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[Shouta]

The Fury and HP/MP management was a sort of neato thing for me but it required a ton of attention when I first played the game. I had to make sure my chars were properly healed and not overzealously tagging specials and etc as the game went on. Did all sorts of manual targetting and equipped my characters with lower cost Killer Techs to buy time against creatures so I could efficiently kill them as the game went on. I'd also HIGHLY recommend not using Fate as your controlled character as you get farther into the game. Fate has unspammable skills and a better AI compared to everyone else. I let the CPU fight with him and controlled the more spammy Cliff in battle so he wouldn't kill himself.

 

[Brandon F]

That Maria chick looks hot. What's her deal Shouta? A good character to mix into the group?

 

[Alex]

And also, what the heck is a Tipi-chan, Shouta?

 

[radios shipping overview]

And also, what the heck is a Tipi-chan, Shouta?

She's a character from Growlanser. Not sure if she's in the sequels.

 

[ferricide]

It'll click though soon.

i think ... that would be my big complaint with it. it never clicked. that's not to say i never understood it. i eventually completely figured out the battles, but it never clicked. it never felt fun, like TOS does when you get a handle on it. or any other game with good battles, for that matter. i never really got into that groove, and got really bored of dealing with all of the quirks of the system.

 

[Brandon F]

Spent more hours with it, getting warmer.

SO3 is a bit more touchy, though I've started to earn a few skills that have allowed more direct combo experimentation(very basic stuff so far), the flow just isn't as contiguous, or rather it lacks the same momentum as ToS. You are at the whim of fury which thus far has required a lot of stop and go play in order to recharge JUST when you get into some of the more serious pummeling rhythms. Plus the actual button-tapping requires a bit more precision and lead-time compared to the mashtastic ToS...to an extent.

Fayt actually controls pretty nicely when you get the hang of things, but it's a total 'stick and move' affair. Pull a couple punches, back off for a second, dive back in for another serving.

I actually stopped using him completely once Nel came into the picture. With all this talk of improper AI routines and babysitting, I figure if the CPU is going to be given a job, it may as well just tank. This has worked out rather nicely so far. Fayt and Cliff just dive in and kill using whatever close range hell they can dish, while I sit back in safety tossing fireballs and manageing healing from range.

Only problem is, it's kinda boring. Nel is REALLY finnicky with melee, her early abilities just have zero rhythm and mucho pause time between connecting linkers. Still, all the stress IS lifted as I coach my squad at least.

Oh and Nel's voice acting is fabulous. I swear it has to be the chick that dubbed Faye Valentine in Bebop. Sounds a lot like her...

 

[Mrbob]

I just spent the last hour leveling up my characters to massive levels, and I still have more to go! Nel, Cliff, Fayt, all really high now! Bear Mountain path is a great place to level up. But only when your bonus gauge is full! I think I hit nearly 30 consecutive battles with my bonus guage full and my bonus the whole time has been triple EXP. I keep on getting between 66-120 EXP per character per battle with my bonus exp. I think I'm gonna stick around here and level up until I lose the bonus gauge!

 

[Brandon F]

Yea, the bonus gauge is awesome! The last dungeon I went through(Airyglyph cave place), I spent practically the entire length running around with 4 bonus bar features locked in. Essentially triple experience, double gold, increase item rate, and post battle restore bonus for every fight. Because you only lose the bonuses if your character(the one you started battle controlling) is hit with a hard amount of damage such as a critical, it's very easy to keep the effects rolling when playing as a ranged character such as Nel.

It's a good idea to enter every boss fight with those effects intact too.

 

[Shouta]

That Maria chick looks hot. What's her deal Shouta? A good character to mix into the group?

She's a good character later on to control yourself if you figure out the right setup with your other characters. You can sit back and tag enemies with both her weak and strong laser and her various Killer Techs are mostly ranged. She has a few in close ones but nothing compared to Cliff, Arbel, or Mirage (at least I think Mirage since she seems to play a lot like Cliff. She was added for the DC version so I haven't played her). She's a decent ranged replacement for Nel when you get but you really need to control her yourself to get the most of her abilities.

Maria was my favorite design in the game (followed by Nel and then Fate. Cliff and Mirage are just behind them). Her hair and facial features are standard but I love her costume design. Just make sure you don't look at the hideous official artwork because even if the design is great for them, it doesn't save them from the wrath of generic doe-eyed anime art.

And also, what the heck is a Tipi-chan, Shouta?

She's a character in Growlanser 1. In the game, she acts as the hero's main companion and is always flying around with him (where she's allowed to). She's a spunky little homunculus (Sandra, the hero's mother, made Tipi) and she'll use her patented kick when the hero responds with something inane (although all of the response are made by the player). She doesn't appear in Growlanser 2, if I recall correctly. The bat-winged, magician hat wearing Lammy or Rami (however you like to spell it, I don't think she's a homunculus like Tipi) appears in Growlanser 3 and I think Growlanser 4 allows you to choose a type or something.

 

[Alex]

It sounds ok to me. It's probably not as tight as Symphonia, and the AI sounds annoying, but I could probably get over it. Symphonia's AI constantly disobeyed me anyhow.

I like the dungeon completion aspect as well, what's the invention system all bout?

I'm not seeing how this is "X-2" bad, Ferri. In X2, at least the 10-11 hours I played before quitting. All you had to do was abuse the job system, which was like an in-game Game Shark rather than a job system, set cursor memory, and hold down X.

Pretty comedic that literally I never took any damage past the intro in the entire time I played.

 

[Brandon F]

Only problem with the dungeon completion so far...the rewards are kinda dumb. Completed two of them and I got the exact same item from both. Weird... (5% movement speed for party...umm yea. Hope it stacks whatever it does)

I like the battle trophies though, always feels great when a new one pops up, seems they unlock new costumes for everyone at certain plateaus.

 

[Jupiter Jones]

Only problem with the dungeon completion so far...the rewards are kinda dumb. Completed two of them and I got the exact same item from both. Weird... (5% movement speed for party...umm yea. Hope it stacks whatever it does)

I like the battle trophies though, always feels great when a new one pops up, seems they unlock new costumes for everyone at certain plateaus.

It's called the Bunny Statue. It changes your characters speed in battle. There are three versions 1/1 (slows down the party, you should sell it for a lot of cash), 1/144 (increases speed by 5%. They don't stack, so sell any extras), and 1/60 (also 5% according to the strategy guide).

 

[Brandon F]

No stacking? Ok, I'll sell the extra. Oh, and I assume just having them in inventory is enough for them to work, since I couldn't figure out a way to equip.

Thanks.

 

[Shouta]

Err, if I recall. Having all the statues when you get 100% in all areas needs you a permanent speed boost that's really strong. I forgot the speed but I'm pretty sure that's what happens after you get 100% in all areas.