RPG Progress Report

[dunpeal2064]

I love me some Legend of Dragoon.

[Ack]

I was going to do some Phantasy Star II, but first I wanted to get my Surface going with some maps since I'm at Climatrol. But it needed charging, so I decided to do some Legend of Dragoon in the meantime. And now I can't decide which game I want to focus on.

Legend of Dragoon was pretty when it released, and I did like the "combo" system for its attacks, but there were long portions where the game really bogs down. Have you played it before? If you're hesitant now, you might really struggle once you hit the 2nd CD.

[dunpeal2064]

The pacing is a bit odd, but I think it works for the game. It feels like each disc is its own chapter.

So, when everything wraps up at the end of disc 1, disc 2 feels a little slow. It picks up just fine though.

Its certainly not the worst offender when it comes to poor pacing in a JRPG.

[BoneSnapDeez]

PoPo - did yous not play PSII with us last year? Beastly game.

I actually vastly prefer Phantasy III to II, and I think I'm the only one.

[MrPopo]

PoPo - did yous not play PSII with us last year? Beastly game.

I actually vastly prefer Phantasy III to II, and I think I'm the only one.

I did not. I meant to and then I got sidetracked by something that I'm sure was less important, but seemed fun at the time. I think all I did when TRPG was doing it was grind up Shir and some money so I could have everyone fully equipped before Climatrol.

[BogusMeatFactory]

PoPo - did yous not play PSII with us last year? Beastly game.

I actually vastly prefer Phantasy III to II, and I think I'm the only one.

You aren't the only one. The big issues I see that people had with III was that it had really bad music, it didn't seem science-fictiony enough and you don't see your charactersduring combat, but I felt the alternate endings, the story and the characters were interesting. I mean...Wren was introduced in the game and I find him to be iconic for Phantasy Star.

[Sload Soap]

I've, perhaps unwisely, started Final Fantasy XII. Made some good progress and escaped the jail. It is reminding me a lot of Xenoblade Chronicles, which was obviously influenced by this. Haven't really got the plot moving yet, but I like that it seems a bit more low-key than other FF's, at least for now. Vaan isn't very terrible either. It is achingly obvious however that Balthier should be the lead. I guess playing as a 22 year old would freak people out too much. The combat I actually enjoy so far, although there isn't a lot of diversity between character move sets currently. Hopefully Fran gets some dragoon moves to go with those heels.

Just hoping I don't burn out after playing FFIX so recently.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Phantasy Star III has an insanely good title screen theme.



Overall I find the game infinitely more playable than II, which can be a slog.

IV and I are in a whole different league however. Those are the best.

[MrPopo]

I've, perhaps unwisely, started Final Fantasy XII. Made some good progress and escaped the jail. It is reminding me a lot of Xenoblade Chronicles, which was obviously influenced by this. Haven't really got the plot moving yet, but I like that it seems a bit more low-key than other FF's, at least for now. Vaan isn't very terrible either. It is achingly obvious however that Balthier should be the lead. I guess playing as a 22 year old would freak people out too much. The combat I actually enjoy so far, although there isn't a lot of diversity between character move sets currently. Hopefully Fran gets some dragoon moves to go with those heels.

Just hoping I don't burn out after playing FFIX so recently.

Either Balthier or the other non-Vaan male that I'm not sure if you've gotten yet. Vaan was very clearly added fairly late in the game to be the more typical JRPG protagonist. Fortunately, the story pretty much ignores him after the first 1/4-1/3 of the game and he becomes a viewpoint character, who's there to say "I was there to watch all these cool people do cool things". Moveset-wise you'll start to get more of them as you expand the license board, but a lot of the non-magic moves are extremely gimmicky. Some are rather powerful, but on the whole the effective combat is done with a gambit setup that keeps you buffed and hits weaknesses with magic or goes physical.

Overall I find the game infinitely more playable than II, which can be a slog.

II is a terrible terrible slog. It has all the balance issues that DQ2 does but doesn't have the excuse of being one of the first JRPGs ever. I think the reason people shy away from PSIII is that it feels very disconnected from the series. When you have the fairly strong continuity between PSI and II, and then IV for those picking up the series later, and then you have III which is this fantasy world that seems completely unconnected and it rubs a lot of people the wrong way. It feels like they were trying to go the Might & Magic route, except Might & Magic started off by doing the "omg, it's actually sci-fi" thing with the first one and kept it up through the other installments, while PSIII is an aberration in the series.

[Jmustang1968]

I think it is the other non vaan male Popo.

I like his character. But what kills me is how tiny and skinny his arms are. He is supposed to be this warrior that weilds these heavy swords with arms of a 12 yr old boy.