What RPG are you playing right now?

[MrPopo]

So over Christmas break I'd like to finally dive into and complete Shining Force II. Something I've been meaning to do since we played the first for Together Retro. Is there anything I should keep in mind for this game? Any tips going into it?

About how long would you all say it takes to beat?

You become elligible for promotion at level 20, but you can level up to 40 before leveling stops. Leveling all the way to 40 is overkill, but if you wait to promote until the only weapons available in your current town require the promoted class you will have an easier end-game.

Also, after a battle make sure you loot all the chests you may have spotted on the battlefield. You can't loot chests mid battle (this was taken out of the US version, so a chest on an island is unaccesible) and several chests have either plot items or unique weapons.

[Jmustang1968]

So over Christmas break I'd like to finally dive into and complete Shining Force II. Something I've been meaning to do since we played the first for Together Retro. Is there anything I should keep in mind for this game? Any tips going into it?

About how long would you all say it takes to beat?

A great game and one of my favorites of all time. It is fairly straight forward. There are some hidden promotional items and a few hidden characters along the way. Keep us updated, I always enjoy seeing how others get into the game.

[Randyretro]

Final Fantasy III, Nintendo DS

[Ack]

Currently I'm playing through Final Fantasy 6 Advance. I've run through FF6 on the SNES many, many times, but I wanted to see the new content they added and gauge the difference in translations. A lot is different, but it's still at its core the same game I love so much. Sure, some of the cute moments of the original translation are gone, as are the truncated names and western interpretations of Japanese words. But this is still Final Fantasy 6, with the cast I love and the combat system I appreciate the most of the series.

Seeing as I've played through this game so many times, I've already raced through and only have the final battle and the additional optional dungeons added into this version (yes, I picked up 3 of the 4 new espers). So I'm working to build up my characters' levels to take on the newer and harder dragons, beat down Kefka, and eventually check out the Soul Shrine. I've started taking a harder look at base statistics than I used to when I was younger, so now characters are being leveled around which stats I think best represent them, as opposed to just making sure they have max HP and MP. For instance, Sabin has over 100 strength, Celes has over 100 magic, so on and so forth. I find it's an even more rewarding system for leveling characters, because I can see the results in combat.

Anyway, I should get back to it. Umaro just hit level 78, and you can't keep a good yeti down.

[MrPopo]

I've started taking a harder look at base statistics than I used to when I was younger, so now characters are being leveled around which stats I think best represent them, as opposed to just making sure they have max HP and MP. For instance, Sabin has over 100 strength, Celes has over 100 magic, so on and so forth.

So you made a bit of an oops with Sabin. His Blitzes scale off of magic, not strength, so unless you're making him your Genji X-Fighter you leveled him wrong.

[Ack]

I've started taking a harder look at base statistics than I used to when I was younger, so now characters are being leveled around which stats I think best represent them, as opposed to just making sure they have max HP and MP. For instance, Sabin has over 100 strength, Celes has over 100 magic, so on and so forth.

So you made a bit of an oops with Sabin. His Blitzes scale off of magic, not strength, so unless you're making him your Genji X-Fighter you leveled him wrong.

Actually I noticed this while leveling him, as he was fighting groups. His magic ended up around 60 or so, which is enough for Phantom Rush to do max damage and give Razor Wind a nice hard edge. But I have multiple Genji gloves, so yes, I do intend to give him one of them.

[bmoc]

I am about to start a New Game+ on Xenoblade. I spent about 150 hours getting most of the best gear and gems plus defeating all but one of the optional super bosses. Now I am going to play through with English voice acting instead of Japanese and hopefully max out character affinity.

[KillerJuan77]

More FFXIII, chapter X is insanely difficult and the crystariums got expanded so now I have to spend more crystarium points in each character.

[dunpeal2064]

More FFXIII, chapter X is insanely difficult and the crystariums got expanded so now I have to spend more crystarium points in each character.

Nice, I am in Chapter 11 at the moment, so we are just about in the same spot. I was quite surprised to find some normal enemies that could kill me. Not normal in a FF game.

One thing I have been frustrated by so far is upgrading. It always seems like I am broke. It takes so much to level a weapon/accessory, and I am always worried that I am just leveling something up to something that won't end up being worth it.

[ZenErik]

Started playing Persona 4 Golden AND Final Fantasy XIII-2 yesterday. So far, so good. I think P4G will be more my style, but FFXIII-2 is still entertaining despite the sometimes hilarious dialog and seemingly atrocious story.