So Contact is out right now!

Initial thoughts (after a half hour): it's not bad at all, and I can see where the love/hate with the combat comes from.

It's sort of a mix between real-time and turn-based combat. You don't hit A every time you want to attack, for example, but you can hit Y to choose a special attack to use at any time. But you can also exit combat mode or just move around or run away at any time.

There were already two secret paths (one not so secret) in the first area, with promises from the Professor of many more to come. I'm assuming most of those will go to treasure chests and costumes and the like.

The graphical styles are nicely consistent. When Terry makes his way onto the Professor's ship, he retains his pseudo-3D nature, while if the Professor wanders into the 3D world, he stays in his pixelated form.

You earn experience for all stats individually, and each stat has a level. You gain exp for these stats as you play, depending on your actions. Walking around for a long time will gain you exp in your speed stat. Dodging an attack or two may give you some exp in agility. And so on. There are a solid 20 stats or so.

So far the enemies have been rather uninspired (just very basic... cactus-like thing, bat, some goofy eggplant looking thing), but their attack styles vary - for example, the eggplant thing will kick your ass with about 5 attacks before you can squeeze in one if you get too close to it.

Chances are I won't have much more time for it today, but hopefully tomorrow I will be able to play some more. I will try to answer any questions anyone might have.
 
[quote name='botticus']Initial thoughts (after a half hour): it's not bad at all, and I can see where the love/hate with the combat comes from.

It's sort of a mix between real-time and turn-based combat. You don't hit A every time you want to attack, for example, but you can hit Y to choose a special attack to use at any time. But you can also exit combat mode or just move around or run away at any time.

There were already two secret paths (one not so secret) in the first area, with promises from the Professor of many more to come. I'm assuming most of those will go to treasure chests and costumes and the like.

The graphical styles are nicely consistent. When Terry makes his way onto the Professor's ship, he retains his pseudo-3D nature, while if the Professor wanders into the 3D world, he stays in his pixelated form.

You earn experience for all stats individually, and each stat has a level. You gain exp for these stats as you play, depending on your actions. Walking around for a long time will gain you exp in your speed stat. Dodging an attack or two may give you some exp in agility. And so on. There are a solid 20 stats or so.

So far the enemies have been rather uninspired (just very basic... cactus-like thing, bat, some goofy eggplant looking thing), but their attack styles vary - for example, the eggplant thing will kick your ass with about 5 attacks before you can squeeze in one if you get too close to it.

Chances are I won't have much more time for it today, but hopefully tomorrow I will be able to play some more. I will try to answer any questions anyone might have.[/quote]

WOW! Thanx for that info botticus. I have 1 simple question. Does it use the Stylus? Do you use it for combat? Can you choose to use it and/or the buttons? Thanx man!
 
[quote name='Tyvan']WOW! Thanx for that info botticus. I have 1 simple question. Does it use the Stylus? Do you use it for combat? Can you choose to use it and/or the buttons? Thanx man![/QUOTE]

Stylus is used mainly for menu selection and playing with Mochi (the spacedog who wants to be a spacecat someday...or is it the other way around?), of course, I'm only an hour in, so it could be used for other things later.

I'm surprised by how many bathtubs there are.
 
I assume RF is using the D-pad for movement then, but you can use the stylus for movement as well. Works as if he were following your stylus around.
 
This game has bathtubs in the middle of no where, and "warm" to boot. Could they be the local urinary for the monsters?
 
You can beat villagers without your karma taking too big of a hit. A good strategy is to murder them to see if they drop anything, reload, and then murder that specific person. It's how I got me frying pan. 15 offense and +15% cooking skill pretty early in the game(before first boss).
 
Reality's Fringe;2296568]You can beat villagers without your karma taking too big of a hit. A good strategy is to murder them to see if they drop anything said:
Ah, I always hoped we'd see a GTA / Cooking Mama crossover.
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Reality's Fringe;2296568]You can beat villagers without your karma taking too big of a hit. A good strategy is to murder them to see if they drop anything said:
Is there a quick way to restart, or is it just shut off the DS, and turn it back on (or whatever the button combo is to reset)?

