What games are you currently playing?

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

An hour into Xillia so far and freaking loving it.

Milla is awesome ^_^


Also interesting to see a variation of FFX's Sphere Grid - this marks the first time in a Tales game (AFAIK) where you can custom-level your characters. Milla seems built for offense so I'm focusing mainly on INT & STR (in that order) but I wonder how that'll change.


Lastly, I kinda wish they'd stop saying AGI "greatly affects movement speed" - I remember getitng well over 800 AGI in Vesperia at max level (I think I pushed it well over 1k on Repede) and it made absolutely no difference. Only skills and items seem to ever change how fast or slow you move. Oh, and does anyone else have trouble reading the subtitles, or have my eyes really just gotten that shitty?

[Nestama]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I've been playing Earthbound ever since it became available on the WiiU marketplace and I gotta say... I'm loving it (why did it take you this long to release it in Australia, Nintendo). I've also been playing Far Cry 3, Pikmin 3 (100% story mode) and some Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on the side, but Earthbound has been my main focus. I'm near the final boss :>

I really, REALLY hate Ghost of Starman, though.

[Nandito]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Playing Skullgirls PC Beta.

Sums me up pretty nicely:

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Ok so a few things about Xillia thus far;

- Cast is greatly improved over Vesperia - the initial 3 people I've met (both protagonists and 1 extra) are all quite likeable in their own right and voiced well. I liked Yuri a little better than Jude, but at least Jude doesn't run around carrying his scabbard in that stupid way Yuri did... (I chose Milla's story btw)

- Crafting is gone, thank God. There are still materials you can gather, but they're clearly visible as shiny sparks on the overworld, regenerate over time, and are marked on your map after discovery. Rather than crafting items, materials are donated to shops for points (can also donate gald and buy items to get points, though materials are more cost-effective and can earn bonus point multipliers) which when you earn enough points, raise shop levels unlocking new items and earning you discounts. It's kinda like FFXII's Bazaar system, but without the bullshit confusion (no guessing at what items to sell and how many etc. to unlock stuff).

- Linking in battle is AWESOME! You learn this very, very early on - pretty much right after the 1st "dungeon". Basically, in battle you press the D-pad in whichever direction of the character you wish to Link with (for reference, right now Milla is up, Jude is Left and Alvin is Right so I hit L/R to Link with them, up to cancel) and then you move together in battle. When attacking, your partner will automatically position his/herself behind the target and attack from behind which means greater chances of critical hits. Additionally, you split TP costs for abilities and attacking after an art gives TP back to both partners. Furthermore, your partner will watch your back and attempt to counter any enemies that try to hit your backside. There's more to it but ya'll can just play the game for yourselves


So all in all, I'm really loving this game. My only "gripe" so far, was that the Intro doesn't play until after that 1st dungeon (no cool title screen movie) and they didn't do a localization job for it like they did with "Ring a Bell" for Vesperia, it's strictly in Japanese. "Progress" also isn't as catchy I find, but still entertaining ^^

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Another small update: So shops are universal in Xillia. Essentially, my shop levels determine what I can buy and for how much, regardless of where I go. I actually am rather fond of this system as opposed to the traditional "you can't buy X item until you go to Y town."

[Icemage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Picked up Tales of Xillia and Dragon's Crown for both PSVita and PS3.

Dragon's Crown is fantastic. Awesome artwork (even if overly sexualized), undeniably good gameplay, loot everywhere (Diablo 2-esque loot system!), and every character plays differently - and even the same character played by two players can play vastly differently depending on what skills you invest in, what moves you rely on, and what equipment you bring to the table.


Icemage

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I wanted to get Dragon's Crown this week, but then, I wanted Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, too, but really don't have the extra money for either. I have a dozen other handheld games I could be finishing so... yeah, I'll wait those out a bit longer.

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I know nothing of DC save the name - can you give me the gist of it?

I'm on a serious RPG kick lately, bouncing between Borderlands 2, Xillia, and soon FFXIV: ARR once P4 starts up.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Dragon's Crown is the spiritual successor to Capcom's Dungeons and Dragon arcade beat-em-ups and also games like Golden Axe, but with fancier 2D art. Its by Vanillaware - the folks that did Odin Sphere, Grim Grimorie and Muramasa: The Demon Blade and are known for making good games in that genre with cool art.

[Icemage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I know nothing of DC save the name - can you give me the gist of it?

I'm on a serious RPG kick lately, bouncing between Borderlands 2, Xillia, and soon FFXIV: ARR once P4 starts up.

Take Golden Axe, add RPG elements, D2-style loot, a hub world, and pretty art style, plus online play = Dragon's Crown.


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

hmm...

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

add RPG elements

Can we come up with another term for this? Maybe just call it "stats" or something, because simply revealing the back end numbers of an item in a game doesn't make it a Role Playing Game. It's something that's been bugging me for a while and a lot of games and gaming media outlets keep using the terminology irresponsibly.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Can we come up with another term for this? Maybe just call it "stats" or something, because simply revealing the back end numbers of an item in a game doesn't make it a Role Playing Game. It's something that's been bugging me for a while and a lot of games and gaming media outlets keep using the terminology irresponsibly.

The problem with that is that its got quests, stats, classes, gear and its inspired by Dungeons and Dragons. If you're going to try and divorce this game from "RPG elements," then you're going to have to do so for a lot of games people like and consider RPGs.

Games like Mass Effect, for example.

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

It's more of a generalized complaint than me bitching about Dragon's Crown.

I do however want to tell people that a lot of the games they call "RPGs" aren't actually RPGs. We've reached the point where the term "RPG" has become synonymous with "there are numbered stats in this game". I mean Jesus Christ, we have first person shooters calling themselves RPGs now. Do you understand how fucking crazy that is?

[Taskmage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

If anything what is needed is a new word for the things we call RPGs. "Role-playing game" is incredibly non-specific. Before D&D there may have been very few games in which you put yourself in the place of an imagined character, but nowadays that applies to almost all of them. Other than that, a stat or experience-based character progression system is just about the only thing all descendants of D&D share, so that's what gets labeled as "RPG elements." What other elements would you say a game must have in order to be considered an RPG?