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[BlazingDarkness]

Wish I could.... I've got a puny 20GB HDD and only have 1GB free. It's full of DLC and I had to get rid of my Burnout DLC for room for the NXE.

sorry to hear

 

[Baker]

I'm not spoilering texting this, so if you're anal, don't read. It's not about the story, just later formations...


What did you guys switch to when you get upgraded to 15 party members (yes I'm now battle level 60 and only that far in the story, hehe)? Beforehand, I went 2-3, 3-3, 4-3, but the addition of these latest three is kind of throwing things off.

It's coming to a point where unions consisting of three people aren't going to cut it. I like the strategies associated with having four unions, but they only give us three new slots. So now I have three unions with four people, and a final turd union with three that pretty much does nothing except get some cheap rear attacks and die a lot (they're a strict combat group).

Should I degrade to three unions with five a piece or what? That would definitely screw up how I have my combat, mixes, and spell members rationed.

On a side note, whoever said this game reminded them of FF12 a few posts back, I agree. I guinea pigged the game for a buddy and Day One I wrote him and said "FF12 + Blue Dragon + FFT." The town design and visual style is definitely reminiscent of FF. Hell, sometimes I swear David is Titus and that crazy bad dude is Jecht.

 

[Snowden]

Don't listen to the reviews? Oh com'n, how bad could they be....

pffpfffpttthahahaHAHAHAHAHAHA :lol

Hm...

 

[TChirath]

A lot of questions and comments needed after 8hrs in.. If someone could answer I'd appreciate it.

1. Is there a way to tell which union will go first during a turn? I know speed has to do with it, but even then, it looks like it's still pretty random to me. This has messed my strategy up all the time.

2. What are some of the things you look for in order to anticipate enemy's interception, flank attack, or any other union action (not unit) for that matter? I suspect it has to do with positioning on the mini-map, but I still don't quite understand it. Sometimes when I try to attack the nearest enemy union in order to avoid interception, it still happens quite often.

3. #2 related -- Sometimes it's not possible to avoid flank attack when the number of enemy unions are greater than yours. However, is there a way to "guess" which of your union will be flanked?

4. I have been trying to go out of my way to collect ingredients needed for weapons, but not accessories. Are there any accessories that are very helpful to get? I'm just using generic ones like +5% str and such. Right now I'm quite early in the game (just got to a very big city that starts with E).

Thanks in advance

 

[Spirit of Jazz]

I just wanted to ask how the combat system is in this game. I've been thinking of buying it but I'm just finishing up on persona 3 and am finding the experience to have been quite a bit shallow and repetitive (well, aside from the fusion element) Is it more of the same here?

 

[BlazingDarkness]

I just wanted to ask how the combat system is in this game. I've been thinking of buying it but I'm just finishing up on persona 3 and am finding the experience to have been quite a bit shallow and repetitive (well, aside from the fusion element) Is it more of the same here?

if you have the time (lol, we're on GAF, you have the time) check out the first 40 minutes on gamersyde http://gamersyde.com/news_7346_en.html it's got a good mix of combat/cutscene/exploration for you to get an idea of the game

 

[Baker]

A lot of questions and comments needed after 8hrs in.. If someone could answer I'd appreciate it.

1. Is there a way to tell which union will go first during a turn? I know speed has to do with it, but even then, it looks like it's still pretty random to me. This has messed my strategy up all the time.

On the very first round, I'm as clueless as you. After that, unions in deadlock will act before any other group. This especially sucks if your non-healing group is the only person in deadlock.

2. What are some of the things you look for in order to anticipate enemy's interception, flank attack, or any other union action (not unit) for that matter? I suspect it has to do with positioning on the mini-map, but I still don't quite understand it. Sometimes when I try to attack the nearest enemy union in order to avoid interception, it still happens quite often.

You pretty much got it. Running across the battlefield to engage an enemy will give you a higher chance of getting intercepted. Basically it works like this:

You = A
Teammate = B
Enemy = X
Enemy 2 = Z

A picks to attack Z
Z picks to attack B
A gets a positive (blue) Interception which raises your morale

A picks to attack X
Z picks to attack A and gets their turn earlier
A gets a negative (red) Interference

Again, this is pretty much entirely based around the transparent turn order, so it doesn't happen every time.