This game is most definitely not easy, I can tell you that. If you don't spend some time "level-grinding" as it were, you'll get beat on. First boss kicks my ass right now.

I think my only complaint so far is that when you die, you start back at the ship. Luckily the levels aren't too large yet, so it only takes a couple minutes to get back to where you were. But if you save and quit, you start back wherever you saved.
Click to expand...
 
[quote name='Tyvan']WOW! Thanx for that info botticus. I have 1 simple question. Does it use the Stylus? Do you use it for combat? Can you choose to use it and/or the buttons? Thanx man![/QUOTE]

Botticus pretty much covered this, but you can use the stylus to move - I found it much better than using the D-pad (and in most games that is not the case). You don't use it for combat per se, but you can use it to select a monster and then select the attack command. He pretty much attacks on his own but you can move him away from counterattacks if you time it right.

All the previews I had read made it sound like you didn't direct the character and he did his own thing (or maybe you directed him a little). Well, you pretty much direct him entirely. The only "automatic" thing is when his attacks occur. Ie, you don't actually press a button for each attack - and I'm fine with that. But everything else you control.

I'm trying to figure out the cooking - so far, all I've made is charcoal (from a chicken). I'm assuming you'll get recipes later?? Also, has anyone found the "Shadow Thief" clothes? I'm coming across all kinds of locked doors and chests that require this outfit, but I haven't seen it yet.
 
[quote name='botticus']Is there a quick way to restart, or is it just shut off the DS, and turn it back on (or whatever the button combo is to reset)?

This game is most definitely not easy, I can tell you that. If you don't spend some time "level-grinding" as it were, you'll get beat on. First boss kicks my ass right now.

I think my only complaint so far is that when you die, you start back at the ship. Luckily the levels aren't too large yet, so it only takes a couple minutes to get back to where you were. But if you save and quit, you start back wherever you saved.[/QUOTE]

I don't know about soft reset, I normally just off/on it. The 1st boss is easy until you blow off his arms, then he can rape you. My HP is around 120 and I'm having a hard time. I figure if I make enough BBQ chicken and take some bread/hamburgers along I should be ok.
Did you find the "Knuckle Mole" outift? Its Earth Resistance will help.
 
Reality's Fringe;2296680]I don't know about soft reset said:
Is the archeologist the first boss, or are you referring to something else? The guy kills me; I throw as many special attacks at him as I can, which do like 30 damage per, but he's taking down my 114 HP 10-20 at a time, so I don't last long.[/spoiler]

I have a feeling the Shadow Thief clothes come later, since they're optional things so far.

I went back to beat the crap out of a few villagers... other than the frying pan, there are a couple blue books you get. I'll try out the people in the main building next. Figure I can kill everyone once, find out who leaves stuff, and then restart and just get rid of those people the next time.
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[quote name='botticus']Yeah, I've been wearing that since I got it, using a club (which kills my agility, but oh well) - I found that frying pan, but apparently I have to be a chef to use it, so it's +12 attack doesn't do anything for me.

I should probably clarify something:
Is the archeologist the first boss, or are you referring to something else? The guy kills me; I throw as many special attacks at him as I can, which do like 30 damage per, but he's taking down my 114 HP 10-20 at a time, so I don't last long.

I have a feeling the Shadow Thief clothes come later, since they're optional things so far.[/QUOTE]

No, I was talking about the boss after. To kill the guy I got a bunch of Ep, and used Power Strike 5 or so times and it took most of his HP.
 
Reality's Fringe;2296744 said:
No, I was talking about the boss after. To kill the guy I got a bunch of Ep, and used Power Strike 5 or so times and it took most of his HP.
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Gotcha, thanks dude.
 
[quote name='botticus']Gotcha, thanks dude.[/QUOTE]

I stopped last night after my first attempt at that guy (he creamed me). Where did you get the knuckle mole outfit at that point? Go back to the first area and get the message in a bottle to get to the chef area.
 
