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Stella Deus is upon us, my bitches!
- Thread starter Go Go Ackman!
- Start date
Alright, I'm about 6 hours in, and I've got 7 people in my crew. You can only deploy 6 at once per battle, btw, less than that, sometimes. I have all of them to level 6, aside from my two newest recruits, who just attained 5. Let's see... 3 of my guys are "story" characters and the other 4 are just generics, ala TO or FFT.
I like the game quite a bit so far. I've been itching for a good Strat RPG since Fire Emblem. I only recently got Growlanser Generations to work, but I was really itching for something along the lines of FFT and TO, and this is closer, so I've put Growlanser aside for now.
Decent graphics, great artstyle, lovely music, pretty interesting story and characters (so far). I was afraid it would be too similar to FFCC and other games featuring a dark miasma engulfing the world, but it's fairly unique so far.
I love just fighting (battles go by pretty quickly, no wait periods while the enemy AI determines its course of action), and then spending my SPs powering my characters up with attack skills, passive skills, etc.
Really well done. Oh, my clock is so high simply because I tend to do other things while I play, and just leave the game running. These include ripping DVDs (got 10 full movies transcoding to a PSP format in the background), posting here, etc.
I like the game quite a bit so far. I've been itching for a good Strat RPG since Fire Emblem. I only recently got Growlanser Generations to work, but I was really itching for something along the lines of FFT and TO, and this is closer, so I've put Growlanser aside for now.
Decent graphics, great artstyle, lovely music, pretty interesting story and characters (so far). I was afraid it would be too similar to FFCC and other games featuring a dark miasma engulfing the world, but it's fairly unique so far.
I love just fighting (battles go by pretty quickly, no wait periods while the enemy AI determines its course of action), and then spending my SPs powering my characters up with attack skills, passive skills, etc.
Really well done. Oh, my clock is so high simply because I tend to do other things while I play, and just leave the game running. These include ripping DVDs (got 10 full movies transcoding to a PSP format in the background), posting here, etc.
Drinky Crow
Banned
It's a lot like Hoshigami minus the need to grind the Towers of Trial, plus a vastly better soundtrack and story. It's a little less deep -- Hoshigami has largely unparalleled depth, though -- but it's so much easier on the ears, plus the entire game is less unforgiving and a little smarter when it comes to AI (although the "creep" tricks with AI zones still works well). I'm 100% sure you'll dig it, Alex.
I agree.
Well, the first major battle is a DOOZY until you really learn how some of the deeper mechanics work, so I'd say it's got a rather unforviging learning curve.
Of course, if you get stuck in that mission, you can also enter the Catacombs to grind a few levels before trying it again, as my brother did.
Well, the first major battle is a DOOZY until you really learn how some of the deeper mechanics work, so I'd say it's got a rather unforviging learning curve.
Of course, if you get stuck in that mission, you can also enter the Catacombs to grind a few levels before trying it again, as my brother did.
If I have one complaint, it's only that the Guild missions are pathetically easier than the story missions. There haven't been many so far (I'm only on the 4th that entails combat), but they're so easy as to be not fun and largely not worth the effort. I don't particularly need or want more generic melee types, and I'm getting crap money, exp, and sp for completing them. I hope the story vs guild combat missions balance out better later on.
Drinky Crow
Banned
Yeah, ALWAYS check yer foes Zone Effects and come appropriately kitted out.
ProTip: Learn Anti-Fear ASAP, and have Badges of Courage for the first "boss" encounter.
ProTip: Learn Anti-Fear ASAP, and have Badges of Courage for the first "boss" encounter.
I defeated both Viper battles simply by surrounding him on each of the 4 sides. Apparently, his Fear Zone is only in effect in the 4 diagonal positions, not the immediately adjacent ones. He only feared one of my guys in my first fight with him, and none in my second (which I just won.) No Badges of Courage, not a guy with Anti-Fear. Though, I do have 2 Bravery Scrolls.
Drinky, do you know how to get more skills to show up in my learnable list? I'm out of skills to teach my men.
Drinky, do you know how to get more skills to show up in my learnable list? I'm out of skills to teach my men.
Drinky Crow
Banned
Yep.
