These could get separate threads, but what the hell, they're both V/N esque, and pretty awesome.
(Brought to the states C/O those lovable lunatics at Aksys Games and XSeed, respectively.)
Fate/Extra:
Available: Now!
Setting: A virtual world wherein students are roped into an ongoing war for The Holy Grail, or some such.
The Players:
Well, you can be one of them anyway. Then you get to choose between
Saber(easy),
Archer(medium), or
Caster(hard), but the game's no cakewalk, whichever servant you pick.
Also, every servant gets unique dialogue with each PC, so that's like six possible paths. Or something.
Combat is very unique, Sort of R/P/S esque.
You have to pick six actions, from a Guard/Break/Attack triangle, and hope you beat the enemy's choices on each option. The enemy's attacks become more apparent over time, based off of repeated battles and even lucky guesses.
There's also the V/N aspect, which is arguably the most fun.
Sort of like Persona 3(but not nearly as indepth), you spend days conversing with fellow students/future victims, and gathering info on your next target(s). Sadly, there's not much else to it, but it's still fun, especially for a portable title.
I'm at Day 3 so far, and I went with Saber. The writing is quality, as with all Aksys titles, and is easily the highlight.
Now for more horrific news.
This insane little title, the likes of which you'd think would NEVER come out in the US, is reaching our shores because a staff member at XSeed loved it so much that he made all the staff play it, and they loved it too, and so here we are.
30 years ago a school called Heavenly Host Elementary was the scene of a horrific crime. 4 students of the school were kidnapped, and
murdered. Now, Heavenly Host is a high school and the horrific scenes are about to happen again. Unwittingly, a group of teens conjure
up a forbidden charm that sends them into the world of the haunted. The group must traverse each hall, and class to survive or become another victim in the school's troubled past. Will you join the forgotten souls in this Corpse Party?
Corpse Party is a little of 999, a little of 16-bit RPG, and all horror.
I'll be jumping on this one as soon as I get a larger memory card for the PSP.
It's like 500 MB, but only $19.99!
Make sure you use headphones.
Posts
I've been enjoying Fate/Extra, but then again I'm a Type Moon fan and enjoy their visual novels, light novels, and movies. Went Archer for my first playthough and the guy feels tactically overpowred - lower stat gains, but great skills that make boss fights your bitch.
I'm looking forward to playing Corpse Party.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
Skill wise the guy has two damage skills that have a high chance of debuffing enemy damage and defense - which are debuffs as good as if they were in a MetaTen game with the exception that they don't last forever (and you can combine them with a self-buff). He has a block-anything-and-everything skill. And his ultimate basically doubles the damage of all his offensive skills for three turns. 40%+ of a bosses HP total on a balls-to-the-wall offensive assault with it up in a single turn isn't unheard of.
Now Caster? She's just adorable.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
Yeah, that's some Amnesia level horror through really good writing.
I'm scared.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
Shame I'm literally going to be bouncing between these two games, but hey, at least I don't need to disc swap! (I have Fate on UMD.)
In the meantime...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeSZ14ivDAo
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire,
Solid story, unique combat. The dungeons can get a little repetitive, so this isn't a game you play for more than an hour or so at a time. They are fun the first go round, kind of like Tartarus was, since you don't know what to expect.
Also fun NPC side dialogues, if you're into that thing. The best part is the master/servant itneractions.
As for the F/SN connections, F/E is an alternate story or something. I'm not a F/SN scholar, but there's some crossovers like Rin Tousaka and Saber and such.
Get headphones. You'll thank me.
Or hate me.
PSP only.
Miiind games. Brr.
That said, the game is chock full of Mythology Gags to Fate/stay night, Tsukihime/Melty Blood, and Kara no Kyoukai: The Garden of Sinners, and Archer makes a number of references to /stay night if you choose him.
So prior knowledge is totally not required, but you're almost guaranteed to enjoy it more if you're already a Natsuverse fan. Especially when it comes to the Secret Boss (NG+ only) and a certain Week 5 boss on one of the two paths.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
This game... brr. Scariest thing I've played in years, if not ever. Pure psychological horror.
edit: I wanna let's play it?
Thoughts:
I completed 1 main chapter (out of 5) and 1 bonus mini-chapter (out of 10). Missed one of the bad endings for chapter 1. If the other chapters are of similar length, then it looks like the game is a decent length for the genre (I'm guessing 10-20 hours depending on if you do all the optional stuff).
Graphics are okay (16-bit for exploration, anime stills for important scenes), but the audio is fantastic. The music is excellent, the sound and voice acting (Japanese only) are great, and if you're using headphones, it has this neat 3D positioning effect for some of the sound/voices.
Gameplay is a mix of visual novel, 16-bit era JRPG style for exploration, a few simple puzzles, and running away. The added variety makes it more interesting than it would have been if it was just a pure visual novel.
Overall, I highly recommend it if you like horror games.
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire,
(Though it could also be that endgame Archer can do 7k damage/attack with some setup and a balanced non-glass cannon stat build.)
As for Corpse Party, you guys weren't kidding about wearing headphones.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
And god you'll wish you hadn't.
Especially if Archer is that much of a cock.
He's a total bro, especially by the end. But he's also a snarky son of a bitch that always points out his masters' faults (i.e. to get you to improve them through tough love).
And in that screenshot scene, the MC was totally a dick.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
And it's out? Now?
Well I know what I'm doing tonight...
I now own both of these games. I need to beat Fate already...
Hurry up February!
Thing is, while I totally love the story and tone, the actual interactive game-y bits are kinda meh. There's been a lot of times where I've been wandering around with no clue what the game wants me to do. Not to mention that some of the requirements to getting the bad endings can be pretty esotaric at times. Essentially forcing you to replay the chapter at times if you really want to see them (and you do and don't want to see them... god damn). Plus a few times where I died a pretty cheap death. This game badly needs a fast forward button so you can skip through the dialog.
Also kinda bummed that it's japanese audio only. Not that I want to start that age old debate again. But the fact is that a major chunk of this game's appeal is the story. But when you don't speak the language, all that voiced stuff just sounds like unintelligible gibberish. And simply put, you're getting an inferior experience from it. I'm not going to hold it against the game or developers, but it is a mild disappointment.
Ultimately though, loving the game. Just gotta make sure I'm not playing it at night. Because... fuck.
That aside,the game is full voice over. It would cost a FORTUNE to dub it.
Oh, and some of those actors need to take their screams down an octave... or three. I'm wearing headphones here! :P
Nothing to do with the absolutely retarded sub vs dub debate (a good dub is a good dub, a bad dub is a bad dub, okay, we're done here).
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
It's actually Xseed who did the game. And they dub lots of their stuff.
You're right though. I can see why they wouldn't. Especially this game. I can probably make more of a profit cashing in my empties than they will selling this game. :P Just saying, it's still kind of a bummer.
You should really research that claim before you submit your written apology.
Only real complaint is that during battle, there's no way to tell what the enemy did on their previous turn short of watching their animations closely and memorizing it, and there's also no way to tell which pattern you entered last turn.
This might sound like a dumb complaint, but I frequently found myself watching them and then having the next turn come up and go "wait, did they do this on their fourth or fifth attack? I'm pretty sure they did this three times in a row before alternating, maybe"
There isn't even any subtitle for their attack animation, and it mercifully cycles through all six attacks pretty damn quick, so you need to memorize each one also based on their animation alone. ("Ok, they both attacked each other, did I select attack or break there", etc)
I'm finding it more creepy and disturbing than outright scary, but then again, I'm a longtime horror game fan. If you're new to the genre, you'd probably have a very different opinion.
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire,