Front Mission 4 is the best strategy RPG I've played, great gameplay, graphics, story and characters. And hey, it's mecha. Front Mission 5 has too much HP bloat in the combat which slows things down to a crawl.
0
MaddocI'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother?Registered Userregular
I played it to completion, but without nostalgia goggles I found it a bit underwhelming when compared with 4.
The pilot targeting system is neat, and the depth of the world itself is crazy with a full in-game internet, but mission to mission I enjoyed the combat and Wanzer set ups of 4 more. Setting up good link attacks and the visual weight of combat feedback is great. Plus in later missions you're leading not only *your* core squad, but the defense of entire cities and managing siege assaults at platoon strength. You also have more interesting set ups for recons and support mechs which can function as spotters for missilers, and call in airstrikes.
The characters and setting grabbed me a bit more is all, it also has more direct story links to Front Mission First.
Monster Rancher 1&2 DX came out the other day and I have to say... Boy those games sure are still my jam. It's a shame they kind of bloated them out to bad games down the road, but they really nailed it at the start.
Being able to download people's monsters to have fights is really cool
I played it to completion, but without nostalgia goggles I found it a bit underwhelming when compared with 4.
The pilot targeting system is neat, and the depth of the world itself is crazy with a full in-game internet, but mission to mission I enjoyed the combat and Wanzer set ups of 4 more. Setting up good link attacks and the visual weight of combat feedback is great. Plus in later missions you're leading not only *your* core squad, but the defense of entire cities and managing siege assaults at platoon strength. You also have more interesting set ups for recons and support mechs which can function as spotters for missilers, and call in airstrikes.
The characters and setting grabbed me a bit more is all, it also has more direct story links to Front Mission First.
4 has better quality of life and mechanics but 3 was the better story (if you go through both routes I guess), imo
I played it to completion, but without nostalgia goggles I found it a bit underwhelming when compared with 4.
The pilot targeting system is neat, and the depth of the world itself is crazy with a full in-game internet, but mission to mission I enjoyed the combat and Wanzer set ups of 4 more. Setting up good link attacks and the visual weight of combat feedback is great. Plus in later missions you're leading not only *your* core squad, but the defense of entire cities and managing siege assaults at platoon strength. You also have more interesting set ups for recons and support mechs which can function as spotters for missilers, and call in airstrikes.
The characters and setting grabbed me a bit more is all, it also has more direct story links to Front Mission First.
4 has better quality of life and mechanics but 3 was the better story (if you go through both routes I guess), imo
The characters were fine. I just get more mileage out of, "military team goes rogue for fun and profit" than "gotta mamoru my step-sister waifu."
My only issue with 5 is the enemy HP pool late game gets kind of ridiculous given Wanzers are supposed to be quasi realistic robots. It has cool missions, but it's a bit like MGS4 in that while it has some incredible highs, it's not much of a stand-alone story.
I bought Wild Arms 3 today because it was €25 and cex only had one copy. I've been wanting to play a Wild Arms game.
Nice, it's a lot of fun. Continues in that FF7 animation style and tradition of fantastic music, art, and characterization. I kinda wanna play a wild arms as well now! 5 was a good time, tho I liked the characters less. Wild Arms 5 is a bit more generic than 3. Virginia is fantastic.
I didn't really care for WA4 or 5, even though I was really excited about both when they came out. WA1 is one of my favorite JRPGs of all time, but 2 and 3 are both great too.
I should play through Alter Code F (the PS2 remake of 1) some time, I wasn't able to finish it way back when because it used a double-layered disc and my method of playing new PS2 games at the time couldn't deal with that once I hit the point where it changed over.
Kamar on
0
cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
2 is definitely my favorite. 3 is good, but boy does it draaaaag.
0
MaddocI'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother?Registered Userregular
edited December 2021
I remember hating how every second word out of the main characters mouth was birds, wings, or freedom because birds and wings and flying is like freedom
EDIT: also everyone just kind of runs around aimlessly during combat, which at first looks kind of dynamic and then after like three fights just looks hilarious
Front Mission 3 has an "ok timeline" and "very bad timeline" and which one you pick is determined by your response to a completely trivial question early in the game.
+4
MaddocI'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother?Registered Userregular
I can't remember why Front Mission 4 didn't really do it for me, I know I had some issues with it
Maybe I should fire it up again one of these days, figure out what rubbed me wrong
DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
Wild Arms 4 is a lot like Grandia 3 in that it probably had my favorite gameplay of the series but the characters and plot were so atrocious they kind of cancel that out.
