Support NeoGAF

[Dragoon En Regalia]

I would love a Popful Mail collection, specifically for a translated SNES version (why has this still not happened), but I feel that those games are going to be left buried in gaming's past.

Falcom could always remake it, but they'd change it so much to match the current anime/LN scene (just as the original did). I'm not sure I want that without the company assuring they're going to keep the silly, irreverent early-1990s fantasy gag anime tone/look. XSEED localizing this remake instead of Gaijinworks seems like a funny idea too. We'll always have the originals to hack and translate.

 

[RoryDropkick]

Sorcerian's maybe not as good as it should be but worth a shot anyway. Maybe the Forever scenarios did better than the PC-88 games'.

Oh I'm well aware, I'm just getting it again since I used to own the MS-DOS version years ago. I have a soft spot for it.

 

[Aeana]

Falcom could always remake it, but they'd change it so much to match the current anime/LN scene (just as the original did). I'm not sure I want that without the company assuring they're going to keep the silly, irreverent early-1990s fantasy gag anime tone/look. XSEED localizing this remake instead of Gaijinworks seems like a funny idea too. We'll always have the originals to hack and translate.

I'm ill thinking about it.

 

[Aeana]

Also, I will not tolerate any Sorcerian bashing. Game is incredible.

 

[Enk]

I'm ill thinking about it.

*image*

Excuse me while I go bleach my eyes.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I've never played a Sorcerian game, but I suspect I'd like it. Seems to fall right under the style of Falcom games I really like.

 

[SmiteOfHand]

It is probably (hopefully) still too early and the data is still sorting itself out, but checked in on numbers on steamspy. See how it shakes out over the next few days/weeks.

Xanadu Next
Owners: 1,905 ± 1,408
Players in the last 2 weeks: 1,361 ± 1,190 (71.43%)
Players total: 1,361 ± 1,190 (71.43%)
Peak concurrent players yesterday: 114

 

[RoryDropkick]

Also, I will not tolerate any Sorcerian bashing. Game is incredible.

I'm itching to play it again. I want to be able to without futzing around with Dosbox. Project EGG seemed like the best option at this point.

EDIT: Who's that and what did they do with Mail?

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

It is probably (hopefully) still too early and the data is still sorting itself out, but checked in on numbers on steamspy. See how it shakes out over the next few days/weeks.

Xanadu Next
Owners: 1,905 ± 1,408
Players in the last 2 weeks: 1,361 ± 1,190 (71.43%)
Players total: 1,361 ± 1,190 (71.43%)
Peak concurrent players yesterday: 114

That would be really, really depressing if accurate.

 

[Aeana]

It's sad because I've always felt that Xanadu Next would resonate a lot with Steam's audience.

 

[preta]

I have Sorcerian Original, and I want to play it, but I can't get it working properly. Even using D3DWindower (on Windows 10), all text is invisible and I can't get the hardware cursor to line up with the ingame one. Any ideas?

 

[duckroll]

It's sad because I've always felt that Xanadu Next would resonate a lot with Steam's audience.

Does it matter if no one knows it exists? If I didn't already know about it and want to buy it, I would probably have never seen it on the store. Totally buried.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

114 concurrent players sounds good. I wouldn't trust Steamspy numbers on the game this early since it likely won't go over 30k owners for a while anyway. Also, did Ys VI go on sale recently? Steamspy's reporting it has ~4k new owners since the 14th of October. I'm curious to know if sales are propelling the owners number or if word's finally spread about Ark of Napishtim. That bodes well for Xanadu Next if XSEED gets most of the bugs fixed.

There's a bunch of curious people talking about the game on the Steam forums, so I think Xananext can find the audience it needs. But it'll struggle if tech woes and XSEED's traditionally subpar marketing continue to limit its reach.

Also, I will not tolerate any Sorcerian bashing. Game is incredible.

I'd rather play Drasle Family on MSX2, though Sorcerian's great, fascinating, and full of surprises.

Excuse me while I go bleach my eyes.

Here's a better "modern" Mail:

 

[FLD]

It is probably (hopefully) still too early and the data is still sorting itself out, but checked in on numbers on steamspy. See how it shakes out over the next few days/weeks.

Xanadu Next
Owners: 1,905 ± 1,408
Players in the last 2 weeks: 1,361 ± 1,190 (71.43%)
Players total: 1,361 ± 1,190 (71.43%)
Peak concurrent players yesterday: 114

It's definitely way too early to assume anything based on SteamSpy numbers but I still like to keep an eye on them early on. It usually at least gives a (very) vague idea of whether a game is doing exceedingly well or not. And, well, Xanadu Next is the first time I've ever seen the owners actually take a drop so quickly (was over 2000 on the first day). Probably doesn't mean anything but it's certainly not encouraging...

