What JRPG are you currently playing?

Retr0gamer · 18-02-2012 7:05pm

The AI doesn't cheat in the game. The game is just very very tough. Make sure you pay attention to the battle time line that tells you when characters get a go.

Expect to get stuck on quite a few levels and a bit of leveling up is advised. You'll want to keep your party quite small.

You're going to have to use the game system to your advantage, stuff like stealing armour and weapons to weaken characters and gain good equipment for yourself.

noodler · 18-02-2012 7:17pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

The AI doesn't cheat in the game. The game is just very very tough. Make sure you pay attention to the battle time line that tells you when characters get a go.

Expect to get stuck on quite a few levels and a bit of leveling up is advised. You'll want to keep your party quite small.

You're going to have to use the game system to your advantage, stuff like stealing armour and weapons to weaken characters and gain good equipment for yourself.

All good advice,

But your spells constantly missing at crucial moments or weak CPU characters just happening to take the exact amount of HP of you is pretty suspicious.

Retr0gamer · 18-02-2012 9:18pm

You've just got to time your spells right. Not so sure about the AI taking the right amount of HP, I never noticed it.

noodler · 18-02-2012 11:53pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

You've just got to time your spells right. Not so sure about the AI taking the right amount of HP, I never noticed it.

I don't think its anything to do with the timing of my spells!

The combat just seems very scripted when you are on the ropes.

Its a really badly designed game in many ways, the length of time you have to wait between turns, the crap camera angle, convoluted controls, the fact you can't restart or quit an unwinnable mission without reseting the PSP.

Really these are things they should have tweaked before making the port.

Retr0gamer · 19-02-2012 3:08am

I think you just have to plan your moves better, you run a risk when you don't target a specific character with a spell so have to be very careful about the timing. The game is rock hard, you're going to fail a lot in it. It's also a game like FF5 and FF8 where it is easy to break the games battle system but in the case of FFT you really are required to do so. I didn't notice any scripting in any fights unless it's some sort of crappy balancing they put in the PSP version but I doubt they changed it that much. In the PS1 version if you lost it was your own fault and it took a hell of a lot of strategy and retries to beat many of the story battles.

noodler · 19-02-2012 3:05pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I think you just have to plan your moves better, you run a risk when you don't target a specific character with a spell so have to be very careful about the timing. The game is rock hard, you're going to fail a lot in it. It's also a game like FF5 and FF8 where it is easy to break the games battle system but in the case of FFT you really are required to do so. I didn't notice any scripting in any fights unless it's some sort of crappy balancing they put in the PSP version but I doubt they changed it that much. In the PS1 version if you lost it was your own fault and it took a hell of a lot of strategy and retries to beat many of the story battles.

Not sure how 90% of what I moaned about above could be solved by "planning my moves better!".

Its not very user friendly but I'm well into Chapter 2 now so I'll stick with it.

animaX · 19-02-2012 11:06pm

noodler wrote: »

I don't think its anything to do with the timing of my spells!

The combat just seems very scripted when you are on the ropes.

Its a really badly designed game in many ways, the length of time you have to wait between turns, the crap camera angle, convoluted controls, the fact you can't restart or quit an unwinnable mission without reseting the PSP.

Really these are things they should have tweaked before making the port.

I take it we're talking about final fantasy tactics here and not tactics ogre?!

In that case I agree with what you're saying. The psp port needed to be "modernised" in some sense to make it more playable. The psp port is really only playable due to the legacy of the game.

I did manage to play though it all and ultimately I did enjoy it, but there were some stupid difficulty spikes. Also, about the HP thing, I think the game just shows 23 HP because that is all the HP that you have. Its not that the mage is doing 23 damage (he may be doing 30 damage), but its just showing 23 because that's all that was required to kill you. Though I could be wrong on that one.

noodler · 20-02-2012 12:32am

animaX wrote: »

In that case I agree with what you're saying. The psp port needed to be "modernised" in some sense to make it more playable. The psp port is really only playable due to the legacy of the game.

Aye, obviously the PSP game is 5 years old at this stage but some of the stuff is lacking.

animaX wrote: »

I did manage to play though it all and ultimately I did enjoy it, but there were some stupid difficulty spikes.