[quote name='PawnTakesKing']So far, what's the general consensus on this game? Worth a purchase now or wait for a price drop?[/QUOTE]

From my 2 hour play session (so far) I'd say it is worth it. It seems to be at least somewhat challenging at first (so not too easy which some people don't like). So if you like RPG's, aren't put off by what I hear are "Earthboundish" graphics (at least for the Professor's portions), and want something fairly unique for the DS then give it a go.

And I agree with the poster above. If this was a Squeenix title or something like a Sonic game, I'd say you could wait. While I don't quite think this will go out of print or become hard to find, I'd say it won't likely get any cheaper either. You could take your chances and wait for it used at EB/GS though.

The coolest part is the spinnable globe you use to select what location you want to go to next. Kind of a preview of the Wii weather channel :D.
 
Ok I have a few more questions after reading some more here.

1- Someone mentioned attacking people will get your karma up? What does that do? Something bad I am guessing.

2- What is the deal with the stickers? I read that you get stickers to use...but how do you use them? Do they make weapons better? What?

3- How does the wifi work? Anyone tried it yet? Should we start a Contact Wifi friends code thread? I will give m code soon...I hope!!
 
[quote name='Tyvan']Ok I have a few more questions after reading some more here.

1- Someone mentioned attacking people will get your karma up? What does that do? Something bad I am guessing.

2- What is the deal with the stickers? I read that you get stickers to use...but how do you use them? Do they make weapons better? What?

3- How does the wifi work? Anyone tried it yet? Should we start a Contact Wifi friends code thread? I will give m code soon...I hope!![/QUOTE]

There is a Contact friend's code thread out there already - guess I ought to get my code and post in it. I have no idea what Wifi does at this point - only that there is a "Contact" option upon startup which I assume is the Wifi stuff (New game, continue, and "contact").

The only thing I've used stickers for is collecting power cells - you basically just peel them from your inverntory and place them on the screen. There are others too - one transforms enemies but I've never used it. The other calls down Mochi who supposedly helps you in some way - maybe I ought to use that on the boss Botticus and I are stuck on.

Edit - Yes, the Contact option is WiFi. Apparently my Friend's code is 5197-7279-0346
Since my Friend's roster is absolutely empty there was nothing I could do in this mode today :D.

Edit #2 - I KNOW there was a Contact Friend's Code thread that some made a while back in anticipation of the game - but it seems to have been deleted. So either just use this one or make a new thread...
 
[quote name='io']
And I agree with the poster above. If this was a Squeenix title or something like a Sonic game, I'd say you could wait. While I don't quite think this will go out of print or become hard to find, I'd say it won't likely get any cheaper either. You could take your chances and wait for it used at EB/GS though.

.[/QUOTE]

With all major retailers carrying it, the chances are good someone will clearance it.
 
So are people really liking this? I'm way too tempted. Why are there so many great games coming out all at once? Why can't companies at least attempt to release things over the summer drought? It eases the pain.
 
[quote name='Roufuss']With all major retailers carrying it, the chances are good someone will clearance it.[/QUOTE]

On things like Deep Labyrinth and Lost Magic I'm willing to take that risk. But on a pretty good DS RPG I'd just assume get it now. I even paid $5 over retail to get it at EB (real cost to me about $17 - I'm unlikely to see it for that price any time soon).
 
[quote name='io']On things like Deep Labyrinth and Lost Magic I'm willing to take that risk. But on a pretty good DS RPG I'd just assume get it now. I even paid $5 over retail to get it at EB (real cost to me about $17 - I'm unlikely to see it for that price any time soon).[/QUOTE]

Oh yeah, I'll probably get it if TRU decides to stock it this week, don't get me wrong ;)

The fact that Botticus likes it seals the deal for me, because he recommended Summon Night which was also very awesome.
 
