-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
LTTP: Growlanser IV aka Angels Are Huge Assholes: The Game
- Thread starter RyougaSaotome
- Start date
RyougaSaotome
Member
The funny part is that when I bought it initially a few years back, I do remember starting it. I think I got up to the point where you find Remus, and for some reason I turned the game off and was like "NAH, NOT FEELING IT."
...whoops
...whoops
RyougaSaotome
Member
It honestly feels like this game never stops moving. It catches its breath, certainly, but there's always something interesting going on, or a character is always having a moment.
In the grander scheme of things, it sort of feels like a smaller moment, but that's what makes it neat. There's still this huge big story happening, but there are a ton of smaller narrative threads moving simultaneously that are all just as interesting. The game is doing a really excellent job of hopping from point to point without feeling cluttered.
Just got to the bit where Diana meets her uncle after you save him (and your old mercenary pal!) only to find out that he's lost his memories. It's the first time you really see her emote, which is neat.
In the grander scheme of things, it sort of feels like a smaller moment, but that's what makes it neat. There's still this huge big story happening, but there are a ton of smaller narrative threads moving simultaneously that are all just as interesting. The game is doing a really excellent job of hopping from point to point without feeling cluttered.
trailmix16
Member
the optional scene with diana after that is nice too
Kresnik258
Member
This is the game that's also on PSP, right? I seem to remember reading somewhere that version had done well for Atlus.
Lunarwhale
Member
this thread's getting me hyped to give this series a go, goddamn this game sounds great.
Is there a good translation guide of Growlanser 1 around anywhere? my japanese is. not good at the moment. Might skip to 4 for convenience and go back later anyways
Is there a good translation guide of Growlanser 1 around anywhere? my japanese is. not good at the moment. Might skip to 4 for convenience and go back later anyways
Box of Kittens
Banned
One of the things I love about the series is the politics. There's less of an emphasis on evil empires and more on conflicts arising between (or within) countries due to people pursuing their interests (albeit often somewhat driven by outside forces). Pretty much every Growlanser (and Langrisser, for that matter) has you forced to fight friends because you happen to be representing different sides in a war.
There's one posted at growlanser-realm.com (go to "Translations"). The same one should also be posted on GameFAQs.
trailmix16
Member
whats the best Langrisser?
Box of Kittens
Banned
Most people would say either Der Langrisser (remake of Langrisser II) or Langrisser IV is the best in the series. Personally, I'd go with Langrisser IV from both a story and gameplay standpoint. IV was originally released for Saturn, then for Playstation (with somewhat modified gameplay). The PSX version has a fan translation patch, so that's the version I'd recommend.
RyougaSaotome
Member
The bit with the
little girl? That whole shopping sequence was really cute.
I also managed to save my pal during that village battle, and the game went all "FATE HAS BEEN CHANGED" on me. That shit caught me way off guard.
That scene stuck with me after all these years, too bad you can't pair him and Diana together. The scene (not sure if spoiler at this point)
in which Diana tells him if he had died she would have been forced to burn the whole world down is amazing.
I really like Growlanswer's character writing, it gives the impression of an harem game (It certainly is to some degree), but the cast is surprisingly balanced and well developed for both sexes, tons of competent male and female characters and it doesn't try to make the main character look better than most of the cast.
Cell_Biology
Member
I wanna try out the series. Maybe I'll give IV a go and then I on the PSX
Shouta
Member
That's what I mentioned before about your actions having consequences in the story. A bunch of characters can survive, or die, depending on your choices. When you achieve one, it will tell you that fate has changed. If that message doesn't pop up, then things have turned out like before, and usually in a bad way.
RyougaSaotome
Member
I was shocked when I managed to
save my familiar after the battle in the castle. I'm guessing the only reason I even had the option was because I collected the two items that let the MC and her share each other's thoughts or whatever.
I like how it also lets you go and watch what could have happened. Glad I avoided that one. Hahaha.
Shouta
Member
Yep, I don't think that spoiler was in the original and it was rough the first time I went through it because I had grown attached. =(
RyougaSaotome
Member
Ouch. I could see that be pretty crushing, especially because it comes out of nowhere.
DarkLordMalik
Member
This thread has made me interested to play the game. I might own a copy of it on PSN but I am not sure. Is it Growlanser Wayfarer of Time since I own that one.
RyougaSaotome
Member
Yeah, that's the one.
DarkLordMalik
Member
Shouta
Member
It's crushing because there's an entire sequence of events that follow that and
the familiar that the team gets you in place of her original has her own bit of story. The MC is absolutely devastated at her loss and goes into a deep depression as I recall. It's been ages since I played the PS2 version though but that's what I recall
The MC apparently spends like a week or two doing nothing after that.
