RPG Progress Report

[pierrot]

Baldur's Gate: I went thief for my main character--although I'm struggling to pick any locks--and settled with the initial roll the game gave me, which was high in DEX, and maybe CHR. I'm figuring out that that's one of the issues, but the constant deaths haven't really been demoralizing, anyway. I have Khalid, and what's-her-face for party members other than Imoen. After picking up some extra short bows from bandits, I've seen dramatic improvements in survivability by equipping the main character with ranged weapons, and letting the fighters take care of the melee.

I think I kind of like the game, though I can't understand why. Everything feels a bit clunky, but it seems to be enjoyable, I guess. Last night I got to Beregost, and cleared out the pack of giant spiders. I even got a creepy giant spider body! (Is this good?)

[MrPopo]

Ahem, why have you not started Tactics Ogre yet?

Once Ack stopped following his own rules, I figured I'd do the same.

Ack doesn't play by anyone's rules. Not even his own.

[Jmustang1968]

Baldur's Gate: I went thief for my main character--although I'm struggling to pick any locks--and settled with the initial roll the game gave me, which was high in DEX, and maybe CHR. I'm figuring out that that's one of the issues, but the constant deaths haven't really been demoralizing, anyway. I have Khalid, and what's-her-face for party members other than Imoen. After picking up some extra short bows from bandits, I've seen dramatic improvements in survivability by equipping the main character with ranged weapons, and letting the fighters take care of the melee.

I think I kind of like the game, though I can't understand why. Everything feels a bit clunky, but it seems to be enjoyable, I guess. Last night I got to Beregost, and cleared out the pack of giant spiders. I even got a creepy giant spider body! (Is this good?)

I love the games, but some things havent aged quite well. I also say the Enhanced Editions can be worth it. And yeah for a rogue type, they can be effective with short bows. Get in the melee and can die easily.

[Ack]

Ahem, why have you not started Tactics Ogre yet?

Once Ack stopped following his own rules, I figured I'd do the same.

Ack doesn't play by anyone's rules. Not even his own.

I don't need no instructions to know how to rock.

[Xeogred]

Ahem, why have you not started Tactics Ogre yet?

Once Ack stopped following his own rules, I figured I'd do the same.

It will be my next PSP game though, next time I get around to PSP-ing. Already installed and ready to go.

You've been cruising through those PSP titles.

I don't think you will be cruising through TO.

[PartridgeSenpai]

Have barely had enough time to breathe the past couple days, but I've gotten all the way up to level 40 of the extra-dungeon in Sorcery Saga. Only 200+ more to go, from the sounds of things Xp

[Exhuminator]

You've been cruising through those PSP titles.

I don't think you will be cruising through TO.

That's the reason I haven't started it yet. It looks to be an 80+ hour game. I'm not quite up to that level of commitment right now.

[Jmustang1968]

You've been cruising through those PSP titles.

I don't think you will be cruising through TO.

That's the reason I haven't started it yet. It looks to be an 80+ hour game. I'm not quite up to that level of commitment right now.

It will be easy to do though, if your experience is anything like mine, you will be sucked in. Have you played Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen?

[Exhuminator]

Have you played Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen?

I played it briefly a few years ago, and I wasn't sucked in by it. That was mostly because I wasn't 100% sure what I was doing. I think you can only control squads holistically in that game, and not control individual units. Something like that rubbed me wrong about it. I understand though that the Tactics Ogre games play differently, with individual unit control. I'm sure OG:MotBQ is a great game if you bother to read the instruction manual.

[Jmustang1968]

Have you played Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen?

I played it briefly a few years ago, and I wasn't sucked in by it. That was mostly because I wasn't 100% sure what I was doing. I think you can only control squads holistically in that game, and not control individual units. Something like that rubbed me wrong about it. I understand though that the Tactics Ogre games play differently, with individual unit control. I'm sure OG:MotBQ is a great game if you bother to read the instruction manual.

It is great. And while you don't directly control each unit, you have more control than it seems.
You can choose 4 different strategies on the fly, and change at any time. So you can choose attack leader or weakest etc. Units act accordingly, and attack in a certain way, based on their class and location in formation.
So a front line guy can only hit the units in front of them, and that spreads a bit more if the guy in front of them dies. You put a ranged class in the back, and they will be able to say cast a spell that can target a few specific enemy units etc.

So the big trick of the game is properly building your squad. You control where the units attack when you form the squad and select the attack strategy. So, while it may seem like they just act on their own, they really don't. It is a unique system that I think is pretty cool.

I mention Ogre Battle, as TO is somewhat related to Ogre Battle in story. Some characters (a few playable ones) will join you, and there are some other story and lore references. Same world, different continent etc...