What RPG are you playing right now?

[Betagam7]

I decided to put my weariness of turn based RPG's to one side and start Secret of Mana 2 (Seiken Densetsu 3).

I didn't have much time for the previous SNES entry in this series, finding it dull, overated and lacking in story. I'm pleased to say that I have really enjoyed the first four hours of the sequel.

I'm playing as Angela, Kevin and Carlie. I've no idea if this is a good pairing or not but I like the idea that you can view the game from multiple perspectives by choosing different characters. So far i've found the story engaging and the action style combat is the perfect remedy to my boredom with the endless random battles in turn based RPGs of late.

[Sarge]

Kevin is probably the best melee attacker in the game. Choose the right classes, and he can also eventually heal. But you've got Carlie along, so you should be fine on that front.

If you enjoy the magic system, you'll get a lot out of Angela.

[Betagam7]

Kevin is probably the best melee attacker in the game. Choose the right classes, and he can also eventually heal. But you've got Carlie along, so you should be fine on that front.

If you enjoy the magic system, you'll get a lot out of Angela.

I've only learned one spell so far. I got to a scene last night where I was in some underground cavern and some of Angela's mother's goons jumped me on a bridge. I suffered my first death. I'm guessing it's a story moment but maybe I need to be more powerful to handle it first.

I've found the linear, structured nature of the story so far refreshing as it's allowed me to get into the world without becoming overwhelmed and lost in it like I did with Phantasia.

[MrPopo]

Who was the first character you picked? Was it Angela or one of the other two?

[Xeogred]

I've found the linear, structured nature of the story so far refreshing as it's allowed me to get into the world without becoming overwhelmed and lost in it like I did with Phantasia.

Well, not to scare you away, but the second half of the game is pretty open. It's done really well though I thought.

This is the one game I always "install" or setup immediately whenever I get a new computer, reboot, and all that. Always. I'm disappointed you didn't like SoM though. One of my all time favorites.

Your party sounds pretty wacky though haha, Kevin can end up being a good healer but since you have two magic users, I would make sure to focus on sheer brute power with his build. I've always liked Angela but have never completed a run with her, the magic animations slow down the pacing of the combat a bit for me so I think that's why.

The last party I ran was Lise, Hawk, and Carlie which was really good. Lise might even be better than Duran in the end, she is crazy awesome.

[pierrot]

I didn't like SoM, either. I thought it was definitely the weakest of the four Seiken Densetsu games I've played (1-3 and Legend of Mana) and overall unpolished, and not fun.

SD 3 is pretty great, though. The battle system still isn't perfect, but the story and characters are much better, and it's enjoyable throughout. I had Reese as my lead character, and Hawkeye and Angela backing her up. I liked that team, especially Reese and Hawkeye. I guess there's a pretty serious bug involving Charlotte, so I just avoided her. Also, from what little I saw of her, she seemed super annoying.

If you get a craving for more Mana after finishing SD 3, I felt that Legend of Mana was, perhaps, even a bit better. It's much more unorthodox, though.

[Xeogred]

How is the battle system not perfect? What other ARPG exists in this world that is more fun to play? Nothing compares to me. SD3's gameplay is absolute perfection.

Not liking this SoM hate.

[pierrot]

From a purely gameplay perspective? Was the question not rhetorical? I don't really feel like typing up a list.

I'm not saying SD 3 isn't fun (I love the game) but the combat is still a tad stiff.

[BoneSnapDeez]

The second and third installments of Seiken Densetsu are both shockingly good. Two of the best ARPGs to ever grace us mortals.

Outside of Ys and Zelda games (yeah not reeeaaalll ARPGs, whatevers) they rank the highest.

[PartridgeSenpai]

The second and third installments of Seiken Densetsu are both shockingly good. Two of the best ARPGs to ever grace us mortals.

Outside of Ys and Zelda games (yeah not reeeaaalll ARPGs, whatevers) they rank the highest.

The biggest problem I had with Secret of Mana is how dang far you gotta be to the edge of the screen to scroll it. I mean, I get why it's a thing due to the fact that you gotta manage 3 people on screen at all times, but it's still just annoying. I would've prefered smaller character sprites to give the impression of a higher resolution and smaller hit-boxes to mitigate the issue. Other than that, I liked what I played of the game. I own SD3, but haven't tried it yet. Kinda wanna finish SoM first, but that won't be for a while Xp

Tales of Graces f continues the difficulty I'm familiar with the Tales series. You're going along just fine, normal enemies aren't too much of a problem, then BAM! You hit a boss you can just baaarely kill (or provides a decent enough challenge at least. I'm enjoying it so far though. Moderate-level combat seems to be not too hard, but you really gotta focus on stun-locking or dodging constantly, because you really don't have that much health, when you start eating enemy combos.

I also really like how Tales tends to do its narratives without those really annoying asides that anime-style media so often uses. Xenoblade had them a lot, like in that very Dragon Ball kind of fashion where it shows you the bad guys chatting about their plans from a perspective completely separate of the main character, just to draw in the audience. That just breaks my immersion. I much prefer seeing things soley from the perspective of characters I'm controlling, even if it isn't a game with branching narrative choices.