear) but ultimately, I went ahead and faced the final boss and brought it all home.
I can see why there was some fanboy raging at the final dungeon; it literally was a few screens of tearing through a giant airship and wrecking a few dozen mooks before the final boss. Frankly the penultimate dungeon (the Pharos Lighthouse marathon of terror) served the purpose just fine, while Sky Fortress Bahamut is more of a final battleground stage than a dungeon proper. The final series of boss fights were a total blast, ranging from another Judge Magister battle to watching would-be overlord Vayne go from airbender to the hulk to a creepy awesome meld of man and magitek machinery that would made your average AdMech Magos oil his cogs from the sheer awe of it. A fine bonus was that he was enough of a threat to my pack of badasses that the entire set of matchups had that extra edge of danger going for it. It truly adds some kick to the proceedings.
FF12 actually kept that challenge and sense of danger up very well throughout my playthrough. Modern Final Fantasy has had a hard time of doing that, but here the old spark still burns bright. The whole thing actually did feel like a 8 or 16-bit Final Fantasy game brought to the Playstation 2 era. The monsters and locations just have the whole look and feel, while the combat system is still clearly of the ATB lineage.
What else can I say? FF12 is the first of the main series Final Fantasy games that I've completed in a very long time, and one of only four (if you count Tactics) that I've beaten. Most of the others wound up getting stalled for one reason or another, but this one kept compelling me to come back once I plugged it in and got going. It also stands as one of the longest playthoughs I've ever sunk into an RPG (clocking in at 83 hours of playtime), with maybe Skyrim being anywhere close before I hung it up. This is a worthy game, I can tell you.
In any case, it is time to move forward and start on my backlog of slightly more...obscure...titles. Next up is a bit of classic RPG quesadillia goodness: Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete. Are you a bad enough dude to become the Dragonmaster and collect all the bromides?
I can see why there was some fanboy raging at the final dungeon; it literally was a few screens of tearing through a giant airship and wrecking a few dozen mooks before the final boss. Frankly the penultimate dungeon (the Pharos Lighthouse marathon of terror) served the purpose just fine, while Sky Fortress Bahamut is more of a final battleground stage than a dungeon proper. The final series of boss fights were a total blast, ranging from another Judge Magister battle to watching would-be overlord Vayne go from airbender to the hulk to a creepy awesome meld of man and magitek machinery that would made your average AdMech Magos oil his cogs from the sheer awe of it. A fine bonus was that he was enough of a threat to my pack of badasses that the entire set of matchups had that extra edge of danger going for it. It truly adds some kick to the proceedings.
FF12 actually kept that challenge and sense of danger up very well throughout my playthrough. Modern Final Fantasy has had a hard time of doing that, but here the old spark still burns bright. The whole thing actually did feel like a 8 or 16-bit Final Fantasy game brought to the Playstation 2 era. The monsters and locations just have the whole look and feel, while the combat system is still clearly of the ATB lineage.
What else can I say? FF12 is the first of the main series Final Fantasy games that I've completed in a very long time, and one of only four (if you count Tactics) that I've beaten. Most of the others wound up getting stalled for one reason or another, but this one kept compelling me to come back once I plugged it in and got going. It also stands as one of the longest playthoughs I've ever sunk into an RPG (clocking in at 83 hours of playtime), with maybe Skyrim being anywhere close before I hung it up. This is a worthy game, I can tell you.
In any case, it is time to move forward and start on my backlog of slightly more...obscure...titles. Next up is a bit of classic RPG quesadillia goodness: Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete. Are you a bad enough dude to become the Dragonmaster and collect all the bromides?
Monday, October 24, 2016
A Graceful Ending
So, I went ahead and beat the main questline of Tales of Graces f. After a bit of dilly-dallying, I went ahead and decided to put the game down for the moment, leaving the extra chapter/post-game for another time.
It proved to be a pretty satisfying experience, overall. The combat was solid, with a few rough edges (though that could be partially attributed to a player not quite knowing what he was doing half the time). It got kinda button-mashey after a while; this could be a problem to some, but I really don't mind, plus I have some dexterity issues that negates some of the subtleties of combo-driven combat anyway. The story and characters wound up being fairly enjoyable, with some twists and subversions on the usual RPG clichés every player knows (Tales is good for that). I enjoyed all the little shout-outs and nods that were put in here and there. When it tried to be serious, it worked. When it tried to be funny, it usually worked. The sidequests and skits were a good source of zany antics in particular.
The crafting was fun, and a huge step in the right direction that the Tales series needed to go. Legendia was really just screwing around while making an Atelier reference that nobody got, Abyss had a system that was too obtuse to be enjoyable, and Vesperia...well, it was much better than the other two, but abtracted away a lot of questions (oh, and the lore for a lot of gear that half the craftables claimed they could be duplicated or copied, so yeah). Graces went for an "a plus b equals c" approach, and actually made a bit of logical sense most of the time. The tempering part was particularly welcome, allowing for customization and constant improvement for your gear, while also providing a steady supply of stat-boosting accessories. Throw in the Eleth Mixer, a mana-fueled Star Trek-style replicator, and you can have it rain goodies. The Harvest Has Triumphed, and rarely has it been handed showers of shiny, shiny materials to play with!
