|
Chrono Cross is more like a Baten Kaitos prequel than a Chrono Trigger sequel. Masato Kato is the common element. He wrote the scripts for all three of those games, but Chrono Trigger's followed an outline by Dragon Quest director Yuji Horii rather than being wholly original. Interesting, isn't it?
|
#
¿
Sep 9, 2012 09:16
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 9, 2024 22:32 |
|
|
Pyroxene Stigma posted:Radical Dreamers (as a name) wouldn't have sold as well, but they really had a lot of great off-main titles at that time. Brave Fencer Musashi, Chrono Cross, Xenogears, Einhander, Threads of Fate, Bushido Blade... The trend for that began even in the late-SNES days with a bunch of more off-beat titles which mostly never made it out of Japan, like Bahamut Lagoon, Live A Live, Treasure of the Rudras.... These days, while their output as a publisher is higher than ever, their more closely-integrated development studios seem to do far more sequels and spinoffs than original work. You do still get the occasional The World Ends With You, Sigma Harmonics (some kind of murder mystery RPG for the DS, apparently?), or The Last Remnant, but it does seem that a lot of the sorts of game that would've been released as its own thing in the past are instead being given Final Fantasy branding, and then as likely as not condemned to Versus-style development hell. My guess is that contemporary game budgets are so large that they feel compelled to micromanage them to death.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 9, 2012 09:45
|
|
|
Final Fantasy didn't start having interesting encounter design until 4. 3 tries to, but it's mainly a matter of a few obvious and poorly-implemented gimmicks like dodging enemy attacks with a dragoon's Jump. 1 has a solid resource-management game in some releases, 2 has its enjoyably illogical growth system, and 3 has you switching jobs regularly, but I wouldn't say any of the three have fun combat.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 16, 2012 04:16
|
|
|
There is a Dark Knight job in Dimensions, and like all jobs, it's unlocked through a guest party member. So, y'know, there's that.Evil Fluffy posted:They needed to do an entire album of nothing but FF:MQ tracks. Problem is, Mystic Quest's soundtrack is credited to Ryuji Sasai and Yasuhiro Kawakami, not Nobuo Uematsu.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 17, 2012 23:42
|
|
|
He learned the dark sword from the king, even, didn't he?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 01:07
|
|
|
Boofy posted:While everyone's on the topic of other RPGS, which dragon quest games would be considered good for someone who's new to the series? Not 2, not 7, and 1 only if you're interested in a historical curiosity, so primitive as to be virtually unrelated to the series in its modern incarnation (which crystallized with 3). All of the others are excellent, and have very little to recommend them as preferable to any other as an entry point. There's a thread for this, in which that question comes up often. You can get better opinions there.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2012 01:16
|
|
|
Stealing in VI can get you some pretty decent World of Ruin armor in the World of Balance. What's more, some of it is armor that teaches magic, which at least makes it worth knowing about in a no espers challenge run. The main reason to steal in that game is to save money on consumables, though, which is of course not important at all in VI but can make a huge difference early on in V (and, I'm finding, Dimensions).Evil Fluffy posted:Skies of Arcadia wishes to have words with you about how wrong you are. Gilder and Dyne used handguns.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2012 04:30
|
|
|
Your typical RPG is an emulsion of discretely separated combat and exploration. Having two different modes of play and switching between them creates problems when the player's interest in those respective modes is disproportionate to the time spent on them. Invisible random encounters are bad when they interrupt gameplay content, but they are good when they constitute gameplay content. Whether they're an irritation or just an obstacle depends on the design of the dungeon, on the encounters' frequency, complexity, variety, difficulty, and duration, and on what the player is attempting to do at the time. Invisible random encounters are highly cost-effective and can be as satisfying as any less abstract mechanic given sufficiently thoughtful design. Some RPGs are more thoughtfully designed than others.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 20, 2012 07:14
