-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Radiant Historia |OT|: Change the Past to Save the Future
- Thread starter Volcynika
- Start date
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
It was a great weekend. Platinumed FF13, almost finished a second playthrough of Tales of Graces f (Gentlemen's Quest...), and beat this sucker last night!
236/236. Stocke Lv 75, with everyone else slightly below him. Final boss was a cakewalk, especially when compared to
. I used Stocke, Gafka and Marco for ultimate power, healing, buffing, turn panel deletion and chaining.
Ending spoilers:
I'm tired, so I'll make final impressions brief.
It's a great game, a wonderful homage to RPGs of old (and thus, in a way, refreshing). Narrative gets a little iffy towards the end, but that's to be expected in JRPGs, I think. There were some slight spelling and grammatical errors in the text (some errors were a little glaring like misspelling Stocke's name in some of the timeline summaries, but it's not like the general RPG player would notice it). Stocke is a great protagonist, and didn't do anything that made me roll my eyes or sigh in frustration, something that feels like a rarity in recent JRPGs. He didn't necessarily "develop", but instead more of his multifaceted personality was revealed to the player as a way of showing "development". It was nice.
If you've heard of Radiant Historia, the first thing you probably heard about it was that it had a "Chrono Trigger element" of time travel. It's not as free as CT's time travel, though (ie: go anywhere in 12 000 BC, go anywhere in 600 AD, etc). The timeline works in such a fashion that there are "events" and "nodes" that symbolize various points in time that your characters have been through. The only places that you can time travel to are the nodes, which are usually either the beginning of chapters, near the end of chapters, or at a crucial point in the chapter. If you are doing sidequests, you will have to travel back to one of these nodes (but sometimes, you'll have to play through an entire segment of a chapter in order to get to the sidequest area, which is a bit of a pain sometimes).
At this point, you might be asking, "If time-travel nodes are at the beginning of chapters or at crucial plot points, then wouldn't you be forced to watch cutscenes and scroll through dialogue you've seen before?" Luckily, no. You can fast-forward through the text you've already seen with X, or you can just press the Start button to skip the dialogue scene altogether! Very convenient.
This game also has multiple endings: there are bad, good and true endings. If you meet a bad end (even the sidequests have bad ends), it's not the end for you. You just have to go back and make the "right" decision. The true ending is achieved by doing 10 particular sidequests. The best part of this game is that nothing is missable. You can still venture back and forth in time to see what you've missed or what you've yet to accomplish in both past and present. A caution: sidequests aren't explicitly marked. You may have to ask other RH players if there are sidequests in a certain chapter, or you may have to follow a FAQ.
Also, there is no quicksave. Save points are very plentiful in the game, but sometimes when you do grind and are nowhere near a save point when you need to do something else, it feels like an oversight. It's just a small complaint, though. Doesn't bear a ton on the game itself.
Radiant Historia's refreshing nature, however, truly comes from the battle system. It's sheer proof that a game does not need elaborate smoke and mirrors, or "complicated-looking" level up systems. It relies on simplicity with a minor tweak. The battle system is a great take on turn-based combat. It never gets boring. Enemies can be pushed and pulled in different directions on a 3x3 grid. Enemy position is rather important: if they are in the front row, they will do more damage to your party. If they are in the back, they'll do less damage. What is the best way to maximize your results in battle is to bunch up the enemies on one area of the grid and combo them with your characters. Enemy and ally turn order is shown on the top screen, and you have the ability to swap turns with either foe or friend to maximize the effects of your combo. Characters will also obtain a sort of "limit break gauge", and have an inventory of three skills to use it up.
Characters gain skills as they level up, and all playable characters gain XP even if they're not in-battle. The encounter rate is good, and there are no random battles. All enemies can be seen on the screen. Stocke also has the ability to hit an enemy to knock it out and then engage it for a pre-emptive strike. Or he could just knock it out and not fight it. The choice is up to you. Sometimes this mechanic is a little imprecise, but when it works, it feels great to get that jump on your enemy.
