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| Ktallguy 508th Post
 
New Red Carpet Member
    
    
|  "Re(5):Shadow Hearts 2 Director's cut" , posted Tue 1 Feb 18:32
了解。
But Kingdom Hearts International sold so damned well in Japan, I don't believe there was any extra content. Maybe it has to do with the Disney tie-in or something...
But as far as the 'English sounds cool' crowd in Japan, I see it a lot ... it's been integrated into the culture now, many signs and names are in English here... amazingly. Being born Japanese in Tokyo means being surrounded by English constantly, but besides knowing amazing amounts of vocabulary, not being able to speak a word or communicate at all...
It's such a contridiction in my eyes... I think the education system here could use a good revamping, at least in English classes... but even just like this, with the right dedication anyone can take the (mandatory) foundation they get in highschool and become fluent in English if they try hard enough... there are enough english teachers in Japan anyway. =)
Anyway, I hijacked this thread so I'll stop... but back on topic, I just bought Shadow Hearts 2 last month for about 3500 yen and I don't feel like paying any more for anything remotely extra =P Yet...
"手前がやくぶそくなんだよ!"
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| Iggy 5674th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
     
     
    
| "Re(7):Shadow Hearts 2 Director's cut" , posted Tue 1 Feb 19:11
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Sorry to further hijack the thread, but wasn't "Kingdom Hearts International" actually "Kingdom Hearts Final Mix", which added several extra boss battles, several extra cinematics, the extra story bits that tied into Kingdom Hearts 2, and the Deep Dive trailer at the end?
Yup, plus the bonusses of the US version.
On the other hand, KH is a bit different, since the voice acting is Disney's, and every country has nearly the same voices (and the US version is the original version in a way, except for Sora and co).
「とにかく、それは愛のムチよ。
愛しいXXX先生は君を愛弟子として愛するがゆえの厳しさよ」だって。
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| Mosquiton 1505th Post
Red Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Member
| "Devil May Cry is about gameplay, damnit" , posted Wed 2 Feb 08:15
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Nope, it has nothing to do with gameplay and everything to do with style. Not that DMC has bad gameplay mind, but it's not it's strongest asset.
I have to disagree here. The gameplay itself is all about style. Style drives the gameplay. I don't think the two can be separated quite so easily.
Being able to loft somebody into the air with a huge sword and juggle them with bullets (for example) is something you do in the game. There's a visible focus on doing stylish/crazy things, kicking ass and avoiding damage-- your performance is constantly rated. If you're good, you gain access to stylish new moves with which you can kick more stylish ass. You never get a new pair of designer jeans or flashy sunglasses (unless we're talking about DMC2... more on that in a sec).
I'm sure Dante's character design helped the game's popularity in some way, but it's not as if lines like "Flock off featherface" and "Nature calls? It's in the back" made the man. He's a badass because of what he's capable of in-game. Other games didn't rip-off Dante's character design and attitude as often as they imitated Dante's tradmark 'air hike'. And we still see it today (check out God of War, DMC's influence is obvious).
DMC2 tried to ride Dante's cool image while making a mess of gameplay and pacing. That's why it's considered a failure. It received less praise and sold fewer copies than the original, and many fans found it to be a terrible sequel. Fans are more excited about DMC3 despite visual elements (Dante's Megaten-esque demon form) they don't find stylish at all. It looks like it'll once again be about the gameplay, and that's what Devil May Cry is about.
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| DarkZero 1071th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(8):Shadow Hearts 2 Director's cut" , posted Wed 2 Feb 17:50
quote:
I'll admit the dilemma is not quite so bad as with SMT Nocturne... the dungeons were so goddamn long, and most of them where long without having anything to do in them except walk and walk and fight and fight... I gave up on that game in spite of myself.
Uuuuughhhhhh.....
You're not going to leave this place alive, you know ?
I have to agree, though. I haven't played SMT: Nocturne in about a week because I just entered a new dungeon. Even though I love the plot and the battle system, the dungeons are just excessively long and boring, and the fact that every new demon in the new dungeon either says they're too high level for me or just "URRRRHHHHYAAAAA!!!!!!!!" really detracts from the gameplay.
