RPG Progress Report

[Markies]

My party is now Set! Black Mage, Summoner, Ranger, Dragoon!

I am completely okay with having this party. I feel like I would have cheated if I had a Samurai and I think the Chemist would have been better as a White Mage, but I don't need to heal with my attacking force!

Boy, did I have a hell of a time tonight. Things are beginning to hit me, HARD and the weaknesses are loosing their power. Battles are getting longer and I am not liking that.

The hardest fight, by far, was Archeoavis. Holy Crap, I died like three times. The second form is a pain and I have no real way to cure my entire party quickly. I ate through some Hi-Potions and Elixirs.

I am a bit over-levelled, but I would still love a town, some new weapons/armor and magic. I will keep everybody updated as the game goes on, but I am now set with four classes. Overall, I think I have a pretty decent and varied party. Nothing too extreme or anything.

[Exhuminator]

The 7th Saga

I recently picked this bastard back up after months of inactivity.

Yeah, I stopped playing The 7th Saga for a while because it's just not a fun game. It could have been fun, but the over zealous localization changes ruined any chance of that. (I'm just beating this for that special notch in my grizzled gamer belt.) The 7th Saga does have some merit left over from Elnard, don't get me wrong, as Elnard is a decent JRPG.

Anyway, I'm playing as the demon Lejes (currently level 35), who despite everyone telling me cannot team up with others, has recently been able to team up with Lux the Tetujin (currently level 34). I have the Wind, Water, Star, and Moon runes. I'm still seeking the last three runes. I most recently arrived in the Kingdom of Tiffana.

I might have beat this troll-ass JRPG already, if I'd been willing to use save-states in addition to god mode Game Genie codes and a complimentary strategy guide. That's probably the sane way to play through The 7th Saga, honestly. But I've been too stubborn for all that. So this is taking me a while. I'm gonna do it though! I definitely want to put this one behind me this year.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Yeah, I stopped playing The 7th Saga for a while because it's just not a fun game.

Lies!

Anyway, I'm playing as the demon Lejes

Oh, well now I see the problem.

[Exhuminator]

Anyway, I'm playing as the demon Lejes

Oh, well now I see the problem.

Yeah.

There's no way to know which characters are the best to start with, unless you're playing with a strategy guide or walkthrough. Otherwise it's a crap shoot and you just pick which character is most interesting to you.

Since I'm playing this legit, I didn't know how hard of a time Lejes was going to be. But then again, if you're playing a game because of its hard reputation, you might as well make it even harder.

[PartridgeSenpai]

Tales of Innocence

I actually thought I'd be a lot further away from the end, especially considering I'm almost 40 hours in and only just got the airship (I always assume I read WAY slower than usual), but according to the index guide of the FAQ I peeked at the other day (only to see how far away from the end I was), it's only two more dungeons until the credits. I guess this is just the first DS game, so I can't expect it to be super huge (even though it's taking me just as long as Tales games usually do ). Still not a super fan of either DS entries. I'm not sure if it's an issue with it being their first handheld entries and not console, or if there were different writers, but something just seems a bit off. I'll try to be more in detail with my real review on the beaten thread in the coming weeks. Not a bad game, but not my favorite, for sure.

---

Also, as someone who also gave up on it in the past year, I have to agree with Exhumy Senpai that 7th Saga isn't fun. It's a super grindy game that is really unapologetic about badly fucking you over if you pick the "wrong" guy at literally the beginning of the game. Greatly mispleases Partridge

[BoneSnapDeez]

I think I might give Castle of Tharoggad an honest go. Well, I'd pick away at it I suppose.

I'm intrigued by how little information there is online. And this was a retail 1980s WRPG; used copies can be found on eBay for <$20. I can't find a single walkthrough, map, or even a proper review. Just some occasional blurbs and a couple of YouTube vids of people derping around.

Time to bust out the graph paper!

[Ack]

Seriously guys, you just made a big mistake in picking your character. You always go for the beefiest-looking mother as your first character. Tanks are where it's at.

[Exhuminator]

Seriously guys, you just made a big mistake in picking your character. You always go for the beefiest-looking mother as your first character. Tanks are where it's at.

I thought he seemed rather intimidating:



Turns out he's a glass cannon.

[Ack]

Exactly. Notice the wizard robes and lack of armor.

[Exhuminator]

As a general rule, yes it's true that you will get by fine with a burly tank in a fantasy game.

However that's typically the most boring route to take. You're applying the Gordian Knot solution the entire time. Wizards give you more offense options with a wider range of tactical uses. Which while perhaps not as simple and direct, do serve to mix things up a bit, and for me make the journey more interesting. Thus fantasy games which are properly balanced allow for successful runs using wizards.

However, The 7th Saga is an unbalanced piece of shit, so picking a wizard means you're in for a trolling misery trip.