Believe Mushrooms
Fungus truster
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Hangouts are cool and don't sleep on Ruin magic even when it falls off in power.
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StarTopic RPGs |ST| Our Home Base For All Role Playing Game Discussions!
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BradenAndEggs
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I'm in the final chapter of Trails in the Sky First Chapter and it still holds up so well. Estelle is hands down one of my favorite video game protagonists.
The Steam Deck has been a godsend in getting through Trails in the Sky and it's a bummer Xseed won't sort things out with Falcom and release some sort of Sky trilogy collection for modern consoles. Also the first two Cold Steel games they seem to be holding hostage.
The Steam Deck has been a godsend in getting through Trails in the Sky and it's a bummer Xseed won't sort things out with Falcom and release some sort of Sky trilogy collection for modern consoles. Also the first two Cold Steel games they seem to be holding hostage.
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Yes, please. Give me an ultimate edition of SMTV.
PixelKnight
Observing the process
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Octopath is just so good. I’m determined not to look up anything and it’s made the journey just wonderful. I’m sure I’ve missed stuff but on the other hand I keep finding odd bits of cool loot, and stumbling into towns just when the team needs a break. Great stuff.
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It’s amazing so far. One interesting thing I’ve noticed (although I’m sure it will change later) is there have been little to no dungeons for me yet. Either none at all, or they’re so short and quick that I’d barely even call them a dungeon. Just different from the first game with its structure of having a dungeon every single chapter for everyone. And it’s not a bad thing! Having variety is great, although I wouldn’t mind a longer dungeon somewhere down the line.
Vernal
Apologist
I'm enjoying its sandbox open world a ton, but I'm also digging into this facet of its design way more this time around AND I believe they went harder in on it as well.
Like, I just completed a crossed path chapter (which was quite well done for how short it was), started trekking towards my next town, saw a dungeon guarded off by a thief, so I decided to knock him out through path action usage, I then explored the place and picked up its loot, stumbled upon the rest of the bandits and beat them. A fun little adventure out of nowhere right? I then exit the dungeon and go back towards my objective, hey it's a merchant with a sidequest, I talk to him and he tells me about the thiefs and goes "oh, I see you've (already) dealt with them", side quest completed!
I then move on, find a guild giving me a secondary class, its master tells me, "well if you want to know about EX skills just ask yourself why this guild was built here" (or something), and sure enough, hidden underneath a bridge in the same area, accessible thanks to the frozen waters of the lake, is the Scholar's shrine. Osvald obtains his first EX.
It's super simple stuff, but it's such an uncommon approach to world/quest design in the JRPG mainstream. How do you solve boring fetch quests? Maybe you have good writing, or maybe (like in OT), you just give the player tons of freedom.
Honestly re-reading my post is telling me that I should try playing without the mini-map on. The scholar shrine would have been an even cooler discovery without the icon telling me of its existence.
There's more I could mention happening in the same play session by the way. Tons of sidequest, most of them, will have you use your path actions all over the continent, from town to town (just like in the first game). Moreover, the Day/Night cycle addition was the smartest thing they could have done to improve on it, having certain things like shops or npcs pop up during specific timings is wonderful.
The variety on display thanks to both the revamped chapter structure and the dungeon design is great. I'd agree that the dungeons are most definitely shorter, and more fun! The ladders+canooes go a long way in providing rewarding exploration without resorting to puzzles. Mind you I don't hate puzzles out of principle but I sure don't play RPGs for them, so I'm glad Acquire don't seem to have interest in adding them. Also yes, dungeons are more varied. A classic ship dungeon? I'm here for it.
Some chapters straight up don't have any dungeons, others no final boss fights, other mid-bosses right at the beginning of the chapter. The game's pacing is just super enjoyable.
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PixelKnight
Observing the process
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Yeah there’s so much variety. So many minor NPCs that have a story if you want to talk to them or interact with them in other ways. So many small surprises, or that feel elegant, or reward clever play. Not every dungeon has a boss holding it up, which encourages you to stick your head and look around even if it’s rated higher than the party. My party dived into one, grabbed a good weapon and literally made out like bandits. The battle comments, the banter, the crossed paths stuff. Sure, you can see the strings, the way it’s constructed to allow for any party build at any given time. But the writing and combat is so good that your mind starts to fill in the gaps which is exactly what I like about these rpgs.