The uneven difficulty level that lets you breeze through two dungeons and then have to stop dead to level for a half hour at the beginning of the next one doesn't help, either. And let's not forget wondering where the Hell I am because every floor, every room, every ladder/staircase, and every corridor of every dungeon looks exactly the same as the rest of the dungeon.
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
This thread is doomed. It's been 'jacked more than a pimp mobile from San Andreas.
End of Spoiler
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| Iggy 5683th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(9):Shadow Hearts 2 Director's cut" , posted Wed 2 Feb 18:18
quote:
I have to agree, though.
GENOCIDE MODE KAISHI.
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the dungeons are just excessively long and boring
Which one ? The obelisc was annoying at first, but now it's OK for me, and I don't see any other annoying places... The yoyogi parc could be boring, but they place there demons that give you a lot of XP so you feel rewarded. I know I stayed many hours there just because all of a sudden everybody level upped so fast.
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and the fact that every new demon in the new dungeon either says they're too high level for me or just "URRRRHHHHYAAAAA!!!!!!!!"
If they URRRRRRHYAAAAA you, it's either because the kagutsushi is full or you don't jive talk those who are supposed to answer only to jive talk. And as for the "too high level", that's what Identify is for.
Besides, there are other ways to gain new demons, and... How the hell do you play ? Even when I speedwalk the game with Belzebuchan, I am never 2 or 3 levels lower than the average demons ? And beside, I always use the pishacha you can buy in the first Kalpa, with all his awesome skills (including the one that lowers the encounter rate).
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The uneven difficulty level that lets you breeze through two dungeons and then have to stop dead to level for a half hour at the beginning of the next one doesn't help, either.
The difficulty level is uneven because you go there with the wrong demons.
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And let's not forget wondering where the Hell I am because every floor, every room, every ladder/staircase, and every corridor of every dungeon looks exactly the same as the rest of the dungeon.
That at least is right. But that's also what the map is for.
Haaaa... That's what you get when you give real games to casual gamers...
Now leave me alone while I commit suicide go back playing U:Saga commit suicide.
「とにかく、それは愛のムチよ。
愛しいXXX先生は君を愛弟子として愛するがゆえの厳しさよ」だって。
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| DarkZero 1072th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(10):Shadow Hearts 2 Director's cut" , posted Fri 4 Feb 08:31
quote:
the dungeons are just excessively long and boring
Which one ? The obelisc was annoying at first, but now it's OK for me, and I don't see any other annoying places... The yoyogi parc could be boring, but they place there demons that give you a lot of XP so you feel rewarded. I know I stayed many hours there just because all of a sudden everybody level upped so fast.
Right now, the subway dungeon you enter after Kabukicho Prison. Even though I got lost repeatedly in Kabukicho Prison, the enemies were essentially a joke, and I could practically turn Auto on the whole way and tear through them. Now, at the beginning/middle of the subway, I'm hitting enemies with their weakness four and five times in a row, but instead of dying, they're either doing huge amounts of damage to me or using instant-kill attacks. Unless I'm missing something, it seems like they're beating me just because they're higher level.
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and the fact that every new demon in the new dungeon either says they're too high level for me or just "URRRRHHHHYAAAAA!!!!!!!!"
If they URRRRRRHYAAAAA you, it's either because the kagutsushi is full or you don't jive talk those who are supposed to answer only to jive talk. And as for the "too high level", that's what Identify is for.
Besides, there are other ways to gain new demons, and... How the hell do you play ? Even when I speedwalk the game with Belzebuchan, I am never 2 or 3 levels lower than the average demons ? And beside, I always use the pishacha you can buy in the first Kalpa, with all his awesome skills (including the one that lowers the encounter rate).
I'm not complaining about wasting turns using Talk on high level demons, I'm talking about the fact that NONE of the demons in this dungeon are accessible to me. Because they're either jive-talkers or a higher level than me, I can't actually recruit anyone to make myself stronger, at least not until I level up.