First, start fusing items to create skill scrolls. You can teach those "skill items" to your characters. A really cheesy early tactic is to fuse to create a bunch of EVA 20% Zone Effects and give 'em to all your characters -- apparently, they stack. If you keep yer party in a tight formation they're (illogically) unhittable (well, stray shots will hit from time to time).
Later, you can rank up to get new skills. Still, buying skills isn't the best use of XP -- 50 SP will buy you a state upgrade, and I find that to be far better SP purchase than some of the shittier skills like Dark 10%.
First, start fusing items to create skill scrolls. You can teach those "skill items" to your characters. A really cheesy early tactic is to fuse to create a bunch of EVA 20% Zone Effects and give 'em to all your characters -- apparently, they stack. If you keep yer party in a tight formation they're (illogically) unhittable (well, stray shots will hit from time to time).
Later, you can rank up to get new skills. Still, buying skills isn't the best use of XP -- 50 SP will buy you a state upgrade, and I find that to be far better SP purchase than some of the shittier skills like Dark 10%.
Korranator
Member
Just picked it up today along with DDS. More later...
I just got it yesterday and I am only an hour and a half in, so far I am loving it. I got my ass handed to me in the first battle before the first boss battle, so I levelled up in the Catacombs and beat it and the boss in no time. The gameplay is excellent, like someone else said in this thread, if you like srpgs, you'll love this game.
Roland Hood
Member
Apologies to the purists, but is this game like Vandal Hearts?
Randam_Hajile
Member
I'm pretty sure the yellow missions are stat based. I save before I try one and if I can't complete it, I go level up, come back and can usually complete the mission.Mejilan said:
The voices in battle are sound effects, so turning the FX option up or down will affect the voices in battle along with the other sound effects. Though I agree with Gibbo; The voices in battle are very soft at times no matter how much you turn them up.SailorDaravon said:
Use the generics only in the early game, I suggest. Don't have a story-character archer? Use Orius. Don't have a story-character fighter? Hey there, Hewitt.
Then drop the generics as you start to pad out your forces with story-relevant characters.
I don't use generics at ALL anymore, and I'm only on chapter 2.
Then drop the generics as you start to pad out your forces with story-relevant characters.
I don't use generics at ALL anymore, and I'm only on chapter 2.
Hero said:Crap. I don't know what to do. Get Stella Deus, or Digital Devil Saga?
Which game is better? And for that matter, which game can I finish before Fire Emblem comes out later this month?
Stelladeus is better than DDS1, DDS2 is better than Stelladeus and you really should play DDS1 before DDS2.
So I'd recommend going with Stelladeus and then getting DDS1 sometime before 2 comes out.
Go Go Ackman!
Banned
Got the game, and I'm just past the Viper fight. I'm VERY pleased with this game so far!
I really dig this game a lot. Wonderful music and artwork, and the Effect Zone stuff is pretty neat. The AP bar does make for a more defensive approach to combat, but I love manipulating turn order.
You guys weren't kidding around about the anti-fear warning. I had no troubles taking down Viper the first few times you face him, but now his fear-effect surrounds every adjacent box giving me no hope of bringing the fight up-close without protection. Doesn't help that the fight occurs back-to-back with a separate encounter with no chance for saves in between, adding 15-20 minutes for each retry. All the more reason for me to go grind the catacomb and get everyone anti-fear...grrr.
BTW, here is a really helpful spreadsheet for fusion recipe's I found. Don't fux around in the guild without it.
(it's continually being updated, but it's pretty accurate so far)
http://www.joshovis.com/StellaDeus-Fusion.xls
You guys weren't kidding around about the anti-fear warning. I had no troubles taking down Viper the first few times you face him, but now his fear-effect surrounds every adjacent box giving me no hope of bringing the fight up-close without protection. Doesn't help that the fight occurs back-to-back with a separate encounter with no chance for saves in between, adding 15-20 minutes for each retry. All the more reason for me to go grind the catacomb and get everyone anti-fear...grrr.
BTW, here is a really helpful spreadsheet for fusion recipe's I found. Don't fux around in the guild without it.
