RPG Progress Report

[noiseredux]

When you go to the star map each system should have icons that indicate which quests are at which star system. From there you either find an icon where you land and go there or else do the local travel and find which one has the icon.

I figured out later you need to go to the map and THEN the fast transit thing and then it will list which quests are where. It was just kind of confusing to me at first. Not obvious.

I'm still kind of on the fence with this game. It felt like I'd be into it when I first loaded it up, yet I'm quickly feeling a bit turned off. Can't quite put my finger on it.

I hate to keep using Dragon Age as a reference, but maybe I spoiled myself slightly as DA Origins and then Pillars were the last two RPG's I got really wrapped up in. They were so great, so compelling, and just so me that I'm maybe finding it hard to adjust to another RPG. I don't know.

I can say that while the combat seems refined in ME2 over ME, there's really nothing I find especially satisfying about purely "third person shooter" combat. I also have to say that while the game world looks great, I can't say I'm really hooked by the story. While I cared about the world of Dragon Age - and my character almost immediately, I can't say I'm all that interested in Jane Shepherd.

I feel like kind of a jerk. I know a lot of people love these games. I swear I'm not trying to put them down, but I am starting to wonder if maybe the series just isn't for me. Which maybe seems surprising to me as I'm far more of a "Star Wars Guy" than a "Lord Of The Rings Guy."

[ElkinFencer10]

I feel like kind of a jerk. I know a lot of people love these games. I swear I'm not trying to put them down, but I am starting to wonder if maybe the series just isn't for me. Which maybe seems surprising to me as I'm far more of a "Star Wars Guy" than a "Lord Of The Rings Guy."

Hey man, not everybody likes every game. I hate Siphon Filter and Metal Gear Solid, and those are great game series beloved by many. They're just not my cup of tea. Same with Kingdom Hearts.

[noiseredux]

I think that what's throwing me off is that it really does seem like a series that I *would* enjoy. So it's kind of baffling to me that I feel like I'm really forcing myself to try to have fun.

[Ack]

Drakkhen

I know all of you stay up at night waiting to hear my epic tales of grinding in this game. I just know it.

I... I was...

I'm glad you're playing this, because I don't think I'd ever have the patience for it. I quit at level 42 for Robotrek and that was repetitive and grindy enough.

Yeah, Robotrek was definitely a bit grindy, but you could easily abuse the equipment system to get some heavy hitting gear pretty early on. Drakkhen has nothing of the sort, though thankfully you can auto-grind pretty easily once you get high enough in levels. Speaking of which...

Drakkhen

I just spent yesterday grinding in Drakkhen. Or I should say, I let the game grind for me in the background while I worked on other stuff. My new graphics card arrived, and I spent last night installing and updating it, then updating a variety of programs that needed it from the last few weeks. I encountered an issue with GOG Galaxy where it was claiming a critical .dll was missing. It's been fixed now, so hopefully I'll be ok, though it didn't recognize any of the games I had previously installed. When I get the chance, I'll install something small just to see what happens. Meanwhile, Drakkhen let the AI grind for me on the other side of the room, with me occasionally using the controller to send away the one merchant encounter that gets in my way.

Current levels are Ack - 10, Fast - 10, Xen - 9, Noise - 10. I'm grinding in the polar region to the north. If I keep this up, hopefully in a few days I'll have enough levels to just go clear the rest of the game...or at least be able to auto-grind in the desert without fear of the nasty critters there. I reread up on suggestions, and I believe the game is considered beatable with a party around level 13 on the SNES version. I certainly hope so.

[Sarge]

Been playing a bit of Xenoblade Chronicles X. Gah, I just want my party members to shut up! They just blabber forever in boring cutscenes. I don't remember Xenoblade having this problem at all.

Also, the UI is really tiny. I've got good eyes, but that doesn't mean I want to strain to see everything.

[PartridgeSenpai]

Been playing a bit of Xenoblade Chronicles X. Gah, I just want my party members to shut up! They just blabber forever in boring cutscenes. I don't remember Xenoblade having this problem at all.

Also, the UI is really tiny. I've got good eyes, but that doesn't mean I want to strain to see everything.

I haven't played the new one, but if you were focusing just on story stuff, the original Xenoblade had some preeeetty frequent cutscenes. It was either walking from place to place, sidequests, or cutscenes. I mean, it wasn't exactly Xenosaga where you have like, full episodes of anime sometimes (like 10+ minutes of just cutscenes), but it was fairly heavy. Granted I have mixed feelings on that whole series so I'mma stop right there.

