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Post by lurker on Sept 14, 2021 14:09:39 GMT -5
So that one Star Wars Hunters game finally has a full trailer...
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Post by retr0gamer on Sept 15, 2021 3:47:42 GMT -5
In games that do Studio Ghibli better than Ni No Kuni, I'm currently about halfway through Tail Concerto and it's an absolute joy to play. Real Castle in the Sky vibes from it.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2021 5:45:00 GMT -5
I think Ni No Kuni carried the Ghibli vibe well enough at the beginning in the game. Somewhere along the line of being a way too long kind of bland RPG it was kind of lost though as there's not too much interest in the characters and the ones you do come across are often unappealing. I feel like in trying to cram too much into the adventure the intention was forgotten or just wasn't pulled off so well.
As for Castle in the Sky, I have a photo of me in front of the Robot Soldier at the Ghibli museum. I won't show it, since it's not a flattering picture of me, but the museum was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours for kids and big kids alike. Now what game do you play if you're more of a Totoro fan???
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Post by retr0gamer on Sept 15, 2021 6:36:19 GMT -5
Attack of the Friday Monsters?
Closest I can think of really.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2021 0:42:02 GMT -5
Aside from some playtime on some of the easy games ommadawnyawn2 recommended to me (and somehow managing to lose 2 continues in the first level of Castle of Illusion Master System - Lord knows how) I've moved onto my next JRPG. Since I've played a few more complex games of late I'm very much in the mood for something simple to play, where I don't need to research how to play or get particularly stuck by any of the mechanisms. I picked Ys VIII, since this series has delivered for me in the past in terms of highly enjoyable games that feature simplicity in gameplay and I have been meaning to experience the series further since my playthrough of Origin at the beginning of the year.
Weirdly for an Ys game it started off incredibly slowly, and I actually found myself bored through much of the second chapter - to the point I even Googled whether it picks up or not. Fortunately the answer was yes and it has now gotten its claws into me. Outside of not enjoying the raids (stop putting tower defence into non tower defence games please devs) I'm having a great time with it. I am a little surprised how many cue's it seems to take from other series, I guess in an attempt to grow in popularity. There's a great deal of crafting which of course is a popular way developers have found to pad their games, but there's also some noticeable Monster Hunter in the combat designs. The game though I find myself comparing it the most to though is Xenoblade due to the world design and exploration focused gameplay. Of course combat is pure Ys (though I'd argue it's too easy this time around in normal mode) but otherwise the series identity feels a little diluted somehow. Anyway the story, once it comes to the forefront is very much an Ys one as well - I know they aren't the deepest but I enjoy the presentation in storytelling in this series. And the music is there too - so much so that it prompted my partner to ask if the game I was playing was from the 80's. Regardless, despite a shift in many aspects I'm having a good time and that's the most important thing.
Anyway, I'm sure some of you have played this one and can compare notes. I'm only in chapter 4 though at this point.
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Post by dsparil on Sept 17, 2021 10:36:37 GMT -5
VIII is my favorite in the series, but it does start out a little slow because it's the only one that's around 40 hours in length. I haven't gotten to IX yet, but that seems to have dialed things back towards the Seven and MoC lengths of 20ish hours. In some ways it does feel like it would have been a stand alone game if Falcom wasn't a company that seems to slot everything into a pre-existing series although the game play does build upon Seven and MoC.
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Post by Snake on Sept 17, 2021 11:16:45 GMT -5
Ys VIII sounds promising. Ys has always delivered in the soundtrack department for me. I went on a purchasing binge earlier in the year, and got Ys Origin for Switch, as well as Ys VIII and IX for PS4. But I still need to play 5, 6, and 7. But for now, they're collecting dust on the shelf, unopened.
Currently replaying the 1st Final Fantasy, but the PSP release. I'm about halfway through, and a bit baffled by the new content they added. Seems like there's new dungeons they threw in, and I got caught up in one in the midst of journeying to show the rat tail to Bahamut. Other than adding a tough FF4 boss, it feels like filler material more than anything. I like that the magic point system for spells has been implemented, instead of just rationing a spell usage count.
