RPG Thread: SaGa Emeril Beyond

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RareAcumen: Dec 28, 2012

Hwurmp posted:

Yuuki is there to mash X. Boost his ranged skill as much as possible.

Yuuki's looking really expendable now that Kou can just swap his element whenever. Shio can do fire better than anyone atm.

I can't shake the feeling that I'm always gonna be missing books in the library and I'm not quite sure about increasing other stats either.

# ? Nov 25, 2019 21:23

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# ? May 28, 2024 13:30

Million Ghosts: Aug 11, 2011; spooooooky

Amppelix posted:

No it isn't, 2 is the only one people don't like.

whatever you say? i seem to remember people making GBS threads on that spinoff that came out a few years ago, and i've only heard wishy-washy stuff about anything but 1. turns out i still have my old ps3 copy of 1 anyways, so it was a pointless question.

shadow hearts 3 kicks rear end, it's so goddamn dumb and knows it and doesn't care at all. i could see it not landing right after the other games, but i played them in reverse-ish order anyways and had a blast.

# ? Nov 25, 2019 21:34

mycot: Oct 23, 2014; "It's okay. There are other Terminators! Just give us this one!"; Hell Gem

Million Ghosts posted:

whatever you say? i seem to remember people making GBS threads on that spinoff that came out a few years ago, and i've only heard wishy-washy stuff about anything but 1. turns out i still have my old ps3 copy of 1 anyways, so it was a pointless question.

I think people have forgotten that Valkyria Revolution existed.

# ? Nov 25, 2019 21:46

The Colonel: Jun 8, 2013; I commute by bike!

Million Ghosts posted:

whatever you say? i seem to remember people making GBS threads on that spinoff that came out a few years ago, and i've only heard wishy-washy stuff about anything but 1. turns out i still have my old ps3 copy of 1 anyways, so it was a pointless question.

blue azure was forgotten pretty much right after it came out

valkyria chronicles 3 is kinda janky since it's still built on the base of 2 but generally is liked more for being less grindy iirc, and valkyria chronicles 4 is. just valkyria chronicles 1, again, mechanically. i don't think there are any big differences and it even runs on the same engine

i wonder if valkyria chronicles basically being the current take on a lot of sakura wars' srpg mechanics is why sakura wars is pivoting to an action rpg now

The Colonel fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Nov 25, 2019

# ? Nov 25, 2019 21:55

Tae: Oct 24, 2010; Hello? Can you hear me? ...Perhaps if I shout? AAAAAAAAAH!

I just got the p4 gang, now I have decesion paralysis. Apparently akechi learns deliberate but gently caress using him.

# ? Nov 26, 2019 02:25

Meowywitch: Jan 14, 2010; Fight for all that is beautiful in the world

Is Trails in the Sky a fun game?

# ? Nov 26, 2019 02:30

Red Red Blue: Feb 11, 2007

It's a series that's more about the story and character interactions and a bitchin soundtrack than the gameplay, if that sounds appealing to you then go hog wild

# ? Nov 26, 2019 02:48

Rascyc: Jan 23, 2008; Dissatisfied Puppy

It's not like the gameplay is slacking though, just get a version with fast forward.

# ? Nov 26, 2019 03:18

CharlestheHammer: Jun 26, 2011; YOU SAY MY POSTS ARE THE RAVINGS OF THE DUMBEST PERSON ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH BUT YOU YOURSELF ARE READING THEM. CURIOUS!

Rascyc posted:

It's not like the gameplay is slacking though, just get a version with fast forward.

I think the only ones you can get have that.

Unless you have a psp.

# ? Nov 26, 2019 03:23

The Colonel: Jun 8, 2013; I commute by bike!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9GxyEIiaFM

surprised i've heard almost literally nothing about elemental gimmick gear, this game's really neat

# ? Nov 26, 2019 04:16

Phantasium: Dec 27, 2012

i'd rec it more if i ever got around to it, i've known how sick e.g.g. is since it was new

# ? Nov 26, 2019 04:21

Nate RFB: Jan 17, 2005; Clapping Larry

Squiddycat posted:

Is Trails in the Sky a fun game?

Rascyc posted:

It's not like the gameplay is slacking though, just get a version with fast forward.

I like the gameplay loop and systems in all of the Trails games. They do a pretty good job of juggling several different styles across the characters and it feels like there's always something I'm doing different in each one despite being given basically the same components. People got really kind of hosed up about their pace in a way that feels profoundly silly at this point especially with the QOLs that have been added over the years.

The story/cast is good too I guess, unless you're just not in the mood for slow burns.