And wow, the combat. Have a buff skill to increase attack for 3 turns? Did you know that if you use BP to power up before selecting it, it’ll change to lasting for 5 turns etc? Same goes for powered-up healing and attack magic. If you dig into your abilities and BP and weapons and multiple skillsets and latent power, you can pull off some amazing stuff against far stronger enemies. Having the apothecary literally mix up potions on the fly and give you the exact multiple effects you want by mixing ingredients is a wonderful take on ‘healer’ too, as is ‘yeah healers are also good at using poisons’. And apparently axes. And both at the same time
It’s all just extremely elegant. I’m ten hours in and this is best JRPG I’ve played since DQXI. It’s open-ended sandbox scratches a different itch, it reminds me a lot of Etrian Odyssey in terms of risk vs reward, can you make it a few more steps to get that item, to reach that next town. Just magical.
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Now that I finished Grim Guardians I can concetrate on Octopath 2. I started with Cassti and saved just before getting Hikari. Started that part yesterday and so far it really feels an upgrade in all ways over one. I also always laugh when you can challenge both men and woman and he is like "prepare yourself!"
"Lord, please have mercy" and just proced to overkill them with a 4 charge attack
"Lord, please have mercy" and just proced to overkill them with a 4 charge attack
Office life
Rattata
Ive been really getting into XC3. In Chapter 4 right now and I did a lot of sidequests and other things and it's soooo good. I love the anime vibes even more and the way the story is progressing. I really enjoy the consuls to , they remind me of the Akatsuki from Naruto.
the battle system has also been really fun to play with now that I have gotten the hang of it. Ive been able to fight some of the named monsters at my level and beat them, and the battles are always really close. The game just has such a vibe to it.
the battle system has also been really fun to play with now that I have gotten the hang of it. Ive been able to fight some of the named monsters at my level and beat them, and the battles are always really close. The game just has such a vibe to it.
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Believe me, I'm totally with you. FF1 absolutely captured my attention when I was a kid and while I didn't own a copy myself, a kid up the street had it and I was absolutely mesmerized by it. And then spent probably the next year obsessing over the game via Nintendo Power coverage.
But like, the writing for this evolution of the franchise has been on the wall for over a decade at this point. Square wants to be a graphical powerhouse and that requires money which requires blockbuster hits to recoup the cost. So you have to cater to the lowest common denominator which is going to prefer action games with direct input/control over more abstract inputs involving dice rolls and the like. You could see this shift happening with things like XII/XIII adopting a more razzle-dazzle and fluid look to the proceedings rather than the static "everyone stands in a line and makes funny gestures" of yore.
It's definitely the end of an era, but it doesn't take the old stuff away. And we have indies and other people inside Square who are interested in continuing those types of designs. And that makes me happy even if it's not quite the same.
I honestly think it wasn't until Western RPGs started hitting consoles that I even noticed it was being used in a pejorative sense. To me JRPGs were RPGs and the Western mades things I saw on PC were just janky and less user friendly versions of what I was playing on consoles
Could we just like put that era in a memory hole somewhere please?
Vernal
Apologist
Yep. Magical I feel is a very appropriate one-word descriptor for it ahahYeah there’s so much variety. So many minor NPCs that have a story if you want to talk to them or interact with them in other ways. So many small surprises, or that feel elegant, or reward clever play. Not every dungeon has a boss holding it up, which encourages you to stick your head and look around even if it’s rated higher than the party. My party dived into one, grabbed a good weapon and literally made out like bandits. The battle comments, the banter, the crossed paths stuff. Sure, you can see the strings, the way it’s constructed to allow for any party build at any given time. But the writing and combat is so good that your mind starts to fill in the gaps which is exactly what I like about these rpgs.
And wow, the combat. Have a buff skill to increase attack for 3 turns? Did you know that if you use BP to power up before selecting it, it’ll change to lasting for 5 turns etc? Same goes for powered-up healing and attack magic. If you dig into your abilities and BP and weapons and multiple skillsets and latent power, you can pull off some amazing stuff against far stronger enemies. Having the apothecary literally mix up potions on the fly and give you the exact multiple effects you want by mixing ingredients is a wonderful take on ‘healer’ too, as is ‘yeah healers are also good at using poisons’. And apparently axes. And both at the same time
It’s all just extremely elegant. I’m ten hours in and this is best JRPG I’ve played since DQXI. It’s open-ended sandbox scratches a different itch, it reminds me a lot of Etrian Odyssey in terms of risk vs reward, can you make it a few more steps to get that item, to reach that next town. Just magical.
