RPG Thread V is really...grindy

Before I forget, preordered a case of Chrono Trigger Formation Arts figures last week. When I first found out about them in February, I knew I had to have them. Also, it looks like the inevitable US set won't be getting the Crono & Marle figure, which is why I'm going the import route.

[quote name='chibamm']I got Lost Odyssey, Tales of the Abyss, and Grandia III to play through as well. Anyone else?[/QUOTE]
Tales of the Abyss is in my backlog, too, and it's a game I'm intending to play this year anyway. I'd be up for a group playthrough, but the first and only one I did before (of Okami, with a couple of online friends) eventually fell through, and I was the only one who ended up beating the game. Tales games are long to begin with, so I'm wondering if a group playthrough of Abyss would share a similar fate.

A couple things that would affect whether or not I commit to a group playthrough: I want to beat DQV before starting another RPG, and I might be busy soon IRL. We'll see I guess. Either way, good luck if you do get a group playthrough of some sort organized.

[quote name='JEKKI'](Chaos Rings stuff)[/QUOTE]
Not gonna lie, the game looks pretty cool. I went to the official site not too long ago and came away impressed. It's amazing what can be done on the iPhone.
 
[quote name='pete5883']Was grinding actually helpful? In P3 & 4 I always found it better to fuse higher level demons than to level up the ones I already had.[/QUOTE]

I grinded my MC to level 80, and summoned two level 80 demons, I'm not really sure if the grinding was necessary. And I had a level 91 demon that I got from an ex-mission.
 
I've always started the Tales series but they never hold my interest enough to finish them. The combat always just feels like hitting 'a' or 'x' over and over even with the special moves. (Tales of the abyss on ps2 and tales of symphonia new dawn on wii)
 
I'd consider the group play-through idea as well though I'm not sure how much I could really commit time to it since I don't have a ton of game time as it is and have a feeling I'm going to be playing Monster Hunter Tri fairly hardcore when I do have time.

With that said I guess I'll throw out a couple of RPGs that are on my backlog that I've been interested in playing/beating I guess:

Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy (I absolutely LOVED the first game, but just haven't found the time to play this one yet)

Shadow Hearts: Covenant (Loved Shadow Hearts but haven't played this game yet, though I hear many people say it is the best in the series)

Tales of the Abyss (I really enjoyed what I played of this game, but I lost the save file for the game when I has like 20 Hours in and really didn't feel like restarting at that time)

EDIT: Oh ya Grandia III would be fine with me as well, I'm a huge fan of the other games in the series (except Xtreme) though I hear Grandia III isn't nearly as good as the previous games, but I'd still be willing to play it.
 
[quote name='blueshinra']Before I forget, preordered a case of Chrono Trigger Formation Arts figures last week. When I first found out about them in February, I knew I had to have them. Also, it looks like the inevitable US set won't be getting the Crono & Marle figure, which is why I'm going the import route.[/QUOTE]
Why are they removing a figure?
 
@JEKKI - I got the game last week, but I find it over-rated. I was really excited for it, but now I'm pretty disappointed. The game starts you off with way too over powered, its needlessly complicated to set your "Genes", and worst of all - the game is WAY to linear. Only buy it if you are in desperate need of an iPhone RPG.

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I'm new to this RPG Thread, but I like the idea of a group play through. The only RPGs I have in my backlog right now are:

- Chaos Rings (iPhone)
- Dragon Age: Origins (Xbox360)

I have a Nintendo DS, Xbox360, Nintendo Wii, and iPhone only, so I can only join the play through if the game is on one of those systems.
 
I was playing some Ogre Battle 64, and Mangus died on me on the final boss on level 8. So I fired up Mario RPG and just got to the chanellor. I freaking love Mario's recount of what has happened so far. It's pretty funny. Anyway was going to say I also have Tales of Vesperia sitting in my backlog.
 
