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A big thanks to everyone who recommended the Might and Magic series to me for some good old-school first person dungeon crawling fun. I'm enjoying the heck out of 3, though I've only barely started. Is it cowardice to rely a lot on donations at the temple to see me through fights? Also is there a front/back row? Everyone seems to get hit just as often and as hard, which scares me because my Cleric had all of 4 HP at level 1 and now has 8 at level 2. Still, with liberal use of save/load I can pull through, and it feels frenetic without being frustrating. I also love the thrill of hunting down hidden doors to kick in and stuff. All in all a great experience, and if they get better from here I'm really excited to move my way through the series.
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Nov 7, 2015 06:10
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Donating for a decent blessing is totally fine, it's a solid strategy if you don't have access to any other boosts. I recall there being more and more potent buffs in Xeen so I can't say, but any advantage you can get is worth having in M&M games. Buffs especially are worth retreating to refresh if you're relying on them to explore safely. Stuff that gives lots of HP or significant stat boosts can really help you in getting things done. Thuryl would definitely know way more about the specifics.
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Nov 7, 2015 06:13
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Getsuya posted:A big thanks to everyone who recommended the Might and Magic series to me for some good old-school first person dungeon crawling fun. I'm enjoying the heck out of 3, though I've only barely started. Is it cowardice to rely a lot on donations at the temple to see me through fights? Also is there a front/back row? Everyone seems to get hit just as often and as hard, which scares me because my Cleric had all of 4 HP at level 1 and now has 8 at level 2. Still, with liberal use of save/load I can pull through, and it feels frenetic without being frustrating. I also love the thrill of hunting down hidden doors to kick in and stuff. All in all a great experience, and if they get better from here I'm really excited to move my way through the series. Temple donations are a good way to get through hard fights at low levels and there's no reason to feel bad about using them, although once you've gained a few levels your own buff spells will outmatch them. Look out for things like fountains and wells that give you temporary stat boosts too. M&M games generally give you a lot of ways to punch above your weight and expect you to use them as needed -- they're open-ended enough that it's not like there's really a difficulty curve to break in the first place. Having characters with low HP totals can definitely be a pain early on. It's a good idea to give everyone in your party a decent amount of Endurance, especially your caster classes who have low base HP to begin with. It's not a disaster if you start out on the low side, though: there are lots of ways to permanently increase your stats, and when you increase your Endurance the HP you would have earned at previous levels is awarded retroactively. As far as front and back rows are concerned, I suspect characters in the later positions in the party are a little less likely to be targeted by enemies: my casters seemed to be the last characters standing in a losing fight a bit more often than you'd expect given their low HP. But that's more a personal impression than anything I've done any kind of rigorous testing on. There's no position where you can be confident a character will be safe from attack, so don't neglect anyone's armour.
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Nov 7, 2015 08:19
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I bought Gothic 2 on the thread's recommendation and so far I've fallen off a tower to death, got eaten by wildlife (many, many many times), got beat up by random ruffians, sliced up by orcs, sliced up by orcs after coming out of a teleporter, sliced up by orcs after coming out of a cave, sliced up by bridge bandits, and now a pirate is forcing me to dig up his treasure for some reason? I don't know anything about the game (what do the stats even do?) but it's awesome.
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Nov 7, 2015 18:22
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Heavy neutrino posted:I bought Gothic 2 on the thread's recommendation and so far I've fallen off a tower to death, got eaten by wildlife (many, many many times), got beat up by random ruffians, sliced up by orcs, sliced up by orcs after coming out of a teleporter, sliced up by orcs after coming out of a cave, sliced up by bridge bandits, and now a pirate is forcing me to dig up his treasure for some reason? I don't know anything about the game (what do the stats even do?) but it's awesome. Stats raise your damage in whatever they're linked to (melee, ranged, or magic), and are also needed for equipping stuff. Don't neglect your skills, though, because they're also important!
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Nov 7, 2015 18:33
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also, if you are good at blocking, you can pretty much kill any melee guy 1 on 1, but if you get mobbed early on you're hosed. So don't pick fights with groups of bandits 
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Nov 7, 2015 18:36
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foutre posted:I read a review that said it's "the closest thing to Morrowind" since, well, Morrowind, and that the worldbuilding is incredible, but that it was pretty uneven. I can put up with awkward combat as long as the story/exploring etc. is good. I thought I could too, but good lord is it painful to go back in time to play games that are just bad versions of Elder Scrolls. I can replay Elder Scrolls games because of nostalgia, but other games from the same time period are just garbage.
