Support NeoGAF

[Ascheroth]

.......

I was going to eat something and watch some animus but then I decided to jump in for a minute or two to grab that missing card, and.... 30 minutes flew by because I decided to swap weapons and learn some new skills.... this game....

Yeah, it's pretty dangerous :/

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Having chests get refilled with some gold is a neat touch.

Targetting of plantlife should be last on the priority list. Makes fighting in the weeds dangerous.

And someone(s) on the staff definately played Vagrant Story; those descriptions were very true. Endless Maze track <--> Undercity track

 

[AlanOC91]

Crikey I'm hooked. Just played for 2 and a half hours straight.

Beat the

Spoiler

plant boss thing

and progressed some more in the cave.

It's really addicting!!

 

[Thud]

Plays amazingly with steam controller.

Very addicting to play. I found that tiny slimes tend to hide in water, the clever bastards.

 

[jb1234]

I was expecting the game to be longer than it actually is. I only have a few dungeons left, looks like.

(I want it to last forever.)

 

[Baha]

Controller feels so much better once I figured out which buttons to rebind for zoom map and menu (they defaulted to analog stick presses for whatever reason).

 

[Kvik]

I struggled for too long there.

Spoiler

You have to go through a different area entirely, which will eventually lead back there.

What kind of good adventurer doesn't take notes if they have a poor memory?!

Coming off Cold Steel 2 has lulled me into a false sense of security. I forgot there's no map markers in this game.

Finally at the boss' chamber though. And of course I hit for a whooping 1 hp/hit. I should really level up my Sorcerer's card.

 

[Durante]

I haven't been able to play this for 2 days but I've been thinking about it frequently. It's been a while since that happened!

 

[muntersaur]

I just beat the game in about 17 hours. The final dungeon was much bigger than I anticipated and I was impressed with its design. Any difficulty in the strength of the enemies was easily overcome once my attributes and equipment were upgraded, and I enjoyed trying out the various weapons to acquire their skills. However, I thought the guardians were kind of useless - I only used a main guardian for quick experience gain, another to get items cheaper, and another for extra HP if stuck at a boss. I did not like the fact that I had leveled up other guardians before realising that their bonuses do not remain once unequipped. Overall though, the game was simplistic but fun and very addicting!

 

[jb1234]

I just beat the game in about 17 hours. The final dungeon was much bigger than I anticipated and I was impressed with its design. Any difficulty in the strength of the enemies was easily overcome once my attributes and equipment were upgraded, and I enjoyed trying out the various weapons to acquire their skills. However, I thought the guardians were kind of useless - I only used a main guardian for quick experience gain, another to get items cheaper, and another for extra HP if stuck at a boss. I did not like the fact that I had leveled up other guardians before realising that their bonuses do not remain once unequipped. Overall though, the game was simplistic but fun and very addicting!

Spoiler

How far were you in by the time you made it to Xanadu Labyrinth? My game claims five hours, Steam says seven. I'd love the game to last ten more hours but I'm fearing that I'm rushing it.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

Aside from Durante, is anyone doing a magic-centric build at the moment? I wish Falcom had made it possible to do pure magic or physical runs, but magic's still viable for most of the game with some care (and knowing which stats to upgrade so you can Durendal the right weapons for the right skills).

I just beat the game in about 17 hours. The final dungeon was much bigger than I anticipated and I was impressed with its design. Any difficulty in the strength of the enemies was easily overcome once my attributes and equipment were upgraded, and I enjoyed trying out the various weapons to acquire their skills. However, I thought the guardians were kind of useless - I only used a main guardian for quick experience gain, another to get items cheaper, and another for extra HP if stuck at a boss. I did not like the fact that I had leveled up other guardians before realising that their bonuses do not remain once unequipped. Overall though, the game was simplistic but fun and very addicting!

Xananext becomes simple at times, but I don't think it's simplistic. Re: Guardians, most of the cards are useful depending on your playstyle. I tend to overlevel Zwerg even though you don't get too many rare drops in the game that you need other than area-specific weapons. Flugel, Bella Freude, and Cebelsk are ridiculous when rotated during the final dungeon and after. But there's a lot of use for Demonkatze and Sorcerian when focusing on magic, plus Sylphide for some bosses. What you're suggesting about residual effects from other maxed-out Guardians could have been interesting, but maybe hard to balance.

I'm most glad to hear you loved Castle Strangerock. To me it seems like the rest of the game's an (enormous) appetizer before the meal because the final dungeon's so beefy and well thought out. Sadly widescreen's exposed all the corners cut in order to render Strangerock's most advanced areas visually...not that I love them any less.

I was expecting the game to be longer than it actually is. I only have a few dungeons left, looks like.

(I want it to last forever.)

Final dungeon's the length of at least two (like if you smashed Eternal Maze and Eaglet Mountain together, but with a way different theme and progression), so it's not too bad. I wish Trechier Woods had more varied level design other than pillars, occasional hills around trees, and streams cutting you off.

 

[robotzombie]

How do you save? Is it automatic?

 

[John Kowalski]

Writing is a fair bit above what i expected. Liking that.

How do you save? Is it automatic?