Just had a serious difficulty spike at the gallows. Followed by another one at the Castle Gate - had to google and apparently wearing one specific elemental piece of equipment for the battle in question negates all attacks. So the level was a cakewalk in the end.

I did note the FAQ said I was going to have to go through a series of battles now without being able to visit a shop or change my equipmen/ability settings (end of Chapter 2).

animaX wrote: »

Also, about the HP thing, I think the game just shows 23 HP because that is all the HP that you have. Its not that the mage is doing 23 damage (he may be doing 30 damage), but its just showing 23 because that's all that was required to kill you. Though I could be wrong on that one.

I don't think thats correct. I know for certain that if I use a 50hp spell to kill something thats only got 1hp left that 50hp shows up. I am 90% sure it works the other way too.

The biggest problem still is the spells. Some of the support classes are rendered completely ineffective as they're spells miss two times out of three.

seraphimvc · 20-02-2012 2:07am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

The only problem with the old tactics ogre was some severely bad balancing issues. Enemies levelled with the main character who always raced ahead in levels compared to the support characters making them useless unless you went into a training stage and leveled up for hours by throwing stones at each other The PSP version has been given a big overhaul.

As for Tactics Ogre being a great political story, well it would want to be considering it's just a retelling of the 1990's war in the Balkan region with fantasy elements

ah now, give the man some credit lol at least

the death of that knight (forget his name, that one made Denim the head of resistance by killing the duke)

was nicely done there.

considering the remake is done after he left, i am so curious how will this remake turn out if he was there to direct the team.

seraphimvc · 20-02-2012 2:23am

noodler yup i think most people will agree that FFT's psp version could use more improvement of the system for the port, at least they did it right for the later orge tactic. but generally i think they reduced the difficulty of the psp version, some of the stages are wayyy broken in ps1. they added quite some new stuffs for the psp version while i remember both my play time on psp or ps1 have exceeded 200hours respectively lol

the game is very simple if you chose the jobs right, ie the early-mid-late game balance of different classes is not very good. the general rule is pump Haste on your characters(get timemage), long CT spells/jobs like mages are useless, get ninja/dual hand asap, and equip that extra JP thing for some grinding before the mission stage (you only need 1/2 battles, use the attack+heal trick). Once you get Orlandu you will laugh til the end, may be except that duke+his 2 deadly assassins stage.....

i thought the control/camera angle is fine

the reset thing is annoying tho (same as ps1).

oh and i forget, abuse Mustadio's ability lol

animaX · 20-02-2012 2:37am

Another thing I had to use once was the speed up and strength up trick. It works if you are facing a boss battle alone.

Basically you run away, use the speed+1 ability. Next turn, run away and use the speed+1 ability. Keep doing this until the speed stat is maxed out. By then you will be so fast that you take 2/3 turns in the time that your opponent takes one. With these extra turns, continue to run away but this time use the strength+1 ability. Keep doing this until you max out the strength stat.

At the end of this painful half hour+, you will be so quick and powerful that you can defeat any boss with one or two attacks. Silly that it had to come to that but I didn't have much choice!

Retr0gamer · 20-02-2012 2:41am

Train a knight up with Break Abilities, change class to Alchemist. You now have a unit that can break enemies weapons and armour with a pistol from over half the map away. Breaking FFT is even more fun than FF8 and doesn't exactly break the game considering how tough it is to begin with!

seraphimvc · 20-02-2012 3:08am

ah yes i forget the pistol+breaking weapon/armor is so damn broken LOL Mustadio is so abusive!

didnt bother much with str/def up, haste is broken enough plus my Ramza has insane speed gain by leveling up with ninja. and i remember Monk is so imbalanced in some aspect, probably the best stat gain i think. i remember Dragoon is very good in early to early-mid game, mage killer.

animaX · 20-02-2012 4:45am

Getting slightly back on topic:

are there any other unmissable ps2 rpgs/turn-based-strategy games other than persona 3/4, dragon quest 8, FFX/12, disgaea?

penev10 · 20-02-2012 11:37am

animaX wrote: »

Getting slightly back on topic:

are there any other unmissable ps2 rpgs/turn-based-strategy games other than persona 3/4, dragon quest 8, FFX/12, disgaea?

