RPG Progress Report

[MrPopo]

In the original Persona 4 I did the definitely final dungeon and boss with a solo character, so skimping on leveling everyone is totally fine.

[Exhuminator]

Since I finished off Sorcery! 3, I've moved on to finishing up another RPG that's been sitting on my phone for months (and months). Aralon Sword and Shadow. It's a third person action-RPG with a surprisingly deep interface and complex game mechanics. I put an hour into it tonight and so far it's quite fun. This comes from the same developer who made the awesome Ravensword: Shadowlands (which I've already beaten), so I've got confidence this will be a good time. It's even got a quest system and its own achievement system built in. It also lets you create your own character's race and gender. (I went with a real stretch and chose to be a violent troll.) I'm not really looking forward to the death of dedicated handheld gaming*, but once in a while I find mobile games that make me think life will go on well enough.

*If/when it ever happens.

[marurun]

How was Ravensword? It's been out on iOS forever now and is regularly trotted out on best RPG lists. I figure that means something, but an RB denizen review is always my preferred method of gathering intel.

[Markies]

At 1:30 PM, I started playing Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest.
At 2:15 AM, I stopped playing Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest.

In over 12 hours, I beat the entire game, collected all items and did it without loosing a single battle.

I really like the game especially if you take it for what it is. But, man 12 hours of slow battles was beginning to wane on me. It was a slog at some points.

Last year, it took me almost 16 hours to do the same thing to Final Fantasy II(SNES). Even though that one was longer, Mystic Quest was harder. It just took forever.

[alienjesus]

In the original Persona 4 I did the definitely final dungeon and boss with a solo character, so skimping on leveling everyone is totally fine.

I could probably manage this OK too. My main character has Victory Cry (full HP & SP regeneration after every battle), Angelic Grace (double evasion against physical, fire, wind, ice and electric attacks) and a persona which drains ice, reflects electric and light and is immune to darkness whilst having no actual weaknesses. He also has the top level attack-all electric spell, the most powerful almighty spell and the medium chance of killing everyone light and dark spells.

The other guys are generally just my back up support incase the enemy is immune to light and dark in the dungeon.

[Exhuminator]

How was Ravensword? It's been out on iOS forever now and is regularly trotted out on best RPG lists. I figure that means something, but an RB denizen review is always my preferred method of gathering intel.

I went back to my HLTB records and this was the review I wrote:

Ravensword: Shadowlands (R:S) comes across as an amalgam of a lite Elder Scrolls experience with a hint of King's Field at times. That's not to say the game is entirely derivative, for example you may find yourself flying on a pterodactyl shooting flaming crossbow bolts at swamp goblins. Graphically amazing for its platform, R:S never fails to impress aesthetically with its huge open vistas and fierce creatures aplomb, supplemented by a fitting melancholy OST. Combat is frantic whether you're using ranged or melee weapons, or magic if you prefer. Though not without its rough edges and occasional glitches, R:S never forgets to be a fun action RPG that rewards the player all the way to the end.

It's been two years, but I still have fond memories of the experience. It's kinda sorta a pocket Skyrim. Here's some screenshots:

[PartridgeSenpai]

On the doorstep of the final boss in the "f" bit of Tales of Graces f. The direction for the story has been an odd beast through this, although I kinda expected it would be. The after-credits sequence of the main game quite clearly spells out the fates of half the cast, so being that this expansion is essentially a prequel to that snippet, there's only so much they could do to make things tense. To be fair, things actually have gotten tense or mysterious at times, although I usually get reminded of what happens to them halfway through and it kinda squelches it :/ (at least about those 3 characters). Really enjoying the extra gameplay features they added for this bit though. Will put in more detail tomorrow when I actually sit down and finish it.

[Ack]

I played a little bit more of Soul Blazer over the weekend. I've now cleared the first two "dungeons" and moved into the second area, though there are some critters in the painting dungeon that I was unable to kill. The first boss proved a challenge until I realized the secret of his invulnerability. Once I understood how to hit him, he went down pretty easily.

Currently I'm level 5 and working on the swamp area. I like the game, though there are a few little things I'm not big on. The lack of any kind of stun animation on enemies means I get hit more than I like, while the first town had a music track that sounded...off. The rest of the audio and music has been great, just that first town. I look forward to playing more.

[Ack]

Heh, well, turns out Soul Blazer is really short. I knocked it out last night. I will probably do a write up tomorrow(currently sitting in an auto shop. Some car parts are under recall, so I am getting that taken care of). I liked the game overall...perhaps more than Illusion of Gaia, now that I think of it. It certainly had some quirks, but all in all, it's a fun action RPG. It also reminded me a lot of Actraiser, perhaps even more than IoG or Terranigma.

Also, 14 SNES RPGs to go.

[noiseredux]

started The Witcher 3 last night. I'm probably like 2 hrs in, though I've barely done anything other than the tutorial and some Gwent.