I'm still a bit undecided on what to play next. I've been doing a bit of a la carte Final Fantasy to see what pops up, but I'm also considering trying out my copy of Mana Khemia since I now have that crafting itch again. We shall see.
It proved to be a pretty satisfying experience, overall. The combat was solid, with a few rough edges (though that could be partially attributed to a player not quite knowing what he was doing half the time). It got kinda button-mashey after a while; this could be a problem to some, but I really don't mind, plus I have some dexterity issues that negates some of the subtleties of combo-driven combat anyway. The story and characters wound up being fairly enjoyable, with some twists and subversions on the usual RPG clichés every player knows (Tales is good for that). I enjoyed all the little shout-outs and nods that were put in here and there. When it tried to be serious, it worked. When it tried to be funny, it usually worked. The sidequests and skits were a good source of zany antics in particular.
The crafting was fun, and a huge step in the right direction that the Tales series needed to go. Legendia was really just screwing around while making an Atelier reference that nobody got, Abyss had a system that was too obtuse to be enjoyable, and Vesperia...well, it was much better than the other two, but abtracted away a lot of questions (oh, and the lore for a lot of gear that half the craftables claimed they could be duplicated or copied, so yeah). Graces went for an "a plus b equals c" approach, and actually made a bit of logical sense most of the time. The tempering part was particularly welcome, allowing for customization and constant improvement for your gear, while also providing a steady supply of stat-boosting accessories. Throw in the Eleth Mixer, a mana-fueled Star Trek-style replicator, and you can have it rain goodies. The Harvest Has Triumphed, and rarely has it been handed showers of shiny, shiny materials to play with!
I'm still a bit undecided on what to play next. I've been doing a bit of a la carte Final Fantasy to see what pops up, but I'm also considering trying out my copy of Mana Khemia since I now have that crafting itch again. We shall see.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
An Ocean of Mud
So.
It took some time for me to digest things, but I managed to beat Wild ARMs 2 last Tuesday, and it's time for the final thoughts before I pick another game to take on.
The ending was actually pretty good, only marred by the age-old tradition of cutscenes overriding player input when it comes to text boxes. It came close to turning a fairly nice closing sequence (everything gets wrapped up fairly tightly, casualties are light and fairly deserved) into a boring set of static screens. An interesting thing is that except for the actual credits, everything was done using the in-game engine, which could be a turn-off to some but helped tie things nicely in my opinion.
SPOILERS: The final boss was an absolute blast, being the evil demon of doom Lord Blazer, that your main character Ashley channels for transformations Breath of Fire style (down to having blue hair). In a bit of plot escalation done right, he pops up right after you manage to wax the Kuiper Belt (AKA Lavos' granddaddy) and then Ashley channels the local anime Excalibur and, quite frankly, wrecks Blazer's face. It was a lot like final Power Rangers episode, and got further boosted by various other characters showing up to help fuel your best super move and say uplifting stuff. Eat your heart out, Final Fantasy IV! End Spoilers.
Anyway, it all works out in the end. I'm not particularly keen on trying out the local collection of superbosses, mostly because they require something like 5-10 hours of extra grinding that I flat don't have the patience for.
So, in conclusion, Wild ARMs 2 is a fun little game, and deserves attention from anybody looking to see what old-school Playstation RPG goodness was all about. It is a little rough around the edges (the graphics are overall fairly meh, the Wild West influences slowly dwindled to nil in only a few hours in favor of the usual JRPG clichés), but it works out pretty damned well. The puzzles were actually a nice touch, giving much-needed brain-stimulation to what usually amounts to monster mazes. the story actually made use of some tired elements in a fine way, giving them new life and taking them to new heights (a frickin' invading evil dimension, not just eldritch legions, a hostile alternate universe).
Yes, it was very enjoyable all around. The Harvest Has Triumphed!
It took some time for me to digest things, but I managed to beat Wild ARMs 2 last Tuesday, and it's time for the final thoughts before I pick another game to take on.
The ending was actually pretty good, only marred by the age-old tradition of cutscenes overriding player input when it comes to text boxes. It came close to turning a fairly nice closing sequence (everything gets wrapped up fairly tightly, casualties are light and fairly deserved) into a boring set of static screens. An interesting thing is that except for the actual credits, everything was done using the in-game engine, which could be a turn-off to some but helped tie things nicely in my opinion.
SPOILERS: The final boss was an absolute blast, being the evil demon of doom Lord Blazer, that your main character Ashley channels for transformations Breath of Fire style (down to having blue hair). In a bit of plot escalation done right, he pops up right after you manage to wax the Kuiper Belt (AKA Lavos' granddaddy) and then Ashley channels the local anime Excalibur and, quite frankly, wrecks Blazer's face. It was a lot like final Power Rangers episode, and got further boosted by various other characters showing up to help fuel your best super move and say uplifting stuff. Eat your heart out, Final Fantasy IV! End Spoilers.