Yeah, I think the last 20 posts could be hived off to a FFT thread.

Turn based strategy? look no further than Dynasty Tactics and it's more convoluted sequel. Lots of levels of strategy (especially in the sequel). Pacific Theatre of Operations (also by Koei) is another good one but quite hard to find.

martineatworld · 20-02-2012 12:09pm

My ps2 recommendations would be...

Shadow Hearts. All 3 of them. Really overlooked spiritual successors to Koudelka, fantastic games, I really enjoyed them.
Anything by Nippon Ichi - Phantom Brave, La Pucelle, Makai Kingdom, Soul Nomad.
Grandia 2 (A port so doesn't really count)

There's a few American ones also that weren't released over here but might be too much hassle to play.

Never played Dynasty Tactics so will keep my eye out for them!

Retr0gamer · 20-02-2012 3:16pm

I'd skip Shadow Hearts 1, didn't enjoy it at all. Also I'd play Grandia 2 on the Dreamcast, PS2 version is a crappy port.

If you liked Persona then check out Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 and SMT Nocturne/Lucifers Call.

Retr0gamer · 20-02-2012 8:23pm

Posting on topic now

The two JRPGs I'm currently playing are Gaudia Quest and Phantasy Star 2. Gaudia quest is an old school RPG that was made for the game Retrogame Challenge on the DS. If anyone has a DS you have to pick up this game. It's got a compliation of fake NES games that are good enough to be minor NES classics or even out and out classics if they were released back in the 80's. Gaudia Quest is a great RPG that's loads of fun and also isn't really all that long either.

I got about halfway through Phantasy Star 2 a few years ago before my laptop HD crashed and I lost my save game. It's really grind heavy with some awful dungeon design (tip, use a FAQ!) but I was enjoying it. There's some nice innovations like the great battle system and a decent story for its time.

penev10 · 20-02-2012 9:01pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Phantasy Star 2

could probably win the award for worst graphics on the Megadrive. Horrible looking game, totally scared me off at the time. Sword of Vermilion was my RPG of choice for the MD but I could never figure out what to do next in it. Must've gotten stuck dozens of times without ever finishing it. Probably made a bad call so (as a 14 year old graphics whore:D)

Retr0gamer · 20-02-2012 10:51pm

Yup Phantasy Star 2 looks crap. I'd like to say it was an early MD game from 1989 but it actually looks much worse than the first game on master system. The battle screens look ok but the master system one had much better background graphics. Also the top down dungeons look woeful compared to the amazing looking 3D mazes in the original.

Anyway I want to get through the series so I can enjoy the absolute classic that is Phantasy Star 4.

seraphimvc · 22-02-2012 6:13pm

animaX wrote: »

Getting slightly back on topic:

are there any other unmissable ps2 rpgs/turn-based-strategy games other than persona 3/4, dragon quest 8, FFX/12, disgaea?

dont get digital devil saga (unless it is very very very cheap) i fall asleep everytime i turn it on

for ps2 era i'd recommend the Valkyrie Profile 2(hybrid Action+turnbased RPG, most of the time you discover the area like a scrollside action game but the battle is 3D) and Odinsphere (scrollside ARPG). both amazing games. if you like Tales series rpg you can grab the ps1ported version of ToD 1/2, the rest is a hit and miss. heard Wild arms is ok but never play them.

Currently im playing Orge tactic at chapter 4. SE should hire me to improve the battle/game system lol

noodler · 22-02-2012 11:42pm

Bloody Cúchulainn

penev10 · 23-02-2012 1:46pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Yup Phantasy Star 2 looks crap. I'd like to say it was an early MD game from 1989 but it actually looks much worse than the first game on master system. The battle screens look ok but the master system one had much better background graphics. Also the top down dungeons look woeful compared to the amazing looking 3D mazes in the original.

Anyway I want to get through the series so I can enjoy the absolute classic that is Phantasy Star 4.

Are you playing those via theSega Mega Drive: Ultimate Collection? if so what's the emulation like?

seraphimvc · 23-02-2012 1:59pm

noodler wrote: »

Bloody Cúchulainn

LOL i know right. how are you suppose to survive that sh!t if you faced him the first time haha.

