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[TheSeks]

You're missing out on a lot. The sound effects and music are fantastic. The hidden intros are more cinematic than MGS1 imho.

Ears. Broken. Can't comment.

To be honest, sounds to me that a lot of your complaints are basically "I didn't prepare nor can I adapt, therefore the game sucks because I'm doing weak damage".

Yes, because I OH SO SUCK at attempting to give the game a fair shake. I'm pretty much nearly done with Gameshark. I've banged my head against the weapon system and "experimenting" and "preparing" which ultimately fails enough for me to not enjoy that aspect and think it brings the game down because it's cumbersome, isn't easy to understand unless you outright read a guide (WHY should I have to be forced to that? FFS, even posters in the first two pages here practically tell "new players to read the guides.") It's just poor decisions after poor decisions. I can see where some people like to fuck about in menus and see if one recipe will get them stat bonuses. I don't like being told I'm doing it wrong because I'm not combining the right weapons to get stat bonuses when I literally have five of the same damn item in the goddamn trunk after wandering the areas for two hours to prepare for a boss only to do 5-50HP damage.

50MP is honestly just enough. I never needed more than that unless I'm going on some sort of magic only run. What spells are usually cast in battle? You start with Fusion, Prostasia, Degenerate and maybe Tarnish. Rest is for Heal.

Analyze unless you read a guide. Which is my point your forced to read a guide to get anywhere, if you go in blind, you're going to run into the issues I did. Even "experimenting" won't help you because you don't understand WHAT THE FUCK is supposed to be the most important stat and WHY things aren't working.

Anyway, Analyze is important to cast in general if you aren't reading a guide. That said, I've ran Gain MP/HP in chains and only got 1-5 HP/MP from them a pop. Note: With gain MP, that was generally 1-3MP a pop, and while that's helpful, it won't keep up with the tide of bosses spamming magic at 100HP a pop and you getting 50-80HP back a turn.

There's Reflect Damage and Reflect Magic.

Correct. I forgot about Reflect Magic, given Reflect Damage is used by 90% of enemies in the game.

You'd be fine even with just your base 100 stats. Like always, it's equipment and spells that matter. Your base stats are just bonuses.

Oh, I'm sure. But the weapon system is the straw that broke the camels back for me. Being told that "no, merging weapons won't give you bonuses like SMT" is stupid. Being told "you'll only gain bonuses if you merge the right weapons. What those weapons are? Well... you'll need to read a guide to find that out! *tee-hee*" is stupid. FAQ's should help if you're stuck, it shouldn't have to explain the whole damn system to you.

Like I said, Beamup's guide is bang-on and useful, but if you're going in blind and trying not to spoil the game for yourself, you're going to be rolled. Which is terrible.

Edit: I mean compare VS no-guide to FFT, TO, FF12. FFT/TO you can mess about and generally if you screw up, you can grind your way out of it. Sure, you can do the same with VS... but it never explains WHAT you're screwing up. FFT/TO have a class system so if you're failing in battle, your classes aren't set right or you're using the wrong class and fucking up there isn't as annoying and frustrating without a guide because you can test and test and test and grind and improve with time. In VS you can't improve unless you cross a line that gives a stat bonus in a recipe. You can't go "oh, well, my weapon is weak. I'll infuse a blade that's a similar type and has more class/element/type bonuses with it and get better stats. VS goes "LOL NO THAT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY."

And FF12's only fuck up with the Zodiac Spear and maybe 1-5 other items in the game without reading a guide. But you aren't SCREWED in the ass if you aren't reading a guide. Which is my point.

 

[Wolf Akela]

I actually never needed to use Analyze except for a few bosses. Most enemies are straightforward where you can get by with just Class rating so I could get decent damages (20-30). I resort to Analyze and Affinity ratings if those aren't enough, which as mentioned, isn't common. The only time I consulted the guide was for the final boss, and that was solely to get the idea that the boss simply doesn't have a "weakness" because of his all-around offense, so you had to resort to pumping a single stat.

