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STRANGER OF SWORD CITY |OT| - "We're going to need another Timmy"

Moofers

Member
I haven't played a game like this since Swords and Serpents on the NES. Its been a looooong time. That said, I played the demo on Xbox One and after doing so, ordered the Vita version without hesitation. I'd have bought on the Bone, but I like my physical copies and I adore the Vita, so I'm sort of collecting for that system as well.

I look forward to its arrival tomorrow. Its a beautiful game and I really enjoyed the writing and the game's ability to make me feel like somebody was reading me a story. It felt immersive in ways I didn't really expect it to.
 

kaiju

Member
Looks to be the same size as the LEs for Operation Abyss and Babel, it'll fit in nicely with its awkward companions.

Yes exact size as Op Abyss, they look great together too.

G1oqx9w.jpg
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
I blame Mages for the weird ass massive box design as they did that with some other stuff in the past and did it for abyss and babel lol

they did this with phantom breaker battle grounds cept that was a large ass box artbook and no physical game (ノ-_-)ノ~┻━┻
 
Was wondering why the official thread for this game is so dead... so it's not even out yet for everyone else? Here in Malaysia the Vita version was the shops for a week already... clearly we give no fucks about the concept of street dates, lol.

I just noticed this about the box - I'm assuming your copies have it also, but the cover is reversible, representing the two art styles. They go all out, even changing the back cover, different shots, descriptions and all. The Oxijiyen cover has more... er... emphasis... on certain things ;)

On the game itself, I'm gradually exploring it more and more. It's really open; right from the start you get 3 big areas to explore, and they all keep going and going o_O

I'm liking it so far. The ambush mechanic in the game is great; in fact I tend to keep doing ambushes over and over, it's weirdly addictive. I've heard of the tough difficulty so I'm playing the wussy beginner mode for now, and even then it can get tough at parts (bloody training dungeon throwing level 20 monsters at my poor level 1 team). Dungeons so far are not terrible - there's always handy shortcuts back to the exit, or warp stones straight back to town.

The other system, the lineage monster hunt, is also pretty fun. The method of luring them out (ambushing them, carrying stuff to lure them or just plain running into them) is interesting. Their designs are cool and battles with them are generally tough but fair. They also link directly to the plot progression, since story seem to move forward based on how many blood crystals you collect (you get one per lineage monster killed).

I'm assuming it gets punishingly hard later in the game, but for now I'm having hell of a lot of fun on it. Better than Demon's Gaze and Operation Abyss for sure.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Was wondering why the official thread for this game is so dead... so it's not even out yet for everyone else? Here in Malaysia the Vita version was the shops for a week already... clearly we give no fucks about the concept of street dates, lol.

I just noticed this about the box - I'm assuming your copies have it also, but the cover is reversible, representing the two art styles. They go all out, even changing the back cover, different shots, descriptions and all. The Oxijiyen cover has more... er... emphasis... on certain things ;)

On the game itself, I'm gradually exploring it more and more. It's really open; right from the start you get 3 big areas to explore, and they all keep going and going o_O

I'm liking it so far. The ambush mechanic in the game is great; in fact I tend to keep doing ambushes over and over, it's weirdly addictive. I've heard of the tough difficulty so I'm playing the wussy beginner mode for now, and even then it can get tough at parts (bloody training dungeon throwing level 20 monsters at my poor level 1 team). Dungeons so far are not terrible - there's always handy shortcuts back to the exit, or warp stones straight back to town.

The other system, the lineage monster hunt, is also pretty fun. The method of luring them out (ambushing them, carrying stuff to lure them or just plain running into them) is interesting. Their designs are cool and battles with them are generally tough but fair. They also link directly to the plot progression, since story seem to move forward based on how many blood crystals you collect (you get one per lineage monster killed).

I'm assuming it gets punishingly hard later in the game, but for now I'm having hell of a lot of fun on it. Better than Demon's Gaze and Operation Abyss for sure.

Not many XBO users got the game. NA Vita ver comes out today and should pick up the convo as far more vita fans than XBO ones condsidering the fanbase is on the vita in the west.