OT:
currently playing Orge tactic near the end i think. the hidden character pirate looks pretty cool. on my way to get. he looks like hawkeye from one piece if anyone read it

Retr0gamer · 23-02-2012 2:15pm

penev10 wrote: »

Are you playing those via theSega Mega Drive: Ultimate Collection? if so what's the emulation like?

Nope, on an emulator in the Wii homebrew channel. Emulation on the ultimate collection is meant to be great.

Be warned if you are not familiar with Phantasy Star 2. It's extremely old shool and grind heavy, more so than FF1, and you'll need a map for the dungeons, the original game came with an entire players guide and you'll need it.

noodler · 23-02-2012 2:28pm

seraphimvc wrote: »

LOL i know right. how are you suppose to survive that sh!t if you faced him the first time haha.

I have no idea. I have run him close a few times but I really don't think my team is strong enough to beat him.

The biggest problem is that the starting places for the 5-man team are such that it is pretty impossible for three of the five not to be infected by sleep or doom.

My team lacks a decent chemist or even white mage that can cure status ailments so I am kind of at a loss.

Another serious issue is that it is at a point in the game where you can't go do a few random encounters as its the third battle in a row where you can only save but not access the world map.

Retr0gamer · 23-02-2012 7:17pm

Did nobody warn you not to make 2 save games whenever you have two battles in a row. It's a big flaw with the game. I managed to beat cuchulainn but it was tough. There's an item that you can buy that negates the negative status effects he causes but sure you can't get it now. Make sure you keep two save files for these multiple encounters because it only gets worse from here.

seraphimvc · 24-02-2012 1:37pm

^yup i remember the very first time i played, i just give up after 2 attempt and load the save file before i entered the 3-continuous missions, got some anti sleep (?or anything that helps) status accessory for the main characters and some antidote/remedy etc before i go in again. i have like 2 dragoons so i can use jump to avoid his first few round's insane aoe attack.

noodler · 24-02-2012 2:39pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Did nobody warn you not to make 2 save games whenever you have two battles in a row. It's a big flaw with the game. I managed to beat cuchulainn but it was tough. There's an item that you can buy that negates the negative status effects he causes but sure you can't get it now. Make sure you keep two save files for these multiple encounters because it only gets worse from here.

Hah, now that you mention it I am sure I read you saying the same thing a year or so ago.

I do have an earlier file but I don't think it is earlier enough...

seraphimvc wrote: »

^yup i remember the very first time i played, i just give up after 2 attempt and load the save file before i entered the 3-continuous missions, got some anti sleep (?or anything that helps) status accessory for the main characters and some antidote/remedy etc before i go in again. i have like 2 dragoons so i can use jump to avoid his first few round's insane aoe attack.

All these cool classes like Ninja and Dragoon that I have no idea how to develop!

noodler · 24-02-2012 9:55pm

What is the ****ing point of 'Raise' if it misses 4 times in a ****ing row.

This is the most unreliable game I have played in quite a while.

noodler · 24-02-2012 10:05pm

Oh Suck it Cuchalen!

Lucky circumstances.

He used a bio attack first for the first time in my experience that missed ALL THREE party members. I then hit him with slow and he couldn't kill me fast enough.

Lesson learned, multiple save files.

seraphimvc · 25-02-2012 12:39am

lol that's very lucky indeed. ahye, you NEED to get dual wield asap(Ninja, the most broken job ever) and i think dragoon's overpowerness will be gradually decreasing from this point but still worthy to invest one in your team, jump is the best ability to kill mages.

_Godot_ · 27-02-2012 2:09am

Beat Dragon Quest VI, now playing Cthulhu Saves The World.

elekid · 27-02-2012 12:35pm

_Godot_ wrote: »

Beat Dragon Quest VI, now playing Cthulhu Saves The World.

Beat Cthulhu Saves the World, will soon be starting DQVI!

lasersquad · 04-03-2012 12:44pm

Valhalla Knights - avoided it for long time, being silly enough to believe Metacritic. Now can`t put it down. Yes, the camera sucks, big time. Got used to it though, the combat is very good (and I`m not a big fan of action systems) gfx stunning and game structure very addictive.

Crusaders Of Centy - chop!chop!throw!chop!... so daft

But fun too.