Thought about posting this in the General Discussion ST, but this thread is the more befitting place for it. The climax of the Jason Schreier Octopath Arc has just been too good to ignore ;P
PixelKnight
Observing the process
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I’m rapidly approaching the same conclusion. The level of freedom combined with tight combat and huge amounts of options for tinkering with the party setup makes it absolutely stunning. Like a Saga game combined with FFV.
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Beat the postgame in Labyrinth of Refrain and had a blast; for a while I got stuck in a loop where I would soul transfer a group of puppets then level them up only to reach max level with another group and soul transfer them. Eventually I had to put my foot down and move on which resulted in me steamrolling everything to the final boss lol.
Now I can finally dig into Octopath Traveler II and the DLC for XC3; after that I'll be ready to tackle Galleria.
Now I can finally dig into Octopath Traveler II and the DLC for XC3; after that I'll be ready to tackle Galleria.
merp
Darknut
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Ultimately, you will get one.
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Well finished my first soul matrix floor in Soul Hackers(Arrow F1). Calling it a night but I’ll probably dive into the other two when I continue tomorrow. Well after I visit the new location that I assume has demon fusing which with 2/3 of my demons maxed I assume it’s time for
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Demon fusing (and the demons themselves) are, as usual, one of the best things about the game so yeah it’s worth visiting!
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Considering how well this game is vibing with me on structure due to the TMS#FE dna, gonna be funny how it’s gonna prep me for all the SMT staples when I finally start my copy of persona 3P.(I’ve also got 5R In the backlog)
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well shit I didn’t mean to delete my save and I screwed up the online backup. Guess I’m done with Nier Automa for now with endings abcdeghkotuz any more will have to wait for a replay(it’ll happen at some point). Done at somewhere above 50 hrs. Don’t know the exact number. Had a good time but pissed I screwed that up. I wanted to try another thing or two.
Had a great time but annoyed at the same time but I guess that’s the point XD
Definitely wanna try Nier Replicabt tho I’ll be waiting for either an Xbox sale digitally or a switch port
Had a great time but annoyed at the same time but I guess that’s the point XD
Definitely wanna try Nier Replicabt tho I’ll be waiting for either an Xbox sale digitally or a switch port
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OP
OP
Been a while, but I wanted to give a Fire Emblem GBA update. I was juggling too many things for a bit so after wrapping up Theatrhythm (which is excellent and a must play for music game and Final Fantasy fans), the Xenoblade 3 Wave 3 DLC (bad hero quest, good new mode), and Kirby’s Return To Dreamland Deluxe (not an RPG, but very good especially the new epilogue mode), I finally returned to Fire Emblem yesterday. Yesterday I cleared two maps and today I cleared five. I do have to reload a map here and there (no one is allowed to die!), but I’m getting better at the game which feels good. I’ve kept a core team throughout most maps, Eliwood, Hector, Lyn, Rebecca, Sain, Kent, Serra, and Dorcus, and they’ve just gradually gotten more powerful and can usually reliably each tank a hit or two when needed which feels good. This game doesn’t have the deepest story, but I like it more compared to the other Fire Emblem game I’ve beaten, Awakening. I just made it to the first desert map so I should be in the final third of the game.
I’ve been mentioning this year, my big goal is to clear out my Wii U backlog. I had eleven games at the start and I cleared four and was thus down to seven. In what I think was my true last minute shopping, I did scoop up Fire Emblem Sacred Stones and F-Zero Climax so I’m back up to nine again which feels like a lot. When I’m done with my current game, I’ll probably move onto Golden Sun next which I’ve never played. Definitely not doing back to back Fire Emblem despite enjoying this one lol.
I’ve been mentioning this year, my big goal is to clear out my Wii U backlog. I had eleven games at the start and I cleared four and was thus down to seven. In what I think was my true last minute shopping, I did scoop up Fire Emblem Sacred Stones and F-Zero Climax so I’m back up to nine again which feels like a lot. When I’m done with my current game, I’ll probably move onto Golden Sun next which I’ve never played. Definitely not doing back to back Fire Emblem despite enjoying this one lol.
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Gradually getting closer to finishing Fire Emblem Engage. It may take a few more days though, since I have 4 chapters left and they are taking longer and longer to beat with each one.