[quote name='Roufuss']Oh yeah, I'll probably get it if TRU decides to stock it this week, don't get me wrong ;)

The fact that Botticus likes it seals the deal for me, because he recommended Summon Night which was also very awesome.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I got both of those because of him, the rat b*stard! ;)

Botticus - you seem to be off CAG this evening (probably have a life and all unlike me - I spent my time in between DS and CAG sessions spot cleaning a carpet - woo-hoo!). When you get back lets try out the Contact WiFi thing so we can find out what the hell it is and then fill in the people here who asked about it.
 
So those of you that are playing it--would you recommend it for a non-RPG gamer? Like, I can't do the FF series (beat 7 but that was it). I've played and beaten Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG but that's about it--tried FF1, 4, and 6 and just couldn't get into any of them.

Not that I need another game to play with the Wii less than a month out, but I'd give it a shot.
 
[quote name='io']Yeah, I got both of those because of him, the rat b*stard! ;)

Botticus - you seem to be off CAG this evening (probably have a life and all unlike me - I spent my time in between DS and CAG sessions spot cleaning a carpet - woo-hoo!). When you get back lets try out the Contact WiFi thing so we can find out what the hell it is and then fill in the people here who asked about it.[/quote]:lol: Plenty of other people have sold me on enough games I was ignoring otherwise that it's about time I got someone else to spend money.

Yeah, I had a couple hours of free bowling to take care of (it seems I took my CHG skills with me, as I did better than I usually do). Shoot me a PM when you're around, we'll try it out if I haven't passed out yet. Otherwise tomorrow will work fine.

Message in the bottle and knuckle mole:
And I have the message in the bottle, but I apparently missed something else I was supposed to do. The knuckle mole outfit was... to the left of where the double-stairway heads to the archeologist confrontation. Follow the path for a while, there's a dude digging that you need to talk to.

Daroga, it's hard to say. It's not an intense RPG experience that you would usually associate with the genre. Leveling and all that is completely hands-off, there's just a lot of flexibility in how you deal with the character.
 
It sounds like you guys like it. Went and scoped TRU this evening, but they didn't have it yet. I'm hoping to do the 3/2 deal with it, Mario Kart, and Rocket Slime (yeah, I know it's not the most for my money, but what can you do).

Just finished Dawn of Sorrow - yay!

-HM
 
Well, Botticus and I tried out the Wi-Fi thing tonight and it was a bust. We could see each other in the Friend's list, so the codes and Wi-Fi connection were OK. But when we selected each other's names it would say 'Waiting for friend..." for a long time and then report an 86240 error code (or something like that).

We'll try it again tomorrow - maybe they were just having problems with the servers.
 
[quote name='daroga']So those of you that are playing it--would you recommend it for a non-RPG gamer? Like, I can't do the FF series (beat 7 but that was it). I've played and beaten Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG but that's about it--tried FF1, 4, and 6 and just couldn't get into any of them.

Not that I need another game to play with the Wii less than a month out, but I'd give it a shot.[/QUOTE]

You "couldn't get into" FFVI? I hate you.

However, I find this game more engaging than your typical RPG (no random battles, no seperate battle screen), so you might like it. Just don't hold it against me if you don't. :)
 
[quote name='Blind the Thief']You "couldn't get into" FFVI? I hate you.
However, I find this game more engaging than your typical RPG (no random battles, no seperate battle screen), so you might like it. Just don't hold it against me if you don't. :)[/quote] Hehe, I know. JRPGs, or RPGs of any sort (the style of Oblivion, et al. doesn't appeal to be at all) are just a turn off (with the few exceptions that I've note above). I have many friends who love them and rave about them so I've tried on many occasions to like them, but I just can't. I've learned it and aceepted it so I'm not going to buy FF5 when it hits GBA, but something that mixes up the RPG formula I might check out.

I can't do RTS games either--but that's not so much a disinterest or distaste for them but just sucking a lot at them. Maybe its the attention to all the little details that I don't like. Leveling up this guy to get that spell or getting this armor/weapon combination to win the best--it leads me to think, who cares? Others enjoy it, again that's great. :)

Maybe my gaming tastes are picky, but I'm fine sticking with my Castlevanias (Aria and Dawn of Sorrow being my faves, even with their mild RPG elements ;) ), Mario Karts, Sonics, and Marios. Even Zelda has been a stretch for me to get into, so I'm hoping that Twilight Princess pulls me in and keeps me there. :)

But, BtT, I thought you were going to be my friend as long as I had Electroplankton. :(
 
Oh, daroga, have you played Secret of Mana? That would really probably be the closest RPG I could compare this to offhand, at least as far as how it plays.
 