Two mistakes I am making, though: I didn't go into the First Kalpa yet (at first I was too weak for it, but recently I just forgot about it), and I don't know how to handle the jive-talkers. I don't mean the ones that jive talk at full Kagutsuchi, I mean the ones that jive talk all the time. Is there a certain recruitment skill that they're weak to, like the way the tough guys always join if you use Seduce? I've looked at some FAQs, but I didn't see anyone cover this.
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| iggy 5706th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):Re(10):Shadow Hearts 2 Director's cut" , posted Fri 4 Feb 08:58
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Now, at the beginning/middle of the subway, I'm hitting enemies with their weakness four and five times in a row, but instead of dying, they're either doing huge amounts of damage to me or using instant-kill attacks.
You're hitting them with their weak point 4 or 5 times !? You are, like, level 5 or what ?
What demons do you have with you ?
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Is there a certain recruitment skill that they're weak to, like the way the tough guys always join if you use Seduce? I've looked at some FAQs, but I didn't see anyone cover this.
I'm not sure the skill is also called "Jive Talk" in english, but it's normal you don't have it (you can get it in one of the later magatama). Either way, the point is demons with a low intelligence (like blobs, laughing skulls, etc) can't be talked to normally, they have to be talked to with either your hero using Jive Talk or a demon using the good skill. I think the skill called "brainwash" in Japanese should do the trick (I think the Power learns it ?).
But the point is : those demons usually are of lower power than some others; I think the blob is useful if you get it very early in the game, but wears off pretty fast. Don't bother with them if you see they are too dumb and try to level up until you can recruit the more intelligent demons / fusion your demons into something powerful.
If you don't know who to hire... If you are around level 30 as you should at least be, go to the first Kalp and buy the Pishacha they have there. It has all the skills you need to use out of a battle (like floating, making light in dark zones, etc). Don't ever fuse him, you don't need to make him appear in battles either, just keep him with you so the other demons don't have to waste their spots on those skills, plus you can sell all those items that do what the Pishacha does. He's expensive, but I have never played a game without taking it as fast as possible. Plus he can gain some experience without going to combat, so he also gives you some items every 5 levels or so. I love it.
Then, still in the 1st kalpa, go take the stone of the billion deads or whatever it's called, and go create your first majin (???), Matador. He looks funny, but he's quite powerful and can stay with you until late in the game. If by chance you happen to be around level 37, you can make Daisôjô who is my favourite majin with the last one, but I don't think you're that high, so let's forget him.
Do you have any Dees (the grey/brown woman that looks very shy) ? If you have one, you can take her and make her level up until she evolves into a Valkyrie, where she will become quite powerful I think. (you need to be level 29).
The naga (level 28) are great, but I think they are weak to some elements used in the cave; dont abandon them though, they will be very useful against the optional bosses of the cave, and they evolve in Nagaraja which are really great.
Beside... i think Power and Kômokuten are good... I think I had Kômokuten and Baphomet in this cave, I'm not sure.
Well, the last time I went through it, I had my holy leather priestress Squaha of mass destruction tunned to be nearly immortal and killing the whole screen in one move, so I don't remember exactly the elements you have to face... I think they attack with fire and physical attacks, and the bosses with ice, shock and physical, mostly ?
「とにかく、それは愛のムチよ。
愛しいXXX先生は君を愛弟子として愛するがゆえの厳しさよ」だって。
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| Iggy 5712th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Re(10):Megaten 3" , posted Fri 4 Feb 17:35:
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with a team of Kushinada, Sentata , and Dionysus (<3!).
Dionysos tan haa haa !
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Im planning to get Sati, but; are there any other demons you guys might recommend?
Do you have Oncot, the pink monkey ? He's lower level than you are, but keep him to the end, he's fabulous (you'll see why pretty soon !).
If it's bit too long, take Pulkishi (the ugly pink elephant). He will become Ganesh, who is cuter and more powerful.