Mindkiller · 10-03-2012 12:53pm

Final Fantasy XII - Zodiac something or another thingymibob. It's really f*cking good. Fixes near enough every problem that XII had. Mist quickenings no longer use MP and work similar to overdrives or limit breaks. You can buy every gambit after escaping from Nalbina, so you no longer have to play most of the game with a nerfed combat system. They also include a frameskip 'turbo' mode to fastforward through grinding. It's like an emulator in that respect. It seems geared towards replays, especially as there are 12 job classes in the game and the most you'll see in one playthrough is 6. The job system itself is a lot like FF1-3. Your characters will be far more limited in what they can equip and what skills they can learn so they're not interchangable like in XII (and every other FF title since VI, excluding IX and XIII). They also include a 100 level 'trial' mode which means now you actually have an incentive to get all the super rare equipment. They've removed all damage limits as well

Retr0gamer · 12-03-2012 12:31am

Finally beat Phantasy Star 2. It was a total grind fest with not much story but did have some good points. It makes a great attempt at some social commentary and the ending is absolutely cracking, really surprised me.

Now back to Xenoblade.

noodler · 12-03-2012 12:39am

Well into Chapter for in FFT.

Its dragging on a little.

Aurongroove · 16-03-2012 5:56pm

Mindkiller wrote: »

Final Fantasy XII - Zodiac something or another thingymibob. It's really f*cking good. Fixes near enough every problem that XII had. Mist quickenings no longer use MP and work similar to overdrives or limit breaks. You can buy every gambit after escaping from Nalbina, so you no longer have to play most of the game with a nerfed combat system. They also include a frameskip 'turbo' mode to fastforward through grinding. It's like an emulator in that respect. It seems geared towards replays, especially as there are 12 job classes in the game and the most you'll see in one playthrough is 6. The job system itself is a lot like FF1-3. Your characters will be far more limited in what they can equip and what skills they can learn so they're not interchangable like in XII (and every other FF title since VI, excluding IX and XIII). They also include a 100 level 'trial' mode which means now you actually have an incentive to get all the super rare equipment. They've removed all damage limits as well

wow that really sounds like it fixes alot of things. the damage limit removed will really help the Summons which were probably the most underpowered things I've even seen in a game, since yer one's Monster badges in Dark cloud2/chronicle: An entire part of the game made to weak to actually be of any use, even for fun.

Aurongroove · 16-03-2012 6:09pm

I stayed up last and had the most epically insane 12 hours of gaming I've had for the past 6 years probably.

I tried to go from floor 1-100 in the Item world in Disgaea 3 without exiting.
there were at least 4 times in those 12 hours (no saving) where It was looking like absolute failure. the only times I'd stop is if I found a floor with invincible tiles and used them to level everyone up.

there were times when my strong team mated would get killed and I'd need to find the Item world village so I'd be hurpling along with lesser team mates trying to make do.
The last few levels, say 70 and up with monsters of approx level 190-250 (and my team approx level 80 bar 2 people on level 103 and 140 respectively) were full motion pictures in themselves.
On the 98th floor I got two of my strong team mates out and stood them on reverse damage tiles. Then a flood on monsters from those pad things which spawn hoards of them, one guy got healed to death and the other stood there for approximately 3:30 hours killing the healers then running out of SP, so just attacking every round, I eventually got a trophy I didnt know existed one for getting a combo of '255', but in the end by the time the he cleared the screen I would guess I attacked about 3/400 times. all while standing there on my own, no help possible my teams average level was about 70 and the monsters were 210, if anyone tried to help they've been instantly destroyed(as they couldn't reach the reverse damage tiles).

Then on Floor99 the dash to the gate went wrong, and my entire team that were out including my brave soldier from the previous level now level 192 were instantly annihilated. One random team mate in the corner survived, so I threw literally the last 3 human team mates I had in a chain to her, they throw her to the gate, and she walked in to floor 100.
when I got to floor 100 I did a throw chain to the gate and ****ing SAVED!!

animaX · 17-03-2012 12:02am

Sounds epic :cool:

noodler · 19-03-2012 9:29pm

noodler wrote: »

Well into Chapter for in FFT.

Its dragging on a little.

Completed FFT just there.

