Originally Posted by crunchewy I was really excited for this game, but you people have convinced me that this isn't for me. It sounds... tedious. I do love the art style though. I'll probably pick it up when it hits $20.

I think the only tedious thing about it are those who are OCD about quests and collecting familiars. I haven't met the girl in the cave, but I can see the familiar researcher being a pain in the ass. Fortunately, the quests are optional.

Originally Posted by Dead of Knight I liked most of the quests. :(

Every town is broken down into I need heart, I lost my diary, collect pokemon for my research, or request an item/delivery. The bounty hunts I obviously loved because they presented actual challenges, but otherwise the quests are just boilerplate MMO tedium. Luckily, the main quests were typically pretty good and rewarding so that help offset the monotony.

Originally Posted by TheLongshot I think the only tedious thing about it are those who are OCD about quests and collecting familiars. I haven't met the girl in the cave, but I can see the familiar researcher being a pain in the ass. Fortunately, the quests are optional.

They're not really optional if you want to merit rewards and the more you do, the faster you gain access to the benefits. As for being OCD about familiar collecting, I can see that for certain people but as far as experimentation goes, there's too many wrong answers and very few right. What I mean by that is people have already discovered the 'best' familiars to use and are afraid to be 'wrong' experimenting elsewhere.

They did a poor job balancing challenge to stats and no scaling enemies means anyone that does experiment usually winds up being ahead of the curve and can brute force any fight. It's one of the reasons why the Souls series is so popular because they nail a delicate balance.

Originally Posted by Jodou Every town is broken down into I need heart, I lost my diary, collect pokemon for my research, or request an item/delivery. The bounty hunts I obviously loved because they presented actual challenges, but otherwise the quests are just boilerplate MMO tedium.

I certainly agree with you, but I happen to generally enjoy that crap even though they are generic as hell. :(

Originally Posted by cgarb84 OK that's good to know. I was going to do some more side quests and a little toko farming but it sounds like I should just keep going in the story for a bit more. I'm guessing you are referring to the dragon ? EDIT: About ready to improve my means of travel YAY!

Yup. Makes a item farming and traveling a lot better.

I pretty much ignored alchemy completely except for a few items and the quest items (though I skipped the last alchemy quest because that).

OK, my first time reading this thread. I had wanted to stay completely spoiler and FAQ free when playing this game. But now I'm at the very end with just farming left for the last few trophies. It is somewhat tedious but there are ways to make it go faster. I'm going to try it more tonight: using Pulse until a gold orb pops and then using Swaine's special ability to steal. I didn't get that to work last night except on the wrong gold mob. But then I was able to steal 1 of the 5 I needed (for the last alchemy quest) regardless. But that was the first one in about 2 hours of just farming for that. But I hadn't been using the Pulse method till the very end - will give that some more runs tonight.

I agree with the comments earlier - there is absolutely no grinding (and very little tedious activity) required for the main game. Now, if you skip all the sidequests the main bosses might be pretty challenging. But on the other hand if you do everything you can (as I did) they are too easy . So for sure there is a happy medium there where you can do a large portion (maybe about 2/3) of the sidequests and be at the perfect level for the endgame. None of the earlier sidequests are too bad - many of the heart ones take less than a minute to complete (as often the piece you need is in the very same town). And at the very least the game rewards you with the Merit system on top of item/money rewards. It gets very addictive collecting those stamps and unlocking the bonuses.

And even post-game there are a lot of different things you can do simultaneously that keep it interesting (as opposed to, say, pure bladestone farming in Demon's Souls). I'm still trying to get one familiar to max level, still trying to feed one to 5 hearts, rotating different familiars in to get 250 tamed (very close now at about 230), farming for the alchemy quest while also trying to get the alchemy completion to 100% (which means farming in different places to get double-duty there), and until very recently was still trying to get the "Glim Reaper" trophy which took a surprisingly long time (I assume it only counts ones you pick up yourself though even then it seems I should have hit that hours ago considering I got the 1000 kills one way back then). And for much of my post-game time I was finishing up the post-game quests and bounties which (for the quests at least) were much more varied than the ones before the end of the game. I'm finished with those now except for the last alchemy one. The final post-game boss was a huge letdown because of how much I had leveled up from all the other stuff (in particular from farming Tokotoko's to level familiars to change forms). But it would be pretty challenging if you hadn't done any of that.

