The other two games I have been playing are Vagrant Story and Persona 4. Both are excellent RPGs and are cult classics, since neither one of them are very well known. I recently picked Vagrant Story up in Salem Oregon for 50 bucks and it definitely is a good purchase.
Vagrant Story Impressions:
Since i finally have played some more of Vagrant story, i can finally give my impressions on the game. Vagrant story is a cult game made by the same game designer as Final Fantasy Tactics, which is an another amazing game. Vagrant story on the other hand, is also very good but some aspects about the game is very frustrating. The battle system consists of chaining attacks, which is pretty neat but hard to get used to at first considering it is a RPG... This makes the game a rhythm based game, since you can to hit circle square or triangle whenever an exclamation point appears, and you cannot use the same move two times in a row. This makes it so i cannot play the game longer than an hour or two, because i become very frustrated and i start losing the "rhythm"...
Therefore, the game is really quite challenging... You have to make weapons with multiple elements just so you can deal a lot of damage to some enemies, otherwise have fun beating down an enemy with 200 hp while you are only dealing 5 each hit... On top of chaining, there is a status bar called risk, and as it raises so does the damage you take, the harder it is for you to hit enemies, but the healing you receive is drastically increased. Its best to keep this down as low as you can, but its hard than hell to do so sometimes especially during boss battles.
The story so far is awesome, which is to be expected since Final Fantasy Tactic's story was very good. Vagrant Story has very similar dialogue to FFT which keeps with the universe; what is funny though is that the two games were not tied together til' Final Fantasy 12, which i find kind of peculiar...
So far Vagrant Story is a good game when you play it for short bursts at a time, it definitely is not a game that you can sit down and play it for hours unless you want to drive yourself nuts and punch yourself in unneeded locations over and over again...
Persona 4 Impressions:
Persona 4 is the sequel to the hit persona series; the latest installments are known for their deep stories and weird genre combination in the RPG genre. Dating simulator mechanics and a turn based RPG rolled in to one? Well, some how it works amazingly well and it makes Persona 3 and Persona 4 really addicting. The dating sim mechanics are used to benefit the player by making him able to create more powerful personae, and receive support in battle.
The game takes place in the small Japanese town of Inaba; the name-less Protagonist was sent here to live with his uncle due to his parents going to America for a few months. When he arrived though, a peculiar chain of murders occur and during this time he hears about a rumor that when you turn the TV on during a rainy night at midnight, your soul mate appears on the screen. The night he does this, he sticks his arm out towards the TV, and to his surprise he was able to stick his arm through the screen.
He then tells his colleagues and decide to explore this other world... After a while they find out that someone is throwing people in each month, and if they are left in there for too long they end up dying. They make a vow to save the people who are thrown in, and some of the people end up joining the party. The game is dungeon based and each one is unique to the character that the player is saving. Each one has a specific theme based off of the character's own secrets and or inner problems.
The game play is your typical turn based RPG, but all of your abilities come from persona. Each one has their own unique strengths and weaknesses, and there's a total of about 200 personae but i'm not confident about that. They fixed what made the 3rd Persona a bit irritating, allowing you to be able to control your party members now but surprisingly the game is still hard as hell. What I like about this series in its current state, is when you are annoyed or tired of going through dungeons you can simply go through your daily high school life and hang out with people. It varies the game play drastically and its quite enjoyable.
Persona 4 is an awesome title and I would have beaten it when i first got it if it wasn't for a corrupted save file... Anyhow, this game [series] is worthy to play, and dedicate time to for the fact that the story, game play, and weird genre is a fantastic combo for a modern turn based RPG. If you have yet to pick it up, do so soon, because i ensure you this game will be hard to find just like any other Shin Megami Tensei game.
Showing posts with label Vagrant Story. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vagrant Story. Show all posts
First Impressions Volume 1 Stache Style
Posted by | Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 3:16 PM
For the past month and a half, i have been playing many games off and on. I buy a game, play it for a bit, and then stop playing it and then i'll pick it up a few months later. Its a never ending process for me, and i wish i could stop but i just love having such a large collection of video games. The latest game i have been playing though is Resonance of Fate, which in it self is an unique game that did some interesting things to the RPG Genre. On top of that, i have been playing Dragon Quest 9, Persona 3 Portable, Vagrant Story, and Persona 4. The only bad thing is that all of these games are RPGs, which is kind of making me hate the genre currently.
