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[Effect]

Game shipped out today and should be here by Saturday. Though hopefully it arrives sooner.

This is going to be an interesting and rare experience. This is one of the few games where I've read nothing regarding it's content and almost nothing about it's systems. All I know is you can travel back in time to events and alter them and that you are playing in two timelines. Outside of that I'm going in blind. Not even sure how the combat system works other then that it's grid based and you can have three people in a party and that's just from some screenshots I've seen.

 

[R_thanatos]

Didn't like:

-a bit too much backtracking, especially running through Lazvil Hills and the Sand Fortress

Imagine doing that Without " EVADE " ..

 

[Dark Schala]

Game shipped out today and should be here by Saturday. Though hopefully it arrives sooner.

I hope you enjoy it.

Imagine doing that Without " EVADE " ..

To be honest, if I didn't have Vanish, I'd probably dislike doing the backtracking to do sidequests and backtracking to mission objectives a little more. LOL.

 

[Aexact]

Imagine doing that Without " EVADE " ..

What. What's EVADE-

To be honest, if I didn't have Vanish, I'd probably dislike doing the backtracking to do sidequests and backtracking to mission objectives a little more. LOL.

Oh, it's Vanish? Man, I thought I missed out on something. Like the Prologue and half of Chapter One, I was running back and forth without knowing the Start button skipped cutscenes. I mean, they don't tell you that stuff! I think. All I knew was fast forward for a while.

 

[R_thanatos]

EVADE is vanish in my mind ... because it does "that" .. sorry about the name confusion ...

 

[Dark Schala]

I was running back and forth without knowing the Start button skipped cutscenes. I mean, they don't tell you that stuff! I think. All I knew was fast forward for a while.

It's in the manual. Check page 9.

 

[SerArthurDayne]

Just got this game a couple of weeks ago. Love it. Also, just learned about the start button skipping cutscenes. Nice. Don't give me that manual bullshit! They are just there to look pretty and occasionally have character portraits!

 

[Zafir]

Just got this the other day finally, and I'm wondering, is it worthwhile going for the true ending? I mean is it just a cutscene you could watch on youtube, for example?

 

[Deified Data]

Just got this the other day finally, and I'm wondering, is it worthwhile going for the true ending? I mean is it just a cutscene you could watch on youtube, for example?

Worthwhile? Sure. But don't worry if you don't make it. It's not a "different ending" - it's just another couple vignettes added to the total ending presentation. Just do as many side quests as you can and you'll end up with a satisfying ending.

 

[R_thanatos]

Just got this the other day finally, and I'm wondering, is it worthwhile going for the true ending? I mean is it just a cutscene you could watch on youtube, for example?

The true ending as wwell as the endings are much more meaningfull since it reflect DIRECTLY about your actions during the games ( each quest necessary for it , will add one scene during the end ) leading to the final one once you've got all 10.

Go for the true ending ..it isn't hard and it's actually rewarding to see your influence over this game ..

i REPEAT ..it's NOT HARD & REWARDING

 

[BlazingDarkness]

I got this last week, put a good few hours into it (iirc got to Granorg/sp?) but then stopped and haven't gone back to it yet

Something that really puts me off is the empty/bland environments, pretty sure it's because of the DS hardware limitation but it really bummed me out

 

[Zafir]

It's not really difficulty I'm worried about, more, tedium.

 

[Dark Schala]

It's not really difficulty I'm worried about, more, tedium.

If you don't want to do all the quests, then just do the 10 that are required for the true ending. I will warn you that a lot of the sidequests require backtracking, which may feel tedious to you. The 10 significant sidequests are not as tedious. I would, however, recommend that you do the character skills sidequests because they make a lot of characters even more useful to you. This thread on GameFAQs shows how to do every sidequest in the game, but I wouldn't recommend going through the whole thread (other than looking at the Raynie/Marco character sidequests because Marco will become more useful to you if you do these quests earlier) until Chapter 5-6 due to possible spoilers.

When you get further into the game (like, Chapter 5-6), check this post to see which sidequests you're missing for the True Ending.

