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I think the SaGa games are fascinating, even when I have trouble wrapping my head around the game mechanics, so if you decided to explain another one to all of us, I'd happily follow along. That said, I'd follow basically any Let's Play you cared to start, because you're pretty good at making obtuse game mechanics clearer.
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Jun 6, 2015 01:19
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Thanks for the LP, Einander! It's been a real treat.
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Jun 6, 2015 01:32
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I'd like to see more SaGa! You handled this game really well and it would be interesting to see you play through one blind.
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Jun 6, 2015 01:49
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I'm good with any of those and they all have their separate merits. Personally, I'd be happiest with WA:XF or Unlimited. I've tried to play XF several times and fallen into the old trap of wanting to grind aaaaaaalllllll the classes up to see what they have and experiment with it, so I'm interested to see what's the real asskicker way to kick the game's teeth in, especially if it lets you circumvent some of the awful gimmick/puzzle fights the way Disgaea sometimes does. Unlimited, on the other hand, is something the forum really needs to see firsthand, and most of the people that would ever consider it have already attempted it before. I'd love to see you at least try a couple stages blind and then inevitably go back, learn the systems, and show off the RIGHT way(s) to do things. Whatever you decide, drop a link in here when you start something and I'll be on board.
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Jun 6, 2015 02:27
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I don't know any of those games nor am I a fan of their franchises, but after this and especially Rondo of Swords (being an obscure game not part of any franchise), I trust that whatever you play will be super interesting to follow. Your analysis is always really good too, as is your understanding of...less than usual mechanics. I've been interested in Dragon Quarter for a long while too, it looks really unique. I've played some BoF3 but apart from that I have no idea about the franchise, but apparently it's totally different anyways? I don't know, but it sure as hell looks weird.
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Jun 6, 2015 03:03
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This was a cool LP, OP. I vote for DRAGON QUARTER because being forced to restart the game multiple times in lieu of grinding sounds so very SaGa.
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Jun 6, 2015 05:09
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You don't need to Restart/Restore to beat the game, even on the first run through. From what I can recall(which isn't terribly much, I admit), though, is that the game is balanced around them and will take great delight in kicking your teeth in at every opportunity until you can reach the later areas and get the tools to really start fighting back. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing an LP of Dragon Quarter as well, it really does deserve more attention than it got. Unoriginal One fucked around with this message at 05:46 on Jun 6, 2015 |
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Jun 6, 2015 05:31
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edit : Probably a little early to talk about that.
Chuu fucked around with this message at 07:43 on Jun 6, 2015 |
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Jun 6, 2015 07:36
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I'd love to see an LP of Dragon Quarter since I enjoyed it a lot before my last PS2 died on me.
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Jun 6, 2015 09:55
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KataraniSword posted:You've got a recurring reader, Einander; whatever you decide next, link it here and I'll gladly read it.
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Jun 6, 2015 11:16
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I will always defend Dragon Quarter. The music, visual style and combat all work together brilliantly and give the game a real feeling of oppression and bleakness at times. Yet, if anything, the game is about hope, and it makes the few moments of triumph that much more potent. Deeply underrated game, and it's criminal that people outright refuse to revisit it.Kulkasha posted:I vote for DRAGON QUARTER because being forced to restart the game multiple times in lieu of grinding sounds so very SaGa. The funny thing is, this exact mechanic was used in the Dead Rising series and everyone thought it was great.
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Jun 6, 2015 11:18
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You can fairly easily beat Dragon Quarter on the first playthrough as long as you don't panic and spam dragon on every single boss (and maybe even if you do), but it locks out a bunch of side areas and cutscenes until you're on a new game plus. To be honest though, I've never had the patience to actually complete a New Game Plus run, and revisiting the game years later just makes me want to start all over again. Wild Arms XF is kinda weird since every single class is a gimmick class and most maps are gimmick maps. It's cool the first time through, but there's not much replay value in "switch all your guys to the class this map was designed for".