3. #2 related -- Sometimes it's not possible to avoid flank attack when the number of enemy unions are greater than yours. However, is there a way to "guess" which of your union will be flanked?

Sometimes it seems random and sometimes it seems like all the enemies gang up on your weakest group (magic users or team with less people). This is a non-answer, but it might be random or it might be based on certain enemy AI.

4. I have been trying to go out of my way to collect ingredients needed for weapons, but not accessories. Are there any accessories that are very helpful to get? I'm just using generic ones like +5% str and such. Right now I'm quite early in the game (just got to a very big city that starts with E).

I don't really mess with accessories either. I'll always find better stuff, but they won't have the bonus effects of my currently equipped items. I stick with HP/Str/or AP raisers right now. I try to keep the bonuses concurrent to my weapon or fun stuff like counter attack buffs.

 

[Enron]

Hm...

hahahaha.

 

[Burli]

Thanks to everyones useful impression I decided to buy the game, unfortunately I missed the play £17.99 but for anyone else in England (And Britain I presume) take a look at Gamestation, it's £24.99 on their site and in store.

 

[pelicansurf]

What? Compared to Hell's Gate that guy was simple! I just don't see how you beat Hell's Gate but are dying to the next boss. Try some different tactics maybe?

Unless you kept multiple saves, then you aren't going to be able to go back once you get in that area. But if you were able to beat Hell's Gate you should be able to take down the next boss... really.

What do you do to not get 1 shotted by that stupid bird? I have 0-1 reviving items so there's going to be a shitload of trial and error. Any strategies?

 

[Bossman]

Damn, that DLC dungeon is pretty tough. The place is filled with monsters and you don't even have a minimap.

 

[Raide]

Play dispatched my copy on 2nd Dec, now I just have to wait to join the party.

Have I made the right choice then Gaf?

 

[Schopenhauer]

A lot of questions and comments needed after 8hrs in.. If someone could answer I'd appreciate it.

1. Is there a way to tell which union will go first during a turn? I know speed has to do with it, but even then, it looks like it's still pretty random to me. This has messed my strategy up all the time.

Just some of my general observations on turn order.

1. Smaller units tend to go before larger units.

2. An all mage unit seems to move before a comparably sized all warrior unit. (I think this has to do with weapon weight).

3. Between units of the same type and size speed seems to be the determining factor (whether the units formation increases or decreases mobility seems to have some effect as well).

 

[knitoe]

What? Compared to Hell's Gate that guy was simple! I just don't see how you beat Hell's Gate but are dying to the next boss. Try some different tactics maybe?

Unless you kept multiple saves, then you aren't going to be able to go back once you get in that area. But if you were able to beat Hell's Gate you should be able to take down the next boss... really.

Weird. I beat Hell's Gate w/o anyone dying. The next boss was a pain. Took awhile to beat him.

1) Problem was the boss dude would do his special move, does 1000is damage (1/2 of union's life), and then, his flying thing would come flank doing another 1000ish damage to finish off the group. Repeat. Over and over again.

2) If you attack a boss character with any union, they get to counter attack. That means, if you have 3 unions vs 1 boss, you get 3 attacks but the boss does too. When their counter attack means 1000ish damage, it hurts.


Have a question. When it says, you have unlock more powerful formation. Formation word listing doesn't change. How do you know which formation was upgraded?

 

[kagete]

Have a question. When it says, you have unlock more powerful formation. Formation word listing doesn't change. How do you know which formation was upgraded?

I would like to know about this as well. So far it seems like I've been using Pincer Grip and it's now up to III rank for some reason (repeated use?).Then I got a treasure with Ballista in it and it said that an existing formation got stronger. I tried all my formations with a few different combinations of heroes but I couldn't figure out exactly which one upgrades to Ballista. Is it Arrowhead? Is it worth my time to find out?

 

[Quazar]

God damn RK was right on this game. Stayed up to 3am yesterday playing this. Its the new crack!

