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[RyougaSaotome]

Omgomgomgomgomgomg I got to the Highlands last night.

Fuck.

You win, Sen no Kiseki. You win.

It just felt so good to get on a horse MOMENT SPOILERS

Spoiler

riding through an open field as the music builds and the sun sets. Fuck me.

 

[Shouta]

I'm starting my Sen no Kiseki stream.

Check it out and let me know if there are any issues.

 

[Disgaeamad]

Omgomgomgomgomgomg I got to the Highlands last night.

Fuck.

You win, Sen no Kiseki. You win.

It just felt so good to get on a horse MOMENT SPOILERS

Spoiler

riding through an open field as the music builds and the sun sets. Fuck me.

Didn't realise I made a post about this.

 

[RyougaSaotome]

Hahaha. I see what you did there.

 

[Shouta]

Done with the Prologue. Thanks for the 3 or so folks like Soused who watched the stream.

I'll probably continue a bit offline and stream another day from where I leave off.

 

[Kamion]

God... the NPCs in this game. I'm talking to ALL of them after every event so I don't miss a line of dialogue. They're so well written.

They always were for these games, but I feel like Sen has just mastered this completely.

 

[Aeana]

I spent a while last night reading all of the books I have available. I think the books are my favorite thing about this series.

 

[Reluctant-Hero]

It's strange that screen blacks out for a few seconds, yet the game to continues to run, when you take a Vita screenshot.

Edit: I have no idea of what the hell is going on, but playing through intro was amazing. I love the art direction, music and of course the tried and true TitS battle system. This game is everything I want out of a modern JRPG and it's insane that I'll never be able to experience it in English.

 

[Disgaeamad]

God... the NPCs in this game. I'm talking to ALL of them after every event so I don't miss a line of dialogue. They're so well written.

They always were for these games, but I feel like Sen has just mastered this completely.

My favourite thing about it is the fact that when you need to do quests while helping out the student council, you actually really care about what you're doing. It's a very fulfilling feeling helping out and seeing NPCs have their own development too as the game progresses.

 

[hongcha]

It's Oct 3rd (in Japan) now. What time will the patch hit?

 

[Aeana]

It's Oct 3rd (in Japan) now. What time will the patch hit?

They said 10AM IIRC.

 

[luca1980]

so sad....so few jrpg with that scale arrive in the us nowadays.

back it are the environments to explore bigger than before? are they full crowded?

did you enjoy the music as before?
does the plot take its time or does it have a faster pace than snk fc?

last question: do you feel the scale of the franchise is intact despite the graphical jump or is it even bigger than before?

 

[twentytwo22]

Been super busy in real life, so haven't been able to play (or post here) as much as I would have liked up to this point. I'm in the middle of chapter 3 and really enjoying the game so far (aside from the loading times). Besides some of the technical issues discussed earlier in the thread (a bit of jank, if you will) Falcom has done quite an admirable job of bringing the Kiseki series into full 3D.

Spoiler talk up through the first part of chapter 3:

Spoiler

So much to speculate about! I'm really interested to see what the deal is with the creation of Class VII and Sara's background, as well. Can't wait to see what Blue Blanc and Toval are up to. Also interested to see what the deal is with the old school building, as I could see that going a few different ways.

I like most of tge characters so far, particularly Laura, Jusis, and Gaius. I wasn't hot on Fie or Alisa at the start, but they are growing on me.

 

[omgfloofy]

Based on twentytwo22's commentary - I'm about halfway through chapter 3 now.

Spoiler

Am I the only person who's noticed that some of the monsters in the area below the old school building are similar (even in death) to monsters from 3rd?

That doesn't bode well to me! It seems that it's starting to become more evident in that direction with each level, too.

Regarding characters mentioned (still up to chapter 3):

Spoiler

I'm more wondering why we have two people who have connections (Toval connected to Ein, and Bleu Blanc being Ouroboros) in totally opposite areas are interested in the same thing. To me, this doesn't exactly mean well for Class VII.

I've also had a few REALLY CRACKY theories about Emma, but I'm almost afraid to mention them because I might have my tinfoil hat on too tight.

 

[jae]

Vita patch is up.

 

[Aeana]

Vita patch is up.

Maybe it really was just Vita only, because there's nothing for PS3 available. Wish they would've said something so I didn't get my hopes up.
EDIT: Wait a minute, apparently I am not even connected to PSN because there's a PS3 update.

 

[Shouta]

I just updated to 1.01 on my PS3 but it seems it was because of the free items on PSN? Maybe it was Vita only, boo.

 

[Aeana]

Yeah just got the 1.01 patch now after updating my PS3. And yeah it only mentions the DLC in the notes. I'll compare loading times in a sec.

 

[jae]

Much better going between areas on Vita. Still a bit slow in and out of battle, though.

 

[Aeana]

Well, since I can't tell if loading is better or not on PS3, either it really didn't change anything or the speedup is minor. Too bad, I guess. Not that it's intolerable, but it would be nice if they were a little faster...

