Recettear: RPG Shop simulator - It's out and great and you should buy it

SpaceDrake

It does that occasionally, it isn't an actual patch.

Magic Pink

SpaceDrake wrote:

It does that occasionally, it isn't an actual patch.

yeah it is, that's why it's updating it.

Lovely

SpaceDrake is actually from Carpe Fulgur so I think he would know....

heenato

So, I finally decided to use an adventurer other than charme, and I chose Tielle, and learned that she is broken as hell. I feel like a god using her.

Also finished the chantelise demo. The first boss wrecked me SOOO many times.

Corpekata

I kinda gave up on the demo after geting wrecked by the first boss and finding out you have to do entire dungeon again essentially. When I buy it will snag double shields (the defense increase helps a lot) before trekking back in,

heenato

Corpekata wrote:

I kinda gave up on the demo after geting wrecked by the first boss and finding out you have to do entire dungeon again essentially. When I buy it will snag double shields (the defense increase helps a lot) before trekking back in,

You don't, actually. You start back at the beginning of the dungeon, but all the doors are open, so you can just jump past them all. I think it does that so you can stock up on magic crystals (Which was almost nessesary for the boss)

TNTrooper

I beat the boss on my first try by keeping the armor buff spell on me and running around hitting other stuff to shot magic at it. Trying to beat it with a sword sounds like a suicidal plan.

heenato

TNTrooper wrote:

I beat the boss on my first try by keeping the armor buff spell on me and running around hitting other stuff to shot magic at it. Trying to beat it with a sword sounds like a suicidal plan.

It's actually impossible. Swords do 1 damage to it.

Edit: Odd question, but with Recettear, are there actually lyrics floating around for the staff credits song? Not the translated ones, I mean.

Chrono Helix

Chantelise is no fun on the keyboard.

Okasvi

heenato wrote:

It's actually impossible. Swords do 1 damage to it.

No it isn't impossible. You just need the gauntlets. I don't remember the numbers for a single gauntlet off the top of my head, but with two your standard hits do something like 15-20 damage, with the third hit in the combo and the jump attack doing 40-50 and criticals breaking 100. In addition the boss drops random crystals every few hits, so you can use magic to speed up the fight.

My usual strategy is to equip two gauntlets and the speed boots and just wail on him, while using earth gems to keep super armor up as much as possible and blasting him with the other gems. Don't bother charging spells, two single crystal spells seem to do more damage separately than combining them does. The charged spells seem to be more for area-, multihit- or statuseffects. The speed boots help with dodging the jump attack. Also grinding for a few ferromins helps.

Spoiler:

You get the speed boots by killing the skeleton at the end of the cave level before any other enemies, and you get a third equipment slot for beating the boss once.

Riokenn

I request we change the title to the official Carpe Fulgur topic. Because we love them ever so.

Can't wait to get back from work to download Chantelise and pay $20 for Recettear. Even though I already own it through the steam sales, it feels to me unjust and I love what the guys are Carpe are doing and wish to support them in anyway I can.

gilrain

Yeah, this should either become a general Carpe Fulgar thread, or a new thread should be created for Chantelise. Probably the former, since Recettear isn't bringing in many new posts these days.

Edit: should probably add an @Mojo Jojo to this. Maybe we can summon the OP.

gilrain

Also, it amuses me that every mention of a Carpe Fulgar game is tempered with some statement, usually near the top of the article/review, saying the anime art style is love-it-or-hate-it and how it's a turn-off to a lot of gamers. Is that really true? I thought this was the Internet.

Edit: I mean, do you ever hear this little caveat added to an article about, say, Shin Megami Tensei games?

Mojo_Jojo

Riokenn wrote:

I request we change the title to the official Carpe Fulgur topic. Because we love them ever so.

Feel free to make a new one and let this die, it's spamming me with notifications I don't care about.

Lovely

gilrain wrote:

Also, it amuses me that every mention of a Carpe Fulgar game is tempered with some statement, usually near the top of the article/review, saying the anime art style is love-it-or-hate-it and how it's a turn-off to a lot of gamers. Is that really true? I thought this was the Internet.

Edit: I mean, do you ever hear this little caveat added to an article about, say, Shin Megami Tensei games?

It seems to be growing in recent years, but many gaming communities seem to have a hard on of hate towards anything even remotely cute or colorful. Anime style things are full of that, sooo...