The familiar morphing is also very addictive and I may just push beyond the trophy to morph all I need for the purpose of getting a 100% complete Creature Compendium

Also just want to add that I really appreciate a game like this that does not have dumbass missable trophies. I didn't know that going in and decided to play without a FAQ regardless and was very glad once I started reading about it that I could still get a platinum no matter what I did earlier. I tend to be pretty thorough anyway and completed every quest I had as soon as I got it. But some games have stupid trophies on one-off sections like not taking any damage, killing some set number of things, etc. This is the way an RPG game's trophies should be laid out - a little time and commitment to get them but nothing missable or too outrageous. (Though the last alchemy quest does creep to the edge of being too outrageous - if the method I mentioned earlier works then that redeems it somewhat).

I was going to go for plat until I saw the alchemy craft one. To ing hell with crafting 150 unique items, when there's 160 recipes in the game. That's WAY too much of a grind for a plat and boring at that. The other big pain would've been the 250 unique familiars, but for that one it would just take a bit of travel and perhaps toko farming to evolve stuff. I never did get Glim Reaper or finish my final sidequest, which sucks but oh well.

And yeah, the final, final boss of the game was a joke. I really thought they'd have something epic to fight and would be balanced for a level 99 party, but nope: just tank n' spank like every other fight in the game. Huge letdown after I put so much work into perfecting my team.

Originally Posted by Jodou I was going to go for plat until I saw the alchemy craft one. To ing hell with crafting 150 unique items, when there's 160 recipes in the game. That's WAY too much of a grind for a plat and boring at that. The other big pain would've been the 250 unique familiars, but for that one it would just take a bit of travel and perhaps toko farming to evolve stuff. I never did get Glim Reaper or finish my final sidequest, which sucks but oh well. And yeah, the final, final boss of the game was a joke. I really thought they'd have something epic to fight and would be balanced for a level 99 party, but nope: just tank n' spank like every other fight in the game. Huge letdown after I put so much work into perfecting my team.

I was going for plat until read your post. Eh, maybe i'll still do it if I have time...

I'd say the familiar one is not so bad - I'm really close now and will probably have it done tonight or tomorrow. I didn't realize the alchemy one was 150 items. But if you can do 150/160 then that helps a lot - because some of those other items require 5 of the hard-to-farm stuff and being able to cut out 10 of them would save half the time. I'm at 77% on that one now. I finally got the stuff I needed for the last alchemy quest and got the trophy for the Merit Rewards.

What is strange is that I just realized I don't have the one for Oliver's spells - and I'm level 99. But maybe I missed talking to some person who gives out a spell. I also might be missing another set of alchemy recipes because I don't have them for some of the lower-level weapons. Unless you just have to mix-and-match on some of those.

And yeah, Jodou, I'm definitely with you on expecting the post-game final boss to be tough even at level 99. I was reading so much on other sites about best familiars to use, etc, and how high their stats are if leveled properly. Well, I didn't use the "best" and never got what I did use anywhere near completely leveled up and found it wasn't necessary on that last boss. I guess the good news for people earlier on in the game is that you choice of familiars really doesn't make all that much difference. Just go with what you like.

With this being a Level-5 game in having a somewhat similar style to Dragon Quest VIII I was expecting something akin to the Dragovian Trials there at the end.

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The Mad Scientist trophy is for 120, not 150. But yeah, it's going to take a while.

So I'm at the final dungeon and was wondering if the Ivory Tower remains after you beat the game or is it gone (inaccessible)? Those Tokotokowhatevers are great for leveling, much better than the Tokos in South Billy Goat Bluff.

