What RPG are you playing right now?

[BoneSnapDeez]

Ah yes, I still need that. That's a remake of part 1 from what I recall.

Brandish 3 and 4 also exist, but were exclusive to computers.

[MrPopo]

I'm in the end-game stretch of Tales of Destiny. I had binged on it the weekend before DA:I came out and got near the end of the first half of the story, then I put it down for DA:I and have picked it back up recently due to needing to give some of my operatives time to complete long running objectives.

It's interesting how ToD is basically Phantasia on the PS1. The combat system is identical and still clunky compared to later entries of the series. I've looked at gameplay footage of Eternia and Eternia seems to be where you got some more fluid combat that would transition into the 3D entries. The menu also looks identical to ToP's. The biggest change is the fact that you have a larger party available, which includes more melee attackers. Unfortunately it feels like that part wasn't QA'd very well, as there's a major design flaw where a melee party member won't attack someone who they can't "see", which is defined as no party members between them and the enemy in a default party setup. So you basically need to set up your formation so the AI controlled melee member is first, then your character, then your casters behind. Or go three casters or two casters + bow user (who targets as a caster).

The Swordian system is interesting since it gives you a very smooth curve to your weapon power, as they level up and gain damage with you. You end up never buying weapons for your casters (they need their Swordian to cast) and basically never buy weapons for your main character (he has spells but they're not worth using since he should be tanking). It definitely cut down on my Gald expenditures such that I always was flush with cash even without ever selling Lens (a secondary currency that has different exchange rates in different towns).

The multiple party members after the first section are somewhat of a missable, though. You're forced to get a final party of four as part of the story but you can grab two other party members (who are swappable with the rest) if you prefer them to one of the main four. But it's not really apparent that you can do so other than the fact that they joined your party once before.

Edit: Another thing is that ToD uses SNES-style tiled maps, while ToE has prerendered backgrounds that are the forerunner of full 3D stuff.

[Xeogred]

It's interesting how ToD is basically Phantasia on the PS1.

... and like some transitions back then, I actually think it looks worse than Phantasia.
(and the world map was a nightmare, haha)

I wanted to like Destiny, but the Tales plague struck again as always. That and I recall that one having a very high encounter rate.

Phantasia, Destiny, Symphonia, and Graces F... all great games, but I haven't beaten any of them.

[MrPopo]

Destiny does have a high encounter rate. I ended up spamming one of the character's skills that casts Holy Bottle just so it wasn't so high. And yeah, the world map was a bit of a mess. I like what they tried doing but since you couldn't move diagonally it made moving through certain areas a real pain. But it was super cool when the Aethersphere started to form and the land was shadowed. That was good use of it being a 3D map.

One interesting thing I've noticed is the rate of leveling has been constant through the entire game. Most RPGs have that logarithmic curve where you gain your initial levels very quickly and then later levels few and far between, but in Destiny the number of combats between a level is pretty constant.

[vatermuzik]

So got to the end of FFII (IV) for SNES with relative ease only to have my ass handed to me by the final boss. He absolutely pummeled my party into submition; it was ridiculous.

I found that I needed to do little to no grinding in this game but it looks like I'll be doing some now. Yikes.

[Exhuminator]

I put about 10 hours into Dragon Quest VIII over the weekend. So far it is

[BoneSnapDeez]

Dragon Quest is one of those weird RPG series where the later installments are actually better than the earlier ones. VIII and IX are just dazzling.

[Exhuminator]

VIII and IX are just dazzling.

Level-5 up in da house.

[Xeogred]

Dragon Quest is one of those weird RPG series where the later installments are actually better than the earlier ones. VIII and IX are just dazzling.

Did you manage much of VII? A decade or so back when I still traded in games... I got like 3 hours in and still hadn't seen a single battle, so I sold it.

lol

[BoneSnapDeez]

Yeah I've finished all of the mainline games. VII is actually one of my least favorites. They went way overboard with the length.