RPG Progress Report

[Betagam7]

I'm about nine hours into Secret of Mana 2 and still enjoying it a lot.

I just beat the ghost ship and have now washed up on an island. It's still quite linear so far which is helping me stay nicely on track. My characters are around level 14 so not too far away from a class change according to the book I read in one of the libraries.

And that's when it opens up a little.

Hopefully you still dig it. I wouldn't say it's as open as FF6's second half, but somewhat similar. You'll just be able to do some of the main bosses in any order, so it's like a few main branches open up.

I don't mind it opening up a little. One of the things that I find odd about the Mana games is the equipment progression. Unless I'm missing something it's literally just buying a new set of gear at every major checkpoint. It seems incredibly simplistic to the point where they almost needn't bother showing you the stat raise because you know everything is going to be generically better than last time but with no real flavour to it.

Anyway, I did the extremely long winded dungeon crawling bit and escaped the volcanic island via the big Turtle guy. So now I'm off to see the king to see where I go next.

I'm guessing that despite the quirkiness of my party I happened to choose characters that compliment each other since I have ended up with the traditional Tank, mage, healer combo after all. I haven't been finding the game too difficult as a result. So far only one death.

[MrPopo]

Don't most RPGs consist of buying the next set of gear at a town? Occasionally you'll see a game give you two options for armor (higher pdef vs. mdef) but there's usually not much in the way of concrete choices.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I am a good ways into Dragon Warrior II, and I anticipate beating it soon. (I suspect that the trek to Hargon is going to be a Final Fantasy III-style slog, however.)

After I beat it, I will have beaten all of the 8-bit Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy games. I have also beaten Phantasy Star. What other great 8-bit console turn-based JRPGs are out there? Earthbound? Sweet Home? Destiny of an Emperor? (I am just curious what other games in this small genre I should consider.)

[Jmustang1968]

I am a good ways into Dragon Warrior II, and I anticipate beating it soon. (I suspect that the trek to Hargon is going to be a Final Fantasy III-style slog, however.)

After I beat it, I will have beaten all of the 8-bit Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy games. I have also beaten Phantasy Star. What other great 8-bit console turn-based JRPGs are out there? Earthbound? Sweet Home? Destiny of an Emperor? (I am just curious what other games in this small genre I should consider.)

The 3 Ultima titles on the NES?

[MrPopo]

Definitely Earthbound. Lagrange Point is pretty solid as well.

[Violent By Design]

I think Mother is probably the only 8 bit turn based RPG worth visiting by that point. Maybe there are some Western RPGs from that era that are good too, but likely not on console.

[PartridgeSenpai]

I'm about 43 hours into Tales of Graces f. I'm getting towards what an inexperienced person might think would be the final encounter, but I'm second guessing the game here. I'm gonna wager that the bad guy up to this point is either not actually the bad/baddest guy, or he has some contingency plan for once we beat him that'll draw out the game a bit. I still have like 15 discoveries to find (out of 85), so the game can't be THAT close to over :/

I'm onto you, gaming world. Won't fool me again in THIS JRPG :I

[Xeogred]

I'm about 43 hours into Tales of Graces f. I'm getting towards what an inexperienced person might think would be the final encounter, but I'm second guessing the game here. I'm gonna wager that the bad guy up to this point is either not actually the bad/baddest guy, or he has some contingency plan for once we beat him that'll draw out the game a bit. I still have like 15 discoveries to find (out of 85), so the game can't be THAT close to over :/

I'm onto you, gaming world. Won't fool me again in THIS JRPG :I

Kudos to you, the cooking system in this game killed it for me. There was so much tedious micromanagement with the skills and all that in between battles, it was exhausting. I'm not even sure if I got all the characters. Think I only got to chapter 2 or something.

[MrPopo]

I personally didn't care for the changes in the combat system. The combination of all moves using a finite resource and the forward and backward movement on the line instead of left and right really messed with me.

[Betagam7]

Don't most RPGs consist of buying the next set of gear at a town? Occasionally you'll see a game give you two options for armor (higher pdef vs. mdef) but there's usually not much in the way of concrete choices.

It's not the only game to do it but it is incredibly structured in a way that other games of a similar time aren't and I've never found myself short of gold enough to buy them all so it almost seems a pointless inclusion, especially as there is no graphical change in your characters. It just seems like they've followed RPG 101 without putting any thought into it. There doesn't appear to be any secret equipment to find, no case of certain weapons or equipment being stronger against certain enemy types or environments. It's just very, very basic to the point of being a needless chore.

Anyway...back to the game. I suffered my second death courtesy of the same enemies that gave me my first one. Those armour golems that you first encounter at the bridge in the cleft of earth were waiting for me in the ice cavern. Damn, they were vicious.