Well, the Dork Side has led me onto a new and interesting path. For once I followed through on my gaming schedule, and after beating Tales of Vesperia again I went ahead and popped in Dragon Quest VIII for the Playstation 2.
Hoo boy; I've heard it said a few times that the PS2 is the JRPG console, and they weren't kidding. I've tried out Dragon Quest I, II, and VI at random, and never really got hooked. A guide for VII appeared in a lot I acquired a year or so ago, but I can't make myself get the game itself for some reason. Then I stumbled upon VIII during a traipse through TV Tropes. I tell you, it does not disappoint.
I should hate the thing, it's a grindfest with only four playable characters (yes there's six the remake), a fairly linear storyline, combat is pretty by-the-book turn-based fare, saving your game requires going to a chapel or abbey, attrition can wreck your party in a hurry, it goes on. And it's awesome. It's like Squeenix just grabbed an 8- or 16-bit from their archive, and just updated the hell out of it without using the pervasive modern trends. No freaky emo-warriors. The world does not suck to live in. The tragic backstories are tastefully understated and don't overshadow the narrative. Nobody's dressed like they went the Carousel Boutique while the proprietor was watching J-Pop videos and guzzling Nyquil.
And the monsters are fun, too! They're mostly cartoony, goofy critters, like a bunch of background Muppets decided to get together and become medieval marauders. And they're still pretty badass. We've got stuff like angry anthro roosters that can slice the crap out of you, Jawa archers that can rain pointy doom, and freakin' firebreathing dinosaur lumberjacks! FIREBREATHING DINOSAUR LUMBERJACKS! And to sweeten the deal, you can recruit certain monsters for kickass arena battles. And you can eventually let them loose to assist you in unleashing doom upon the forces of badness.
Throw in a nifty, understated crafting system, fun party members (all hail Yangus and his best frienemy King Trode), and a magic/skill system that actually makes you think tactically, and it's no surprise. The Harvest Never Rests!
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Second Star To The Right
And don't bother about morning.
Things have been going along rather well with Tales of Vesperia. I've actually gotten to the point where I can actually do some dedicated material farming without tearing my hair out over leaving the plot dangling.
Vesperia is a bit odd; the whole 'sandbox' gets thrown at you fairly quickly, but the sand doesn't really fill in until something like 30 hours in, maybe 20 if you're good and rushing through the storyline. The game's airship is actually pretty awesome, being a an actual sea vessel hooked up to a big flying magic whale/Esper, with the addition benefit of water landings and takeoffs. With some minimal sidequesting, you can land just about anywhere that's even remotely flat. The odd part is that there is a constantly shifting day/night and weather cycle, which affect monster encounters and town/dungeon condition (and encounters in those dungeons). It sounds fairly standard, but there's lots of RNG shenanigans involved.
I remember being very irritated in my first run-through, but I believe that my judgment was really clouded at the time, with personal problems leaving me really sour about nearly everything. I'm actually relishing wandering over certain regions at nighttime and jumping out to slaughter giant killer ladybugs for glowing rocks and other monstrous ridiculousness. Tales has a glorious tradition of having goofy monsters to beat on, (even sobersides Abyss threw angry tuning forks and knights with trumpet-bazookas at you) and Vesperia proudly carries it on. I haven't encountered the glorious wackiness of gigantic demon canopy beds or fortress turtles, but there's a much better variety over all. How about monsters like birds with actual bugle beaks or paper fan wings, bush-tortoise things trample you with fruit, bees with gun stingers (yes Sonic did it first, but these are organic gun bees), and starfish that attack you on land and sound like Teletubbies when you shank 'em? That's just a sample of the crazy bestiary. And they all drop worthwhile goodies, including materials to make awesome loot with.
Now why didn't I ever want to play this again? Well, even in angst The Harvest Never Rests!
Things have been going along rather well with Tales of Vesperia. I've actually gotten to the point where I can actually do some dedicated material farming without tearing my hair out over leaving the plot dangling.
Vesperia is a bit odd; the whole 'sandbox' gets thrown at you fairly quickly, but the sand doesn't really fill in until something like 30 hours in, maybe 20 if you're good and rushing through the storyline. The game's airship is actually pretty awesome, being a an actual sea vessel hooked up to a big flying magic whale/Esper, with the addition benefit of water landings and takeoffs. With some minimal sidequesting, you can land just about anywhere that's even remotely flat. The odd part is that there is a constantly shifting day/night and weather cycle, which affect monster encounters and town/dungeon condition (and encounters in those dungeons). It sounds fairly standard, but there's lots of RNG shenanigans involved.