|
|
|
Azure_Horizon posted:Every TGS I just wait for a surprise Chrono 3 that never arrives. Back to listening to the theme for Gaia's Navel... Baten Kaitos is Chrono 3, insofar as by pedigree and design it is the closest descendant of Chrono Cross. This is probably not what you wanted.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 21, 2012 09:12
|
|
|
Playing Black Sigil for any reason would be a bad decision, though. Radiant Historia, on the other hand, might scratch the itch despite it mostly doing its own thing.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 21, 2012 09:22
|
|
|
Macdeo Lurjtux posted:I've been struggling trying to remember the name of a particular Final Fantasy. All I really had to go on was a write up of a gameplay trailer. It was one with a more modern setting, the characters were a squad sent in to break up a cult that was in the middle of a ritual to summon Ifrit. I rememebr the writer being worried because the cultists were dressed up like Arambs/Muslims. That was Agni's Philosophy, a tech demo from E3 2012, which is neither a game nor related to Final Fantasy at all other than also being made by Square Enix.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 23, 2012 13:09
|
|
|
Speaking of Darkside, I've just gotten the dark knight in Final Fantasy Dimensions and I am quite impressed with how well they handle it. First of all, dark knights seem to have the highest attack power out of any of the jobs available so far. They get a variety of dark sword abilities, including the basic ones to sacrifice HP for a powerful physical attack or a multi-target magic one. He also has Last Resort, which inflicts Doom on the user but drastically increases all stats until expiration. I am fairly certain that there are more that can be learned later, but I don't know as I still haven't gotten around to spoiling myself on all the abilities yet. This game is definitely a full, proper Final Fantasy, although I'm sure I'll get sick of the default "mountain" tileset for dungeons before this is all over. Definitely get it if you're in this thread.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2012 08:19
|
|
|
Krad posted:By the way, what's up with SE and their unwarranted hate for Android devices? I heard that they have their own Android store in Japan, so all of their Android releases are timed exclusives for that platform. Except the store doesn't exist in other regions so it's just a pointless delay because who gives a gently caress about countries that aren't Japan, right?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2012 00:45
|
|
|
The White Dragon posted:The question is, is it a worthwhile full-rear end game? There are tons of games that are long, but the lovely kind of long. Without doing any of the side stuff, FF8 can still be like 20-30 hours. On the other hand, it's FF8. Shaezerus posted:Well, I'm enjoying it, which is good enough for me. What I've been saying is that in an alternate universe it could've been Final Fantasy 6. It plays like a combination of 4 and 5 but with better balance, and it riffs on world-building elements from the first five games. It's a throwback the way 9 was, but far more authentic because it's all in 2D. All that's missing is blue magic. If you like classic Final Fantasy, then you will like Dimensions, because Dimensions is a game that was successfully designed to be similar to, and enjoyable for the same reasons as, classic Final Fantasy. It is unlike FF4 TAY in that it does not consist of recycled dungeons inappropriate for the current party, no story content is outright reused, there are no loser characters, and, at least as far as I've seen, it never uses a plot device as extraordinarily stupid as a sailboat running out of fuel. There is the question of whether you'd be irritated or charmed by cheesy 16-bit melodrama, of course.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2012 02:22
|
|
In all honesty, though, this game really does feel like it's a lost relic from the SNES-era Final Fantasy set, given a graphical polish for iOS. As in, this could just as easily have been FF5 if it were thought up back then. Not necessarily replace FF5, just... slipped in between it and 4.