As for the soundtrack, I don't really like Shimomura's stuff outside of her Street Fighter II and other SNES music and her Last Ranker score, but this is one I really really enjoyed (despite hearing the same tracks ad nauseam). It's one of the better scores on the DS (outmatched by Masashi Hamauzu's Sigma Harmonics score, Toshihiko Horiyama's Apollo Justice score, Yuzo Koshiro's 7th Dragon score, and Takeharu Ishimoto's The World Ends With You score). However, The soundtrack is too short; 25 tracks doesn't seem like enough for this game, especially when you consider that SNES games had scores that spanned 3 CDs. Hearing the same music repeatedly at some points wasn't really tiresome, but more like, "Eh, I heard this already" and didn't have much of an impact. Shame that the World Map theme is used as the field theme in a TON of places (also I didn't really like it that much).
When I first heard of Radiant Historia, I figured it'd be like Chrono Trigger through-and-through. While this is true to an extent, I found myself looking for other games I loved dearly in past console generations. I found Final Fantasy VI (steampunk), Final Fantasy Tactics (politics), Suikoden (war, friendship and rebellion) and Tactics Ogre (rebellion) in this. I appreciated what it had to offer, and it certainly deserves a place in any JRPG player's library.
Pros:
+nice narrative
+feels like an homage to RPGs of yore
+great music
+freakin' fun battle system
+depth in simplicity
+can skip cutscenes
+no random battles
Cons:
-soundtrack too short
-no quicksave
-nodes sometimes not placed in convenient places
In-betweens:
-some may consider this game to be very text-heavy
236/236. Stocke Lv 75, with everyone else slightly below him. Final boss was a cakewalk, especially when compared to
Master Vainqueur
Ending spoilers:
Does it matter which name you pick in the end? I had to ponder it, but in the end, I had them call Stocke "Stocke". It only seemed fitting after his whole speech to Heiss about giving him a new life as "Stocke". I liked how they slowly revealed him as Ernst, but it became really obvious once you met Eruca for the first time.
I'm tired, so I'll make final impressions brief.
It's a great game, a wonderful homage to RPGs of old (and thus, in a way, refreshing). Narrative gets a little iffy towards the end, but that's to be expected in JRPGs, I think. There were some slight spelling and grammatical errors in the text (some errors were a little glaring like misspelling Stocke's name in some of the timeline summaries, but it's not like the general RPG player would notice it). Stocke is a great protagonist, and didn't do anything that made me roll my eyes or sigh in frustration, something that feels like a rarity in recent JRPGs. He didn't necessarily "develop", but instead more of his multifaceted personality was revealed to the player as a way of showing "development". It was nice.
If you've heard of Radiant Historia, the first thing you probably heard about it was that it had a "Chrono Trigger element" of time travel. It's not as free as CT's time travel, though (ie: go anywhere in 12 000 BC, go anywhere in 600 AD, etc). The timeline works in such a fashion that there are "events" and "nodes" that symbolize various points in time that your characters have been through. The only places that you can time travel to are the nodes, which are usually either the beginning of chapters, near the end of chapters, or at a crucial point in the chapter. If you are doing sidequests, you will have to travel back to one of these nodes (but sometimes, you'll have to play through an entire segment of a chapter in order to get to the sidequest area, which is a bit of a pain sometimes).
At this point, you might be asking, "If time-travel nodes are at the beginning of chapters or at crucial plot points, then wouldn't you be forced to watch cutscenes and scroll through dialogue you've seen before?" Luckily, no. You can fast-forward through the text you've already seen with X, or you can just press the Start button to skip the dialogue scene altogether! Very convenient.
This game also has multiple endings: there are bad, good and true endings. If you meet a bad end (even the sidequests have bad ends), it's not the end for you. You just have to go back and make the "right" decision. The true ending is achieved by doing 10 particular sidequests. The best part of this game is that nothing is missable. You can still venture back and forth in time to see what you've missed or what you've yet to accomplish in both past and present. A caution: sidequests aren't explicitly marked. You may have to ask other RH players if there are sidequests in a certain chapter, or you may have to follow a FAQ.
Also, there is no quicksave. Save points are very plentiful in the game, but sometimes when you do grind and are nowhere near a save point when you need to do something else, it feels like an oversight. It's just a small complaint, though. Doesn't bear a ton on the game itself.
