RPG Progress Report

[Ack]

Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone

On Saturday, I had a little time, so I sat down and powered through the second level of this RPG-esque hack-and-slash. I then charged through the third, and upon beating that, decided to experiment with going back to replay the second level...and then tragedy struck. My computer crashed in the middle of the game. Hard. Windows would now only boot in safe mode, and green lines crisscrossed the screen. I immediately made sure my most important files were backed up, both on USB drives as well as saved onto my laptop and attached to drafts in extra Gmail accounts. Then it came down to figuring out the issue: running virus scans, performing a system restore, rolling back video drivers, updating video drivers. I cleaned out the tower and ensured the fans all worked. Eventually I pulled apart my video card and reseated the GPU, but no dice. I suspect that the thing is hosed.

I guess this means I'm sans computer for a little while as I research a new video card and hope that is the issue. Part of me wants to try reflowing it, but...eh, I already know what my girlfriend will say to that, so probably not. This means Demon Stone is pretty much off the table for the time being. Shame. It has some issues, but it wasn't a bad little game.

[Exhuminator]

Ack if that's a laptop, try hooking up an external monitor (or HDTV) to it, and see if you still get those green lines on the external monitor.

[Ack]

Ack if that's a laptop, try hooking up an external monitor (or HDTV) to it, and see if you still get those green lines on the external monitor.

Unfortunately it's a desktop, and I've confirmed it's not a monitor issue.

[Ack]

Drakkhen

Well, since this had a couple of votes in my SNES flash poll, I figured I'd go ahead and get started. Drakkhen is an...interesting game. It combines elements of an old point-and-click with RPG stats and combat which is performed almost entirely by the game's AI, which is both interesting and incredibly frustrating. It also has the same obtuseness about it as many early WRPGs. Much of the action occurs in third person, but exploration in the overworld is an entirely first person affair, sort of like Obitus but not nearly as limited in how much I can wander. I feel like this is a game that isn't quite sure of itself and doesn't know where to go. There are elements of the combat system that I see in later games like Tales of Phantasia and Star Ocean, while there are also throwback ideas to the dungeon crawlers of yesteryear. And the game starts off with a reasonably high difficulty curve right from the get go, even as it provides a tutorial for those players just starting out. Right now, Drakkhen appears to be entirely front loaded with its most frustrating aspects.

What do I mean? I mean the first enemy of the game you can fight may just kill you, since you have no real control over how your party performs in combat beyond setting rudimentary rules for the AI. This means your dinky level 1 mage may just run at the first enemy with his dagger drawn and be instantly bitch slapped into death status before you've solved the first puzzle. To bring him back, you have to find a hut with a healer, and until you get the hang of the map, that might mean you end up in a few fights sans a party member. Thankfully you can stop and wait to heal injured party members and get back your MP, but dead is dead for the time being. Oh, and while you start with crap, you can actually snag some decent gear from the first castle you visit...but then you can also easily break all of said gear pretty quickly too. I've gone through a few bucklers just messing around with things.

This is all kid stuff though. It has nothing on the hidden boss fights that you can access almost immediately. My first run at the game ended in tragedy as three of the four party members were wiped by one enemy at the start of the game. I successfully wandered the forest for a while trying to find where to heal up, only for night to hit...and then the stars aligned, and an uber boss showed up and one-shotted my last remaining guy. Super monsters apparently plague this game, adding further to the potential for frustration. But as I level up, find gear, and learn new spells, such encounters should slowly become easier...though perhaps only slightly.

Here's hoping by the end of this I find Drakkhen to be a rewarding experience, but it may take a little while for me to get over the hump and get the hang of things. I may just grind a bit early on to ensure I've got the levels I need to survive.

[Sarge]

Have you played the sequel, Dragon View? Much more accessible, and one of the underappreciated classics on SNES.

[Exhuminator]

Acky, that sounds like poop.

Play Brandish.

We can find you another JRPG for the together retro after that.

[Ack]

Have you played the sequel, Dragon View? Much more accessible, and one of the underappreciated classics on SNES.

I have not yet. I plan to eventually, but I want to get through Drakkhen first. Plus I don't yet own a copy of Dragon View...

Acky, that sounds like poop.

Play Brandish.

We can find you another JRPG for the together retro after that.

Nope, gotta play Drakkhen. I have to beat it eventually anyway for personal reasons, and I don't know if I could get through Brandish under my time restraints. Besides, I've beaten the likes of Secret of the Stars. I can deal with this.

[Sarge]

Dragon View is so much better. It's basically a completely different style of game. You get the 3D overworld (which is still clunky as all get-outs, should have employed Mode 7), but dungeons and encounters are all done in a belt-scrolling brawler/hack-'n'-slash style. In some ways, I view it as Zelda by way of Golden Axe. (But not Golden Axe Warrior, that's Golden Axe by way of Zelda.)

Also, unless you're opposed to it, I say emulate. I got lucky and snagged my cart many, many years ago at a Movie Gallery for $8.

[pierrot]

(That feeling when you evolve your "New A/V Famicom" into a "New RGB Famicom.")

I could now play Gargoyle's Quest II, but I already started Terra Phantastica; so there's that. I spent about two or so hours on the intro and tutorial stage of Terra Phantastica last night, and about five minutes in beating the first real mission map. The story actually feels like it has potential; I'm quite intrigued by it. The gameplay seems to be a little overly cumbersome for something that initially appears to lack depth. I'm really unsure of how to use the special "eyes" some characters have. Supposedly it helps them see things other units can't, but I haven't the foggiest what those things might be. So far it's sort of like a mash-up of Fire Emblem, Dragon Force, and just a pinch of Grand Knight Historia.

Terra Phantastica hasn't really grabbed me. I found a walkthrough on a Japanese site that has the quickest possible route through the game, which finishes most missions in one to two turns. It's possible that I may at some point follow it just to see the story unfold. There appear to be six different endings, though.

--

EDIT: I'm a little sorry for doubting Terra Phantastica; It's actually a really good game. It may challenge Dragon Force's position in the Saturn SRPG hierarchy. Perhaps it's no surprise, then, that Chime (the developers of Terra Phantastica) also developed Dragon Force II. (As well as an outstanding little gem in Napple Tale, and the story for Madara 2.)

It's increasingly apparent that this game is meant to be played through a handful of times, as there are a fair few choices to make, all of which affect the resulting ending. It feels like I'm just about to get to where the game hits its stride, so I'm pretty excited to see what's around the corner. So far the storytelling is a bit coy, and peppered with riddles: mostly about who Deane (Dine? Dinah--no, that's a cat) really is, and the personal development of Alexis, who's thrust into arch-dukedom as a child. I'm looking forward to meeting Cordelia, and it seems David Bowie makes an appearance as Ziggy Stardust, at some point. Surprisingly top notch voice acting in this game, also. The sound design is very well done.

I didn't give the battle system enough credit, either. I figured out how the different 'eyes' work, but not before several minutes of frustration in trying to figure out how to search the terrain for new items/characters. There's quite a bit of strategy to the game: advantages to height of terrain relative to opponent's, advantages to attacking from side or behind, unit formations which give various status advantages/disadvantages. There are still some nuances to movement and AP that I haven't really figured out yet, but I'm not sure if it will really be necessary to. My biggest gripe is that it doesn't appear to be possible to rotate the play field, which can be kind of a nuisance, since there's so much terracing in the stages.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Sounds like a neat game. Looking at GameFAQs... there were a surprisingly large amount of Sega-published SRPGs released during the Saturn era.

I put in a bit of PSO last night. Encountered some rare monster in the forest I had never seen before - an Al Rappy that couldn't be killed.