Not to mention that you can choose to never accept the new familiar with the consequences that brings
RyougaSaotome
Member
Whoa. That's intense as fuck.
Shouta
Member
It's worth seeing once just to see the content even if it's not the desirable outcome.
RyougaSaotome
Member
Okay, so I was up until 4 am last night playing (I should be editing).
Looks like there's some kind of bridge battle coming up. I feel like I once heard something about Growlanser IV and a bridge battle...
I love how pretty much every single country you've helped, you end up eventually facing in battle because of some bull shit happening up top. One of my favorite story beats in these sorts of games is when your own people hang you out to dry, and this game has done that MULTIPLE times.
Looks like there's some kind of bridge battle coming up. I feel like I once heard something about Growlanser IV and a bridge battle...
RyougaSaotome
Member
Sorry for the double post, buuuuuut
Holy shit those bridge missions were intense. They weren't super tough (I feel like I was prob a bit overleveled), but the whole sequence was pretty great. Especially the bit where you need to cross while they're fighting. The way they had Tricia come into play there was super cool, too. I assume that since she's a new character, they must have added that to the PSP version. Feels really natural and not out of place at all.
I'm still insanely impressed by how much is going on in this game, between the light town building elements, the insane amount of choice, and the dramatic battles.
Holy shit those bridge missions were intense. They weren't super tough (I feel like I was prob a bit overleveled), but the whole sequence was pretty great. Especially the bit where you need to cross while they're fighting. The way they had Tricia come into play there was super cool, too. I assume that since she's a new character, they must have added that to the PSP version. Feels really natural and not out of place at all.
I'm still insanely impressed by how much is going on in this game, between the light town building elements, the insane amount of choice, and the dramatic battles.
RyougaSaotome
Member
Seriously. It feels like the game evolves every ten hours or something.
Man, the last few missions have been super intense.
The big boss battle in the ruins with the mech and its many pods was a ton of fun. Also holy shit that flag defense mission was clutch as hell. You really have to blast those archers out of existence if you even want to have a chance at lasting more than a minute or two. And then after that it's basically a race to damage the commander enough to cause a retreat. Took me three times, but it felt damn good.
Every mission since the bridge stuff has felt super edge of your seat.
I suspect it would be like the newest Langrisser entry, sadly
IIRC wasn't the newest Langrisser made by a company that doesn't own the growlanser IP and had nothing to do with making the original Langrisser? Or am I misremembering?
Box of Kittens
Banned
Correct. V was the last Langrisser they had anything to do with. Everything since then (the Dreamcast game, the vaporware MMO, the new one) has been someone else. My understanding is that at this point the company that owns the IP is more than happy to just license it out to anyone who's willing to pay the asking price.
RyougaSaotome
Member
That's such a double edged sword. On the one hand, holy shit that new Langrisser was a pile of dog shit. On the other hand, it's entirely possible (if unlikely) that a good team could pay said asking price and produce something awesome.
RyougaSaotome
Member
Jesus.
Goddamn.
This first fight against the female angel feels IMPOSSIBLE. I'm getting killed by the casters before I can even fire off a shot. Everything is level 39+ and my entire party is at level 34. I could have sworn I was somewhat overleveled for the previous missions since I sort of breezed through them, but apparently not????
Goddamn.
RyougaSaotome
Member
I can't even get my magic to level 1 before two of them fire off and annihilate my party. lol
I'm thinking maybe I need to some magic defense stuff cuz they're doing like 300 hp of damage a pop.
RyougaSaotome
Member
Yeah.
What I realized is that I hadn't really been efficient with learning new abilities and taking the time to actually understand how the whole ring weapon system works. So I've spent the last 3 or 4 in-game hours equipping and learning new skills for all my characters, stuff like HP Up, MP Up, etc. Everyone is level 39 now, but more importantly they all have a much broader array of skills and magic at their disposal.
I probably should have done this way earlier instead of 27 hours in, but welp. lol
RyougaSaotome
Member
YO I HAD IT WRONG WITH THE THREAD NAME.
ANGELS ARE NOT IN FACT ASSHOLES.
ANGELS ARE NOT IN FACT ASSHOLES.
NOR ARE THEY ANGELS.
RyougaSaotome
Member
Oh god.
