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Hexyz Force |OT| Double the Heroes, Double the Fun

Mejilan

Running off of Custom Firmware
One time per game, for sure.
I had to do it for Hexyz Force, the new Harvest Moon, and Prince of Persia.
Once you know what you're doing, it only takes a few minutes per game, not including transferring the game to memory stick, of course.
 

MattNY

Member
Hopefully, we will get more impressions from those that have already taken the plunge. I don't know if I should go for this or Lunar.
 

Tailzo

Member
I played the game for almost five hours yesterday. (Got the umd delivered by ups)

I'm playing Levants story

+ after installing, there is almost no loading. This is awesome, juist after finishing Lunar
+ No random battles, and it's actually possible to avoid the monsters you see
+ when you do fight, it's fun and quick
+ A good variety of people in this fantasy world
+ When I don't understand the story, neither does the main character :D
+ Hard to put down. Must... earn... next skill!

- low poly dungeons and characters, might bother some

VS Lunar
Lunar is prettier
Lunar was more happy and colorful so far
Lunar is slower (loadings)
Lunar had more FMVs so far

Get both!
 

Colocho

Banned
MattNY said:
Hopefully, we will get more impressions from those that have already taken the plunge. I don't know if I should go for this or Lunar.
I'm on the same boat, except I already played some of Lunar back in the PS1 days and never finished it, so going back to that would be pretty sweet, but I can only dedicate time for 1 portable RPG at all times so it has to be the right one.
 
I wonder if Amazon will get anymore copies. If not, hopefully GS or a local store will have it today, but if they don't I might have to order it off GS.com
 

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
Don't really know much about this game, what are the battles like? For some reason I was under the impression it was an SRPG.
 

alanias

Member
djtiesto said:
Don't really know much about this game, what are the battles like? For some reason I was under the impression it was an SRPG.
Nope, old school line up on each side and fight it out. There is some stuff about position and rows which shows a grid, but no SRPG here.

Also, and this is key, you can just hit the R button during battles to have them go at 10x speed. Ridiculously useful for grinding or when you aren't worried about losing a battle.
 
My Gamestops don't think they will be getting any. Just for fun I called a local chain and they had 1 copy left. I drove there after work and picked it up... Add another one to the backlog. :lol

Edit: I think it was the only copy they got.
 

mjc

Member
I don't think any Gamestops in 200 miles around me got this game in. Amazon is out too.

WTF?

Edit: Scratch that, I called a local store and they said the nearest store that has one is 700 miles away. What gives?
 

Tailzo

Member
You don't have to hold R to fast forward talking and fighting. Hitting it once the battle starts is enough.
 

mjc

Member
Luckily Gamestop.com has some instock so I ordered a copy there. Any more impressions from the crowd?
 

stabwound

Neo Member
I'm having way more fun with this game than I expected, and it's way more polished than I expected, too. So far I'm pretty confused on the battle system, though. It's a bit confusing.

Anyway, the game is a pleasant surprise so far.
 

matmanx1

Member
Finally got my copy from Gamestop yesterday. Haven't even opened the plastic on it yet but at least it's in hand and they are showing up in retail stores.
 

Crazetex

Member
There aren't enough games on the PSP I want to warrant getting one, but if I ever did, this would be one of my first games. I've always liked the mechanics of Sting games, but it just gets overwhelming. From this thread it seems that the game has cool (SaGa-esque?) mechanics, but isn't LEARN TACTICS DURING BULLET HELL GO.

How's the game difficulty? Is it/does it stay a decent challenge?
 

stabwound

Neo Member
Unfortunately I think this game follows the trend of recently portable JRPGs being way too easy. I have been enjoying what I've played so far, but there has been absolutely no challenge whatsoever.
 

Tamanon

Banned
Man, watching the Quick Look on GiantBomb of this made me immediately think of Wild Arms combat. Think I'll definitely pick this up later this month.:D
 
stabwound said:
Unfortunately I think this game follows the trend of recently portable JRPGs being way too easy. I have been enjoying what I've played so far, but there has been absolutely no challenge whatsoever.
I agree so far. Granted, I'm only a few hours in.
 