 

[SmiteOfHand]

All of Falcom's output on Steam in 2015 is below 75k, and Trails in the Sky SC in particular sitting sub 30k. I wouldn't call it dire yet as those numbers were clearly good enough to move forward with this "port".

I'd be curious what XSEED's expectations are, though.

 

[FStubbs]

I bought my Falcom stuff on gog. I wonder how many are choosing the non-DRM option.

 

[RoryDropkick]

I tried to do my part and tell my friends. Understandably a lot of them asked "Is this a seqel to Faxanadu?" of which I had to explain no, but they still sounded interested so I'm hoping they pick it up soon.

 

[Ascheroth]

All of Falcom's output on Steam in 2015 is below 75k, and Trails in the Sky SC in particular sitting sub 30k. I wouldn't call it dire yet as those numbers were clearly good enough to move forward with this port.

I'd be curious what XSEED's expectations are, though.

I've been saying it in every steam-sale-numbers thread, but I think SC is very much a long term investment. As a direct sequel to a long ass RPG the barrier of entry is huge.
But the numbers also show that pretty much everyone who has finished FC bought SC, and it was -33% off at its cheapest.
When it was released it has also increased the sales of FC and I suspect the 3rd will give both of them a boost as well.
Though I have no idea why XSeed doesn't sell the 2 in a bundle. They should also totally sell FC+SC+3rd as a bundle.

Also it's way too early for Xanadu Numbers. A couple days after the launch discount is over is probably the earliest.

There's also GoG sales as well.

 

[Basileus777]

I don't know why you'd expect this game to sell more than a few thousand at launch. Breaking 10k now would be a real surprise. It's an old unknown niche Japanese game.

It's definitely way too early to assume anything based on SteamSpy numbers but I still like to keep an eye on them early on. It usually at least gives a (very) vague idea of whether a game is doing exceedingly well or not. And, well, Xanadu Next is the first time I've ever seen the owners actually take a drop so quickly (was over 2000 on the first day). Probably doesn't mean anything but it's certainly not encouraging...

The drop doesn't mean anything. Steamspy numbers in these range aren't especially accurate and suffer from big fluctuations.

 

[preta]

I don't know why you'd expect this game to sell more than a few thousand at launch. Breaking 10k now would be a real surprise.

Yeah, I don't get the doomsaying here either. All of the other games have gone on sale multiple times since their respective launches. It's only been three days - give it a little time. That said, there's quite a bit of positive word of mouth for both the Ys and Trails series, but Xanadu might as well be a new IP to most western audiences.

 

[120v]

most people interested in the game are probably like "i'll wait til it's $10"

if it weren't for this thread there's no way i would've paid $17 for this

 

[Aeana]

I am certainly not doomsaying. I am saying that it's unfortunate that people aren't learning about the game because I think it would go over well with Steam users. I've been saying that since 2006 when the idea of their games showing up on Steam was first floated -- that this game aligns well with Western PC gamer tastes.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

Best case scenario, Xananext reaches Ys VI's owners count before major discounts, or even surpasses Ark of Napishtim at some point in less than a year or half. I think technical issues are holding this launch more than any of the game's faults. GOG's having a big sale event right now which has obscured the game's launch on that marketplace, and I think GOG regulars would love a game like this. Maybe there's a lot of sales potential for Xananext.

 

[jb1234]

Does it matter if no one knows it exists? If I didn't already know about it and want to buy it, I would probably have never seen it on the store. Totally buried.

It doesn't help that the media doesn't care about it. Has any of the major sites even bothered to review this?

Edit: Never mind. I guess most of them ignore Falcom releases in general. A shame.

 

[SmiteOfHand]

I don't know why you'd expect this game to sell more than a few thousand at launch. Breaking 10k now would be a real surprise. It's an old unknown niche Japanese game.

Mushihimesama hit 9k in its first 5 days. Slightly different circumstances, but 10k is not unheard of as far as niche Japan goes.

But I agree with everyone, it is too early to draw too many conclusions. Sorry if I got anyone's heart rate up, I was just curious. Give it the first few weeks at least.

 

[John Kowalski]

I've been thinking that i may be the only person in my country playing this game and that's kinda weird.

 

[FLD]

The drop doesn't mean anything. Steamspy numbers in these range aren't especially accurate and suffer from big fluctuations.