VS' stat systems are very straightforward, which once you get are actually quite basic. It's just that there's really no other game that puts as much emphasis on many numbers on equipment that it all seems foreign and complex.

There aren't "most important stats" to get through the game. Beamup's guide was written for the purpose of minmaxing through the entire game. Like in Monster Hunter, there are guides for absolute optimal setups for every monster at every point in the game, all of which were carefully analyzed. It doesn't mean that you need to know and employ them. Same goes for Diablo II. Lots of guides on character builds giving optimal stat distribution plus best (and usually rarest) armor pieces. It doesn't mean you have to know they exist, nor does it mean that you need them to even get through Hell.

People keep recommending to read guides (like in-game ones) because the system is unlike any other game out there, which often results in people getting lost. Stuff like maximizing stats through combining yields only marginal results. Making do with what you have is far more efficient in terms of time and damage.

 

[TheSeks]

There aren't "most important stats" to get through the game. Beamup's guide was written for the purpose of minmaxing through the entire game. Like in Monster Hunter, there are guides for absolute optimal setups for every monster at every point in the game, all of which were carefully analyzed. It doesn't mean that you need to know and employ them. Same goes for Diablo II. Lots of guides on character builds giving optimal stat distribution plus best (and usually rarest) armor pieces. It doesn't mean you have to know they exist, nor does it mean that you need them to even get through Hell..

That's a pretty poor example, because even if you do a poor build, in Diablo 2 you can generally skimp by and still beat the game on Normal/default playthrough settings (which is due to the fact you can get better equipment by grinding over time, or go on Open Battle.net if there is still players and get help there if you aren't playing closed B.N already). Here, you have to pretty much read a guide to get anywhere. You have to read a guide to understand why your hits aren't hitting 24/7. You have to read a guide to understand why stats aren't increasing outside of the type/bonus/element stats. You have to read a guide to be told "no, two-handed weapons suck. Focus on one-handed." You have to read a guide to be told "this boss is weak to..." for about 2-10% of the game before the Analyze spell is given to you.

Like I said: Some people may enjoy banging their heads in menus and trying to figure that stuff out on their own. For people that don't want to be spoiled because they have to read a guide, they're going to run into the issues I have ran into. And that means the game doesn't explain shit to you. It's very infuriating to see you have type bonus, you have the element bonus and you're still doing 10 damage a pop because you haven't been going for STR boosts in the roulette or because you're using a two-handed weapon because it's the highest (for the time) material you can combine with other weapons to see if you gain stat gains.

VS' stat systems are very straightforward, which once you get are actually quite basic.

Then, please, explain to me what isn't clicking for me. Because I've done "class is most important"/old world advice. That doesn't work. I tried the new age "type is the most important. So keep a blunt/pierce/edge around" advice and that doesn't give me a huge magical boost in damage that people say it should. I, quite frankly, find the stats system to be some black magic that you have to have a PhD in to even understand at this point. Because I've tried to wrap my mind around it and use peoples suggestions and it doesn't increase damage output to the point where people are saying "I can kill a boss with one 5-hit chain!"

People keep recommending to read guides (like in-game ones)

And I read the in-game ones. And I skimmed Beamup's guide after banging my head at GameFAQs for hours trying to figure out why I'm doing meager damage despite combining everything imaginable I could to get stat gains and getting worse weapons in the process. Like I said, Beamup's guide explains things and it's useful and blah blah blah. But people shouldn't be forced to have to do that to play a game. I find that to be poor game design.

Edit edit: And the In-game guide explains nothing in regards to the battle/stat system to at least throw you a life preserver to keep your head above the water in regards to that system.

 

[TheSeks]

Well, Gamesharked to the last two workshops in the game before New Game+, so I can upgrade most everything up to silver in one, and then Silver and the Ultimate Type in the other.