|
nene. posted:Started playing the free prologue of FF Dimensions: so far this is pretty neat. It would be great if there was a better way to move around, but most of the control issues are my fault for having a phone instead of a toy slab computer. For all intents and purposes it really is a nice spiritual followup to FF5, and I don't mind the graphics one bit. If the controls are giving you trouble, try switching it to the Slide configuration that makes the arrows appear wherever you tap and disappear as soon as you release, and using your index finger.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2012 02:26
|
|
|
To me it always felt like FF6's difficulty level was appropriately balanced for a party that did not derive stat benefits from espers and was pretty careless about learning spells from them. Everything you do with espers is gravy, pretty much. Speaking of giant numbers, on the GBA version, I made use of the level reset glitch to max out all of Terra's stats, just because I could. Did you know that damage can overflow?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2012 06:04
|
|
|
Toshimo posted:Gonna do a replay through the series. Not necessarily in order. I've pretty much got console vs. PC as a choice for each. Looking for some input if there's a better version to go with. FF1: PSX FF2: PSP or GBA FF3: NES FF4: PSP or GBA FF5: GBA FF6: SNES or GBA
|
|
#
¿
Sep 28, 2012 23:18
|
|
|
Eggie posted:In the original Final Fantasy, do party positions matter? I have a Black Mage in the front party slot and I'm wondering if more blows will go his way because of it. Party members in the front are more likely to be targeted.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2012 20:19
|
|
|
VIII had all the ingredients of a highly unique and entertaining experience, but they were mostly undercooked. Some are fun to fiddle with regardless, even if they're pointless in the end.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2012 03:57
|
|
|
Stoat posted:Alright, I think I'm going to play through FF6 to the end (which I've never done oh god). The differences between them are very small. The GBA version has an expanded script, some bugfixes, and bonus content that's not really worth writing home about. The SNES version looks and sounds better, but the entire evasion stat does not have any effect and the truncated script may lack some compelling details or cause you to become bemused at transparent bowlderizations. If you're going to emulate, there's a patch somewhere that makes the GBA version sound like the SNES version.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2012 05:17
|
|
|
Zombies' Downfall posted:EDIT: I can't say this for a certainty, but it felt like the GBA version also did some numerical rebalancing (aside from bugfixes) that made physical attacks weaker. It doesn't matter much since a lot of characters just spam special abilities and it's not like the game is difficult either way. Most of the bugs in the SNES version work out in the player's favor, and take the form of neglecting to include some value in combat equations. As The White Dragon points out, one of them was that some relics that were supposed to penalize damage actually do so.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2012 06:26
|
|
|
Eggie posted:Taking a Black Belt as one of my Light Warriors might have been a mistake. She can't take a lot of damage and she doesn't do a lot of damage. I'm considering restarting but how good are Thieves and Red Mages? Thieves are awful, and if you're playing the NES version their one advantage is bugged and doesn't work (Thieves are no more likely to succeed at running than anybody else). Ninjas are better, but you'd still be better off with a Black Mage. Red Mages start off useful because they're good at everything, but later in the game they're not good enough. They have an excellent selection of support spells, though. More of these support spells work properly if you're not playing the NES version. Black Belts, by way of contrast, starts off weak because of their vulnerability, because they don't have much armor selection apart from accessories, but their damage output increases exponentially and they're the most powerful offensive class by the late game. Leave them barehanded.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 1, 2012 02:27
|
|
|
Boten Anna posted:I play FF1 as WHM/BLM/BLM/BLM. Pro mode. You can solo FF1 with any class except Thief. Call no man pro until he has done this.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 1, 2012 05:38
|
|
|
Pollyanna posted:I'm trying to play FF2 Advance again and why the hell does nobody but Firion do any decent damage? I can't figure out why the hell he's doing like 500+ damage while Guy, who's loving dual wielding axes, does maybe 75 and Maria doesn't hit half the time. It's not skill levels, since they're almost all equal when it comes to their weapons, and there's no major difference in attack between Firion and Guy (53 versus 43). Firion has a Wing Sword and Golden Shield, Guy's dual-wielding Battle Axes. I don't loving get it, this system makes no sense to me. Attacks in FF2 (in FF1 through 4, in fact) actually attempt multiple hits and tell you the sum of their damage. Each such attack can individually hit or miss. Axes are less accurate than swords.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 13, 2012 01:17
|
|
|
Pollyanna posted:I won't ask how I'm supposed to know any of this, because I'm scared to know the answer. You're not supposed to know, and you can tell that you're not supposed to know because it was designed by Akitoshi Kawazu.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 13, 2012 01:45
|
|
|
Pollyanna posted:I am sucking significantly less! Now, how does magic work? Using magic levels up that spell for that character. As a spell levels up, it becomes more powerful and costs more. Damage and healing spells become stronger, status spells affect more monsters, and defensive spells protect better Their actual formulas are a bit complex, but the short version is that very few enemies are outright immune to status effects; Toad and Banish are effective for the whole game if you use them regularly, but you have to keep spamming Esuna needlessly if you want it to be able to heal you when you need it. Blink is the most important buff. Black and White magic are keyed off of different stats. Cast Swap on weak enemies to quickly level up your HP and MP. Ultima is a special case. The level of Ultima is based on how much you've leveled up all other spells. Which means it will practically always be terrible.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 13, 2012 02:03
|
|
|
The general rule is that any stat is increased by doing the thing that stat is good for. So accuracy is increased by hitting enemies. Give him a more accurate kind of weapon (I think the sword is the one you want?).
