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[Alex]

Seriously, it rocks, a lot. Buy it you clowns. I must say though, this is the only RPG that comes to mind where I wish it had a few MORE cutscene. The artwork and direction is just lovely, and it's quite interesting and generall unoffensive all around.

That said, to the folks who've played through and moved onto Stella Deus (I'll catch up, you fuckers), I pose a few questions:

1.) How often should I experiment with forming combos? It seems like there is a lot
2.) Any advice to which specific scenarios I should fight with normal forms/guns rather than as a demon?
3.) I'm a decent clip in, but still only have the three starting characters. When I obtain more should I flesh them all out, or can I just focus on one set? Any tips to that, or is it generally just form skills to suit stats?

I haven't had too much of a problem thus far, difficulty in an RPG is enough of a shock though. I'm pretty much splitting various types of phys on two characters with devour to quickly plow through the trees and the third with a mixture of healing and enfeeble.

 

[demi]

Maybe at $20

Busy playing other RPGs, cant get new ones

 

[Alex]

Nonsense, DDS takes precedence...death to the non-believers?

 

[Bebpo]

1.) How often should I experiment with forming combos? It seems like there is a lot
2.) Any advice to which specific scenarios I should fight with normal forms/guns rather than as a demon?
3.) I'm a decent clip in, but still only have the three starting characters. When I obtain more should I flesh them all out, or can I just focus on one set? Any tips to that, or is it generally just form skills to suit stats?

1. Combos are worthless for the most part. Basically the best combo in the game is supposedly awesome but until you get to it there's really no point in using them for anything else. I never used them at al.

2. Normal forms are worthless. I both DDS1&2 I never fought a single battle in normal form and would always change immeadiately if back-attacked.

3. For DDS2 you really need to develop everyone...but since your exp/skills don't carry over, you can just concentrate on a main party in DDS1. The game doesn't force much team switching upon you.

 

[Shouta]

The only time you need combos is for certain skills like Dekunda or Dekaja which can be extremely helpful depending on the circumstances and because you won't get them until (I think they're on a mantra somewhere but I haven't unlocked it).

Normal attacks are useful depending on situation. There's a few boss battles where I did a Magic shot combo against a boss that was much more effective than the other strategies I tried (

Spoiler

Lupa comes to mind here

). There's a few enemies that are weak to gun attacks such as certain flying creatures but ultimately gun attacks aren't exactly the best because they're so weak for everyone but Serph (since he's the only one that you can up specific stats with).

You can stick with a core team of members if you want. I've been using Argilla, Heat, and Serph for most of the game but I did up Gale and Cielo for more flexibility in terms of abilities I can shoot around.

 

[nathkenn]

I like the story a lot, but backtracking+random encounters+ pitfalls+very basic rpg combat = omg when is the next cinema

Also the music is quite good as is the voice acting save the horrible rastafarian guy

 

[Brandon F]

The only time you should really ever fight in human form is trying to kill Omoikane in the late-late-game for huge XP and AP bonuses. (Pretty much the DDS version of Cactuar, very weak to bullets and runs away often). For the rest of the game, just stick to demon form.

Regarding party members, you eventually get two more, and there are a couple dungeons that force you to use them. Fear not though, it's pretty easy to get them caught up(though I personnally just stuck to the default three the entire rest of the game + optional bosses). I would prioritize anyone you leave out to learn the AP share skill at the bottom of the skill tree. It allows them to earn 100% battle skill points when sitting on the bench.

I do recommend having each character focus on the elemental stuff they are BOTH strong and weak too. Earning immunity to their elemental weakness in the lategame is super helpful, even moreso than maxing out the element they are good at.

Also don't sweat the skill tree, the lategame dungeons afford you HUUUUGE AP/XP rewards, that you will have millions of points to spend in reserve. Just pick a few obvious natural paths for each character and you should be fine. (Have at least one learn both death/expel line tho, you'll need those)

Just for fun, I could take digital pics of my skill tree paths and post em up for you to enjoy. I beat the game and all optional bosses(minus the uber one in New game+). Let me know if I should bother.

 

[Finaika]

I've bought it last week; great game with an interesting storyline and artstyle. I also love the turn-based combat system (been playing too much SO3 )

Still I dunno should I play this game next or Shadow Hearts 2?

 

[Suikoguy]

Cut the random battles down about 30% and the game would be pretty damn near perfect. Thankfully there are items to help with the problem

 

[demi]

I've bought it last week; great game with an interesting storyline and artstyle. I also love the turn-based combat system (been playing too much SO3 )

Still I dunno should I play this game next or Shadow Hearts 2?

shadow hearts 2

 

[Bebpo]

Cut the random battles down about 30% and the game would be pretty damn near perfect. Thankfully there are items to help with the problem

Heh, in every R&D1 game I've played I've never noticed the "lower encounter rate for a short time" items working. I use them and take 5 steps and I'm in a battle again, don't see the difference.

 

[RevenantKioku]

I'll get to it, when I freaking beat SMT3. Freaking stupid ass Tower of Kagatsuchi.

 

[Abel]

Well I think the estoma spell only works for bad guys that are your same lvl or below, I think its been like that for all SMT games

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

The only time you should really ever fight in human form is trying to kill Omoikane in the late-late-game for huge XP and AP bonuses. (Pretty much the DDS version of Cactuar, very weak to bullets and runs away often). For the rest of the game, just stick to demon form.