Oh yeah later on things will most def start to ramp up. But at least on beginner mode it helps keep the enemies a little lower level which helps close the gap between enemies a little so 1hks are not as bad. As larger gap in levels equals a higher proc rate of 1hk skills lol
 
I just noticed this about the box - I'm assuming your copies have it also, but the cover is reversible, representing the two art styles. They go all out, even changing the back cover, different shots, descriptions and all. The Oxijiyen cover has more... er... emphasis... on certain things ;)

Yep we get the reversable cover art for Vita as well, which is nice that it's the original art on the cover to begin with or else people would complain about the anime boobies.
 

Beartruck

Member
As someone who is trying to get into the dungeon crawler genre, would anyone recommend this game or Ray Gigant? I really like the visual style of this but I've heard Ray Gigant is much more forgiving to newcomers.
 

Saphirax

Member
As someone who is trying to get into the dungeon crawler genre, would anyone recommend this game or Ray Gigant? I really like the visual style of this but I've heard Ray Gigant is much more forgiving to newcomers.

Ray Gigant is a lot easier apparently. If you want to try something more difficult but not as difficult as SoSC, you could try Demon Gaze and/or Operation Abyss.
 
As someone who is trying to get into the dungeon crawler genre, would anyone recommend this game or Ray Gigant? I really like the visual style of this but I've heard Ray Gigant is much more forgiving to newcomers.

Of the Vita drpgs we have (or will have soon), this and Dungeon Travelers would be the last I would suggest for beginners to the genre, unless you're wanting something hard. Demon Gaze is basically the go to "newcomer" game and Ray Gigant is even easier than that. Guess it just depends on what you're looking for when it comes to difficulty. I probably would have wrote off the genre entirely if I started with DG (or something even easier) and not DT, since ease wasn't really something I was looking for at the time.
 

Saphirax

Member
Just my luck...

For those of you who were planning on buying the game from EU PSN:

The physical release is on track for the 29th, but the digital release is TBC, which is why we haven’t mentioned it in this post.

How does this happen?
 
It's kind of disappointing if the game is really that tough. When I was a kid I relished the challenge of repeatedly slamming my head against Ninja Gaiden's brick wall. But as an adult? Punishingly hard games just feel like they're designed to waste my time, forcing me to redo the same content over & over.

I might still check it out, the art is really cool and I get in the mood for one of these games every once in a while, but I may wait until it's on sale.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
As someone who is trying to get into the dungeon crawler genre, would anyone recommend this game or Ray Gigant? I really like the visual style of this but I've heard Ray Gigant is much more forgiving to newcomers.

Honestly Ray Gigant isnt even really a DRPG outside of the first person dungeon navigation. Everything else is totally different. So its not really prepping you for anything that the genre is usually about unfortunately. Since the mechanics with how you "level up" and combat are quite different. Game is a lot more boring too with how you need to constantly hit the exact same points on a map for where the enemy spawn locations will be. And those will never change literally as there are zero random encounters in the game itself. Ray Gigant is something you play more for the narrative / characters rather than the gameplay itself.

Demon Gaze can stomp you early on until you have a full party ready, after that its not too bad.

Operation Abyss is based off of an older game so those who are new to the genre will feel totally lost. Esp with how old a lot of design mechanics are and explanations are a bit of a mess with things as the help sections were moved around in the localized version.

Dungeon Travelers 2 will kick your ass hard if you do not know what you are doing with the classes and how to spend your skill points. That and the excessive fanservice most likely is a huge turnoff to most "modern" gamers these days.
 
Good job SCEE..

TKQq6ebzpZZx6.gif

I'm doing exactly that right now, lol (the dice rolling part)

Incidentally, minor tip... there's no reason not to go ahead and fill up all your guild slots. You get 16 slots, which lets you create two of each class. They make great backup in case one of your main guys need to chill and recover his LP for awhile. They level up fairly decently on their own. AND they give you money.

Which is basically why I'm rolling that fucking dice again :p
 
Got my LE! Can't play until tonight but it's really gorgeous and I'm super glad I got it on the cheap due the Amazon prime preorder saving double glitch thing.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
My LE is arriving today and I have no idea where to begin! :eek:

This should help lol

Thanks! Headache reduced ;)

Heres the info on stats / general allocations.