0
Raijin QuickfootI'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPAregular
Got the platinum trophy for Ghost Sync.
Fun little game that I probably over leveled a bit when I got my characters up to over level 700.
Drawing is kind of fun if you're the sort of person who likes to seize every advantage of a busted mechanic. It's absolutely a flailing around kind of response to the realization that VII's materia system was wildly popular.
Actually a lot of VIII is just a flailing around response to VII's popularity.
to be more specific: after you learn the ability 'card' from quezacoatl, you'll unlock a new ability called 'card mod,' which will let you break down cards in to items that you can then break down in to magic you can junction on your guys (each GF specializes in making different kinds of magic)
you can also break down cards in to rare enough materials where you can unlock some stupidly powerful weapons and items on disc 1
Sitting there drawing magic from an enemy sucks ass.
However, junctioning strong magic to your stats so that you can brute force everything is hilarious and rules.
Thankfully you can turn certain cards into busted magic and ignore the draw system almost entirely. Course that does require a fair bit of knowledge of the game or looking up a guide.
FFXIV: Agran Trask
0
Raijin QuickfootI'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPAregular
Part of what I think I hated the first time I played was I did a lot of level grinding not realizing I was making the game harder for myself
turtleantGunpla Dadis the best.Registered Userregular
edited December 2021
Level grinding will only make the game harder if you aren't also keeping up with your junctions.
On a normal playthrough you want to at least the high 30s, as that's when most all enemies will tip over into there best item drop/steal table and magic to draw. Many bosses also have a max level.
Level grinding isn't good in FF8, but it's also not a system where you need to panic about trying to avoid gaining XP. Though low level runs are fun.
turtleant on
+6
MaddocI'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother?Registered Userregular
Just play the game and try to keep your spells up to date, don’t worry about the scaling.
Gaining levels makes the monsters slightly harder but also means they hold better spells and you have more junction abilities on your GFs. Going out of your way to grind xp is not the best idea but it totally isn’t worth going to all the effort of avoiding combat and xp gain that some folks do either. Just play the game and you’ll be fine.
As a kid I loved the draw system because I had the time to waste drawing shit and making myself extremely powerful. And I also had the time to make a separate save where I leveled to 99 to see if I could beat the game like that (I could, shit was still busted). Nowadays though, I definitely do not have that time so I'd probably bounce off of it real hard if I was trying it for the first time today.
Just play the game and try to keep your spells up to date, don’t worry about the scaling.
Gaining levels makes the monsters slightly harder but also means they hold better spells and you have more junction abilities on your GFs. Going out of your way to grind xp is not the best idea but it totally isn’t worth going to all the effort of avoiding combat and xp gain that some folks do either. Just play the game and you’ll be fine.
Yeah, enemy level scaling is just part of the game's intended progression loop and isn't as scary as it sounds. Think of it as enemies also dropping higher quality equipment as well.
I've been really curious but I haven't really tested it, but do you actually need to draw that much magic to get through the game? Or can you just keep yourself well-kitted out if you just through crafting magic from enemy item drops (and without abusing triple triad)?
It's something I always wanted to test since I've always assumed that on paper. Maybe I'll have to try it sometime.
But if I abuse Triple Triad I can have ultimate weapons in the first disc while everyone is still the same level they were when they joined the party, not that anyone actually fights an enemy besides bosses and they don't give EXP anyway.
I'm back up to Cecil's paladin turn in FFIV pixel remaster
I think it's funny how the color on his sprite (purple hair, gold armor?) doesn't match his art at all. Would that have been something people would be mad about them changing? I know there are people who aren't satisfied with the visual remastering but surely a palette swap would have been pretty easy and inoffensive
0
DemonStaceyTTODewback's DaughterIn love with the TaySwayRegistered Userregular
Yea I don't know quite why the level scaling of FF8 gets overblown so much.
It is not something to think about at all.
It was the first JRPG I ever played. I was bad at games in general. Had no idea how any of the systems worked and had no basis for comparison of leveling up and all that. I grinded my ass off because I saw numbers going up and never knew about the scaling. It never mattered at all. The enemies all seem to have ranges of stats and like others said you keep getting access to better spells.
You can fully and completely grind out to level 100 and still be as broken OP as you would expect to be at level 100.
I would put Front Mission: Gun Hazard in the top 20 SNES games of all time, even if you need a fan translation to play it. It's also not a JRPG I guess, but since we so rarely talk about FM I thought I'd mention it.