Resonance of Fate Impression (13-14 hours in)
Resonance of Fate is developed by Tri-ace, the company who does the Star Ocean series and made the cult classic Valkyrie Profile. Resonance of Fate takes a turn in the RPG genre by combining turn based and real time battle system mechanics. During a battle you can decide to do a "hero action" by using up a hero bar segment and this allows you to run to a point in the arena. During this time you can shoot, and jump; You are able to knock foes up the air and then do a smack down on them by jumping and shooting them down. The battle system is really quite fun and is the highlight of the game.
The story on the other hand though, is a different story. In the 13 to 14 hours i have played this game it is nearly non-existent. You merely play as 3 different mercenaries taking missions. The environment in the game is pretty neat though; it takes place in a post apocalyptic world where man now lives on a giant machine. Other than that, all i know is that the Old man Vashyron is a perv, the teen-aged Zephyr is a typical pissed off loner who hates the world, and Leanne is a ditsy young lady.
I just hope the game will get in to the story so i have an incentive to play it other than the battle system...
Dragon Quest 9 (40 hours in)
Dragon quest 9 is a traditional turn based RPG is has not changed from the roots at all. That's what i like about the Dragon Quest games, they haven't really experimented or deterred from their formula at all. This game is very similar to Dragon Quest 8 which is probably one of my all time favorite RPGs. One unique thing about this game though is that you can play with 3 other people and it doesn't detract from the game at all. Multi-player turn based RPGs usually do not work well since the second player is usually just sitting there 2/3 of the time and is only involved in the battles. The multi player in this though allows all the players to be where they want, and only participate in battles if they encounter one when they are all together, or if one chooses to jump in and help. It works surprisingly well and makes the game much more enjoyable.
There is not much to say about the battle system, except that you are able to unlock and change classes to get new abilities and such. As you level you get skill points where you can put them in to 5 different skills, the skills vary from class to class but the weapon ones usually are shared between multiple classes. This is what makes the game so addicting, because some of the skills carry over to other classes and the stat bonuses you receive also carry over.
The story in the game is quite basic, and isn't mind blowing at all. It does its job and moves the game through, but the dialogue can be and is very goofy which makes the game quite light hearted. In dragon quest 9, you play as a Celestrian, which are guardians of man kind. Each one is given a city to protect and the main character ends up being the guardian of Angel Falls. After being a guardian for awhile you received enough "Benevolessence" to give to the guardian tree of Yggdrasil in the observatory. The tree then bears the legendary fyggs, but before they could give these to the almighty the Observatory gets attacked, the fyggs became scattered, and you lost your wings. The story sets off with the main character trying to find the legendary fruit to give to the almighty.
So far, Dragon Quest 9 is probably one of the best games on DS competing with Pokemon for me. It has tons of extras in it, it is quite addicting, and it really is a well polished game.
Persona 3 Portable (15 hours in)
Persona 3 Portable is a port of an excellent RPG to the PSP. I loved the Shin Megami Tensei series and i own every single one that has come out on the ps2, DS, and PSP. Persona 3 Portable takes place in modern day japan and you play as a junior in high school. The neat thing about this version of the game is that you get to choose your gender, which actually changes some things about the game. If you play as a female you hang out with different people, the HUD and menus are all pink and yellow, instead of blue and yellow, and the music is different. It creates a whole new experience with the game that actually makes me want to play through the game again.
The latest Persona games use an unique system for the game. You have to hang out with people to be able to create more powerful personae. Its neat because it doesn't feel like its tacked on like some certain aspects in some games. But it has a nice polished feel, and its a good way to develop the main characters more as well.
As all Shin Megami Tensei games, this one uses the element system as well. In this one it is more laid back compared to the other games (nocturne and digital devil saga, you make one mistake you pretty much just lost the battle) and it saves all the enemies weaknesses if you scan them. Persona 3 uses a traditional turn based system but the characters abilities are determined by their persona. The Main Character is the jack of all trades being able to use any persona, while the supporting characters are stuck with one. The main highlight for P3P is that you can actually command your entire party, which is a nice change because the AI is not all that great and can be very frustrating.
The story is the same as Persona 3. You join the group S.E.E.S. which tries to eliminate shadows whom are slowly destroying the world by taking people's souls essentially. Each month their have been giant shadows attacking the city and you must stop them so the citizens will not wake up to a destroyed part caused by an anomaly. The story is much deeper but i do not want to spoil it or anything, since it really is an excellent story with a few twists.
I'll get to the other 2 video games later when i play a bit more of Vagrant Story. Other than that, i am currently pleased with all the games i have been playing.