 

[Zafir]

If you don't want to do all the quests, then just do the 10 that are required for the true ending. I will warn you that a lot of the sidequests require backtracking, which may feel tedious to you. The 10 significant sidequests are not as tedious. I would, however, recommend that you do the character skills sidequests because they make a lot of characters even more useful to you. This thread on GameFAQs shows how to do every sidequest in the game, but I wouldn't recommend going through the whole thread (other than looking at the Raynie/Marco character sidequests because Marco will become more useful to you if you do these quests earlier) until Chapter 5-6 due to possible spoilers.

When you get further into the game (like, Chapter 5-6), check this post to see which sidequests you're missing for the True Ending.

Okay, cheers for the advice.

 

[R_thanatos]

It's not really difficulty I'm worried about, more, tedium.

Well with Vanish , you can backtrack easily , and with Start you can skip entire scenes ...

Tedium doesn't exist ..in radiant

 

[ULTROS!]

I'm 5 hours in the game and this game is pretty rad. Though there's a good number of backtracking, it's still fun.

How long does it take to complete this game?

 

[Spwn]

Took me about 36 hours without completing all the side-quests.

 

[I'm an expert]

Same, took about 40 and I'm like 190 of the 200sumtin side quests. The end drags on a bit and some of the sidequest stuff I don't want to touch without a guide. Best handheld game I've played in the last year though.

 

[Labadal]

I'm 5 hours in the game and this game is pretty rad. Though there's a good number of backtracking, it's still fun.

How long does it take to complete this game?

Took me 45 hours to complete every sidequest and unlock the true ending. My GOTY 2011 so far.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Got this for super cheap at a garage sale. I mean like it was destined.

DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN. This is really good and I'm only a couple hours in. Almost better than most console JRPG's I've played this gen.

Doing all the fights I can and just got the the junction where

Spoiler

I choose to join the big armored dude (Rosche)

It's very engaging story wise already. Unique premise.

Extremely late edit here but I had to get a name right. Well into Chapter 1 now.

 

[djtiesto]

Yeah, it took me around 40-45 hours to do all 236 nodes including the optional difficult boss.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I'm almost to the end here. I intend to go back and do all the side stuff but it's been very good and full of twists.

I completed just about all the story in the

Spoiler

top/"proper" story arc

. I'm on the alternate side now but I just need to refix that

Spoiler

Historica Blade

before taking on the self proclaimed

Spoiler

God

ahah.

Definitely there with Legend of Heroes TitS as my favorite RPG's since the PS1 era. Very good, I don't want it to end.

 

[Aru]

I hope you enjoy it.


To be honest, if I didn't have Vanish, I'd probably dislike doing the backtracking to do sidequests and backtracking to mission objectives a little more. LOL.

Oh yeah. Thank goodness they included Vanish. The game would have been a lot worse without it.

 

[Crazetex]

I didn't use Vanish that much and still had a little trouble with the final boss.

One of my most favorite games. RH isn't without flaws (battles do get a little tedious, there are -way too many skills-, there are only like five music tracks and a lot of scenes show how little money this team had; there aren't even enough facesets for all of the major NPCs)... but it's such a good game.

 

[charlequin]

I didn't use Vanish that much and still had a little trouble with the final boss.

You just don't hit enough battles playing normally in this game to be properly leveled for the back half, I think. There's a spike around chapter 4 and another around the end where playing normally will probably leave you in a position where fights are winnable but extremely tough.

I usually don't do this, but I just ground in the endgame because I wanted to beat the secret boss before finishing the game.

 

[Aru]

You just don't hit enough battles playing normally in this game to be properly leveled for the back half, I think. There's a spike around chapter 4 and another around the end where playing normally will probably leave you in a position where fights are winnable but extremely tough.

I usually don't do this, but I just ground in the endgame because I wanted to beat the secret boss before finishing the game.

What ? I skipped a lot of battles in the last third of the game and I didn't have any problems. Doing the sidequests helped me having a good level enough for the last boss, without being overpowered at all. I only couldn't beat the optional ultimate boss.
Beat the game a bit under level 50 for my main characters.

 

[charlequin]

Beat the game a bit under level 50 for my main characters.

I'm sure it's very doable to beat the game at 45 across the board, but

Spoiler

The Master fight

much less so.