 

[RangerBAD]

Vita version did outsell the PS3 version, right? Might be why it only improved the Vita version.

 

[Aeana]

Vita version did outsell the PS3 version, right? Might be why it only improved the Vita version.

No, I'd say the reason is because the PS3 version's loads are dramatically better than the Vita's. Probably even post-patch.

 

[Shouta]

PS3 version seems to be the same. Still has the stuttering which is a shame. I would've hoped Falcom would have addressed that at least.

 

[Shouta]

Streaming Sen no Kiseki. I'm at the start of Ch 1 for anyone that wants to watch.

 

[DangerMouse]

I'm starting my Sen no Kiseki stream.

Check it out and let me know if there are any issues.

Checked out the recording of the first playthrough segment so far, very cool, thanks.

 

[RyougaSaotome]

Streaming Sen no Kiseki. I'm at the start of Ch 1 for anyone that wants to watch.

I have the next hour or so free. I'll def tune in.

Can't download the Vita patch till I get home. How big is it?

 

[Sitrus]

Just got it! Preorder bonus was nice Time to grab some coffee and start the game.

Now Loading...

 

[Dark Schala]

Hope the patch ain't too big. I'd probably need to clean out my fridge.

But yep! Mine finally made it here too!

I just want to know what the music sounds like, so I'll start it for a little bit in a sec.

 

[Sitrus]

Hope the patch ain't too big. I'd probably need to clean out my fridge.

But yep! Mine finally made it here too!

I just want to know what the music sounds like, so I'll start it for a little bit in a sec.

The patch in very small, most likely an engine patch. Finished downloading in 10 sec for me.

 

[RyougaSaotome]

I just want to know what the music sounds like, so I'll start it for a little bit in a sec.

Iz so good.

3rd has my favorite overall OST of the series, but I can see this being a close 2nd if it continues down the road it's going.

 

[Reluctant-Hero]

The patch in very small, most likely an engine patch. Finished downloading in 10 sec for me.

Yeah, the Vita patch is only 11mbs in size.

 

[Cybolt]

Just caught up to the topic and while I won't be able to play this for a while, it is great being able to see everyone's thoughts as they go.

 

[Shouta]

Thanks for watching folks. I'll stream again tomorrow night. I kind of stopped at a bad part though, there was actual story going on after lol.

 

[RyougaSaotome]

It's strange that screen blacks out for a few seconds, yet the game to continues to run, when you take a Vita screenshot.

Edit: I have no idea of what the hell is going on, but playing through intro was amazing. I love the art direction, music and of course the tried and true TitS battle system. This game is everything I want out of a modern JRPG and it's insane that I'll never be able to experience it in English.

Looking forward to reading more impressions from you.

You're coming at this from a pretty unique viewpoint compared to the rest of us. =)

 

[Gromph]

Thanks for watching folks. I'll stream again tomorrow night. I kind of stopped at a bad part though, there was actual story going on after lol.

In what difficulty are you playing?

Started on Hard, but planing to restart in nightmare.

 

[Shouta]

I'm playing on Hard. Nightmare requires a save data, I think. So you can't access it on a first playthrough, as I recall.

 

[Dark Schala]

I was just going to ask which difficulty you guys are playing on. Do you find Hard balanced at all? I mean, Falcom's difficulty setting balancing is typically decent, but it's just something I should probably ask in case.

I really like how this looks. Title theme isn't as good as Nayuta's as I've heard, but it's still great, as expected from most Kiseki games. Edit: Oh, and load times are kinda eh, and that's after downloading the patch. Weird.

Can't wait to talk to more NPCs. Everyone's been gushing about 'em.

 

[Shouta]

I almost always play on Hard which provides just about the right challenge for my first playthroughs.

 

[omgfloofy]

I'm currently playing on hard right now. And I basically want to run through the story for the first time, so sometimes I'm kicking myself for making that selection in the first place.

But oh well.

 

[Sitrus]

Playing on normal for a relaxing first playthrough. I have to say, I love the battle music

 

[RyougaSaotome]

I really like how this looks. Title theme isn't as good as Nayuta's as I've heard, but it's still great, as expected from most Kiseki games. Edit: Oh, and load times are kinda eh, and that's after downloading the patch. Weird.

The title theme isn't quite as good, but the actual title screen is fantastic. A really neat touch.

 

[encephalon]

So now ... Vita ver., the battle screen takes roughly 8-10 seconds and is long enough for one "Now Loading" flash instead of 2 or 3. A marginal improvement, but the appearance of "Now Loading" before entering a battle seems like the result of what was clearly intended for the hardware to be pull off faster. Like when "Now Loading" occasionally appeared for me while playing SC or 3rd during a battle, when it simply couldn't read from the disc in time to load the voices or whatnot.

Someone made a video of the PS3 ver. Slightly better, but probably not by any noticeable measure for those who have been playing the PS3 ver.

 

[Dark Schala]

Thanks for the input with respect to difficulty. I started on Hard.

