JRPGs that Aren't Final Fantasy Catch-All 2.0

garion333 wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Remind me not to buy Atlus' Persona games at launch and instead wait for the re-release with all the overpriced DLC included.

Even better, it looks like P5 Royal doesn't include the DLC. That'll still be $40 extra.

Well, maybe I'll stop buying their stuff in general.

Yeah because sometimes the extra content ends up making the game worse. Glad I played Catherine already and wasn't tempted with the new extra character version

I don’t recall any meaningful P5 DLC anyway. I think it was mostly optional, bonus personas from prior games, and some costumes.

Trails of Cold Steel question I'm hoping one of you kind folk will answer!

I'm in the middle of Chapter 5 and had the scene where

Spoiler:

Rean duels the Radiant Blademaster (excellent name) and turns into some kind of demon form.

But... his classmates' response is along the lines of "we're glad you could share this with us" rather than completely freaking out which would seem more reasonable. Is this just something that happens in the world of Trails? I know there was something similar in Ch 4 but that wasn't in front of everyone.

Really enjoying the game after a slow start, but last time I tried searching for some lore detail I got burned by horrible spoilers, so I'm hoping someone can let me know if I missed something!

ComfortZone wrote:

Trails of Cold Steel question I'm hoping one of you kind folk will answer!

I'm in the middle of Chapter 5 and had the scene where

Spoiler:

Rean duels the Radiant Blademaster (excellent name) and turns into some kind of demon form.

But... his classmates' response is along the lines of "we're glad you could share this with us" rather than completely freaking out which would seem more reasonable. Is this just something that happens in the world of Trails? I know there was something similar in Ch 4 but that wasn't in front of everyone.

Really enjoying the game after a slow start, but last time I tried searching for some lore detail I got burned by horrible spoilers, so I'm hoping someone can let me know if I missed something!

Rean acts like he doesn't really know himself. He really just half amnesiac. I think of his condition compared to the fact that there is magic, flying ships, and even monsters doesn't faze them.

JohnKillo wrote:

Rean acts like he doesn't really know himself. He really just half amnesiac. I think of his condition compared to the fact that there is magic, flying ships, and even monsters doesn't faze them.

I guess the reason this stood out to me is that the magic, flying ships etc are based on technology developed over the past 50 years. This just seems to come out of nowhere. Then again their reaction to a mysterious dungeon under their school house is "cool, more training!" so maybe it is consistent after all.

I agree with you. I found that plot beat kind of on par with the group shrugging when Alisa “R” refused to share her last name, or when Laura wouldn’t speak to Fie and the dispute ended up being about nothing, or at the end when Rean gave the main antagonist a “you’re a good guy deep down” talk, rather than a “You’re a terrorist and I’m disgusted by you” talk. Or, in the optional side chapter that Mr GT Chris shared, when

Spoiler:

Rean’s adoptive mother thought that Rean and Dean’s sister—her daughter—ought to stop flirting and just get married already. And Rean’s adoptive father said, essentially, “I’m not sure he’s good enough for my daughter.”

In other words, I found a lot of these characters to be emotionally generous, and to give other people the benefit of the doubt, in ways that felt false. Which is weird, given how well written the game is and how believable the characters are in many other ways.

The plot definitely sometimes overtakes the immediate responses in the game. The Trails games are written so that you are constantly uncovering little bits of info and that is what's most important to Falcom, I believe. They're the JRPG equivalent of epic fantasy (length) combined with M. Night Shyamalan.

Yeah if nothing else it's a reminder that games are written by teams, I suppose. Mostly, the character development has worked for me, but now and then the seams start to show.

Balthezor wrote:

Anyone have a copy of DQ 4 and DQ 6 for DS they are willing to sell?

My wife enjoyed the hell out of DQ 7 and 8 and just beat 5. Now she wants to play 4 and 6.

I randomly started up Dragon Quest V the other night on DS, and I'm hooked. That series is just some of the best comfort food gaming for me. Did you find a place to get IV and VI? Amazon has them for $40-$60 apiece. Maybe if I cross my toes and wish real hard, they'll get ported to Switch.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
Balthezor wrote:

Anyone have a copy of DQ 4 and DQ 6 for DS they are willing to sell?

My wife enjoyed the hell out of DQ 7 and 8 and just beat 5. Now she wants to play 4 and 6.

I randomly started up Dragon Quest V the other night on DS, and I'm hooked. That series is just some of the best comfort food gaming for me. Did you find a place to get IV and VI? Amazon has them for $40-$60 apiece. Maybe if I cross my toes and wish real hard, they'll get ported to Switch.

