RPG Progress Report

[Sarge]

Barely had any time to play anything this weekend between moving stuff between houses and my wife disabling my car (minor wreck).

Yuck, that's the second one this year, right? Glad everyone is okay, though. That's what's important.

[Exhuminator]

Yuck, that's the second one this year, right?

Yep. Two cars, one year. Between buying her a used car to replace the one she totaled, and repairing my car after she wrecked it too, it's cost us about $13,000 this year.

My wife needs a car made out of Nerf foam.

[Ack]

Job's done. The beholder is no more! Now it is time to figure out how to port characters over to Eye of the Beholder II.

This also means I have knocked out another of the SNES list. Good times all around.

[Exhuminator]

This also means I have knocked out another of the SNES list.

I thought you beat the DOS version?

[Ack]

I did, but like Might & Magic III, the DOS and SNES versions of Eye of the Beholder have only slight changes, mainly regarding controls, the inclusion of music, and an animated ending. Level design and gameplay were unchanged, which makes the experience interchangeable to me. The benefit of the DOS version was that I could then move on to the rest of the trilogy with the same party.

In fact from what I can find, many of the PC to SNES RPG ports tried to stay true to the original, though the Ultimas apparently were changed significantly, particularly Ultima VII. The Wizardry V port changes some interaction methods with NPCs. Drakkhen's SNES port is made significantly easier than the original release.

[Exhuminator]

I did, but like Might & Magic III, the DOS and SNES versions of Eye of the Beholder have only slight changes, mainly regarding controls, the inclusion of music, and an animated ending.

Well the Sega CD version received it's soundtrack from Yuzo Koshiro, I'd consider that more than a "slight" change. The Sega CD version also received cut scenes and voice acting for the NPCs you encounter.

But as you said:

Level design and gameplay were unchanged

So from an actual gameplay perspective it's all the same, with the DOS version supporting mouse control, a big advantage.

[Ack]

I believe the SNES port utilizes the SNES mouse. And I played the game on mute, so no difference there.

As for the Sega CD port, no idea. I didn't play it.

[Exhuminator]

I'd be interested in knowing how long it took to finish the game (approximately). And if that time reflects using a walkthrough, external maps, or playing unaided. (Not that there's anything wrong with having used a walkthrough/maps, it just would affect the completion time obviously.) I've been interested in EotB for a long time, and would like to know what I'd be getting myself into time-wise if I chose to play it next year.

[PartridgeSenpai]

Redoing a couple hours of FE: Fates Birthright because I made some dumb wifu-related decisions (mostly just possibly fucking up getting a child period, and also just sub-optimal pairings). I'm looking at the wiki a fair bit now for more optimal pairings, and when and where characters to recruit are. It's just a nice quality of life thing for me. Also: I had NO idea you could capture dudes in this game! That'll teach me for not being able/taking the time to read the skills I guess. I'm just glad I found a more optimal pairing for Orochi so she can actually do some damage to capture dudes.

On another note, I think the game glitched out and didn't let me get Midori. I married Kaze to Rinkah, but a Gaiden never appeared that I could play. I can't find anything about just straight-up incompatable pairings online, so I don't really know what the problem is

[Ack]

It took me probably 15 hours, but I backtracked a bit. HowLongtoBeat lists it at 10 I believe, and the two guys who beat it back when we did it for Together RPG in 2014, Dsheinem and CFFJR, I believe did it in a little over 10. Ds played the Sega CD version, so if you're interested in hearing about that experience, he'd be the guy to talk to.