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Crimson Shroud |OT| Matsuno fails saving throw, relegated to eShop release

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Deleted member 20920

Unconfirmed Member
I just can't get over the tabletop theme. It just feels stupid, immersion breaking and weird to look at.

It's not immersion breaking because you're supposed to feel like you're playing a tabletop game and not a regular RPG. You are supposed to be very aware of this fact.

Disclaimer: I hate the term immersion and find complaints about immersion breaking features/design very odd complaints.
 

vareon

Member
I don't mind text heavy games and prefer NES/SNES rpgs to modern cinematic games. But the virtual boardgame figurines are a lot harder to relate to than even an 16x16 pixel NES-sprite. I don't want to pretend that I'm playing a tabletop rpg pretending to be a fantasy warrior. It just feels like there's an extra barrier between me and the game world. Maybe I'll get over it if I continue playing; the battlesystem seems decent and the story seems promising.

If you don't like Tabletop RPG (where you pretend, a lot) or not excited with Matsuno's name and team, then the game lost like 75% of its appeal. There's a reason this is an eShop game (or inside a compilation game, in case of Guild01).
 
Question: Is there any way to open the chest in Squirrel's Nest after the mortis glyph gets put on it? I know you open it the first time you see it, but when you come back it's been sealed again and I figured it would come up in New Game + but it didn't, so...?
 

duckroll

Member
Question: Is there any way to open the chest in Squirrel's Nest after the mortis glyph gets put on it? I know you open it the first time you see it, but when you come back it's been sealed again and I figured it would come up in New Game + but it didn't, so...?

No, I don't think it's possible to open it again. But the fact that it gets closed and sealed after you open it is a hint that
if you don't open it the first time, the next time you decide to open it, you also get some extra dice. It's a sign that the chest is actually in constant use, unlike the others in the game which don't get restocked.
 
New Game + Chat:
What exactly triggers
the good ending? Is it just unlocking the chest in the Ancient Passage? I kept expecting there to be some kind of "Oh, here's a new key item to hold on to, but nope. The Ancient Passage chest just held some decent, non-unique equipment and nothing seemed to change in the final confrontation until after the final boss fight
.

Defeat the Arch Demon and the Dragon at the same time in the Mausoleum. If you don't the fight is endless. The final boss fight doesn't change, which was kind of disappointing.
 
Defeat the Arch Demon and the Dragon at the same time in the Mausoleum. If you don't the fight is endless. The final boss fight doesn't change, which was kind of disappointing.

Yeah, I know, I already
got the good ending. I was just wondering if the trigger was the fight in the Mausoleum or the opening the chest in the Ancient Passage or what, in case someone asks me in the future
.
 

Tytree

Neo Member
Oh God, a lot of black text going around. I'm just going to say my bit and move along.

Bought it the other day and am absolutely adoring it. Fantastic soundtrack, good writing, neat aesthetics. Yeah, graphics kinda look like butt, but they're charming in their own little way. For Christ's sake, the miniatures wobble and hop. That's fantastic.

I've been told it gets balls hard later on, so I've been grinding off of Minotaurs and Skeletons in Chapter 2. Like, excessively. I have a Bloody Mace +5 and am wrecking shit. Also noticed the Zombie Minotaur has a rare mace drop called Goblin Smasher (probably already been mentioned). Just got it a little while ago after probably 10 Minotaur kills, so I was a little surprised. Must be a stubborn drop. Which makes me want to grind even more with other enemies to see what else I might have missed. Hm.

I might be playing for a while, and I am okay with this.
 

zoukka

Member
This game is very nice. Like a visual novel with good RPG combat added between story segments. The style is guaranteed Matsuno quality and the writing more than bearable! Combat feels tight and challenging so far. Feels like FFT in the sense, that buffs and debuffs are key to everything.

The visuals are hit and miss. I appreciate the whole tabletop idea, but in combat the view is cluttered. Not a big deal thiugh.



And jesus goddamn christ we need Matsuno to work with an unlimited budget on a big RPG again and kick the current FF team out of game development. Fuck.
 
Bought this afternoon.

9eeaf04f_HypeTrain.jpeg


Looking forward to it.
 

