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Yeah, Second Chance writeup delayed again. A bit under the
weather the past few days.
Anyway, let's get right to it, we've got
lots of content to cover!
- Michael
"Wheels" Apps
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This Edition's Contents:
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CONTENT PART DEUS
The current rumor is that an Etrian Odyssey 2 remake
for the 3DS is coming. I never played the original,
only joining the series on 3DS, but I would definitely play
this if true. Is the second game worth experiencing in
its original state?
Wheels' Comment
Etrian Odyssey 2
is the only entry in the series I've yet to play
in any capacity. I joined the series late and Etrian
Odyssey 3 had just released when I
finished up the first game. Seeing as the first
game is pretty close to the second, I saw no
need to try it before playing the third game.
The second title seems to have a mixed reception
from fans: some seem to think it improved upon
many issues of the first, while others don't
find it much good at all. I'm sure if it does
actually get remade, Atlus will turn it into a
fine game regardless. Perhaps we should both
fire it up and compare notes?
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Okay, fine. You want me to talk about the side Final
Fantasy games I skipped over for the most part last
time. I can do that - if you put Maureen O'Hara into
an RPG! Be nice, she's 93 and still going!
Wheels' Comment
Who? Dang it I
thought you'd let me avoid IMDB from now on! I
dunno, let's say a dialogue-based Miracle on
34th Street RPG where you have to save
Santa. There you go!
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Apparently you wanted Final
Fantasy Tactics thoughts. Well, okay... I still
say seeing things is much easier in Shining Force III
because the camera can be rotated to any direction, instead
of four isometric viewpoints like it is here. Also,
yes, not being able to go back after choosing to move was a
stupid flub that someone should have fixed early on.
That there game sure had a good variety of battles though,
and I definitely had to pay attention most of the
time. Even when I knew it was coming, Wiegraf nailed
me but good the first time (though the second part of that
was fairly easy - I guess I got lucky with quick charge
times to take out what's-his-name that Wiegraf turned
into). I never got Cloud, since the limited party size
and the awesome people who join you anyway were more than
good enough to do the job. I came to it much later
than most and was not blown away, but I definitely see where
its reputation came from.
Wheels' Comment
The viewpoints are
easily Final Fantasy Tactics' one huge
flaw. I never got Cloud either back in the
day, and really if you look at it the
powerful characters the game gives you to use
somewhat undermine the joy of putting together
your own powerful team. Granted you don't have
to use them, but it is a lot harder if you
don't. Maybe it's time for an updated and
rebalanced Final Fantasy Tactics remake?
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Might as well address its two sort-of sequels while we're
here... Tactics Advance I remember being an amazing
time sink. Instead of going out and doing things on
the streets of Vienna, I was playing that game on my old GBA
SP while waiting for a couple of friends to wake up.
The story was nothing (except a girl getting gray hair in
elementary school being concerned about her having to dye it
- THAT was her horrible personal dilemma???) memorable, but
pumping my team up was awesome. I even liked the
judges. Same with the DS game, another amazing time
sink, though I managed to avoid doing EVERYTHING for this
one.
Wheels' Comment
I played a
ridiculous amount of Tactics Advance back
in the day. My parents got me a GBA SP with that
game and boy did I get a lot of use out of that
gift. Pretty much your exact experience by the
sound of it. I still haven't played a ton of the
sequel, something I've never been able to
explain. It's probably past time for me to dig
into it.
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Never played any of the Crystal Chronicles
series! Or the Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon!
Or, um, what else... Dissidia!
Wheels' Comment
I may have to fix
that for you. You have provided a ton of
content, perhaps a gift of some Crystal
Chronicles is in order. Of course I'm
guessing you don't have a GameCube or Wii which
prohibits access from the best game in the
series.
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Now deep into Suikoden V, I'm suffering through the
alarming inability to speed the text along. Really,
this is the fast speed? What other game actually makes
you sit through the text gradually unspooling on the screen
and doesn't let you hurry it along? Combine this with
the load times and I've probably spent a couple extra hours
with it already. It's good though, don't get me
wrong. I just wish the technical issues had been
smoothed over.
What it makes me reflect upon though, especially as it's the
last one I have to finish, is how unlikely Konami is at this
point to continue the series. The Suikoden
world probably could have sustained another three or four
games, possibly more, before all the True Runes and lands
had been visited. It's not gonna happen soon
though. Something tells me Konami's financial straits
aren't so strong that it can support the development of
another, especially after the DS and PSP spinoffs didn't set
the charts on fire.
Wheels' Comment
Though Suikoden
V didn't sell as well as the previous two
entries, it always seemed very odd to me that
they almost seemed to give up there (despite the
eventual portable spinoffs). As for the
technical issues with V, they can be
quite annoying. If only they could get these
games on PSN to alleviate those load issues a
bit. Still, despite all that, Suikoden V
is a great game and one that clearly showed the
Suikoden series should have continued.
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Soon I shall begin Dragon Age: Origins. What
tips do you have for the neophyte?
Wheels' Comment
The first thing to
understand is that mages are absolutely the best
class in the game. The other two classes can't
really do much without them. So prepare to have
at least one mage with you at all times. Other
than that, just explore the world and characters
and have fun. If you're playing on PC be wary of
the higher difficulty levels.