 

[BuckRobotron]

Just got mine from Amazon, came with a surprise pre-order bonus card attached as well. Hope I can get to it soon seeing the enthusiasm of the thread, although the deal I got on it doesn't change the reason why I didn't pick the game up earlier despite my interest (lack of time). On the shelf next to ToV for now.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

my second copy of the game arrived this afternoon
i installed it straight away, not had chance to go on it yet, only just got home from class
look forward to playing tonight

 

[kagete]

uhh, is everyone finished with the game or too busy? This thread is practically dead. Anyway I have a question about the story leaders: Is it okay to ignore them and focus on the expensive and unique recruitable leaders that look cool and have better stats? I'm worried that I'll hit a scripted event wherein I'll have to use the underpowered generals I haven't placed in any unions. Aside from David, do the generals get special and unique attacks that I might miss out on?

Any help will be appreciated since I'm still early in the game (mucking around Elysion and Barbarossa) and I want to recruit the leader that costs 19K as well as Loki.

 

[Baker]

uhh, is everyone finished with the game or too busy? This thread is practically dead. Anyway I have a question about the story leaders: Is it okay to ignore them and focus on the expensive and unique recruitable leaders that look cool and have better stats? I'm worried that I'll hit a scripted event wherein I'll have to use the underpowered generals I haven't placed in any unions. Aside from David, do the generals get special and unique attacks that I might miss out on?

Any help will be appreciated since I'm still early in the game (mucking around Elysion and Barbarossa) and I want to recruit the leader that costs 19K as well as Loki.

I think it's physically impossible to finish the game. There is so much side shit to do, the storyline almost takes a backseat.

As for the generals, I dunno. I suck with RPGs that give you more characters than allowed in your party. I keep them in (except Blocter cuz his stats suck) for the reason you said. I'm worried you'll need them later on and they might end up too weak. I do purchase the special leaders you unlock through quests just for the sense of accomplishment, though.

 

[kagete]

Oh. Hopefully the people that either finished the game or are near the end can chime in regarding this. I hope it's like Valkyrie Profile 2 wherein you can just use your favorite einherjar all the time and not use the story heroes.

 

[IJoel]

Oh. Hopefully the people that either finished the game or are near the end can chime in regarding this. I hope it's like Valkyrie Profile 2 wherein you can just use your favorite einherjar all the time and not use the story heroes.

I haven't finished the game (currently playing disc 2), but the only time I can think of that could cause an issue is when you have to go off on a story quest with just one of the characters. That character is

Spoiler

Emma

.

 

[kagete]

How about in terms of special attacks? David has Ex Machina and Torgal has unique attack skills. Do the other generals have special attacks as well? I don't like missing out on fancy attack animations in a game, even if I only get to view it once or twice.

Oh and do recruitable leaders get any unique attacks of their own? some of them are really expensive and have interesting character descriptions.

Semry from the first guild looks like a female samurai and seems pretty cool, are there other better/unique recruitable units like her? This damn leader limit is killing me...Aagh i'd actually pay for DLC that lets the maximum # of leader limits = the # of allowed units

 

[Quazar]

Can anyone confirm whether or not the rare monster rotten plant exists in Dilmoor?

 

[IJoel]

How about in terms of special attacks? David has Ex Machina and Torgal has unique attack skills. Do the other generals have special attacks as well? I don't like missing out on fancy attack animations in a game, even if I only get to view it once or twice.

For me it has been this way:
1. Special attacks (e.g. Ex Machina) from supporting characters are static. When you acquire the character, if it has a special attack, that will be it. Rush, however, can learn new special attacks. So far I've had Rush, David, and another character with such attacks.
2. I might be wrong about this, but I don't think any skill is really unique. As you progress through the game, you gain new skills depending on your skill usage, and equipped weapon. Meaning that if you concentrate on melee while with a 1-h weapon, you'll learn appropriate skills (e.g. Smash). If you focus on magic, the character will learn new spells. Basically these aren't specific to a character, but are learned based on your usage of such character.

Oh and do recruitable leaders get any unique attacks of their own? some of them are really expensive and have interesting character descriptions.

I don't think so. The above applies to all characters, recruitable or not.