NervousXtian

Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
Bought this on a whim since I hadn't grabbed the 3DS from the kids for awhile and was seeing if the eShop had anything new (honestly, Nintendo needs to get their shit together as the selection on there is pretty piss poor) and bought this.

Wow, had no clue what I was getting into but this game is pretty sweet.

Just about an hour in at this point playing in between cooking dinner and taking care of the kids.. can't wait to really get deeper into it.
 

M3d10n

Member
Beat everything after (and including) the
dragon
in my first try. Things improved a lot after going for two of three extra battles and melding some extra spells into rings and everybody learned meditate, so I was casting debuffs left and right.

That sword with the skill that causes melee light damage helped a *lot*. Dat damage.
 
Beat everything after (and including) the
dragon
in my first try. Things improved a lot after going for two of three extra battles and melding some extra spells into rings and everybody learned meditate, so I was casting debuffs left and right.

That sword with the skill that causes melee light damage helped a *lot*. Dat damage.

The boys getting Meditation (and maybe picking up Sacred Chant/Repose for them) helps immensely.
 

darkvir

Member
Holy crap is the 'random' freakin key drop stupid! I've spend over 3 freaking hours fighting those damn skeletons.

How did this pass any sort of play testing?!
 

Thoraxes

Member
Wow, I must've been lucky. I got every single drop the first time. I didn't have to grind once for anything at all my entire playthrough lol. I just went right through.

Sometimes I left my 3DS open with the game on just to listen to the pretty music :D

Such an awesome little gem, and I am totally enamored by it. I love the depth in the melding, different kinds of gear, all their attributes, and overall just the deep gameplay systems involved. I've read some people call it convoluted, but I thought everything was really elegantly and clearly presented. I freaking love this game, seriously. The hardest fight for me, imo was definitely the (late and end game spoilers!)
Witch Illusions, the ones that looked like your characters. I had to take it real slow and steady, and it took me upwards of about ~35 minutes for that fight. Even with just Frea's clone up, it came super-duper close in the end. The Crimson Shroud wasn't actually that hard, and was a really easy cakewalk, especially after the fight before it.

Also, the story in this game was just great, with so much lore and depth explored in just a short amount of time. It really leaves me jonesing for a full-on sequel featuring these characters and this world, because I really want to know more. The ending too, was great in that not only did I not expect it, but it was so grim, heh. I also loved that the fallen kingdom was actually the Qish! I didn't expect it to be them at all. I got the bad ending my first time through lol so i'll do the good one for NG+

Another thing I really dug was the sense of scale. This is an intimate game, and I like how more realistic in proportion everything felt. Both sides of a lot of the fights really felt balanced and challenging in that either side had a good shot at winning or totally fucking you over. I also really just loved the figurine presentation, which added a lot of charm, and the dice mechanic, which really warmed my heart with fondness of tabletop games.

tl;dr, I loved this game. Frea's butt dimples.

Now for the NG+!

BP5IS.jpg
 

Instro

Member
Holy crap is the 'random' freakin key drop stupid! I've spend over 3 freaking hours fighting those damn skeletons.

How did this pass any sort of play testing?!

You are making sure to have the mages spawn right? They are the ones that cause the drop.

But yeah, that section took me quite a while too.
 

zoukka

Member
Finished this last night in about 6-7 hours or so. Very good game and it could basically work as an amazing opening to a bigger RPG with the ending and all :)

Only had trouble in the last fight before the boss, died twice there. Te boss itself was quite easy even though my main melee guy couldn't even damage it :b
 

M3d10n

Member
The boys getting Meditation (and maybe picking up Sacred Chant/Repose for them) helps immensely.

The 2nd level of each skill allows it to be used in targets other than the caster, so I had Frea buffing their MP regeneration during the last battle
since she can't deal any damage anyway
.
 

DrWong

Member
Guys, I don't know how some of you were able to finish it in 7 hours... I'm at 10h and didn't yet finish my first run.

