• Tag Archives RPG
  • STAR RENEGADES

    Structurally, this game is similar to Slay the Spire: Traverse three semi-randomized branching paths capped by a static boss fight, fighting turn-based battles and collecting items along the way, concluding with a much smaller endboss level.

    As a roguelike, you’re expected to play through multiple times with different characters in order to unlock various features such as new classes, class variations, individual character bonuses, a larger pool of possible equipment spawns, and a few relatively expensive general ease of use buffs (e.g. additional merchants). Like StS it manages to avoid feeling like these unlocks are a grind or the main purpose of playing; it’s perfectly possible to win with the starting characters on your first playthrough. The endboss changing after every win is a particularly nice touch that provides a remarkable amount of variety.

    Combat is a pretty straight-forward affair with everyone (usually) getting one action a turn and each action having a different speed value which determines the action order. Where the strategy comes into play is that if you attack before your opponent, that attack will end up a guaranteed critical hit. Whereas criticals in most games are just a simple +% damage, here each attack has its own specific bonus and each critical hit also refills the equivalent of your mana pool (used for free actions or combo attacks). Which means making sure you attack before your opponent is essential to success. A task assisted by a stagger system which lets you delay an enemy’s action a certain number of times.

    All in all it provides a remarkably well balanced mix of randomization and skill. Oh, but do be aware that the style of humor is extremely irreverent (think Cosmic Star Heroine).


  • Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland

    Breaking with tradition, the 20th Atelier game is a continuation of a previous trilogy rather than the start of a new one. Fortunately, familiarity with the events there isn’t required to follow along here (though Ficus’ character arc won’t make any sense if you aren’t familiar with Atelier Totori).

    Mechanically speaking there’s nothing to complain about. The Alchemy system is solid, the combat is engaging, the exploration areas aren’t over/undersized (and subareas can now be traveled to directly), and it doesn’t take hours of grinding to acquire the best traits to put on your equipment.

    The game’s problems revolve entirely around its plot developments and character behavior: It features some of the most extremely cringey cutesy Anime bullshit you can imagine. Every other line of dialog is delivered with an exaggerated expression, a dumb pose, or both. It’s full of friendship power, event battles that act as though they were hard/dangerous when they weren’t, and extraordinarily dense idiocy. The character design is also uneven; Lulua/Ficus are purestrain Shoujo, Aural/Niko are purestrain Shounen, and Eva looks like an escapee from The Nightmare Before Christmas (also, the assorted generic merchants’ appearances don’t match their voices).

    I made it to the end despite all that thanks to a fondness for collecting things and crafting overpowered equipment… but it was a real struggle that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone who doesn’t happen to enjoy watching generic daytime magical girl shows.


  • Atelier: Mysterious Trilogy

    The first of this trilogy (apparently a sequel to the Dusk Trilogy if Logy’s appearance is any indication) is Atelier Sophie ~The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book~. It starts off very laid-back and slice of life-y, which isn’t really a problem. The problem is that the combat system and gathering areas feel unfinished and are kind of a chore to engage with. Combine that with having to grind requests to advance the plot and I ended up dropping it shortly after the previously mentioned Logy appearance.

    The second, Atelier Firis ~The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey~, reintroduces the time limit found in earlier Atelier games (you have a year to complete the ‘main’ quest; there’s no limit to continued exploration afterward)… except now time passes constantly. Simply walking around the map causes time to pass. That’s a hard no from me.

    Atelier Lydie & Suelle ~The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings~ is the third game, and much like Shallie it brings back a large number of characters from both previous games. The plot here is more self-contained though and not having played through those doesn’t seem to result in missing much here (Alt will be a mystery until his last friendship event triggers and the couple mentions of Oskar won’t make sense if you haven’t touched Sophie). There’s no time limit (aside from the repeatable/ignorable requests and one particular, very simple, main quest) and it doesn’t require any grinding to progress the storyline (though unlocking the True End does, effort I feel is wasted due to the conflicting messaging). The only problems are that the gathering areas are much too large (not lifelessly so however… with one notable exception which was presumably intentional) and pretty much everything relating to the Ice Palace painting is pretty bad.