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Nov 7, 2015 18:40
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Just finished the first town of Might and Magic 3 and I'm having a great time. After I leveled up from the Storehouse I never really needed to use the temple again, and it felt good to kind of handle things on my own. There were enough dicey times to keep me on the edge of my seat, and the exploration is interesting without being too obtuse. I'm sure the puzzles and dungeons will get more complicated as I go along, but I think I'll be able to handle whatever the game throws at me. It's especially awesome that they throw a bunch of stat boosters at you in the first dungeon so, if you're careful with your saves, you can get some much-needed stat boosts to characters in need. My wimpy gnome cleric now has 22 END. Man I wish I had experienced these games back when they were new. The only minor frustration I have right now is having to look up the weapon+attribute combinations to see what's better than what. I wish they would just tell me the +s and be done with it.
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Nov 7, 2015 20:28
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Heavy neutrino posted:I bought Gothic 2 on the thread's recommendation and so far I've fallen off a tower to death, got eaten by wildlife (many, many many times), got beat up by random ruffians, sliced up by orcs, sliced up by orcs after coming out of a teleporter, sliced up by orcs after coming out of a cave, sliced up by bridge bandits, and now a pirate is forcing me to dig up his treasure for some reason? I don't know anything about the game (what do the stats even do?) but it's awesome. i have beaten gothic 2 twice and all these same things still happen when i replay it.
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Nov 7, 2015 20:42
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So I recently got a PS4 and I noticed that with the PS Now service there's three different Atelier games on offer, Atelier Escha & Logy, Ayesha Plus, and Rorona Plus. I was wondering which, if any, of them would be worth playing.
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Nov 7, 2015 21:19
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all of them. that said rorona is part of a different trilogy than the other two, so your best bet would be Ayesha then Eschatology
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Nov 7, 2015 21:22
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I killed an orc! After luring it to the town guard, who beat him to an inch of death and then got stuck in geometry, allowing me to heroically save the town! No but seriously how do I stop being such a chump? I joined the fire magicians because I thought they'd teach me cool spells but they made me do chores so I left then I got eaten by wargs
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Nov 7, 2015 21:44
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Getsuya posted:The only minor frustration I have right now is having to look up the weapon+attribute combinations to see what's better than what. I wish they would just tell me the +s and be done with it.
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Nov 7, 2015 22:01
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Heavy neutrino posted:I killed an orc! This was my experience with Gothic 2. I never could finish the game after 20 hours of running around in the first city. It's strange, I loving loved the first game but the second's pacing is just so slow! From my experience with the first game all I can say is that equipment is king. If an area seems too hard then you're probably not supposed to be there but the next piece of armor you get will let you blow through it like nothing.
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Nov 7, 2015 22:21
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i knew i was in for some good poo poo with gothic when it started windowed in a strange corner of the screen and the menus are keyboard only. my dude moves like a drunk and the camera just does whatever. everyone sounds like they're in a community theatre play. this fuckin' owns.
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Nov 7, 2015 22:47
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Heavy neutrino posted:I killed an orc! do the chores.
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Nov 7, 2015 22:49
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I'm really liking Ys Origin in spite of the fact the whole game takes in the one dungeon that was featured in a previous game. I wish the series could have more adventures with voiced protagonists. Hugo Fact is enjoyable because he rightly argues with the other heroes about their goal and he gets a flirty rapport with one if the villains, something that never happens with Adol the Mute. I'm perfectly sure that, though this is a prequel and that "Fact" is the surname of a later villain, Hugo will be OK by the end of this story. I find myself really enjoying Falcom games because they have yet to descend into navel-gazing wank like Square-Enix, or pandering-loli-paedo-anime bullshit like every JRPG company that isn't From Software. The main characters are refreshingly straight-forward in their heroism, and while the plots are often cliche, I can't fault their earnest good-heartedness, their localizations and PC-friendliness.
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Nov 7, 2015 22:59
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corn in the bible posted:Stats raise your damage in whatever they're linked to (melee, ranged, or magic), and are also needed for equipping stuff. Don't neglect your skills, though, because they're also important! Is there any reason why I do poo poo for damage until suddenly I hit for a third of the bad guy's life bar? Does the game have critical hits or somesuch?