Great little game, old school and refreshing approach/mechanics at the same time. Somebody talked about the "intimate" dimension of this RPG and I'm ok with it.
 

eXistor

Member
I blindly purchased it (because Matsuno) and I played it for a bit (up to the world map). So far I love it. I adore the tabletop presentation. Makes you imagine things yourself and it gives the game a very unique feeling. Thne writing seems good and the battlesystem is pretty decent (pretty basic so far, I wonder if it gets more complex). I think I'll get my money's worth out of this one.
 

soultron

Banned
Yeah I was spawnin mages.... Finally I got it... took far far too long.
Yeah that part is complete bullshit. I've spent nearly 2 hours killing the archers now. I've gotten a several mages but no key yet. At least the mages have good drops normally. Hope I get my key soon.
 

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
I realized that with the length and pacing of the game, it almost seems intentionally constructed to feel like you're sitting down for one long, intense weekend day of running a tabletop campaign unit. Which would be about 6-7 hours if your group settled in for a good run.

This would work incredibly well as an episodic release, taking your party through further 6 hour "units" of an adventure.
 

luca1980

Banned
I am at the beginning. Early priceless tips?especially to hasten things since I borrow the 3ds right now....
Anyway even first half an hour prove one thing: it's a Matsuno gem
Vs vibe really. He must find a better publisher, I hope in from software or Nintendo
 

Yuterald

Member
Easily that piece. The harp intro coupled with the contrast between oboe and clarinet for timbre difference just turn it into something amazing, and then it's followed by some intense string writing, and fades nicely back to the segue to the start.

It's straight up beautiful.

Great, elaborate post there describing that track, hah! Yeah, man, I can't stop listening to this track. I mean, the whole OST is remarkable, but this one I can listen on repeat for hours.

I am at the beginning. Early priceless tips?especially to hasten things since I borrow the 3ds right now....
Anyway even first half an hour prove one thing: it's a Matsuno gem
Vs vibe really. He must find a better publisher, I hope in from software or Nintendo

Yeah, I think Matsuno needs a nice, reliable cushion to fall on. If Nintendo could offer him a deal or contract for X amount of games it could be a sight to behold. That's a total pipe dream though. The rest of the crew that makes his games shine would have to be involved and I'm not too knowledgeable where a lot of these other members reside, like, what are there current commitments? Are the rest of the people that usually work with him still at Square or are a lot of people freelance? For me, I kind of hate and love the fact that Matsuno doesn't churn out game after game. When we DO get a game from him it's usually pretty fucking special/exceptional. At the same time, I ALWAYS want more from him after I play one of his games. A game like Crimson Shroud had that exact effect on me too. I want to see more of this world/universe he created! =/
 

darkvir

Member
Took 10 hrs... yeah add that 3 hours for the 'drop'.

Overall a very pleasant experience, I would love to see similar stuff from Matsuno. Small, yet potent systems and scenarios.

On to NG+.
 
Great, elaborate post there describing that track, hah! Yeah, man, I can't stop listening to this track. I mean, the whole OST is remarkable, but this one I can listen on repeat for hours.



Yeah, I think Matsuno needs a nice, reliable cushion to fall on. If Nintendo could offer him a deal or contract for X amount of games it could be a sight to behold. That's a total pipe dream though. The rest of the crew that makes his games shine would have to be involved and I'm not too knowledgeable where a lot of these other members reside, like, what are there current commitments? Are the rest of the people that usually work with him still at Square or are a lot of people freelance? For me, I kind of hate and love the fact that Matsuno doesn't churn out game after game. When we DO get a game from him it's usually pretty fucking special/exceptional. At the same time, I ALWAYS want more from him after I play one of his games. A game like Crimson Shroud had that exact effect on me too. I want to see more of this world/universe he created! =/

Some of them who run their own businesses now will make his work their #1 commitment the instant they hear of it. Duckroll was also showing off that many of the less-known crew on CS were also former underlings, too. Loyalty <--> Trust: it's the Matsuno Way!
 

NervousXtian

Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
This game hits all the right buttons for me.

Would really love a longer version of this, it's oozing with everything I love about RPGs.
 

Thoraxes

Member
Great, elaborate post there describing that track, hah! Yeah, man, I can't stop listening to this track. I mean, the whole OST is remarkable, but this one I can listen on repeat for hours.