    So the first two are skippable depending on your tolerance for, respectively, lack of direction and feeling rushed, while the third is quite good and has nearly all the elements of Ryza already in place.


  • Talisman: Origins

    This game is essentially just a limited version of the main game: There’s no multiplayer and you can’t create your own games.

    What it offers in exchange are a number of puzzle-like scenarios that incorporate both the default setup and the City, Highlands, Dungeon, Firelands, and Dragon DLC. Different scenarios involve different setups. So in theory you could use it as a demo to decide whether or not you want to buy those… but I just don’t see much value to be had there. As for its own clutch of DLC, they feature scenarios that involve content from some of the other base game extensions. So unless you’re an achievement hunting fiend those aren’t worth buying either (I briefly tried Beyond the Veil, which uses content from the Reaper DLC; it’s awful).

    Considering that you can demo the various DLC in the main game simply by playing multiplayer (only the host needs to have bought them; I got to play Cataclysm, Clockwork Kingdom, Ancient Beasts, and Realm of Souls that way and quickly realized I never want to interact with the latter two again), the only reason to bother with Origins is if either multiplayer isn’t an option or you simply don’t have the time to play full-length Talisman games.


  • Atelier: Dusk Trilogy

    It’s an incredibly good thing I didn’t start the franchise with this trilogy. One thing I’m particularly hostile toward in RPGs are arbitrary time limits, and both of the first two Dusk games feature just that.

    The first, Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk, has a 3-year time limit but basically no structure whatsoever as far as the storyline or plot development goes. This is an unfortunate combination. You can essentially visit areas in any order, which means it’s incredibly easy to do so in the ‘wrong’ order and miss the time-saving adventure equipment recipes… which is a serious issue when it takes half a day by default to search a single gathering point. Other issues would be that the plot developments are pretty bad, Ayesha is an ill-fitting protagonist (she’s of the ‘airhead older sister’ archetype), and the Wilbell, Regina, & Linca character arcs are all terrible.

    The follow-up, Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky is far better in most respects. There’s still a time limit, but here it’s structured into specific assignments with linear area unlocking. So long as you do everything at least once there’s no fear of missing something important or ever running out of time. Even better, the Alchemy system is far less obtuse and it’s actually possible to craft powerful equipment without going through extensively arcane reverse trait-inheritance shenanigans as in Ayesha. The characters are mostly better as well, although Escha is incredibly Anime, Lucille is annoyingly peppy, and both are on the shrill side of things voice-wise.

    Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea is the trilogy’s conclusion, and it heavily references the previous game (and moderately references Ayesha). Making it an exceptionally bad choice from a storyline-perspective to enter the franchise with. Mechanically however it’s a bit better with a much more engaging Alchemy system, active combat system, and most importantly: No time limit. And yet… it’s not much fun. There’s a soullessness to the areas and repetitive ‘life goals’ that just sucks all the enjoyment out of visiting new locations or killing monsters. Lotte being awful, the garbage plot developments, and some incredibly bullshit end-area bosses certainly don’t do it any favors either.

    The most interesting thing about playing these three games was watching the Alchemy and combat mechanics evolve into what eventually shows up in Ryza. I can’t recommended any of them, besides perhaps Escha & Logy with certain reservations, on their own merits.


  • Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout

    The Atelier games have been vaguely on my radar since the Escha & Logy Anime was released. More or less at random I decided to start with the most recent one, Atelier Ryza, without being aware it was the most recent one at the time.

    It was a bit of a shock when halfway through I discovered it was released last year… because it definitely doesn’t look it. Maybe it’s because it was designed specifically for consoles, or maybe it’s because the PC version is incredibly half-assed (no mouse support, though to be fair it did recognize my Logitech controller instantly), but whatever the reason it does not feel anything like a modern game (for comparison, Dragon Quest XI and Cold Steel III blow it out of the water on a purely technical level). That doesn’t mean it’s not fun though.

