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| Pollyanna 2784th Post
 
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
    
    
    
    
     
|  "Re(1):SMT: Strange Journey" , posted Fri 9 Oct 16:56
quote:
So, anybody played through it yet?
It's only been out like...a day, right? Although I do often see Japanese players "time warp" to win a game.
I'm still debating if I want to pick it up or wait for the (inevitable) English release. DS RPGs and I don't get along very well, and neither does DS and things that might be difficult for me to understand.
On the other hand, if the English release ends up being too far on the horizon and I hear a lot of good things about, I might not be able to resist, since I'm probably about to order a number of games, anyway.
I'm too busy! I'm working on 3 separate projects, I never quite finished DQ9, I just started Ys7 and Demon Souls...Bayonetta and Tekken 6 are right around the corner, and I'm unlikely to be finished with all that stuff by the time FF13 and Tales of Graces hit in December.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Maou 1835th Post
Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Fuurai vs. Izuna, fight" , posted Mon 12 Oct 10:48:
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And I'll back this up, except for Izuna instead. Izuna is tons of fun, takes some of the pain away from what most Rogue-likes do to you while still retaining most of what makes them fun to begin with. That and the weapon modding system is tons of fun to use and abuse.
I will back Hikaru up ever since he/she was so helpful in the epic SFZero scanlines thread, but regarding the two games here, I say: psh! Yeah, Izuna may be interesting, but I'll eat my hat if Fuurai No Shiren's DS art isn't 10,000 times better, and even the in-game design from 1995 has so much heart. Besides, it's culturally relevant since everyone knows or has played Fuurai and it's impacted basically all (Japanese) roguelikes since.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Mon 12 Oct 10:50] |
| Spoon 1824th Post
Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Re(8): FFVII: The Unemployed Ninja" , posted Tue 13 Oct 03:54
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This will do, though. Maybe we can derail this into another unofficial roguelikes thread.
I haven't tried any Rogue-likes save for, maybe, Rogue.
Will I enjoy Shiren or Izuna? Did they simplyfy the controls/interface for the inventory? That's the only thing that bugged me in Rogue.
Shiren does not have the somewhat insane level of inventory complexity that some Roguelikes are known for, and which some people love it for.
Shiren also doesn't have anything in the way of "character classes" or "class skills". You do level up, which increases your hitpoints and base attack damage, but that's all it really does. Everything else is up to your inventory, your wits, and possibly the environment. I'd say that Shiren is a more streamlined Roguelike which lends itself to a bit of a puzzle-oriented feel. I didn't especially enjoy playing Izuna, but I did enjoy playing Shiren.
One good thing about Shiren is that unlike Roguelikes where you make a character and you either win or die with that character and that's it, there are a number of events that have a persistent effect. E.g. helping somebody in town might require multiple trips, but you won't be able to see that town again unless you do a big backtrack or die, so at least for a few times, you will often have new things to see or talk with even after you die. Considering how much you die in Shiren, I kind of wish there was more of this.
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| Maou 1837th Post
Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Re(10): FFVII: The Unemployed Ninja" , posted Wed 14 Oct 00:42:
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I can't shake the feeling that all I can do is keep dying until I get a lucky dungeon configuration that I can escape without being overwhelmed.
In this sense, surviving Shiren is a lot like surviving life.
But seriously, I don't think there's a right way, especially since the fun of these games for me is really the sense of dread (you are fighting to survive) and excitement as you get something that will probably keep you alive a bit longer. So keep some reserve healing items but don't stockpile your stuff like in other RPG's, since tomorrow you may be dead and all those unused resources may be gone! The 'one-shot' feel of the game is sorely lacking everywhere else, I think, and it takes a while to get into the mindset that you will have to use these scant resources because otherwise you will soon be destroyed.
I regret not being of the age where I can trek along an unexplored jungle with Teddy Roosevelt, but Fuurai, oddly enough, gets me close.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Wed 14 Oct 01:15] |
| Pollyanna 2793th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):SMT: Etrian Odyssey" , posted Tue 27 Oct 19:09
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So, uh, back to Strange Journey...Is it really as hard as they say it is?
Going on a trip out of the country, so I picked it up for the long plane ride. I haven't put a lot of time into it yet, but it doesn't seem especially difficult for an SMT game.
A number of things have been streamlined to make it "easier" to play, even if the challenge level of the mazes and bosses has not been reduced. There are a lot of save points (very nice) and passing on skills from one demon to the next is much less annoying (no more selecting and deselecting to get the skill you want). The elemental weakness system also works to your favor, instead of being a double-edged sword.
So...even if the game gets tough, it feels like you're nicely armed to deal with it, if you manage your team properly.
Excuse me for not going into detail about the new systems, but I don't know if anyone is really interested or not.
So far, I'm quite fond of the game. The atmosphere is really powerful and the soundtrack is...I dunno...it's just crazy. Amazing, but...weird. Very weird. I would count that as a positive, not a negative, though. I love how the battle themes build up to a "climax".
The plot runs you around on a lot of glorified fetch quests, but interesting things happen all the same, and they break up each dungeon with a number of little plot scenes.
Altogether, it's a very well-balanced experience, I think.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Maou 1848th Post
Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Shiren rides again" , posted Mon 2 Nov 12:49:
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There is also Fuurai no Shiren DS 2 remake that came out less than a year ago for the DS and an upcoming true sequal Fuurai no Shiren 4 for the DS in 2010, both of which I also would love hear about.
Shiren shall hereby randomly dominate threads the way Dracula does, if I have anything to about it.
Anyway! Fuurai No Shiren 2 is a gorgeous little remake. It's essentially identical to the original Shiren now and even has (nonessential) cinemas. There might've been a few little interface improvements that I can't remember, but otherwise it's more of the same, in the very best possible way. Oh, and this time there is an evil castle in the desert instead of a huge tower mountain. So.
S(ieg)fried, hope there are indeed enough people to rescue you! I love Parish's stuff and have since Toasty Frog 2D, and am so glad to see a plug in English for Shiren, but I doubt more than 5% of American gamers have played some of the games he likes even if everyone in Japan knows/loves Shiren. But I bet that if there IS anyone playing Shiren in English, they'll be sure to rescue you both out of kindness and out of loyalty to another person who actually plays the game!
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Mon 2 Nov 12:51] |
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