Steel-Angel

Chantelise looks like a poor man's Dark Cloud 2. Decided against the purchase since the enemies were all retreads of things I killed far too many copies of while playing through Recettear.

Also,

Spoiler:

Recette leaving her father to die a miserable death in the Lapis Ruins made me chuckle first, then feel bad about it.

SpaceDrake

Steel-Angel wrote:

Chantelise looks like a poor man's Dark Cloud 2. Decided against the purchase since the enemies were all retreads of things I killed far too many copies of while playing through Recettear.

Strictly speaking, it's the other way around, mind you. Chantelise was released first in Japan, we just brought Recettear over first for various reasons. And the enemies themselves are vastly different in play between the two games, ESPECIALLY the bosses.

Also I'm glad people are liking the game~

heenato

Haven't been able to buy the full version yet, but maaan. The Treasure chest locations are stumping me. I can find it in the gates, the caves, and the boss, but that's about it. I THINK I almost know how to get it in the room before the caves, but I have no idea how to move the chandelier. And the other two I just have no idea about.

mntorankusu

Just bought Chantelise, downloading it now, I'm so excited

Peas

I downloaded and played a bit of Chantelise's demo and I have to say that the camera is really, really bumming me out

TNTrooper

The controls in Chantelise were pretty much built around a gamepad.

Viscountalpha

I still never played Recettear. I had been meaning to try it but it wasn't on my game to play list. So very late to the party but it's finally time.

And sold. I wish I had snagged this when it was 5 dollars. I could see paying 20 for this though.

DisruptedCapitalist

So my Google-fu seems to have failed me. So maybe you guys can answer: is there any penalty for looping? Like, will I not see the super awesome epic ending if I loop?

heenato

Nope. No penalty. In fact, it's pretty much encouraged to loop.

DisruptedCapitalist

That's cool, I just started my 5th loop and I was wondering if I should care, lol.

Though it's going to be a pain to get Caillou again.

Just_Bri_Thanks

So having skipped about 30 pages of this thread, does the forum feel this is still worth a play. or do I need to take the time to catch up on the whole thread?

DisruptedCapitalist

I've been enjoying the game for the past few weeks (on and off with Mass Effect 1) without having to rely much on this thread or anything else. It's really easy to get into and quite enjoyable.

Viscountalpha

I just started playing this again. Honestly, I sort of hate the looping. It just seems ripe to abuse, and the beginning dungeons get tired quickly with the loops.

I will say the game has some great charms. Seeing the competitor hide in an amazon box is funny too. My only other complaint is the combat gets boring. I'm hoping that changes.

Still a neat little game and It looks like i'm nowhere finished. It also looks like the first month is only the beginning.

SkutSkut

The new game+ content is pretty interesting. I didn't get to the last stuff with the boss rush tower or w/e, but I had fun with the dungeons after beating the main game.

Kainy

Just_Bri_Thanks wrote:

So having skipped about 30 pages of this thread, does the forum feel this is still worth a play. or do I need to take the time to catch up on the whole thread?

Oh yes, very worth a play, if you like adorable anime characters and action-rpg fun. I paid full price and then paid full price again to gift it to somebody

Mumblyfish

Failing and starting a new game plus with your failed save data does fuck the game's intended difficulty. It's there such that you can never truly lose the game - even the worst player can use the loop system to just grind through to the end - but the game isn't designed to compensate for its use at all. A large part of Recettear's gameplay is time management, so effectively giving yourself extra time does throw the balance wildly off.

The game is absolutely designed to be completed on the first attempt. The targets you are given are generous, and definitely achievable even if you mess around and waste as much time as possible viewing every single event, even when you have no business in town.

I'm casting my mind back quite a bit, but I'm pretty sure I had enough cash on hand to complete the main game during week three, leaving a whole bunch of time to amass further millions. If this doesn't seem feasible to you, there's some gameplay advice in the spoiler.

As to combat, it never gets really good - you'd be mental to play Recettear if it were just the combat and nothing else - but it does get more involving in later dungeons. Enemies get much faster, come in larger groups, and the random floor effects get downright evil. That said, much of the fun depends on what adventurer you're using. If you're stuck with Louie, he's terribly boring and an utter scrub. At the very least, I wouldn't use an adventurer that can't dash. I know full well that Caillou and Tielle are absurdly powerful, but damn if they don't trundle.