Anyway, it all works out in the end. I'm not particularly keen on trying out the local collection of superbosses, mostly because they require something like 5-10 hours of extra grinding that I flat don't have the patience for.
So, in conclusion, Wild ARMs 2 is a fun little game, and deserves attention from anybody looking to see what old-school Playstation RPG goodness was all about. It is a little rough around the edges (the graphics are overall fairly meh, the Wild West influences slowly dwindled to nil in only a few hours in favor of the usual JRPG clichés), but it works out pretty damned well. The puzzles were actually a nice touch, giving much-needed brain-stimulation to what usually amounts to monster mazes. the story actually made use of some tired elements in a fine way, giving them new life and taking them to new heights (a frickin' invading evil dimension, not just eldritch legions, a hostile alternate universe).
Yes, it was very enjoyable all around. The Harvest Has Triumphed!
Sunday, July 24, 2016
ULTRA COMBO
So. I beat Kingdom Hearts Final Mix last night...
...And beat Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana a little more than 12 hours later. I'mma go take a nap now.
You still here? Okay.
Honestly, I didn't plan on this. I just randomly decided to plug Iris into the PS2 and see what happened. I though I was stuck for good; either I had encountered a nasty glitch or stumbled upon the bonus dungeon by mistake (or both, the extra dungeon is supposed to be inaccessible until you have a cleared game save). I thrashed around for half an hour, then finally gave up and looked it up on GameFAQs. I learned that the solution was both simple and obvious (remember to try all your abilities, kids), and that like most RPGs the FAQs are written by snotty 15 year-olds that can't be bothered to give complete information and pre-emptively complain about questions.
Anyway, the final boss Amalgam was both challenging and kinda fun, and came down to the wire. I barely pulled off a win before it pulped my surviving characters. That'll teach me to not bring lots of items and resources to a final boss in an crafting-centric game where items are a major part of the combat system. I admit that it actually enhanced things somewhat, giving some extra tension and actually making my decisions feel like genuine tactics and gambles instead of "whack for x damage, heal for y when the enemy responds" most turn-based systems devolve into.
The whole thing still feels unreal somehow; I didn't expect it to go as well as it did. A gaming debt is now paid, a near-failed campaign put to rest successfully. But where will the Harvest turn next? Stay tuned. Or not.
...And beat Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana a little more than 12 hours later. I'mma go take a nap now.
You still here? Okay.
Honestly, I didn't plan on this. I just randomly decided to plug Iris into the PS2 and see what happened. I though I was stuck for good; either I had encountered a nasty glitch or stumbled upon the bonus dungeon by mistake (or both, the extra dungeon is supposed to be inaccessible until you have a cleared game save). I thrashed around for half an hour, then finally gave up and looked it up on GameFAQs. I learned that the solution was both simple and obvious (remember to try all your abilities, kids), and that like most RPGs the FAQs are written by snotty 15 year-olds that can't be bothered to give complete information and pre-emptively complain about questions.
Anyway, the final boss Amalgam was both challenging and kinda fun, and came down to the wire. I barely pulled off a win before it pulped my surviving characters. That'll teach me to not bring lots of items and resources to a final boss in an crafting-centric game where items are a major part of the combat system. I admit that it actually enhanced things somewhat, giving some extra tension and actually making my decisions feel like genuine tactics and gambles instead of "whack for x damage, heal for y when the enemy responds" most turn-based systems devolve into.
The whole thing still feels unreal somehow; I didn't expect it to go as well as it did. A gaming debt is now paid, a near-failed campaign put to rest successfully. But where will the Harvest turn next? Stay tuned. Or not.
Let A Little Darkness Into Your Heart
And it'll clog your arteries!
So, another game goes into the list. It took a fair bit of doing, but Kingdom Hearts Final Mix is now a game that I've beaten. Ansem was quite a final boss, and even though I suspect I was over-leveled, it took a few tries and quite some time to put that set of battles away. It was just hard enough to keep me coming back for more.
Overall it was a helluva run. KHFM is just as fun as advertised, and I don't doubt it's old news to say that this game deserves a spot on the RPG enthusiast's shelf. The tone was wonderful, being very optimistic and cheerful without becoming saccharine, having just enough dark moments to remind you how high the stakes can really be. Going on a multidimensional tour of random Disney worlds to smack eldritch legions of stolen and corrupted hearts (with a giant damn key!) sounds friggin' stupid on paper, but it just works out so well. The latter third or so was the best part, full of freaky and memorable locations, challenging battles, and just crazy moments. It's a rare game that takes fairly predictable twists and turns and still actually can pull off some OMGWTFBBQ doing them. Hell an unexpected highlight was stumbling onto a bonus superboss and getting totally wrecked for my trouble; I won't spoil things completely, but I can't say I've gotten some laughs out of getting slaughtered by what amounts to a Square-style Sith Lord before. Welcome to Kingdom Hearts!