(it's continually being updated, but it's pretty accurate so far)http://www.joshovis.com/StellaDeus-Fusion.xls
Game grew stale for me. I'm about halfway through chapter 3, my guys are hitting level 20, and thinking about giving the game up.
The story is simple and not going anywhere, the characters aren't developing, the dialogue (not just the VA, but the actual writing) is getting lamer and lamer. The fights are too easy, the enemy AI is absolutely atrocious, and the guild (missions and fusing) is poorly implemented, imho. Just sick of fighting essentially the same 5 or 6 enemies over and over again, particularly enemies that get themselves stuck behind behind walls and other nonsense (this is big problem with the Catacombs fights.)
*sighs and continues waiting for a legitimate Tactics Ogre successor*
The story is simple and not going anywhere, the characters aren't developing, the dialogue (not just the VA, but the actual writing) is getting lamer and lamer. The fights are too easy, the enemy AI is absolutely atrocious, and the guild (missions and fusing) is poorly implemented, imho. Just sick of fighting essentially the same 5 or 6 enemies over and over again, particularly enemies that get themselves stuck behind behind walls and other nonsense (this is big problem with the Catacombs fights.)
*sighs and continues waiting for a legitimate Tactics Ogre successor*
Drinky Crow
Banned
Hey Mejilan, did you know that Stella Deus is the SEQUEL to Hoshigami?
Drinky Crow said:
I knew it was made by the same team, yes. I own Hoshigami, though I haven't played it yet. I didn't mean to imply that it belonged to the Ogre Saga, it just seemed (after the first few fights) that it might make for a good spiritual successor to the TO series. But as it turns out, Stella Deus just isn't living up, IMHO.
I'm just hoping Square gets the Ogre Saga back on track at some point.
Alex
Member
Man, I guess I'll have to buy this when I'm done with DDS and show you freaks how to write REAL poorly edited, overly convoluted message board impressions, SLACKERS.
As for Iris, I want that game so badly. The only things in recent years I've been so downright pumped for were G2, GX and G3. I dunno, the trailers just make the field and dungeon exploration, customization and item synthesis look so damn FUN. Plus it's just so damn cute.
Anyhow, just don't be surprised when I post two hours after it's release screaming "I SYNTHESIZED A LOAF OF BREAD, HAHA, GOTY".
As for Iris, I want that game so badly. The only things in recent years I've been so downright pumped for were G2, GX and G3. I dunno, the trailers just make the field and dungeon exploration, customization and item synthesis look so damn FUN. Plus it's just so damn cute.
Anyhow, just don't be surprised when I post two hours after it's release screaming "I SYNTHESIZED A LOAF OF BREAD, HAHA, GOTY".
Gonna have to agree with Mejilan, somewhat. I'm nearing the end of chapter 4, and it's gotten a little boring, especially with that story cliche they introduced in the chapter. Although, there are still alot to like, and I'm still interested enough to finish it.
Tedious battling vs tedious item scavenging(and backtracking). Tough choices. I'd go with Atelier Iris. It was interesting from start to finish for me.
The End said:
Tedious battling vs tedious item scavenging(and backtracking). Tough choices. I'd go with Atelier Iris. It was interesting from start to finish for me.
I can also see exactly where Mej is coming from.
Stella Deus is like this massively overproduced 7/10 game; it delivers the status quo with a few neat gimmicks(Zone effects, AP movement, item fusion), but beyond the ethereal soundtrack and duded up character art, it's bog standard fare with a weak story(so far). Catacombs is dullsville and the optional guild quests all do suck.
I'm enjoying it all the same for it's addictive qualities, but it is the type of game that will be soon forgotten I think. Fire Emblem 2 is nearly here anyway...
Stella Deus is like this massively overproduced 7/10 game; it delivers the status quo with a few neat gimmicks(Zone effects, AP movement, item fusion), but beyond the ethereal soundtrack and duded up character art, it's bog standard fare with a weak story(so far). Catacombs is dullsville and the optional guild quests all do suck.
I'm enjoying it all the same for it's addictive qualities, but it is the type of game that will be soon forgotten I think. Fire Emblem 2 is nearly here anyway...
