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Post by Ex on Sept 21, 2021 0:41:30 GMT -5
I've got two hours in Monstania at this point, so I guess I'm halfway done with it already. I'm still very much enjoying this one. Lots of charm, makes me feel happy to play, great OST, lots of variety. Good times.
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Post by Xeogred on Sept 21, 2021 22:18:18 GMT -5
Played about an hour of Majin Tensei II myself tonight, completing four long battles. The presentation here is amazing and the dialogue seems pretty good. But it's hard to say much on the combat so far and this definitely seems like a dungeon crawler (like all the SMT's?). So far the game has just been battle after battle, with nothing in between. There was one world map styled menu but it looked like I still have several areas to get through to even get to an item shop. There are chests you can find in the battles though and sometimes it's equipment that you can equip mid battle during a turn thankfully. You start off with three units, two melee and one ranged, then the last battle I did was only with the two melee guys, kind of boring. Then the battle I left off on was the main character only...
Not sure if this has monster recruitment or how deep the combat can get, but I definitely get the vibe this thing is probably really freaking long haha. One battle took me 20 turns.
So I don't know if I'll stick with it, but an interesting curiosity for sure...
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Post by Ex on Sept 22, 2021 23:38:02 GMT -5
I still love that cover art though, Xeogred. I'm assuming the truly good strategy stuff in the SMT world would be the Devil Survivor games. - I've now got three hours in Monstania, cruising right along. Except for the Sea Bug battle, where you have to stop them from reaching the laboratory. That one took me a few times, because I didn't understand what the game wanted the player to do. Turns out it's just knock the bugs over multiple times for X amount of rounds, and that's it. Simple enough once you know what to do. That was the first battle that has given me any friction though, otherwise game's been a cakewalk so far. But still fun and charming.
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Post by Sarge on Sept 22, 2021 23:39:26 GMT -5
Yeah, that one took me a few tries as well. The magic arrows make that fight a cinch with the right positioning, though.
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Post by Ex on Sept 22, 2021 23:52:04 GMT -5
Yeah, that one took me a few tries as well. The magic arrows make that fight a cinch with the right positioning, though. Yep, that and the "Sing" spell. It flips them all over at once, and you can do it three times per battle. I used a combination of Magic Arrows, Sing, and Kamaitachi to turn the tide. But that was on my fourth attempt.
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Post by Ex on Sept 25, 2021 2:06:12 GMT -5
Title: MonstaniaPlatform: Super Famicom Region release played: Japan Year of release: 1996 Developer: Bits Laboratory Publisher: Pack-In-Video Graphics: 4/5 Audio: 4/5 Challenge: 2/5 Fun factor: 4/5 Quick Thoughts: Monstania is a Japan-only strategy game that received an English fan translation via AGTP. This game uses a partner-based unusual combat system which feels a bit like a roguelike in action. The length while being short, manages to feel fulfilling due to the large quantity of short missions. This design lends Monstania a fast pace so it never feels like it's wasting the player's time. Monstania would have made a good candidate to have ported to DS (perhaps with expanded content), but as it stands it's well worth emulating for anyone in the market for a breezy "feel good" 16-bit SRPG. +Charming presentation. +Above average isometric graphics and high quality OST. +Consistent mission variety. +Unique combat system. +Occasional puzzles to break up the fighting. -What even is this plot? -Not much character development. -Not much in the way of equipment variety. -The "Sea Bugs" mission. -Low difficulty. Ex's time to beat: 4 hours 15 minutes Ex's rating: 8/10
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Post by Chema on Sept 26, 2021 14:07:28 GMT -5
I'm back to Final Fantasy Tactics after playing so much I got burnt out. I think I'm very, very close to finishing the game.
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Post by paulofthewest on Sept 26, 2021 19:23:30 GMT -5
I'm back to Final Fantasy Tactics after playing so much I got burnt out. I think I'm very, very close to finishing the game. Did you find the hidden characters? Some of them are pretty strong.
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Post by paulofthewest on Sept 26, 2021 20:07:38 GMT -5
So, I did complete Fallout Tactics, although about a week ago. I haven't had time to type. =( Fallout Tactics plays similarly to Fallout 1 & 2, except with a massively improved combat system. + Same fallout atmosphere, dialogue, and plot. + Massive combat improvements: + Can have a team of up to 6 and switch out characters. + More character options: snipers, melee, big weapons, stealth, traps, and throwing (throwing turns out to be incredibly helpful.) + Stand, crouch, prone available with respective +/-s + Lots of character development option (perks and skills.) + Extra weapons beyond 1 & 2 + Lots of amusing hidden areas: They had a Matrix reference in one of them. -/+ If you don't develop different strategies, then you will not make it in the end
- Overworld battles are a drag. You can develop skills to avoid them, but that seems like a waste. - Some battles become super tedious since the enemy is so well entrenched (although maybe that is why it was called "hard" mode.) - Game punishes you for forgetting to bring certain type of characters in certain missions. Make a save before starting any mission! I didn't see a way to restart a mission once started. The game features a turn based or "real time" based combat style. I tried turn based at first and it would probably make some of these more intensive battle easier. I didn't go with turn based because real time allowed you could set auto-attack on your team. This means I can have one guy as a decoy and the rest wait and ambush as needed. Cleaned up a lot this way. 8.0/10: Great tactical RPG and probably the best of the 2D Fallout games. The variety of tactics and streamlined combat system really shine over its predecessors. There are a couple of things that detract from the experience, but those are minor compared to the overall package. So at the end Barnaky opened the door to the calculator and I just destroyed the calculator. I got what I thought was the only ending (basically the world is cleansed of robotic forces.) After reading a bit online, there are apparently 4 endings. Three of which involve a brain swap, which is where I though the game was going. I did find the three other endings interesting as they have varing levels of positive/negative outcomes for working with the robots.
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Post by Ex on Sept 26, 2021 20:20:22 GMT -5
I'm back to Final Fantasy Tactics after playing so much I got burnt out. I think I'm very, very close to finishing the game. Looking forward to your overall opinion once you complete it. So, I did complete Fallout Tactics, although about a week ago. Congrats on beating a challenging and excellent SRPG. Did you find the one where you can talk to Vault Boy? He will even join your squad if you have less than a full roster. It's impressive to me that you finished this game using the real-time option. I did the turn-based option, due to the extra time to make critical decisions. However I remember the sentry mode from the tutorial, and I can see how in real-time that would be very useful for ambushes. I think it's awesome that Fallout Tactics allows you to make the game turn-based or real-time, I can't think of any other SRPG that lets you do as such (though they probably exist?). From a gameplay perspective, I do not disagree. From a writing perspective, I still think the original Fallout is the best. I believe Xeogred would very much enjoy Fallout Tactics as well. Another forward thinking approach for an SRPG of its time.
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