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Nov 7, 2015 23:29
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Heavy neutrino posted:Is there any reason why I do poo poo for damage until suddenly I hit for a third of the bad guy's life bar? Does the game have critical hits or somesuch? It does! They're based on your weapon skill.
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Nov 8, 2015 00:12
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Inspector Gesicht posted:I'm really liking Ys Origin in spite of the fact the whole game takes in the one dungeon that was featured in a previous game. I wish the series could have more adventures with voiced protagonists. Hugo Fact is enjoyable because he rightly argues with the other heroes about their goal and he gets a flirty rapport with one if the villains, something that never happens with Adol the Mute. I'm perfectly sure that, though this is a prequel and that "Fact" is the surname of a later villain, Hugo will be OK by the end of this story.
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Nov 8, 2015 00:27
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Panic! at Nabisco posted:It helps that every Falcom game that has come west has had a really stellar localization that took a lot of liberties, since the original Japanese dialogue is generally pretty...dry. Carpe Fulgur and XSEED did absolutely amazing jobs injecting character into Trails in the Sky FC and SC. the localizations are good but did you actually play the japanese version of any of them or are you just saying this
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Nov 8, 2015 00:28
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Cake Attack posted:the localizations are good but did you actually play the japanese version of any of them or are you just saying this
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Nov 8, 2015 00:30
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oh that's fair then it's just a general trend i've noticed that vaguely annoys me for people to assume anything with a good localization was bad in japanese. obviously doesn't apply if you actually did play the japanese
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Nov 8, 2015 00:34
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Cake Attack posted:oh that's fair then e: I have the strength to protect heroine! Even though you're full of murderous intent, I won't forgive you, villain!! Panic! at Nabisco fucked around with this message at 00:45 on Nov 8, 2015 |
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Nov 8, 2015 00:42
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Panic! at Nabisco posted:Good writing in Japanese in general is a lot subtler than good writing in English until you get into insanely poetic/obscuring stuff like Murakami in my experience, so imo any localization that errs more on the side of natural English dialogue rather than literality will read better. But then I actually liked Working Designs despite the constant pop culture references and I adore Alex O. Smith localizations so I'm obviously biased Yeah, I think a lot of "average" Japanese writing is heavily reliant on specific tropes or lowest common denominator phrasing/emotional beats. It's not particularly different than "average" writing in English, just that what sounds hackneyed to the average person is different. For example, repetition or redundancy in speech or naming just doesn't sound as bad as it does in English. ("The Legendary Sword of Legend"...) Over-stylizing dialogue in Japanese the way a lot of English indie games do can just make a game sound amateurish, etc. You want middle-schoolers to be able to understand your games, but you don't want them to sound like they were written by delusional middle-schoolers (although with RPGs sometimes this is inevitable....)
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Nov 8, 2015 01:00
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Panic! at Nabisco posted:It helps that every Falcom game that has come west has had a really stellar localization that took a lot of liberties, since the original Japanese dialogue is generally pretty...dry. Carpe Fulgur and XSEED did absolutely amazing jobs injecting character into Trails in the Sky FC and SC. It also helps that they're self-admittedly weird. https://twitter.com/HProtagonista/status/663143014173282304
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Nov 8, 2015 01:10
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Yakiniku Teishoku posted:Yeah, I think a lot of "average" Japanese writing is heavily reliant on specific tropes or lowest common denominator phrasing/emotional beats. It's not particularly different than "average" writing in English, just that what sounds hackneyed to the average person is different. For example, repetition or redundancy in speech or naming just doesn't sound as bad as it does in English. ("The Legendary Sword of Legend"...) Over-stylizing dialogue in Japanese the way a lot of English indie games do can just make a game sound amateurish, etc. You want middle-schoolers to be able to understand your games, but you don't want them to sound like they were written by delusional middle-schoolers (although with RPGs sometimes this is inevitable....) quote:It hurts.
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Nov 8, 2015 01:53
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Screamers, in Might and Magic 3, can go right to Hell. Right straight to Hell.
