Memoirs of a PAL RPG gamer. (News/releases/etc)

[Onislash]

Has anyone gotten Atelier Rorona from JB-Hifi online store? I am wondering when I should receive it.
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[admeister]

Kyle got his last week, it was a pre-ordered copy.
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"The first person to prove that cow's milk is drinkable was very, very thirsty." - Fact Sphere.

[Onislash]

It just arrived, never mind. Thanks for the information.
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[Kyle Clarthy]

Have fun, Onislash! Good to see people picking up the game.

I thought I'd make a quick post about ZHP: Unlosing Ranger vs Darkdeath Evilman. I couldn't help myself, I had to give it a go for some reason ... and it's sort of hooked me a little. ... I should really be playing Ar Tonelico ... but anyhoo!

It was meant to be ... oh ... an hour or so of playing before I turned it off, but it's probably been three or four hours now. I think if you like Disgaea, you'll love this. It definitely has the same style and sense of humor, but that's pretty obvious at this stage.

I think it's actually been a lot more funnier than Disgaea, though. But, yes, I should mention I'm probably not able to say that as I'm not entirely familiar with much of the Disgaea universe. It is a very funny set of games, but I've just been enjoying the writing in this game more for some reason, although it's very similar. There have been a lot of occasions where I've laughed out loud, and even more occasions where I've smiled. The exchange between some of the characters have been hilarious, and the entire plot or premise is really weird.

I think we all know about it by now, but the Unlosing Ranger is on his way to save Super Baby, an adorable little girl who will one day save the world when during one of his heroic speeches he gets run over by a slacker and his seemingly druggy girlfriend. She seems to pep up a bit after a few cutscenes, but the first line she says cracked me up. I dunno, it was the way she said it rather than what was said.

Anyway, the ghost of the Unlosing Ranger gives the Main Character his Morphing Belt and asks You to go and defeat Darkdeath Evilman. A rather basic turn based battle ensues.

I knew I'd have no hope beating the guy, so I chose the flee command.

I started to flee, right into a banana peel, cracking my noggin and losing all my HP and losing the battle.

So, you then get taken to Bizarro Earth and train, train, train in dungeons while Darkdeath Evilman is hacking away at the baby, who is dodging every attack thrown her way.

All of this occurs live on television. So, you get sections of the game where people are watching from the lounge rooms, saying really stupid things. There's an overeager news reporter, Brick Oldllama, the President, some old man with a really bad ticker, and many more watching from the lounge rooms, giving advice, or declaring the world is doomed and so on. It's pretty weird, but very, very funny. I knew it would be funny, but it was funnier than I expected.

As for the gameplay ... it's so addictive, but it's soooo annoying, too. They are right, though ... you are meant to die ... a lot. My character has a phobia at the moment, a phobia called Trick Clownphobia ... I gained it from dying to the first boss. This means that any Trick Clowns will damage me more, but I will get more EXP from them if I happen to beat them.

So, basically the game is like a really quirky version of any other Mystery Dungeon game ... Pokemon, Shiren, what have you. But there's something really addictive about it. I think it's sort of like the fact that if you happen to die, not all is lost. Sure, you lose everything you're carrying, equipped or no, you may gain a phobia, you may need to start at the beginning of the dungeon again ... but you actually get stronger. All the levels you gained in the dungeon will increase your stats. Even though you will start over at Level 1 when you enter the dungeon again, you'll be a stronger Level 1 than before.

In fact, my overall level at the moment is 54. It means I've gained something like 20 extra stat points to each stat at Level 1 than I would normally. Now if I go into some dungeons, my character gets hit for 0 damage off guys that used to be taking half my life.

