What RPG are you playing right now?

[PartridgeSenpai]

Xeo mentioned it the other day, so I've FINALLY gotten to starting Yakuza Kenzan!. I'm currently going through what is QUITE a bit of a hurdle, that being the giant vocabulary lesson in the early game . There are just SO many words that have fallen out of use since that period (which the game gives you optional defenitions you can pull up whenever for, which is nice at least), it just wears out my desire to beat people up at that moment by tiring out my brain with all of the learning and translation Xp

[MrPopo]

So at PAX I got to try out Lost Sphear, by the guys who did I Am Setsuna. The demo had the options of either a combat demo or a town demo. I went with combat as I figured that would be the part most interesting to play. The combat is built on top of what they did with I Am Setsuna, but they do a fair amount of new stuff. First off, it looks like they got rid of standard dual techs (though there was at least one skill that uses a helper, but I think you just get a free turn on that character and I'm not sure how it's selected) and the party size is now four. The big change is that they've doubled down on movement and positioning. Now, when you select a character and their action, you'll get an indication of the attack range of that move. A regular melee attack might be the spot in front of you, a spell might be a line, etc. During this period you can change the target (for targeted stuff) and move your character around freely on the battlefield. So you can do things like taking a linear spell, selecting one enemy, then moving halfway across the room so that it will hit three guys because that's how it lines up. I also noticed that bosses can have attacks that are always ground targeted in a certain area, so it would behoove you to keep that in mind through the fight to dodge damage (though unlike MMOs, it doesn't indicate this is a thing until the first attack, and you don't get a warning). There's also this system of being able to equip this super chunky armor. When this happens your attack is replaced with a special ability (or abilities, depending on the character) unique to the character. One character activates their special ability to power up their techs, while another character chooses a particular trigger that will cause him to do damage whenever a particular thing happens (like, whenever a character dies or whenever someone does null element damage). While you can no longer attack in this form you can still use spells. You can also freely enter and leave this form, but it costs a turn each time. I'm not sure if it also gives you stat boosts.

I liked what I saw; while it still keeps ATB combat it works to increase your tactical options.

[Kuruwin]

I was adviced to jump to Dark Chronicle but after watching Clemps video about Dark Cloud i wanted to tried it. I played it close to two hours yesterday and i guess it's alright. I like the town building aspect and i don't really mind the simplistic combat. The character definitely should run faster on dungeons but at this point it hasn't yet caused the game to become tedious.

The beginning definitely was a hassle because the game really didn't explain itself well (more truthful way to put this is to say that it doesn't explain the most relevant info at first)

[pierrot]

I really like both of them, but I think i kind of like Dark Cloud more, because of its relative simplicity. It can be a lot to get used to at first, in terms of all the mechanics, but I think it's the more approachable of the two, personally. Also, I just really love the genie character. Chronicles is great too, there's just almost too much going on, with more intricacies to the town building, and weapon upgrading; plus pictures, 'mechs,' golfing, etc. I think the second game is almost too monstrous in its content level. I haven't really played either of them since the early '00s, though.

[Kuruwin]

The simplistic aproach does work in this game. I was afraid that the game would turn boring but i already beat the third dungeon and i'm still enjoying the game. The running speed hasn't been issue after the first dungeon because it's so easy to get those speed items and they last a long while. The weapon system can be confusing but now that i know what i'm doing i'been getting some really good weapons.

I hope that playing this game makes it easier to adjust to the second one. Being overwhelmed can be unmotivating.

[pierrot]

I hope that playing this game makes it easier to adjust to the second one. Being overwhelmed can be unmotivating.

It should. Most of the gameplay concepts are shared between the two, but the second one adds a fair amount more depth, along with some quality of life enhancements.

[TheSSNintendo]

Breath of Fire 3

[ElkinFencer10]

I've been playing Cosmic Star Heroine. GREAT game. I'm on Chapter 10.

Breath of Fire 3

Flake is playing that right now, too.

[strangenova]

I've been playing Cosmic Star Heroine. GREAT game. I'm on Chapter 10.

Breath of Fire 3

Flake is playing that right now, too.

I've never played Breath of Fire 3 but I heard this track a year ago on a vgm station and fell in love with it.

https://youtu.be/TuHZOxWMYEQ

[Exhuminator]

I've never played Breath of Fire 3 but I heard this track a year ago on a vgm station and fell in love with it.

While I don't care for the scenario and game design of BoF3, it does have an absolutely killer OST (and very nice graphics).