It's still not perfect (but perfect doesn't exist anyway). I do have some minor quibbles. The summon system just wasn't all that great; Square games typically used it as a once-per-battle supermove, with plenty of flash and occasionally game-changing effects. KHFM retains the once-per rule, but adds a few other restrictions that just doesn't let be all that fun. It's very telling that the only one really worth it is Tinker Bell which invokes an almost game-breaking health regeneration (almost, you'll want and need it in later boss fights). The coliseum fights are also a bit of a pain, mostly though a combination of no summons and no heath or mana pickups; that's a lot meaner that it sounds. The final gripe is that the designers traded depth for variety. The various worlds you visit have plenty of distinction and fun visuals, but they rarely feel like worlds. Neverland was especially bad, giving you unlimited flight...in an abbreviated series of claustrophobic halls and cabins, finally letting you loose on the deck for a boss fight and later hanging around Big Ben (by the way, you can only move something like 30-50 yards from the big clock before hitting an invisible wall).
Those are about it for the gripes, though, and there is plenty of good things to fanboy about. The battle system is overall simple but deep, and your AI partners will actually meaningfully contribute along the way. Traditional revival items and spells are forgone for a timed comeback mechanic, which both relieves the player from traditional AI babysitting and adds a fair bit of tension to tricky battles. That and listening to Donald Duck wig out and then fling arcane doom is hilarious. The guest star members do run the gamut, but Final Mix seems to have tweaked them to where none are actually useless. Beast is still far and away the best of the lot. Seriously, eh OHKO's Heartless and doesn't afraid of anything. They all seem to have a hidden extra luck mechanic as well; putting a world specific character in the battle lineup seems to make the drop rates skyrocket for some reason. One final thing, the production values are through the roof. This is a very fun game to look at and listen to. I'm running a relic of a CRT television which far from does justice to it, and I've still gotten lots of wow-inducing visuals and wonderful sound. Traverse Town's battle theme is just something special by the way. Oh, and Deep Jungle feels a lot less like a Disney world and more like somebody snuck in some World of Mana flavor with the visuals and especially the soundtrack. Yes I geek out at video game music, why do you ask?
In any case, all good things must come to an end, and it's time to decide what adventure to pop in next. We shall see.
So, another game goes into the list. It took a fair bit of doing, but Kingdom Hearts Final Mix is now a game that I've beaten. Ansem was quite a final boss, and even though I suspect I was over-leveled, it took a few tries and quite some time to put that set of battles away. It was just hard enough to keep me coming back for more.
Overall it was a helluva run. KHFM is just as fun as advertised, and I don't doubt it's old news to say that this game deserves a spot on the RPG enthusiast's shelf. The tone was wonderful, being very optimistic and cheerful without becoming saccharine, having just enough dark moments to remind you how high the stakes can really be. Going on a multidimensional tour of random Disney worlds to smack eldritch legions of stolen and corrupted hearts (with a giant damn key!) sounds friggin' stupid on paper, but it just works out so well. The latter third or so was the best part, full of freaky and memorable locations, challenging battles, and just crazy moments. It's a rare game that takes fairly predictable twists and turns and still actually can pull off some OMGWTFBBQ doing them. Hell an unexpected highlight was stumbling onto a bonus superboss and getting totally wrecked for my trouble; I won't spoil things completely, but I can't say I've gotten some laughs out of getting slaughtered by what amounts to a Square-style Sith Lord before. Welcome to Kingdom Hearts!
It's still not perfect (but perfect doesn't exist anyway). I do have some minor quibbles. The summon system just wasn't all that great; Square games typically used it as a once-per-battle supermove, with plenty of flash and occasionally game-changing effects. KHFM retains the once-per rule, but adds a few other restrictions that just doesn't let be all that fun. It's very telling that the only one really worth it is Tinker Bell which invokes an almost game-breaking health regeneration (almost, you'll want and need it in later boss fights). The coliseum fights are also a bit of a pain, mostly though a combination of no summons and no heath or mana pickups; that's a lot meaner that it sounds. The final gripe is that the designers traded depth for variety. The various worlds you visit have plenty of distinction and fun visuals, but they rarely feel like worlds. Neverland was especially bad, giving you unlimited flight...in an abbreviated series of claustrophobic halls and cabins, finally letting you loose on the deck for a boss fight and later hanging around Big Ben (by the way, you can only move something like 30-50 yards from the big clock before hitting an invisible wall).
Those are about it for the gripes, though, and there is plenty of good things to fanboy about. The battle system is overall simple but deep, and your AI partners will actually meaningfully contribute along the way. Traditional revival items and spells are forgone for a timed comeback mechanic, which both relieves the player from traditional AI babysitting and adds a fair bit of tension to tricky battles. That and listening to Donald Duck wig out and then fling arcane doom is hilarious. The guest star members do run the gamut, but Final Mix seems to have tweaked them to where none are actually useless. Beast is still far and away the best of the lot. Seriously, eh OHKO's Heartless and doesn't afraid of anything. They all seem to have a hidden extra luck mechanic as well; putting a world specific character in the battle lineup seems to make the drop rates skyrocket for some reason. One final thing, the production values are through the roof. This is a very fun game to look at and listen to. I'm running a relic of a CRT television which far from does justice to it, and I've still gotten lots of wow-inducing visuals and wonderful sound. Traverse Town's battle theme is just something special by the way. Oh, and Deep Jungle feels a lot less like a Disney world and more like somebody snuck in some World of Mana flavor with the visuals and especially the soundtrack. Yes I geek out at video game music, why do you ask?