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Jun 6, 2015 13:18
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Kaboom Dragoon posted:I will always defend Dragon Quarter. The music, visual style and combat all work together brilliantly and give the game a real feeling of oppression and bleakness at times. Yet, if anything, the game is about hope, and it makes the few moments of triumph that much more potent. Deeply underrated game, and it's criminal that people outright refuse to revisit it. I sometimes think that Dragon Quarter would have been a much more "important" game if it wasn't the 5th game of a series where 1-4 were incredibly bland RPGs. Fans of the series, which were basically bland fantasy JRPGs, didn't react well to a brutally hard strategic RPG set in a grim-dark technologically advanced future so the immediate reaction of the community was fairly negative. Circa ~2002 there wasn't a very effective way to really preach about what the game actually was and I think the initial reaction of fans of the series really hurt it. The fact BOF6 is going to be the . . . unholy abomination that it advertises to be doesn't help. Really, the game deserves to be played if only to show how grim-dark can be used as an incredibly effective narrative tool instead of just a play towards teenage angst. The world-building in Dragon Quarter is absolutely fantastic.
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Jun 6, 2015 13:43
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Chuu posted:I sometimes think that Dragon Quarter would have been a much more "important" game if it wasn't the 5th game of a series where 1-4 were incredibly bland RPGs. Fans of the series, which were basically bland fantasy JRPGs, didn't react well to a brutally hard strategic RPG set in a grim-dark technologically advanced future so the immediate reaction of the community was fairly negative. Also the character design bordered on painful, which was my personal beef with it. I don't know about you, but for me, little girls with big enough foreheads to land planes on is kind of offputting.
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Jun 6, 2015 14:12
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This was a really enjoyable LP. I played this game as a teenager at a time when I was completely in love with the first SaGa Frontier. I was very disappointed that the sequel didn't have vampire mermaids with atomic bazookas and robots mincing dragons with ancient laser swords. I still liked the game and loved the music, so I made it all the way through without understanding what I was doing very well and remember Gustaf getting the last hit on the egg with only a few LP left after everyone else had died. But I would never have played it again myself, so it's nice to see everything again from a fresh perspective with insightful commentary. As for the next LP, personally I would like to see Unlimited SaGa, because it looks fascinating, but I sure as hell wouldn't ever play it myself. Chuu posted:I sometimes think that Dragon Quarter would have been a much more "important" game if it wasn't the 5th game of a series where 1-4 were incredibly bland RPGs. Fans of the series, which were basically bland fantasy JRPGs, didn't react well to a brutally hard strategic RPG set in a grim-dark technologically advanced future so the immediate reaction of the community was fairly negative. Circa ~2002 there wasn't a very effective way to really preach about what the game actually was and I think the initial reaction of fans of the series really hurt it. Breath of Fire 4, while a bog standard JRPG in many ways, had some really great aspects. The villain was so thoroughly good at being evil that you just had to respect him, however much you despised him. The other antagonists were also pretty well done. And Ershin was great. It's too bad the rest of the party was pretty boring. I also really liked the end game fights in that game. While most of the game was a cake walk, the last few bosses were brutal, and you absolutely had to know the strengths of everyone in your party and use the party switching mechanics well to survive. It's just a shame that you could effectively ignore the mechanic until the end of the game.
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Jun 6, 2015 14:26
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Unlimited Saga's main problem (besides the usual Saga obtuseness) was that the Reel System was dumb and stupid. Either 1) the reels needed to be a lot slower (or there could be some slow-down mechanic we could also make more powerful as the game progressed) so we could have more control over what slots we landed on or 2) change the whole HUD so that all of the randomness happened off-screen where we couldn't see it happening.
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Jun 6, 2015 14:45
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dotchan posted:change the whole HUD so that all of the randomness happened off-screen where we couldn't see it happening. In other words, every other SaGa. ...And that would work. Also, get rid of the arbitrary time limits. Its one thing to punish you randomly. It's another to punish you do it twice. You hosed up? Fine, try again. You hosed up one more arbitrary time? You have to do that whole dungeon over again... If that's even an option for every dungeon like that. I only got to one of those.