Resonance of Fate Impression (13-14 hours in)
Resonance of Fate is developed by Tri-ace, the company who does the Star Ocean series and made the cult classic Valkyrie Profile. Resonance of Fate takes a turn in the RPG genre by combining turn based and real time battle system mechanics. During a battle you can decide to do a "hero action" by using up a hero bar segment and this allows you to run to a point in the arena. During this time you can shoot, and jump; You are able to knock foes up the air and then do a smack down on them by jumping and shooting them down. The battle system is really quite fun and is the highlight of the game.
The story on the other hand though, is a different story. In the 13 to 14 hours i have played this game it is nearly non-existent. You merely play as 3 different mercenaries taking missions. The environment in the game is pretty neat though; it takes place in a post apocalyptic world where man now lives on a giant machine. Other than that, all i know is that the Old man Vashyron is a perv, the teen-aged Zephyr is a typical pissed off loner who hates the world, and Leanne is a ditsy young lady.
I just hope the game will get in to the story so i have an incentive to play it other than the battle system...
Dragon Quest 9 (40 hours in)
Dragon quest 9 is a traditional turn based RPG is has not changed from the roots at all. That's what i like about the Dragon Quest games, they haven't really experimented or deterred from their formula at all. This game is very similar to Dragon Quest 8 which is probably one of my all time favorite RPGs. One unique thing about this game though is that you can play with 3 other people and it doesn't detract from the game at all. Multi-player turn based RPGs usually do not work well since the second player is usually just sitting there 2/3 of the time and is only involved in the battles. The multi player in this though allows all the players to be where they want, and only participate in battles if they encounter one when they are all together, or if one chooses to jump in and help. It works surprisingly well and makes the game much more enjoyable.
There is not much to say about the battle system, except that you are able to unlock and change classes to get new abilities and such. As you level you get skill points where you can put them in to 5 different skills, the skills vary from class to class but the weapon ones usually are shared between multiple classes. This is what makes the game so addicting, because some of the skills carry over to other classes and the stat bonuses you receive also carry over.
The story in the game is quite basic, and isn't mind blowing at all. It does its job and moves the game through, but the dialogue can be and is very goofy which makes the game quite light hearted. In dragon quest 9, you play as a Celestrian, which are guardians of man kind. Each one is given a city to protect and the main character ends up being the guardian of Angel Falls. After being a guardian for awhile you received enough "Benevolessence" to give to the guardian tree of Yggdrasil in the observatory. The tree then bears the legendary fyggs, but before they could give these to the almighty the Observatory gets attacked, the fyggs became scattered, and you lost your wings. The story sets off with the main character trying to find the legendary fruit to give to the almighty.
So far, Dragon Quest 9 is probably one of the best games on DS competing with Pokemon for me. It has tons of extras in it, it is quite addicting, and it really is a well polished game.
Persona 3 Portable (15 hours in)
Persona 3 Portable is a port of an excellent RPG to the PSP. I loved the Shin Megami Tensei series and i own every single one that has come out on the ps2, DS, and PSP. Persona 3 Portable takes place in modern day japan and you play as a junior in high school. The neat thing about this version of the game is that you get to choose your gender, which actually changes some things about the game. If you play as a female you hang out with different people, the HUD and menus are all pink and yellow, instead of blue and yellow, and the music is different. It creates a whole new experience with the game that actually makes me want to play through the game again.
The latest Persona games use an unique system for the game. You have to hang out with people to be able to create more powerful personae. Its neat because it doesn't feel like its tacked on like some certain aspects in some games. But it has a nice polished feel, and its a good way to develop the main characters more as well.
As all Shin Megami Tensei games, this one uses the element system as well. In this one it is more laid back compared to the other games (nocturne and digital devil saga, you make one mistake you pretty much just lost the battle) and it saves all the enemies weaknesses if you scan them. Persona 3 uses a traditional turn based system but the characters abilities are determined by their persona. The Main Character is the jack of all trades being able to use any persona, while the supporting characters are stuck with one. The main highlight for P3P is that you can actually command your entire party, which is a nice change because the AI is not all that great and can be very frustrating.
The story is the same as Persona 3. You join the group S.E.E.S. which tries to eliminate shadows whom are slowly destroying the world by taking people's souls essentially. Each month their have been giant shadows attacking the city and you must stop them so the citizens will not wake up to a destroyed part caused by an anomaly. The story is much deeper but i do not want to spoil it or anything, since it really is an excellent story with a few twists.
I'll get to the other 2 video games later when i play a bit more of Vagrant Story. Other than that, i am currently pleased with all the games i have been playing.
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