I'm interested in the community playthrough idea as well. Playing through with others might give me more motivation to start and finish some of the (too) many RPGs I have in my backlog. The only thing I'm worried about is that I'm thinking about picking up FFXIII from Kmart when it goes on sale next week and I don't really wanna try and play two RPGs at once. Eh , I'll see how it goes.

As far as game choices go , I probably have most major RPGs (and even plenty of minor ones) for most of the current and last gen systems , so short of picking something really niche or lesser known I probably have it. Glancing over the last bunch of posts about it the only one mentioned that I don't have is Mana Khemia 2 , although I was considering/planning to pick it up eventually.
 
Tales of the Abyss seems to be the consensus. I'll give it a few days to see if anyone else is interested and then we could start a separate thread for it. I'm thinking of putting the thread in the games hardware category, like the PS2 sub forum.

Also, to those of you who are worried about time. I was thinking about doing this playthough in segments. Everyone has X amount of time to play onto X event or level in the game itself, giving everyone ample time to get to that point in the game, to grind or explore some if you want to, or more importantly play other games :)
I'm thinking of making each segment a week or so and not more than say 4-5 hours a time, so therefore we could complete a game in about 2-3 months probably. But, if more people want to run through it a little more quickly we can change format, or if you have any other bright ideas then share them with the class...
 
I will say that for Abyss, I highly recommend using a guide on gamefaqs. As is more and more common in RPGs these days, there's a TON of random side quests and stuff that you miss if you don't decide to go to random towns and talk to one random person after certain unrelated events.

On a side note, beat Last Remnant yesterday. Really enjoyed it. Now for a break from RPGs with GoW 3, SSFIV, and then Monster Hunter 3!
 
[quote name='pete5883']Why are they removing a figure?[/QUOTE]
Square Enix always does this. For example, with the FFT Trading Arts, they removed Balthier. One theory I've heard is that it's done to appease the Japanese fans, since their trading figures come in individual blind boxes, where they don't know what they get until they open the box (unlike the US versions, which come in individual blister packages or sets), and thus the only way they can be guaranteed a complete set is to buy by the case (like what I'm doing).

[quote name='Zmonkay']I will say that for Abyss, I highly recommend using a guide on gamefaqs. As is more and more common in RPGs these days, there's a TON of random side quests and stuff that you miss if you don't decide to go to random towns and talk to one random person after certain unrelated events.[/QUOTE]
I always talk to everyone anyway out of habit, so I'm set! :D
 
[quote name='depascal22']Tales of the Abyss is good with me. What day do you want to start? I'm finishing up Persona 4 now but I'm on October.[/QUOTE]

I'll probably open the thread tommorow in the PS2 sub forum. We can start on Saturday May 1st and give everyone a week to get to a certain point. Like I said before, the mininum to get to will be short to allow everyone time for their real life and other games.

My main idea with this was to have a light easy kind of playthrough by putting a few hours into the game each week. I'm likening it to a slow RPG like grind to complete our quest, and that is to minimize the size of our backlog :)
 
[quote name='chibamm']I'll probably open the thread tommorow in the PS2 sub forum. We can start on Saturday May 1st and give everyone a week to get to a certain point. Like I said before, the mininum to get to will be short to allow everyone time for their real life and other games.

My main idea with this was to have a light easy kind of playthrough by putting a few hours into the game each week. I'm likening it to a slow RPG like grind to complete our quest, and that is to minimize the size of our backlog :)[/QUOTE]

I'll be in, the 4-5 hour per week amount that you listed sounds doable around what else I have going on; and I really enjoyed what I played of Tales of the Abyss before so I'm sure I can get through the game.
 
Finished The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road. It was pretty good times. The controls didn't really get bothersome like I thought they would. Although, the battle mechanics did get a little annoying near the end of long playing sessions.
 
This is a really stupid question that I'm sure I already know the answer to but I have to ask anyway: does SMT: Strange Journey get any easier as it goes on? I'm getting very little enjoyment out of it. I've kind of forgotten how the core SMT games are designed to punish the player instead of reward them for playing.
 