# ? Nov 26, 2019 04:27

Red Red Blue: Feb 11, 2007

Yeah I didn't mean to imply that the gameplay was bad or anything, it's just kind of barebones. Still love the games a whole lot

# ? Nov 26, 2019 04:34

Barudak: May 7, 2007

The Colonel posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9GxyEIiaFM

surprised i've heard almost literally nothing about elemental gimmick gear, this game's really neat

I convinced a friend to join this forum year ago due to E.G.G. and their avatar was a panel from the comic.

It features one of my favorite lines of dialog in the opening but an even better one buried halfway in of "You see were both from the moon"

Game overall is a janky mess with godawful wars of attrition bossfights, health loss for sprinting, and needing to find items to raise your defense and offense and those being some hard checks (like seriously going to the second areas enemies without one defense upgrade is a nightmare) and boss fights that dont follow how the rest of the game plays at all.

Such a beautiful art style though.

# ? Nov 26, 2019 05:11

Relin: Oct 6, 2002; You have been a most worthy adversary, but in every game, there are winners and there are losers. And as you know, in this game, losers get robotizicized!

kirbysuperstar posted:

Number One reason why NIS is constantly on the verge of bankruptcy IMHO

they could try manufacturing less drek, and also putting labyrinth of refrain on sale at a real discount

# ? Nov 26, 2019 07:29

Hwurmp: May 20, 2005

RareAcumen posted:

Yuuki's looking really expendable now that Kou can just swap his element whenever. Shio can do fire better than anyone atm.

I can't shake the feeling that I'm always gonna be missing books in the library and I'm not quite sure about increasing other stats either.

Missed books should appear at the pawn shop.

You raise Courage by clearing dungeons with a good rank. You can go back any time to improve your ranks and wring all the Courage out. Virtue increases whenever you finish a quest, so just keep an eye out for those hidden quests :getin:

# ? Nov 26, 2019 11:27

HGH: Dec 20, 2011

Relin posted:

they could try manufacturing less drek, and also putting labyrinth of refrain on sale at a real discount

Speaking of which, the sequel to that game has had its release postponed to an indefinite time in the future.
Just as their mobile gacha game's servers turn back online this week after catching fire a couple months back...

# ? Nov 26, 2019 15:40

RareAcumen: Dec 28, 2012

Hwurmp posted:

Missed books should appear at the pawn shop.

You raise Courage by clearing dungeons with a good rank. You can go back any time to improve your ranks and wring all the Courage out. Virtue increases whenever you finish a quest, so just keep an eye out for those hidden quests

I'm playing on normal so I'm beating every dungeon with an S rank on the first go though. :shrug:

Does going through them even when you can't get a higher rank still give you Courage? Also, couldn't help looking and Sora doesn't get her karate gi as a costume ever, despite there actually being a scene with her wearing it and everything, ugh

# ? Nov 26, 2019 17:37

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

RareAcumen posted:

I'm playing on normal so I'm beating every dungeon with an S rank on the first go though.

Does going through them even when you can't get a higher rank still give you Courage? Also, couldn't help looking and Sora doesn't get her karate gi as a costume ever, despite there actually being a scene with her wearing it and everything, ugh

You get a near-enough equivalent with her workout tracksuit. Gotta be comfy when punching Greed in the face!

# ? Nov 26, 2019 17:41

cheetah7071: Oct 20, 2010; honk honk; College Slice

There's an Atelier sale on steam right now. One of my recommended entry points, Lydie and Suelle, is among the discounted games. Reposting my Atelier guide post since I know at least a few people have expressed interest in trying the series out but were waiting for a sale

cheetah7071 posted:

What the heck's an Atelier? A megapost for copying/pasting whenever someone asks that, as requested a few pages back before the current discussion started

Atelier is a series of JRPGs released roughly yearly with (as of this post) 20 (soon to be 21) mainline entries and a dozen spinoffs. The best words to describe the mood of (most of) the games are "cute" and "chill". They almost exclusively have low stakes like "stop the government from eminent domain-ing my small business" or "don't get fired from my job". You (almost always) play as a young woman starting her career as an alchemist. What this means in game terms is crafting. Lots and lots of crafting. You craft your own weapons and armor, you craft bombs to throw at the enemies, you craft healing items, you craft everything. The trend in modern games is to have the crafting be a fully-realized puzzle minigame where the outcome is shaped by the exact details of the items you put in. Besides the crafting, the gameplay is fairly standard turn-based JRPG fare, often with a subfocus on exploration. Some of the older games also have a time management component, of varying levels of difficulty. The games are also known for having kickass soundtracks and heavy lesbian undertones.