Semry from the first guild looks like a female samurai and seems pretty cool, are there other better/unique recruitable units like her? This damn leader limit is killing me...Aagh i'd actually pay for DLC that lets the maximum # of leader limits = the # of allowed units

The scenarios are balanced per the specified limitations. Otherwise the game would be far too easy.

 

[Blackjack]

The scenarios are balanced per the specified limitations. Otherwise the game would be far too easy.

So this does get harder then? Just got to Elysion, and it's been REALLY easy so far. The only difficulty was from that cheap-ass Curse spell.

That doesn't mean I'm not loving this game though, because I really am. Everything about it is just right for me.

 

[Shouta]

Got my copy and I'm starting to play the game rawr!

 

[Ricker]

Some area's get thougher as you grow better...like Dilmoor,I went back to try and spawn that rare monster and the monsters now in there,if you go in not from a quest anyway,are all jacked up...I have 3 unions now,although the last one I made only has 4 members and the total HP is only in the 900.They seem to have much higher defense,or HP...I absolutly had to pull one at a time and I died quickly when I accidently pulled 2 and wound up having 4 unions to fight.

Also took me a while to figure out that when the loot is on screen and someone says they want it,I was actually hitting "seize" thinking it was to let them have it,until I noticed one Unit say "Grrr" when I did that,you just need to let it be and click OK.There's also a shop in Athlum still that the girl says it's not open yet and that stupid big guy blocking some stairs and he says he wont move...just finished the Emma part and that was awesome...with all the quests this game is turning out to be one great dungeon crawler.Great fun.

 

[WalkMan]

After a battle, when one of your characters says they'll take some of the loot. It also says sometimes say they have enough to upgrade their weapon. Do the characters take whatevers necessary to benefit their own equipment - sorta like an automatic thing?

 

[Baker]

After a battle, when one of your characters says they'll take some of the loot. It also says sometimes say they have enough to upgrade their weapon. Do the characters take whatevers necessary to benefit their own equipment - sorta like an automatic thing?

Yeah.

Then the way it "should" work, once they have all the requisite components, their equipment will upgrade after the next battle. However, I have seen people's stuff level who never asked for items, so who really knows?

Like the guy said above you, make sure you aren't seizing the loot or they won't get it.

 

[Blackjack]

Yeah.

Then the way it "should" work, once they have all the requisite components, their equipment will upgrade after the next battle. However, I have seen people's stuff level who never asked for items, so who really knows?

Like the guy said above you, make sure you aren't seizing the loot or they won't get it.

Weapons upgrading and weapons leveling up are two different things.

Weapons leveling up (+1, +2, etc) relates to how much they're used (though like all things it seems a bit random). Upgrading is what the items are needed for and it works generally the same way as it does for Rush, only there's no need to go to a customization store.

 

[gregor7777]

Played for a hour or two last night and I'm liking it so far. Not sure what the fuck is going on yet though. :lol

Wasn't this the game meant for the Western audience...presumably those that don't play many JRPGs? Fairly complicated game for that audience IMO.

Maybe I'm just not thinking about the game's battle system the right way.

 

[donkey show]

Yeah! Got the game in the mail today. Didn't know it came with the preorder bonus so I'm surprised.

Will play after the Laker game though. :lol

 

[duk]

So this game is goood yea??

 

[BlazingDarkness]

so i just wondered into dillmoor after splitting with david and the others for the first time
and WHAM a huge fuck off bird rapes me
it was sat on the bridge part, called 'tornado'
it cursed all of my members and gave me game over in one turn

 

[Quazar]

so i just wondered into dillmoor after splitting with david and the others for the first time
and WHAM a huge fuck off bird rapes me
it was sat on the bridge part, called 'tornado'
it cursed all of my members and gave me game over in one turn

That is a RARE monster. Game has plenty per zone. I beat him luckily and all the others in the zone besides 'rotten plant'. Haven't seen that one. Zone out to depop it.

 

[Xevren]

so i just wondered into dillmoor after splitting with david and the others for the first time
and WHAM a huge fuck off bird rapes me
it was sat on the bridge part, called 'tornado'
it cursed all of my members and gave me game over in one turn

Yea that happened to me too. After that I started paying more attention and using the dpad to highlight monsters to see if one is a rare. If they are I save it before trying.