Been combining armor and watching stats raise and lower with no sense of knowing WHY that is other than "it's lower on the ladder than this type, so you lose stats instead of gaining them!" Which, again: Is fucking stupid. What is the point of "experimenting" and "preparing" for battle if all you're going to do is make WORSE weapons because you're clearing space and supposed to be IMPROVING the weapons with more metal/stats/etc?

Oh well, at least my Chest is nearly clean and then I can finish the game and forget about it for a while before attempting to give it another chance and being turned off by the stupidity of the crafting system again.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

if you go in blind, you're going to run into the issues I did.

With the minor difference with our mindset of "Pay attention, experiment, overcome, succeed" bringing results and your lack thereof bringing you to frothing rage.

A "Fair shake", indeed. I'd hate to see this thread without so many teaching you to fish or straight-up giving the fish to you.

You don't get it, you don't like it, and that's ok. It really is.

 

[RobertM]

Killed 4 bosses in a row just to get killed by a phantom, fuck this game. I can't believe how far in between the save points are that it really makes me rage quit every time i die to the point that I abondone the game for month.

 

[TheSeks]

...And finished.

I can't believe this got a 40/40, compared to Final Fantasy XII I find it wayyyyyyy too flawed (and the stupid weapon system doesn't help) for it be as "flawless" as people make it out to be. So many poor game design decisions in terms of throwing players in with little explanation and totally fucking up the crafting system for my taste.

However, the story was worth the playthrough, I'll admit. It's too bad about 1/3 of the game has no cut scenes or moving the story forward so it's "beginning, padding, end" in terms of story.

...I'll probably replay it in a few months time to see if my opinion changes on the systems, because I want to like the game but it shows its ass and makes me hate it every step of the way.

 

[Wolf Akela]

Did you break 0 damage against the final boss?

 

[Lady Bird]

I have beaten the game several times with random weapons, almost no time spent on workshop and dealing ~50/100 damage to enemies and ~20-50 to bosses.

If you want your weapons to deal full damage, check your DP and PP bars. There are skill chains that recover those. Once you have both full (PP is fairly easy to fill, but you need to do so each time you repair a weapon, because repairing DP removes PP). Full DP and full PP will make the difference between dealing 0-1 damage and 50+ against most encounters.

Then, just worry about affinities and types. For types, just have three different weapons. For affinities, there's gems and accessories. Use them on specific occasions only (after analyze). DP and PP are still more important.

Much less annoying this way than grinding enemy classes, or relying on chains (although this one will still be needed against some bosses - when that happens, use the Ashe whatever-is-its-name chain, that deals more damage the lesser HP you have).

 

[ctrayne]

Fired this up on the PSP. This has one of the most excellent opening cinematics in the history of games. Very impressed, and I've seen it a dozen times. Outclasses a lot of modern stuff with it's pacing, camera work and musical cues. Incredible.

 

[toythatkills]

Fired this up on the PSP. This has one of the most excellent opening cinematics in the history of games. Very impressed, and I've seen it a dozen times. Outclasses a lot of modern stuff with it's pacing, camera work and musical cues. Incredible.

Yeah, I started this the other day on PS3 and thought exactly the same thing. Aside from

Spoiler

the scene with the Duke in his bed

(not really a spoiler) it's amazing.

Is there some kind of menu tutorial in the game? I opened the menu in the first couple of rooms and went "wtf?" and didn't understand any of it. Or do I need to RTFM instead?

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Fired this up on the PSP. This has one of the most excellent opening cinematics in the history of games. Very impressed, and I've seen it a dozen times. Outclasses a lot of modern stuff with it's pacing, camera work and musical cues. Incredible.

Amen. I am very spoiled by the sophistication and artistry in cinemas from playing this. Sakimoto having Sydney's eerie "leitmotif", if you can call it that, blending into the fight with the wounded wyvern's battle theme was God Tier.

 

[Ulthwe]

Just finished it for the second time in my life. What-a-blast!

Played it back in 2005 and had a strong love/hate relationship with it. Some months ago, while reading this "beginners guide" I decided to give it a second chance.