I believe they are ported to your mobile device for way too much.

I don't have a problem with the pricing on the mobile ports (they're what? $15?) but I generally just don't like playing games on my phone.

I recommend DQ 1-3 for your phone as they can be played with one hand.

IV-VI are DS ports, which means they have camera controls and I find them too fiddly for playing on phone.

I've put 9 or 10 hours into Ni No Kuni II and finding it to be interesting, though I'm not sure yet if I love it. The combat feels way better than the first game, even if it seems pretty easy overall. I've finally gotten to the kingdom management side of the game, which is what I'd been looking forward to seeing after reading reviews when it initially came out. The RTS minigame is so random, but I don't hate it.

Is there anything I should make a point of investing in first when it comes to the various kingdom ministries/buildings/etc? I have hardly any citizens yet so that's driving my decisions right now, but I assume I'll accumulate more soon enough once I search out some side quests.

Fun Twitter thread all about Ys.

It's basically a PP presentation based on a lot of info found on Digital Emelas, which is probably the most impressive fan site I've ever seen.

I've had Ys VIII on my wishlist for a while, but went ahead and added the rest as well after reading that.

I don’t think they’d be impressed with my opinion that Adol is holding the series back and Falcom should ditch him.

He's the closest thing they have to a mascot, so...

Assuming you haven't read the twitter thread, tell me about Adol. Where's he from, what's his motivation, what's his personality type... anyway, Ys sales numbers tell me they need a better mascot.

Oh, no doubt. The Trails series is their main series now.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

Assuming you haven't read the twitter thread, tell me about Adol. Where's he from, what's his motivation, what's his personality type... anyway, Ys sales numbers tell me they need a better mascot.

He tends to loose memory a lot, loves exploring, usually that leads to him regaining his memory and finding a way home.

Finally finished SMT Strange Journey. Bit of a disappointment, the gameplay loop just isn’t that fun. Too much reliance on convoluted mazes with teleporters and pit traps, really punishes you for wanting to uncover the whole map. Also, forget about unlocking the whole compendium, just requires too much macca, even with the paid DLC (I shudder to think without it). You need a guide for the demon combinations, it doesn’t have the feature of P5 where the game gives you every possible combination based on your stock AND the contents of your compendium. Plus the way skill inheritance works just isn’t fun.

It’s a pity because the story and setting are some of the more interesting of any SMT game. However it’s doled our in small doses with lots of padding in between. Happy to put this one to bed.

New Sakura Wars is confirmed April 28th, 2020.

So same month as Resident Evil 3 and Final Fantasy VII Remake, same week as Trials of Mana, and same day as Gears Tactics.

Eff me man.

I'm surprised that's getting localized, but I'll give it a shot. Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love was one of the weirder games I played on the Wii, and there were a lot of weird Wii games.

Feels like JRPGs are comin' back. Honestly I don't remember a Sakura Wars releasing on Wii, just Dreamcast I believe. Wasn't it a tactical RPG at one point?

Speaking of JRPGs comin' back, also announced is a Western release date for Katana Kami: A Way of the Samurai Story.

This is the closest thing to a sequel to Way of the Samurai 4 as we're gonna get, I feel. It's available digitally February 20th, so... next week.

ccesarano wrote:

Feels like JRPGs are comin' back. Honestly I don't remember a Sakura Wars releasing on Wii, just Dreamcast I believe. Wasn't it a tactical RPG at one point?

Yeah, it was a tactical RPG/dating sim back before mixing tactical RPGs and/or traditional RPGs with dating sims was all the rage.

ccesarano wrote:

Feels like JRPGs are comin' back. Honestly I don't remember a Sakura Wars releasing on Wii, just Dreamcast I believe. Wasn't it a tactical RPG at one point?

Speaking of JRPGs comin' back, also announced is a Western release date for Katana Kami: A Way of the Samurai Story.

This is the closest thing to a sequel to Way of the Samurai 4 as we're gonna get, I feel. It's available digitally February 20th, so... next week.

Dammit, just PMed that to you!

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I'm surprised that's getting localized, but I'll give it a shot. Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love was one of the weirder games I played on the Wii, and there were a lot of weird Wii games.

I'm not surprised, everything gets localized now. Japan is not able to support many Japan-only games anymore.

#BringBackPowerPros

garion333 wrote:

Dammit, just PMed that to you!

Mwa ha ha! I am, as they say, on top of this!

Final Fantasy VII Remake's opening movie:

The original for comparison:

Wrong thread!

Oops!