Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
tales of the abyss?
play smt4 and ff5 first
in fact, play a lot of games before you play tales of the abyss. >.>
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FINAL FANTASY Community Thread: XV Mainline Entries and Counting
- Thread starter Kagari
- Start date
play smt4 and ff5 first
in fact, play a lot of games before you play tales of the abyss. >.>
I really need to beat SMT4, though. But that game is so damn hard and the walkthrough on GameFAQs was written by someone who was insane and thought I would somehow always have every kind of skill on all the monsters in my party. I've been maining magic the whole game, how am I suddenly going to have a party completely ready to deal physical damage to the bird-cage-headed demon in Shinjuku nat'l park? Gah.
Also here was the fan art, if anybody cared:
I have a soft spot for Bartz anyway, and Bartz and Faris dancing is one of the best parts of the game.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
smt4 gets easier as you go on. it's just hard at the start when you don't have a lot of demons or you don't have enough to fuse skills with
but that game is super-fun. very reminiscent of the first two smt games.
i dunno. a lot of people like it, but i don't. it's just like how i don't like ni no kuni, but a lot of people do. or how i like tales of graces f a lot, but a lot of people don't seem to care for it. people are free to like what they like just as long as people are equally as free to dislike what they dislike. yep.
but that game is super-fun. very reminiscent of the first two smt games.
the running joke in some circles is that i dislike video games so it's just funnier this way :v
i dunno. a lot of people like it, but i don't. it's just like how i don't like ni no kuni, but a lot of people do. or how i like tales of graces f a lot, but a lot of people don't seem to care for it. people are free to like what they like just as long as people are equally as free to dislike what they dislike. yep.
tiggerkiddo
Member
That's actually some good fanart...I rarely see any fanart involving FFV characters
Ni no Kuni is different, you're right with that, that game's just objectively bad. From what I see you posting about Tales games, you care mostly about the battle system(?). Abyss is more about the world building and that's what I like about it, battle system is good enough to not be annoying.
I've got to be like halfway through SMT4 by now. I'm level 30. How is my ass still getting murdered.
Also I don't think you can call it a running joke when you don't like FF6. I mean come on. Game is just plain fun.
Terra > Celes come at me brosephs
I bought Tales of the Abyss as a 3DS RPG and intro to the Tales series. What I have noticed so far is that combat is fun, the game is FAR more anime than any FF ever, and that while the little ATE anime conversations in the game should be fun, they're instead sort of slow and annoying because they are ENTIRELY SILENT.
Otherwise it seems pretty standard to me. Doofy loser boy meets manic pixie dream girl and they are on an adventure. They hate each other and he just wants to get back home but I am sure magic will make them love each other and also make him care about his adventure and become a man.
Fairly standard, but since I bought it expecting and more or less wanting that, I can't complain.
SMT 4 is blowing my brain to tiny bits by having Grey and Gray morality, secret underground worlds, and a cardboard civilization that is so rife with ancient conspiracies and secrets just behind the screen that I really want to know. The difference is that SMT 4 JUST CAME OUT and Tales of the Abyss is from an entirely different era of RPGs.
My one "disappointment" with SMT 4 is the way I feel like they sort of skimped in places. As in battle looks like an old Dragon Quest game (which is acceptable, but unexpected from a 3DS era RPG) and the
Japan
Honestly both of them look really well made and stuff. I'm just sad that I don't have a Dragon Quest and a Final Fantasy to round out the big four JRPG franchises on my 3DS. I've got a KH which is okay, but FF and DQ it ain't.
hipsterpants
Member
Hm, maybe my issues with the character designs in XIII would change if the characters were, y'know, good.
Except Hope, his hair just looks too stupid.
Except Hope, his hair just looks too stupid.
It was good enough to make me seriously consider replaying FFV. I love FFV but playing it again so soon after I had just played it (it's been only a year) is not on my list.
Innit? I was not expecting it when I went looking for shots of Faris. It makes Bartz' regular traveler's clothing look all fancied up, too.