For comparison, I got to chapter 4 at something like level 22, and that was pretty clearly not where I was supposed to be at that point. This is the problem I tend to have with visible-encounter RPGs -- in Dragon Quest or whatever you'd just be getting game-enforced encounter frequency and not running into this kind of problem.

 

[Therealbeatris]

I have this on my shelf unopened, I am still trudging through Devil Survivor. Christmas break this game is going to be all me!

 

[pwack]

I tried several times to get into this game and it never really hooked me. I was turned off a great deal by the art style -- too washed out and pastel. Then I realized that I was playing this on my 3DS with the brightness at medium and power save turned on. Fixed those and it looks a ton better. Getting back into it now, at the start of Chapter 2.

One question -- how worthwhile are the non-ending-determinative sidequests? I realized I missed a lot already just by not talking to all the NPCs at each node. If I skip some and return later, am I sacrificing either too much plot or too many good rewards?

 

[charlequin]

One question -- how worthwhile are the non-ending-determinative sidequests? I realized I missed a lot already just by not talking to all the NPCs at each node. If I skip some and return later, am I sacrificing either too much plot or too many good rewards?

Unless you particularly care about the completionist feeling of seeing 236/236 on your Historia or just really like doing sidequests, you can pretty safely skip most of the ones that don't affect the ending; most of the rewards are pegged to when you first have the quests available, so they aren't that useful if you go back and tackle them later, and the story (outside the ending-affecting ones) tends to be pretty slight.

What you will want to do is all of the character-improvement sidequests, though, because each of them unlocks extremely powerful abilities you'll definitely want your characters to have, and completing those might involve doing a few more extra sidequests (since some of the items they require are rewards of other sidequests.)

 

[Little Green Yoda]

Just finally started playing this. Quick plot question for the first few hours of the game:

Spoiler

In the timeline where Stocke stays with Heiss' intelligence group, you end up waiting for an informant who doesn't show up. Playing through the Rosch timeline results in the informant showing up at the rendezvous in the Heiss timeline. But why?

As far as I can tell, the informant leaves after giving Rosch's brigade important intel. But wouldn't this happen regardless of whether or not Stocke is in Rosch's party? You'd think the informant would report to Rosch and go about his business in the Heiss timeline.

Am I misunderstanding a part of the story here? I'm ~10 hours in now and it doesn't feel like the game is going to explain that loose end (but then again this is a game about time travel and rewriting history). Or is this just a

Spoiler

n easily avoidable

plot hole?

Loving the game otherwise.

 

[charlequin]

Am I misunderstanding a part of the story here?

Basically:

Spoiler

There aren't really "two" timelines, there's one real time line and one "alternate" timeline that only exists while you're messing around with time. The game's explanation basically seems to be that because of this, there's a causal connection between the two: when you change something in one, it ripples over to the other (because really you're ultimately just manipulating the one real timeline.)

Specifically, people's personalities are porous across the two timestreams, even though they generally only remember the events of the one they're in. A large number of the game's roadblocks involve convincing a character of something in one timeline so that they'll believe that (and act on it) in the other.

Don't worry, it's presented really unclearly and never explained explicitly, you just have to kind of feel it out.

 

[ScrabbleDude]

Just started playing -- in SH: Chapter 1 and AH: Chapter 1 -- and I love it, but I'm slightly disappointed. I went in knowing nothing about the game other than that it contains time travel. Once the game explained how the time travel worked and that there are many paths but only one is successful, it made me think -- Wow! Here is a game where my choices really matter. I thought I'd be following a path to its conclusion then going back and changing some decisions and seeing the result.

Instead it looks like in order to progress down one timeline you also need to progress down another timeline. This is a little bit disappointing from the way I thought it worked. It's still great, but hopefully it gets better and closer to the awesomeness I originally thought it was.

 

[ajim]

Just started playing -- in SH: Chapter 1 and AH: Chapter 1 -- and I love it, but I'm slightly disappointed. I went in knowing nothing about the game other than that it contains time travel. Once the game explained how the time travel worked and that there are many paths but only one is successful, it made me think -- Wow! Here is a game where my choices really matter. I thought I'd be following a path to its conclusion then going back and changing some decisions and seeing the result.

Instead it looks like in order to progress down one timeline you also need to progress down another timeline. This is a little bit disappointing from the way I thought it worked. It's still great, but hopefully it gets better and closer to the awesomeness I originally thought it was.