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Why hasn't a Knights of the Old Republic 3 been seen
after the sale of LucasArts? MMOs do not scratch that
particular itch, not for me!
Wheels' Comment
A very good
question. Old Republic does have good
single player stories by all accounts. I could
see another dedicated single player RPG doing
quite well though. Perhaps the new relationship
between EA and Disney in regards to Star Wars
will allow this sequel to happen?
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The odds of being able to play an English Dragon Quest
VII on 3DS are pretty low now. Do I dare try to
tackle that humongous thing on the PS1?
I can't come up with anything else right now, so enjoy your
probably final content mass from me!
JuMeSyn
Wheels' Comment
I would highly
recommend the original version of Dragon
Quest VII despite its issues. It's an
interesting game, with a lot of cool stories in
the various locations you visit. I don't want to
spoil anything about the story, so just grab a
copy and give it a try! I'll probably be playing
it soon myself.
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Well, Mr. Greased Wheels, I'd better make sure you have
enough content for your finale in this position. Thus,
we have to have even more, just in case you wind up
impoverished this summer, right?
For instance... a new Shining Resonance thing is
coming for the PS3. Just like those 3 PSP titles, you
could easily import it if you cared to. Aren't you
eager, after all the revisions this series has gone through,
to see what its first PS3 incarnation will be like?
You know you are!
Wheels' Comment
Why must Sega keep
slapping the Shining title onto things?
Seriously? I know some of them have turned out
to be pretty good games, but it just makes me
annoyed. Call it the jaded Sega fan effect.
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A few weeks back i put up a review of The Denpa Men 3:
The Rise of Digitoll. The battles and story -
you know what those are like. I think. It's that
method of acquiring characters that I think deserves a
widespread reminder, so that future developers who want to
use such an unorthodox approach learn from the mistakes seen
here.
Wheels' Comment
Oh dear, Denpa
Men.
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First off: while I can appreciate the idea behind making the
player find unique wireless network signatures in order to
have new characters pop up, in practice it meant I had to
whip out the 3DS constantly when I went somewhere to do
something else. Lemme tell ya, there's nothing quite
like being on a bus or in a parking lot flailing your 3DS
around to make people avoid conversation. I probably
would have tried it if stuck in a long line somewhere, and
the results would have been even more impressive to
behold. Oh, and in case you think I do that for the
sheer fun of it, remember that this is the only way to get
new characters. Fun, right?
Wheels' Comment
Is this something
that would make more sense in a Japanese city?
Really it just sounds very annoying no matter
where you are. An interesting idea, but perhaps
best reserved for special characters or other
optional content?
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Oh right, right, as was raised in a forum comment, there is
another way. It was never explained in the game so I
don't consider myself stupid for failing to realize it
though. See, there's a building into which you can
go. After a warning that you should try to find good
lighting conditions, up pops the display for the 3DS
camera. The goal is apparently to photograph QR codes,
and they can translate into characters in the game.
What counts as a workable QR code? I have no
idea! The game is so vague on this that I could
possibly photograph random UPC codes around the house and
get a bunch of worthless characters.
JuMeSyn
TO BE CONTINUED...
Wheels' Comment
Well that sounds
like a better solution, had it actually worked.
I mean, I'm all for doing interesting stuff with
new technology but developers need to be careful
about how this stuff is used. There's plenty of
good ways this could have been implemented, like
the ability to get new Miis through sharable QR
codes. I guess the best thing I can say is at
least the game didn't require you to go around
photographing people to get new characters?
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Wrestling Time
I am so tempted to write the outline for a pro wrestling RPG
now. Or an RPG focused pro wrestling company. Either or.
(Yes, someone reads the hot topics.)
-Shaymin
Wheels' Comment
Please do! I really think it's a
great mix of genres that we're severely lacking.
Good wrestling games generally let you make your
own characters, and it seems like it would be
great if you could then build up the skill of
those characters as well. That's not even
getting into the story potential for such a
game. Someone needs to make something like this!
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Top Tweets
Wheels' Comment
Yeah I know I'm
somewhat underleveled, was just cool to finally
get there. Plus I'm sure the castle is a great
place to grind. It does seem somewhat strange
that I should be underleveled at this point
though. After all, this is after I was able to
collect all the best gear available and get
everything required to make it to this castle.
Almost seems like the game is missing a dungeon
or something! I was able to go in and get the
best sword despite the tough monsters. I'm sure
the remakes are better balanced, something I'll
be investigating in the near future. Since this
picture was taken I have gained a level, and I'm
nearing another levelup (which will get me
healmore) so I'm moving right along. I think
I'll give the Dragonlord a try soon!
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Hot Topics
Here are some hot topics I've seen around
the net:
- Has the combined popularity of both Mario RPG
series caused the recent experimenting in the past two Paper
Mario games?
- Do you miss the Dragon Warrior title or is the
original name for the series best?
- Why has Square-Enix only released one of the iOS Dragon
Quest ports in the West?
- Do you smell what the Rock is cooking?
See you next week!
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