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Nov 8, 2015 01:56
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guy playing gothic: if you aren't that far into the mages yet consider joining one of the other factions like the knights or mercenaries. they have easier starts. the knights/town watch have a little bit of magic too. also don't neglect the smaller factions like the thieves guild! there is good xp to be gotten there and thievery skills are great in this game. you can also get some nice starter armor hidden in a box in the big city or from a farmer just outside it. every single humanoid (well technically every single one but thats a herculean task) can be killed from level 1 if you are good at dodging and blocking and they are alone. otherwise always try to lure enemies from their groups. the classic 'jump on a rock and shoot them to death' can also be used to get some nice early game goodies. also finally consider looking up what skills are useful and don't put point into attributes you can't use
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Nov 8, 2015 02:12
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Getsuya posted:Screamers, in Might and Magic 3, can go right to Hell. Handy tip: if you don't take damage from an attack, it can't inflict any ailments on you either. Screamers' attacks can only do a maximum of 8 damage, so a Power Shield spell cast by a character of level 5 or higher will block them completely. Cast it on as many of your characters as possible before fighting them: it doesn't stop them from being freaky as hell but it does mean they can't harm you.
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Nov 8, 2015 02:14
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Panic! at Nabisco posted:It's also an issue of even good Japanese writing sounding weird and bad in English if it doesn't have significant changes to flow and reference. Kinoko Nasu, the Tsukihime/Fate series guy, is a pretty good writer, but the versions of his work we have here can sometimes turn into a slog, because "good Japanese writing" and "good English writing" don't go 1:1 in translation. English heavily favors brevity as a mark of skill, while if you've ever played a long visual novel this is obviously not the case in Japanese, where you'll often get the same thing over and over and over as an almost Faulkner-style emphasis device. How many times have you seen something like this: 
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Nov 8, 2015 02:17
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Panic! at Nabisco posted:It's also an issue of even good Japanese writing sounding weird and bad in English if it doesn't have significant changes to flow and reference. Kinoko Nasu, the Tsukihime/Fate series guy, is a pretty good writer, but the versions of his work we have here can sometimes turn into a slog, because "good Japanese writing" and "good English writing" don't go 1:1 in translation. English heavily favors brevity as a mark of skill, while if you've ever played a long visual novel this is obviously not the case in Japanese, where you'll often get the same thing over and over and over as an almost Faulkner-style emphasis device. How many times have you seen something like this: Honestly that sort of repetition where it's all in a row doesn't both me, what really bothers me in visual novel writing is when it's spaced out. Like there's several passages that give the exact same information. That might be more of a genre fiction thing though.
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Nov 8, 2015 02:20
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Panic! at Nabisco posted:Kinoko Nasu, the Tsukihime/Fate series guy, is a pretty good writer lol
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Nov 8, 2015 02:20
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Davincie posted:guy playing gothic: if you aren't that far into the mages yet consider joining one of the other factions like the knights or mercenaries. they have easier starts. the knights/town watch have a little bit of magic too. also don't neglect the smaller factions like the thieves guild! there is good xp to be gotten there and thievery skills are great in this game. you can also get some nice starter armor hidden in a box in the big city or from a farmer just outside it. every single humanoid (well technically every single one but thats a herculean task) can be killed from level 1 if you are good at dodging and blocking and they are alone. otherwise always try to lure enemies from their groups. the classic 'jump on a rock and shoot them to death' can also be used to get some nice early game goodies. also finally consider looking up what skills are useful and don't put point into attributes you can't use Doesn't Night of the Raven rebalance a whole bunch of stuff and make the game harder?
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Nov 8, 2015 02:34
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it does, but it also adds a lot of extra opportunities for experience and great loot so it balances out. theres an extra pirate/mayan themed island you can just explore, get the good stuff and leave the hard fights for later also one thing i forgot to mention: the gameworld, ie monsters, change every chapter. so returning to old areas can net new rewards! (also you could kill everything just before a reset for massive xp if you can be bothered)
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Nov 8, 2015 02:42
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and honestly, the game is already harder than the average so that little amount of extra difficulity shouldn't scare off anyone
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Nov 8, 2015 02:43
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Jesus Christ this chair
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Nov 8, 2015 03:25
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Is it the chair from Xenogears?
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Nov 8, 2015 03:41
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dis astranagant posted:Is it the chair from Xenogears? really sad that this chair didn't get a callout in the credits of xg
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Nov 8, 2015 05:07
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drat that's a fuckin terrible chair
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Nov 8, 2015 05:18
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