Let me tell you guys: what a difference makes knowing the "Type > Affinity > Class" priorities, sticking with 3 basic weapons, one per type (instead of the misleading "6 weapons, one per class" strategy). I barely had any problem traversing the game, and felt like a demigod every time I came out of a workshop with a freshly forged weapon.

Regarding workshops, didn't even look at a chart. Armor and shields are really easy to combine, and for blades simply tried everything with everything (a bit time consuming, but worth it).

Again, the final boss likes to play hard on you even if you've creamed everybody in your path, but reading the strategy in the "Combat Mechanics Guide" provided to be extremely useful. Gives all other last boss guides a run for their money.

I believe that, art direction wise, is one of the greatest out there. Does the absolute best within the hardware limitations of the PSone. Just check them textures, faces take from 1/4 to 1/2 of the file! Music and cinematics, chapeau.

Criticisms? The usual suspects: could use a better UI, the last areas are a bit confusing and had to check a FAQ for the last door (a goddam lever? there's only two in the whole game!).

The icing in the cake? Halfway through my play Crimson Shroud was announced for US/EU, releasing in December. I've read some impressions and seems to really fit my tastes, and follow on some of the VS mechanics (stat bonuses from items not leveling, some kind of chaining, item combining). I know about it's technical limitations (no animation at all, text-driven) but I believe that it will be a good game nonetheless.

Sorry for the old thread bump, but didn't feel like making a new one, specially if there's an OT for the game.

 

[Vossler]

Wow, did not know that this thread existed. One of my favorite games of all time, even though at 12 I had to read the manual cover to cover to understand what was going on. Graphics, music, cinematics, simply awesome.

I've started a game on my VITA, but was not aware of the guides in this thread. I may have to check them out. Definitely subscribing to and reading this thoroughly.

 

[Ulthwe]

I've started a game on my VITA, but was not aware of the guides in this thread. I may have to check them out. Definitely subscribing to and reading this thoroughly.

Simply follow happy lolidayz tips on the beginners guide and ignore the other ones regarding weapon / enemy pairing:

I guess I said this in the first post (good post btw) but I am expanding on it here because it is important. Here is a great tip for newbies if you find yourself getting frustrated or even thinking too much about the future of your weapons:

You really only need 3 weapons total. One edged, one piercing, and one blunt. Weapon type is by far the most important thing to consider: Enemy class (like beasts and dragons and shit) matters much much less than just about any other factor, and elemental affinity (which can be crucial important) can be put on with gems or spells.

So don't go into the game thinking "Okay this is gonna be my Human sword and my Dragon spear and my Beast crossbow" or whatever, because you're just setting yourself up for frustration, since not all enemy classes are all weak to the same weapon type. Most Humans in particular usually switch up their weaknesses on each enemy and there's no way to tell what they're weak to without checking or memorizing them all like "okay the crimson blade holding a spear in this specific map is weak to blunt." This requires much less grinding for weapons, less tedious weapon switching, and is surprisingly a lot more effective than having one weapon per enemy type. And usually you'll find you build up enemy points anyway because you're generally gonna be whacking skeletons with your mace and fighting wolfs with your spear or sword. But even if you don't it doesn't matter because even if you obsessively max your enemy class affinity you're only doing a few extra points of damage.

Which specific ones you choose don't really matter as long as you have all three. I will say though that shields are pretty dang useful because of the gems you get and that two-handed weapons aren't that much more powerful than one-handed weapons. In my current game I'm using a one-handed edged sword, a one-handed blunt mace, and a two-handed piercing spear. I guess dagger would be technically better for piercing but I just think spears are cool (kind of hard to chain though), and there's not a lot of piercing dagger blades.

