Random thoughts on whatever JRPG you're currently playing?

[Damned Registrations]

Super hydlide is the by far the shittiest game that I love. It's got a ton of terrible mechanics and it's clunky as fuck but it's like the prototype of all the things I love in games- open world, lots of secrets, character customization, huge power scale, exploitable mechanics.

Thief is a pretty bad class btw. It's actually got terrible agility and intelligence, better translation would have been thug, probably. Well, it can hit hard at least.

 

[Puukko]

Nocturne Hardtype is busting my balls, each boss is a bigger wall than the one before it. For Dante I might just have to grind a bit to increase my HP pool. I intend to fight Raidou as well for completeness' sake, but we'll see about that once this is out of the way. Considering the amount of bosses in this game, I think I'll easily breach 100 hours played by the end of it. I have also gotten SMT'd more than I like to count by random encounters, and full moons are something to watch out for due to the special encounters. Even with all that, time between bosses is heavily spent on preparing for the next one.

 

[ryz]

Just fused the *"final" sword in SMT1, the Hino-Kagutsuchi.

Boy it's been a ride, the final dungeon awaits.

*"final" because technically the Majin (the three secret bosses, Pale Rider, High Priest, David) have the ultimate weapons (Angel Trumpet, Reaper Bell, Stradivari) but they can only be found in very specific areas as random encounters and have a 1/256 (0,4%) chance to appear instead of a normal encounter. They carry the most powerful weapons of the game (one for each alignment: chaos, law and neutral) which also have a 1/256 chance to drop, which means the chance to get ONE ultimate weapon is 1/65536 (0,0015%). No thanks, maybe when I'm retired, 80 years old and want the final endless grind until I die of old age

 

[Viata]

Interesting. I never knew that. Back when I played it(before it was translated), I was sure Hino was the strongest weapon.

 

[cosmicray]

You actually can somewhat have a degree of control, it just requires you to disable arts you don't plan on using in the unit menu, make sure units of a similar fashion are bunched together so the one command does more or less what you want it to do, and select different hostile units if the command you want hasn't shown up.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind, when I get around to playing it again.

Meanwhile, started playing Nier: Automata for the first time. Couldn't complete prologue on Hard difficulty and thought I'd remedy this by switching to gamepad. Still couldn't beat it, but at least reached the final encounter. As Prologue was notoriously difficult and without saves, I decided to switch to normal(though, I still needed two takes to beat it). Probably play the main game on Hard.

 

[Doktor Best]

Whoever designed the Undead Giant encounter in Lower Pthumeru in Bloodborne needs to be whipped in a public space with a thousand lashes.

 

[Falksi]

Around 30 hours in to Zesteria now and I'm fucking loving it. Really hard to say which is better, that or Berseria. Berseria has the better characters, pacing & humour, but Zesteria has more depth, better dungeons, & a far better balance of exploration & linearity.

 

[Poseidon00]

Currently on my, like, 12th playthrough of Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 (holy hell is that a mouthful). It's the pokemon clone that is better in every single way. Too bad all of the best monsters are locked behind a fusion tree that requires the 1 unique monster you get in game. Annoying as all hell but I will have all the giants if it kills me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2PWE2tqews

 

[Damned Registrations]

Currently on my, like, 12th playthrough of Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 (holy hell is that a mouthful). It's the pokemon clone that is better in every single way. Too bad all of the best monsters are locked behind a fusion tree that requires the 1 unique monster you get in game. Annoying as all hell but I will have all the giants if it kills me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2PWE2tqews

Love that game. Shame it's been relegated to a shitty handheld system. Would buy a PC version of it in a heartbeat.

 

[Viata]

Joker is my favorite DQ spin-off. 3 is the best of them all.

 

[Puukko]

I think I may be getting into SMT2, only a few hours in but it's honestly not as intimidating as I made it out to be. Now the early game is pretty damn easy so far, combat-wise, though I can tell the game places a heavier focus on the human MCs. I captured high pixie and knocker (quite nice that you "skip" the very early game of bottom tier demons) but they both got killed easily and resurrecting even one cost like 5x the macca I had. The majority of random battles can be autobattled as well. Now, the atmosphere, visuals (especially with some shaders) and music are great which should be enough to carry the game for me even if combat isn't gruelingly difficult. Switching between this and Hardtype for their different strengths should make for a more balanced experience overall.

 

[kaisergeddon]

Super hydlide is the by far the shittiest game that I love.