OK that green-ish outfit with the scarf is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay fucking better.
#Teamscarf
I think that the designs for the original game were fairly good, minus Hope's. The quality of the designs has been tanking since then, though.
tiggerkiddo
Member
Hope's original design was just awful. At least he redeemed himself later on.
And Noel's design was pretty good.
And Noel's design was pretty good.
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
I don't feel it's worth bumping it's own topic right now but I'll say some weird translation project no one cares about is at 51.5%.
2016 HERE WE GO!
Hope my PSP will still work by then.
On a side note VC3 translation patch is getting ready to be released by December 25. At least so it seems.
Meccanical
Member
hipsterpants
Member
Not sure if this is Nomura's original design of Hope or not (it's from the wiki) but I actually dig it. They totally butchered his hair in the conversion to an actual in-game model though.
If XV is any indication, Nomura (or the staff that translates his art to in-game models) has done a much better job of making sure his artwork works as a full 3D HD model. It's a shame that Square is so determined to push super-realistic CG-esque visuals for FF games though, kind of limits the artistic direction they can go in.
If XV is any indication, Nomura (or the staff that translates his art to in-game models) has done a much better job of making sure his artwork works as a full 3D HD model. It's a shame that Square is so determined to push super-realistic CG-esque visuals for FF games though, kind of limits the artistic direction they can go in.
That's great news! Especially since last month, when I asked, it sounded like you guys were still stuck at the 33%. Does this mean some time next year is an optimistic release date?
The pierced belly button was so negligible a detail, though. The bike shorts, skirt, jacket and cape with boots and gloves still worked. Lightning's 1st design was good stuff.
Neither do I. In my most optimistic expectations XV will be released 2016. Wouldn't mind being wrong though.
A dev commentary would be interesting indeed but have there been games with that feature already?
Nice find!
Great news! Really thankful to all the people involved for putting so much effort into it!
Oh wow, if this should be true my backlog will become larger again. Time to secure a copy of VC3 then.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Square Enix used to publish postmortem articles in Game Developer magazine, but Final Fantasy XIII's was the last one they did, and that particular article revealed that their game development cycle was a complete and utter mess.
I don't think they'll be publishing further articles unless they feel absolutely inclined to do so. Expecting a developer commentary track or video for Final Fantasy XVersus would be rather farfetched.
(Noi can read me like a book sometimes, I think)
Uhm, other 3DS RPGs you might be inclined to at least try could be Devil Survivor Overclocked, and Dream Team Bros, I guess. I would happily recommend Soul Hackers because I love what they did with it coming from the Saturn era, but I'm not sure if it'd jive well with you. Dream Team Bros, you might find a little repetitive towards the end, which is what brought it down for me, but another one of my friends loved it in spite of that.
Though do realize you can play DS games toooooooooooo. :V
I don't think they'll be publishing further articles unless they feel absolutely inclined to do so. Expecting a developer commentary track or video for Final Fantasy XVersus would be rather farfetched.
This. Don't pay attention to anything I'd said earlier given that I was just completely out of it and spoke completely uninhibited.
(Noi can read me like a book sometimes, I think)
I would disagree about the battle system since I would consider it "unrefined", but again, no two people would look at one thing and think the same thing of it. This is what makes discussion interesting. But yeah, Abyss is certainly more about the world-building, regardless of how I feel about the cast and battle system. Though I am glad we can see eye-to-eye on Ni no Kuni because yikes that game.
All callbacks to the previous games in the series, I can assure you. Haha. That's part of what made me love it.
Uhm, other 3DS RPGs you might be inclined to at least try could be Devil Survivor Overclocked, and Dream Team Bros, I guess. I would happily recommend Soul Hackers because I love what they did with it coming from the Saturn era, but I'm not sure if it'd jive well with you. Dream Team Bros, you might find a little repetitive towards the end, which is what brought it down for me, but another one of my friends loved it in spite of that.