I've just started too and also went in not knowing a whole lot. Also felt a bit disappointed at first when I realised how the time travel works, however, after having played it for awhile I really enjoy it. I like that the decisions I make aren't final and I do get to control different paths in the story, and seeing how both sides work, it's very interesting and enjoyable.

Not digging the running/foot step sounds tho, they're pretty annoying. And battles seem pretty easy and not very fleshed out. I win most of my battles just by engaging in auto-battle, and the Stocke is a total bore.

 

[R_thanatos]

Not digging the running/foot step sounds tho, they're pretty annoying. And battles seem pretty easy and not very fleshed out. I win most of my battles just by engaging in auto-battle, and the Stocke is a total bore.

This will change soon .. After a certain point you will need to have certain habilities to "have it easy" during battles

 

[Little Green Yoda]

Just finished the main story but apparently I missed a lot of the sidequests so there's still quite a bit of backtracking and exploring for me to do! I haven't fully digested the entire plot yet

Spoiler

jumping back and forth between the AH and SH with the same characters in both kinda obfuscated some points

but hopefully things become more clear when I replay bits of it for the sidequests.

Really fun game but I hated how the game doesn't give enough information regarding stat boosts on the battle screen. If my characters had multiple stat boosts, there's no way to tell when a particular boost expired until a turn unfolded with damage numbers that revealed the fact. So I basically had to go through the later parts of the game guessing when my MAG/DEF boosts were gone if I buffed multiple stats at a time.

Another thing I felt was missing (though this is more of a nitpick) was a logbook of sorts to keep track of enemy weaknesses. If I stopped playing the game for a bit and forgot what recurring enemy X was weak to, scanning the enemy again was kind of annoying, especially when there are so many enemies with no weaknesses - which meant you wasted a turn :lol.

 

[ScrabbleDude]

Just finished the main story but apparently I missed a lot of the sidequests so there's still quite a bit of backtracking and exploring for me to do! I haven't fully digested the entire plot yet

Spoiler

jumping back and forth between the AH and SH with the same characters in both kinda obfuscated some points

but hopefully things become more clear when I replay bits of it for the sidequests.

Really fun game but I hated how the game doesn't give enough information regarding stat boosts on the battle screen. If my characters had multiple stat boosts, there's no way to tell when a particular boost expired until a turn unfolded with damage numbers that revealed the fact. So I basically had to go through the later parts of the game guessing when my MAG/DEF boosts were gone if I buffed multiple stats at a time.

Another thing I felt was missing (though this is more of a nitpick) was a logbook of sorts to keep track of enemy weaknesses. If I stopped playing the game for a bit and forgot what recurring enemy X was weak to, scanning the enemy again was kind of annoying, especially when there are so many enemies with no weaknesses - which meant you wasted a turn :lol.

40 hours later and I am almost done the story. I believe I just started the final chapter. Seems to me like every enemy is weak to Aht's traps. The traps you get from her trials are incredible. In fact, the only issue is that she's also the best healer so you often would rather have her healing than laying traps.

 

[B.K.]

Are there any sites that have the game in stock?

 

[ScrabbleDude]

Just finished. I was one side quest away from getting the true ending. I did most of the side quests, but happened to miss Beast God's Birth. Ah well, I watched the scene I didn't get on youtube.

Excellent game. Liked the battle system. The last boss was difficult since Aht was in my party and couldn't trap, but I used her for healing. The fight before the last boss was easy, but took me a long time to figure out the trick since I didn't use a faq.

I'd like 236/236, but I'd rather keep working away at my backlog. Good times.

 

[R_thanatos]

Are there any sites that have the game in stock?

Best to ask on atlus foroms ( my regulars sites doesn't have it anymore )

Just finished. I was one side quest away from getting the true ending. I did most of the side quests, but happened to miss Beast God's Birth. Ah well, I watched the scene I didn't get on youtube.

Excellent game. Liked the battle system. The last boss was difficult since Aht was in my party and couldn't trap, but I used her for healing. The fight before the last boss was easy, but took me a long time to figure out the trick since I didn't use a faq.

I'd like 236/236, but I'd rather keep working away at my backlog. Good times.