 

[Torquill]

Small changes can make huge differences in perception.

I think they should have used a black loading screen with a subtle "loading" message and only bring in the more detailed screens for longer loads. Would have helped make shorter loads less intrusive.

 

[jrricky]

This game got murder in the reviews. :O

The worst rated Square console game in a long time...........

Ill pick this up at $20 during the summer...if its even worth that price.

 

[alanias]

It's worth the price, reviewers hate most 360 JRPGs anyways. It has technical problems, but so does Fable 2. Both are great games.

 

[Blackjack]

This game got murder in the reviews. :O

The worst rated Square console game in a long time...........

Ill pick this up at $20 during the summer...if its even worth that price.

It's worth 20.

I paid 30 for it, and after an hour decided I would've paid 60. It is an excellent game.

 

[tehbear]

This game got murder in the reviews. :O

The worst rated Square console game in a long time...........

Ill pick this up at $20 during the summer...if its even worth that price.

Don't believe Ondore's lies. Square delivers!



I am not getting the point of some these weapons, 2 handed axe on my soldiers seems to do over 50% more damage, give me better defense than single handed weapons, much better mystic defense than my spear guy when the "levels" are about the same.

I don't even know why I keep one handers around except for the fact I haven't found an axe guy with potion skills yet.

 

[kagete]

Well guys with smaller weapons generally act faster so it's likelier that you can terminate a union you're deadlocked with before they can attack.

 

[Tabris]

Man, this game is probabaly the hardest RPG I've played this generation.

I am getting slaughtered. I'm trying to fight this one giant boss with 2 blackbirds (first time fighting them) and they use an ability called Curse that just randomly KO's my guys or makes them unable to act. It's annoying as all hell.

So I'm grinding now so I can get to the point of beating those.

 

[kagete]

You don't have to kill the birds. If you don't feel like grinding, just distract them with one or 2 unions and focus on killing the giant

 

[Lebron]

Hmm, this thread is overly positive. I was planning on playing this sometime next year, but I may just cave and pick it up after finals next week.

 

[batbeg]

Hells Gate is kicking my ass. Does this boss level with you, or would grinding my HP up a little help? It's that damn Enchanted move that does me in... is there any protection against that?

Make sure you can use vivification herbs! I didn't know why I wasn't being given the option to use them in this fight despite having the necessary herb... until I later realized vivification requires two different herbs. I've yet to try this fight again (got caught in doing side-quests again), but I'm fairly sure this will help with the fight a whole fucking lot.

 

[Blackjack]

Man, this game is probabaly the hardest RPG I've played this generation.

I am getting slaughtered. I'm trying to fight this one giant boss with 2 blackbirds (first time fighting them) and they use an ability called Curse that just randomly KO's my guys or makes them unable to act. It's annoying as all hell.

So I'm grinding now so I can get to the point of beating those.

Yeah, Curse is the only thing to have ever made me lose Units (well, insta-death in general. But especially Curse). Basically for that fight I just completely ignored the birds and killed the boss.

 

[tehbear]

Well guys with smaller weapons generally act faster so it's likelier that you can terminate a union you're deadlocked with before they can attack.

This was true for me in early part of the game, but after awhile everything has so much hp that only my grounds of double heavy axe guys can hope to take out in one turn. Again if I could find more I would stack my whole squad with them, but I think they purposely don't give me ones with the skillsets / stats I want lol.

Also my lance guys are useless, they are like double axe guys, same everything, but half the mys defense. The weapons still confound me.

Man, this game is probabaly the hardest RPG I've played this generation.

I am getting slaughtered. I'm trying to fight this one giant boss with 2 blackbirds (first time fighting them) and they use an ability called Curse that just randomly KO's my guys or makes them unable to act. It's annoying as all hell.

So I'm grinding now so I can get to the point of beating those.

If you do even just half of the side quests the game becomes a bit too easy I think. Though at first I didn't know where to recruit soldiers so I was getting killed with my two solo hero unions lol.

 

[Shouta]

Man, I just took out one of the first monsters early in the game (The Dominator) with Two Unions (nine units in total). Man, I tried so many times and I finally pulled off. :lol