You may want to bring a silver weapon along too though for special circumstances. The silver dagger you get very early in the game is a great choice. Not only does it cut through just about any undead enemy like butter, it's also got pretty useful break arts so you can do light elemental damage in more than one weapon type damage. But if you accidentally threw away your silver dagger that's okay you can probably deal just fine. Another weapon you might want to consider is a staff of some sort for those moments where you need that extra few percent to get off a magic attack with reassuring accuracy - I think the first staff you get is silver.

edit: Oh and this has nothing to do with anything but use grimoires first chance you get. They take away your MP anyway even if you're just using the item so it's no use holding on to it for when you think you might need a free casting.

 

[dragonlife]

Wow, pretty cool that there's a thread. I recently started it for the first time. I really can't remember the name of where I am, but I'm a good ways in. In the last area I was in, I got killed by a death spell and lost an hour of progress. The thing that killed me was

Spoiler

a giant face. There were three in the room. The room before it had puppets with knives/scissors. The first time I've seen them in the game

I haven't felt like playing again since then

I haven't bothered reading anything about the game or how to play and have gotten through it just fine. It kind of feels like Dark Souls with you slowly discovering how things work. It's a nice feeling. I read the in-game tutorials, too, of course.

 

[Wolf Akela]

Wow, pretty cool that there's a thread. I recently started it for the first time. I really can't remember the name of where I am, but I'm a good ways in. In the last area I was in, I got killed by a death spell and lost an hour of progress. The thing that killed me was

Spoiler

a giant face. There were three in the room. The room before it had puppets with knives/scissors. The first time I've seen them in the game

I haven't felt like playing again since then

I haven't bothered reading anything about the game or how to play and have gotten through it just fine. It kind of feels like Dark Souls with you slowly discovering how things work. It's a nice feeling. I read the in-game tutorials, too, of course.

Hi.

 

[Ulthwe]

I got killed by a death spell and lost an hour of progress. The thing that killed me was

Spoiler

a giant face. There were three in the room. The room before it had puppets with knives/scissors. The first time I've seen them in the game

I haven't felt like playing again since then

The area is Undercity East (if my memory doesn't deceive me). My first advise is to have the "Dulling impact" chain ability at hand, which silences enemies. It doesn't matter which weapon you're holding, as soon as you enter the room silence every enemy. Even if you miss the first hit or just make -2 HP, silence will probably apply.

Second, "Tarnish" one and go for it. You will have to re-silence him a second time.

Do you know how to use the "Analyse" magic? Use it in an enemy, go to the "Status" menu and press right. You'll be able to check the fiend's weak points (the lower the number, the weaker).

You're in the second half of the game, which suddenly ramps up the difficulty. The most annoying part is traversing the "Town Centre East" area as each soldier start casting "Prostasia" and "Herakles". Silence them fast!

 

[darkvir]

Found this post about a VS gallery in Tokyo. She has a mediafire link to some sketches I've never seen before

http://snowflyforest.tumblr.com/

 

[JimPanzer]

this game is so damn good, holy shit. I just love everything about this game. artstyle, music, story and gameplay merge together to an incredible experience.

I'm currently 20h in and

Spoiler

just arrived at the cathedral.

can anyone recommend games similar (even if only remotely) to this?

 

[Firebrand]

this game is so damn good, holy shit. I just love everything about this game. artstyle, music, story and gameplay merge together to an incredible experience.

I'm currently 20h in and

Spoiler

just arrived at the cathedral.

can anyone recommend games similar (even if only remotely) to this?

Playing Dark Souls made me think of VS, and it's a comparison I've seen made a few times. It's light on plot, but like in VS you get to explore the world on your own, finding shortcuts, upgrading weapons and stumbling upon boss creatures.

For story / music / art, any other Matsuno / Sakimoto / Yoshida / Minagawa collaboration would be worth checking out: Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre. I've only played FFXII of those myself and I loved it for its open world and character customization.

 

[JimPanzer]

unfortunately I don't own a PS3, only a vita and a 3DS.
played huge amount of tactics ogre and loved that too, final fantasy tactics is already on my vita and I will start that after I finished vagrant story.

hope SquareEnix will release a HD version of FF12 for the vita.