Fluctuations usually only start happening once the numbers have stabilized a bit, though. They usually keep going up for the first few days until that happens. That's why I was surprised to see a drop so quickly. Then again, it's not like I watch every single game closely, I only keep an eye on those I'm personally interested in. Anyway, I understand it probably doesn't mean anything. I just thought it was a bit unusual.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

Even Corpse Party PC's done okay at this point, reaching 15k owners faster than Trails SC. So who knows. I selfishly want Xananext to sell as much as possible in order to turn Falcom's head, but it's all on XSEED and the game's fans to keep up word of mouth.

 

[duckroll]

I am certainly not doomsaying. I am saying that it's unfortunate that people aren't learning about the game because I think it would go over well with Steam users. I've been saying that since 2006 when the idea of their games showing up on Steam was first floated -- that this game aligns well with Western PC gamer tastes.

I actually know a few friends who I think might enjoy the game if it were on consoles, but I hesitate to recommend it to them because of the weird control scheme.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

These box puzzles are gooooooooooooooooood. Just a zen thing and I love it.

114 concurrent players sounds good. I wouldn't trust Steamspy numbers on the game this early since it likely won't go over 30k owners for a while anyway. Also, did Ys VI go on sale recently? Steamspy's reporting it has ~4k new owners since the 14th of October. I'm curious to know if sales are propelling the owners number or if word's finally spread about Ark of Napishtim. That bodes well for Xanadu Next if XSEED gets most of the bugs fixed.

There's a bunch of curious people talking about the game on the Steam forums, so I think Xananext can find the audience it needs. But it'll struggle if tech woes and XSEED's traditionally subpar marketing continue to limit its reach.

I'd rather play Drasle Family on MSX2, though Sorcerian's great, fascinating, and full of surprises.

Here's a better "modern" Mail:

Sorta kinda; I think Sergey "fixed" the algorithm behind Steamspy recently to better calculate low sales numbers like these and after hearing this it some I looked up did jump a decent bit.

 

[Delusibeta]

It's weird how Xseed seems to have done a bad job marketing their PC games at launch since the Steam Discovery Update. Pretty much the only Xseed PC release from the last year or so that didn't immediately have people ringing the "it's not selling" alarm bells was Shinovi Versus (which, to be fair, is currently the second best selling Xseed PC release not made by Falcom, and it's only been out for five months).

I'd be interested to see how many people ring the alarm bells over Bon Appetit's Steam release later this week.

 

[matmanx1]

Anyone who likes Zelda type games would probably enjoy this game. At least that's the vibe I'm getting from it having just beaten the first actual boss. The combat is more Diablo except that positioning is hugely important and gives the game a more strategic, action feel than most other point and click RPG's.

I expected to like it and that's why I bought it but so far it's exceeding my expectations. I'm pretty sure I like it better than the last couple of Y's games, FWIW. So yeah, this game needs some word of mouth and some advertising to help it out. It deserves it.

 

[FlyinJ]

Played a couple hours, seems really good.

Few questions:

My frame rate is all over the place. Keeps getting hit in random areas. I've got a 970, how is this possible?

How do I gety controller to emulate a mouse when I'm in the inventory screen?

And what is this about slotting skills? I currently have a couple spells and an analyze thing. I was fighting the first boss, and it said "skill get", but I didn't see any new skills...

 

[RoryDropkick]

Hm.. I'm wondering if I'm missing something... I'm trying to find

Spoiler

the third lever to open gate #3, but I've looked everywhere

Am I missing something? I decided to just move on to the mountains at this point, but I'm wondering if I'm skpping a step. I'm level 10 at this point.

 

[FLD]

And what is this about slotting skills? I currently have a couple spells and an analyze thing. I was fighting the first boss, and it said "skill get", but I didn't see any new skills...

Each weapon has a skill attached to it that you can equip to one of 4 slots. While your proficiency with the weapon is under 100%, if you unequip the weapon you lose access to the skill. "Skill get" means you just hit 100% proficiency with you current weapon and can use its skill permanently.

Hm.. I'm wondering if I'm missing something... I'm trying to find

Spoiler

the third lever to open gate #3, but I've looked everywhere

Am I missing something? I decided to just move on to the mountains at this point, but I'm wondering if I'm skpping a step. I'm level 10 at this point.

Nah, you're on the right track.