In any case, all good things must come to an end, and it's time to decide what adventure to pop in next. We shall see.
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Another Galaxy Saved
So, another game beaten. Rogue Galaxy was a actually quite a fun ride from start to finish, and has the distinction of having of the more pleasant endgame sequences I've seen. I've noted before that I already have a bizarre reluctance to get through a game's final dungeon and beat the end bosses, but somehow, this one was different.
Despite that last dungeon being the same Mordor ripoff that video games traditionally had since at least Super Mario Brothers, and boring in and of itself with cut-and-paste layouts, the same-but-more mooks that every RPG seems to have, it was kinda fun. I can point to several more imaginative and unique dungeons I've been through that felt more like chores than a game's payoff (I'm looking at you, Tales of the Abyss). The final boss battles were actually pretty damn fun, too. You start off kinda lame with using one of the game's gimmick guns, but then Jenova 2.0 pupates (I'm not joking) and all hell breaks loose. You wind up tearing you way through a freaky series of duel bosses on a giant space battleship (a literal ironclad in space) that has been assimilated by the evil space mojo, along with the crew and the local Shinra wannabes.
I've been given to understand that some people think it was both contrived and unduly tedious. Those people shouldn't play RPGs. I grant that it seemed a bit out of nowhere, but watching Valkog and his idiots get theirs without padding the game with a crappy second final dungeon works out for the best.
All in all, the game worked out quite well, and I'm happy to have popped that sucker into my beat-up PS2 and allowed the Harvest to take a whack at it. I still haven't chosen the next victim for my dork side to corrupt and loot, but we shall see. And if nothing else, I now can say I played a game with a badass space Womble, a literal dog soldier, and the madness that is Jupis Tooki McGanel.
The Harvest Has Triumphed!
Despite that last dungeon being the same Mordor ripoff that video games traditionally had since at least Super Mario Brothers, and boring in and of itself with cut-and-paste layouts, the same-but-more mooks that every RPG seems to have, it was kinda fun. I can point to several more imaginative and unique dungeons I've been through that felt more like chores than a game's payoff (I'm looking at you, Tales of the Abyss). The final boss battles were actually pretty damn fun, too. You start off kinda lame with using one of the game's gimmick guns, but then Jenova 2.0 pupates (I'm not joking) and all hell breaks loose. You wind up tearing you way through a freaky series of duel bosses on a giant space battleship (a literal ironclad in space) that has been assimilated by the evil space mojo, along with the crew and the local Shinra wannabes.
I've been given to understand that some people think it was both contrived and unduly tedious. Those people shouldn't play RPGs. I grant that it seemed a bit out of nowhere, but watching Valkog and his idiots get theirs without padding the game with a crappy second final dungeon works out for the best.
All in all, the game worked out quite well, and I'm happy to have popped that sucker into my beat-up PS2 and allowed the Harvest to take a whack at it. I still haven't chosen the next victim for my dork side to corrupt and loot, but we shall see. And if nothing else, I now can say I played a game with a badass space Womble, a literal dog soldier, and the madness that is Jupis Tooki McGanel.
The Harvest Has Triumphed!
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Guardian of the Night
In an effort to make a change of pace while I deal with various real-life issues (nothing earth-shattering, just annoyances and inconveniences), I dragged out a bit of old-school goodness: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
I had the good fortune of finding a black-label PS1 copy a few years back, and I trot it out occasionally to get away from both the daily grind and the daily level-grind. This treasure is chock-full of old sorts of gaming goodness, and combines some of the better mechanics found in old-school platforming with the exploration of adventure games, with a dab of RPG-style stats and loot. There's even some fighting game style button commands; I'm terrible at those, so they're not all that relevant to me, but even I think it's a nice touch.
Even for the gaming vet, there's just no real substitute for storming your way into a gothic castle of doom, smashing aside the horrible, grotesque minions of evil and walking away with all sorts of goodies. Overall it's very satisfying, and one can easily see why Konami was so eager to stick to this formula in some shape or form for a good while afterwards. Your main character, Alucard (ala Adrian Farenheit Tepes) showcases a good sense of loss and regrowth, losing most of his power soon after entering and then proceeds to smack evil anyway, becoming an engine of awesome judgment upon the castle's denizens before taking on Big Bad Dad Dracula himself.
SPOILERS!