Though do realize you can play DS games toooooooooooo. :V
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Maybe next year. If we keep up our current pace you are looking at completion in possibly 3-4 months. Depends on our activity.
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Xenoblog: Xenosaga 1 and 2 came in today. Oh boy. Can't wait to watch....err.....play these.
Meccanical
Member
Nah, watch is right.
tiggerkiddo
Member
I need to play that game one of these days.
Though the title reminds me of bloody Radiatta Stories and how much I want a sequel to that.
Though the title reminds me of bloody Radiatta Stories and how much I want a sequel to that.
Meccanical
Member
Radiant Historia is bretty damn good.
One of the few games with a rational protagonist.
Almost TOO rational.
One of the few games with a rational protagonist.
Almost TOO rational.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Play it. It's not that bad. Could use some improvements, but it's fairly decent.
A friend of mine said that Stocke is the RPG equivalent of Solid Snake.
Meccanical
Member
MGS1 Solid Snake, yeah I agree.
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
I really am grateful to the translation team. Type-0's english translation is probably my most looked forward to release of the near future.
I still need to beat Bowser's Inside Story, which is going to make the response to your second part sound silly: I've beaten most of the really great DS RPGs already. The World Ends With You, Four Heroes of Light, FF3 and FF4 DS, Contact, Radiant Historia, Dragon Quest IX, and Super Robot Wars W all spring to mind immediately.
I have been thinking about picking up Skies of Arcadia, but since I don't have a console and only hand helds and emulators at my disposal (with hand helds having the real preference here), if I can't figure out a means of emulating a Dream Cast, I'm probably not going to play it.
Hey, 3-4 months is a stellar forecast, I would be so stoked if that proves true.
Corvo could play this instead of those silly 3DS RPGs. It's even way easier to find now after it got reprinted!
So I actually did play and beat Radiant Historia. I have considered replaying it to get the real ending on my own merit. While I recognize that the game was made on a budget that wasn't up to FF snuff (hence the tiny world and lack of different environments), I do have one very chief concern with Radiant Historia that I consider to be valid.
The time travel in that game sucks. Not while you're playing through the regular plot, mind you, but when you have to go back and do every sidequest to get the best ending, it is a terribly flawed mechanic. Why? Because instead of being able to jump right to any node in the game, you can only jump to certain ones, meaning that sometimes you have to replay certain dungeons or boss fights multiple times, which honestly becomes grating about the seventh time you have to go through the dramatic death of
the silver valkyrie
In other words, the post-game REALLY, REALLY sucks because the time travel mechanic forces you to replay parts of the entire game, rather than allowing for a quick travel between locations to deliver your goddamn potted plant.
Now, having said that, I really do love Radiant Historia. The sound track is wonderful, and while some cast members (the Ape in particular) feel about as relevant as the Chinese girl from Dark Dawn, others (namely Stocke, Rainie and the main villain) are really memorable. Especially because Stocke, while looking just a LOT like Shulk from Xenoblade, is incredibly unusual for a JRPG protagonist in that he never complains and his problems actually feel very real and horrible.
You guys are going to make me play FFV and Radiant Historia again, aren't you?
Oh! Oh! Guilty confession time:
Even though I never play MMOs, I was considering playing The Old Republic. I mean, it's F2P, right? I know, I know, there I go, snubbing FF14 again, but eh.
Really, though, I have so many games to play, and with Christmas coming up that I dunno how I can expect to ever get through anything else.
tiggerkiddo
Member
Corso, stop snubbing XIV. Even Kagari plays it and she doesn't like MMORPG's.
It's F2P, but it's F2P of the worst kind.
Seriously though, FFXIV. Beat the story in 30 days. Fulfill all your curiosities. Hell, convince Schala to play with you at the same time and I'll carry you both through all of it.
Meccanical
Member
I'm playing Nier right now.
Not sure if some of the shit in this game is quirky design or budget cuts.
Some of it is obviously paying tribute to other series and genres but one particular part in the game makes me wonder if they just weren't trying to save money. I mean it was a creative way to do it but still.
