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Post by Xeogred on Oct 18, 2022 18:17:33 GMT -5
Wait... the Arc the Lad games are SRPGs?! How did I not know that?! I'm a huge HUGE Shining Force fan, and if they play like those (and less like Final Fantasy Tactics, which I've bounced off several times because it's so finicky - no, I don't want to worry about which direction my characters are facing when I end their turn, thanks), I need to play them ASAP. Tons to think about here! I've heard a lot of love for Breath of Fire IV and the art looks great from what I've seen of it. The Suikoden series has been on the "to play" list for years, I'll definitely be playing at least the first two. Then we're in similar company here. I think Arc the Lad II blows FFT out of the water. Way more personality and charm, it's got a Trigun-like setting too with some mix of Wild West meets steampunk/sci-fi with a dose of fantasy. Sounds kind of all over, but it works.
What really levels 2 up for me, is that unlike 90% of this genre where you navigate from menu to menu... Arc 2 has traditional JRPG towns, dungeons, etc, that you walk around in. It's so simple yet this level of engagement just makes the whole package even better.
Like Suikoden 1 -> 2 to an extent, Arc 1 I think takes place entirely in one dungeon or something weird like that. It's just menus and is a short game. You can beat it in 10 hours, or 20 if you do everything like I did. But then Arc 2 is a massive 40+ hour sequel, you get the entire Arc 1 cast back, you can even do some Monster Tournament thing (separate game disc haha) and bring those units into your party. It's dense with content. Combat just flows faster and smoother than other SRPG's too. If you like Shining Force, I think you may like these a lot.
I fell off Arc 3. Didn't like the aesthetic change, the way the story progressed, etc, but some like it. It's probably good and I should give it another shot.
Suikoden 1 can indeed be done in about ~20 hours. It kind of looks and feels like a 16bit JRPG on steroids but in a great way. 2 is very much in the same mold mechanically, just twice the game and all. I think 2 has more high points and one of the best villains in JRPG history, but I'm a huge defender of 1 too. I've beaten both twice, lovely games. For my money both Xenogears and Suikoden 1-2 are top tier when it comes to storytelling.
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Post by toei on Oct 18, 2022 18:46:11 GMT -5
Yeah, I'll stand up for Arc the Lad 3. Liked it a lot. It's mostly mission-based - you're mercenaries taking jobs - so that means there's a lot of substories, kind of like in Dragon Quest. But some of the missions eventually lead into a main plot. The fights are on a smaller scale, so it moves faster, and it's a little less fantasy and it has a few more modern elements in its setting.
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Post by Sarge on Oct 18, 2022 21:58:13 GMT -5
I do like AtL3 as well, even if it isn't as good as the second game. Fairly easy, but the smaller mission vignettes are interesting for the character dialogue, which features some of Working Designs' stronger work.
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Post by Kazin on Oct 19, 2022 7:23:57 GMT -5
Sounds like the Arc the Lad games are next on the list, then - they really sound right up my alley.
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Post by Ex on Oct 19, 2022 9:06:19 GMT -5
Sounds like the Arc the Lad games are next on the list, then - they really sound right up my alley. I'll be interested in your opinion of the first Arc once you play it. Here's what I thought of it about six years ago, when I beat it for the first time: For sure Arc 2 will be my next SRPG, when I get in that mood. Being able to visit towns and turning dungeons into tactical battlefields sounds rad.
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Post by bonesnapdeez on Oct 19, 2022 18:06:25 GMT -5
I gotta play those Arc the Lad games. That big PSX compilation is way too expensive, but I downloaded them on PSN where they're actually sold separately.
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Post by Kazin on Oct 19, 2022 18:45:04 GMT -5
When I installed EmuDeck, something happened to my save of Alundra, so that hour I spent on it is gone. I wasn't in the mood to redo that bit (even though I liked it), so I fired up Arc the Lad.
...Mind if I gush a bit?
The spritework is amazing. I'm sure everyone around here appreciates a good sprite, but they don't make them like this anymore (well, they sort of do - Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is stunningly beautiful in a similar way, though that's a newish game, so nevermind). The animation is great, the sprites are detailed and have tons of little flourishes. I adore them.
The battle system is like streamlined Shining Force. You just go up to an enemy and attack it, no submenu necessary - while I don't mind the submenus of Shining Force, this is admittedly a bit better and less clunky (there are submenus for spells and abilities, but only for them, not for attacking. I do kind of wish I could turn off the confirmation dialog when ending your turn, but oh well, very minor complaint). Though Arc the Lad doesn't have interstitial full screen attack animations like in Shining Force (which I sort of miss), the attack animations take place right there on the battlefield and look great.
I have three characters at the moment, and they all animate differently and I like all three of their sprites. I'm looking forward to Arc the Lad II, where you can apparently wander around towns and stuff like regular RPGs/Shining Force II, but you know what? I love the heck out of the Game Gear Shining Force games, and those have no town exploration whatsoever, so I'll be just fine with Arc the Lad I.
Glad I made this thread here. Annoyed at myself for sleeping on Arc the Lad for so long lol
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Post by Sarge on Oct 19, 2022 19:07:44 GMT -5
I remember throwing down over $50 for it on eBay back in the day - that was one of my biggest purchases to that point I'd made, and a big chunk of change on my limited budget. Glad I snagged it, though! Glad you're liking it so far, Kazin ! It only gets better from here. And yeah, the in-between battle shots were always awesome in SF1/2/CD. (I think SF3 looks quite terrible, though.) Also, I wouldn't be surprised if EmuDeck is looking in a different folder for saves. It might even be using a different version of RA or whatever you happen to be using for PSX emulation. I've got mine set up to use DuckStation currently, and it's great.
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Post by Kazin on Oct 19, 2022 19:20:40 GMT -5
Sarge EmuDeck does look in a different folder for saves - actually a pretty easy to get to place, right there next to the "roms" folder on my micro sd card, unlike Retroarch, which is like .home/usr/.steam/Retroarch/saves or something like that lol. What happened was, I took the save from Steam Retroarch and moved it to the saves folder for EmuDeck - when I tried to load Alundra up in Duckstation, a little popup came up that said the save/memory card was bad, and wrote over it. I didn't make a backup like an idiot, so it's gone! lol At least it was just like 50 minutes or whatever, which I'm sure now that I know what to do, I could shave down to like a half hour anyway. Oh well. I like the way Shining Force III looks, even in the battle scenes - it's charmingly low poly as heck. What I don't like is the mix of 2D and 3D art in the overhead view. And compared to Arc the Lad, that games battle system is S L O W
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Post by Xeogred on Oct 19, 2022 19:26:44 GMT -5
I'm a big fan of Arc the Lad 1-2's sprites myself. As I suggested earlier, Arc 3's big changes to the graphics were a downgrade for my tastes.
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