Splash Wave
Member
What's the trick to getting longer combos?
So what exactly is the difference between Semi-Auto and Manual control modes? I didn't really notice too much of a difference when I first tried Manual mode, but I didn't really try it out for more than a couple battles. Is there any advantage to one mode or the other?
What's the trick to getting longer combos?
I was thinking about picking this up, but I'd rather wait for a deal on it. Best Buy is sold out or I would've got it through the tiered discount through Nintendo Zone. My Best Buy was pretty much sold out of every 3DS game and every Best Buy around me has it on backorder.
Anyone know if they're going to restock it? My gamestops have it... but I'd rather not venture there. (unless it's a good deal)
Had to restart a new game after my 11 hours on my first save. Realized I missed a sidequest with a very short opportunity window. Sigh.
Getting through the beginning is actually fast if all cutscenes and skits are skipped.
Can you turn off the voice acting in this version? Because I don't want to hear Yuri Lowenthal screaming at my face for so many hours and such.
Got myself a review copy on the 13th but because of work I picked it up from my post office late and wasn't able to start on it till today, gotta say I'm liking much more than Tekken 3D, but I was playing it side by side with the PS2 version and saw some odd inconsistencies between the two.
They made a poem for the back of the candy box
And finally me playing the two versions side by side
Agreed.... although in this case it could be argued as some sort of experiment, given the 3DS is widescreen AND expanded rather than cropped.ewww don't stretch 4:3 games!!!!!
ewww don't stretch 4:3 games!!!!!
There's still the issue of FPS in battle, higher resolution, and personally I thought the game looked washed out on my 3DS compared to the TV. If loading weren't an issue the only reason to get TotA on 3DS when you already have it on PS2 would be portability, and if the loading doesn't bother you then may as well pass.I've played it, and I really don't understand where the complaints are coming from. Compared to the MGS3D Demo, this is just nitpicking.
There was a side-by-side comparison of the 3DS version with the PS2 version, and the latter had way longer loading times.
The 3DS version is the way to go.
Had to restart a new game after my 11 hours on my first save. Realized I missed a sidequest with a very short opportunity window. Sigh.
Getting through the beginning is actually fast if all cutscenes and skits are skipped.
There's still the issue of FPS in battle, higher resolution, and personally I thought the game looked washed out on my 3DS compared to the TV. If loading weren't an issue the only reason to get TotA on 3DS when you already have it on PS2 would be portability, and if the loading doesn't bother you then may as well pass.
EDIT: I'm not even sure why this went to the prior page when I clearly looked in this thread. Well, still worth posting.
It probably IS dependent on the TV, but given you can actually change settings on a TV and whatnot I'd give the nod to PS2 there. And the overworld DOES run better, but I had hoped it'd be closer to perfect than it actually is. And if nothing else they could've sped up the rate L/R spin the map around.The overworld runs better and I remember the PS2 version looking more washed out.
But yeah, no need to get this if you own the PS2 version... it's a port, after all.
And the party AI options don't seem to be as good as Vesperia (which was kind of bad to begin with) about setting options that make your companions just fuck off and run away while you exploit free-run to deal with the bad guys
I always feel sad how this game was overlooked back in the day due to mediocre reviews. What does it take for a JRPG to score 9's in this day and age?
I always feel sad how this game was overlooked back in the day due to mediocre reviews. What does it take for a JRPG to score 9's in this day and age?
Can someone explain a bit about FOF to me or point me somewhere that will explain how it works? After getting the brief in game explanation I have never been able to pull it off even once, and I just got my ass handed to me by Gloomietta
Find places where there should be real depth, and try closing one eye then switching the other and see how much things actually shift relative to how far they are from the camera. At best it does an acceptable job in cutscenes and makes text boxes pop up if you like that, but there's several opportunities for wow factor that are ignored (battle transition) then areas like the flower field at night near the start of the game and a tree top view in one of the early towns lack the depth they should have. Whether you like the effect anyway or not it's definitely not utilized as well as it could've been.Yea, I'm loving this version of the game! People say the 3d effect isn't good, but i disagree! Considering i only got about 90 percent through the ps2 version I'm excited!
In fact, I'm not sure, but I suspect you can always link into an Arte that can be FoF Changed if the field appears at your feet. For example a Slag Assault -> Rending Thrust -> Devil's Maw combo might be possible with Super Chain. Slag Assault makes the FoF, Rending Thrust moves Luke forward into it, Devil's Inferno FoF Changes with a Sunlight Chamber. Normally this wouldn't be possible because Slag Assault and Devil's Inferno are both Arcane Artes. Sadly I didn't get around to trying many of Luke's combos on my PS2 version run years ago.
Got myself a review copy on the 13th but because of work I picked it up from my post office late and wasn't able to start on it till today, gotta say I'm liking much more than Tekken 3D, but I was playing it side by side with the PS2 version and saw some odd inconsistencies between the two.