I've just unlocked the ability to mod my body, but I can't seem to work it out just yet. You can use almost any items to increase your stats permanently. So, you put a dagger on your graph-like body and it gives you +1 to speed. Sounds like it could be fun, and a good way to make you really strong without relying entirely on a weapon, especially when they break so easily. The good thing is that you can repair weapons and armor back at the base, but they do break very quickly. So, if you happen to have a really rare weapon and it breaks, don't despair. Despair if you die, though, as all items will be lost forever. I guess it's all about making the most of what you have and adjusting your strategy on the fly. And I also think the most important thing is your hero body, rather than any weapon. But ... I may be wrong.

You must eat to survive dungeons. Eating food allows you to use special attacks. The catch is, the bar decreases with every movement you make, be it walking, attacking, throwing, etc. If this bar reaches zero, your HP will start to be depleted. It can get very nail biting sometimes.

So, yeah, my biggest gripe about the game is the eating part. I really do understand it's part of the entire genre, but it just seems really unnecessary to me and I wish they got rid of that. There's a lot going on even without it.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to playing some more, so that's all I have to say for the moment.

Oh, yes, I should mention that my hero, "Ranger Two" ... as I didn't feel it was appropriate to call him my name ... is currently dressed with a white beard, a hammer arm, with a jet pack on and a girly dress. I'm sure all those super hero fans would look up to him!

I just wanted to thank Addy for fixing me up with a new avatar and sig. Not bad, not bad at all. If only my hero really looked like that dude in my avatar. He looks like a major dork compared to that. Oh yeah ... he's now wearing a dwarf's head, complete with stocking hat, big nose and beady eyes and bristles. Plus a dress.
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[UWSguy]

[OropherX]

I just got Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne/Lucifer's Call for $19 on ozgameshop as I heard from some that it's the best SMT game. Anyone played it?
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[Bish]

I did.
Through the grand magic of hindsight though, I'd certainly recommend it for $19. A very good, solid game, if a little tough and frustrating at times, but the mechanics are solid and for all my complaining, I did find it rather engrossing.
Although I think back about it, and although the story is interesting thematically, it does suffer from the fact that you might fight through a 3 hour dungeon only to have a tiny shred of story revealed to you, so I guess progress feels a bit slow.
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[OropherX]

thanks for the link, I didn't read through all the threads in this topic before I joined here =P
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[Robo]

Yeah Nocturne is a great, bosses are challenging, bosses and normal battles can be absolute brutal and every little level counts.
It's a game that if you rush in blindly you will soon see your face whipped, I haven't beat it, I'm only about a quarter in and bloody hell can things get harsh. I wish you the best of luck with such an endeavour.

Brief update on Valkyria Chronicles 2
Final boss time, not that bad but I've learnt base camp is extremely important.

Kingdom Hearts 2
Closing in on the final world.
Also I love gummi ship so much damn fun

I've also started up Final Fantasy 6 Advanced, enjoying it but only about 2 hours in.

[Bish]

[OropherX]

[Pagan's Mind]

[Bish]

[Kyle Clarthy]

Bish, how do you link to a specific post like that ...? Or is there something simple that I'm missing?

Hey, we've probably done this before, but I have a question for you ... whoever you are.

Topic: What elements of the genre bug you?

So, pet peeves, anything you find annoying, whatever you want.

I just wanted to say that I am getting a little sick of the 30 year old "grandpa" characters. The mentor types that everyone thinks is old and past their prime and is about to cark it.

Even in Tales of Vesperia, Raven copped a lot of flak from the characters, Yuri calling him Old Man and so on, but that was mainly done in jest, I thought. I am guessing that Tales of Vesperia is not the first title to make fun of the concept, but I must admit that giving it that element made me tolerate it easier.

I can't really recall anything specifically off the top of my head, but it is an ongoing event in many RPGs, and Ar Tonelico 2 is one of them. Leglius, the musclebound high ranking soldier in the game has white hair and scars on his face ... and is apparently so old that he's way, way past his prime.

He's 38.

Better wheel out that coffin that I synthesized earlier.