Radiant Historia's refreshing nature, however, truly comes from the battle system. It's sheer proof that a game does not need elaborate smoke and mirrors, or "complicated-looking" level up systems. It relies on simplicity with a minor tweak. The battle system is a great take on turn-based combat. It never gets boring. Enemies can be pushed and pulled in different directions on a 3x3 grid. Enemy position is rather important: if they are in the front row, they will do more damage to your party. If they are in the back, they'll do less damage. What is the best way to maximize your results in battle is to bunch up the enemies on one area of the grid and combo them with your characters. Enemy and ally turn order is shown on the top screen, and you have the ability to swap turns with either foe or friend to maximize the effects of your combo. Characters will also obtain a sort of "limit break gauge", and have an inventory of three skills to use it up.
Characters gain skills as they level up, and all playable characters gain XP even if they're not in-battle. The encounter rate is good, and there are no random battles. All enemies can be seen on the screen. Stocke also has the ability to hit an enemy to knock it out and then engage it for a pre-emptive strike. Or he could just knock it out and not fight it. The choice is up to you. Sometimes this mechanic is a little imprecise, but when it works, it feels great to get that jump on your enemy.
As for the soundtrack, I don't really like Shimomura's stuff outside of her Street Fighter II and other SNES music and her Last Ranker score, but this is one I really really enjoyed (despite hearing the same tracks ad nauseam). It's one of the better scores on the DS (outmatched by Masashi Hamauzu's Sigma Harmonics score, Toshihiko Horiyama's Apollo Justice score, Yuzo Koshiro's 7th Dragon score, and Takeharu Ishimoto's The World Ends With You score). However, The soundtrack is too short; 25 tracks doesn't seem like enough for this game, especially when you consider that SNES games had scores that spanned 3 CDs. Hearing the same music repeatedly at some points wasn't really tiresome, but more like, "Eh, I heard this already" and didn't have much of an impact. Shame that the World Map theme is used as the field theme in a TON of places (also I didn't really like it that much).
When I first heard of Radiant Historia, I figured it'd be like Chrono Trigger through-and-through. While this is true to an extent, I found myself looking for other games I loved dearly in past console generations. I found Final Fantasy VI (steampunk), Final Fantasy Tactics (politics), Suikoden (war, friendship and rebellion) and Tactics Ogre (rebellion) in this. I appreciated what it had to offer, and it certainly deserves a place in any JRPG player's library.
Pros:
+nice narrative
+feels like an homage to RPGs of yore
+great music
+freakin' fun battle system
+depth in simplicity
+can skip cutscenes
+no random battles
Cons:
-soundtrack too short
-no quicksave
-nodes sometimes not placed in convenient places
In-betweens:
-some may consider this game to be very text-heavy
Urban Scholar
Member
I'm now at a road block of sorts. In one chapter I have to find a master of chi. The other I'm fighting off the army in the hills. Their commander is in a mech. To be blunt he's kicking my arse. Am I really regulated to grinding at this point? Help?
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Urban Scholar said:
You seem like you know what to do: go to the other timeline for your Master of Chi (who you actually know). What level are you at? It does sound like you have to grind a bit or buy some armour. Remember, knock to the back and combo combo combo with attacks that cause multiple hits and magic.
That Thaumachine is weak against lightning, as is everything else in that battle. His buddies like to explode, so defend for the first round or kill them all before they have a chance to explode for massive damage. If you have G-Fire with Raynie, that should do more damage if you pull all of your enemies in one spot and combo. If you find Marco useless, use trans-turn. Remember that you have turn-break (the Mana Gauge). If you need an extra turn and don't need enemies advancing on you, turn break.
That Thaumachine is weak against lightning, as is everything else in that battle. His buddies like to explode, so defend for the first round or kill them all before they have a chance to explode for massive damage. If you have G-Fire with Raynie, that should do more damage if you pull all of your enemies in one spot and combo. If you find Marco useless, use trans-turn. Remember that you have turn-break (the Mana Gauge). If you need an extra turn and don't need enemies advancing on you, turn break.
Man, I wish that Gladiator bit was extended and that it wasn't (spoilers for Chapter 4, so don't read this if you haven't beaten the Master of Chi)
so convenient that you found all of your teammates in the same town
Urban Scholar
Member
Dark Schala said:
The chi master has to be the ape guy right? I mean he's rocking beads around his neck and he's of said race in question.