There is a nifty concept that Konami tried out here: As above, so below. After following certain fairly intuitive (translation problem or maybe just a straight up lie notwithstanding) steps, you actually wind up in a second castle, which happens to be a complete inverse of the first one. That's right, the already crazy castle in completely flipped upside-down and filled with even more evil freaks. Unfortunately, it wasn't executed all that well. A smart player can 'cheat' by just flipping the first map upside-down and following it accordingly, including all the hidden passages and rooms, but otherwise you have no real sense of where you need to go. Things are also hurt by having several sections share a music theme (each one in the first castle gets a unique one), and with a few places all but outright forcing you to use either cheesy techniques or outright avoidance to get through. The latter is somewhat ameliorated when you get your stats back up to snuff, but the difficulty spike is pretty nasty all the same. Still, it was a nifty idea overall, and a good twist that fits the franchise very well.
END SPOILERS
One of the things I liked a lot is the enemy variety, even within some subsets you get all sort of unique critters and baddies to fight. The two big families are skeletons and knights/armors, with all sorts of different weapons and features. One of my favorites is the Nova Skeletons, bony wizards that patrol about and unleash arcane laser death; those can really hurt if you get hit. The bosses enjoy the same level of variety. Admittedly, we have a lot of the usual horror cliché monsters, but Symphony is where they got codified and established (especially Granfaloon aka Legion and Galamoth). I would've liked to see a bit more (Super Castlevania IV's Dancing Ghosts really amuse me), but even so things are rather wonderful. The triple threat of copy Trevor Blemont, Sypha, and Grant was one of the best moments, and a fine tribute to III.
On a final note, you've probably heard it all before, but it bears repeating: if you want to see what old-school gaming was really capable of back in the day, you need to try this puppy out. PS1 physical copies are fairly common, and fairly reasonable in price, you can download them on both Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network, and finally there is a tweaked version bundled with Rondo of Blood for the PSP. Matters are helped that this is a 2D game (though built on a 3D engine), so it stands up a fair bit better visually to a lot of its contemporaries. Game on, and never let the Harvest rest!
I had the good fortune of finding a black-label PS1 copy a few years back, and I trot it out occasionally to get away from both the daily grind and the daily level-grind. This treasure is chock-full of old sorts of gaming goodness, and combines some of the better mechanics found in old-school platforming with the exploration of adventure games, with a dab of RPG-style stats and loot. There's even some fighting game style button commands; I'm terrible at those, so they're not all that relevant to me, but even I think it's a nice touch.
Even for the gaming vet, there's just no real substitute for storming your way into a gothic castle of doom, smashing aside the horrible, grotesque minions of evil and walking away with all sorts of goodies. Overall it's very satisfying, and one can easily see why Konami was so eager to stick to this formula in some shape or form for a good while afterwards. Your main character, Alucard (ala Adrian Farenheit Tepes) showcases a good sense of loss and regrowth, losing most of his power soon after entering and then proceeds to smack evil anyway, becoming an engine of awesome judgment upon the castle's denizens before taking on Big Bad Dad Dracula himself.
SPOILERS!
There is a nifty concept that Konami tried out here: As above, so below. After following certain fairly intuitive (translation problem or maybe just a straight up lie notwithstanding) steps, you actually wind up in a second castle, which happens to be a complete inverse of the first one. That's right, the already crazy castle in completely flipped upside-down and filled with even more evil freaks. Unfortunately, it wasn't executed all that well. A smart player can 'cheat' by just flipping the first map upside-down and following it accordingly, including all the hidden passages and rooms, but otherwise you have no real sense of where you need to go. Things are also hurt by having several sections share a music theme (each one in the first castle gets a unique one), and with a few places all but outright forcing you to use either cheesy techniques or outright avoidance to get through. The latter is somewhat ameliorated when you get your stats back up to snuff, but the difficulty spike is pretty nasty all the same. Still, it was a nifty idea overall, and a good twist that fits the franchise very well.
END SPOILERS
One of the things I liked a lot is the enemy variety, even within some subsets you get all sort of unique critters and baddies to fight. The two big families are skeletons and knights/armors, with all sorts of different weapons and features. One of my favorites is the Nova Skeletons, bony wizards that patrol about and unleash arcane laser death; those can really hurt if you get hit. The bosses enjoy the same level of variety. Admittedly, we have a lot of the usual horror cliché monsters, but Symphony is where they got codified and established (especially Granfaloon aka Legion and Galamoth). I would've liked to see a bit more (Super Castlevania IV's Dancing Ghosts really amuse me), but even so things are rather wonderful. The triple threat of copy Trevor Blemont, Sypha, and Grant was one of the best moments, and a fine tribute to III.
On a final note, you've probably heard it all before, but it bears repeating: if you want to see what old-school gaming was really capable of back in the day, you need to try this puppy out. PS1 physical copies are fairly common, and fairly reasonable in price, you can download them on both Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network, and finally there is a tweaked version bundled with Rondo of Blood for the PSP. Matters are helped that this is a 2D game (though built on a 3D engine), so it stands up a fair bit better visually to a lot of its contemporaries. Game on, and never let the Harvest rest!
Friday, April 29, 2016
When Bad Guys Have Mommy Issues
Well, Atelier Iris 2 was beat fairly handily a night ago, and overall it wound up being a lot of fun. The final battle actually managed to be tense without forcing out copious amounts of cheese on either side. The world is saved and the Harvest must turn aside to root out more of the unworthy.