    It is absolutely fun and I ended up spending just under 50 hours beating it (Character Level 50, Alchemy Level 99 with everything crafted). Around 12 of which were spent pre-Tower crafting the best equipment… which resulted in hilariously wrecking the Great Elementals in ~5 seconds (the end boss took ~10 due to the second form). Combat aside, for the most part it’s a very laid-back slice of life type of game that unsurprisingly focuses on collecting, duplicating, and fabricating items. I even got some Recettear vibes occasionally from the various villager requests. Action-packed it is not and despite their dynamic nature (the only time the action pauses is during a Quick Action; otherwise everyone’s always attacking over one another) you’ll likely spend most of your time avoiding battles.

    The question now is whether or not to try out some earlier games in the franchise, or just assume this is the current pinnacle mechanics-wise and do something else.


  • Deus Ex: M△NKIND DIVIDED & Mary Skelter: NIGHTMARES

    The sequel to Human Revolution, Mankind Divided got an extremely hostile reception upon its release. Mainly due to its monetization aspects and what at the time was considered an overly heavy-handed depiction of police vs. activists… neither of which appear to be particularly egregious in retrospect.

    Sure the existence of the Breach minigame and QR codes is immersion breaking, but it’s not like you have to play it or use them to progress. The in-game depiction of police in the face of a legitimate threat meanwhile is, if anything, too restrained when compared to the ongoing real-life police response to imagined threats. Greater issues than either of those are the general clunkiness of the character interactions/movement, and the incredibly annoying energy system. Everything needs energy and there’s apparently no way to recharge it (beyond the basic minimum ‘1-bar’ level) aside from limited consumable items.

    Unlike Dishonored 2, while you can use stealth to get past any obstacle here, you’re equally able to go in guns blazing and play it like a conventional cover-based FPS. That should be a good thing, but instead it ends up clashing a bit with the highly non-linear layout of the various maps; going from peaceful exploring to bullets flying everywhere causes enough whiplash to sort of force you into a stealth mindset in order to keep things consistent. It’s a weird combination and I didn’t end up getting very far before uninstalling out of disinterest.

    And now for something competently different:

    When I first saw Mary Skelter: Nightmares pop-up on GOG, for some reason I thought it was going to resemble the dungeon portions of Tokyo Xanadu. As it turns out, that was completely offbase. Instead it’s a dungeon-mapping game like Elminage & Labyrinth of Lost Souls with an FFT-like job/skill system and a few galge elements. There’s a lot going on here in terms of character/equipment customization, to the point that (at the start of Chapter 2) I’m really not sure learning the upgrade systems’ intricacies will be worth the effort… particularly since the character interactions are so frequently cringe-inducing.


  • DISHONORED2 & DEATH OF THE OUTSIDER

    The sequel to Dishonored plays pretty much the same way while giving more freedom in the Chaos department. You’re no longer locked into the chaotic ending after killing a certain number of people, but instead based mainly on who you kill with quantity being very much secondary. There’s also a variety of endings depending on how you resolve the main missions.

    It’s meant to be played through at least twice, once as Emily and once as Corvo (and if you want all the achievements, those playthroughs will have a no power/power and high/low Chaos split). You don’t need to have played the prequel or its two DLC to follow what happens here, but those that have will benefit from quite a number of references (the Low Chaos outcomes are canon). For those that haven’t… just be aware that this is primarily a stealth-based game; the melee combat is pretty clunky and you’re not really meant to fight foes directly.

    The follow-up, Death of the Outsider, is more like a stand-alone DLC than a proper game. It’s roughly half the size with no collectibles aside from paintings, doesn’t feature a Chaos system, has automatic power upgrades/unlocks, and there are only two endings (wholly determined by your choice in the last mission). While it too treats the non-lethal path through its prequel as canon, oddly enough the lethal ending here comes across as far more natural than the non-lethal one. So while I can certainly recommend buying Dishonored 2 (assuming you like stealth FPP games) I have to suggest skipping Death of the Outsider unless it’s on sale for like $5.


