Final Fantasy Type-0 – Final push!

fftype zero eminaFinal Fantasy Type-0 is still a mess, but it’s an enjoyable one now that I’ve gotten the hang of the battle system. I’d even be done by now, but the final mission needs me to be level 36 IIRC, and everyone apart from King is 30-31. A word of advice to anyone thinking of playing this game: don’t try to level everyone equally. Spend the first few hours trying them all out, then focus on two or three, but no more than five, that you’re confident you can control in a pinch. Stick with those guys and use them all the time. If things are bad enough that all five of your controllables can’t survive, abort the mission and start again.

If you follow my advice, with any luck you won’t end up like me, having to spend hours running around slooowly grinding up levels just so I can finish the game without trouble. It is utterly ridiculous how slowly the levels rise in this game, even when you’re fighting enemies out of your league. In most games, you take down eight lv. 39 mobs with three lv. 30 characters and you expect a level up, right? Or at least half of one, if the game is really stingy. In this game it barely makes a blip on your EXP meter. Ridiculous! So start the process early by cutting your party down to size.

Back to what I said at first: I really have figured out the battle system. Shoot, shoot, roll, roll, shoot, shoot, roll, roll. If an enemy gets too close, smash it with a Blizzaga Bomb. If a Kill site shows up, hit it. Map a good healing item to the Select button and use it if your usually-trusty party members aren’t fast enough with the Curaga. That’s the strategy I’ve been using with King and Cater, my two mains, and that’s what I’m planning to finish with. For support I’ll be taking Rem along with her high MP pool and her reraise spell. I hope that works well as a final party, because I absolutely do not have the energy to level anyone else up.

(Btw, I figured out the button presses too. You don’t hold triangle then add circle. You press down on both of them at exactly the same time. It’s easier than it sounds and works pretty well. But I haven’t used eidolons since I was forced to summon Ifrit early on, because things are working out too well.)

I can’t comment too much on the story, because knowing Square-Enix they’re saving all the twists for the endgame. In any case, it all seems linked to the Fabula Nova Crystalis world they created with FFXIII and its sequels, and since I haven’t played those, I’ve been foundering in the darkness the whole time. Despite the copious notes and glossary in the library, the game doesn’t explain a whole lot about how the world works. It took me a while to figure out l’Cie and what was so special about them (I actually had to look it up on the net), and that’s just for starters.

I have plenty more to say about Type-0, both good and bad, but since I’m so close to the end I’m going to just finish it. Then we’ll talk.

Etrian Odyssey IV Demo – Can I have the same game, but without the FOEs?

etrian-odyssey-iv-legends-of-the-titan-demo-impressionsI know that’s like asking for Call of Duty without the guns, but the FOEs are really cramping my style. When I think Etrian Odyssey, I think cutesy art, hand-drawn maps and FOEs, and I really hate the last two. And I knew I’d hate them, that’s why I’ve avoided the Etrian Odyssey series all these years.

Anyway, I don’t know how many hours I spent on Etrian Odyssey IV because it’s a demo, but the bulk of my party reached level 8 and I explored all of Old Forest Mine (killed those filthy Baboon FOEs too) and quite a bit of Lush Woodlands (killed the Cutter dead). My party was made up of a Fortress, a Landshneckt, a Sniper, a Medic and a Runemaster, all girls. I also upgraded my weapons and armor a few times, kidnapped lots of grazing animals from the world map and leveled up a number of skills. Thanks to all that, I think I’ve got a good feel for what the game has to offer.

My verdict: I would gladly play an Etrian Odyssey with auto-drawn maps and no FOEs. In fact I think I did play such a game, and it was called 7th Dragon. It was pretty good, too. For this demo I deliberately picked Casual Mode, which allowed me to experience the game with a minimum of stress, but if they had an Ultra-Casual mode without the FOEs, it would be a definite buy for me. Are the FOEs that much of a dealbreaker? In a word, yes. I can’t relax and enjoy my dungeon-crawlan and grindan when there are implacable homicidal super-mobs lurking around every corner. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Atlus actually expects me to provoke those bloodthirsty nutcases and then run away with their hot breath at my heels in order to progress? How about NO, does NO work for you?