Congrats..like everyone ,

Spoiler

You get used to trap mecanics , but can't use that stratégy on the last boss ..

Had you done the extra sidequest for more skills ? Some characters goes from "ok" to "awesome" thanks to them .

 

[ScrabbleDude]

Had you done the extra sidequest for more skills ? Some characters goes from "ok" to "awesome" thanks to them .

I got all the skills for Raynie and Marco. They helped a lot in the beginning, but in the end they were just outclassed. Got some but not all for everyone else. Eruca's skills seemed great but her defense sucked. And Gafka seemed awesome, but I just preferred Rosch even though his skills sucked.

 

[R_thanatos]

Gafka does almost everything rosh does with more damage ..and eruca divine light can seriously help in tough situations

 

[ultron87]

Bump for a question.

Am I totally screwed when it comes to finding this game anywhere at this point?

 

[Reluctant-Hero]

Bump for a question.

Am I totally screwed when it comes to finding this game anywhere at this point?

A quick eBay search showed that the cartridge only goes for as low as $30. A complete game set with outer box and OST sampler averages $50 on eBay as well. And the game is out of print.

So you're not screwed, but you'll be paying a lot more than retail for a complete copy.

 

[TheFightingFish]

A quick eBay search showed that the cartridge only goes for as low as $30. A complete game set with outer box and OST sampler averages $50 on eBay as well. And the game is out of print.

So you're not screwed, but you'll be paying a lot more than retail for a complete copy.

So maybe I should just do a new thread on this, as it's not really Historia related. But I just picked up a 3DS mainly in part to catch up on lots of DS back catalog that I've missed up to now. And man, lots of the stuff that I want is mad pricey on the used market. I know that they need to produce the game in production runs, but really, if used versions are running $50 how is not free money for them to spin up the production machines for a quick 2,000 copy run or so? Are production facilities really that slammed all the time? It seems that with used prices so high it would be safer money to go ahead and prioritize making more of the game that you know people are looking for any will pay full price for, as opposed to other new games.

No big deal, but I'd love to play this game as well, and I just can't pick it up when there are too many other DS game to play that don't run $50 bucks.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

So maybe I should just do a new thread on this, as it's not really Historia related. But I just picked up a 3DS mainly in part to catch up on lots of DS back catalog that I've missed up to now. And man, lots of the stuff that I want is mad pricey on the used market. I know that they need to produce the game in production runs, but really, if used versions are running $50 how is not free money for them to spin up the production machines for a quick 2,000 copy run or so? Are production facilities really that slammed all the time? It seems that with used prices so high it would be safer money to go ahead and prioritize making more of the game that you know people are looking for any will pay full price for, as opposed to other new games.

No big deal, but I'd love to play this game as well, and I just can't pick it up when there are too many other DS game to play that don't run $50 bucks.

From what I've read, small to medium size developers with print runs to match had it rough on the DS. Something about sell-thru rates and the old story with cartridge-based consoles: slow turn around and high cost per copy.

 

[ultron87]

I found a new copy at a Gamestop on the other side of town for thirty bucks! I am super happy about this.

 

[charlequin]

I know that they need to produce the game in production runs, but really, if used versions are running $50 how is not free money for them to spin up the production machines for a quick 2,000 copy run or so?

Well, with PS2 games it really was pretty much free (in small quantities) money, which is why Games Quest Direct made bank on reprints and singlehandedly eliminated basically all rare PS2 titles in the process.

On DS, it's a bit tougher because of fab costs. Cartridges are more expensive to make and more work to set up production lines for (due to moving parts) so minimum print runs are higher.

Regardless, there'll still be opportunities like this, they'll just probably take longer to manifest. If a title like this stays at huge prices for a year, it'll be worthwhile for the original publisher or a third party to fund a reprint at whatever minimum-size Nintendo run and re-release them into the ecosystem. Atlus has done this for all of their notable PS2 games multiple times, even up until very recently, so I'm sure this game will get the same treatment eventually.

 

[Oxx]

I'm going to try and get back into this. I was at 5 hours/level 14 when I abandoned it earlier in the year.

Or I might just leave the DS open and listen to the music.

 

[Feep]

Just FYI, I'm straight up trading a fifty-dollar Amazon gift-code for a copy of this game, used or not. PM if interested!