  • DISCO ELYSIUM & ARA FELL: Enhanced Edition

    Ever since its release last year, I’ve heard pretty much nothing but good things about Disco Elysium. Yet, as with Tides of Numenera, despite buying it shortly after I had no intention of actually playing it. I’ve never been a fan of time limits after all and roleplaying a broke, middle-aged failure was not exactly high on my to-do list (and besides, the deluge of screenshots made playing effectively superfluous anyway since the gameplay is dialog and point/click-based).

    After playing for a bit last week I’ve come to the conclusion that all the praise is well-deserved and the screenshots are absolutely representative of the game. I’ve also confirmed that, despite that (and despite the time limit not being as important as it seemed at first), it’s just not the sort of game I enjoy playing. I like having active gameplay in my RPGs… even ones that end up 90% dialog. DE feels to me almost like an adventure game or visual novel.

    Moving on we come to Ara Fell, a throwback RPG Maker game whose setting brings to mind early Ys. I never played the original, but the itemization and leveling system was apparently (based on reading an early walkthrough) quite a bit different prior to this Enhanced Edition.

    While the innovative (for the genre) mana regen system is refreshing and the irreverent humor manages to avoid Cosmic Star Heroine extremes, like a lot of these games this one suffers pacing issues. The first three chapters are solid enough, but afterward you’ll soon run out of things to craft (making exploration mostly pointless) and the storyline quickly becomes infested with deus ex machina and questionable developments. Finishing it becomes a real chore. Is it worth the $15 non-sale price? Yeah, probably. Just keep your expectations low.


  • Pathfinder: Kingmaker – Beneath the Stolen Lands

    Since that first run through the stand-alone version of BtSL, I’ve played through the campaign once to get the Ironman achievement and then focused entirely on unlocking the Honest Looting, Memorable Moment, and Apocalypse achievements. None of which turned out to be very straightforward.

    The ‘Apocalypse Can Wait’ one is simple enough on paper… you just have to pray the random enemy/item generation works in your favor (I’m about to start the 20th run now and just have to kill the Captor/Captive one more time). ‘A Memorable Moment’ is a bit more complicated. I’m not sure of the exact requirements (like ‘Tricks of Time’ it apparently has an unmentioned perquisite), but it popped for me after dying to the Fallen Priestess when she was the last boss “blocking the path”.

    ‘Honest Looting’ caused some trouble at first since there’s apparently little to no useful information around regarding its requirements. As it turns out, it requires killing an exorbitant number of bosses/mini-bosses. At the start of this 20th run I’ve killed 77. You can check your own progress by extracting the player.json file from your save, opening it with a text editor, and searching for “vendor”.

    While playing on Normal difficulty my best was 60 floors (this was before I understood how the vendor inventories expanded), worst was 10 floors (damn elementals), and over the course of this odyssey I’ve experimented with quite a number of different character builds. Some notes:

    – Kineticist’s Kinetic Blade works with Vital Strike to bypass the Gather Power charge time (but doesn’t do extra damage)
    – Kinetic Blade doesn’t work with Attacks of Opportunity or Cleaving Finish (but does with Cleave)
    – Magus Spell Combat works with Flurry of Blows and Kinetic Blade
    – Sword Saint works with polymorph if you specialize in a relevant natural weapon
    – Sword Saint works with any Motherless Tiefling or Dragon Disciple build if you pick Bite as your weapon
    – Sensei’s Wisdom attack bonus works when armored
    – Sneak Attack ranged users are insanely good here thanks to the confined quarters (Grenadiers as well)
    – You can dual-wield throwing weapons with Two-Weapon Fighting for tons of attacks
    – There’s no need for a healer due to the abundance of potions
    – Browse the vendor stock before deciding on what team to use for a run
    – Try to avoid buff-intensive builds; yes you can rest frequently, but re-buffing every floor is time-consuming
    – Past the 30th floor golems (Greater Autumn & Golden) and Wild Hunt (Monarchs) become prohibitively annoying
    – Before the 30th floor never underestimate elmentals
    – Kill any Geokineticists you come across quickly
    – Stinking Cloud is a godsend against the Fallen Priestess and Wicked Chanter
    – Secret areas can spawn in a floor’s first room
    – It’s often possible to use Stealth to get through a floor with a solo character