The 7th Saga

The people have spoken in the choosing thread, so I started this up this morning. I took your guys' advice and started with Vaslu (or at least on the having him in my party part of it) and am now alternating between grinding to not get insta-stomped and hunting for a either the Dwarf or the Robot to hook up with, as they were the suggested best partners for him. Alien also seemed good, but heavy fire-weakness ain't something I'm really game to deal with for just a bit of extra power :/

Pretty fun so far though. The combat, and especially the way random battles work, is a cool change of pace, not to mention for a game that so readily kills you it has a VERY refreshingly forgiving death-system for a SNES game. I just got to the Earth Gate and am presently dealing with Undead who basically 2-shot me, so it's all uphill from here, right? Xp

[Sarge]

Oh, it's not having cutscenes that bothers me. It's the fact that, so far, they've been interminably boring. Just a bunch of characters standing stock-still blabbering about obvious stuff. "Now let's recap our priorities as a BLADE again, even though you already learned this like thirty minutes ago."

Most of Xenoblade's cutscenes were pretty exciting, or they felt like part of the story. These are basically (so far) a crapton of tutorializing. I'm sure it will get better... but it ain't so hot right now. Gameplay's a'ight, though.

[Ack]

Drakkhen

I'd spent the last few days grinding, but late Saturday night I finally got fed up with it. This had gone on for far too long, and I hadn't actually played the game for several days, so I figured it was time to sit down and push through to see how well I did with the rest of the story. I took control of my part, looked them over to find I had gained quite a bit of experience, and then made my way to the next dungeon I had to visit, where I would once again be forced to do battle with Drakkhen royalty. My troops marched in, I set their AI to buff accordingly at the start of the battle, and then I let loose my attack. Ten seconds later, I emerged from the throne room with more Dragon Tears and my swords smeared with Drakkhen blood. I recouped my lost armor and set off to the next castle.

It turns out the final run in Drakkhen requires your party to become a hit squad, moving from castle to castle and executing the genocidal Drakkhen princes and princesses who wish to wipe out humanity. At each new castle, I would enter, put the nobility to the sword, and move on. With my leveled party, superior gear, and ability to swap AI tactics effectively, each new Drakkhen lord or lady went down handily with only a token struggle. Within half an hour, I was knee deep in their gore and sporting all eight of the Dragon Tears.

My dirty work complete, I made my way to the glowing dragon road in the Forest Kingdom and awaiting my reward. Four dragons descended from the sky around me, and they used their magics to fuse the eight Dragon Tears into the ninth, the final tear shed for humanity. They warned me that humanity should never fight with dragons for fear the Drakkhen would return and then sent me on my way.

Drakkhen complete. One more NTSC-U SNES RPG is now a notch on my belt.

For those curious, here are my current standings:

BEATEN
7th Saga
Arcana
Brain Lord
Breath of Fire
Breath of Fire II
Chrono Trigger
Drakkhen
Earthbound
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest
Illusion of Gaia
Lagoon
Lufia II
Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen
Robotrek
Secret of Evermore
Secret of Mana
Secret of the Stars
Shadowrun
Super Mario RPG
The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang
Ys III: Wanderers from Ys

TO BEAT
Brandish
Dragon View
Dungeon Master
Eye of the Beholder
Inindo
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1
Lufia
Might & Magic III
Obitus
Paladin's Quest
Soul Blazer
Super Ninja Boy
Ultima VI
Ultima VII
Ultima: Runes of Virtue II
Wizardry V

MAYBES
Big Sky Trooper
Equinox
EVO (beaten)
Goof Troop (beaten)
Harvest Moon
Incantation
King Arthur & The Knights of Justice
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (beaten)
Uncharted Waters
Uncharted Waters: New Horizons
Young Merlin (beaten)

[Exhuminator]

Yo Ack, massive respect for actually beating Drakkhen. That game sounds like it was no joke, and took some serious commitment. You're a tough hombre.

Now show us how tough you really are, and take down Brandish next.

[Ack]

Yo Ack, massive respect for actually beating Drakkhen. That game sounds like it was no joke, and took some serious commitment. You're a tough hombre.

Now show us how tough you really are, and take down Brandish next.

I actually meant to beat Brandish last year but ended up getting sidetracked by the summer challenge and a desire to keep focusing on my collection on GOG. Admittedly with summer looming on the distant horizon, this is once again a possibility. I will eventually beat it, but not yet. My next SNES RPG is already picked out and good to go, based on the selection for the upcoming Together RPG.

I've also been pretty heavy on the JRPGs and action RPGs, which has caused me to neglect the WRPGs, causing a buildup in those that I have to beat. I may try to space out some of what I have left, so that I don't end up facing down nothing but WRPGs at the end of my run. I have a suspicion that either Wizardry V or Might & Magic III will be the last SNES RPG I beat.

Don't worry, Brandish will happen eventually. It has to for me to complete my goal.