Originally Posted by io What is strange is that I just realized I don't have the one for Oliver's spells - and I'm level 99. But maybe I missed talking to some person who gives out a spell. I also might be missing another set of alchemy recipes because I don't have them for some of the lower-level weapons. Unless you just have to mix-and-match on some of those. And yeah, Jodou, I'm definitely with you on expecting the post-game final boss to be tough even at level 99. I was reading so much on other sites about best familiars to use, etc, and how high their stats are if leveled properly. Well, I didn't use the "best" and never got what I did use anywhere near completely leveled up and found it wasn't necessary on that last boss. I guess the good news for people earlier on in the game is that you choice of familiars really doesn't make all that much difference. Just go with what you like.

Did you get the astra spell? People usually miss that one since it only opens up right at the end of the game and isn't on the path to the final boss.

Griffy and Dinoceros are a powerhouse at 99 lol. I absolutely destroyed him in like a minute with those two alone. Who needs to defend when you're whiting for 300 a hit and taking 1 damage? Highly recommend getting a Dragon's tooth ring for the increased attack speed if you ever use the dino you get from a quest.

Originally Posted by Vinny So I'm at the final dungeon and was wondering if the Ivory Tower remains after you beat the game or is it gone (inaccessible)? Those Tokotokowhatevers are great for leveling, much better than the Tokos in South Billy Goat Bluff.

NG+ places you right before the end of the game, so you have access to everything and can beat it again right away if you wish.

How do you get dinoceros?

Originally Posted by Jodou NG+ places you right before the end of the game, so you have access to everything and can beat it again right away if you wish.

I thought when you guys were talking about post-completion stuff, it literally meant after the ending. Is there anything in the post-game that's worth doing that will add to the story?


So, I just finished it and clocked in at 52 hours. I was hyped for this game for quite a while, so much so that I didn't let the disappointing demo dissuade me, and overall, I enjoyed the game. The characters were really likable but I wish they were better developed. The story was enjoyable, especially after the "truth", but man... what a suck-tacular ending. It would have been nice to see what actually happens with Cassiopea and the other world instead of what they actually showed. . I don't think there needs to be anything more said of the visuals, but the music was surprisingly good outside of the regular battle theme, which became forgettable fast. But as said by everyone, there were numerous little issues (the crap AI and tedious sidequests being the two biggest) that could have made the game so much better.

Originally Posted by navalg1337 How do you get dinoceros?

Two ways: hunt for him at Genie's Steps or do a quest and get a ticket for him. He's not accessible until late in the game when you can travel up there, though.

Originally Posted by Vinny I thought when you guys were talking about post-completion stuff, it literally meant after the ending. Is there anything in the post-game that's worth doing that will add to the story?

It makes you update your save to NG+ so that you can do the post-game stuff. The quests don't really add to the story, but do expand the universe a bit.

Originally Posted by crunchewy I was really excited for this game, but you people have convinced me that this isn't for me. It sounds... tedious. I do love the art style though. I'll probably pick it up when it hits $20.

Good luck waiting for it to hit that price

Originally Posted by Jodou Did you get the astra spell? People usually miss that one since it only opens up right at the end of the game and isn't on the path to the final boss. Griffy and Dinoceros are a powerhouse at 99 lol. I absolutely destroyed him in like a minute with those two alone. Who needs to defend when you're whiting for 300 a hit and taking 1 damage? Highly recommend getting a Dragon's tooth ring for the increased attack speed if you ever use the dino you get from a quest.

I was missing Astra. Horace had said he would go back to his beginning location at one point but I checked there and he wasn't there. I just forgot about him after that and apparently he returned at some point after I checked. I didn't realize that opened up another quest at the very end (which you don't need to do for the trophies but it does give you more alchemy recipes).