Also, if you want to create Amaterasu (who is a bit too hard to create when you see how ugly HE is) you can recruit Yatagarasu (the 3 legged crow), he will have to be fused with... 2 other assholes I don't remember, look in a FAQ you can't figure this out by yourself.
Also, if I were you, I would stick in Yoyogi park with the magic that raises the encounter rate near a save point (so you can go heal yourself when you want and save when you have a level). The XP rate here is awesome, and the demons are pretty weak; it will be good especially if you take demons that will have to evolve.
Oh ! I don't know if you can recruit Titania yet, but if you can, do : she's a great healer with absolute zero.
EDIT : and just when I change the name of the thread, the Shadow Heart 2 official HP has new pictures of the director's cut...
orz
「とにかく、それは愛のムチよ。
愛しいXXX先生は君を愛弟子として愛するがゆえの厳しさよ」だって。
[this message was edited by Iggy on Fri 4 Feb 18:34] |
| DarkZero 1080th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(1):Megaten bump" , posted Mon 7 Feb 10:39
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Just to know if it was worth to go check on my japanese fansites to check what I was saying : DarkZero, did you tried Megaten again or did I fed you up and you swear to never touch the game again ?
I was going to take your advice with me the next time I played Megaten and then post in this thread when I was done, but I haven't gotten to play it since I posted. When I do, I intend to go directly to the First Kalpa, especially since I really liked Matador a lot. There seems to be a raw level difference between me and the normal enemies in the subway dungeon, but that's probably because they assume that you've gone through the First Kalpa already, so they're expecting you to be at least three levels higher than I am.
I'll also keep levelling up my Dees. I liked her, but it seemed like she was taking forever to evolve, and I suspected that she might have been one of those high level evolvers like the High Pixie/Queen Mab. By the way, my current team is (off the top of my head) Naga, Patriarch, and the evolved cat girl. I look forward to fusing Patriarch with something, because right now he's less useful than he could be. That character's primary use throughout the game has been healing and seducing (he was a Lilim, then a Megami, etc.), but Seduce seems to be useless when it's on a male demon.
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| Iggy 5735th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):Megaten bump" , posted Mon 7 Feb 17:39
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but that's probably because they assume that you've gone through the First Kalpa already
Actually, the Kalpa didn't existed in the first version of the game (and the game was a LOT harder back then), so I guess you ran through the levels faster than you were supposed to. You don't like to stay there and level up, do you?
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Naga, Patriarch, and the evolved cat girl.
Naga = good, but maybe not in this level. If I remind corrctly, the evolved cat girl was a huge disapointment for me, if I were you, I would ditch her for Dees->Valkyrie.
I don't see what the Patriarch is... Is it an angel, in dark green, with a huge scepter (in japanese, the Principality) ? If it's him, try to keep him until you can make him level up into the higher angel, (Power, level 33) by fusing him with either a water or flame spirit. I think the Power is the one who learns brainwash (though Valkyrie may learn it as well, so it may not be useful to have it twice).
「とにかく、それは愛のムチよ。
愛しいXXX先生は君を愛弟子として愛するがゆえの厳しさよ」だって。
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| DarkZero 1083th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(3):Megaten bump" , posted Mon 7 Feb 18:32
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You don't like to stay there and level up, do you?
I've found that in most RPGs, if I stick around to level up, I make it too easy for myself, and lose interest in five hours or so when I'm smacking bosses around in a few turns. I guess I'm just not used to RPGs where you have to level up, rather than just screw around with your stats a bit. All I did with Final Fantasy X was play around with that Skill Sphere System or whatever it was for about an hour or so, and spamming "Attack" on bosses (even the ones resistant to physical attacks!) sent them packing pretty quickly. It's obvious that I need to spend more time levelling in MegaTen, though.
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Naga, Patriarch, and the evolved cat girl.
Naga = good, but maybe not in this level. If I remind corrctly, the evolved cat girl was a huge disapointment for me, if I were you, I would ditch her for Dees->Valkyrie.
