A post-apocalyptic, alternate universe, first-person RPG with (apparently) free-roaming, they say. Sound very nice, says I. Looks very promising, hopefully it can go someway to relieving my cravings for another Fallout. Fingers crossed.
Showing posts with label rpg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rpg. Show all posts
2012-06-23
Nuclear Union Debut Trailer
A post-apocalyptic, alternate universe, first-person RPG with (apparently) free-roaming, they say. Sound very nice, says I. Looks very promising, hopefully it can go someway to relieving my cravings for another Fallout. Fingers crossed.
2012-03-15
Started FFXIII-2
Finally got around to picking up and starting Final Fantasy XIII-2 the other day - I'd put off getting it for a while as FFXIII didn't really suck me in as much as I'd hoped (or was used to with an FF title). Given it a couple hours so far and it feels like a much more enjoyable game thus far - plenty of scope to explore, optional side-quests, access to the party from the get-go and early access to the Crystarium system.
I picked up the Asian Chinese/English edition on import, which comes with Japanese voice-overs and English or Chinese text, mainly because Serah is voiced by 寿 美菜子 (Kotobuki Minako) of K-On! fame (Tsumugi).
Anyway, enough rambling, hopefully the game will continue to grow on me. I really should stop starting new games though - still working on Ar Tonelico 2, Trails in the Sky, Lunar Silver Star Harmony, Hyperdimension Neptunia and Mimana Iyar Chronicle... geh, it almost sounds like work with a playlist like that ;)
I picked up the Asian Chinese/English edition on import, which comes with Japanese voice-overs and English or Chinese text, mainly because Serah is voiced by 寿 美菜子 (Kotobuki Minako) of K-On! fame (Tsumugi).
Anyway, enough rambling, hopefully the game will continue to grow on me. I really should stop starting new games though - still working on Ar Tonelico 2, Trails in the Sky, Lunar Silver Star Harmony, Hyperdimension Neptunia and Mimana Iyar Chronicle... geh, it almost sounds like work with a playlist like that ;)
2012-03-11
Kamidori
I intended to get back into Hyperdimension Neptunia in a big way (so as to justify buying the sequel, which I'm itching to do...) but after giving it a few hours I instead found myself completed wrapped up in the fan-translated Kamidori (神採りアルケミーマイスター or God Catching Alchemy Meister). It's the first Strategy RPG that I've really taken to in quite some time - I keep coming back to it and then find it hard to put down (one more turn, one more map, one more chapter).
2011-12-18
Suikoden Retrospective at 1UP
1UP.com has done a nice retrospective of the first game in the Suikoden series, which is just about my favorite RPG series of all time. I've lost count of the number of times I've replayed Suikoden, made possible by it being one of the few RPGs not beset by needless padding and stretching of the game to reach some magical number of hours the publisher can then boast about on the cover. As covered in 1UP's article, the game is tightly made and fast - no problems with load times or 30 minute cut scenes here!
2011-09-11
1UP.com FFXIII-2 Interview and Preview
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| The battle system seems to be identical to that of the first game. |
Interesting article from 1UP.com on the changes being made for FFXIII-2, the follow up to the very un-RPG-ish (it's a word *ahem*) FFXIII. The good news: towns are in, linearity is out. Sounds like there will be sidequests as well as the option to move around the world freely.
No longer will players simply run from point A to point B; the world is built of more traditional RPG hub and dungeons. The demo that Square Enix has been showing off for the past few months sets players in a town that feels an awful lot like Rabinastre from Final Fantasy XII and gives them multiple secondary objectives to fulfill in addition to the main goal of defeating a massive colossus named Atlas.1UP.com
"When we toured Europe and North America promoting FFXIII, we picked up on a lot of criticism," admits Kitase. "Some was what media people told us, and some were bitter comments we read on the Internet, and we were very much aware of what was going on -- whether people were liking or disliking. We set ourselves out with a mission to address every single aspect of FFXIII that was criticized and come up with a solution, and we feel we have achieved that."KITASE Yoshinori, Producer
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| Look, a town! For reals! |
"Even though Final Fantasy X and X-2 shared the same characters, everything else was different. We actually set out to make absolutely everything different. We had a very poppy atmosphere. As opposed to that, when we reviewed FFXIII, we thought the in-game universe and story were two good points, and people generally liked them. So then we wanted to continue in the same universe and the same storyline.
"Something that people didn't like and criticized was the fact that FFXIII was very much story driven and linear. Therefore, we wanted FFXIII-2 to be more player-driven, so that the players will be allowed to make their own choices and decide what actions they want to take."
"The other thing that went down very well in FFXIII-2 was the battle system. This time around, because of the new features we've added, it'll be a more strategic battle. For example, you can recruit up to 150 different types of monsters. You can use them in your tactics and strategy as you battle."TORIYAMA Motomu, Director
Lucky media types get to spend a few days with the demo ahead of TGS, I guess the rest of us will just have to wait for their reports. It certainly is sounding quite promising though
2011-09-09
Diary of an RPGamer - 2011-09-09
I've been utterly obsessed with Ar Tonelico Qoga over the last few days after taking a brief break. Once I start it generally sucks me in completely - for example, the BGM was stuck in my head on a loop while I was trying to get some sleep after a bit of a marathon session.