Regarding party members, you eventually get two more, and there are a couple dungeons that force you to use them. Fear not though, it's pretty easy to get them caught up(though I personnally just stuck to the default three the entire rest of the game + optional bosses). I would prioritize anyone you leave out to learn the AP share skill at the bottom of the skill tree. It allows them to earn 100% battle skill points when sitting on the bench.

I do recommend having each character focus on the elemental stuff they are BOTH strong and weak too. Earning immunity to their elemental weakness in the lategame is super helpful, even moreso than maxing out the element they are good at.

Also don't sweat the skill tree, the lategame dungeons afford you HUUUUGE AP/XP rewards, that you will have millions of points to spend in reserve. Just pick a few obvious natural paths for each character and you should be fine. (Have at least one learn both death/expel line tho, you'll need those)

Just for fun, I could take digital pics of my skill tree paths and post em up for you to enjoy. I beat the game and all optional bosses(minus the uber one in New game+). Let me know if I should bother.

Good advice; but I've got everyone learning the Death/Expel lines for maximum protection, (like I did with the Main in Nocturne).

Nath: Cielo owns you.

 

[shuri]

i cant find it locally, damnit

 

[Korranator]

Seriously, it rocks, a lot. Buy it you clowns. I must say though, this is the only RPG that comes to mind where I wish it had a few MORE cutscene. The artwork and direction is just lovely, and it's quite interesting and generall unoffensive all around.

That said, to the folks who've played through and moved onto Stella Deus (I'll catch up, you fuckers), I pose a few questions:

1.) How often should I experiment with forming combos? It seems like there is a lot
2.) Any advice to which specific scenarios I should fight with normal forms/guns rather than as a demon?
3.) I'm a decent clip in, but still only have the three starting characters. When I obtain more should I flesh them all out, or can I just focus on one set? Any tips to that, or is it generally just form skills to suit stats?

I haven't had too much of a problem thus far, difficulty in an RPG is enough of a shock though. I'm pretty much splitting various types of phys on two characters with devour to quickly plow through the trees and the third with a mixture of healing and enfeeble.

I picked up both DDS and Stella Deus on the same day. You made the right choice IMO. Stella Deus is a average game, with godly artwork. It's no FFT that the game is heavily inspired by.

 

[Alex]

I dunno, I'll have to try it for myself. I would've really liked Hoshigami if it were cleaned up somewhat, which is susposedly what Stella Deus is.

I've beaten Final Fantasy Tactics twice, but yet I still can't say I have any deep feelings for it. It's got that permanent "if Tactics Ogre: LUCT was run through a wood chipper" vibe going on.

Brandon: I'll reply to you in a few.

 

[Korranator]

I have no deep feeling for FFT either. IMO it was overrated and the FF part of it gave it the fame. Disgaea, and Gladius are my current top picks.

EGM hit the the nail on the head with Stella Deus in their review wrap up. Game play wise it feels like a step backwards with limited options and slow paced battles. The music while high quality is too limited and repeative. The almost mandatory Catacombs for lvl grinding is too dull and repeative. Not enough different enemies, and the old fight a certain boss to see him run away, fight him again have him run away, etc, etc before you finally get to kill them. Also the main character is too navie, and innocent for my tastes.

Story seems OK so far, but I can't really judge that with only 7hrs in.

The item fusion is interesting though, but it's a requirement to get uber weapons that the shops lack.

 

[Legal Step]

Yes I'm loving this game. I'm stuck in the solids dungeon. I will play some more tonight.

 

[zarkand]

I beat DDS not to long ago, I'll be coming back to it again in the future, but I got some other games I want to beat first. I never beat any of the secret bosses in my first game, so I am going to tackle them when I get the chance to on my next. For my party I mainly used Serph, Argilla, and Gale, I switch Heat with Gale when I needed an physical attacker for a boss, but it seemed for the most part that most of the damage your party is going to take is from magic. Never used Cielo after that time your were forced to use him, his aliment weakness was too much a liability if you don't have any of the nulls.

 

[Alex]

Brandon: If you want, go ahead and post up your skill trees, even if just in text form. I'm really curious for some feedback. It doesn't seem like there's any limit or penalty for hopping all over the board even if you wish. Which sounds entirely different from what I know of Nocturne.

What is so important about the death/expel line though, I haven't even dabbled with it yet.

 

[Brandon F]

Death and Expel become somewhat vital as you progress farther, lots of enemies will be weak to one or the other, and there will be a few distinct types/boss that will obliterate your party without a death shield. You don't need to go nuts, I only outifitted Serph with those lines of spells and found that was enough. Hama-line will get a lot of use.

Essentially for the game as a whole, I had Serph learn Ice/Fire(immunity)/Death/Expel and a few in the top-row physical categories. In the lategame he was the guy I used for crazy party buffing too, something you need not worry about too much for the story, but a necessity to survive many of the difficult optional bosses.

Heat was ALL about Physical/Hunt, and of course he was the Fire guy. Ice(just for the immunity). He became my sole Devour guy as well once he learned AP Share and some of the uber devour skills, frees up the other characters skill slots that way. Also his physical-based stuff is super beneficial on many of the optional bosses, equipping Max/Min Crits and whatnot, he is a beast.

Arjella handled everything else. Healing/Lightning/Earth/Wind/etc...

I would generally say don't bother equipping spells that hit enemy groups unless you have space for them, far more useful stuff to slot into your characters. Just go for the single enemy variety and use party combos to zap the groups instead. You really never need to equip elemental shield spells either(outside of death on a few occasions); far easier to just obliterate stuff, than waste a round defending the enemy assault.