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[JRPG]s Are Teambuilding Exercises

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Posts

  • manwiththemachinegunmanwiththemachinegun METAL GEAR?! Registered User regular
    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.

  • MaddocMaddoc I'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother? Registered User regular
    Have you considered Front Mission 3

  • manwiththemachinegunmanwiththemachinegun METAL GEAR?! Registered User regular
    edited December 2021
    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.

    manwiththemachinegun on
  • chocoboliciouschocobolicious Registered User regular
    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

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  • NaphtaliNaphtali Hazy + Flow SeaRegistered User regular
    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

    Steam | Nintendo ID: Naphtali | Wish List
  • DragkoniasDragkonias That Guy Who Does Stuff You Know, There. Registered User regular
    I really wanted to play 5 cause I heard it fixed a lot of the quibbles I had with 4's gameplay.

    I don't remember what it was exactly but I think it was an over-reliance on the link system to get anything done.

  • manwiththemachinegunmanwiththemachinegun METAL GEAR?! Registered User regular
    Naphtali wrote: »
    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."

  • vagrant_windsvagrant_winds Overworked Mysterious Eldritch Horror Hunter XX Registered User regular
    Front Mission 5 is miles better than both 3 and 4 and is sitting right there fan-translated. It's the best game in the series and it's not even close.

    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.

    // Steam: VWinds // PSN: vagrant_winds //
    // Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
  • manwiththemachinegunmanwiththemachinegun METAL GEAR?! Registered User regular
    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.

  • Virgil_Leads_YouVirgil_Leads_You Proud Father House GardenerRegistered User regular
    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.

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  • KamarKamar Registered User regular
    edited December 2021
    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
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    2 is definitely my favorite. 3 is good, but boy does it draaaaag.

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  • MaddocMaddoc I'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother? Registered User regular
    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

    Maddoc on
  • IronKnuckle's GhostIronKnuckle's Ghost Registered User regular
    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.

  • MaddocMaddoc I'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother? Registered User regular
    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

  • DragkoniasDragkonias That Guy Who Does Stuff You Know, There. Registered User regular
    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.

  • Raijin QuickfootRaijin Quickfoot I'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPA regular
    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.

  • PoorochondriacPoorochondriac Ah, man Ah, jeezRegistered User regular
    I'm playing Final Fantasy VIII for the first time

    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.

  • IronKnuckle's GhostIronKnuckle's Ghost Registered User regular
    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.

  • rhylithrhylith Death Rabbits HoustonRegistered User regular
    I'm playing Final Fantasy VIII for the first time

    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.

    The correct takes.

  • turtleantturtleant Gunpla Dad is the best.Registered User regular
    The good new is if you like triple triad you don't have to draw! Get ye card refine and the various magic refines and just start laughing

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  • DragkoniasDragkonias That Guy Who Does Stuff You Know, There. Registered User regular
    Favorite thing about drawing is how they limit how many spells you can hold but also don't have an ability to delete them.

  • WeedLordVegetaWeedLordVegeta Registered User regular
    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

  • WeedLordVegetaWeedLordVegeta Registered User regular
    also, if you like triple triad I can introduce you to a little game called 'Final Fantasy XIV'

  • MadicanMadican No face Registered User regular
    also, if you like triple triad I can introduce you to a little game called 'Final Fantasy XIV'

    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.

  • turtleantturtleant Gunpla Dad is the best.Registered User regular
    Dragkonias wrote: »
    Favorite thing about drawing is how they limit how many spells you can hold but also don't have an ability to delete them.

    Yes you can.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcI6ppKIhII&t=27s

    You can also store extra on an inactive character and swap your active and inactive spell inventories when you change party members

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  • Raijin QuickfootRaijin Quickfoot I'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2021
    I hated the Draw system the first time I played but then when the remaster came out I found myself enjoying breaking the game with it

    Raijin Quickfoot on
  • H0b0manH0b0man Registered User regular
    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
  • Raijin QuickfootRaijin Quickfoot I'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPA regular
    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

  • turtleantturtleant Gunpla Dad is the best.Registered User regular
    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
    X22wmuF.jpg
  • MaddocMaddoc I'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother? Registered User regular
    I'm playing Final Fantasy VIII for the first time

    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.

    All correct thoughts so far

  • rhylithrhylith Death Rabbits HoustonRegistered User regular
    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.

  • ArcTangentArcTangent Registered User regular
    I only ever played FF8 on the original PC version where I accidentally broke the game with the Pocketstation Chocobo exploit.

    Let you completely ignore drawing and make all your GFs universal and broken from like 4 hours in.

    I'm totally okay with that.

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  • OptyOpty Registered User regular
    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.

  • Shenl742Shenl742 Registered User regular
    rhylith wrote: »
    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.

    FC: 1907-8030-1478
  • MadicanMadican No face Registered User regular
    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.

  • Grey GhostGrey Ghost Registered User regular
    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

  • DemonStaceyDemonStacey TTODewback's Daughter In love with the TaySwayRegistered User regular
    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.

  • DelzhandDelzhand Hard to miss. Registered User regular
    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.

  • MadicanMadican No face Registered User regular
    The reasons I don't like FF8 have nothing to do with its gameplay

This discussion has been closed.