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Post by dsparil on Sept 17, 2021 14:34:50 GMT -5
The PSP version is basically the Dawn of Souls version but with better graphics and an extra dungeon. The part you did is one of the extras added in DoS. A bonus dungeon gets unlocked after every fiend and they're meant to be replayed since there's multiple bosses and you can only do one per traversal. I didn't really see the point of them since all they do is add in bosses from subsequent games.
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Post by Snake on Sept 19, 2021 18:37:28 GMT -5
The PSP version is basically the Dawn of Souls version but with better graphics and an extra dungeon. The part you did is one of the extras added in DoS. A bonus dungeon gets unlocked after every fiend and they're meant to be replayed since there's multiple bosses and you can only do one per traversal. I didn't really see the point of them since all they do is add in bosses from subsequent games. Same! Just feels like busy content. I haven't found any superb equipment or anything. At least all the FF IV, V, and VI Advance versions all had extra bonuses, jobs, summons, etc. But the stuff they haphazardly threw together here feels like an after thought. I think I'm ready to move on to Exile and its sequel, Wicked Phenomenon, on Turbografx next. I've been meaning to revisit some of Working Design's back catalogue of localizations.
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Post by retr0gamer on Sept 20, 2021 4:08:00 GMT -5
Well I'm playing FF2 pixel remaster and it seems the difficulty balance is all off.
Got to the snow cavern and so far I've had no trouble with normal enemies and bosses. The cavern was a joke and I finished the adamantoise in 3 moves and Borghen in 2. I remember the game being way more of a ball buster. It's no challenge at the moment.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2021 4:44:30 GMT -5
When I played the PS1 version of 2 recently I found the dungeon enemies could be tough in places, particularly early on, but the bosses were generally no problem.
I don't know much about the FF pixel remasters honestly. I noted the release didn't suit my preferences and then ignored it. Are they based upon particular versions of the games or are they entirely new interpretations? I would have thought being faithful ports was the core idea.
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Post by dsparil on Sept 20, 2021 7:15:29 GMT -5
Apparently the Pixel Remasters do make gameplay changes rather than being straight updates of the originals. Seems like they're not based on any particular prior version. The FF Wikia notes that enemies pick actions at random in the PR version of II for example. It'll probably be a while before there's a centralized list of changes, but there's a lot of them.
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Post by retr0gamer on Sept 20, 2021 7:47:57 GMT -5
I'm thinking the gameplay changes are more severe in FF2 not to scare people away from it. But I'd rather a bit of challenge than the cakewalk it currently is. My HP is flying up at the moment and I'm not trying to game the system by attacking my characters. In fact it seems that stats go up randomly, I've had HP and stat gains on characters that didn't take a hit or take an action.
The new soundtrack arrangements are however stunning. And while I love the new art, it's crying out for a good CRT filter. It's hard to play pixelated games after setting up retroarch with a gorgeous CRT filter. Games never looked like the blocky mess these do.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2021 9:18:27 GMT -5
Perhaps I'm asking too much here but in this day and age of remasters and remakes being abundant, whilst I get that a product like Final Fantasy II can continually be updated and improved upon in order to attract the new audience sought by the publishers, I am regularly disappointed that the original version isn't provided alongside. I would have thought that were the best of both worlds in order to entice both new and old fans. Recent releases such as the new version of Cotton or the Asha in Monster World physical edition have included the original version to my understanding and that's what I'd like to see happen more frequently - at least for very old games which would be small and presumably easy to emulate. In other news, it is being reported that the new version of the Aladdin/Lion King collection (which now adds The Jungle Book) will also include the SNES version of Aladdin so at least there will be a decent game on there now. (assuming that it's not misreported at least) www.vooks.net/disney-brings-its-classic-games-collection-back-with-16-bit-the-jungle-book-and-snes-aladdin/
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Post by lurker on Sept 22, 2021 9:44:59 GMT -5
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