Most of the games are linked to each other in trilogies (or the occasional duology or quadrilogy). Generally speaking, you don't need to play a trilogy in order--they're designed to be playable individually (with varying levels of success). The series started on the original Playstation but it wasn't until the PS2 that the games started getting localized. The PS2 games are also huge outliers; in the PS3 era the series returned to its roots and the PS3 games are much more similar to the PS1 games than they are to the PS2 games. This means that the PS3 era is the start of the "modern" Atelier series. Thus, rather than talk about the series in chronological order, I'm going to talk about the modern games first and then go back to the older games.

Arland Quadrilogy (PS3/Vita/PC/PS4/Switch for the first three; PC/PS4/Switch for Lulua)

Atelier Rorona: A wholesome, charming game about an apprentice alchemist saving her master's failing business from being bought out. This game is a very laid-back, relaxed experience if you just want to get to the end and make some anime friends, but a very frantic experience if you want to make all the anime friends because there's a time limit. That time limit is extremely generous to just complete the game, but extremely tight if you want to 100% it. Also, content warning, there are a few scenes that are uncomfortably horny about underage characters. Also apparently the PS3 version is terrible and you should never play it. This is one of my recommended entry points to the series.

Atelier Totori: This game dials back the charm compared to Rorona, but in exchange has a heartfelt story about family. This game has in my opinion the second-best writing in the series. It's a bit janky though--when Rorona got ported, it got a bunch of quality of life updates, whereas Totori is a straight port, so it's the oldest-feeling of the modern games. It also has the tightest time limit of any of the modern games, and is the only one where a careful player faces a realistic chance of failure. Consulting a guide or asking for help is recommended.

Atelier Meruru: This game has a sort of frantic energy to it. You play as a princess using alchemy to provide infrastructure to her kingdom. The new characters besides Meruru herself are all pretty boring but it brings back all the favorites from Rorona and Totori. This game has a similar time limit to Totori but is a bit easier so there's less risk of failure. Also Rorona is inexplicably turned into an eight year old in this game, a move which nobody liked.

Atelier Lulua: This game came out a decade after Meruru and is a long form apology for what they did to Rorona in it. Rorona is now in her 30s and is a mom, and you play as her daughter. The game is written as a slapstick comedy and the first half has some great cinematograpy contributing to the comedic timing (before they realized that doing that for the entire game would run them way over budget). This game does not have a time limit.

Dusk Trilogy (PS3/Vita, soon to be PC/PS4/Switch)

Atelier Ayesha: This game wins my award for best-written Atelier. The game is in turns cute, heartwarming, funny, and deeply moving. You play as a young woman going on an adventure to learn alchemy in order to save her sister. This game can be a bit confusing at times on how to proceed and has a time limit, so I recommend using a guide if you ever find yourself stuck on what to do next. This is one of my recommended entry points to the series

Atelier Escha and Logy: This is another fan-favorite for its lovable cast. You play as two alchemists starting their career in government work. This game has a time limit but failure isn't very realistic.

Atelier Shallie: I don't even know how to summarize the story of this one. Tbh I don't like it all that much, it felt too much like it was trying to rely on the appeal of the previous Dusk games while not having anything worthwhile of its own, or a very good understanding of what made them great in the first place.

Mysterious Trilogy (PS4/Vita/PC; L&S is on the Switch as well)

Atelier Sophie: A young woman begins to learn alchemy under the instruction of a talking book who is her future wife. Unfortunately for her, her village is filled with only boring people for her to be friends with. Fortunately for her, new, less boring people move in eventually

Atelier Firis: An open world Atelier. You can really tell that all the development effort in this game went into doing their best to make an open world game, and the rest suffers for it. I personally think they pulled it off, but everybody else on the planet thinks this is the worst Atelier by a mile.

Atelier Lydie and Suelle: A return to form, this game feels like it could have been in the Arland trilogy, writing-wise. It has a lovable, colorful cast of characters and probably the best gameplay in the series to-date. This is one of my recommended entry points to the series.

Secret (?) Trilogy (?) (PS4/PC/Switch)

Atelier Ryza: This game is a story about a young woman in a rural town coming of age and finding her place in the world. The story leans a bit more traditional JRPG, with linear story beats and a more typical save-the-world framing (though there's still plenty of Atelier-style low-stakes stuff to go along with it). The combat system is also decidedly unchill, and demands quick thinking to succeed. This is one of my recommended entry points to the series

Iris Trilogy (PS2)

Atelier Iris: I haven't played this game since I was a teen but it's probably boring and bad

Atelier Iris 2: I have replayed this game so I know it's boring and bad

Atelier Iris 3: This game has charming-but-boring writing, but an unusually engaging battle system.