I remember being very irritated in my first run-through, but I believe that my judgment was really clouded at the time, with personal problems leaving me really sour about nearly everything. I'm actually relishing wandering over certain regions at nighttime and jumping out to slaughter giant killer ladybugs for glowing rocks and other monstrous ridiculousness. Tales has a glorious tradition of having goofy monsters to beat on, (even sobersides Abyss threw angry tuning forks and knights with trumpet-bazookas at you) and Vesperia proudly carries it on. I haven't encountered the glorious wackiness of gigantic demon canopy beds or fortress turtles, but there's a much better variety over all. How about monsters like birds with actual bugle beaks or paper fan wings, bush-tortoise things trample you with fruit, bees with gun stingers (yes Sonic did it first, but these are organic gun bees), and starfish that attack you on land and sound like Teletubbies when you shank 'em? That's just a sample of the crazy bestiary. And they all drop worthwhile goodies, including materials to make awesome loot with.
Now why didn't I ever want to play this again? Well, even in angst The Harvest Never Rests!
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Devil's Lab
Yeah, seriously. Those dudes that wandering up and down the internet saying Tales of Vesperia is inspired by Final Fantasy VII are idiots. It's clearly inspired by Final Fantasy VI. So there!
Anyway, I'm finally getting back into the swing of things. The Vesperia campaign is still going along pretty well, helped by the fact that I'm not a angry little ball of angst this go-around. Sometimes even escapism doesn't help you escape things. I'm noticing a few more little details and nuances, and with the help of a decent FAQ or two I've figured out some the sidequests and extra events without having to save scum and tear my hair out. Tales-style sidequesting can be mean.
I've finally have some semblance of aptitude for the combat system, thought I doubt I'll have anything like actual mastery. Watching my main character zip around and unleash the turbo ginsu upon freakish hordes is pretty rewarding, and not whiffing every other attack makes things even sweeter. Throwing in the mage-support that every good RPG should do and things start turning into a symphony of flashy doom. The wonders of Tales-style New Game plus allowing for characters to retain the high-end skills and spells just amplifies things.
Repede the Ninja Dog of awesomeness is still very much a favorite for me, helping fetch all sorts of shinies--especially the much-needing crafting materials--with grace, aplomb, and without my supervision. Vesperia has far and away the best stealing system in the series that I've encountered, with just about everything having something for Repede to grab, reasonable chances for the grab to work, and little worry about not grabbing that super-unique item or it's lost forever bullshit (I'm looking at you Tales of the Abyss); plus it's automated, so I don't have to sit there and manually spam a command instead of unleashing the Harvest properly.
About the closest thing to a major gripe I have so far...well it's an odd thing to say, but there's not the sense of otherworldly grandeur that I got from Legendia. The graphics and sounds and overall tone is very, very good and a vast improvement over the dust-bowl depression of Abyss (especially in the graphics department) and there's some the same sense of discovery, mystery and plain fun going on. I think that Legendia is really in a class of it's own there. At least the monsters are fun too look at and more fun to fight. We've got stuff like giant wasp-things with gun-stingers, 'mermen' that are really weresharks that beat you with boat anchors, and some other fun stuff.
Unfortunately, it's time to wander off, but The Harvest Never Rests!
Anyway, I'm finally getting back into the swing of things. The Vesperia campaign is still going along pretty well, helped by the fact that I'm not a angry little ball of angst this go-around. Sometimes even escapism doesn't help you escape things. I'm noticing a few more little details and nuances, and with the help of a decent FAQ or two I've figured out some the sidequests and extra events without having to save scum and tear my hair out. Tales-style sidequesting can be mean.
I've finally have some semblance of aptitude for the combat system, thought I doubt I'll have anything like actual mastery. Watching my main character zip around and unleash the turbo ginsu upon freakish hordes is pretty rewarding, and not whiffing every other attack makes things even sweeter. Throwing in the mage-support that every good RPG should do and things start turning into a symphony of flashy doom. The wonders of Tales-style New Game plus allowing for characters to retain the high-end skills and spells just amplifies things.
Repede the Ninja Dog of awesomeness is still very much a favorite for me, helping fetch all sorts of shinies--especially the much-needing crafting materials--with grace, aplomb, and without my supervision. Vesperia has far and away the best stealing system in the series that I've encountered, with just about everything having something for Repede to grab, reasonable chances for the grab to work, and little worry about not grabbing that super-unique item or it's lost forever bullshit (I'm looking at you Tales of the Abyss); plus it's automated, so I don't have to sit there and manually spam a command instead of unleashing the Harvest properly.