Rest with the imouto or at the weird evil looking statues.

 

[wrowa]

.......

I was going to eat something and watch some animus but then I decided to jump in for a minute or two to grab that missing card, and.... 30 minutes flew by because I decided to swap weapons and learn some new skills.... this game....

I had a couple minutes to spare and just wanted to defeat the first boss who handed me my ass when I first fought against him.

Suddenly, I'm in the middle of the forest maze.

 

[jb1234]

My Lore Lord achievement isn't working properly. It's stuck at "1/24", even though I've read a good chunk of them. Seems to be a common problem.

 

[Thud]

Woops.

Playing too much Xanadu Next and anime don't work together.

 

[Aeana]

Finally had some time to dive into this. I haven't played it since the year the fan translation came out, feels good to be playing it again. One of the bugs I keep noticing is when text boxes pop up and immediately close, sometimes when I get an item, or sometimes during tutorial text or whatever.

 

[jb1234]

Finally had some time to dive into this. I haven't played it since the year the fan translation came out, feels good to be playing it again. One of the bugs I keep noticing is when text boxes pop up and immediately close, sometimes when I get an item, or sometimes during tutorial text or whatever.

Yeah, I don't get correct text boxes whenever I pick up the items meant to be translated. They open and close too quickly to be read.

 

[Seda]

Yup, had the same thing happen to me with tutorial text and treasure chests with either Memoirs or Tablets.

 

[jb1234]

Really, given the age of the game and the modifications made to it, I'm surprised it runs as well as it does.

 

[Kvik]

I beat that boss at the end of Eternal Maze with my 5/10 Sorcerer card. Wasn't so tough afterall.

Lava maze wasn't that bad. Kiting those Minotaurs was a bit of a pain, though.

 

[duckroll]

Finally had some time to dive into this. I haven't played it since the year the fan translation came out, feels good to be playing it again. One of the bugs I keep noticing is when text boxes pop up and immediately close, sometimes when I get an item, or sometimes during tutorial text or whatever.

That only happens for me when I open chests with Tablets or Memoires. It's pretty odd.

 

[Aeana]

The Steam controller works very well. Makes the awkward gamepad implementation much more workable thanks to the mouse control on the right pad.

 

[matmanx1]

I'm still just getting my feet wet in the game but even with having just stepped outside the town gates and running around the first little area I am already impressed what I see. It really does feel like Y's and Diablo had a baby and I am a sucker for systems where skills are tied into using each weapon for a while.

I've already got 2 passive and 2 active skills and am completely motivated to earn enough money to make sure I buy ever piece of equipment in the starting town before I go deeper. So far, this game is made of very good stuff.

 

[duckroll]

It doesn't really feel like Diablo to me at all. It feels more like some Ys concepts mixed with a tone and presentation closer to Vagrant Story. Too bad the character designs are awful!

 

[Sinatar]

It's isometric Symphony of the Night.

It's not anything like Diablo.

 

[Burning Justice]

Regarding the "character name cutting off dialogue text" bug I mentioned earlier, I tested it a little bit. I may be wrong, but from my tests it seems it only happens if your character's name has an odd number of characters. Every time I entered a name that had 1, 3, or 5 characters, it caused dialogue to cut off whenever it was mentioned. If the name I entered had 2, 4, or 6 characters, then the dialogue was fine.

Hope this helps anyone who's experiencing the bug.

EDIT: Just ran into another bug. After going into the storage menu in the inn, this text got stuck on my screen:

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I'm not very far into the game, but uh... holy hell is it good. It just feels right. Everything about it. I mean, I'll admit I'm a Falcom fanboy, but even for them, this game is exceptional.

 

[Tizoc]

I wonder if i am using an incorrect ver of nvidia inspector- where did u guys get it from?

 

[duckroll]

I really feel this game in particular would benefit a lot from a proper remake today. Too bad Falcom doesn't want to make anything these days that doesn't have half naked anime ladies and incest.

 

[RoryDropkick]

I really feel this game in particular would benefit a lot from a proper remake today. Too bad Falcom doesn't want to make anything these days that doesn't have half naked anime ladies and incest.

I'd be upset if they did something like that with Sorcerian...

 

[Nabs]

Oh. I just noticed that I've been learning new skills and haven't been using them. I'm glad I decided to check the skills tab when I did.

 

[duckroll]

Oh. I just noticed that I've been learning new skills and haven't been using them. I'm glad I decided to check the skills tab when I did.

It should be noted that the passive skills also have to be equipped for them to take effect.

 

[vall03]

I'm currently in the Eternal Maze and I'm getting trashed by red slimes, am I not supposed to kill them or use something else to kill them? My OCD can't accept ignoring and leaving enemies alive when progressing through dungeons.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

I'm currently in the Eternal Maze and I'm getting trashed by red slimes, am I not supposed to kill them or use something else to kill them? My OCD can't accept ignoring and leaving enemies alive when progressing through dungeons.

Clear any areas with 'em just once to see if any chests pop up (the northwest-most area you can access right now has a hidden chest). Then move on. I'm not sure why the red slimes act this way but not their recolors encountered in the final dungeon, but it's not worth obsessing over when there's so many other baddies to eliminate.