Mana Khemia Duology (PS2)

Mana Khemia: I'm the only Atelier fan who doesn't like this game so it must be doing something good. Play it maybe, and then tell me why I'm wrong for not liking it

Mana Khemia 2: I have not played this game.

Other stuff

Atelier Marie: The very first Atelier, available to play via a fan patch for the PS2 version. The entire game is time management.

Atelier Elie: The second Atelier, available to play also via fan patch. It seems to be Marie but better.

Atelier Annie: A DS game and officially considered a spinoff, though gameplaywise it seems to be basically mainline. Unfortunately, that gameplay is trash. It's a shame too because the writing is legitimately funny.

Nelke and the Legendary Alchemists: This is a crossover game. It is not a mainline Atelier, it is a spinoff. The genre is townbuilder, not JRPG. Don't play it unless you've played so many Ateliers that you'll recognize a good number of the crossover characters

# ? Nov 26, 2019 21:44

NikkolasKing: Apr 3, 2010

So you know how technically anyone can do anything in FFX but in Expert Sphere Grid you kinda have to pick a single role for everyone and just develop that for much of the game? Or if anyone here played Xenosaga Episode 3 each character had two "paths" t o develop but it was more efficient to just focus on one so, say, you focus on Path B for Shion because upping her Magic is more important than Physical skills for her.

What are some other JRPGs like that where everyone can be sent down divergent character growth so you can play them as a Physical fighter one run, a Magical fighter next run, etc.? Apparently Digital Devil Saga does this but gently caress if I remember. I played that game though so forget that.

Inspired by the unparalleled FFVII New Threat Mod where you can choose to increase various stats at certain points and develop Cloud into a Mage or Aerith into a Physical fighter or what ever else. I like having reasonable customization where you can build them differently, just not build them to be everything at the same time.

# ? Nov 27, 2019 07:10

Commander Keene: Dec 21, 2016; Faster than the others

Final Fantasy 5 and its spiritual sequels the Bravely games allow you to build anyone to do anything, but not everything (at one time), although a class-based system doesn't seem to be exactly what you're looking for.

# ? Nov 27, 2019 08:55

Tae: Oct 24, 2010; Hello? Can you hear me? ...Perhaps if I shout? AAAAAAAAAH!

Etrian odyssey

# ? Nov 27, 2019 09:42

Hwurmp: May 20, 2005

RareAcumen posted:

Does going through them even when you can't get a higher rank still give you Courage? Also, couldn't help looking and Sora doesn't get her karate gi as a costume ever, despite there actually being a scene with her wearing it and everything, ugh

No, you only need to S-rank them once each.

Sora's gi and some of the other outfits are an NG+-only thing for some reason. The actual crime is no Morimaru.

# ? Nov 27, 2019 10:37

Inspector Gesicht: Oct 26, 2012; 500 Zeus a body.

Even on sale those Atelier games are way too pricy. I guess I'll have to submit and try that Hobocop game everyone is losing their poo poo over.

# ? Nov 27, 2019 10:56

Million Ghosts: Aug 11, 2011; spooooooky

the price to anime is a steep one.

for real Disco Elysium kicks rear end, it's got the standard Unity jank and expects you to pay attention but it's very worth it. the more blind you go in, the better.

# ? Nov 27, 2019 11:08

Meowywitch: Jan 14, 2010; Fight for all that is beautiful in the world

Cute girls tax

# ? Nov 27, 2019 14:31

Tae: Oct 24, 2010; Hello? Can you hear me? ...Perhaps if I shout? AAAAAAAAAH!

How are the story-based etrian odyssey games if I'm coming off of PQ2?

# ? Nov 27, 2019 16:57

Elephant Parade: Jan 20, 2018

Tae posted:

How are the story-based etrian odyssey games if I'm coming off of PQ2?

The only story-based EO games are the remakes, and even then it's an optional mode. Personally, I wasn't a fan of Untold 1's story mode--you're handed a fixed party with very limited customization options, and while the moment-to-moment character writing is good, the overall narrative is a complete mess. I'd recommend giving Classic Mode a try instead if you decide to pick up an EO game.

# ? Nov 27, 2019 17:26

Leraika: Jun 14, 2015; Luckily, I *did* save your old avatar. Fucked around and found out indeed.

EO IV had a really good story, even if it wasn't one of the story remakes.

