What RPG are you playing right now?

[Valkyrie-Favor]

I'm fine with all that. I pretty much agree. But what makes FFXII not unique, especially for its time?

[dunpeal2064]

I'm fine with all that. I pretty much agree. But what makes FFXII not unique, especially for its time?

When I say it isn't unique, I mean in the scope of, "This game just copied that game's mechanics". The game is a unique experience, but it didn't invent any of its mechanics. If you strip the game down, its a turn-based RPG (Of course, tons of games have done this), that has you controlling one character with the others being set to Macros (Tales of, Star Ocean), that has a hint of MMO in it.

My point was more that, if Xenoblade was just a copy of FFXII, then FFXII is just a copy of the games preceeding it. However, I don't think either of those are true. To me, Xenoblade does not even feel close to FFXII, and FFXII does not even feel close to Star Ocean. They are all entirely different games.

So, to clarify, outside of this realm of, "Lets compare games and see what copied what", I think FFXII is indeed a unique (And very good) game.




Also, since you popped in Valkyrie, and this is the "What RPG are you playing right now?" thread, I have a question for you! I've been wanting to start up Valkyrie Profile again. The last time I played it, I chose the normal difficulty, and was informed by a friend that I was missing out on a massive amount of characters and story by doing this (Which, of course, pretty much halted my playing of it). I figure you would be able to give me the low-down without spoiling anything.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

I'll talk about these games anytime. Well...I always do. Anyway.

Hard difficulty is both easier and less repetitive than Normal, even though Normal is still pretty awesome. Easy is the hardest, and the only difficulty that won't let you get the A ending. That ending is elusive if you don't use a FAQ, but it's worth the effort.

Just a tip for getting it. The gods incentivise following orders, but not following those orders could lead to information on why you got them in the first place.

Well, Hard starts off harder, but as you gain access to dungeons with higher EXP yields and more powerful weapons, you get a lot stronger than you do in Normal without them. Not that it matters - on my first playthrough in Normal I was steamrolling everyone. If you plan on beating the Seraphic Gate - a bonus dungeon after you win - you should definitely start with a Hard mode save file.

You can still get the A ending on normal and more than enough characters. What you're really missing out on are some of the best dungeons in the game. They're usually interesting puzzle dungeons, and they really flesh out the platforming part of the game. Always thought it was weird that Lenneth couldn't fly in dungeons though.

Have you played Valkyrie Profile 2 yet? Surprising amount of connections in Lenneth. Like, the popsicle in Brahms' castle.

Before you commit to another playthrough, you could just waste all your time in the current one to see the worst ending of all You can always goof off instead of choosing souls.

[dunpeal2064]

Thanks for the info Valkyrie!
Easy = hardest, Hardest = easiest... damn! I would have never figured that out.

Sadly, I don't have the save from my old playthrough, I pretty much cut ties once I found out I might be missing out on a chunk of the game.

I'm not too worried about getting a perfect ending in my first playthrough (I usually go for these once I finish the game, but still want more), but I do want to experience as much of the content as I can, without following a guide, or at least not be barred from experiencing part of the game. Seems like Hard mode is the way to go.

I did actually play a bit of VP2. I had heard it was terrible, so I was surprised at how cool it was. I didn't want to dig too deep without having played the first game though.

[MrPopo]

I started playing Persona 4 Golden and my god is it sluggishly paced. It's been like an hour of story sequences since I last saved. I've played the game for like two or three hours it feels like and the whole game has been nothing but story sequences.

Boring.

Say what you will about Final Fantasy games but at least they have good pacing

Yeah, it takes quite a while for things to kick in on the modern Persona games, but once it does the pacing is pretty good.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

Thanks for the info Valkyrie!
Easy = hardest, Hardest = easiest... damn! I would have never figured that out.

Sadly, I don't have the save from my old playthrough, I pretty much cut ties once I found out I might be missing out on a chunk of the game.

I'm not too worried about getting a perfect ending in my first playthrough (I usually go for these once I finish the game, but still want more), but I do want to experience as much of the content as I can, without following a guide, or at least not be barred from experiencing part of the game. Seems like Hard mode is the way to go.

I did actually play a bit of VP2. I had heard it was terrible, so I was surprised at how cool it was. I didn't want to dig too deep without having played the first game though.

I never would have suspected that Hard mode was the easiest either. I'm conviced Tri-Ace did it as a joke. Their games from this period are really carefully constructed, so I have to think they were making fun of people who don't always start games on "Hard."

One more thing about the endings - there are only three.

So, who told you VP2 was horrible? It's brilliant. I actually played it before the first game, and I don't think too much was spoiled, but might as well do first things first.

[Stark]

Just started up LoZ: OoT on the 3DS, it sure looks a lot better than I expected. Still confusing as hell though.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Think I'm gonna start a Legend of Heroes game..... Either part 4 or part 6 (aka TitS).

[Menegrothx]

Somewhat stuck in South East Wilderness in Wizardry 8. Every direction I go I face packs of monsters that are higher level than me and I get annihilated (level 8 party). I can't remember where you're supposed to go from here

I did actually play a bit of VP2. I had heard it was terrible, so I was surprised at how cool it was. I didn't want to dig too deep without having played the first game though.

The 3Dish battles and semirealistic art style surprised me so I never bothered playing the game very long, but I doubt it's horrible. Based on what I've seen, it seems like they toned down the platforming, which is one of the defining features of the first one

[Stark]

Just started up LoZ: OoT on the 3DS, it sure looks a lot better than I expected. Still confusing as hell though.

I'm a little disappointed with how much I need a guide for this game, but it's extremely fun and well done. Love it.