It becomes much easier when you get Orlandeau.

However, I think I'd have been driven mad if the game didn't give you him since the sheer number of battles (especially towards the end) really made the game drag.

I have to be honest, I was absolutely lost when it came to the story for the last 75% of the game (pretty much everything from Chapter 2 onwards).

Nevertheless, twas entertaining and had some nice moments storywise.

Better editing in terms of the number of battles and story would have helped.

Anyway, I don't think I can hold of buying ME3 any longer.

penev10 · 20-03-2012 8:10pm

Fire Emblem >>> FFT

Can't understand the love for FFT.

Retr0gamer · 20-03-2012 8:20pm

Congrats on beating FFT, it's a tough one to get through.

penev10 wrote: »

Can't understand the love for FFT.

Heavily borken and exploitable job systems rock!

Sephiroth_dude · 21-03-2012 1:42pm

Aurongroove wrote: »

I stayed up last and had the most epically insane 12 hours of gaming I've had for the past 6 years probably.

I tried to go from floor 1-100 in the Item world in Disgaea 3 without exiting.
there were at least 4 times in those 12 hours (no saving) where It was looking like absolute failure. the only times I'd stop is if I found a floor with invincible tiles and used them to level everyone up.

there were times when my strong team mated would get killed and I'd need to find the Item world village so I'd be hurpling along with lesser team mates trying to make do.
The last few levels, say 70 and up with monsters of approx level 190-250 (and my team approx level 80 bar 2 people on level 103 and 140 respectively) were full motion pictures in themselves.
On the 98th floor I got two of my strong team mates out and stood them on reverse damage tiles. Then a flood on monsters from those pad things which spawn hoards of them, one guy got healed to death and the other stood there for approximately 3:30 hours killing the healers then running out of SP, so just attacking every round, I eventually got a trophy I didnt know existed one for getting a combo of '255', but in the end by the time the he cleared the screen I would guess I attacked about 3/400 times. all while standing there on my own, no help possible my teams average level was about 70 and the monsters were 210, if anyone tried to help they've been instantly destroyed(as they couldn't reach the reverse damage tiles).

Then on Floor99 the dash to the gate went wrong, and my entire team that were out including my brave soldier from the previous level now level 192 were instantly annihilated. One random team mate in the corner survived, so I threw literally the last 3 human team mates I had in a chain to her, they throw her to the gate, and she walked in to floor 100.
when I got to floor 100 I did a throw chain to the gate and ****ing SAVED!!

sounds like an interesting game,is that on the ps3?strategy rpg?

noodler · 21-03-2012 2:24pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Congrats on beating FFT, it's a tough one to get through.

In terms of difficulty it was. Although as I said, Orlandeau was too powerful in the clsoing battles - I didn't have to use him but as it drags on a bit I decided feck it.

Ending was abrupt but I liked it.

Aurongroove · 23-03-2012 11:20pm

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

sounds like an interesting game,is that on the ps3?strategy rpg?

it's turn based strategy ala 'tactics' games, but it's by far the best I've played and the story is ****ing gas! I actually though I hated these types of games since the last one I invested time in was Suikoden tactics (bull**** game) and FF tactics A2 which was OK, but it was mostly for the story and extra curricular bits and not the battle system itself which I was glad to see the back of once I finished the game.

Disgaea 3 and 4 are both PS3. I decided to get 3 because 4 was brand new when I heard about the series and I didn't wanna spend full price on a game.

Mindkiller · 25-03-2012 11:33am

Put down FFXII for a while and picked up Vagrant Story. The opening 5 minutes were amazing but the last 4 hours have been a tepid grind. It's not that hard, it's just really dull.

On the other hand, I genuinely like the fact that the game explains absolutely feck all about game mechanics and leaves it all up to the player. Makes a refreshing change from games where each and every little detail is explained in unskippable tutorial sections.

Retr0gamer · 25-03-2012 11:29pm

My advice is to make sure you spend a lot of time forging weapons and leveling them up. If you don't then the game becomes a grind.

noodler · 25-03-2012 11:33pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

My advice is to make sure you spend a lot of time forging weapons and leveling them up. If you don't then the game becomes a grind.

Is that not a grind in itself?

What JRPG are you currently playing?

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