I think I'm at the last vacation/furlough, and I have to pick a character ending and I DON'T KNOW WHO TO PICK AAGGGHHH PERSONA SYNDROME AGHHHSwdefrtg
I think I'm at the last vacation/furlough, and I have to pick a character ending and I DON'T KNOW WHO TO PICK AAGGGHHH PERSONA SYNDROME AGHHHSwdefrtg
RyougaSaotome
Member
Yeah, I had to put my Vita down for the night because to be honest, I legit don't know who to go with. I've gone down these evolved side quest paths and stories to save these characters' lives and such, and I'm way too attached.
I went in thinking Alicia because I found the whole star crossed lovers/friends thing really charming from the very beginning, but I also really like Diana, too? And lots others???
RyougaSaotome
Member
The final boss is stupidly hard. T_T
Doesn't help that I gotta do an entire battle (WITH A SECOND PHASE) beforehand, and I don't get to save or restock items. UGGGGHHHH.
Doesn't help that I gotta do an entire battle (WITH A SECOND PHASE) beforehand, and I don't get to save or restock items. UGGGGHHHH.
Shouta
Member
If it's the I'm boss I'm thinking of, it's stationary and you can actually snipe it. I actually recall cheesing the boss bad in the PSP version with the ranged characters, lol.
RyougaSaotome
Member
All right. I didn't want to leave this thread completely barren, but I also wanted to wait a little while so I could collect my thoughts on the game.
I have cleared Growlanser IV. I played the Japanese version, and it took me some 55 hours total. I ended up doing the new PSP ending (and got the character endings for the twins).
What a fucking ride.
I suppose I'll start with some of the bits that I wasn't too keen on.
Save Point Placement
This is probably my single biggest complaint about the entire game, and the singular cause of any and all headaches I might have experienced in my 50+ hours with it. A lot of times, difficult battles would be made frustratingly difficult not because I couldn't come up with a good strategy or ability set, but because of save point placement. I'll use the final set of battles as my primary example here because it's the freshest in my mind. It's a series battles (decently long depending on your level), but the final battle in particular has a pretty large set of fail states, including the death of the MC. The battle itself isn't actually that hard, but there's some trial and error involved because the situation keeps changing as you progress through it. Unfortunately, dying here tosses you back to the beginning of the first battle, which is a huge bummer because there is technically a moment inbetween them where you should be able to go back and save, but a character tells you you can't. It took me about an hour to get through everything (and then die to the final boss), which meant that if I wanted to test things out in combat, I only had a little time every day to make it worth it. It was definitely a bummer, and very frustrating because I could tell that it wasn't impossible.
That being said, there are only really a handful of times where this is a huge problem, and most of them are in the last quarter of the game.
The Music
This is less of a negative and more of a "I was indifferent to it" sort of thing.
The soundtrack in this game, while perfectly inoffensive, felt like a miss to me. The opening theme was fantastic, but everything after that felt largely forgettable, which is a bummer because I feel like a strong OST would have put this game on another level. This is pretty subjective, though.
The Characters
Time to talk about some of the positives! The cast of characters, by and large, are really wonderful and likable (outside of Leona who I was just whatever on). The pace at which they're introduced gives each of them time to make an impression, and even the new characters added in the PSP version felt like they were already there to begin with. A lot of their side stories feel really well integrated into the main plot, something I always with the modern Persona games did better. Growlanser IV basically has a social link system, only much deeper and more compelling in my opinion. Lovely as fuck.
The Story
Probably the thing that impressed me the most simply because I had ZERO expectations going into it. I had read nothing, I knew nothing, I felt everything. It was generally fantastic from point A to point Z, but I'd just like to direct your intention to a very specific, and fairly early, sequence in the game that blew my mind.
Wonderful. Not to mention the significant number of dialogue choices in the game, many of which have a real effect on how the story flows and who lives or dies. I'm shocked more games haven't done this nearly as well as Growlanser IV did.
The Combat
This was another pleasant surprise. While the random battles were mostly whatever (good for grinding), the actual missions were super cool. I was expecting more typical SRPG setups, but instead a lot of them were timed with interesting objectives. Things like racing across the map, taking out specific targets, protecting people, etc. The way everything is just constantly moving reminded me a little bit of an RTS mixed with more classic JRPG combat mechanics. I dug it.
Overall I just had a really wonderful time, and I've found it hard to play any other story heavy games since clearing it. I picked up Radiant Historia PC on the 3DS, got five hours in, and now find myself putting it down because it's not enough.
So instead.
It is time.
Goodbye my sweet, beautiful boy.
I'll see you all in the next LTTP thread.
I have cleared Growlanser IV. I played the Japanese version, and it took me some 55 hours total. I ended up doing the new PSP ending (and got the character endings for the twins).
What a fucking ride.