I'm having trouble and getting trounced by the 2nd set of bosses. That girl at the top of the haunted castle with her animal buddies wipes me out every time! Any tips? I'm lvl 11, do I need to grind?
The problem with the AI is twofold: 1) They really don't stay out of melee range, even if you set them up that way. Jade, with full TP, with all of his spells enabled, set to the far left on the Strategy screen, with Fonic Artes as his Action, will often begin a fight with, for instance, a Sword Dancer, by running up from the back line and using his normal attack for three damage before he gets one-shotted. Tear, when left to her own devices, will run into melee range and then use Pow Hammer. And 2) Frankly, I need them to stay out of melee range when they don't have TP. Running away from enemies and doing nothing at all contributes more to the party than running into melee range to deal one damage, and soaking up all of the healers' time and TP.Set position to farthest left, Artes only, disable all melee Artes. For Tear enable Pow Hammer so she has something to use when everyone's healed. Now there you go, nobody will approach the enemy unless they're out of TP.
IMO Abyss's AI is better than Vesperia's solely because the computer physical attackers will do more than one normal attack or Arte at a time.
Fatal Strikes don't really encourage skillful play as much as they encourage memorization and spamming one type of move.
To me the whole point of random battles is to experiment with your Artes, AD Skills, combos, and strategies, so I just switch to Normal for them.
The problem with the AI is twofold: 1) They really don't stay out of melee range, even if you set them up that way. Jade, with full TP, with all of his spells enabled, set to the far left on the Strategy screen, with Fonic Artes as his Action, will often begin a fight with, for instance, a Sword Dancer, by running up from the back line and using his normal attack for three damage before he gets one-shotted. Tear, when left to her own devices, will run into melee range and then use Pow Hammer. And 2) Frankly, I need them to stay out of melee range when they don't have TP. Running away from enemies and doing nothing at all contributes more to the party than running into melee range to deal one damage, and soaking up all of the healers' time and TP.
The AI in this game is really, really bad. It's pretty pathetic when the easiest way to beat Arietta on Hard is to just let your party die and then stay dead, while you control Guy and run around sneaking one combo at a time on her monsters until they're dead. Followed by soloing Arietta despite the fact that her Physical Defense is so high that your attacks deal 1-3 damage each, and she has 4500 HP.
Definitely disagree on Fatal Strikes. The quickest way to fill the meters was not to spam one attack over and over again, but to be familiar with which colour worked best on each monster type, and to coordinate quick combos with your whole party. Ultimately, though, it gave you an alternate method to defeating enemies besides simply brute-forcing through all their HP and defense. Against some enemies it was more convenient than simply beating them down, and against some enemies it was less, and part of learning the game was finding out which did which - similar to MP Kills in Star Ocean 3.
And yeah, you probably wouldn't notice if Hard Mode is out of whack if you're only turning it on for boss fights. The more important aspect of it is that it gives the standard encounters fangs, such that they are a continuous drain on the player's limited resources (namely, HP/TP/consumable items). It's pretty easy to get through just the boss fights on Hard, since playing the standard encounters on Normal leaves you flush with cash and easily able to buy all the equipment upgrades available, plus keep yourself fully stocked on Gels and Life Bottles (which you don't typically have to use during the actual dungeons).
So how long is Abyss anyways? I didn't get this far in the PS2 version so I can't say, though I'm guessing I'm at about the half-way point. 20 hours in and -.Got to Chesedonia for the third time, the reveal from Mohs that Natalia apparently isn't the actual princess, followed by a quick visit with Asch at the Oasis before heading off to the Zao Ruins
Can you explain what you mean by inconsistencies between the two? Are you just talking about experiencing firsthand the stuff that's already known, like 30 FPS in battle and seemingly increased jaggies, or something else entirely?
Lots of the details, some textures are changed, in that picture I provided I know you can't tell but the wood texture in the back was changed completely to something less detailed on the 3DS version, the lamp in the cart, in the PS2 version it's rounded (okay it has edges but it was obviously trying to be round) while the 3DS version has fewer polygons which turns the lamp into a square, and lastly in the first town/area, the 3DS version is missing pedals floating in the air and swaying grass/corn stalks.
Just a lot of the little details are missing or textures look fairly blurry, I could forgive the lower detailed textures given how the larger cards would make an already small budget/small market game less profitable, but taking out effect details all together knowing full well the 3DS can handle them and they work really well with the 3D effect (like Namcos own Ridge Racer 3D). I feel if you're going to do all that work changing geometry/textures why not rework the simple effects you've already laid out in the original...
/off soapbox
Don't let that push you away from the game though, still works really well, if I wasn't playing it side by side I probably wouldn't have cared at all, and well... it's a really good JRPG.
What's the supposed problem with text? It looks fine.
What's the supposed problem with text? It looks fine.
There was a problem with the text?