Alex
Member
DDS rocks, I didn't expect it to be so simple though in terms of overall depth. Oh well, character building is a real treat and the dungeons are great stuff. The battle engine is also really intuitive and a pretty genuis take really on the classic TB system.
I have a feeling it's going to get a lot harder though, I've been mostly cheesing it with a generic physical/ice, physical/fire, healing/enfeebling/earth lineup, and from what everyone says I'm going to have to start specializing and diversifying more pretty soon.
The cinemas are fucking ace too. Usually I just don't care, but DDS has such great art and story direction, it's a shame really there isn't more but DDS2 is susposed to fix that.
Still though, I think the dungeons are the star of the game thus far. Up there with my generation favorites (GX and SO3) so far, really satasfying to play through. Also, like the other games mentioned, they can be way too long at times, wheee!
I have a feeling it's going to get a lot harder though, I've been mostly cheesing it with a generic physical/ice, physical/fire, healing/enfeebling/earth lineup, and from what everyone says I'm going to have to start specializing and diversifying more pretty soon.
The cinemas are fucking ace too. Usually I just don't care, but DDS has such great art and story direction, it's a shame really there isn't more but DDS2 is susposed to fix that.
Still though, I think the dungeons are the star of the game thus far. Up there with my generation favorites (GX and SO3) so far, really satasfying to play through. Also, like the other games mentioned, they can be way too long at times, wheee!
Alex
Member
Hey, jig, how are the exploration and dungeons in Iris? Is the synthesis pretty intuitive and fleshed out? How is the side content? It doesn't have any downright broken Saga-esque bullshit does it? (This kind of visual design seems to carry a bad legacy...)
Sorry to bombard you, but I'm really curious.
Oh, then ignore me, Mej, haha. I never got around to playing SMT3. I didnt have much time and the sheer talk of it frightened me off.
Sorry to bombard you, but I'm really curious.
Oh, then ignore me, Mej, haha. I never got around to playing SMT3. I didnt have much time and the sheer talk of it frightened me off.
Alex said:
The 3D overworld is pretty straight foward, not much to explore.
It's quite fun to explore the 2D locales/dungeons though (for the first few times anyway), since there are items everwhere for you to collect or convert into mana. Some are easily within reach, while others require some jumping (and other skills). It's nothing too deep, but fun nevertheless. These areas can be pretty big too, like this here: http://www.jay-t.com/pub/gaf/iris/PmQh_screen.jpg .
The synthesis part is pretty simple. Just gotta combine the right kind of items to create something else. Tweakng the formula can result in better rated items or completely different ones. This part never felt dull to me though, unlike Stell Deus' fusion. Could be that each item is colorfully illustrated. Or that there are so many different varieties. I don't know... It was quite enjoyable to collect them all
Stocking up on the ingredients (and money) was a chore though.Would trying to collect all the items count as side content? There's a bonus dungeon with a bonus spirit, mana, character, and boss after you finish the game. It's the only way to collect every single item in the game. But no on stuff like minigames.
What's the saga-esque bullshit?
Alex
Member
That rocks, thanks much. Exactly what I wanted to hear. The dungeon and locale exploration did look really neat, the synthesis is a big selling point to me if it'sas well implimented as some folks claim it to be and mini-games aren't content, sir. Extra dungeons, characters, items, ect, Yes, that's what I was looking for.
I was just teasing about SaGa bullshit. Just a stab at the Romancing/Frontier series, of course there's also the Mana games. Just gorgeous 2D games seem to have a history of trying for wacky, inept shit and fall on their face. Terrible mechanics, broken non-linearity, ect. Iris seems a little more grounded in reality.
How are the characters and dialogue and whatnot? Charming, funny? I'm aware the plot is likely Tales-esque anime fluff, but it's not really important to me in these more character driven titles.
I was just teasing about SaGa bullshit. Just a stab at the Romancing/Frontier series, of course there's also the Mana games. Just gorgeous 2D games seem to have a history of trying for wacky, inept shit and fall on their face. Terrible mechanics, broken non-linearity, ect. Iris seems a little more grounded in reality.
How are the characters and dialogue and whatnot? Charming, funny? I'm aware the plot is likely Tales-esque anime fluff, but it's not really important to me in these more character driven titles.