I suppose I'll start with some of the bits that I wasn't too keen on.
Save Point Placement
This is probably my single biggest complaint about the entire game, and the singular cause of any and all headaches I might have experienced in my 50+ hours with it. A lot of times, difficult battles would be made frustratingly difficult not because I couldn't come up with a good strategy or ability set, but because of save point placement. I'll use the final set of battles as my primary example here because it's the freshest in my mind. It's a series battles (decently long depending on your level), but the final battle in particular has a pretty large set of fail states, including the death of the MC. The battle itself isn't actually that hard, but there's some trial and error involved because the situation keeps changing as you progress through it. Unfortunately, dying here tosses you back to the beginning of the first battle, which is a huge bummer because there is technically a moment inbetween them where you should be able to go back and save, but a character tells you you can't. It took me about an hour to get through everything (and then die to the final boss), which meant that if I wanted to test things out in combat, I only had a little time every day to make it worth it. It was definitely a bummer, and very frustrating because I could tell that it wasn't impossible.
That being said, there are only really a handful of times where this is a huge problem, and most of them are in the last quarter of the game.
The Music
This is less of a negative and more of a "I was indifferent to it" sort of thing.
The soundtrack in this game, while perfectly inoffensive, felt like a miss to me. The opening theme was fantastic, but everything after that felt largely forgettable, which is a bummer because I feel like a strong OST would have put this game on another level. This is pretty subjective, though.
The Characters
Time to talk about some of the positives! The cast of characters, by and large, are really wonderful and likable (outside of Leona who I was just whatever on). The pace at which they're introduced gives each of them time to make an impression, and even the new characters added in the PSP version felt like they were already there to begin with. A lot of their side stories feel really well integrated into the main plot, something I always with the modern Persona games did better. Growlanser IV basically has a social link system, only much deeper and more compelling in my opinion. Lovely as fuck.
The Story
Probably the thing that impressed me the most simply because I had ZERO expectations going into it. I had read nothing, I knew nothing, I felt everything. It was generally fantastic from point A to point Z, but I'd just like to direct your intention to a very specific, and fairly early, sequence in the game that blew my mind.
When the MC is eventually kidnapped by his own army and experimented on with the rest of his people, I could not believe what was happening. NPC's I'd been making it a point to chat with over the course of the opening 15 hours or so were suddenly being put through some of the darkest shit, and I really wasn't expecting that. I didn't think they'd die in such tragic ways, and that kind of made for a tone that I never would have seen coming. The writing here is really sad but fantastic, and I found myself feeling hostile toward said country for the entirety of the game just because of that singular event.
Wonderful. Not to mention the significant number of dialogue choices in the game, many of which have a real effect on how the story flows and who lives or dies. I'm shocked more games haven't done this nearly as well as Growlanser IV did.
The Combat
This was another pleasant surprise. While the random battles were mostly whatever (good for grinding), the actual missions were super cool. I was expecting more typical SRPG setups, but instead a lot of them were timed with interesting objectives. Things like racing across the map, taking out specific targets, protecting people, etc. The way everything is just constantly moving reminded me a little bit of an RTS mixed with more classic JRPG combat mechanics. I dug it.
Overall I just had a really wonderful time, and I've found it hard to play any other story heavy games since clearing it. I picked up Radiant Historia PC on the 3DS, got five hours in, and now find myself putting it down because it's not enough.
So instead.
It is time.
Goodbye my sweet, beautiful boy.
I'll see you all in the next LTTP thread.
Box of Kittens
Banned
I agree with pretty much everything you said here, positive and negative. The save points annoy me because the series started out being generous with opportunities to save then became more restrictive as time goes on. It is definitely frustrating to lose a battle and then have to go through a bunch of easy battles to get back to that point, although that is something of a general RPG complaint. Likewise I agree that the soundtrack is fine but not really all that memorable. Leona is definitely the weak link of the main cast and I would go as far as to say I actively dislike her as a character, both for being annoying and for undermining the only decent bit of character development she has.
The combat really is quite a big highlight. One of the things I have always loved about the Growlanser series is the design of the story missions, and IV has the best designed missions of the series. I remember a real feeling of accomplishment upon completing certain missions, such as the bridge battle and the flag battle.
It really is too bad that this game got so little recognition when it was released. It's a real gem.
The combat really is quite a big highlight. One of the things I have always loved about the Growlanser series is the design of the story missions, and IV has the best designed missions of the series. I remember a real feeling of accomplishment upon completing certain missions, such as the bridge battle and the flag battle.
It really is too bad that this game got so little recognition when it was released. It's a real gem.
Similar threads
- Poll