Mudo

Member
I finally bought this thru the PS Store and have played about 5 hours of they male's protagonist's story. So far it's been alright. Following are random impressions:


The difficulty, as mentioned, has been non-existent thus far. Even the bosses to this point have died in just a couple rounds of combat. Healing points are usually found in each area that will fill your party up for free. The main menu also lets you use your "Force Points" to restore the party's HP at any time (these points are gained from battles and by breaking items down, and have other uses, as described below)

Grinding isn't really necessary because of this but there is a big crafting system in the game. Enemies drop random parts and objects that can either be broken down for "Force Points" which you use to strengthen your party's main weapons (gain new abilites, make abilities use less "mp" and increase attack) OR these items can be combined to make new weapons and armor. It's always a give and take as to what you want to do with the items and this whole system is BY FAR the most interesting part of the game up to this point.

Dungeons have been maze-like with enemies all on-screen. You can easily avoid most, or sneak up behind them for pre-emptive strike (making the game even easier lol). Scattered treasure chests, dead ends and simple puzzles are the order of the day. Graphics are OK, nothing amazing but they are simple and clean (oh no I didn't).

Music is mostly forgettable. This is usually one of my favorite aspects of any game and I'd give it average at best. I haven't found myself humming any tunes when not playing the game, or even remembering any of it. It isn't grating by any means, but totally average.

The equipment system is a little odd. Each character can equip up to 4 weapons. There are 2 types of weapons. The first consume RP (magic points basically) when you use skills associated with it. The second uses Durability and each of these has a DUR rating. When that reaches 0 you can't use the weapon in battle anymore, but you CAN use it in crafting.

I know I am early in the game but I haven't found many "towns" yet. Or maybe it's that they are not really traditional ones. There are npc's to talk to and chests scattered about but no shops or anything like that. Granted I am early in the game and this may change. With how the crafting system is set up, though, there may not even be any kind of shops in the game. You can craft what seems to be things for every slot you have so....I would consider these half-towns as there isn't much to do in them other than talk to a few people then move on.

Oh yeah, battles, they are easy but also fast so you never feel that bothered by them. Tapping R lets you zoom through it and 99% of the time I do this and just have everyone use their default attack to quickly kill everything.

Story so far is average as well. I can't say much about it as I'm not horribly far yet but it has been decent. Just like the music, it doesn't stand out at all right now.

World map is a map you choose your destination on then it takes you to that area. It is serviceable, nothing more.

Overall I would say that I am enjoying the game and I will keep playing. The whole Force Point system used to strengthen your weapons combined with the equipment crafting makes for a really enjoyable sub-system that keeps me coming back for more. If these kinds of things sound like fun to you, I'd wager you will enjoy your time with this game.
 

Mejilan

Running off of Custom Firmware
Thanks for the impressions. I'll admit that I have yet to pop the game in for second session, but I only just recently finished my Ogre Battle run, and now I'm kind of occupied with Infinite Space and Levaetein Tactics, both for the DS.
 

cress2000

Member
Mudo said:
Music is mostly forgettable. This is usually one of my favorite aspects of any game and I'd give it average at best. I haven't found myself humming any tunes when not playing the game, or even remembering any of it. It isn't grating by any means, but totally average.

Shrug. I enjoyed much of the OST well before the game's release. It's my favorite Sting soundtrack, at the very least. It has the (catchy) old school melodic style that I find very appealing and lacking in most other modern game soundtracks.

Although I admit I don't know how well it's used in the context in the game yet, as I haven't played it for much more than 10 minutes.
 

Volcynika

Member
I'm glad Amazon has this available on their site (buy a PSN game code), so when I get around to it, I won't have to hunt down a UMD copy which seems to be in short supply.
 
Its rated now by OFLC (Australia) by Atlus USA although wrongly labeled for PC:
http://www.classification.gov.au/www/cob/find.nsf/d853f429dd038ae1ca25759b0003557c/6e0143d0c0df93dcca25774c005d6772!OpenDocument

Persona PSP rating ended up being Persona 3 PSP by Ghostlight. So there's a chance this is getting an UMD release as well.
 

Diseased Yak

Gold Member
Finally broke down and bought this off the PSN Store. I'm really enjoying it so far! The plot is interesting (playing Levant's story first) and I'm finding it hard to put the game down just 2 hours in as I want to see where this is all going.

Question: Should I not worry about breaking items down into FP and upgrading my weapons? I've mostly been hording things, waiting to see if I need them to create something new down the road...
 
Picked it up over the weekend. It's the first game I have played in a long while. I think it very fun and has a great item creation system.
 