[quote name='botticus']

Message in the bottle and knuckle mole:
And I have the message in the bottle, but I apparently missed something else I was supposed to do. The knuckle mole outfit was... to the left of where the double-stairway heads to the archeologist confrontation. Follow the path for a while, there's a dude digging that you need to talk to.

[/QUOTE]

Did you check the bottle in your inventory? The island should have appeared on your Navi map... Ye can't live without the cooking.
 
[quote name='botticus']Oh, daroga, have you played Secret of Mana? That would really probably be the closest RPG I could compare this to offhand, at least as far as how it plays.[/quote]
I have not, but I've heard good things about that as well. Maybe I'll give it a shot one of these days. Maybe it'll show up on the VC.
 
I've run into at least 5 locked chests now and I still can't find the shadow thief suit. I've run into the fisher on the Ft. island, but I'm baffled to how to get the "king fisher" suit.
 
[quote name='botticus']Yep, just got that all figured out this morning. Cooked up a storm and actually had healing items to enable me to take out the first boss handily. Good game![/QUOTE]

How are you guys cooking up so much stuff?? The only thing it would let me cook (chicken) turned to charcoal and everything else it won't cook (potatoes, herbs, etc). The spice shop isn't open yet, so that doesn't help.

I got to the boss RF was talking about (rock guy) and *almost* beat him - if I had one or two more healing items I would have done it. I just bought a bunch of bread and herbs from the store before fighting the guy before that, and didn't have many left for the rock guy. I'm sure I can get past him if I stock up enough of those. But I sure would like to do the cooking...
 
[quote name='io']How are you guys cooking up so much stuff?? The only thing it would let me cook (chicken) turned to charcoal and everything else it won't cook (potatoes, herbs, etc). The spice shop isn't open yet, so that doesn't help.

I got to the boss RF was talking about (rock guy) and *almost* beat him - if I had one or two more healing items I would have done it. I just bought a bunch of bread and herbs from the store before fighting the guy before that, and didn't have many left for the rock guy. I'm sure I can get past him if I stock up enough of those. But I sure would like to do the cooking...[/QUOTE]

If you have a frying pan/fruit knife, equipt that and it'll boost your cooking skill. You can only cook certain things, then after a while you'll learn Chef's Etiquette which will allow you to cook "level 1" dishes. At that point I was able to mix meat and spices to get some kabobs, and cook wild game.

I'm at the island with Fort Eagle on it now, and I've uncovered more weapons than I can use (Army knives, butterfly knives, a poison knife, a mallet and more). The areas look kind of reminds me of Donkey Kong Country for some reason.
 
[quote name='Hollow Man']My local Best Buys don't have it yet. Hell, EB didn't even have it.

-HM[/QUOTE]

Bleh... I was hoping to pricematch the Fry's ad at circuit city or bestbuy. I hope my local bestbuy still carries the gamer giftcards (since the ad expires tuesday).
 
[quote name='io']Well, see, I'm wondering if the call was about something else. Damn...[/QUOTE]
You had 24 hours to claim your free Wii, PS3 and 360.

[quote name='keithp']Is it just me or are the reviews for this REALLY all over the place?

It seems like no one agrees on anything in this game, other than it's on the short side. For example, I'm looking at Yahoo Games and they say combat is great, but I look at Games Radar and they say combat is yawn-inducing?[/QUOTE]
You have to live outside of reviews, my friend. Sometimes they're great indictors for what will stink and what will rule. Othertimes mags (online included) push numbers because of who they are receiving advertisting money from. And other times there will be a huge jump on the hype bandwagon and every reviewer in the world will sing Glory Glory Hallelujah over something like MGS 2, which everyone played and liked up until Big Shell and then realized the game was crap.