I really feel this game in particular would benefit a lot from a proper remake today. Too bad Falcom doesn't want to make anything these days that doesn't have half naked anime ladies and incest.

Games like Ys VIII turn out to be pretty darned great, so I think they still have the knack. I agree that a Xanadu Next remake isn't likely until the developers see a commercial desire for games like this again...gonna take a while for this release to show on the radar sales-wise.

 

[duckroll]

I don't have a problem with red slimes blowing up when they die, I have a problem with the effect being broken. Why isn't it an area effect like every other explosion in the game? Why does the explosion damage EVERYTHING in the entire room no matter how large the room is? That does not seem like a logical intended effect.

Games like Ys VIII turn out to be pretty darned great

If you say so. I'll believe it when I see it. Ys7 and YsC were meh.

 

[Sinatar]

I don't have a problem with red slimes blowing up when they die, I have a problem with the effect being broken. Why isn't it an area effect like every other explosion in the game? Why does the explosion damage EVERYTHING in the entire room no matter how large the room is? That does not seem like a logical intended effect.

Apparently it's a bug and doesn't happen in the JP version.

 

[vall03]

Clear any areas with 'em just once to see if any chests pop up (the northwest-most area you can access right now has a hidden chest). Then move on. I'm not sure why the red slimes act this way but not their recolors encountered in the final dungeon, but it's not worth obsessing over when there's so many other baddies to eliminate.

I don't have a problem with red slimes blowing up when they die, I have a problem with the effect being broken. Why isn't it an area effect like every other explosion in the game? Why does the explosion damage EVERYTHING in the entire room no matter how large the room is? That does not seem like a logical intended effect.

I have a feeling this is a bug. That's how I died the first time I went to the room, I killed two then suddenly died out of nowhere and the Log showed that all slimes in the room exploded on me. Bought some new armor instead and I can survive them now.

 

[Basileus777]

It should be noted that the passive skills also have to be equipped for them to take effect.

Do you ever get more slots? 4 for both passive and active skills/magic makes me feel like I'm wasting my time learning most of them because I'll never have room to use them.

 

[duckroll]

Do you ever get more slots? 4 for both passive and active skills/magic makes me feel like I'm wasting my time learning most of them because I'll never have room to use them.

Nope. Just 4 slots. It does kinda force you to specialize, so if you're playing a magic user or a battlemage, it doesn't make sense to use passive skills at all. I'm playing more of a pure fighter so I equip one attack skill that I want, and fill the rest with passives.

 

[Kvik]

Falcom Sound Team JDK is on point again. The music on the mountain path is stuck in my head now.

Also I like that I can equip 4 amulets armlets at the same time. No other RPG allows that.

 

[Alex_CWB]

Did you guys found all tabulae and memoirs? I'm missing the 7th tabulae, i need this achievement. :v

 

[jb1234]

Did you guys found all tabulae and memoirs? I'm missing the 7th tabulae, i need this achievement. :v

I haven't been able to find that one either.

 

[Ascheroth]

Did you guys found all tabulae and memoirs? I'm missing the 7th tabulae, i need this achievement. :v

The achievement doesn't work anyway. I've found all of them, but it's sitting at 1/24.
I don't remember where the 7th was, though.

 

[AlanOC91]

Christ that

Spoiler

spider boss

was difficult. Just about managed to do it through the skin of my teeth.

 

[Ascheroth]

Christ that

Spoiler

spider boss

was difficult. Just about managed to do it through the skin of my teeth.

Yeah, the bosses in this game are no pushovers. They're so good < 3

 

[Alex_CWB]

The achievement doesn't work anyway. I've found all of them, but it's sitting at 1/24.
I don't remember where the 7th was, though.

You're right. It's showing 1/24 here too and "Chevalier des Chevaliers" 0/20.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Clear any areas with 'em just once to see if any chests pop up (the northwest-most area you can access right now has a hidden chest). Then move on. I'm not sure why the red slimes act this way but not their recolors encountered in the final dungeon, but it's not worth obsessing over when there's so many other baddies to eliminate.

Games like Ys VIII turn out to be pretty darned great, so I think they still have the knack. I agree that a Xanadu Next remake isn't likely until the developers see a commercial desire for games like this again...gonna take a while for this release to show on the radar sales-wise.

It would be nice. It's a worry, but this selling even better could cure this hang-up...

I have a feeling this is a bug. That's how I died the first time I went to the room, I killed two then suddenly died out of nowhere and the Log showed that all slimes in the room exploded on me. Bought some new armor instead and I can survive them now.

Pokemon Four Moveslot Syndrome is great and it's great here. Love it.

 

[Thud]

It doesn't really feel like Diablo to me at all. It feels more like some Ys concepts mixed with a tone and presentation closer to Vagrant Story. Too bad the character designs are awful!

The character art is great, but the 3D models stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[Ascheroth]

You're right. It's showing 1/24 here too and "Chevalier des Chevaliers" 0/20.

Yeah, adding achievements to those old games is always going to be wonky at the start, but they're going to patch it surely.
And there's always SAM for achievements that don't unlock when everything else fails.