More or less for the hell of it, I pulled out another old friend, and jumped back into a playthrough for it.
Do you remember the old days, when one game effectively turned JPRGs from niche games for geeks into mainstream masterpieces? When most problems were solved by hunting down the nearest bishie prettyboy and knocking the crap out of him? A time when racing giant chickens for hours on end was something almost respectable, since it was the key to the grandaddy of badass summon spells?
I remember. Final Fantasy VII. I can sit there like a hipster tool and go on about how I loved RPGs long before I encountered this one (mostly because it's true), and dig myself deeper by going on about how I still go out of my way to nab new ones (if you didn't notice that already, than this blog is totally pointless).
But I won't. I will tell you about how I spent the night at a buddy's house way back in the day, who happened to have a Playstation and a copy of FF7. Him and some acquaintances kindly fired it up and let me take it for a spin; got to Wall Market before I had to turn it off and do something else. I will tell you about how I went out and got my own copy and a guide from Best Buy, and then proceeded to connive and hoard and outright steal lunch money so I can afford the damn console too. I came close to turning into a nasty little monster back then. Thank God it didn't turn out worse.
But you know what? FF7 is still a fine game, and thanks to a bit of luck and a very good friend, I still have that original copy in my stack. I admit that there's some nostalgia influencing me, but it's still a nerdy joy to fire it up and fiddle with your Materia collection and wreck corporate douchebags and watch Cloud randomly trip out. I still say that Cloud's biggest issue is that he got so close to nailing Aerith, but he couldn't go through with it so Sephiroth whips out his blade and does the deed himself. Double entendre ahoy!
I'm really just going ahead and fooling around with some sidequests for the moment, mostly because I'm between new games and a bit undecided. There's only so much chocobo racing I can stand, but I want Knights of the Round (if you played this game, you know why), so I'll be shooting up and inbreeding chickens for a bit. Still not quite sure what game to try next, but I'm thinking space pirates are in the near future now. We shall see.
More or less for the hell of it, I pulled out another old friend, and jumped back into a playthrough for it.
Do you remember the old days, when one game effectively turned JPRGs from niche games for geeks into mainstream masterpieces? When most problems were solved by hunting down the nearest bishie prettyboy and knocking the crap out of him? A time when racing giant chickens for hours on end was something almost respectable, since it was the key to the grandaddy of badass summon spells?
I remember. Final Fantasy VII. I can sit there like a hipster tool and go on about how I loved RPGs long before I encountered this one (mostly because it's true), and dig myself deeper by going on about how I still go out of my way to nab new ones (if you didn't notice that already, than this blog is totally pointless).
But I won't. I will tell you about how I spent the night at a buddy's house way back in the day, who happened to have a Playstation and a copy of FF7. Him and some acquaintances kindly fired it up and let me take it for a spin; got to Wall Market before I had to turn it off and do something else. I will tell you about how I went out and got my own copy and a guide from Best Buy, and then proceeded to connive and hoard and outright steal lunch money so I can afford the damn console too. I came close to turning into a nasty little monster back then. Thank God it didn't turn out worse.
But you know what? FF7 is still a fine game, and thanks to a bit of luck and a very good friend, I still have that original copy in my stack. I admit that there's some nostalgia influencing me, but it's still a nerdy joy to fire it up and fiddle with your Materia collection and wreck corporate douchebags and watch Cloud randomly trip out. I still say that Cloud's biggest issue is that he got so close to nailing Aerith, but he couldn't go through with it so Sephiroth whips out his blade and does the deed himself. Double entendre ahoy!
I'm really just going ahead and fooling around with some sidequests for the moment, mostly because I'm between new games and a bit undecided. There's only so much chocobo racing I can stand, but I want Knights of the Round (if you played this game, you know why), so I'll be shooting up and inbreeding chickens for a bit. Still not quite sure what game to try next, but I'm thinking space pirates are in the near future now. We shall see.
Monday, April 11, 2016
Well, That Was Unexpected
It's something of a surprise, to be sure.
After a whirlwind of IRL events, I managed to get enough quiet time to tackle the final assignment of Atelier Rorona. I didn't pull the evaluation grade I would like, but thanks to getting mostly perfect tens, I could pass and beat the game.
It's a funny thing; an important part of the game's mechanics revolves around turning in items for the big assignments, then using the rest of the in-game time as you see fit. It's fairly simple in practice: Do what it takes to get a passing grade (noted as "Complete" on the screen), preferably with a full ten out of ten stars, then use the remaining time to undertake jobs for the local folk and delve into dungeons (to trigger and fuel more jobs), plus do special jobs for party members and shopkeepers. I'm not quite sure yet, but the final assignment seems to trigger much more lenient and doable collection of jobs for the NPCs. This worked out well into my favor, since part of the ending requirements are tied to your in-game reputation, which is raised by completing the jobs at the palace counter. It came as a pleasant shock, to be sure; going into the final assignment, I was barely at 51%, and managed to ramp it up to 94% without much trouble.