|
|
#
¿
Oct 13, 2012 02:04
|
|
|
The three main characters can all be built however you want; the differences in their starting stats are miniscule. One effective build is to stick one character in the front so that all of the enemies' attacks will hit them only, making their HP and defense skyrocket and giving them more opportunities to improve evasion, while the rest of the party is in the back row spamming support magic and/or dead.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 13, 2012 02:23
|
|
|
Francois Kofko posted:The main advantage of playing the Dawn of Souls version of FF2 is so that you can play it without having to spend any effort thinking about the mechanics. Just hit stuff until it dies and maybe level up Toad a bunch. The other advantage is that instead of taking 100 skill points for every level, it only takes 10 for the first one, 20 for the second, etc, so you can become almost decent with something without knowing in advance that you're going to need it.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 13, 2012 03:48
|
|
|
The White Dragon posted:Yeah, unfortunately, FF1 suffers from "lovely interface" syndrome. Kinda wish they'd make an "original mode" remake with the same old damage:HP numbers but with bugfixes. Vancian wizards, 1/256 chance of instant-death spells passing Protect equipment, no Phoenix Downs, Life only works outside of battle, all that except this time Temper works and you can buy 99 Potions at once. Miracon posted:That's pretty what the PSX Origins version is, isn't it? Though I still wish it was an option in Dawn of Souls. This is correct.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 17, 2012 00:58
|
|
|
There are JRPGs that use anime styles to tell their story, and JRPGs that aspire to be an anime. The ones with the better stories are the ones that understand that they are games, and that holds true regardless of what kind of overplayed plot devices and predictable jokes they use in the process. Drawing a hard line is impossible, because it has nothing to do with style and inspiration and everything to do with vision and talent.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 17, 2012 09:09
|
|
|
Endorph posted:Actually I'd argue that anime in the 90s had way more weird sexual poo poo but okay. Definitely more weird sexual poo poo; contemporary sexual poo poo is so banal by comparison. I have no idea how serious I am being in this post.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 17, 2012 20:48
|
|
|
If you want to experience FFIV in a way that helps you understand what people liked about it in the first place, then go with the PSP or GBA version. If you want to experience FFIV in a way that is idiosyncratic and unique among RPGs in ways that don't always work, then go with the DS version.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 22, 2012 09:55
|
|
|
Mordaedil posted:I decided to spend some money and bought the PSP version of FFIV (it's like the third bloody version of that game I've tried) and I find it extremely enjoyable, RPGMaker vibe aside. There'd be no reason for them to license that technology then adapt it to work like the code they've been writing by hand for over twenty years. They have real programmers there. The RPGMaker vibe you describe comes from the art, and has nothing to do with RPGMaker itself.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 22, 2012 10:21
|
|
|
fount of knowledge posted:I played Dimensions on an Ipad and I thought it looked fine. For some reason, the early screenshots made it look much shittier than it actually does in action. v The graphics in Dimensions definitely benefit from a very high DPI display. That doesn't help FFIV Complete, though.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 22, 2012 17:09
|
|
v
|
An interview with Hiroyuki Ito, designer of the combat systems for Final Fantasy I, IV, V, VI, IX, XII, and Tactics. Nerds everywhere cry out in anguish at the revelation that Final Fantasy was inspired by football all along.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 23, 2012 21:14
|
|
|
Pasteurized Milk posted:Considering the pedigree, you would think that Blitzball would actually be good. Well, this guy didn't work on FFX, or at least not on that part of it.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 23, 2012 21:46
|
|
|
Pyroxene Stigma posted:Dragon Quest VII? Are they remaking it for the Vita or something? It's going to be really hard for them to outdo IX. 3DS. Japanese release is early next year.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 9, 2012 05:02
|
|
|
Maybe it's just that it's black, but that reminds me of nothing so much as Golbez. Which would be an interesting direction for the character to take.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 18, 2012 19:24
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 9, 2024 22:32 |
|
|
I am pleased to see that Galuf placed.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 19, 2012 17:50
|
|