My stock is 31, Raynie & Marco 28. I assumed that I maybe underleveled given how much damage the mech is outputting and wiping out my party
My stock is 31, Raynie & Marco 28. I assumed that I maybe underleveled given how much damage the mech is outputting and wiping out my party
Urban Scholar
Member
FTH said:
A mod here that sports a cranky cowboy avatar(hmm fitting!).
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Urban Scholar said:
Definitely, yep! He's awesome, one of my favourite party members for his damage output, and because he can cluster all the enemies into the center.
Yeah, level up a little or equip better armour from either Celestia or Cygnus. Level 31 with Stocke is fine, but you might have to try a little harder to not get bashed in. If the enemies there are kicking your butt, fight some of them. I don't remember if the Thaumachine can be poisoned, but you can try using a Poison Wing on it, like I did with nearly every boss in this game (I can't recall if this one can be poisoned, probably not).
Yeah, level up a little or equip better armour from either Celestia or Cygnus. Level 31 with Stocke is fine, but you might have to try a little harder to not get bashed in. If the enemies there are kicking your butt, fight some of them. I don't remember if the Thaumachine can be poisoned, but you can try using a Poison Wing on it, like I did with nearly every boss in this game (I can't recall if this one can be poisoned, probably not).
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
How are you guys playing the game? I generally pick the answer during each *flag* that I think will end up as the bad ending.
Standard History Ch.5 Sidequest bad end spoilers
So are we under the assumption that Stocke actually experiences the bad endings fully and when it goes bad he goes back to Historica, or is the dialogue during the bad end saying what would have happened and Stock doesn't fully experience it, he instead teleports to Historica after making the bad choice?
Standard History Ch.5 Sidequest bad end spoilers
What the fuck Marco!? You just slaughter the whole team because I sent a spy to jail?
So are we under the assumption that Stocke actually experiences the bad endings fully and when it goes bad he goes back to Historica, or is the dialogue during the bad end saying what would have happened and Stock doesn't fully experience it, he instead teleports to Historica after making the bad choice?
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Trojita said:
I know, right? Marco went craaaaaaazy. You'd never suspect the quiet ones, right? 
I usually picked the flag for the bad endings first, and then the flag for the good endings after.
That's a good question, I was thinking about that sometimes. Sometimes the twins would say "that was close, Stocke", but sometimes it feels like you just "saw" what was happening, but didn't experience what was happening.
I think that when we experienced the "bad end" the first time (ie: when you first got the White Chronicle and first went to Historia), it implied that Stocke experienced it, and then the twins (or the Chronicle) got him out of trouble.
Stocke somehow escaped the "prison"
Spwn said:
why is this game going for £50+ on ebay? thats like double price. sold out on vgplus which are my two usual import haunts.
Well I've ordered it off Movietyme for £27 even though I have a ridiculous backlog. You win once again neogaf!!
timetokill
Banned
Just wanted to chime in and say this game is awesome. It really got its hooks into me when I got to Chapter 2 in one of the storylines (I think the Standard first?)
Anyway, it's been a lot of fun, and perhaps my favorite JRPG experience of the generation.
Anyway, it's been a lot of fun, and perhaps my favorite JRPG experience of the generation.
Urban Scholar
Member
Dark Schala said:
Guess my only choice is the mech boss...not being successful here to be honest.
Urban Scholar said:
This was the only spot I did a bit of grinding at thus far,
needed to get Rosch to the point where he could knock out the row of bombs in one hit, fight goes much easier then
About 24 hours in, 152 nodes. The last few bosses I've been cheesing with
Aht's traps + push + Gafka being a powerhouse
That fucking purple Hell Spider I beat JUST BARELY. Used up all my items in that fight
Ideally I'd like to finish this week so I can move on to Yakuza 4 and Ar Tonelico 3. TOO MANY GAMES
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Urban Scholar said:
Try grinding a little. Level up Rosch a bit so he could get some AoE damage in. He can take a surprising amount of hits despite having a lower level. You can do it! You could always grind in
Granorg when it's being overrun with soldiers, if you just want to use a Marco/Raynie party. You could still rest at the inn at that point, and then go back to grinding away
Crash Station
Member
Beat it. Great game. Even though I think I was overleveled, the final boss gave me a bit of a challenge.