I don't see what the Patriarch is... Is it an angel, in dark green, with a huge scepter (in japanese, the Principality) ? If it's him, try to keep him until you can make him level up into the higher angel, (Power, level 33) by fusing him with either a water or flame spirit. I think the Power is the one who learns brainwash (though Valkyrie may learn it as well, so it may not be useful to have it twice).
Principality! That's the word I was looking for. I knew it was slightly off somehow. I haven't gotten to play the game in a week and a half, so my recollection of the names of every new demon is fuzzy. So far the evolved cat girl hasn't been that bad, but I'll probably swap her out when I get some decent new demons. She's a good all-around character, able to do physical attacks, element attacks, etc. with the way I fused her, but she could be better.
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| Iggy 5742th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Megaten bump" , posted Mon 7 Feb 19:06
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All I did with Final Fantasy X was play around with that Skill Sphere System or whatever it was for about an hour or so, and spamming "Attack" on bosses (even the ones resistant to physical attacks!) sent them packing pretty quickly. It's obvious that I need to spend more time levelling in MegaTen, though.
Yes, FF is aimed to a far broader audience than Megaten, hence the extreme difficulty of seeing the game over page even once. FF is like a Hollywood RPG and Megaten an indie RPG. Since most of the games ported over in the states are from the first category, people tend to assume all the japanese console RPG look like FF.
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She's a good all-around character, able to do physical attacks, element attacks, etc. with the way I fused her, but she could be better.
I forgot demons differ a lot according to how you fuse them... I remember that most of my demons by the end of my first game had drain attack (which is actually not at all that useful), but I don't even remember who had it in the first place.
「とにかく、それは愛のムチよ。
愛しいXXX先生は君を愛弟子として愛するがゆえの厳しさよ」だって。
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| DarkZero 1088th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(4):Megaten bump" , posted Tue 8 Feb 13:03
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So when you said it was a LOT harder back then, you were speaking from heresay, or you weren't talking about SMT3 (not maniacs) at all and I misunderstood you?
I think he means that before Maniacs, the game didn't have optional bosses and dungeons for you to level up with. You either played the game straight through at a low level or you spent time grinding for levels in a lot of the dungeons.
quote:
Yeah, I felt that SMT3 was just the right difficulty, but Maniacs was a bit too easy. Naturally, hard mode is a bit too hard. I didn't get all the way through Maniacs because of this. Is it THAT much different? You've spent a lot more time with the game than I have.
I haven't played "vanilla" (non-Maniacs) MegaTen 3 either, but I know what most of the changes are. The Maniacs stuff is spread throughout most of the game, so it really gives the game a nice flow, adding a lot of mandatory bosses in places where mandatory bosses should logically appear, while simultaneously adding optional bosses and dungeons throughout the game instead of at the very end like Final Fantasy VII or Kingdom Hearts. The First Kalpa also seems to be one of the best dungeons that I've seen in the 15-20 hours (I think?) that I've played the game, so I have high expectations for the other five Kalpas, too.
Is it worth replaying the game for Maniacs? Not really, but I imagine that it's probably a better game than the original version. If you ever dust off your PS2 in five years and decide to play some of your old RPGs, put Maniacs in instead of vanilla MegaTen 3.
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| Pollyanna 831th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member+
| "Re(9):Megaten bump" , posted Tue 8 Feb 18:27
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Well, I know the damage is 75% of what it was in non maniacs, and that the back attack doesn't automatically criticals. Is there anything else ?
And if I recall correctly, hard mode is like the second round in normal nocturne, except the items and all cost 3 times the money and you can't flee from battle except with a magic.
So, I think I can pretty much imagine what it was like. I think. I guess.
I think that's right. I didn't get into it enough, because I thought "this is too easy." and "hard makes me suffer.", but mostly "Ohmygawd I have to play this new game!"