Spoiler:

Okay, there are two great determining factors for how good Recette's store is. Those are your Merchant Level, which is known, and your customer relations, which is... wait, the game didn't tell you about customer relations?

Simply put, each customer type (and adventurer) has a relationship with Recette. This determines how much money they bring to the store. Make friends with customers! How do you make friends with them? Offer them goods at a reasonable price. You will know your price is in line with their expectations if you get a Near Pin or Just Pin experience bonus. If you're a decent sort, your customers will bring loaded wallets. If you're a rip-off merchant who charges top dollar or, worse yet, haggles over items, your customers will think you're a shit.

Your merchant level determines how big your store is and what items you can collect wholesale. This is the difference between stocking up on 100 Pix Walnut Breads and 120,000 Pix vending machines. Combine the best wholesale options with happy customers and you will rapidly develop a GDP that dwarfs small countries.

Your merchant level is increased by making successful transactions in your store; buying or selling. The important thing to note is that there's a running combo. Each successful transaction without haggling or turning a customer away keeps your combo going. Your experience gain is 2^n, where n is the number of consecutive transactions; ie. 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128. This caps out at a whopping 128 experience. Offering prices in line with what the customer's thinking gives you an additional 15 or 30, depending on how close you are.

So! Secret to success! Offer sensible prices and keep that combo going. Keep loads of items of every category in stock so that you never have to turn a customer away. Don't forget to fulfill advance orders.

Dungeoneering is a complete waste of time, outside of advancing the plot and the post-game. Beat dungeons just once to keep the plot going. Advancing the plot introduces new adventurers, who will become regular, valued customers. And the story's actually quite endearing, so it's worth it without even considering any in-game reward.

The true message behind Recettear is that capitalism is a flawed concept, one that doesn't even work in theory. In the drive for maximum profits with no thought for the people you serve, you deprive your customer base of their disposable income - their savings - and thus deprive them of their opportunities for growth. Your business forever languishes, tied to a static customer base with static funds. One which likely hates you and will burn down your store when some brave youth finds the courage to light the first match. You will be the first against the wall, when the revolution comes.

Socialism, ho!

Jintor

Chantelise really makes me want to play Recettear again. Just stuff like the loot and sound effects being the same casts my mind back to playing Recettear on the lowest-possible graphics settings on a tiny Acer laptop in a hotel room in Shibuya...

Falx

Do I just suck or is Chantelise harder than it looks?

Falx

heenato wrote:

Haven't been able to buy the full version yet, but maaan. The Treasure chest locations are stumping me. I can find it in the gates, the caves, and the boss, but that's about it. I THINK I almost know how to get it in the room before the caves, but I have no idea how to move the chandelier. And the other two I just have no idea about.

Figured this out. Get on the chandelier, aim Chante at the barrel and blast it. A chest will appear.

Jintor

Falx wrote:

Do I just suck or is Chantelise harder than it looks?

unforgiving is how i would put it

and expect to lose a lot before you win

it's totally fair though, well except for the janky-ass controls.

Antihippy

Honestly didn't like chantelise from what I've played in the demo, compared to recettear, but got it anyway just to support the CF guys.

Hopefully fortune summoners comes soon. Now that looks alot more interesting.

heenato

Falx wrote:

Figured this out. Get on the chandelier, aim Chante at the barrel and blast it. A chest will appear.

Shit. Why didn't I try magic? Well now I feel foolish.

Jintor

it's sad the fishing minigame is 5, 6 hours in. It's addictive and I can't figure out why

Monger

So there's an MC Hammer joke in Chantelise's combat dialogue. I know how it happened, too. SpaceDrake was sitting there at his desk, probably jamming and/or grooving (as he is undoubtedly wont to do). There was a macaroon there in front of him, but he hadn't had lunch yet, so treats were out of the question. He wanted it, and he wouldn't touch it. He couldn't touch it. He turns to his screen and there is level one earth magic. Calling to him. Begging. And he was thinking to himself, "You know. I can put a Hammer joke here. This is only onscreen for like half a second. Maybe less. Probably less. No one will ever know. I can totally get away with this."

No, SpaceDrake. No, you cannot get away with it. I will oust it for the wretched foulness that it is.