About the closest thing to a major gripe I have so far...well it's an odd thing to say, but there's not the sense of otherworldly grandeur that I got from Legendia. The graphics and sounds and overall tone is very, very good and a vast improvement over the dust-bowl depression of Abyss (especially in the graphics department) and there's some the same sense of discovery, mystery and plain fun going on. I think that Legendia is really in a class of it's own there. At least the monsters are fun too look at and more fun to fight. We've got stuff like giant wasp-things with gun-stingers, 'mermen' that are really weresharks that beat you with boat anchors, and some other fun stuff.
Unfortunately, it's time to wander off, but The Harvest Never Rests!
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Brightest Star in The Sky
Well, after a bit of dithering, I went ahead and shelved Dragon Age: Origins for a bit. It's almost funny, how it demands that you play for something like half a day to accomplish anything. It's not particularly difficult, especially after adapting to the game's quirks and almost old-school challenge level, just very time-consuming now; it has gone to the point where I have to put it down until I have some more dedicated free time for it.
I knuckled down a bit and put Tales of Vesperia in for a second playthrough. It's amazing just one set of New Game Plus bonuses can do for a Tales series game; I managed to retain everybody's skills and artes (Tales-speak for spells and special moves), and enabled a boost to item drop rates. Those two alone have given me the needed boost to actually go forth and unleash the Harvest that this game needed really badly. Add the fact that most dungeons are fairly short and we have a recipe for all sorts of JRPG goodness.
The story is still a bit on the meh side (especially for a Tales game), but the characters and setting help to make up a great deal. There's lots of little sidequests and mini-events floating around here (the official guide covers maybe a third to just short of half of them, a shame after the Abyss guide) that help flesh the world out and keep you interested.
The crafting is still fun and rewarding, and thanks to the aforementioned drop boost things are getting even better. Anything that cuts down on forced farming is a definite plus. I haven't managed anything game-breaking yet, but I never found much of a reason to do so yet.
Oh, and Repede is still the best dog in video games so far, though DA:O's Dog is a close second.
I knuckled down a bit and put Tales of Vesperia in for a second playthrough. It's amazing just one set of New Game Plus bonuses can do for a Tales series game; I managed to retain everybody's skills and artes (Tales-speak for spells and special moves), and enabled a boost to item drop rates. Those two alone have given me the needed boost to actually go forth and unleash the Harvest that this game needed really badly. Add the fact that most dungeons are fairly short and we have a recipe for all sorts of JRPG goodness.
The story is still a bit on the meh side (especially for a Tales game), but the characters and setting help to make up a great deal. There's lots of little sidequests and mini-events floating around here (the official guide covers maybe a third to just short of half of them, a shame after the Abyss guide) that help flesh the world out and keep you interested.
The crafting is still fun and rewarding, and thanks to the aforementioned drop boost things are getting even better. Anything that cuts down on forced farming is a definite plus. I haven't managed anything game-breaking yet, but I never found much of a reason to do so yet.
Oh, and Repede is still the best dog in video games so far, though DA:O's Dog is a close second.
Friday, April 7, 2017
Teetering On The Edge
Well, I found a brick wall, and that wall is named Kolgrim.
Things were cooking along nicely in Dragon Age: Origins. There were some ups and downs, though even the bad stuff turned out to be positives in the long run. I can't stress enough that this game is the first in a very long time to knock me right on my ass and question the power of the Dork Side. This resulted in me bringing some old, half-forgotten habits and concepts back out to play.
We're talking about things like saving after each mob, sneaking and inching into every room hoping the bad people don't show up and eat my dudes. I'm normally a paranoid gamer when it comes to saves, but this time I might not be paranoid enough.
On the bright side, I've managed to get something of a grasp of this game's tactics, though there is a bit of a snag here and there keeping me from getting my ducks in a row. Unfortunately, I've found a nasty boss (or maybe even sub-boss) encounter that invalidates practically any formation planning and even seems to erase buffs while dumping the party in the middle of a group of heavy hitters with ice mage support. Getting randomly frozen is no fun.
But other than that, I'm having a blast so far. I picked the Dwarf Noble origin, and had a good laugh at the default name. I'm a warrior named Duran in a game with multiple possible starting stories. That's a reference I thought would never see the light of day. I've managed to tear my way through things, and thanks to some proper dungeon crawling I wound up with the Warden Commander armor set fairly quickly, plus a lucky break handing me Starfang very early. So at least the gear side of things is getting squared away. I'm going to break off from the main questline again (damn you, Kolgrim) and get some sidequests and more DLC stuff out of the way.
Read. Prepare. Grind. The Harvest Never Rests!
Things were cooking along nicely in Dragon Age: Origins. There were some ups and downs, though even the bad stuff turned out to be positives in the long run. I can't stress enough that this game is the first in a very long time to knock me right on my ass and question the power of the Dork Side. This resulted in me bringing some old, half-forgotten habits and concepts back out to play.