Not sure if some of the shit in this game is quirky design or budget cuts.
Some of it is obviously paying tribute to other series and genres but one particular part in the game makes me wonder if they just weren't trying to save money. I mean it was a creative way to do it but still.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Ahaha, we should get AniHawk in here. He doesn't care for RH's time travel mechanic, either.
why haven't you beaten bowser's inside story yet
Let's see, DS RPGs that got localized... Um...
Did you play the other Dragon Quest stuff on DS yet?
I do have a sore spot for Suikoden Tierkreis, but on its own, it's actually a fairly decent RPG with a lot of good music and art assets. The protagonist's English voice is lol, but I think you might get something out of it if you're just looking for another RPG to play.
Infinite Space is one of the better RPGs for DS for me, especially in terms of narrative. Hard to find in NA, but apparently easier to find in Europe. Solatorobo is also a good game, and I'm glad it got localized here.
Black Sigil is terribly unbalanced. I really wanted to play that game because the developer intent of it being a callback to Chrono Trigger was very clear, but it wasn't executed well, and there were a few game-ending bugs in there which dampened the experience considerably.
You could always try the Etrian Odyssey games, but you are certainly better off getting the ones on 3DS if you haven't tried them out. The Millenium Girl is a good reinterpretation of the original game.
I thought The Wizard of Oz was a cute little game with music by Hitoshi Sakimoto, but only get it when it's cheap. It's not the best RPG on the system, but it's not among the worst either. It's entirely stylus-controlled, and if that sort of thing kills it for you, skip it. It's also in first-person view for battles, and its way of handling battles might be unusual for some folks.
Sands of Destruction is a love or hate it sort of game that I'm not entirely comfortable recommending to everyone because of different tastes.
I'm still cracking away at the Mega Man Star Force games, myself.
You'll definitely see why that's the case later, but I loved the genre references in Nier a lot.
Skies of Arcadia's a good game, tho. I own two versions of it. In all seriousness, Dreamcast had such a nice selection of stuff. Not necessarily RPGs, mind you, but a lot of nice stuff.
why haven't you beaten bowser's inside story yet
Let's see, DS RPGs that got localized... Um...
Did you play the other Dragon Quest stuff on DS yet?
I do have a sore spot for Suikoden Tierkreis, but on its own, it's actually a fairly decent RPG with a lot of good music and art assets. The protagonist's English voice is lol, but I think you might get something out of it if you're just looking for another RPG to play.
Infinite Space is one of the better RPGs for DS for me, especially in terms of narrative. Hard to find in NA, but apparently easier to find in Europe. Solatorobo is also a good game, and I'm glad it got localized here.
Black Sigil is terribly unbalanced. I really wanted to play that game because the developer intent of it being a callback to Chrono Trigger was very clear, but it wasn't executed well, and there were a few game-ending bugs in there which dampened the experience considerably.
You could always try the Etrian Odyssey games, but you are certainly better off getting the ones on 3DS if you haven't tried them out. The Millenium Girl is a good reinterpretation of the original game.
I thought The Wizard of Oz was a cute little game with music by Hitoshi Sakimoto, but only get it when it's cheap. It's not the best RPG on the system, but it's not among the worst either. It's entirely stylus-controlled, and if that sort of thing kills it for you, skip it. It's also in first-person view for battles, and its way of handling battles might be unusual for some folks.
Sands of Destruction is a love or hate it sort of game that I'm not entirely comfortable recommending to everyone because of different tastes.
I'm still cracking away at the Mega Man Star Force games, myself.
Is it the part where (um, how do I spoiler this? uhh... mansion spoilers/pre-second half of game spoilers)
it completely takes after Resident Evil and everything's in black and white?
It's not nice to lie. :V
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Meccanical
Member
Nah not that, I get why that's the way it is and got the reference right away.
It was the
Forest of Myth text adventure stuff
This game is weird.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
books are made from trees
Meccanical
Member
Yeah I guess.