AwRy108

Member
Though some of this game is of standard JRPG fare, it also contains a lot of great ideas and programming that make it unique, as well as a great portable RPG. Here's a few things that stood out for me:

  • Barely any loading times
  • No loading times going into/out of battles
  • Rock-solid framerate (maybe 60fps)
  • On-screen maps for every area (hit Select to bring up screen-filling version)
  • Maps show location of non-hidden treasure chests
  • Menus are very slick
  • Logs are kept for dialog and plot
  • Crafting system eliminates the need for shops (all enemies drops raw materials)
  • Crafting system is really in-depth
  • Lots of equipment options: 4 weapons, head, body, feet, and accessory
  • Primary weapons are manually upgradeable with points gained from battle
  • Old items can be broken down into points that are usable towards upgrading Primary weapons
  • Each character can hold 4 weapons (Primary and 3 secondary) which allows for a lot of strategy in party management
  • Difficulty is much like Brave Story's: you need to pay attention as you play, but it's not overwhelming like, say, Persona
  • Frequent save points
  • Writing is solid; plot seems decent
  • ...and, my favorite feature that EVERY portable JRPG needs to adopt: holding the "R" button lets you fast-forward (say, at, 5X speed) through EVERYTHING (battles, dialog, and even cut-scenes!)

I think this may be one JRPG that I'll def. play through on my PSP: it's slick, fast, and cuts through a lot of the B.S. that can bog down a portable experience. I'm totally impressed with how polished this title is, and I hope that enough people buy it to encourage the dev. to keep making PSP games.
 

7threst

Member
Got the game. First thing I thought was "this looks a lot like the Final Fantasy remakes on DS". Love the game, but will put it aside for Persona 3. :D
 

Grimmy

Banned
Just finished the game (Levant's story) and enjoyed it quite a bit. Not sure why the score on Metacritic is so low because it's definitely much better than Crimson Gem Saga and Brave Story, both of which are like 78/100. By far the greatest invention is the R-button fast-forward, which makes battles actually *fun* and not tedious at all. And dialogues can be skipped - hoorah! Game is definitely not very challenging, but I actually end up appreciating that because it's quite a hefty quest. Story also is quite good and holds up all the way until the end - not something that can be said about a lot of other RPGS.

Don't think I'll slog through Cecilia's quest (her whole party seems ultra-annoying to me) but am curious to see the other endings (I got the the Creation ending). So maybe I'll revisit at a later time.

Overall, thumbs up!
 
I didnt end up buying this because I bought metal geeeeer instead. I do plan on buying it very shortly though. Doesnt make much sense to have a psp and no game to play on the go!
 

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
I still haven't seen this in stores... asked for it for my bday though, hopefully someone manages to track it down online.
 
I've been playing this a little over a week (Levants story) and its definitely one of the better JRPg's I've played on the PSP so far. So far at least, I can't see how most sites could score this one less than an 8/10.

This party should definitely be larger IMO.
 

Grimmy

Banned
Dr. Kitty Muffins said:
I've been playing this a little over a week (Levants story) and its definitely one of the better JRPg's I've played on the PSP so far. So far at least, I can't see how most sites could score this one less than an 8/10.

This party should definitely be larger IMO.

I am in complete agreement with you. It's an underrated gem.
 
Have been meaning to get around to this since I bought it. No time between DQIX, P3P, and SC2. Now Ys.

Still looking forward to it though.
 

mjc

Member
Freyjadour said:
Have been meaning to get around to this since I bought it. No time between DQIX, P3P, and SC2. Now Ys.

Still looking forward to it though.
I have the exact same problem. Glad I have a copy though, it seems hard to come by already.
 

Ferga

Member
I played Leon's dark story and enjoyed it.

However, i gave up on Cecilia's story because it felt like i was back tracking the whole time.

Might pick it up next year to go through cecilia.

It was fun but it's not one of those games i would replay immediately
 

Grimmy

Banned
If I started with Cecilia's storyline and didn't play Levant's side, I could see giving the game the low score that all the sites have been giving :lol
 

Kiriku

SWEDISH PERFECTION
Started playing this recently, couple of hours in, pretty promising so far. Fast battles, nice music and characters/dialogues that aren't annoying. Nice presentation with anime cutscenes as well, wasn't really expecting that kind of production value. Also like the small but neat features, like the fast forward button during battles and a message log a couple of button presses away.
Found the ability system kind of confusing though, but it's probably easier than I think... haven't really spent much time with it.
And for some reason, this game reminds me of the Wild Arms series. With certain icons, features, the presentation, the music (or rather, that the samples used for the music sound similar). Which, for me, is a good thing!
 
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