I did get a Dino as soon as I could fly up there. He was my powerhouse for the entire last 1/4 of the game. He doesn't get anywhere near level 99 though - mine maxed out around 28 or so (I morphed him to the blue version so maybe that is different from the red one). I sold my Griffy familiar code for $40 - made the game dirt cheap . I heard he was pretty powerful but he was completely unnecessary.

Originally Posted by Vinny So I'm at the final dungeon and was wondering if the Ivory Tower remains after you beat the game or is it gone (inaccessible)? Those Tokotokowhatevers are great for leveling, much better than the Tokos in South Billy Goat Bluff.

Everything opens up afterwards at some point except the little bit in between Perdida and the Miasma Marshes. Apparently there are a few enemies you can only fight there so if you want to kill one of everything you need to roam around in there a little bit before clearing the Marshes. I think one was the Flash Fry (or the other form) - you can still morph one of those though regardless (which adds it to the Creature Compendium).

Originally Posted by pippin The Mad Scientist trophy is for 120, not 150. But yeah, it's going to take a while.

Yes, it is 120. And you have 134 alchemy recipes so it really isn't that bad. I got my platinum tonight and I actually got Mad Scientist before I got the ones for 5 hearts for the familiar and the 250 tamed monsters. And the one that I thought was for max leveling a familiar was actually for getting 50 stat upgrades from feeding (after getting the 5th heart and the other trophy). So that one is pretty easy once you get the 5 hearts.

By far the hardest part is the alchemy quest for the man in the cave. Once you farm the 5 Kaliedostones (best place is Glittering Grotto) and 5 Scrolls of Truth (best place is in the dark cave area of Tombstone Trail), the rest is easy. There are some pain in the ass alchemy recipes (in particular any that require more of those 2 items) but you can skip all of them and then some. I actually wasted a bunch of time farming for a Dragonstone Ring for one recipe when I didn't realiize one of my characters had it equipped . It doesn't show you equipped ingredients when you are looking at the formulae so keep that in mind. Other than that, I just needed a few things that are found in the glittering spots, and a few easy steals from monsters (blowpipes is a big one - you can steal those nearly every time from Beam-Man robots and the red Dinos in Ivory Tower).

And Vinny - the Tokocolds (I think they are) in the Ivory Tower are much more exp (like 29K) but the Tokotoko's near Perdida are much easier to farm. I spent a lot of time there and I think the way it works is that you are guaranteed to see one im every run through the little valley there. They may not be the visible monster, but they will be in a mob (and sometimes 2 of them will be in one mob). They give you 9K and I found them much, much faster than the Tokocolds. I would recommend going there and using Gateway to reset them once you find one. They are frequently shown on the map in 3 or 4 particular spots so they are a quick find once you get a feel for the area. Oh yeah, and a Dino using the scream attack is a nice fast way to get rid of them before they run. Also note that there are gold Tokos in the Vault of Tears that give you 6000+ gold (but almost no exp). Though money was never really an issue in the game.

So this game has consumed me for about 2 weeks. I have no idea what to play now!

Originally Posted by io So this game has consumed me for about 2 weeks. I have no idea what to play now!

for platnuming in two weeks. I'm only 20 hours into the game so far Just arrived in Hamelin. and I might decide to platnum this eventually.

Ok I have a question real quick, I'm about 33 hrs in now (just did the vault of tears) and am beginning to wonder why I can't find a toko at all. I have been going to the island the guide says to go to, the name escapes me but its the one that's kind of northeast of the Summerlands, the one that has mites and drongos on it. I keep fighting groups on those islands but I have yet to see a toko. Are there any other areas to try for them that are level appropriate for me at this point (I'm high 30's with Oliver) or should I just keep playing for a while longer and worry about tokos later?

Originally Posted by io Oh yeah, and a Dino using the scream attack is a nice fast way to get rid of them before they run. So this game has consumed me for about 2 weeks. I have no idea what to play now!

What, the throw boulder for 1500 damage isn't overkill enough?

I went straight into AC III, which was probably a mistake lol. That game is such a letdown for the series and coming off the NNK high really didn't help.