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Jun 6, 2015 14:50
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Chuu posted:I sometimes think that Dragon Quarter would have been a much more "important" game if it wasn't the 5th game of a series where 1-4 were incredibly bland RPGs. Fans of the series, which were basically bland fantasy JRPGs, didn't react well to a brutally hard strategic RPG set in a grim-dark technologically advanced future so the immediate reaction of the community was fairly negative. Circa ~2002 there wasn't a very effective way to really preach about what the game actually was and I think the initial reaction of fans of the series really hurt it. I rather liked the gameplay of Dragon Quarter, but I wasn't fond of being forced to play multiple times to actually get a story worth anything (those EX scenes are pretty important). I wasn't terribly fond of the story in general (BoF4 got pretty grim too in a lot of parts, but Dragon Quarter feels like one of those games that is trying too hard for grimness), or the fact that you get all of 3 party members. And they did their best with trying not to make the game look drab, but there's only so much you can do with the whole entirely underground thing. The thing that really bothered me is that they dropped a lot of the mechanics I thought were neat in the previous games. I hate the way they handled the dragon transformations in Dragon Quarter. Also, removing the Master system was a travesty.
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Jun 6, 2015 16:17
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Heithinn Grasida posted:Breath of Fire 4, while a bog standard JRPG in many ways, had some really great aspects. The villain was so thoroughly good at being evil that you just had to respect him, however much you despised him. The other antagonists were also pretty well done. And Ershin was great. It's too bad the rest of the party was pretty boring. It's worth remembering that 4 also took a lot of heat at the time of its release, for such crimes as having a different artstyle, its dragon transformation system ("humanoid dragons LOL!"), being mostly unrelated to the rest of the series, aside from Nina and Ryu and Deis and having an HP cap higher than three figures.
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Jun 6, 2015 16:27
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I really liked 4. Sadly never beat it but rented it like crazy. Personally, except for 4 (and with no first hand opinion of Dragon Quarter), didn't really care for BoF. So, while everyone who disliked it was "This is different  " I was "This is different  "
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Jun 6, 2015 16:40
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Should probably clarify that whatever I do next (going to give myself a month to breathe before I decide what I'll be doing for the next six  ), it won't be Dragon Quarter. Dragon Quarter will almost certainly be the game after the next LP, if it hasn't been given a good start by then. It's a game where I'd have to take some time to reaccustom myself to things and remind myself of the requirements to see everything (what scenes and areas unlock when, what the exact requirements for D-Ratios are), and seriously consider the best way to present all of that. It's not a straightforward game to do, not if you want to do justice to it.Dragon Quarter is one of the single most focused games I've seen in tying together story, gameplay, atmosphere and setting, and the Wyrm really feels like the heart of that. I think this is why it wasn't widely accepted at the time: it's such a unified package that if any part of it doesn't grab you, it drags the rest down. For all that I have a tremendous amount of respect for it, I can see why people that don't like it feel that way. Well, that and the fact that we didn't have a Dark Souls to point to back then and say, "that, but an RPG, and also you can turn into a dragon (but don't do it too often or you'll get the most badass Game Over screen ever)" (I understand a lot of the dissenting opinions in Dragon Quarter talk, but if you dislike the Wyrm then we are just not speaking the same language)
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Jun 6, 2015 17:23
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Great LP, thanks for presenting it. There's no way I would've played through this one, but it was really good to watch.Einander posted:-- Wild ARMs XF. Good strategy RPG, good story. The gimmick battles should make it more interesting to present to readers, since you do some pretty different things... But, admittedly, this is a class-based SPRG where I think "class diversity" is for loving suckers. A diverse array of classes? When you could be creating mobility artillery walls or suplexing all your enemies off of high cliffs? (This "downside" is debatable.) For what it's worth this is the one I'd most like to see.
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Jun 6, 2015 18:26
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Einander posted:-- Wild ARMs XF. Good strategy RPG, good story. The gimmick battles should make it more interesting to present to readers, since you do some pretty different things... But, admittedly, this is a class-based SPRG where I think "class diversity" is for loving suckers. A diverse array of classes? When you could be creating mobility artillery walls or suplexing all your enemies off of high cliffs? (This "downside" is debatable.) I love this game, and I think you should have a go at it. It's mechanically interesting and eminently breakable (my favorite setup is the magic user who gives himself infinite turns), has an utterly amazing soundtrack, and has interesting map design until the final quarter or so where I assume budget was running dry.
