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Post by Ex on Aug 3, 2021 16:09:11 GMT -5
Kills me how this game calls ramen "spaghetti". So far I've made it to Mt. Hinokami, so I'm 3/4ths the way through based on a walkthrough. I have been using a walkthrough for the "adventure game" portions, because Japanese menu-puzzle crap. But overall I'm enjoying SpellCaster. Hopefully will have it beat fairly soon.
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Post by Xeogred on Aug 3, 2021 17:45:06 GMT -5
Did two really annoying gimmicky missions in VC today. So hopefully there's not much more of these. Chapter 07: The Battle of Barious - In this one you're up against a massive tank. Well, I didn't think to move my tank so the enemy AI just let this giant tank sit there for ~10 of 20 turns, before I realize you need to retreat from it so that it'll shoot down huge boulders that then reveals its "radiator" weaknesses. Which still takes several turns worth to expose all three and take them out. Meanwhile after the first two are done, some Godlike enemy unit comes out that can one shot anyone basically. I had to do this entire whole mission over once and then it still took a lot of trial and error once I figured out the gimmick to the enemy tank.
Chapter 08: The Woodland Snare (Pt.1) - Stealth mission with just Welken and Alicia. It was fine, but took a few reloads. Just wasn't very fun. Was surprised I got an insane amount of exp/money though for this one.
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Post by toei on Aug 3, 2021 17:45:53 GMT -5
Ex You should get a nice little surprise at the end. Let's just say Sega was nothing if not creative. Spellcaster is flawed, but it's still one of the better & more interesting game on the Master System, and it does show off some of what the system could do. Did you play with the FM soundtrack turned on or off, btw? Also, that external drive thing is intriguing. I'll have to verify if the work computer really is good enough before I do all that. The CPU should be, but the GPU is bound to be some default crap for an office computer, so hopefully that'll be enough.
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Post by Sarge on Aug 3, 2021 18:37:18 GMT -5
Yeah, the external drive idea is pretty good. Although I've used my work machine occasionally for gaming, I keep it pretty locked down these days - I basically have some of the storefronts installed so I can download, backup, then delete games off the work lappy.
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Post by Ex on Aug 3, 2021 21:12:33 GMT -5
Chapter 07: The Battle of Barious This is the one that most folks quit at, so good on you making it through. I didn't much care for that mission either, though I enjoyed the forest environment. I don't recall any other stealth missions, so I think you're clear from there out. did you play with the FM soundtrack turned on or off It's on. If you end up going that route, just be sure you unplug the drive when boot into your working OS. Otherwise the working OS can log the drive's existence in its log, which could be discoverable by the IT guys. I mean for them it'd just be a mystery drive, but I don't know if you're allowed to plug just any ol' drive into your work laptop. So yeah, don't boot into work mode with your fun drive still plugged in.
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Post by Xeogred on Aug 3, 2021 21:31:26 GMT -5
So much WORK to play games on the work equipment. You guys crack me up... I guess if toei had some money to burn I'd just get another separate laptop/PC altogether, lol.
Ex : I had a hunch that mission was a difficulty spike where some people fall off. I took my first unit death there too and it kind of hurt haha, mainly because it was a Lancer who apparently had some kind of trait where he'd do extra anti-armor damage sometimes. Doubling up on his specialty... but dang if I was replaying that long ass mission again. No thanks. I think I realized why his death was a "surprise" too, the enemy ran up on his body so that prevents you from being able to recover them within three turns I guess. That's good to know. Now, I'm still trying to figure out why you can run up to enemy bodies too. Maybe that's how you sometimes steal some of their weapons? Which have mostly seemed useless to me so far. That said, I'm also now deep enough into the upgrade trees that I can select different weapons for some classes now. So the customization continues to get deeper.
VC is amazing, but man in a way it just sheds even more light on how Godly Front Mission 4 was to me. So I guess this one won't challenge my favorite SRPG series heh...
On a different note...
I wonder if Jewel Master uses the same engine/code as Altered Beast. It sure looks like it plays very similar, hah. I'm in the mood for some quick Genesis fix so I might consider that sometime this week.
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Post by Ex on Aug 3, 2021 21:42:30 GMT -5
still trying to figure out why you can run up to enemy bodies too. Maybe that's how you sometimes steal some of their weapons? From what I've read, in the Japanese version, when you killed an enemy you had to physically touch the body to collect their unique weapons (from Ace units). To loot them, you had to touch their corpse. This looting mechanic was dropped for the US version, you just automatically collect what was gain-able. However, they left it where enemy bodies disappear when you touch them. I think the designers kept it that way, in case one of the soldier bodies blocks a path, so when you touch them they just disappear and you can proceed.
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Post by Xeogred on Aug 3, 2021 22:05:43 GMT -5
Okay yeah, that's good to know so I'm not going through the rest of the game "wondering" if that triggers something.
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Post by Ex on Aug 3, 2021 22:12:42 GMT -5
Yeah you're not missing out on bonus experience or hidden items if you stop necrohugging every dead enemy.
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Post by Sarge on Aug 3, 2021 22:42:19 GMT -5
Me and Gain Ground, we have unfinished business. What does a man do when faced with insurmountable odds, beset at all sides by implacable foes? Cheat. Cheat, cheat, cheat. Invincibility, infinite time. Thanks, we're done here.
How do I feel about this version of Gain Ground? Not good, let me tell you. If it were just that rote quarter muncher, yeah, fine, I could live with it, but the decision to have the last world not let you continue, and as it turns out, no new troops to replenish your stock? Why, that's just ridiculous. I'm sure there's someone out there equally as ridiculous and has beaten the game, but it will not be me. No sir. The guts of a great game are here, a semi-strategic Gauntlet-like game that I love in theory. But those balance details make it all wrong. This version gets a "sterling" 4/10. (I like the Genesis version quite a bit more, though, and I hear the port to PC Engine CD is really nice, too.)
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