# ? Nov 27, 2019 17:31

Space Flower: Sep 10, 2014; by Games Forum

untold 1 is lightly about bullying your cute gunner and getting drinks for a redheaded heir to a pizza hut somewhere in toronto, but not enough to prop up a barebones narrative. most of it is just etrian odyssey 1 but with more voice quips

untold 2 corrects this by making "sate the cute war mage's bottomless appetite by discovering new gourmet dishes" an entire sideplot. one of the closer experiences to dungeon meshi in an actual game

etrian odyssey 3's story has a great execution of the series concept using a tropical ocean as its starting point, with lots of ideas for its setting and classes that never show up again. features yuyuko from touhou project

etrian odyssey 4 has whirlwind

# ? Nov 27, 2019 19:43

The 7th Guest: Dec 17, 2003

4 has incredible music, but I like 3 the most, the best dungeon design, and I loved the ship sailing sidegame, helped me break the main game over my knee. 4's airship "world map" left me cold

someday i'll play 5 and nexus

# ? Nov 27, 2019 21:13

Libluini: May 18, 2012; I gravitated towards the Greens, eventually even joining the party itself.

The Linke is a party I grudgingly accept exists, but I've learned enough about DDR-history I can't bring myself to trust a party that was once the SED, a party leading the corrupt state apparatus ...; Grimey Drawer

I'm still hanging back in 3. The boss of the fourth Stratum nearly broke me, until I retired everyone, made a completely new party and geared it towards cheesing it. But that took me so much time I'm still not finished with the fifth Stratum now.

I really can't wait to start with the fourth game again (I got until the boss of the second Stratum before I stopped). Then of course 5 and Nexus. Hopefully I can finish Nexus before I drop dead from old age, though with my speed that's not really a sure thing... :shepface:

# ? Nov 27, 2019 21:35

Space Flower: Sep 10, 2014; by Games Forum

The 7th Guest posted:

4 has incredible music, but I like 3 the most, the best dungeon design, and I loved the ship sailing sidegame, helped me break the main game over my knee. 4's airship "world map" left me cold

nothing really topped the concept of being punched out of the sky by a 100m tall kangaroo and that was the first stratum

# ? Nov 27, 2019 22:06

Cuntellectual: Aug 6, 2010

kirbysuperstar posted:

Number One reason why NIS is constantly on the verge of bankruptcy IMHO

Maybe they deserve it for their choices. :colbert:

Amppelix posted:

No it isn't, 2 is the only one people don't like.

I don't blame you for forgetting azure revolution but it sucked too.

Cuntellectual fucked around with this message at 23:02 on Nov 27, 2019

# ? Nov 27, 2019 22:58

Elephant Parade: Jan 20, 2018

the world map sucked, but drat if the beginning of Stratum IV isn't one of the greatest sequences in gaming

# ? Nov 28, 2019 00:22

Looper: Mar 1, 2012

NikkolasKing posted:

So you know how technically anyone can do anything in FFX but in Expert Sphere Grid you kinda have to pick a single role for everyone and just develop that for much of the game? Or if anyone here played Xenosaga Episode 3 each character had two "paths" t o develop but it was more efficient to just focus on one so, say, you focus on Path B for Shion because upping her Magic is more important than Physical skills for her.

What are some other JRPGs like that where everyone can be sent down divergent character growth so you can play them as a Physical fighter one run, a Magical fighter next run, etc.? Apparently Digital Devil Saga does this but gently caress if I remember. I played that game though so forget that.

Inspired by the unparalleled FFVII New Threat Mod where you can choose to increase various stats at certain points and develop Cloud into a Mage or Aerith into a Physical fighter or what ever else. I like having reasonable customization where you can build them differently, just not build them to be everything at the same time.

i started playing sword of mana today for the first time since i was a small child. when you level up, you can choose six different archetypes for stat distribution (with one being random). picking certain archetypes a certain number of times gives you an official class with various bonuses

however after a few hours i think i can safely say do not play sword of mana

# ? Nov 28, 2019 00:28

Amppelix: Aug 6, 2010

I think sword of mana is quite OK. What's the issue?

# ? Nov 28, 2019 02:10

Booky: Feb 21, 2013; Chill Bug

i've heard people be kinda down on sword of mana, but i'm curious as to why? was the plot changed for the worse from the original GB game or smth?

# ? Nov 28, 2019 02:24

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# ? May 28, 2024 13:30

kirbysuperstar: Nov 11, 2012; Let the fools who stand before us be destroyed by the power you and I possess.

Sword of Mana has a bit where the characters sit and wonder if the guy named Dark Lord is really a bad guy or not

# ? Nov 28, 2019 02:36

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