I definitely need to have it done before Trails to Azure, which is one of my most anticipated releases right now. I really can't wait to get the gang back together for another round in Crossbell. To me, it's one of the most interesting settings in the Trails series.
I definitely need to have it done before Trails to Azure, which is one of my most anticipated releases right now. I really can't wait to get the gang back together for another round in Crossbell. To me, it's one of the most interesting settings in the Trails series.
That's the GBA Fire Emblem confirmed to be coming to NSO sometime in the future, correct? How does the difficulty compare with Awakening?
BradenAndEggs
Like Like
Finished Trails in the Sky First Chapter.
On to Second Chapter!
The last few moments hit just as hard as they ever did. 
On to Second Chapter!
OP
OP
Yes I believe so, it’s the one just called Fire Emblem in the West as it was the one first brought over. It’s harder than Awakening in the sense there is only permadeath. However if you are on NSO you’ll have access to save states and rewinding though keep in mind that RNG is locked at the start of each turn. (Like if a character misses an enemy, they’ll always miss if you rewind on that turn and try again)
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IIRC in all of the GBA games you can abuse the cursor dancing as changing the route to do something changes the outcome of the action regardless of the starting turn RNG value
OP
OP
I’m playing on Wii U and sometimes I’ll save a battle halfway through if it is going well enough. I definitely noticed in some spots RNG changed, like getting a critical if I switched which square I attacked from, but without looking it up it’s not exactly obvious what’s going on and I’m ok with that mainly since I’m not looking to cheat too bad. Cool to hear about though!
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Yeah, it's not supposed to be something you can know since you'll only know the result once you take the action, which is also why the game saves every turn so you can't save scum and abuse this. This is only doable in an emulator (or with romhacks that display how the values changes)
With that said this can also be used the other way around, if you always take the same routes and actions, you will always get the same results, which is how speedruns are played, The memorize exactly which units, what actions and what paths to take to always get/avoid crits and get the best lvl up bonus
Leica
Paratroopa
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FE7 is pretty easy on all routes except for one of them which is quite difficult. You don't have easy access to buying weapons and grinding because there's no world map though (but you can still abuse certain features for exp at some points) so it requires a bit more planning.
OP
OP
Yeah those are the other two big differences for sure. I think I’m enjoying and getting more out of this game because it doesn’t make it easy to buy/manage weapons and since you can’t grind. Each fight matters more with those restrictions and permadeath.
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*deep breath*
Please.
Please.
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"We heard you, Fantasian now coming too to Android!"
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I would rather have it on any other device than mobile but honestly I would take it, even Android would be a step up for those of us who don't have Apple products (and aren't ready to shell out big money just for Fantasian)
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Hell not just this month, only 9 days!
Yamanoi
I paid $70 for this tag
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PEGI 18? Isn't that like... the equivalent to an M from the ESRB? It's rated T in the USA, what's the difference there?PEGI 18 baby
Yamanoi
I paid $70 for this tag
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Trails from Zero is also PEGI 18. I think it had to do with some "gambling references" someone mentioned.
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I made some really good progress this weekend in FFX. I stopped tonight after beating the
. After two tries, he proved to be quite a handful so I decided to cheese it a little bit. I set up all of Yuna's aeons to their limit breaks. Once the battle stared I just ran them out one after another. Took out almost 90% of his hp and then I just had to clean up the rest. That strategy still tool two tries because he gets op for a minute in the middle with racking up a bunch of moves in a row. Truth be told, that whole mountain was a bit of a difficulty spike at first.
Not sure how much I have left, but I feel like I am getting deep now.
Maester Seymor boss fight in the snow mountain
Not sure how much I have left, but I feel like I am getting deep now.