What's hard for you? The regular enemies or the bosses? I thought there were only about 4 bosses in the game that were hard. The rest went down pretty easily if you hit them with their weaknesses. The regular enemies didn't get too bad until the second half of the game when the majority of them started using expel and curse magic.
It doesn't get any easier unless you grind some. My advice is if it's a bit too hard, when you get to a heal and save place in a dungeon, just hang around and grind a bit. Save every so often so you don't lose much if you do die and heal when needed.
 
I am going to play my first ever game in the Wild Arm series, so how would you rank 3, 4, and 5? Should i play them in order or is that not necessary?
 
[quote name='momouchi']I am going to play my first ever game in the Wild Arm series, so how would you rank 3, 4, and 5? Should i play them in order or is that not necessary?[/QUOTE]

None of the games are directly connected to each other, so it doesn't matter what order you play them in. I enjoyed 3, 4 and 5, but you might want to think about playing 4 first just because it's a really short game. It can be beaten in less than 30 hours while 3 and 5 are going to be 50+ hours. Although, 4 and 5 has a vastly different battle system from 3. 3's battle system is more like a traditional turn-based battle system.
 
[quote name='pete5883']This is a really stupid question that I'm sure I already know the answer to but I have to ask anyway: does SMT: Strange Journey get any easier as it goes on? I'm getting very little enjoyment out of it. I've kind of forgotten how the core SMT games are designed to punish the player instead of reward them for playing.[/QUOTE]

I haven't found it too difficult myself, but I'm only a about 2/3rds thru it. Sure there's been a couple of one-shot expel/hama deaths, but those are expected. I think they spaced the save rooms and the heal stations pretty well within the dungeons.

Maybe you need to get some stronger demons? I'm constantly upgrading mine and I also always keep a couple of demons in the group that I primarily just use for healing and curing status ailments.
 
[quote name='momouchi']I am going to play my first ever game in the Wild Arm series, so how would you rank 3, 4, and 5? Should i play them in order or is that not necessary?[/QUOTE]

Though I'm sure it isn't a huge deal, Wild Arms 5 has a bunch of cameos from all the other games to celebrate the series ten year anniversary; but I'm fairly sure they are just nods to the older games so it isn't like your missing anything important plot wise.

Of the Wild Arms games you've listed I've only played 3 and I thought it was enjoyable.

Also I guess of note is that 4 from what I've heard has a more modern/futuristic setting than the rest of the series which is more wild west.
 
I feel like we talk about the Wild ARMs series in every thread. It's a decent series, I would rank it 3>4>2 but I have never played 1 or 5.
 
[quote name='ChibiJosh']What's hard for you? The regular enemies or the bosses? I thought there were only about 4 bosses in the game that were hard. The rest went down pretty easily if you hit them with their weaknesses. The regular enemies didn't get too bad until the second half of the game when the majority of them started using expel and curse magic.
It doesn't get any easier unless you grind some. My advice is if it's a bit too hard, when you get to a heal and save place in a dungeon, just hang around and grind a bit. Save every so often so you don't lose much if you do die and heal when needed.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='Krymner']I haven't found it too difficult myself, but I'm only a about 2/3rds thru it. Sure there's been a couple of one-shot expel/hama deaths, but those are expected. I think they spaced the save rooms and the heal stations pretty well within the dungeons.

Maybe you need to get some stronger demons? I'm constantly upgrading mine and I also always keep a couple of demons in the group that I primarily just use for healing and curing status ailments.[/QUOTE]

It's not that it's too hard to beat, it's just too hard to love, without the trimmings that P3 & 4 had. The fact that enemy weaknesses don't show up as you discover them is a step back from Persona, and having them show up as fuzzy data is annoying. Then there's the damage floors, pitfalls, the expensive revival process, etc. And I'm remembering from past SMT's that at some point, the regular enemies and bosses will stop having weaknesses, which just make the fights seem even longer.
 