The dream the girl had was particularly morbid and macabre, it reminded me of Shadow Hearts god rests its skeleton.
FFXIV doesn't even have Dancers.
Honestly, I'd consider it if I was going to have access to a PS3 anytime in the near future. Since I'm not, though, it gets to sit there until Summer, when I'll reassess my finances.
My brother bought Ni No Kuni in a recent sale, but I wish he'd bought this, instead, because I've been itching to play it. Can anyone in the thread say whether the Japanese Bro Nier is better than the Western Dad Nier or not? I sorta like Bro Nier's design more, but I also kind of feel that that Frumpy Dad Nier is half the allure.
I think RH is a great game, but good golly that mechanic bugs me. I may just replay it, though.
I never had a Dreamcast, but I've always heard really good things about Skies.
Because Link Between Worlds Super Robot Wars Z2 Shin Megami Tensei 4 Fire Emblem Awakening etc
I own and have made it a small way into DQ 4. It is in my backlog. My big brother keeps telling me I need to play DQ 7 and 8 because they're amazing. DQ is his cup of tea, but not as much mine. Like, I played and beat DQ 3 and DQ 9 and DQM and DQMJ, but my honest opinion of Dragon Quest is that people who think FFXIII had pacing issues have never once played a Dragon Quest game in their life. Dragon Quest is SLOW and LONG. Like seriously, Dragon Quest 3 went on for I swear 40 hours longer than I expected. I didn't know you could fit that much on an NES cart. And Dragon Quest 9 got the same way, where I thought I was done but then "NO NOW THE REAL GAME BEGINS."
I like Dragon Quest, but those games are the Animal Crossing of RPGs. You have to settle down and start a family with a Dragon Quest game. Put your kids through College while you play that same Dragon Quest. You start a DQ game you are in for a long haul. Like a 300 hour flipping game.
I've never even played a Suikoden. All I know is that they have a billion PCs.
Haven't heard of Infinite Space, so I might check that out. Black Sigil looked pretty meh, to me.
I think my sister played an Etrian Odyssey once. I'll have to get around to checking those out.
I'd heard of this game before. I should really check it out. Stylus controls are hit and miss for me because Spirit Tracks' poor execution of them doesn't have me expecting that a company other than Nintendo could do better, but I dunno.
I haven't ever played any of the Mega Man RPGs. Not sure yet if I want to.
Meccanical
Member
I don't think gackt Nier would be anywhere near as endearing.
Papa Nier has this whole barbarian thing going on, not just in his looks but in his personality as well.
Papa Nier has this whole barbarian thing going on, not just in his looks but in his personality as well.
i would highly recommend infinite space. it's an ugly ugly ps1-era-3d-looking game with a dumb rock-paper-scissors battle mechanic that's ruined late in the game but i found it highly enjoyable. buying your fleet, customizing your ships, and staffing them with crew is really satisfying to see pay off in battle (your crew i believe are mostly story-based). it's one of the few rpgs in recent years where i was actually intrigued by the story (radiant historia and xenoblade didn't really do anything for me).
and skies of arcadia gets a recommendation too. dreamcasts are relatively inexpensive, and i would recommend picking one up to try out skies, grandia ii (a really fun rpg), and other games from that era (shenmue ii is another big recommendation, but if you're in it for the story, you kinda need to slog through the first shenmue). although if all you want to play is skies, the gamecube version is better in pretty much every conceivable way.
plus, i'm in it.
and skies of arcadia gets a recommendation too. dreamcasts are relatively inexpensive, and i would recommend picking one up to try out skies, grandia ii (a really fun rpg), and other games from that era (shenmue ii is another big recommendation, but if you're in it for the story, you kinda need to slog through the first shenmue). although if all you want to play is skies, the gamecube version is better in pretty much every conceivable way.
plus, i'm in it.
CrimsonCrescendo
Banned
Meccanical
Member
Some Eorzean adventurers are weird.
Edit: This guy does not look like a Walrus. Or Erotic, for that matter. Misleading advertisement!