I keep discovering new things about it that are super cool too! Like the string part before the segue into the harp intro, is actually the same music as the harp section, but transposed and modulating!
 

markot

Banned
I'm stuck...

I'm in the caves after the ruins but can't go forward... I've gone everywhere!

Also the graphics and art style are pretty awful, but ifs fun.
 

shtkn

Member
wow i feel like i'm taking this game really slow...

7hours in and i'm at the part
where you fight the clones of your party (the witch kings iirc?)...
is there a strategy aside from get better equipment? i feel like they just simply outclass me.
 

Soulhouf

Member
NG+ beaten and the ending was different.
I wish the game had more challenge because once you figure out that special spells > weapon stats, the game become a cake walk. Speaking of which, only once I almost lost a fight and it was in the beginning because I didn't understand that point yet.

Now for the NG++ and see if there are new things to discover!
 
NG+ beaten and the ending was different.
I wish the game had more challenge because once you figure out that special spells > weapon stats, the game become a cake walk. Speaking of which, only once I almost lost a fight and it was in the beginning because I didn't understand that point yet.

Now for the NG++ and see if there are new things to discover!

Could you spoil the new ending for me?
 

Soulhouf

Member
Could you spoil the new ending for me?

The final battle was exactly the same but I don't know what triggered the new ending.
To make it short, Giauque and Lippy made it outside of the Palace of the Rahab thanks to Flint. Frea... seems to be the real Frea (in the other ending it was ambiguous). The final scene pictures every one laughing (including Flint) after Giauque said a joke about Frea like he used to do.
 

luca1980

Banned
Finished this last night in about 6-7 hours or so. Very good game and it could basically work as an amazing opening to a bigger RPG with the ending and all :)

Only had trouble in the last fight before the boss, died twice there. Te boss itself was quite easy even though my main melee guy couldn't even damage it :b
Any suggested spells or equipment or tricks in general?
 

zoukka

Member
Any suggested spells or equipment or tricks in general?

Well it's kinda hard to know which weapon elements work against which new enemy, so I made sure to keep different elements on my fighters and one additional element attack on the mage. If you don't crap out on the elements, then buffing is your friend. Debuff all powerful enemies asap and always remember the "cure" debuffs to your characters by just casting the appropriate buff on it.

My last loadout was flaming blast bow on Lippi, Knights Blade on melee guy and mending staff on Frea. I didn't mend all that much, just added useful spells to all vacant gear like slow step, paralyze etc.
 
I'm stuck in the Palace Proper for some reason and I definitely feel like I missed something/skimmed over an important detail. Need haallpp.

I've explored all five rooms, but nothing else is triggering anymore. I've already been to the Eastern Arcade and selected all the options, but I have no clue what to do next. I've been fighting the Lich mobs repeatedly for drops in the mean time, but could somebody point me in the right direction?

Thanks!
 
I'm stuck in the Palace Proper for some reason and I definitely feel like I missed something/skimmed over an important detail. Need haallpp.

I've explored all five rooms, but nothing else is triggering anymore. I've already been to the Eastern Arcade and selected all the options, but I have no clue what to do next. I've been fighting the Lich mobs repeatedly for drops in the mean time, but could somebody point me in the right direction?

Thanks!

Pretty sure you have to go back to the room with the magic circle to get a key, and then take it back down to the locked gate in the Depths
.
 

luca1980

Banned
Second chapter....i am at the skeletons.
Very focused experience. So many good vs memories this recalls

Matsuno knows what he does. I kept reading it was too simple yet it's the kind of portable concentrate experience I wanted for a while on a portable system. I would love a iPhone port since I am borrowing a 3ds ATM and I doubt I will be able to finish it in 2 days

Minaba art is good and sakimoto did a splendid job. Battles are varied
 

M3d10n

Member
Just a reminder: you can press Y to disable the darkening of the top screen. Colors look much better this way.
 
I bought it yesterday and just had to delete and re-download it, because it hardlocked my 3DS ten minutes in at the same time constantly...

The first time I downloaded it in sleep mode into my eShop folder, the second time I waited for it to download in the shop and now it works fine... strange.

Anyway, just did the first battle and looooove it :)
 
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