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Post by Kazin on Oct 19, 2022 19:46:39 GMT -5
Xeogred I just looked up some pictures of Arc the Lad III, and the sprites look good, but yeah the backgrounds are a downgrade haha
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Post by Sarge on Oct 19, 2022 19:57:40 GMT -5
Ah, gotcha. Bummer, but at least it wasn't ten hours or something! Maybe I'll think differently when I actually sink more time into SF3, but yeah, it is really slow, and perhaps that's what is really grating every time I play it. Xeogred: I do dig the more adult-proportioned sprites in AtL3. But yeah, otherwise it's a downgrade.
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Post by Xeogred on Oct 19, 2022 20:29:16 GMT -5
Guess I should mention I played and beat Shining Force 1 a few years ago and had a blast with it. I jumped into 2 immediately and could tell it would be even better, but I fell off pretty fast. I shouldn't have doubled up like that. So I'll return to 2 someday when the mood strikes.
Sarge: Like Suikoden 1-2, Arc the Lad 1-2 kind of just looks like Omega SNES games haha. Always a plus in my book. Yeah the Arc 3 sprites are pretty solid. Still looks good all around, but yeah some preferences coming into play here... I also like how 1-2 is more squared/grid locked.
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Post by Ex on Oct 19, 2022 21:09:30 GMT -5
something happened to my save of Alundra, so that hour I spent on it is gone That's just fate doing you a favor. Did I mention I'm not a fan of Alundra? Sure it starts out decent, but the longer you play it, the more sadistic and unfun Alundra's game design becomes. Had the same experience with Landstalker; same diminishing of returns experience. Both games have proper somber atmospheres though, I'll give them that. That's what HRG is for man, helping us retro enthusiasts help each other. Looking forward to your thoughts on Arc 1 after you finish it. Shouldn't take long. I jumped into 2 immediately and could tell it would be even better, but I fell off pretty fast Yeah I beat SF1 and thought it was a solid "OK". But it wasn't OK enough that I felt compelled to try SF2. I have read/heard SF2 is a big improvement. Though I tend to be less impressed with Camelot games than most.
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Post by Xeogred on Oct 19, 2022 21:16:20 GMT -5
I've never gotten far into Alundra myself, when I eat 16bit ARPG's for breakfast (what it seems to pull from mostly).
What kills Alundra for me is the insane pixel perfect platforming required in the dungeons and stuff. Everything else about it seems amazing, but the jumping is absurdly brutal for whatever reason. Like the last thing you'd expect the game to be so hardcore about, but no, some dev wanted those jumps to be hilariously challenging. lol, I'll play it again someday...
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Post by Kazin on Oct 19, 2022 21:23:50 GMT -5
Ex heh, I do want to go back to try Alundra, but I've been fully captivated by Arc the Lad. I realized in my session just now that the game isn't like Shining Force in that there are limited battles - you can level up your guys if you want, which is nice, because Arc was a bit overleveled, and Kukuru underleveled. Now we're nice and even and making good progress. No idea how to get the treasure chests in the ponds in that area I was just in - I suppose I need a flying unit and to come back later or something. For Shining Force, it was weird for me - my mom bought me II on a whim (I'd not played the first and hadn't heard of the series), so I absolutely fell in love with it, so much so that she bought me Sword of Hajya on Game Gear later on. Not sure why I didn't get the first one back in the day, but when I finally did play it, I was a bit underwhelmed. It's a little more difficult, but the fact that level ups are so totally random that you can level up and gain ZERO STATS turns me off. I've been picking away at the Genesis version this year, and have gotten pretty far, but haven't beaten it. I'd just rather play II or the Game Gear games. II is a huge improvement in pretty much every way, imo. As for Camelot in general... I'm a huge fan of their Mario Golf/Tennis games, which I think are delightful little sports RPGs that I'd wish we'd get more of (I did play through Golf Story on Switch, and I liked it, but I don't think it's as good as Mario Golf GBC if I'm honest). Haven't played Beyond the Beyond, though I hear it's dire. Never have beat Golden Sun 2 or 3, and my playthrough of 1 this year was my first time beating that game, too. I started 2 but burned out on it. Can't remember if I played anything else they made. Shining Force II, for me, is an all-timer, though.
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Post by Sarge on Oct 19, 2022 21:27:35 GMT -5
Yeah, I could see not wanting to roll straight into Golden Sun 2. Give it a little time - I had to do the same thing back in the day. And yeah, the Mario Golf/Tennis games are great. The RPG ones are quite good, although I'm a huge fan of the N64 game. It just feels right, and it doesn't have as much of the ridiculous gimmicky super shot stuff that ruins a good volley.
I always wanted Sword of Hajya, but never got it - probably because I played through SFCD. Wish I had a legit copy of that, but I didn't have much money so I was playing burned copies of it (and the Lunar games).
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Post by Ex on Oct 19, 2022 21:37:19 GMT -5
By the time I got around to playing Shining Force, I'd already beaten many other SRPGs, so it was underwhelming. I can understand that if Shining Force was someone's first SRPG, it would be much more impressive. I've read a lot of people say that Shining Force is difficult, but I found it to be a cakewalk. I mean, compared to stuff like Fallout Tactics, Tactics Ogre, or Front Mission 4, it is. And that's okay, a breezy SRPG can be a good time. I'm not against giving those Game Gear SF games a fair chance eventually. I've played four Camelot games that I can remember. The only one I finished was Shining Force. I fell off of Golden Sun (stupidly verbose), Shining in the Darkness (stupidly grindy/repetitive), Shining the Holy Ark*. So 1 out of 4 isn't a great ratio, but I'm open to trying more games by Camelot down the road. * Notice I put in over 25 hours before giving up on that StHA, I had an informed opinion. There are others on HRG who love StHA. Well personally I've played far better first person dungeon crawlers, so my expectations fall higher I guess.
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Post by Kazin on Oct 19, 2022 21:41:39 GMT -5
Yeah, the Shining Force games aren't all that difficult. SF1 isn't difficult either, it's just annoying - I have to save and quit right before leveling up so I don't get a crap level up, because if you don't get your flying units some attack boosts, they're pretty useless right away. It's more of a time sink than difficult. The enemies just staying in one spot until you get close makes manipulating their AI stupidly easy haha
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Post by toei on Oct 20, 2022 7:54:26 GMT -5
Ex has wild tastes. I mean, I guess I do too, since I hate old Castlevania games and all. But yeah, Alundra is great. It will test your patience at times, but certainly no more then all those NES platformers y'all love like CV and Sunsoft's Batman. And unlike those piles of garbage, it has tons of qualities, and the really difficult / frustrating moments can be counted on one hand. Landstalker too. Dark Savior on the Saturn is not in the same league, but it's cool too, and also part of that loose spiritual Climax/Matrix Sofware ARPG series. I truly do detest that mine cart ride, but I like the game otherwise. Shining the Holy Ark is one of the few first-person dungeon crawlers I like, too. It feels more like a real RPG than a pure dungeon crawler, since you do travel from town to town and there's a real story. The only game I could compare it to is Arcana, which is pretty good too. As for Shining Force, I don't really get why the leveling bothers Kazin so much, honestly. So what if you get a bad level? You'll just as likely get a good one later one to make up for it. That's the nature of chance, you're not entitled to getting the best possible level every time. Don't reload your save, just roll with it. Besides, the game is easy, and you get so many characters that you can just switch in another if you don't get much use out of one. I'm always a little reluctant to switch out a character I like, but when they just don't pull their weight in battle, you gotta be a good coach and bring in the better players.
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