Ending was cool. I like how sidequests actually affected it. Considering going back to see if there's more I can do to alter it. I'm happy
Ending was cool. I like how sidequests actually affected it. Considering going back to see if there's more I can do to alter it. I'm happy
Stocke got to live after all and got to see his friends again. Very heartwarming, especially after seeing Raynie still waiting for him.
Urban Scholar said:
Don't you have Aht then? I had huge problems but I basically had my mana bursts take out his turns / eliminate the bombs, and then Aht laid traps around the grid and I knocked him all around and it wasn't too bad.
Also, anyone have any tips for the boss in AH6 I'm having issues with? (Probably late chapter spoilers)
I'm just having trouble trying to take care of Viola. I don't have Eruca's broken skill or whatever people refer to it as, and I don't really want to leave the time and have to go get items or something and face the bosses again. Any tips?
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Volcynika said:
I ended up getting rid of the Auto-Defenders last because it took a while to whittle them down. Plus I took advantage of buffing. There are different ways you can do this.
If you want to use Eruca, throw a Magic Herb on her and use her Divine Light after using someone to shove Viola on one of the Auto-Defenders. Or you could just throw the Magic Herb on Eruca, use Aht or someone else to use a multiple-hit attack on Viola, and then have Eruca use Divine Light.
For example, I used Stocke/Marco/Eruca once, and then had Marco use Spin Slash, Stocke use Double Slash and then Eruca use Divine Light with a Magic Herb on. The other time I used Stocke/Gafka/Eruca, with Stocke using Double Slash, Gafka using Musou/Triple Strike and Eruca using Divine Light+Magic Herb.
Alternatively, you can just take down Viola first by comboing her using the same tactics above, but using G-Frost (Stocke/Gafka/Eruca or Stocke/Marco/Eruca) or G-Thunder (Stocke/Marco/Raynie or Stocke/Gafka/Raynie) instead. Or you could just use traps with Aht and shove Viola onto them with various techs. The Auto-Defenders can't be moved.
Don't forget to steal. That's why I had to beat her twice.
If you want to use Eruca, throw a Magic Herb on her and use her Divine Light after using someone to shove Viola on one of the Auto-Defenders. Or you could just throw the Magic Herb on Eruca, use Aht or someone else to use a multiple-hit attack on Viola, and then have Eruca use Divine Light.
For example, I used Stocke/Marco/Eruca once, and then had Marco use Spin Slash, Stocke use Double Slash and then Eruca use Divine Light with a Magic Herb on. The other time I used Stocke/Gafka/Eruca, with Stocke using Double Slash, Gafka using Musou/Triple Strike and Eruca using Divine Light+Magic Herb.
Alternatively, you can just take down Viola first by comboing her using the same tactics above, but using G-Frost (Stocke/Gafka/Eruca or Stocke/Marco/Eruca) or G-Thunder (Stocke/Marco/Raynie or Stocke/Gafka/Raynie) instead. Or you could just use traps with Aht and shove Viola onto them with various techs. The Auto-Defenders can't be moved.
Don't forget to steal. That's why I had to beat her twice.
I hope that helps.
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
Dark Schala said:I know, right? Marco went craaaaaaazy. You'd never suspect the quiet ones, right?
I usually picked the flag for the bad endings first, and then the flag for the good endings after.
That's a good question, I was thinking about that sometimes. Sometimes the twins would say "that was close, Stocke", but sometimes it feels like you just "saw" what was happening, but didn't experience what was happening.The way that the timeline bad ends are written makes it seem like he experienced it, since they're all written in past and present tense. The "Wandering Soul" sidequest's bad end outcome made it seem likeI think that when we experienced the "bad end" the first time (ie: when you first got the White Chronicle and first went to Historia), it implied that Stocke experienced it, and then the twins (or the Chronicle) got him out of trouble.. I guess I think that he's experiencing them. Or it's something left up to interpretation?Stocke somehow escaped the "prison"
Yeah, I'm not sure. In
The Lion General Bad End
He said he wouldn't be a good commander, and that Rosch should be the commander instead, after you read the Lion General Bad End
With the previous discussion,
you'd think he'd feel weird around Marco, if he indeed experienced that fully.
The other thing you have to wonder is whether Stocke is aging because he keeps on experiencing different timelines using his current body which would appear to be aging 2+ times faster than his body really should or if he has a special limitation that doesn't age him and just sends injury, experiences, and items with him to the past.