 

[Wolf Akela]

If you have a gaming PC and a controller you could try Dark Souls on PC.

 

[JimPanzer]

my machine is far too weak for that. I considered buying a PS3, but with next-gen just around the corner it seems a bit pointless to me.
I was hoping they would bring dark souls 2 or HD versions of the older souls games to the PS4, because I'll probably get one. but it doesn't seem so might have to wait for a real next-gen souls game.

has anyone played crimson shroud? how does that compare to vagrant story? art-style-wise it seems very similar.

 

[Cheddahz]

How does this game play on a Vita? I currently have a like new copy of it sitting in my Amazon cart for $15, but if the Vita version is just as good, I don't mind saving some money

 

[perorist]

I bought this a while ago and am going through it for the first time. Already doing like 1-3 damage per hit after getting out of the first catacombs area ( ´_ゝ`)

Is there any way to strengthen my weapons at this point? Looked at a few weapon charts and it seems any combining I do will only lead to the same or lesser tier weapons.

How does this game play on a Vita? I currently have a like new copy of it sitting in my Amazon cart for $15, but if the Vita version is just as good, I don't mind saving some money

Plays great. I think this is the kind of game you're more likely to finish if you can pick up and play when/wherever.

 

[Cheddahz]

Plays great. I think this is the kind of game you're more likely to finish if you can pick up and play when/wherever.

Thanks! Now I gotta decide if I can live without the physical copy or not...

 

[Wolf Akela]

perorist,

Take your time to read the ingame manual, which explains how stats work. You never really need to know recipes. Just combine anything that gets you a better result.

But really, the most dramatic means to modify your damage is through proper gems and spells. Cast Analyze then open the status window to see enemy stats. If they are very weak to fire, put fire gems on your weapon and cast Pyro Fusion if desired. This usually gets you more or less 50+ extra damage.

In general, flesh enemies are weak to edge. Reptilian/dragon are weak to pierce and skeletons are weak to blunt.

Affinity > Class > Type in terms of how easy it is to modify damage. Gems and spells modify Affinity a lot. Class can be modified by gems and very slowly changes overtime. Type is set.

Also, make sure your weapom DP/PP are up. Repair your weapom at workshops (drains PP). Try to get Phantom Pain chain skill which very quickly maxes out PP.

 

[Alric]

How does this game play on a Vita? I currently have a like new copy of it sitting in my Amazon cart for $15, but if the Vita version is just as good, I don't mind saving some money

It was the first PS1 game I installed on my Vita to revisit. Looks and plays amazingly. Also, like the previous poster said it's really nice to be able to play and put down then pick back up at your convenience.
One of the best, darkest and most underrated of Squares Unique IPs

 

[Ulthwe]

Found this post about a VS gallery in Tokyo. She has a mediafire link to some sketches I've never seen before

http://snowflyforest.tumblr.com/

Wow! Nice finding! It seems that the postcards are not on sale online anymore.

The mediafire link darkvir is referring to is this one: http://www.mediafire.com/?24dh0i6t3h846kd, found in this post. It contains a collection of photos of the ARTNIA Vagrant Story exhibition taken by the visitor. They're the same drawings found on the ending credits.

 

[leroidys]

Man, this boss rush thing at the end is painful and seems poorly designed. Swapping out all of my gems every other room is so annoying.

Am I playing the game wrong, or are gems ridiculously better than any other method of doing specific damage? It wouldn;t be such a big deal if you had to just train your weapons, but training and swapping your weapons and your weapons equipment constantly just seems like poor game design... especially since you absolutely demolish once you get a couple +15s and an affinity buff.

 

[leroidys]

I'm a bit stuck right at the end. I just beat nightmare, and when I go up to Despair of the Fallen L3, the cloudstone that I'm supposed to ride across is not active. I did pull that one lever (which I think just unlocks that door, doesn't activate the cloudstone).

Any help is much appreciated.

EDIT: Of course I figure it out 5 minutes after posting... I hadn't killed the lich lord yet.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Just got this game after all the talk about a possible FFXII HD release put me in the mood to try another Matsuno game.