Also btw those that need help use this Wiki + Google Translate.

http://www.spoiler.jp/srv/tsurugi/

Also in regards to stats allocation once again

Ol4xpU3.png


Max = Racial base starting value + 20

STR - Attack damage
INT - Mage spell damage / effectiveness + max MP
PIE - Cleric spell effectiveness + max MP
VIT - Defense and HP gain
AGI - Effects turn in combat, accuracy and dodge
LUC - Effects various things, one important one is helps with protecting against bad status / chance of getting 1 hit killed.

------------

In regards to age general breakdown
10~19 Years:Max LP 3、Lowest Bonus Pts 3
20~39 Years:Max LP 2、Lowest Bonus Pts 5
40~59 Years:Max LP 2、Lowest Bonus Pts 7
60~99 Years:Max LP 1、Lowest Bonus Pts 10

certain stats is more dependant on what you are going for in a class

fighter is str, vit, agi
knight vit, luk, agi if you want dont need str as much since you wont be attacking too often wirh it.
samurai str agi vit
wizard int, agi, luk, pie if you plan to give it cleric skills
cleric pie, agi, vit

are some examples.

The stats also play into the whole trap disarming and whatnots, but for the most part you dont need to worry too much about that. Since you dont really want to go and make a character around opening chests anyways.

Also while this may confuse you since you are still getting used to the game some info on the class change system with an answer given to another user who was uncertain about it.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=199296396&postcount=180

and this

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=201756493&postcount=336

I'm doing exactly that right now, lol (the dice rolling part)

Incidentally, minor tip... there's no reason not to go ahead and fill up all your guild slots. You get 16 slots, which lets you create two of each class. They make great backup in case one of your main guys need to chill and recover his LP for awhile. They level up fairly decently on their own. AND they give you money.

Which is basically why I'm rolling that fucking dice again :p

The highest roll Ive seen recently was 19. Though I could have sworn I saw it turn to 20 once while it was doing the randomization thing. I really wonder what the chances of getting an actual 20 is lol.
 

hawk2025

Member
Any clear and simple guides on where to allocate points for each class?

I'm scared of making a crippling mistake.

Also, with the class switching... does it even make sense to focus on only a few attributes?

Loving the game so far, but worried about getting crushed later.
 

Saphirax

Member
Any clear and simple guides on where to allocate points for each class?

I'm scared of making a crippling mistake.

Also, with the class switching... does it even make sense to focus on only a few attributes?

Loving the game so far, but worried about getting crushed later.

Look at the post above yours :p.
 

ultra7k

Member
Those that have this, how does this compare to say Demon Gaze and Operation Abyss?

I enjoyed Demon Gaze, but found Abyss to be somewhat more...cumbersome? Less intuitive? Really digging the art style of this game, but if it is more like Abyss, then I will have to pass.
 

CrovaxPSO

Member
Those that have this, how does this compare to say Demon Gaze and Operation Abyss?

I enjoyed Demon Gaze, but found Abyss to be somewhat more...cumbersome? Less intuitive? Really digging the art style of this game, but if it is more like Abyss, then I will have to pass.

Operation Abyss is a remake/port of an older game, so the older systems were carried over for the Vita release. This game is more like Demon Gaze in terms of the more modern UI and ability mechanics. It is more difficult than Demon Gaze though.
 

ultra7k

Member
Operation Abyss is a remake/port of an older game, so the older systems were carried over for the Vita release. This game is more like Demon Gaze in terms of the more modern UI and ability mechanics. It is more difficult than Demon Gaze though.

Awesome. Thanks! Will likely pick it up then.
 

autoduelist

Member
couple easy questions

1) Do things like Vit affecting HP self-adjust when you add points? that is, do you need to add points to Vit early to max your HP, or does it retroactively apply HP for past levels when you add it.

2) Any missable trophies?
 

Ricker

Member
Like many of these old style dungeon crawler,its kinda hard and the progression is really slow...I didnt even finish the long trial on the X1...I should get back into it though but you really have to be in the mood for a slow crawl game like this...Dark Soul,Quantum Break came etc etc...

Maybe I will grab it on the Vita to play this summer at the trailer park.
 