Back on the other topic, I'm a bit surprised that Shadow Hearts 2 was recieved so well, since it was so much like the first one (which was not recieved so well). In both cases I thought the games were fun, but after a certain point, I lost all interest in the plot and characters, because they're so totally ridiculous and the charm wore off.
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| Iggy 5758th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(10):Megaten bump" , posted Tue 8 Feb 19:24
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but mostly "Ohmygawd I have to play this new game!"
I think that's the major difference between you and me. I don't play lots of games, and when don't have anything new to play, I go back to some really solid games I will continue to play until I'm dead. RS2 and Legend of Mana are amongst those, and Maniacs is the first PS2 game to fell into this category. If I had a counter of how many total hours I spend on RS2 or 3, I think I would beat most Everquest or FF11 freaks out there.
quote:
Back on the other topic, I'm a bit surprised that Shadow Hearts 2 was recieved so well, since it was so much like the first one (which was not recieved so well). In both cases I thought the games were fun, but after a certain point, I lost all interest in the plot and characters, because they're so totally ridiculous and the charm wore off.
I never played any, but since the 2 director's cut is there, I was thinking of taking both games to try... Who knows. They are dirt cheap, and I have an extra month before Minstrel Song.
「とにかく、それは愛のムチよ。
愛しいXXX先生は君を愛弟子として愛するがゆえの厳しさよ」だって。
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| Pollyanna 832th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member+
| "Re(2):Re(10):Megaten bump" , posted Tue 8 Feb 20:43
quote:
I think that's the major difference between you and me. I don't play lots of games, and when don't have anything new to play, I go back to some really solid games I will continue to play until I'm dead.
Well, the thing is...every time a new game comes out, I think "this could inspire me! This could change my life!". I picked up Persona and Popolocrois on a whim and they're 2 of my favorite series, so I feel a sort of obligation to at least try every game that looks decent. When I lose my connections, though...I hope I have enough money to afford to keep this up.
I wish I had time (between piles of new games and work) to go back and play Persona (Japanese version, of course), SMT3 and Gyakuten Saiban 3(among others), but I just can't seem to ignore the new game market. It's sort of rotten, though, sicne I end up spending a lot of time playing games that I keep waiting to get good, but never fully enjoy.
As for Shadowhearts 2...the game was very...sexual? It had a lot of weird sexuality issues to it, and I'm not just talking about the homosexual trading cards. There was a lot of fetish/homosexual "ideas" in the game, among other silly, bizarre ideas. The gameplay was fine (though not especially great), but I found myself playing in disbelief and saying "what crazy crap are they going to throw at me next?"
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| DarkZero 1103th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(1):Megaten bump" , posted Mon 14 Feb 09:25
quote:
Just to know if it was worth to go check on my japanese fansites to check what I was saying : DarkZero, did you tried Megaten again or did I fed you up and you swear to never touch the game again ?
Playing Megaten again. Beat the First Kalpa and evolved Naga, but had to fuse the resulting demon to make Daisojou. Current team is Daisojou, Dis, and Feng Huang (Principality + Uzume, it's a big pink peacock thing). Not sure whether to evolve Dis or not, since I'd have to level her up two more times to get her to her evolve level (27) and then the resulting demon is only a level 33 Valkyrie, which is 4 levels under me (37) right now.
I'm currently flying through the underground subway with this team, but there's one glaring problem, which is that the fusions for Daisojou and Feng Huang left me without a serious healer for the first time, which means a lot of trips back home. I'm probably going to try to turn Dis into a character that can actually heal.
After I progress in the game a bit, I'll go into the Second Kalpa, but the story scene after the First Kalpa made me wonder...
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
I know that if I enter the Fifth Kalpa, I'm locked into the "Maniacs" ending, which I assume is some kind of "supreme demon" ending, but does entering the four other Kalpas before it move me further away from a good/light/human/hero ending? For once, I'd actually like to get the "good guy" ending in one of these "choose-your-own-ending" games, since I usually end up being the bad guy.
End of Spoiler
And on another note, while I do really like him, Daisojou's kinda... cheap. But I'm sure that'll stop after awhile.
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