First impressions:

Holy fucking shit this game is amazing so far. It's easily the best looking Psone game I've ever played; even better than MGS. Plus, it helps the art style is amazing--it's like a darker version of FFXII's art style, and the bizarre S&M character designs are incredibly striking and fit into the world really well surprisingly.

The story has me hooked from the get go with great dialogue and direction (that first cutscene the played when I didn't hit start for a while is a contender for best I've ever seen: "I am the reinforcements"), and both Ashley and Sydney seem like total badasses so far. The soundtrack is crazy good too, more immediately impressive than sakamotos work on FFXII in my opinion. Actually, the sound design on the whole is really good so far; the creepy zombie moaning sounds in the first dungeon you start in? Soooo good.

I've only played a little bit of the combat so far, but I really like the system. It's like a cross between FFXII's battle system and V.A.T.S. I also really like the level design so far, it sort of reminds me of FF Tactics's maps.

My only complaints thus far is that inventory system seems kind of unintuitive, as it's already kind of cluttered just to get to a simple healing item. Also, I'm not sure what the enemies health is, and when I look at the stats thing at the bottom of the battle screen and it'll say: "HEAD: 28 HP/88%" or something like that, and then I'll do 35 damage to his head in one attack and he'll still be alive...Biggest complaint by far though is that the saving time when you're exiting an item box is absurdly slow (although maybe it gets faster on subsequent saves).

This game seems way ahead of its time so far, even its futuristic HUD contrasting the setting seems stylish in a modern way, and the combat is very forward thinking too with its real time/ turn based hybrid combat. I can't wait to dive into it some more, as this game seems like it was made for me. And yes, I know the games combat gets kind of complex but I've read a bit on it. Still, any tips would be appreciated as I'm sure I've already forgotten some of the aspects of crafting, and gems, and whatnot.

 

[leroidys]

Just got this game after all the talk about a possible FFXII HD release put me in the mood to try another Matsuno game.

First impressions:

Holy fucking shit this game is amazing so far. It's easily the best looking Psone game I've ever played; even better than MGS. Plus, it helps the art style is amazing--it's like a darker version of FFXII's art style, and the bizarre S&M character designs are incredibly striking and fit into the world really well surprisingly.

The story has me hooked from the get go with great dialogue and direction (that first cutscene the played when I didn't hit start for a while is a contender for best I've ever seen: "I am the reinforcements"), and both Ashley and Sydney seem like total badasses so far. The soundtrack is crazy good too, more immediately impressive than sakamotos work on FFXII in my opinion. Actually, the sound design on the whole is really good so far; the creepy zombie moaning sounds in the first dungeon you start in? Soooo good.

I've only played a little bit of the combat so far, but I really like the system. It's like a cross between FFXII's battle system and V.A.T.S. I also really like the level design so far, it sort of reminds me of FF Tactics's maps.

My only complaints thus far is that inventory system seems kind of unintuitive, as it's already kind of cluttered just to get to a simple healing item. Also, I'm not sure what the enemies health is, and when I look at the stats thing at the bottom of the battle screen and it'll say: "HEAD: 28 HP/88%" or something like that, and then I'll do 35 damage to his head in one attack and he'll still be alive...Biggest complaint by far though is that the saving time when you're exiting an item box is absurdly slow (although maybe it gets faster on subsequent saves).

This game seems way ahead of its time so far, even its futuristic HUD contrasting the setting seems stylish in a modern way, and the combat is very forward thinking too with its real time/ turn based hybrid combat. I can't wait to dive into it some more, as this game seems like it was made for me. And yes, I know the games combat gets kind of complex but I've read a bit on it. Still, any tips would be appreciated as I'm sure I've already forgotten some of the aspects of crafting, and gems, and whatnot.

Glad you're liking it so far. The intro part really is fantastic. One piece of advice I have is to dig in to the crafting system as early as possible. Not only will it remove some frustration significantly farther down the line, but it will make it overall a much more rewarding experience.

