RPG Progress Report

[Gunstar Green]

I really liked Oblivion at the time but when I tried to go back to it last year for the first time since it came out I really couldn't get into it, even after modding the crap out of it.

[PartridgeSenpai]

The more I play Tales of Innocence, the less super disappointed I am that it never came to the West. Not that it's a bad game or anything close, it's a fine Tales game, but the narrative just isn't terribly strong compared to a lot of other entries. Yes, it uses tropes that the other Tales games/JRPGs love just as much as any other (evil church organization, group of heroes trying to avert a global catastrophe, etc.), but it's mostly just that the framing device doesn't really work.

What binds the main cast together (with one or two exceptions) is their shared memories of past lives as gods, something many people have without realizing it, but these guys happen to have very strong gods. The main problem this presents is that along with the normal cast of characters and their respective personalities, you have this whole cast of gods you need to keep track of as well. These gods and their personalities are experienced through that main cast though, so you have a very consistent problem of really dramatic tone shifts as a normally bubbly character begins to relate memories of a past life that is much more dramatic. It kind of feels like a problem of there being too much telling and not enough showing of character exposition. It's not even a problem I think is done explicitly wrong, but more-so that the framing device in itself is just inherently flawed.

I'm still enjoying it though, and I've just about hit the halfway point judging from the walkthrough table of contents I looked at the other day.

Popo Senpai, does the DS version have the Rave system? A little circular bar thing in the upper left of the screen? I know the R-versions tended to add more mechanics on top of what the DS ones already had, is all, but I don't know in particular what this one added.

[MrPopo]

No idea; I haven't touched the game in years so I don't remember all the mechanics.

[pierrot]

I liked how the final boss talked as well. It gave his speech a very otherworldly, almost Cthuhlian vibe (kinda like something mortals aren't meant to understand, but he's twisting it into English). Maybe that's talking it up a bit too much, but I just remember thinking it was really cool.

When I read this, I thought you were saying that he talks in tongues during the battle, or something. He mostly seemed like an overly confident asshole, to me. I was not impressed. I actually struggle to remember the final bosses for DQ 2-4, and given a few months, I have a feeling I'll be forgetting this guy's deal, too.

Also, this IS a DQ game after all, so the final boss is tough as nails of course! I'll definitely be interested to see what your final party layout is

I actually found him to be kind of easy. Probably the easiest of any of the final bosses I've seen in the series. I kept the same party, and took the battle a little slowly. I might have been able to use Ionazun more aggressively to end it more quickly, but I basically made Tabitha my healer with the Sage Stone, and had Borongo back her up with the Blessing Staff. Had Rex keep Fubaha up, and use the Celestial Sword as an item to make the boss waste magic counters. Baikilt on the main character from Tabitha, when possible. Didn't need the best equipment, no grinding necessary: piece of cake.

[PartridgeSenpai]

I liked how the final boss talked as well. It gave his speech a very otherworldly, almost Cthuhlian vibe (kinda like something mortals aren't meant to understand, but he's twisting it into English). Maybe that's talking it up a bit too much, but I just remember thinking it was really cool.

When I read this, I thought you were saying that he talks in tongues during the battle, or something. He mostly seemed like an overly confident asshole, to me. I was not impressed. I actually struggle to remember the final bosses for DQ 2-4, and given a few months, I have a feeling I'll be forgetting this guy's deal, too.

I didn't mean he's a terribly interesting character. In that regard he's as lazy an example of mustache-twirling evil as any other DQ game. I meant I liked how they used both Roman and Cyrillic script for how he talked. It made his normal English just a little bit harder to read than it should've been, which is a very difficult effect to pull off in a text-based medium. Kind of like the weird way Mr. Saturns talk in Earthbound.

[pierrot]

I see. That does sound interesting, but, unless you're talking about one of the secret bosses, there's nothing comparable in the Japanese script. He just talks down to the player, and the party.

[PartridgeSenpai]

I see. That does sound interesting, but, unless you're talking about one of the secret bosses, there's nothing comparable in the Japanese script. He just talks down to the player, and the party.

Ahhhhhhh. If you're playing the Japanese version, you won't get fun silliness like that. DQV has SO many very silly phonetic spelling of accents. One of my favorites in that regard as well X3

[noiseredux]

[Ack]

Now max out your strength, heavy armor, and sword skills.

[noiseredux]

Yeah I'm only level 2 right now, 3.5 hrs in.