Oh, by the way, I mentioned I was going in to get teeth removed. In case anyone was wondering, there's been a change of plans and I'm actually going into the hospital now to have them removed while I'm unconscious closer to the date my braces are due to be put on ... so, no, I haven't had it done yet.
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[OropherX]

Alexis has feint and has a tomboy sexiness when using a sword, plus storywise she is a fencer so that was how I made my decision XD Also I don't understand the point of vs armour boost. If a mauler can already one hit KO a tank then why would you need it? =P

To answer Kyle's question I'm getting a bit tired of at the start of the game you are told that you have to save the world and they start to throw all these exposition the first hour in. Give me time to do some exploring first! I started Tales of the World Radiant Mythology yesterday and thought to myself "here we go again..." and starting to press the X button rapidly to skip dialogue.
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[Bish]

[Jahanzeb]

I just hate the adrogyneous whiny pretty boys in JRPGs.

Female characters with extra (and exagerrated) details, I approve!

And Kyle, that sounds serious, remember to stay happy before the operation and keep yourself occupied with games and such, don't think too much about it
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Now Playing:
Sonic Generations

[Kyle Clarthy]

Thanks Jahanzeb ... I'll let you know how I go. I'll be honest and say I'm very nervous about it, but I want and need to do this, you know ...?

Oh, I definitely agree with everything everyone's said so far, but I want to say this ... at the risk of my manhood, I suppose ... but sometimes the females are just too in your face ... like attention seeking something or others. And for that reason it can get a little tedious or annoying, you know what I mean ... it's like ... sure, we know you have big knockers and a skirt to rival a hanky, but you don't need to keep on showing the fact over and over again.

But I totally agree with you about the pretty boy-girls. Sure, some people might like that thing ... but yeah ...

Oropher, related somewhat to your peeve: I particularly hate the games that have all that scientific jargon at the beginning and it never explains it, but I especially hate it when, "Buy the novel to find out what it really means!" or "The comic book series will have ties that no fan will want to miss!" or so on. It irks me a little. While I appreciate people like that sort of thing, I don't. And yeah, I'm not being specific, just an observation.
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[OropherX]

I think this was the reason why I never marathoned Hexyz Force. I have a feeling it'll end up being one of those world saving cliche RPGs so it fell into my backlog XD At least it's better than what I saw from the start of Fable 3 "Albion needs a new leader, it needs a hero!" I facepalmed at that bad line of dialogue.
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[Onislash]

Mischlitt gets Phoenix doesnt she? I put her as a fencer because of that.

What elements of the genre bug you?

Status aliments, never hit with them and they never stop missing me. Never mind charm or SMT Light/Dark attacks.
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[Quin]

On "old man" characters;

There is a translation thing here. "おじさん" (Ojisan) has several translations, the most literal is "Uncle", but can also be used to mean "Mister" (i.e. referring to someone older than yourself) and "old man" is a sort of insinuation of the phrase.

In most of the circumstances that I see the phrase used, it usually is given in jest, like Yuri to Raven in Vesperia, and some cases of Jade being called as such in Abyss (Jade and Raven are both 35). As far as characters this age having scars and/or white hair, well, I usually just figure that they've been adventuring for 20 years or so and the stress has got to their hair colour, or something.

On pretty-boys: If they're not whining, they're not really that annoying. I take a similar issue with the idea that all men have to be overly muscled beefcakes to pass off as a man. Middleground, people.
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[OropherX]

I don't like multiple endings. Please just tell me how the story is MEANT to end. I mean okay, it's great to get the good ending on Shadow Hearts, however storywise we find out in Shadow Hearts 2 that it really continues from the bad ending. Same with Drakengard, did it go the Drakengard 2 path, the wtf is this **** path or did it go the Nier path?
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[Jahanzeb]

[Robo]

OropherX

[OropherX]

Oh a few seconds ago play-asia shipped out my Knights in the Nightmare PSP as a partial shipment since ZHP isn't in stock. Guess I'll have to play through Yggdra Union first.
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