Absolutely, and for all the reasons you've stated. I load it up every several months for a run and have beaten the game with every class so far. It has a ton of clunky mechanics, but i's also condensed. That's its greatest strength, imo. It quickly reveals the appeal of its design and doesn't waste your time as a player. Once you figure out all the systems going on, you can possibly beat it in a day.

Been playing Tenshi no Uta for the SFC. I think it would be a great JRPG for the storyfags on the Codex, it has a wonderful fan translation and script. Really, one of the best-written games in the genre for sure, not overly ambitious, but serious, endearing, warm-hearted, and definitely helps that it lacks the usual suspected tropes of children saving the world, idiotic and dense male protagonist, etc.. It's rooted in Celtic fantasy and is essentially a love story surrounded by a world of gods and demons. There are two themes in the story: one of embracing and growing with your beloved, and the other of taking responsibility for yourself which is framed by the demonic invasion occuring in the world. Your main character is the son of a blacksmith, and he he sets off to save the girl he fell in love with once he learns she was being held hostage by a sleazy baron. He attempts to take random gear from his father's forge, but his father catches him and grants him a great starting set as acknowledgement of his manhood, which is a great and classic way to start to a fantasy story. The MC is surprisingly likable; he's plainly honest, recognizes his weaknesses, and makes a conscious point to get stronger to protect his woman, who is also a playable character and committed to fighting alongside the protagonist. It's a shockingly honest and real romantic story in a console rpg from the Japanese of all people, embracing and understanding the strengths of male and female cooperation in a relationship, made by Telnet from the same people behind early Wolf Team I believe.

Gameplay is okay, it's not terribly involving but it's not offensive and moves quickly. There's a conversation system that seems inspired by SMT, but it's somewhat underutilized and yet also capable of being outrageously broken. You have both character levels and a party negotiation level, and if you raise that enough and increase friendship with the enemies you encounter, you can effectively eliminate the need to fight anything in a given area by just talking with the enemies. In fact, you can explicitly ask your foes to train you instead, getting more experience than what you would otherwise by beating on them. With a high enough friendship level, the enemies even show up occassionally to assist you in combat. It takes awhile to get negotations to this point, but I did it for amusement in the final area of the game and coasted to the last boss by effortlessly ending every battle I encountered through conversation, never having to use a weapon again, and gaining over a dozen levels in the process. Honestly, more JRPGs should incorporate negotation as a mechanic.

 

[Sigourn]

I think I may be getting into SMT2, only a few hours in but it's honestly not as intimidating as I made it out to be. Now the early game is pretty damn easy so far, combat-wise, though I can tell the game places a heavier focus on the human MCs. I captured high pixie and knocker (quite nice that you "skip" the very early game of bottom tier demons) but they both got killed easily and resurrecting even one cost like 5x the macca I had. The majority of random battles can be autobattled as well. Now, the atmosphere, visuals (especially with some shaders) and music are great which should be enough to carry the game for me even if combat isn't gruelingly difficult. Switching between this and Hardtype for their different strengths should make for a more balanced experience overall.

How does SMT2 compare against SMT1?

 

[Viata]

I think I may be getting into SMT2, only a few hours in but it's honestly not as intimidating as I made it out to be. Now the early game is pretty damn easy so far, combat-wise, though I can tell the game places a heavier focus on the human MCs. I captured high pixie and knocker (quite nice that you "skip" the very early game of bottom tier demons) but they both got killed easily and resurrecting even one cost like 5x the macca I had. The majority of random battles can be autobattled as well. Now, the atmosphere, visuals (especially with some shaders) and music are great which should be enough to carry the game for me even if combat isn't gruelingly difficult. Switching between this and Hardtype for their different strengths should make for a more balanced experience overall.

How does SMT2 compare against SMT1?

What you didn't like in SMT1(the number of random battles) is still there. On every other thing, 2 is better.

 

[Sigourn]

How does SMT2 compare against SMT1?

What you didn't like in SMT1(the number of random battles) is still there. On every other thing, 2 is better.

I don't mind random battles but I want them to be rewarding at least (and hopefully quick if there are so many of them). Is the cheesing with Nerve Bullets gone at the very least?

 

[Viata]

How does SMT2 compare against SMT1?

What you didn't like in SMT1(the number of random battles) is still there. On every other thing, 2 is better.

I don't mind random battles but I want them to be rewarding at least (and hopefully quick if there are so many of them). Is the cheesing with Nerve Bullets gone at the very least?

It's been a long time since I played it, so I don't remember about it. But I do remember this game was harder to finish compared to the first one when I first played it, so I guess there was no cheesing on it.