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Jun 6, 2015 21:09
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I don't think I liked this game a whole lot, I've never really liked Saga's gameplay, but I still appreciate you're LP. It was a really good one, so thanks for making it an entertaining read! As for the next game, you should do whichever you want, but I'm going against the flow and recommending Luminous Arc 2. Let's get the anime outta of the way so we can play better games later on.
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Jun 6, 2015 21:13
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Do you have to see Luminous Arc 1 before seeing 2?
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Jun 6, 2015 21:22
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There's really no relation between any of the three Luminous Arc games, aside from a few crossover characters.
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Jun 6, 2015 21:34
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Yeah, I really do like that the steel sword is what does it in the end. The Ancients were right to hook us on Anima, because we'd kill them without it.
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Jun 8, 2015 23:06
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I think Wild Arms or Romancing Saga would be the one I'd most like to see. I only played through Minstrel Song once so it'd be interesting to see a take on it from someone more familiar with the mechanics, it's also a really pretty game.
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Jun 9, 2015 01:23
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Would love to see Romancing SaGa. Just an absolutely beautiful game. Will you link the new thread here once you start it up?
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Jun 9, 2015 17:11
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Yep, whatever I do next'll be linked here. I've done that for all my threads so far.
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Jun 10, 2015 02:10
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Einander posted:Should probably clarify that whatever I do next (going to give myself a month to breathe before I decide what I'll be doing for the next six I love these obtuse games with difficult mechanics and story that you need to DIG for... and I 100% don't have the patience to actually play them to completion. Then you come along and clear this one and suggest Dragon Quarter is on the horizon? I guess what I'm saying is THANK YOU and keep it up. You are exorcising my demons here.
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Jun 10, 2015 04:43
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If you don't read the Sandcastle, I picked the next game: it's Wild ARMs XF. If all's good on the visual quality front, I'll probably start the LP next weekend. If I need to go back and use PNGs or something like that, then it'll probably be another week, because holy gently caress does that game have a lot of dialogue portraits. Like, drat. At least some kind soul on Livejournal typed out all the game script, because if I had to rip all of the portraits and transcribe all the dialogue I'd pick another game. LPing is great fun, but I know my limits. After XF, Dragon Quarter! Then probably Romancing SaGa or Let's All Learn Unlimited SaGa, but I'm leaving my options open.
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Jul 5, 2015 04:44
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Yeesss.  Looking forward to it.
Mraagvpeine fucked around with this message at 04:59 on Jul 5, 2015 |
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Jul 5, 2015 04:51
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Sweet, maybe I'll actually get on playing that one too! I don't have quite the same history with it as SF2 but I definitely love me some Wild Arms!
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Jul 5, 2015 05:10
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Well, there's a line-up I'm gonna follow. Even if the only ones I know anything about are the BoF and the SaGas.
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Jul 5, 2015 07:43
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Einander posted:After XF, Dragon Quarter! Then probably Romancing SaGa or Let's All Learn Unlimited SaGa, but I'm leaving my options open. This is an amazing lineup. Games > Let's Play! > How the gently caress Do You Play Unlimited SaGa?
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Jul 5, 2015 10:56
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Shaezerus posted:This is an amazing lineup. You don't; it plays you.
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Jul 5, 2015 22:33
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Shaezerus posted:How the gently caress Do You Play Unlimited SaGa?[/b] In my experience: 6 months of trial, error, and incremental learning alongside a 500k text document from Gamefaqs.
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Jul 5, 2015 23:22
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Einander posted:If you don't read the Sandcastle, I picked the next game: it's Wild ARMs XF. If all's good on the visual quality front, I'll probably start the LP next weekend. If I need to go back and use PNGs or something like that, then it'll probably be another week, because holy gently caress does that game have a lot of dialogue portraits. Like, drat. At least some kind soul on Livejournal typed out all the game script, because if I had to rip all of the portraits and transcribe all the dialogue I'd pick another game. LPing is great fun, but I know my limits. Unlimited SaGa really needs a Let's Play, just because it would be nothing but game mechanics... which is actually not uninteresting for a Let's Play.
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Jul 6, 2015 00:07
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 Wild ARMs XF thread is up!
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Jul 12, 2015 00:34
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