 

[Thud]

Best case scenario, Xananext reaches Ys VI's owners count before major discounts, or even surpasses Ark of Napishtim at some point in less than a year or half. I think technical issues are holding this launch more than any of the game's faults. GOG's having a big sale event right now which has obscured the game's launch on that marketplace, and I think GOG regulars would love a game like this. Maybe there's a lot of sales potential for Xananext.

Yeah, it has some minor issues like the text not popping up after hitting a chest.

Also I noticed the only thing you need a keyboard for is managing your gold with Charlotte. For the rest I can just use the current settings on my steam controller.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

Sara's got a lot to do this week...I hope for everyone's sake these issues can resolve.

My frame rate is all over the place. Keeps getting hit in random areas. I've got a 970, how is this possible?

How do I gety controller to emulate a mouse when I'm in the inventory screen?

Check this thread for Nvidia Inspector settings that could and should at least mitigate frame pacing issues. When you want to manipulate the inventory screen using a gamepad, hold the "Use Mouse" button (you can rebind this in the config menu, ideally while using "Set up USB game controllers" (find it via Start Bar search) to check which buttons correspond to your gamepad) to move the cursor.

Also I noticed the only thing you need a keyboard for is managing your gold with Charlotte. For the rest I can just use the current settings on my steam controller.

Use the pennant icons below/above each decimal space to set a gold amount you want to transfer in or out of storage. You're not required to use the keyboard here, though it's a hassle to do it via controller.

 

[Thoraxes]

The Steam controller works very well. Makes the awkward gamepad implementation much more workable thanks to the mouse control on the right pad.

Oh wow, I didn't even think to use my Steam Controller for this one.

Honestly seems like a perfect fit given the menu stuff.

 

[Alex_CWB]

The Castle is huge!

First rage quit: The Lich can cast a spell that decrease your level by 1, permanently. (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

 

[jb1234]

.

 

[RoryDropkick]

Nah, you're on the right track.

I see what you mean. I really enjoy how this is laid out.

 

[SmiteOfHand]

Friendly request to be a little more liberal with spoiler tags, if I may?

I know the game is like a decade old, but for us types playing through as blind as possible hanging around here has been a lot of post dodging.

 

[RoryDropkick]

Friendly request to be a little more liberal with spoiler tags, if I may?

I know the game is like a decade old, but for us types playing through as blind as possible hanging around here has been a lot of post dodging.

Yep, that's what I assume was the protocol. This is my first playthrough but I figured it's polite.

 

[matmanx1]

Yeah the in-game clock and Steam definitely do not agree in terms of how long they each think I have been playing. In-game clock says 3 hours and change (which I know is wrong) and Steam says over 5 hours (which sounds about right). I wonder what's got the in-game clock fouled up?

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

Yeah the in-game clock and Steam definitely do not agree in terms of how long they each think I have been playing. In-game clock says 3 hours and change (which I know is wrong) and Steam says over 5 hours (which sounds about right). I wonder what's got the in-game clock fouled up?

In-game clock doesn't seem to count time spent in cinematics, shop/storage menus, and in town overall. This actually isn't a bug, I remember it being this way in the Japanese version.

 

[Tizoc]

Excuse me while I go bleach my eyes.

Save some for me

 

[Sinatar]

Need some assistance with getting the last guardian:

Spoiler

So apparently you have to give that treasure hunter girl the phoenix medicine to get it. I've got the medicine but have no idea where she is, any ideas where to find her?

 

[preta]

Need some assistance with getting the last guardian:

Spoiler

So apparently you have to give that treasure hunter girl the phoenix medicine to get it. I've got the medicine but have no idea where she is, any ideas where to find her?

Spoiler

Anywhere you can normally find her. I just went to the room in northeast Clover Ruins with the waterfall, killed everything, left and returned, and talked to her there.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

Need some assistance with getting the last guardian:

Spoiler

So apparently you have to give that treasure hunter girl the phoenix medicine to get it. I've got the medicine but have no idea where she is, any ideas where to find her?

Just find

Spoiler

her

in any odd place. But locations at Strangerock specifically are:

• Spoiler

  Western chamber where you fight the Ogre + mages
  .
• Spoiler

  Top of middle room in Strangerock normally full of Wyverns and Harpies. Kill them all first, then backtrack to the skeleton arena, head up the stairs and then back around to atop the Wyvern room where you'll find her standing
  .

I feel it's time to put a guide or two together for Steam users.

 

[Kvik]

Man this (3rd boss)

Spoiler

Evilwyrm (wurm?)

is kicking my arse.

By the time I can get behind him, I barely can put a dent on his HP bar and his charge attacks eats 3/4 of my HP. :-\

Very souls-esque.