Do please go on, this is most interesting →

Aoi Sora no Neosphere (2) – Second half was a chore

neosphere nanoca and crewI forced myself to finish Aoi Sora no Neosphere a few hours ago. 17 hours, 100% reconstructed, nearly every item in the game made. The sheer length of a single playthrough precludes any replays any time soon, so I’m slightly disappointed I didn’t get a better ending. Especially since I finished with 100% of the city reconstructed, I would have expected at least a thank you from the royal palace and a nice CG or two, but nothing. From the FAQs it sounds like I have to visit Wonderland with Elincie if I want to trigger anything other than the Normal ending, but my save files are too close to the final deadline for me to make it.

Still, I’m not going to complain too much this time. Neosphere is one of those games where objectively-speaking I can see the quality, but I can also categorically state that it’s not my kind of game. The visual novel : sim game balance was skewed way too much in favor of the former.

Despite being marketed as a town-building game rather than as a visual novel, Aoi Sora no Neosphere is definitely a game you play for the story and the characters. Any alchemy and sim elements added are just for whiling away the time while waiting for the next bit of story to unlock. I had all segments of the country at 100% by December, and I submitted the necessary papers to the castle to 100% the country shortly afterwards. The remaining 4 months of the game were just torture.

Do please go on, this is most interesting →

Aoi Sora no Neosphere (1) – Too much talking!

aoi sora no neosphere_frontI like item crafting games, the more full-bodied, the better. RPGs with crafting are a dime a dozen, but Gust pretty much has the market cornered on “Here, make items for 40 hours” games. I love Gust and all, but it’s nice to see takes on the genre (if you can call it that) from other companies.

Which brings me to Aoi Sora no Neopshere: Nanoca Flanca no Hatsumei Koubouki 2, known in English as Neopshere of the Deep-Blue Sky. Developed by Kogado Software, Kumasan Team and Nippon Ichi Software, Neosphere came out in 2007 as the sequel to Aoi Umi no Tristia, the first game starring Nanoca Flanka and her team.

I tried to play Tristia about 4 or 5 years ago, but the hour-long save-free prologue turned me off entirely. This time the prologue has been divorced from the beginning of the game, meaning you can dive straight into the game and pick up the story as you go. Since I am somewhat enjoying Neosphere, I might go back and play Tristia one day.

So, who is Nanoca Flanka and why do we care about her? She’s the red-haired loli on the cover. That’s probably all some fans needed to see to pick up the game, but we have higher standards than that. Nanoca is the genius alchemist granddaughter of the genius alchemist Prospero Flanka. She has been sent to the floating land of Neosphere to help them recover after a world war. When she gets there, she finds herself caught up in a power struggle between the loli queen and the not-loli-at-all Council of Elders. No points for picking which faction she sides with. Now Nanoca has to rebuild Neosphere with her alchemy while sidestepping political interference and helping put the Council in their place for good.

Do please go on, this is most interesting →

Played a little more Final Fantasy Type-0. It’s still a mess.

PIC1Last time I posted I was 5 hours into Final Fantasy Type-0, now I’m at the 10 hour mark. I still don’t know what I’m doing, but whatever it is it’s working, because I’ve completed two more missions. C ranking and pitiful money for both, but completion is completion. A few notes.

– The story is boooriiiing. Nothing’s haaaappeniiiiing! Byakko invaded Suzaku. Suzaku is fighting back. Suzaku has been fighting back for the past 10 hours, with no end in sight. Boring! Move on already!

– Also I hate battles where the boss shows up and we obviously beat him to a pulp, but then he goes flying off while gloating, “Mission Accomplished!” Every RPG is allowed exactly one such scene, and Type-0 just used up its quota.

– For some reason, someone at Square thought it would be a good idea to allow level 99 monsters to wander the world map, just because. I wish I could find that someone and feed them my fist, just because.

– I can’t get the hang of the button presses. I’m supposed to press 0 + Triangle to summon an eidolon, but I press and press and press and nothing happens. Until I press long enough and get lucky, but that’s after like 20 failed presses, nearly getting me killed.

Do please go on, this is most interesting →