There are a few decision points during the game that affect how the remainder plays out - I've taken to keeping a pen and paper nearby to keep track of which save games reflect which choice. The worst part was when I ran out of time during a boss battle but the game continued as if it was one of those typical RPG story battles where you lose no matter what. Unfortunately I continued playing for 3 or 4 hours before going back to an earlier save to try the battle again - sure enough, with a better strategy and some upgraded super moves, the battle was won within the time allotted and the story changed appropriately. From what I gather, losing the battle leads to a bad ending while winning leads to a normal or good ending.
My main save is approaching the 40 hour mark now and the story seems to be going into the final stretch. I'm still loving the battle system, which is fortunate in a game of this length, and the number of extra things to do on the side makes a nice diversion as well.
There are a few decision points during the game that affect how the remainder plays out - I've taken to keeping a pen and paper nearby to keep track of which save games reflect which choice. The worst part was when I ran out of time during a boss battle but the game continued as if it was one of those typical RPG story battles where you lose no matter what. Unfortunately I continued playing for 3 or 4 hours before going back to an earlier save to try the battle again - sure enough, with a better strategy and some upgraded super moves, the battle was won within the time allotted and the story changed appropriately. From what I gather, losing the battle leads to a bad ending while winning leads to a normal or good ending.
My main save is approaching the 40 hour mark now and the story seems to be going into the final stretch. I'm still loving the battle system, which is fortunate in a game of this length, and the number of extra things to do on the side makes a nice diversion as well.
2011-08-06
Diary of an RPGamer - 2011-08-05
Continuing the theme of picking up titles I'd not played for months or years, I finally went back to the Sega Saturn RPG Madou Monogatari, which I'd put down in 2009 (according to the save file) and not been back to since.
The game is a pretty standard RPG, featuring turn-based battles using a party of up to 3 characters (typically 2 story characters plus a guest). The heroine, Arle, uses only magic attacks but all other characters have some combination of physical and magical abilities. Some enemies are resistant or boosted by certain types of magic, so the player needs to be careful to remember their foes.
The game is generally presented in an isometric layout, whether in town or in a dungeon, while battles are shown side-on with nice looking 2D sprites. Conversations are overlayed with large, nicely drawn portraits of the characters to bring some life to the scene. The overworld view is simply a map with dots representing areas your party can visit; clicking on a location will send you straight there.
Each character has an SP gauge that, when full, allows them to use a special skill (grayed out when the SP bar is not flashing, as seen in the screenshot above). These skills can prove very useful against stronger enemies and bosses. The SP gauge will drain even if the player opts to use a normal move - however that move is significantly boosted in power and effect.
I'm about 4 or 5 hours in at the moment and so far it's been an enjoyable romp. The characters (and even most enemies) are packed with charm making this a good RPG to play when you don't feel like being hammered by a typical story centering on the end of the world.
As far as the series goes, I've only played this Saturn version and the SNES title Madou Monogatari: Hanamaru Daiyouchi Enji - out of the two of them, I'd definitely recommend the Saturn game - Hanamaru Daiyouchi Enji is really more of an RPG-lite type game, seemingly aimed at children. It does, however, boast the advantage of having a fan-made English translation patch available.
Madou Monogatari (Sega Saturn) from 1998 is the last in a long running series that began in the late 80s on the MSX (although a mobile-only game was released in Japan in 2005). For anyone interested, Hardcore Gaming 101 covered the series as part of their overview of the Puyo Puyo games.
The game is a pretty standard RPG, featuring turn-based battles using a party of up to 3 characters (typically 2 story characters plus a guest). The heroine, Arle, uses only magic attacks but all other characters have some combination of physical and magical abilities. Some enemies are resistant or boosted by certain types of magic, so the player needs to be careful to remember their foes.
The game is generally presented in an isometric layout, whether in town or in a dungeon, while battles are shown side-on with nice looking 2D sprites. Conversations are overlayed with large, nicely drawn portraits of the characters to bring some life to the scene. The overworld view is simply a map with dots representing areas your party can visit; clicking on a location will send you straight there.
Each character has an SP gauge that, when full, allows them to use a special skill (grayed out when the SP bar is not flashing, as seen in the screenshot above). These skills can prove very useful against stronger enemies and bosses. The SP gauge will drain even if the player opts to use a normal move - however that move is significantly boosted in power and effect.
I'm about 4 or 5 hours in at the moment and so far it's been an enjoyable romp. The characters (and even most enemies) are packed with charm making this a good RPG to play when you don't feel like being hammered by a typical story centering on the end of the world.
As far as the series goes, I've only played this Saturn version and the SNES title Madou Monogatari: Hanamaru Daiyouchi Enji - out of the two of them, I'd definitely recommend the Saturn game - Hanamaru Daiyouchi Enji is really more of an RPG-lite type game, seemingly aimed at children. It does, however, boast the advantage of having a fan-made English translation patch available.