 

[Sreggin Etah I]

I've played 6 hours of Valkyrie Profile,i really didn't like the game.The voice acting is terrible,the combat is all over the top,the dialogue is full philosophical pretentious crap,the plataform jumping is bad...also,just like Vagrant Story this game has alot of obscure mechanics,lots of hidden menus and barely any explanation/tutorial to them.Also this game have a sort of time limit.This game also have multiple endings,C = bad ending,B = meh ending,A = true ending,i've heard it's almost impossible to get the true ending without a guide.

Also while i am not a guy who usually complains about writing,but VKP has one of the most blatantly bad character writing i've ever seen in a video game:

Spoiler

So around the beginning of the game,there's this princess who wants to take revenge on a guy who insulted her father,then out of nowhere she start acting like she loves the guy,WTF ?

I guess everything i've said is just personal opinion or nitpicking,is not a bad game but just like vagrant story there's too many things that put me off.

The setting and soundtrack is great thought,norse mythology is awesome !

 

[Puukko]

VP2 has such a number of visual bugs when emulated, it's silly.

 

[Falksi]

I've played 6 hours of Valkyrie Profile,i really didn't like the game.The voice acting is terrible,the combat is all over the top,the dialogue is full philosophical pretentious crap,the plataform jumping is bad...also,just like Vagrant Story this game has alot of obscure mechanics,lots of hidden menus and barely any explanation/tutorial to them.Also this game have a sort of time limit.This game also have multiple endings,C = bad ending,B = meh ending,A = true ending,i've heard it's almost impossible to get the true ending without a guide.

Also while i am not a guy who usually complains about writing,but VKP has one of the most blatantly bad character writing i've ever seen in a video game:

Spoiler

So around the beginning of the game,there's this princess who wants to take revenge on a guy who insulted her father,then out of nowhere she start acting like she loves the guy,WTF ?

I guess everything i've said is just personal opinion or nitpicking,is not a bad game but just like vagrant story there's too many things that put me off.

The setting and soundtrack is great thought,norse mythology is awesome !

Totally agree. I thought the entire game was total bollocks tbh. Some bizarre attempt to morph various types of gameplay, all resulting in just a shit game.

It's not nitpicking, it's a bad game.

 

[Damned Registrations]

I loved Valkyrie Profile. The hammy acting suits the game well, there's a good amount of freedom and replay value, the systems are deep enough to be interesting. Though I can see it being rough for an inexperienced player without the manual. Getting the best ending blind isn't that hard on a later playthrough, the game leaves lots of hints that things could have gone differently when you fuck up the various steps. Dunno what you're talking about with the princess. She gets caught up in a plot that gets a bunch of innocent people killed and feels responsible, and doesn't want Arngrim to die after he tried so save and avenge her. She's a petty hothead, not some psycho that was plotting his death for months, and she certainly never implies she loves him.

 

[Removal]

Finished up Grandia 2, was a surprisingly fun romp. A good "feels like you're on an adventure" game. Didn't take too long to beat(25 hours) and the combat system was great. I really liked how their take on the "active time battle" shtick let you mess up enemies timing and cancel their attacks if you timed your moves right. It's a easy system to abuse though, but that's part of the fun. That said, game was super easy and dungeon design and world design was linear.
Story was pretty bog standard, good but not amazing, worked to keep the game moving forward at a good pace

 

[Hyperion]

inished up Grandia 2, was a surprisingly fun romp. A good "feels like you're on an adventure" game. Didn't take too long to beat(25 hours) and the combat system was great. I really liked how their take on the "active time battle" shtick let you mess up enemies timing and cancel their attacks if you timed your moves right. It's a easy system to abuse though, but that's part of the fun. That said, game was super easy and dungeon design and world design was linear.
Story was pretty bog standard, good but not amazing, worked to keep the game moving forward at a good pace

If you're willing to put up with a garbage story mode, where the systems aren't truly fleshed out 'till postgame, Grandia Xtreme is the pinnacle of the series in terms of gameplay. It's one of the better dungeon crawlers released with a good loot hunt. Only real drawback is due to the loot system, the Thief character is pretty much a mandatory slot in your 4-man party.

 

[Puukko]

Protip: SMT2 works really well with dungeon synth in the background. The OST is good, sure, but this is a great way to explore thematically fitting music at the same time.

 

[Viata]

dungeon synth

What is it?

 

[Puukko]

dungeon synth

What is it?

Exactly what it sounds like.

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/anyone-like-electronic-music.9958/page-60#post-6504197