Urban Scholar
Member
Ok made a save right when you know who teaches you you know what. Interesting dialogue right there
I'm an expert
Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
So after 4 Heroes of Light I had kind of written off RPGs on the DS but I decided to impulse pick this game up after realizing I was playing all Square games and hadn't tried any of the Atlus selection.
Wow.
Within 1.5 hours I could tell this was going to be a great game. Everything feels so polished, from the dialogue to the quick menus. Also the battle system is downright fun. I like how early they give you the /236 counter as well. It's like, here's your checklist of how many things there are to do - go find them. The weight of the story is there from the start, which I appreciated.
Can't wait to play more and try out some other Atlus games. Maybe Devil Survivor.. I think I'm realizing my Square fanboyism is fading.
Wow.
Within 1.5 hours I could tell this was going to be a great game. Everything feels so polished, from the dialogue to the quick menus. Also the battle system is downright fun. I like how early they give you the /236 counter as well. It's like, here's your checklist of how many things there are to do - go find them. The weight of the story is there from the start, which I appreciated.
Can't wait to play more and try out some other Atlus games. Maybe Devil Survivor.. I think I'm realizing my Square fanboyism is fading.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Yeah, that's why I said in my final impressions that the narrative felt a little iffy towards the end. I felt like not everything I wanted to be explained was explained. Like,Trojita said:
why didn't he act differently towards people after seeing what would happen had he picked the wrong decision? I think it implies that he did experience these bad endings and that he just got out of them before dying or by escaping, but it's never really concretely defined.
Perhaps I'm asking too much of the game, but I feel like these issues should have been addressed in the script somewhere. I kinda wish the game was longer just so things could have been explained more.
As for Stocke aging...
maybe play a little more and perhaps it might be addressed. At least, I came up with my own theory but it might not be right.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Volcynika said:
You could try poisoning Viola with a Poison Wing and then using a Stocke/Marco/Raynie or Stocke/Gafka/Raynie party to combo her into submission. If you haven't started out on the Vainqueur Trial sidequest, don't bother using Eruca yet. I didn't find her useful until after I started her Light Trial stuff. If you're having issues with defense, use a Shield Seed Plus or a Shield Herb on everyone.
Also, I'm an idiot. Though it doesn't help that Eruca's spells have nearly the same names:
Divine Light is the spell that's cast on one ally that nulls two attacks. (you find this left of the bar in Cygnus; I think it's obscured by the wall and hard to see.)
Burst Light is the spell that attacks all enemies. (Ultimate Dish sidequest)
Edit: You gain access to thse spells when you do "The Living Legend sidequest". If you haven't started this sidequest yet, I don't really recommend using Eruca.
Maybe that'll make it easier? Use Burst Light in place of the parts where I wrote "Divine Light", but Divine Light might help tremendously if you're having issues with defense. I apologize for the misinformation.
Also, I'm an idiot. Though it doesn't help that Eruca's spells have nearly the same names:
Divine Light is the spell that's cast on one ally that nulls two attacks. (you find this left of the bar in Cygnus; I think it's obscured by the wall and hard to see.)
Burst Light is the spell that attacks all enemies. (Ultimate Dish sidequest)
Edit: You gain access to thse spells when you do "The Living Legend sidequest". If you haven't started this sidequest yet, I don't really recommend using Eruca.
Maybe that'll make it easier? Use Burst Light in place of the parts where I wrote "Divine Light", but Divine Light might help tremendously if you're having issues with defense. I apologize for the misinformation.
StickSoldier
Member
Man I'm really digging the style of this game from the videos, and it seems to have good reviews. I'm getting a 3DS, but really contemplating on buying this with it, or maybe a few weeks after. Haven't been into RPG's for awhile sadly, but would this game be a good pick up? Last RPG I played was Chrono Trigger DS I think.. (No wait DQIX is, but I couldnt really get into it.)
I'm an expert
Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
Bout 5 hours in now. I'm surprised how early they dead ended my path after the first real choice in the game. Like 10 minutes into it they were like nope, try a different route. It's fine and adds variety, but I didn't know I'd be doing so much back and forth jumping so early on.
