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Post by toei on Sept 8, 2023 18:10:56 GMT -5
Shining Force EXA was fine, in fact it was better than I expected overall, because of the underlying gameplay. A 7 or 7.5 for me. I just don't know if that's enough considering NEO is nearly 50 hours long just for the main story according to HLTB (77 hours for Main Story + Extra, which is insane for an ARPG) and that I've already experienced a lot of its mechanics. If I'm going to be putting that kind of time into a game, I want it to be something really new to me or that I expect to be really good. By comparison, Lodoss is 25 hours and EXA 35.
Speaking of which, if anyone wants a really fun ARPG/hack-n-slash that rewards exploration and has wild character growth possibilities where you can really become a semi-god of combat, Record of Lodoss War on the Dreamcast is your game. That one was easily a solid 8 or 8.5 to me. Only flaw was the inversed difficulty curve - the different skills and equipment (I don't remember how it worked) you could find interacted with each other in ways that could make you exponentially stronger, so after some tough optional battles early on, things got real easy.
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Post by Sarge on Sept 8, 2023 20:52:59 GMT -5
I really should consider that soon. Maybe I need to boot the Dreamcast up this weekend! I've always started into it, but never really kept going.
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Post by Ex on Sept 9, 2023 1:39:11 GMT -5
Record of Lodoss War on the Dreamcast I am legit interested in this one someday (fan of the source material) but the play time is meaty for what I want to deal with right now. Not quite as meaty as Neo certainly.
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Post by toei on Sept 9, 2023 2:15:09 GMT -5
Wonder what you'll think of it. It's very Western for a Japanese game, more so than the PS2 Shining Force ARPGs. But unlike Diablo, it's less about collecting random loot and more exploring the map for optional bosses that reward you with great skills / equipment when you beat them. There's a similar skill system in Shining Force EXA but they're not as useful or necessary as the game is easier and structured more traditionally.
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Post by Ex on Sept 9, 2023 9:33:39 GMT -5
more exploring the map for optional bosses that reward you with great skills / equipment when you beat them That aspect reminds me of Soma Bringer. Maybe I'll check it out next month for 6th gen consoles. Do you think Time Stalkers is any good?
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Post by toei on Sept 9, 2023 20:40:42 GMT -5
Ex I liked Time Stalkers. Kind of a turn-based roguelike with multiple dungeons of reasonable length. I also enjoyed the Climax crossover aspect, with characters from Landstalker, Shining in the Darkness, Ladystalker, etc. The game's world was also intriguing, with the story mostly revolving around trying to figure out why / how everyone was brought to this place and new areas are appearing.
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Post by Xeogred on Sept 10, 2023 12:32:20 GMT -5
ARMORED COOOOOOOOOOOORE!
Yep I needed more after AC6.
At first I played some of Silent Line but I think I'll step over that one for now. Reason being, the game is officially known in Japan as Armored Core 3: Silent Line. Like some of the other entries in the series it's more of an expansion to AC3 and from what I played, seems kind of intended for people to carry a save over. It was not easy at all doing a few missions and losing so much money I was in the negatives and even if that weren't the case, was nowhere near being able to purchase anything. Guess it was US marketing hoping people wouldn't have to worry about owning AC3 first to play this one... Perhaps my 20 some year old AC3 save is somewhere but I don't own Silent Line and it looks pretty rare now.
So I jumped into Nexus and it's already been way smoother sailing, more balanced for a fresh start. This is also the first one with dual analog controls. Yeah FromSoftware stuck to the AC1 control scheme up through AC3 apparently.
Something that hit me playing both games, is how cool old menu's and UI used to be. Much like web 2.0 or older computer stuff in general. Sometimes it's chunky and annoying, but then there's also times when old menu's have so much personality. Amazing music behind it, even the sound effects of moving around is so weirdly appealing. Am I knocking on Armored Core 6's menu? Maybe. I guess old UI design was more of a Wild West and devs maybe even had fun designing them, compared to how sterile they usually are nowadays. Nobody is buying a game for the menu-experience but yeah it's just something I was thinking about getting back to some PS2 gaming here. These AC's reminded me of Xenosaga in that way too, those games have some of the best menu sounds ever. I can hear them in my head. lol
Anyways yeah, looking forward to some retro Raven adventuring now.
I mean how cool is this world map theme?
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Post by Ex on Sept 10, 2023 12:40:39 GMT -5
[I jumped into Nexus and it's already been way smoother sailing Good to read. I've not played many of the PS2 entries yet (though I've beat all the PS1 ACs), just Armored Core 2 and Armored Core 2: Another Age thus far. Wasn't it AC3 where From finally started letting the player use the analog sticks to control movement and camera? Looking forward to seeing how Nexus goes for you, I know nothing about it. I do recall reading 2005's Last Raven is supposed to be mega difficult. Like even AC vets say as such, maybe tougher than AC6? Well in games like Armored Core where you spend a lot of time in menus customizing your AC, the menu experience should be way above average. I think AC6's menus are perfectly functional, but they are overly sterile with bland music underneath them. I agree the older ACs had more entertaining menus. Never forget the best mecha menu music:
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Post by Xeogred on Sept 10, 2023 13:12:17 GMT -5
It's going to be super hard for me to try and wait for FM2 to hit PC. I might just get it on Switch later this year. I'm craving it after some AC this summer. I need my RTS mecha fix now!
Nah AC3 and Silent Line have zero use of the right analog stick, lol. At least for aiming, I think R3 enabled some kind of super boost. The controls seemed pretty fine still... but I'm already liking how Nexus feels a lot more in comparison. Most of the weapons seem to be moved to the shoulder buttons too. Guess it's amusing to think maybe Demon's Souls pulled from some of this control scheme and that's how it's been since.
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Post by Xeogred on Sept 10, 2023 15:40:17 GMT -5
So are Growlanser II and III really in the ~20 hour ballpark? Not a lot to go off on HLTB but that's what I'm seeing. I think toei and maybe Sarge have played these and talked about them before.
A ~20 hour PS2 JRPG sounds really good right now.
I'm trying to power through some TR4 today though. It's definitely pushing my patience to the limits.
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