Battles feel so much better now that they aren't limited to the grid (+Tactics Link). Much faster and the flow is more consistent, imo. I might be in the minority for this, but it's going to be a little weird to go back to the older games in terms of battles. Then again, this certainly isn't the series you go to for battles in a primary sense, as the narrative and narrative are its strongest suits.

I suppose that goes along with the battle theme pacing, too. The older games' battle themes were a little slower, and these ones are uptempo, so yay. I'm pretty pleased with the progression so far.

 

[twentytwo22]

Post patch on Vita, zoning seems much better than before but the entrance and exit out of battle times are still longer than I had hoped they would be.

Falcom has stated that they are looking into releasing a further patch (es) to speed up the load times even more.

I can definitely deal with it now (hell, I was getting used to it pre-patch) but I'm glad to see that they have been very active about this. The game itself is very good so far, and this is their first time using the engine, so I'm willing to forgive them - it just all feels a little un-Falcom like, especially coming from their PSP games which had incredibly little loading.

 

[RyougaSaotome]

Post patch on Vita, zoning seems much better than before but the entrance and exit out of battle times are still longer than I had hoped they would be.

Falcom has stated that they are looking into releasing a further patch (es) to speed up the load times even more.

I can definitely deal with it now (hell, I was getting used to it pre-patch) but I'm glad to see that they have been very active about this. The game itself is very good so far, and this is their first time using the engine, so I'm willing to forgive them - it just all feels a little un-Falcom like, especially coming from their PSP games which had incredibly little loading.

Also coming off of Ys Celceta, which was quick as a bullet too.

Still, the underlying game is a blast. I think this is my favorite form of the battle system up till now. Combat is fast, intense, and the music is amazing.

They really did a wonderful job bringing the system into the 3D world.

 

[encephalon]

The voices make playing Kiseki games so much "easier" for me. I frequently come across words I know the meaning of, but not the reading (or I've forgotten). I really can't wait to replay Zero and Ao evolution. From what I've heard, I agree with Aeana that the music isn't quite as good as the original in Zero, but I would have liked to see a similar treatment of remix versions for the Sora games. The battle music in SC is really unfortunate for what is supposed to be a dramatic conclusion to FC, which had some embarrassing boss music itself. We've come a long way, because the music in this game sounds thoroughly amazing so far. Although maybe it's just me, but somehow the first boss fight music sounds a little low quality (in terms of sound quality).

Falcom has stated that they are looking into releasing a further patch (es) to speed up the load times even more.

Looks like my wishful thinking turned into a reality.

 

[RyougaSaotome]

The battle music in SC is really unfortunate for what is supposed to be a dramatic conclusion to FC, which had some embarrassing boss music itself.

Damn, I can't disagree with this enough. SC has some killer boss battle themes.

I also have a soft spot for the jazzy regular battle themes too.

 

[encephalon]

Damn, I can't disagree with this enough. SC has some killer boss battle themes.

I also have a soft spot for the jazzy regular battle themes too.

I went to go find SC's main battle theme on youtube, but I suppose no one wanted to listen to it. Ever.

Spoiler

I do like the jazzier portions of the battle themes and "sophisticated fight" from FC, but some of the more basic/general themes could feel a bit more "inspired." Obviously stuff like Silver Will, important story battle themes are pretty good stuff, however.

 

[Dunan]

I seem to be working through 3rd at a brisk pace. It's quite a change from FC and SC, but now that the penny has dropped (end of chapter two), things are getting interesting.

Was just randomly looking at Kiseki games' release dates, and spotted a bit of a pattern (lol).
FC (PSP) 2006年9月28日
SC (PSP) 2007年9月27日
3rd (PSP) 2008年7月24日
Zero 2010年9月30日
Ao 2011年9月29日
Sen 2013年9月26日

So, part two of the Erebonia story on 25 September 2014 then? Hopefully I'll be done with Ao Evo by then, whenever that comes out!

This game is getting savaged in the Amazon.co.jp reviews, and one person in particular pointed out that the pressure to get the game out by the end of the fiscal year (Sept. 30) was one reason why the loading speeds hadn't been improved upon before release, to which he adds: "What do we care about their accounting system!?"

I might be interested in this game when it gets cheaper. (I still have my English-language Trails in the Sky, purchased for just $14.99, sitting barely played...)

 

[encephalon]

This game is getting savaged in the Amazon.co.jp reviews, and one person in particular pointed out that the pressure to get the game out by the end of the fiscal year (Sept. 30) was one reason why the loading speeds hadn't been improved upon before release, to which he adds: "What do we care about their accounting system!?"

I might be interested in this game when it gets cheaper. (I still have my English-language Trails in the Sky, purchased for just $14.99, sitting barely played...)

Maybe it's my imagination, but the Vita ver. started with 1 star and has since moved up to 2? Unfortunately, the patch isn't enough of an improvement to where it's likely to have any noticeable effect on the reviews. Load times are still "bad," as this is coming from someone who has only ever played the PS ver. of Chrono Trigger.