Mr. Spinnington
Banned
and i, having purchased it and played occasionally over the last two weeks am completely smitten with it. between this, okamiden, and a surprisingly deserving pokemon reboot the DS had a hell of a month and especially so at the end of nintendo's portable generationDresden said:
Laughing Banana
Weeping Pickle
srenity said:Late thanks to JEKKI, and Dark Schala for answering my question earlier about the mana crystal/shard things!
Yup, can't go wrong with the SMT series
Except Persona PSP remake. Stay away from that.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Persona PSP wasn't THAT bad.Laughing Banana said:
...I never played the original, so... ok, it was pretty bad. Don't play that. (Wasn't it slightly better than the original because it didn't have any of the changes or censorship that were implemented in the original PS1 release?)
I hope Persona 2 Portable will be better. Radiant Historia was fantastic, and I really want a game that uses the battle system in this one again. It's really fun.
OT: I have an RPG-playing friend who refuses to play Persona and the other SMT games because "he heard they're too hard", and refuses to play Radiant Historia because it's on a portable (he hates any and all portable games). I kinda get why. It's just a safe choice because Square games are usually polished and filled with content you'd expect. Plus they don't get too difficult. It's hard to break away when you consistently get good content from a company and series.
Arc the Lad, Wild Arms, Suikoden I and Suikoden II were my jumping points away from Square and Enix, though. I'm not sure what we have today. Devil Survivor, I guess? Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4, DDS 1 and 2, and Nocturne? Radiant Historia can go on that list; it roped one of my friends back into JRPGs, so it's great for those who are trying to return to the genre.
PigSpeakers
Member
I finally beat it. Got all 236 events or whatever finished. I felt like it was a great experience. Also
One other thing I noticed at some point last week... there's a tiny Stocke in the I of Radiant Historia.
Is there any real difference in what you choose for the final choice between Ernst and Stocke? I went back and did it twice just to see, and I didn't really know what the point was other than an added line.
One other thing I noticed at some point last week... there's a tiny Stocke in the I of Radiant Historia.
At the final chapter of Standard History, was doing fine so far (very very late spoilers in that chapter, so bewarned), but ran into a bit of a snag...
Oh yeah, the music in the (last chapter of AH)
is sooooo good.
I got to dark Viola and hooooooooooooly shit. The other bosses weren't too bad but yeesh, I get hit to high hell with some attacks. I need to get my mana burst back to max for all three at least before I attempt that again
Oh yeah, the music in the (last chapter of AH)
Imperial Ruins
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Volcynika said:
Memories of the World is indeed awesome. Just wait until you get to the final boss theme.
As for
Dark Viola, I used Stocke/Raynie/Aht at Lv 62 Stocke, Lv 60 Raynie and Lv 59 Aht. Used Polaris and Lunatic and decided to poison Viola. I kinda ignored her for the most part during the battle and took out each Cube with two G-Fires from Raynie and Stocke. Had Aht use Cross Star on the Noble Flames to launch them into the air and combo with Raynie's G-Frost. I think you have to do it 2-3 times for one Flame. Viola isn't that difficult if you let her sit with poison, kill her Divine Light guard and then combo on her (or set traps and push her into them when she's solo). She also has equipment to steal.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Volcynika said:Wow, I feel a bit underleveled now, I'm hovering around 50 (I think Stocke is 50 and everyone is high 40's)
I think it's doable at Level 50, but use a Shield Herb on everyone + Lunatic (Lv 48)/Polaris. If you're not using Raynie (G-Frost at Lv 47), use Marco for his Guard Rise (Lv 42). But if you want to grind, the crystals in the final dungeon are great for grinding. Alternatively, you can go back to AH Final Chapter and grind on the flies at the Sand Dungeon (who give a ton of exp).
Currently in the beginning of Chapter 3, liking this game a lot. It's been a while since I've played an RPG with a plot and characters this good.
The soundtrack in this game is phenomenal, currently my favorite track is the Celestia theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooQnc54mfRs&feature=related Love that piano and that part where the violins kick in.
Boss theme is supreme also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHNXHWUHjmc&feature=related
The soundtrack in this game is phenomenal, currently my favorite track is the Celestia theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooQnc54mfRs&feature=related Love that piano and that part where the violins kick in.
Boss theme is supreme also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHNXHWUHjmc&feature=related