Posts
The pilot targeting system is neat, and the depth of the world itself is crazy with a full in-game internet, but mission to mission I enjoyed the combat and Wanzer set ups of 4 more. Setting up good link attacks and the visual weight of combat feedback is great. Plus in later missions you're leading not only *your* core squad, but the defense of entire cities and managing siege assaults at platoon strength. You also have more interesting set ups for recons and support mechs which can function as spotters for missilers, and call in airstrikes.
The characters and setting grabbed me a bit more is all, it also has more direct story links to Front Mission First.
Being able to download people's monsters to have fights is really cool
4 has better quality of life and mechanics but 3 was the better story (if you go through both routes I guess), imo
I don't remember what it was exactly but I think it was an over-reliance on the link system to get anything done.
The characters were fine. I just get more mileage out of, "military team goes rogue for fun and profit" than "gotta mamoru my step-sister waifu."
Also you people hating on Wild Arms XF are crazy. That game was wonderful and it's job system built on synergies in ways that FFT/TO didn't.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
Nice, it's a lot of fun. Continues in that FF7 animation style and tradition of fantastic music, art, and characterization. I kinda wanna play a wild arms as well now! 5 was a good time, tho I liked the characters less. Wild Arms 5 is a bit more generic than 3. Virginia is fantastic.
I should play through Alter Code F (the PS2 remake of 1) some time, I wasn't able to finish it way back when because it used a double-layered disc and my method of playing new PS2 games at the time couldn't deal with that once I hit the point where it changed over.
EDIT: also everyone just kind of runs around aimlessly during combat, which at first looks kind of dynamic and then after like three fights just looks hilarious
Maybe I should fire it up again one of these days, figure out what rubbed me wrong
Fun little game that I probably over leveled a bit when I got my characters up to over level 700.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1JI9WWSRW1YJI
Drawing is a stupid system that I do not like at all. Triple Triad is a stupid system that I very much like.
I am enjoying that basically every character is some variety of "surly teen"
These are my FF8 thoughts thus far.
Actually a lot of VIII is just a flailing around response to VII's popularity.
The correct takes.
you can also break down cards in to rare enough materials where you can unlock some stupidly powerful weapons and items on disc 1
I have over 200 cards and that's not even halfway done with the latest expansion releasing even more cards.
And if it weren't for the queue I'd have even more because I'm going to collect every single one of them and love it.
Yes you can.
You can also store extra on an inactive character and swap your active and inactive spell inventories when you change party members
https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1JI9WWSRW1YJI
However, junctioning strong magic to your stats so that you can brute force everything is hilarious and rules.
Thankfully you can turn certain cards into busted magic and ignore the draw system almost entirely. Course that does require a fair bit of knowledge of the game or looking up a guide.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1JI9WWSRW1YJI
On a normal playthrough you want to at least the high 30s, as that's when most all enemies will tip over into there best item drop/steal table and magic to draw. Many bosses also have a max level.
Level grinding isn't good in FF8, but it's also not a system where you need to panic about trying to avoid gaining XP. Though low level runs are fun.
All correct thoughts so far
Gaining levels makes the monsters slightly harder but also means they hold better spells and you have more junction abilities on your GFs. Going out of your way to grind xp is not the best idea but it totally isn’t worth going to all the effort of avoiding combat and xp gain that some folks do either. Just play the game and you’ll be fine.
Let you completely ignore drawing and make all your GFs universal and broken from like 4 hours in.
I'm totally okay with that.
Yeah, enemy level scaling is just part of the game's intended progression loop and isn't as scary as it sounds. Think of it as enemies also dropping higher quality equipment as well.
I've been really curious but I haven't really tested it, but do you actually need to draw that much magic to get through the game? Or can you just keep yourself well-kitted out if you just through crafting magic from enemy item drops (and without abusing triple triad)?
It's something I always wanted to test since I've always assumed that on paper. Maybe I'll have to try it sometime.
I think it's funny how the color on his sprite (purple hair, gold armor?) doesn't match his art at all. Would that have been something people would be mad about them changing? I know there are people who aren't satisfied with the visual remastering but surely a palette swap would have been pretty easy and inoffensive
It is not something to think about at all.
It was the first JRPG I ever played. I was bad at games in general. Had no idea how any of the systems worked and had no basis for comparison of leveling up and all that. I grinded my ass off because I saw numbers going up and never knew about the scaling. It never mattered at all. The enemies all seem to have ranges of stats and like others said you keep getting access to better spells.
You can fully and completely grind out to level 100 and still be as broken OP as you would expect to be at level 100.