It's still funny, how this game is pretty much one big fetch quest. It's even funnier that it can be loads of fun. I can't think of many games where I enjoyed tearing about town, handing out goodies, and playing delivery service for the kingdom and suchlike. Usually RPGs treat this stuff as a necessary evil, but Atelier games turn this into your bread and butter, and actually make it enjoyable in and of itself.
For anybody curious, part of the endings involves which NPC you wind up making your best friend/beau, and despite getting a perfect 100 value forCloud Sigfried Sterk, I wound up having poor innocent Rorona paired up with Gio. The guy is more than old enough to be her father, and happens to be the damn king to boot, but A) values were different for that sort of thing back then and B) he's awesomesauce anyway, so I really just had a good laugh and moved on. And C) the pairing is no more than implied anyway.
Gio, AKA Ludwig Giovanni Arland XIII, is one of the better ideas I've seen in a while. He's a JRPG character, with all the quirks and tolerance for weirdness that entails, that wants to be an Elder Scrolls protagonist really badly. His whole shtick to to sneak out and leave Minister Bad Touch in charge so he can tear about the countryside and unleash the Harvest upon the wild and wicked. This, plus the fact that he does all this in a swank outfit and a damn sword-cane, qualifies him for Rorona's contribution to the "awesomesauce RPG characters that reside in my hall of honor" list and a place with such luminaries as Jade Curtiss and Bacchus D-79 (AKA Space Elf Robocop).
In any case, my final verdict for Atelier Rorona vanilla (I didn't grab any DLC, and there is a remake, named Atelier Rorona Plus), is Recommended, especially for fellow RPG buffs that are looking for something a bit different. It's far from perfect (I miss Iris' two dimensional backgrounds a lot), but what this game offers is actually pretty well put together, and the emphasis on time-management and multiple playthroughs helps play to its strengths. You actually are encouraged to do a bit more planning than 'grind for a while, then conquer the unworthy, grind some more' that a lot RPGs expect, and it encourages a bit of mental agility. It'll take a while, and even veteran gamers will have some missteps, but the learning curve it pretty forgiving, and once you get the rhythm of things going, this game is quite rewarding.
Stay tuned. I have no idea what the next campaign will be yet, but rest assured that the Harvest will continue!
After a whirlwind of IRL events, I managed to get enough quiet time to tackle the final assignment of Atelier Rorona. I didn't pull the evaluation grade I would like, but thanks to getting mostly perfect tens, I could pass and beat the game.
It's a funny thing; an important part of the game's mechanics revolves around turning in items for the big assignments, then using the rest of the in-game time as you see fit. It's fairly simple in practice: Do what it takes to get a passing grade (noted as "Complete" on the screen), preferably with a full ten out of ten stars, then use the remaining time to undertake jobs for the local folk and delve into dungeons (to trigger and fuel more jobs), plus do special jobs for party members and shopkeepers. I'm not quite sure yet, but the final assignment seems to trigger much more lenient and doable collection of jobs for the NPCs. This worked out well into my favor, since part of the ending requirements are tied to your in-game reputation, which is raised by completing the jobs at the palace counter. It came as a pleasant shock, to be sure; going into the final assignment, I was barely at 51%, and managed to ramp it up to 94% without much trouble.
It's still funny, how this game is pretty much one big fetch quest. It's even funnier that it can be loads of fun. I can't think of many games where I enjoyed tearing about town, handing out goodies, and playing delivery service for the kingdom and suchlike. Usually RPGs treat this stuff as a necessary evil, but Atelier games turn this into your bread and butter, and actually make it enjoyable in and of itself.
For anybody curious, part of the endings involves which NPC you wind up making your best friend/beau, and despite getting a perfect 100 value for
Gio, AKA Ludwig Giovanni Arland XIII, is one of the better ideas I've seen in a while. He's a JRPG character, with all the quirks and tolerance for weirdness that entails, that wants to be an Elder Scrolls protagonist really badly. His whole shtick to to sneak out and leave Minister Bad Touch in charge so he can tear about the countryside and unleash the Harvest upon the wild and wicked. This, plus the fact that he does all this in a swank outfit and a damn sword-cane, qualifies him for Rorona's contribution to the "awesomesauce RPG characters that reside in my hall of honor" list and a place with such luminaries as Jade Curtiss and Bacchus D-79 (AKA Space Elf Robocop).
In any case, my final verdict for Atelier Rorona vanilla (I didn't grab any DLC, and there is a remake, named Atelier Rorona Plus), is Recommended, especially for fellow RPG buffs that are looking for something a bit different. It's far from perfect (I miss Iris' two dimensional backgrounds a lot), but what this game offers is actually pretty well put together, and the emphasis on time-management and multiple playthroughs helps play to its strengths. You actually are encouraged to do a bit more planning than 'grind for a while, then conquer the unworthy, grind some more' that a lot RPGs expect, and it encourages a bit of mental agility. It'll take a while, and even veteran gamers will have some missteps, but the learning curve it pretty forgiving, and once you get the rhythm of things going, this game is quite rewarding.
Stay tuned. I have no idea what the next campaign will be yet, but rest assured that the Harvest will continue!
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.
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