I think the majority of enemies/boss have weaknesses throughout the game.
Given that I rarely see game over screens in the majority of RPGs nowadays, a challenge like SMT is welcome every once in awhile, and it feels good when you finally beat a boss that took you a dozen tries.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']I feel like we talk about the Wild ARMs series in every thread. It's a decent series, I would rank it 3>4>2 but I have never played 1 or 5.[/QUOTE]

Is there anyone in the thread who actually beat the entire series? I only beat 1 & 5. Considering a Wild ARMs 4 run through.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']Is there anyone in the thread who actually beat the entire series? I only beat 1 & 5. Considering a Wild ARMs 4 run through.[/QUOTE]
I have! (minus the PSP game)
 
[quote name='ChibiJosh']I have! (minus the PSP game)[/QUOTE]

The PSP game was a S-RPG right? Curious what you would rate the series.
 
Yeah, the PSP game was an SRPG. I'm actually looking at it on eBay right now. I didn't have a PSP when it first came out.

Wild ARMs is one of my favorite RPG series. For rating, I'd probably go something like 1>4>5>3>2, but it's all really close.
 
^ Interesting. What did you like so much about 4? Just curious cause what I've seen looks like a bunch of annoying kids saving the world. I own a copy and I've been tempted to start a game, but I still have Persona, Grandia, Tales of Abyss & Xenosaga to beat.
 
There were a few scenes throughout the game that were just amazingly cool, I thought. The main characters weren't all that great, but some of the villians and secondary characters were brilliant.
 
WA4 was good; 1 and 2 are both classic. For 3, I had to check my backloggery as I couldn't remember whether or not I beat it. I remember not liking it though. Still haven't played 5.
 
I liked 3 enough to beat it. It was different enough to hold my attention. 4 was just filled with super whiny kids and I never finished it. If 5 ever gets down to 200 goozex points or below I'll pick it up.
 
[quote name='ChibiJosh']There were a few scenes throughout the game that were just amazingly cool, I thought. The main characters weren't all that great, but some of the villians and secondary characters were brilliant.[/QUOTE]

I thought the villains in WA5 were awesome.
 
I have never played any of the Wild Arms games. But, I have watched the anime series. Does the anime follow any of the games at all?
 
4 was smooth though. Dungeon puzzles, the option to turn off encounters, I have to say it was a decent game. I kind of regret selling it now.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']4 was smooth though. Dungeon puzzles, the option to turn off encounters, I have to say it was a decent game. I kind of regret selling it now.[/QUOTE]

5 must've been copy & paste from 4. Along with the grid combat it also had a ton of great puzzles and the option to turn off random encounters. Now I really want to play 4....
 
4 doesn't have a world map like 5 does. Think FFXIII with how linear it is.
You could cancel random encounters since 2, but you couldn't turn them off. I can't remember if you could cancel them in 4 and 5, but I remember you could turn them off once you got to the end of the dungeon.
 
Don't really know why, but I'm enjoying Strange Journey again. Even though Horkos wasn't much fun without any agi or zio demons.
 
I played a few hours of WA4 today. I like it, however I can't help but think WA5 is much superior. Again I'm only at the 4 mark but I sill have a few complaints. I hate how 4 keeps running with this child/adult theme, only 4 hours in and it's already played out. Unfortunately I feel like it's only going to get worse, and that makes me want to pile-drive 13 year old kids only to prove adulthood is more awesome. I don't like the art style, it's sloppy and the anime portraits often have a goofy. Many of the NPC look nothing like their portraits. Lastly I don't care much for the still frame cut-scenes. It's cheap only and reminds me of how S-RPG storylines playout (and I hate that). Rant over....
 
[quote name='ChibiJosh']There are actual cut scenes as well, unlike SRPGs.[/QUOTE]

Didn't mean to make it sound like all of them were like that but 90% have been the talking cardboard cutouts so far.

I will say I love the dungeon puzzles. I wish more RPGs would do this today.
 
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