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OP
OP
I’m so excited Azure is finally going to be officially available! We’ll finally have the full first nine Trails games in the West! I have to start writing the ST soon, it’s sneaking up on me quick. Can’t wait to play alongside everyone there
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OP
OP
I finished Fire Emblem GBA tonight! Overall, I liked this game more than Awakening. I think the more focused story proved more effective and while I would gladly accept the opposite if offered, permadeath, no grinding, and restricted inventory management made for a more engaging game. It was cool watching my army grow into an unstoppable force especially since I managed to keep everyone alive with occasional map reloading. Some late game additions joined my core force including Pent, Hawkeye, Geitz, and Jaffar. My favorite map was probably storming the Black Fang’s fortress as the snow trapped me outside and I had to really overcome long range magic for the first time which was a struggle. My favorite moment was definitely defending Ostia’s castle because I didn’t look closely at the map beforehand to notice a majority of the enemies had poison equipment and I only brought one person who could heal any ailments. I was getting cocky since my evasion was getting fairly high across my army so I marched everyone out instead of defending the throne unaware and somehow most absurdly I dodged every hit on the first turn which led to a quick rout. I guess the only bummer with Fire Emblem is that this game is a prequel for a game we still don’t have some 20 years later. Maybe one day as they slowly remake the series we’ll get it that way if nothing else.
I think my plan is to roll into Golden Sun next for my final Wii U VC project though I’m tempted to at least boot up my last minute purchases of Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones and F-Zero GP Legend. Five games down, eight now to go. I do want to return to Like A Dragon Ishin at some point too which might make sense before Trails To Azure comes out. I’ll post again soon when I decide what I’m playing next.
I think my plan is to roll into Golden Sun next for my final Wii U VC project though I’m tempted to at least boot up my last minute purchases of Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones and F-Zero GP Legend. Five games down, eight now to go. I do want to return to Like A Dragon Ishin at some point too which might make sense before Trails To Azure comes out. I’ll post again soon when I decide what I’m playing next.
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FE6 isn't that great -- certainly not better than FE7 -- but the fan translation patch(es) are quite polished. If we're lucky, Nintendo will offer their own translation on NSO+, but we're not missing much.
There's also Hector (hard) mode in FE7 and both paths of Sacred Stones (FE8) if you haven't played them yet.
Edit: "FE6 isn't that great" is harsher than I intended. I don't think it matches FE7 (or 8 or Awakening or Three Houses or Engage), but it's still a good game overall, and in the middle of the pack respective to the games in the series I've played (better than the DS/3DS remakes and Fates, IMO, and roughly on par with Path of Radiance; I haven't played Radiant Dawn or the FC/SFC games).
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OP
OP
I mentioned in my last post I was curious to try Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones since it was a last minute addition to my final Wii U VC games project. Well I booted up The Sacred Stones and ended up clearing eight maps today…so I think I’m invested and I’m going to stick with it lol. This kind of works out since I’m feeling more comfortable with Fire Emblem with the prior game fresh under my belt and if I don’t finish it before Azure, I’d feel better juggling a game in a separate genre.
While permadeath remains in play, there’s some nice quality of life bumps apparent already. When you buy more items in a map than you can carry, rather than denying you it lets you send them right to storage which you can also surprisingly access mid battle with the main character Eirika and units adjacent to her. Also there’s a proper world map this time and you can revisit stores as needed which is quite pleasant. I took a peek at how many maps are ahead and I’m surprised I’m a good chunk of the way through already. I’ve learned there are two paths through the game and while I will make a second save, for now I only plan to do one path (I’m leaning Eirika since she’s primarily been the main character so far). I was intrigued to learn there are two dungeons in the game so I’m looking forward to seeing how those function.
While permadeath remains in play, there’s some nice quality of life bumps apparent already. When you buy more items in a map than you can carry, rather than denying you it lets you send them right to storage which you can also surprisingly access mid battle with the main character Eirika and units adjacent to her. Also there’s a proper world map this time and you can revisit stores as needed which is quite pleasant. I took a peek at how many maps are ahead and I’m surprised I’m a good chunk of the way through already. I’ve learned there are two paths through the game and while I will make a second save, for now I only plan to do one path (I’m leaning Eirika since she’s primarily been the main character so far). I was intrigued to learn there are two dungeons in the game so I’m looking forward to seeing how those function.
PixelKnight
Observing the process
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Sacred Stones is one of my favourites, I’ve played it through so many times!
7threst
Hello, lady of the house speaking?
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So decided I finally jump intro the Trails-series. I finishes and loved Sky FC and played a bit of Cold Steel I (and enjoyed it). Still have CS II, III and IV here and Zero for Switch lol. Never played Sky SC and 3rd though, hope those eventually make it to consoles in the west too.
AngryNopon
Water?
quite excited for this one, looks really fun.
This also reminds me i need to finish Cold Steel IV before Reverie drops...i've been trying to muster the will for a year, but i think i might be severely burned out on Trails.