2011-08-03
Diary of an RPGamer - 2011-08-02
In an effort to re-connect with some RPGs that I'd let pass me by, I endeavored to dust off some of my more neglected titles, namely: Blue Dragon (360), Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana (PS2) and Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis (PS2).
I'd abandoned (or at least lost interest) in Blue Dragon about 10 hours in, so I wasn't expecting much when I fired it up again for the first time in at least six months. How wrong I turned out to be though - I was quickly caught up in the action and, three hours later, and to force myself to save and take a break.
I remember the opening to the game being fairly slow, without a lot of story to get your teeth into but, by the time your party is escorting the population of your village to safety, things start moving at a decent pace and it feels like the game starts to come to life. I think I'll be putting some more time into this one after all.
Embarrassingly, the only reason I'd put Atelier Iris down in the first place was my own amazing ability to get lost. It took watching a video of the relevant section before I finally realized what I'd missed (a small pathway obscured by trees) and then I could finally get back into a game that I'd been enjoying up until that point.
I quite like that the regular RPG combat system that has been spiced up with Alchemy elements - creating attack/healing items on the fly is quite a nice touch - but it would have been nice to have more than three active characters in battle.
The world itself is made to feel quite large as you're forced to walk long distances between settings and there's a good amount of variety in terms of the enemies you battle. There are also rewards for finding the many (many!) items available as well as side-quests focusing on the Alchemy side of the game.
I've spent quite a bit of time with Atelier Rorona (PS3) which as a traditional Atelier game focuses mainly on item creation and running a shop, so it's nice to see those elements added (in a slightly watered down fashion) to a traditional RPG style game.
I gave Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis a try due to it being a part of the Atelier series but with a few new twists. The most significant is that the setting is a high school (well, the Alchemy version of one, at any rate) much like in Persona 3/4, which changes the focus from wandering the world to things like relationships with other students/teachers and attending classes/completing assignments. While much of this is just another way of setting up fetch/create quests like in most of the games, it still feels a bit weird to be signing up for classes and completing homework...
I've only had a quick look at this one, but one highlight (for me) so far is the strong Seiyuu lineup, featuring actors very familiar to Anime fans such as Nonoka Ai, Satou Rina, Kawasumi Ayako and Nogawa Sakura. A nice touch and one that suits the setting of the game completely.
In terms of polish Mana Khemia doesn't feel like much of a step up from earlier PS2 titles but that's not really the aim of this sort of release, is it? The characters I've met so far seem to be reasonably strong and fleshed out, so hopefully they, along with the story, are enough to keep interest levels high through the various item creation quests that no doubt await me.
I'd abandoned (or at least lost interest) in Blue Dragon about 10 hours in, so I wasn't expecting much when I fired it up again for the first time in at least six months. How wrong I turned out to be though - I was quickly caught up in the action and, three hours later, and to force myself to save and take a break.
I remember the opening to the game being fairly slow, without a lot of story to get your teeth into but, by the time your party is escorting the population of your village to safety, things start moving at a decent pace and it feels like the game starts to come to life. I think I'll be putting some more time into this one after all.
Embarrassingly, the only reason I'd put Atelier Iris down in the first place was my own amazing ability to get lost. It took watching a video of the relevant section before I finally realized what I'd missed (a small pathway obscured by trees) and then I could finally get back into a game that I'd been enjoying up until that point.
I quite like that the regular RPG combat system that has been spiced up with Alchemy elements - creating attack/healing items on the fly is quite a nice touch - but it would have been nice to have more than three active characters in battle.
The world itself is made to feel quite large as you're forced to walk long distances between settings and there's a good amount of variety in terms of the enemies you battle. There are also rewards for finding the many (many!) items available as well as side-quests focusing on the Alchemy side of the game.
I've spent quite a bit of time with Atelier Rorona (PS3) which as a traditional Atelier game focuses mainly on item creation and running a shop, so it's nice to see those elements added (in a slightly watered down fashion) to a traditional RPG style game.
I gave Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis a try due to it being a part of the Atelier series but with a few new twists. The most significant is that the setting is a high school (well, the Alchemy version of one, at any rate) much like in Persona 3/4, which changes the focus from wandering the world to things like relationships with other students/teachers and attending classes/completing assignments. While much of this is just another way of setting up fetch/create quests like in most of the games, it still feels a bit weird to be signing up for classes and completing homework...
I've only had a quick look at this one, but one highlight (for me) so far is the strong Seiyuu lineup, featuring actors very familiar to Anime fans such as Nonoka Ai, Satou Rina, Kawasumi Ayako and Nogawa Sakura. A nice touch and one that suits the setting of the game completely.
In terms of polish Mana Khemia doesn't feel like much of a step up from earlier PS2 titles but that's not really the aim of this sort of release, is it? The characters I've met so far seem to be reasonably strong and fleshed out, so hopefully they, along with the story, are enough to keep interest levels high through the various item creation quests that no doubt await me.
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