CrovaxPSO

Member
Not a surprise since the English and Japanese Operation Abyss LEs are the same size, but this SoSC LE is the same size as the JP Abyss and Babel limited editions as well. Glad this is finally out here since I've been holding off on another playthrough. Now to platinum it again.

 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Not a surprise since the English and Japanese Operation Abyss LEs are the same size, but this SoSC LE is the same size as the JP Abyss and Babel limited editions as well. Glad this is finally out here since I've been holding off on another playthrough. Now to platinum it again.

man i still remember how for the jp abyss with that big ass box it had only things in it was the artbook and game. Granted I got one the OST was only a specific store exclusive.

thank god babel changed that lol
 

CrovaxPSO

Member
man i still remember how for the jp abyss with that big ass box it had only things in it was the artbook and game. Granted I got one the OST was only a specific store exclusive.

Yeah, at least they didn't have to change the size of the box to have room for the CDs alongside the game.
 

Shizuka

Member
I'm thinking of starting over a new game, my team is just not cutting it, but before I do that... Is this like every other EXP title where if you cross some random level, you're good to go and defeat the last boss?
 
So I've read reviews for both this and Ray Gigant. I can't say I am a big fan of grinding, and that's something that SoSC seems to require quite a lot of. I did hear that this game has difficulty settings though, not sure if putting the game on the easiest one would solve that problem. Ray Gigant seems like a bit of a boring game, with gameplay that I think is a bit too easy for my tastes. If SoSC really did have difficulty settings, and the lowest one made the game a lot easier, I'd be willing to give it a fair shot though
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Yeah, at least they didn't have to change the size of the box to have room for the CDs alongside the game.

Yeah was funny how many abyss LEs were sitting around in store stock due to there being little to no reason for a box that big lol

saw that the NISA one is pretty nicely filled out. price of the artbook and ost together can come near the game price alone.
 

Shizuka

Member
So I've read reviews for both this and Ray Gigant. I can't say I am a big fan of grinding, and that's something that SoSC seems to require quite a lot of. I did hear that this game has difficulty settings though, not sure if putting the game on the easiest one would solve that problem. Ray Gigant seems like a bit of a boring game, with gameplay that I think is a bit too easy for my tastes. If SoSC really did have difficulty settings, and the lowest one made the game a lot easier, I'd be willing to give it a fair shot though

IMO, Ray Gigant's story makes up for the game being easy. That's just me though.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
So I've read reviews for both this and Ray Gigant. I can't say I am a big fan of grinding, and that's something that SoSC seems to require quite a lot of. I did hear that this game has difficulty settings though, not sure if putting the game on the easiest one would solve that problem. Ray Gigant seems like a bit of a boring game, with gameplay that I think is a bit too easy for my tastes. If SoSC really did have difficulty settings, and the lowest one made the game a lot easier, I'd be willing to give it a fair shot though

all easy does is slightly lower the levels of the enemies game will still put up a fight later on.

at least you have the feeling of progression with raising your characters and loot finding fun unlike ray gigant which has none of that.
 

CrovaxPSO

Member
So I've read reviews for both this and Ray Gigant. I can't say I am a big fan of grinding, and that's something that SoSC seems to require quite a lot of. I did hear that this game has difficulty settings though, not sure if putting the game on the easiest one would solve that problem. Ray Gigant seems like a bit of a boring game, with gameplay that I think is a bit too easy for my tastes. If SoSC really did have difficulty settings, and the lowest one made the game a lot easier, I'd be willing to give it a fair shot though

Grinding is a weird term for how you go about getting experience in this game (or at least, for how I did it). I spent a good amount of time at the ambush points to get better equipment. Gaining experience and leveling up was more of a side effect. Yeah, it's still grinding, but in a way you can pick and choose your battles while narrowing down the type of equipment you get in loot. Almost none of my time was spent just running around the dungeons for the sole purpose of getting into encounters.

Yeah was funny how many abyss LEs were sitting around in store stock due to there being little to no reason for a box that big lol

saw that the NISA one is pretty nicely filled out. price of the artbook and ost together can come near the game price alone.

It's the full 2-disc OST as well, and the same art book as the one Experience sells in their online shop. Definitely a good deal.
 
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