For a rule of thumb though, if your opinions line up with Rag X most of the time then stick with Rag X. If you find Rag Y does little more than use Strell's Offiicial Thesaurus to increase their Clever-Meter Word and Pop-Culture Reference-Count and never actually gives you an honest account of the game and gameplay, then don't bother reading Rag Y's reviews. Even then you'll find yourself at odds with your Reviewer of Choice but that's something to do with us all being different and unique individuals.

[quote name='pete5883']Combat involves selecting the enemy, and watching your character beat it to death.[/quote]**Like every other game on the planet. Neat.**

Funny though how some FF-haters will love this game
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Oh oh! Sign me up.

even though it's a FFXII with less gameplay.
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**See above comment**.

There are never enough bathtubs in games. With the possible exception of Sanity's Requiem.

[quote name='daroga']Ah, I always hoped we'd see a GTA / Cooking Mama crossover.
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Now we're talking.

[quote name='botticus']Oh, daroga, have you played Secret of Mana? That would really probably be the closest RPG I could compare this to offhand, at least as far as how it plays.[/QUOTE]Hey hey hey! I was looking forward to this until you compared it to SoM. =P
 
Reality's Fringe;2299698 said:
I'm at the island with Fort Eagle on it now, and I've uncovered more weapons than I can use (Army knives, butterfly knives, a poison knife, a mallet and more). The areas look kind of reminds me of Donkey Kong Country for some reason.
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I just got to Ft. Eagle, gonna start running around there tomorrow. Had to seriously stock up on potions on the last island, there's some badass people in that base.

Only thing I'm lacking in terms of weapons is a good hand-to-hand one. The best one I have is the claw, and that has an offense of 10, compared to the striking and slashing weapons with offense of 18-22.

I'm really starting to love this one; it takes a while to start figuring out the intricacies, and really the decal system still escapes me a little bit (as far as what I should really be doing tactically with all the ? decals), but it's really an enjoyable game.

I do wish the reviews had been a little less harsh on the combat system. It's been said a few times, but it's not very different from a number of real-time combat systems. You can call down special attacks, run, whatever, you just don't hit A every time to pound someone.
 
[quote name='botticus']I just got to Ft. Eagle, gonna start running around there tomorrow. Had to seriously stock up on potions on the last island, there's some badass people in that base.

Only thing I'm lacking in terms of weapons is a good hand-to-hand one. The best one I have is the claw, and that has an offense of 10, compared to the striking and slashing weapons with offense of 18-22.

I'm really starting to love this one; it takes a while to start figuring out the intricacies, and really the decal system still escapes me a little bit (as far as what I should really be doing tactically with all the ? decals), but it's really an enjoyable game.

I do wish the reviews had been a little less harsh on the combat system. It's been said a few times, but it's not very different from a number of real-time combat systems. You can call down special attacks, run, whatever, you just don't hit A every time to pound someone.[/QUOTE]


You know you can check those '?' decals, right? I JUST figured that out, after I beat the Ft Eagle boss (which will give you trouble unless you pay close attention to your surrondings). You also can get a sweet new outfit.

By the way, Mochi is EXTREMELY powerful. You just need to play with him the right way. If anyone wants the tip, just let me know (I had Mochi hitting for 400 + damage in Ft Eagle).
 
Reality's Fringe;2300288 said:
You know you can check those '?' decals, right? I JUST figured that out, after I beat the Ft Eagle boss (which will give you trouble unless you pay close attention to your surrondings). You also can get a sweet new outfit.

By the way, Mochi is EXTREMELY powerful. You just need to play with him the right way. If anyone wants the tip, just let me know (I had Mochi hitting for 400 + damage in Ft Eagle).
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I assume the Mochi decal is restored to you when you talk to the Professor again, like the ship decal?
 
Criminy...You guys are making me jones for this game. It would be teriffic it was at TRU, but I'll get it from Fry's or BB or somewhere, dammit.

Definitely going to have to read the manual cover to cover, though. The game sounds seriously complex.
 
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