 

[Ulthwe]

My only complaints thus far is that inventory system seems kind of unintuitive, as it's already kind of cluttered just to get to a simple healing item. Also, I'm not sure what the enemies health is, and when I look at the stats thing at the bottom of the battle screen and it'll say: "HEAD: 28 HP/88%" or something like that, and then I'll do 35 damage to his head in one attack and he'll still be alive...

Regarding the inventory, there's an option to order it, and it does quite a good job at it. Just use the default ordering option and healing items will appear at the top.

The "HEAD: 28 HP/88%" means "you have an 88% chance of dealing 28 damage on the head". If you choose other enemy parts you'll get different stats. You don't get to know the total HP, but further down the game you'll get "Analyze" magick which is used to get an enemy's info. As soon as you get it, drop around here and we'll explain how to use it.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Glad you're liking it so far. The intro part really is fantastic. One piece of advice I have is to dig in to the crafting system as early as possible. Not only will it remove some frustration significantly farther down the line, but it will make it overall a much more rewarding experience.

Regarding the inventory, there's an option to order it, and it does quite a good job at it. Just use the default ordering option and healing items will appear at the top.

The "HEAD: 28 HP/88%" means "you have an 88% chance of dealing 28 damage on the head". If you choose other enemy parts you'll get different stats. You don't get to know the total HP, but further down the game you'll get "Analyze" magick which is used to get an enemy's info. As soon as you get it, drop around here and we'll explain how to use it.

Thanks for the tips! I'm still chugging through FFX HD so I probably won't make significant progress on this game any time soon...but at the same time now that I've started it, it's so tempting to jump back into it. The story has me hooked haha

 

[yepyepyep]

Bit of a necro bump but I finally beat this game for the first time. I've played this numerous times but have never beaten it due to being to young at the time/ losing my physical copy of the game/ getting lost in the snowfly forest. etc

This game is simultaneously amazing and flawed at the same time. The complexity makes it quite fun. Each enemy encounter is almost like a puzzle. I love when you first encounter an enemy and it says you will only do 0 damage. Then after changing your /weapons/gems/accessories/buffing/debuffing you start doing 50-70 damage. So satisfactory.

I love the addition of the risk system and how break arts use HP. Most RPGS devolve into you using your strongest tactics all the time to solve every battle. You really have to think about the consequences of whether you want to lower your HP to damage enemies or use a chain combo that might miss and increase your risk.

The menus/inventory system is quite convoluted. One I thing hate is the limited number of things you can carry and when you encounter a new item you cannot observe it's properties to determine if it is worth keeping in your inventory. Crafting weapons becomes annoying because you have to keep storing and removing weapons you have collected from your container, which is slow and requires you to save all the time.

The snowfly forest is the absolute worse. I hate hate hate hate that stupid level. I always resort to a walkthrough to get through that section. The same with the box puzzles. Those things really detract from the experience.

Some of the later level design is a bit obtuse as well. You often get sigils but it is not exactly clear what they unlock. Also, backtracking can be tedious because it is difficult to run away from enemies in the game forcing you to engage in combat.

Honestly the hardest thing in the game wasn't the bosses but those damn flying imps with shields and crossbows. It seems like complete troll enemy design. Fast moving, difficult to hit, weak damage unless you have water affinity, and they immediately cast silence on you (considering the importance of buffs and debuffs in this game and the rarity of snowfly draughts, silence has to be the worst status effect).

The final boss is kind of weird. Seems like it's approach is against the usual behaviour of enemies/bosses in the game.

Overall, I really like the game but at the same time can understand why some people hate it. It's strengths are really strong and unique, to my knowledge there hasn't been a game since like it. Well the dark medieval setting and slightly obtuse game design reminds of the Souls games but the action based gameplay is a bit different.
But there are definitely flaws that are annoying when you play. Too bad there was never a sequel or game that tried to refine its ideas.