We're talking about things like saving after each mob, sneaking and inching into every room hoping the bad people don't show up and eat my dudes. I'm normally a paranoid gamer when it comes to saves, but this time I might not be paranoid enough.
On the bright side, I've managed to get something of a grasp of this game's tactics, though there is a bit of a snag here and there keeping me from getting my ducks in a row. Unfortunately, I've found a nasty boss (or maybe even sub-boss) encounter that invalidates practically any formation planning and even seems to erase buffs while dumping the party in the middle of a group of heavy hitters with ice mage support. Getting randomly frozen is no fun.
But other than that, I'm having a blast so far. I picked the Dwarf Noble origin, and had a good laugh at the default name. I'm a warrior named Duran in a game with multiple possible starting stories. That's a reference I thought would never see the light of day. I've managed to tear my way through things, and thanks to some proper dungeon crawling I wound up with the Warden Commander armor set fairly quickly, plus a lucky break handing me Starfang very early. So at least the gear side of things is getting squared away. I'm going to break off from the main questline again (damn you, Kolgrim) and get some sidequests and more DLC stuff out of the way.
Read. Prepare. Grind. The Harvest Never Rests!
Saturday, April 1, 2017
The Age of the Dragon
Holy crap.
I finally buckled down and decided to unleash the Harvest on Dragon Age: Origins, and I've found something pretty special. First off, it is by and large the hardest RPG I've handled in a very long time, presenting a level of danger and challenge rivaling even some of the old-school nastiness I've encountered way back when. It is no exaggeration that this game has already handed me more TPKs--in two days--than any other RPG I've played since I returned to the controller, and possibly any RPG I've played ever. Things might get a bit less one-sided later on, but so far it has been a tale of desperate victories (or getting ganked) with lots of casualties and frantic potion-chugging.
It's also pretty awesome so far, with all sorts of things to do and stuff to plunder. I can't say I've played a game with multiple currency values (copper, silver, and gold) and actually requiring containers for crafting potions and poisons. And your decisions have weight, beyond even relationship values, allowing your choices to make a discernible difference on outcomes. They're not just cosmetic or cutscene differences either; what you do and who you decide to aid (or not) can put you down some very different roads, and while they all lead to the same final battle, the aftermath can and will be quite different. The obvious 'good' choice may well not be the best choice, with the game's emphasis on themes of determination, pragmatism, and plain ruthlessness.
There's just this whole air of actually stepping up and becoming a badass, and showing you the circumstances and consequences without being preachy or satire. There's a stark bluntness about the whole affair, but it doesn't detract from the positive sides of heroism, idealism, and standing against evil. It's good to know that even in grimdark games, there can still be heroes.
Oh, and you get a dog. Granted, it's a big tough mastiff that can fight bears and abominations and demons and stuff, but for you and (most of) your companions, he's just a big puppy and acts like it. It's hilarious.
I finally buckled down and decided to unleash the Harvest on Dragon Age: Origins, and I've found something pretty special. First off, it is by and large the hardest RPG I've handled in a very long time, presenting a level of danger and challenge rivaling even some of the old-school nastiness I've encountered way back when. It is no exaggeration that this game has already handed me more TPKs--in two days--than any other RPG I've played since I returned to the controller, and possibly any RPG I've played ever. Things might get a bit less one-sided later on, but so far it has been a tale of desperate victories (or getting ganked) with lots of casualties and frantic potion-chugging.
It's also pretty awesome so far, with all sorts of things to do and stuff to plunder. I can't say I've played a game with multiple currency values (copper, silver, and gold) and actually requiring containers for crafting potions and poisons. And your decisions have weight, beyond even relationship values, allowing your choices to make a discernible difference on outcomes. They're not just cosmetic or cutscene differences either; what you do and who you decide to aid (or not) can put you down some very different roads, and while they all lead to the same final battle, the aftermath can and will be quite different. The obvious 'good' choice may well not be the best choice, with the game's emphasis on themes of determination, pragmatism, and plain ruthlessness.
There's just this whole air of actually stepping up and becoming a badass, and showing you the circumstances and consequences without being preachy or satire. There's a stark bluntness about the whole affair, but it doesn't detract from the positive sides of heroism, idealism, and standing against evil. It's good to know that even in grimdark games, there can still be heroes.
Oh, and you get a dog. Granted, it's a big tough mastiff that can fight bears and abominations and demons and stuff, but for you and (most of) your companions, he's just a big puppy and acts like it. It's hilarious.
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Marooned On A Dead Planet
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!
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!
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