Forum Overview :: Reviews
 
25 hours + in by Lizard_King 02/19/2007, 12:01am PST
New shit that has come to light in the game:
-The design allows you to go up a few levels relatively quickly in a new area, usually a time in which every random encounter is a near death experience, and then tends to plateau near the end of the level after a small amount of grinding, giving you an incentive to move on if there ever was one. Really, accumulating hunt kills is the only reason to stick around, and I would not attempt that without a strat guide.

-Speaking of which, the strat guide is really key for some of the more hardcore aspects of the game, by which I mean gay. Surprisingly, the item synthesis is not the issue, since that is really easy to do a decent job at with minimal effort. The mimic chests are fucking brutally disproportionate to the enemies in an area through the first five chapters, and between them and the fuck you 1/4 chance of getting screwed by a trapped chest. It's a doublejump guide, so it's a pretty substantial value if that's your kind of thing. Unlike Disgaea II or for that matter FFXII, it is playable without the guide. Also, really good luck on the hunts without the guide, as the random encounter system is extremely picky about its rarer spawns sometimes. I wouldn't even begin to fuck with the factory system without the guide, but that's just me. I didn't think the city planning shit in DC2 was fun either, so what do I know. Also, the game has no bestiary beyond merely keeping track of number of kills, which is useless in a game that demands so much from item drops...once again, the guide is key but not absolutely necessary.

-The plot is not terrible. It's mediocre, but what really brings it down is the poor dialogue and correspondingly shitty voicework. You can almost picture the Shakespearean depth that went into every "Ngrh!", and what would a game without a large dog as a character be without a shitload of "top dog" style punnery? It would be nothing in Japan, apparently, so you will endure it. I will note again that you can skip every cutscene, the first time, and that the gay is telegraphed from a mile away some of the time. For instance, you see some woman and a child by themselves on any planet, and they launch a cutscene, just skip it. You'll thank me later. Oh, and the scottish guy is intolerable. I thought the fucking Guy Ritchie english DQ8 had going was terrible, but this is far, far worse. Discerning players will go with a tasteful mp3 playlist and volume on 0. There is no way to isolate the obnoxious parts of the sounds, which is unfortunate because the in combat prompt system can be a lifesaver and is nowhere near as effective without the sound.

-Other than that, I still dig the synth system and the random encounter system. The fake no load screen thing (by having long empty passageways in between areas, elevators, etc) is kind of a mixed bag, but that I'll blame on the ps2's limitations. Whatever it is that turned me off of SO2 and DC2, it's not here.

A few pro tips that I heard from others and saved me a lot of time:
Focus on unlocking skills for characters you have on hand right now. Don't unlock anything until you can fill out the whole block, as there is no point and a better skill for someone else might come down the line. Crucial skills that you need to get right away are the multiple enemy attacks and the group/individual attack buffs. The former will make random encounter survival exponentially easier. This game is all about offense (you get to chapter five before you even get anything remotely approaching armor).
Run away. A lot. It's easy to do, and worth it, at least until you find the next save point on some of the harder levels (I'm thinking of the mine here, with those shell knights). Once you accumulate the items you need from an enemy class and the number of them you need for hunter points, there is no reason not to bypass them and move on to a more valuable expenditure of time and items.
When you hit that plateau where enemies in a level are easily killed and don't give much experience, that is prime time to tap them for items and synthesis levels. You usually get a breather right before the end of a chapter to do this in. Don't bother synthing more than two or three batches at the most, which shouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes. You'll just be pissed when the next level is selling that item you worked so hard to hand craft. OTOH, it is possible to build really powerful items if you really go out of your way with the grinding, so it's up to you. It's always going to be capped by your level, but it just won't let you combine it until your level permits using it.
As a general rule, I add the most powerful item and the least powerful together first, then up the way to the second most powerful last. Why? Well, it usually gives decent results, and most importantly I minimize the amount of time I am levelling really shitty weapons, which can be hazardous to your health.
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Japanese RPGs: Is there a good one? by Jerry Whorebach 02/14/2007, 3:24am PST NEW
    Fable is non-American. Close enough? Actually it might be too good. NT by Fussbett 02/14/2007, 3:39am PST NEW
        Seconding this. by motherfuckerfoodeater 02/14/2007, 7:14am PST NEW
    Star Ocean 2? by Flavio 02/14/2007, 4:15am PST NEW
        Rogue Galaxy by Lizard_King 02/16/2007, 12:28am PST NEW
            sweet by Flavio 02/16/2007, 3:31am PST NEW
                25 hours + in by Lizard_King 02/19/2007, 12:01am PST NEW
                    Re: 25 hours + in by Ethan Steele 02/19/2007, 2:26pm PST NEW
                        Re: 25 hours + in by Lizard_King 02/19/2007, 10:07pm PST NEW
    Magna Carta? NT by Mysterio 02/14/2007, 7:32am PST NEW
        Awful. Beyond the pale. by Lizard_King 02/19/2007, 12:07am PST NEW
            I'd also like to recommend NOT Star Ocean 3 NT by Flavio 02/19/2007, 2:22am PST NEW
                3? I thought you kind of liked 2 or something? I forget. NT by Lizard_King 02/19/2007, 4:00am PST NEW
                    Re: 3? I thought you kind of liked 2 or something? I forget. by Flavio 02/19/2007, 4:49am PST NEW
                        Shit by Lizard_King 02/19/2007, 5:24am PST NEW
            I guess it was the relationship simulator that hooked me. :) by Mysterio :/ 02/19/2007, 10:17am PST NEW
    No. by Mischief Maker 02/14/2007, 8:48am PST NEW
        Ooo I forgot Dark Cloud 2! by Zseni 02/14/2007, 8:50am PST NEW
    FFXII is pretty good... by Zseni 02/14/2007, 8:49am PST NEW
        Re: FFXII is pretty good... by Flavio 02/15/2007, 11:43pm PST NEW
            Re: FFXII is pretty good... by Zseni 02/16/2007, 7:08am PST NEW
    Thanks for all the suggestions. Keep them coming! NT by Jerry Whorebach 02/14/2007, 8:22pm PST NEW
    Re: Japanese RPGs: Is there a good one? by Last 02/15/2007, 1:05pm PST NEW
        I know that Jhoh likes Earthbound too, so add his vote during his WoW absence. NT by Fussbett 02/15/2007, 1:22pm PST NEW
            Thirded, the freaky backgrounds alone during fight scenes = great. NT by Zseni 02/15/2007, 2:02pm PST NEW
                You need to use prayer against the final boss. by Worm 02/16/2007, 12:47am PST NEW
            If anyone's going to play Earthbound remember that you need a walkthrough. by Jhoh Cable o_O 02/21/2007, 6:48am PST NEW
        NOT excepting 3! by Mischief Maker 02/15/2007, 1:37pm PST NEW
            You are such a girl. NT by Zseni 02/19/2007, 1:14pm PST NEW
 
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