This also doubles as Dengeki Online's review of the game.
Is this thread worthy? So many people were down on the game and I'm not sure how much more convincing people need to know that this, as an RPG, is the real deal.
This also doubles as Dengeki Online's review of the game.
Is this thread worthy? So many people were down on the game and I'm not sure how much more convincing people need to know that this, as an RPG, is the real deal.
Seems to me to be new thread worthy. Glad to see its getting some big recognition here, and really any bit of news like this helps. I really want to see people give this game the chance it deserves. It won my game of the year for similar reasons as listed above.
Seems to me to be new thread worthy. Glad to see its getting some big recognition here, and really any bit of news like this helps. I really want to see people give this game the chance it deserves. It won my game of the year for similar reasons as listed above.
This also doubles as Dengeki Online's review of the game.
Is this thread worthy? So many people were down on the game and I'm not sure how much more convincing people need to know that this, as an RPG, is the real deal.
If NOA plays their cards decently, this can perform better than expected (and probably better than in Japan) depending on when we get it. I'm expecting a big rebranding of the game to sell it just as a Fire Emblem game, despite being developed by Atlus.
This also doubles as Dengeki Online's review of the game.
Is this thread worthy? So many people were down on the game and I'm not sure how much more convincing people need to know that this, as an RPG, is the real deal.
I'm cautiously looking forward to the western release of the game. How do you guys estimate the chances that they just subtitle everything and bring it over as it is? Just asking because in the light of localisation changes in recent releases by Nintendo I'm pretty sure they won't leave it untouched.
On the other hand the whole thing has such a J-culture vibe to it that they would have to edit half the game in order to market it to a mass audience.
I'm cautiously looking forward to the western release of the game. How do you guys estimate the chances that they just subtitle everything and bring it over as it is? Just asking because in the light of localisation changes in recent releases by Nintendo I'm pretty sure they won't leave it untouched.
On the other hand the whole thing has such a J-culture vibe to it that they would have to edit half the game in order to market it to a mass audience.
Treehouse has said at E3, that this project will be a big challenge because they have to find voice talent that is able to sing as well. So with that said they are planning to go through with an English localization, with one of Treehouse's members tweeting how they didn't realize the composers worked on some of the things she enjoyed.
I've posted it before but I'll requote it. It's up to them who they get and who they can contract, singers like Aimer and Kylee are able to do english and japanese but since they are licensed vocalists, they cost quite a bit.
In terms of music and english localizing. It will probably be similar to how Kingdom Hearts redid Utada Hikaru songs, except Nintendo needs different singers since the JP seiyuu do not sing in english like Utada Hikaru does.
Actually I'm not even going to bother trying to make lyrics in English not because I I don't speak it well enough but realized how different the stressing was in versions for Kingdom Hearts was when reading the lyrics for the songs. Even though they used the same instrumental behind the song. Like the way Miyu Irino sings Under the Sea in that game was different from how it was in the English track for Final Mix.
When they do this game in English it might end up being similar situation, the gist of the song is there but the way it is performed and delivered might be different due to different stressing and words for each verse. If they do the songs like that then there shouldn't be any issue.
I'm cautiously looking forward to the western release of the game. How do you guys estimate the chances that they just subtitle everything and bring it over as it is? Just asking because in the light of localisation changes in recent releases by Nintendo I'm pretty sure they won't leave it untouched.
On the other hand the whole thing has such a J-culture vibe to it that they would have to edit half the game in order to market it to a mass audience.
I really don't know much about how NOA localization goes and all other than the news I've seen lately from games like fe fates and xenoblade chronicles x, as I've not played a western version of a Nintendo game in over a decade, but really I don't think there's much to worry about localization changes and such for this one. The game doesn't have any real super controversial things in it to change. And they already had worked on changing costumes for the Japanese release that toned down one version from an original trailer (although I wouldn't be surprised if they did very slight alterations there that wouldn't be a problem I think for most people).
The big question will be how will the music be handled. If they went a subtitled way then there is no problem. But if they are doing a full on localization which sounds like they are, then getting the music right will be a huge challenge I believe. Taking Japanese songs and turning them to English is always an extremely difficult task. Sometimes you get good results like the English version of Real Emotion in FFX2 or Kiss Me Goodbye in FFXII. Other times you get much worse versions like Kingdom Hearts Simple and Clean (such a mediocre version of the original Hikari in my opinion).
If they can nail the songs they will be fine. The rest of the game shouldn't be a problem for localization at all.
This also doubles as Dengeki Online's review of the game.
Is this thread worthy? So many people were down on the game and I'm not sure how much more convincing people need to know that this, as an RPG, is the real deal.
I don't think this actually earned the award, did it? They're promoting the game because the end of the "Dengeki Online Award 2015" fan survey draws near on February 28, 2016, right?
Since AmiAmi didn't have the Bravely Second artbook and apparently the EU version that comes with the Collector's Edition is censored/missing art, I canceled my order from AmiAmi and bought this from Amazon JP:
Thank you Kinokuniya and now I have 336 pages of amazing, beautiful toi8 art. I really wish I could just take pictures or scan and share now but I can't and I am not allowed to. The art in here phenomenal with so much concept art, key frames, eyecatches, the comments too.
I see the effort the team put into it and there is some art that could have been in the final game and in a potential sequel.
The Fire Emblem Mirage designs are outstanding too, Chrom and Kain look great.
I'm so happy with this game and I can only hope as a fan that I get more of it.
It includes scenario script and dialogue for the game, sadly there is only photoshoot section for 4 of the voice actors, so no Yoshino Nanjo.
They could have made some of the pieces full pages, but overall this is great stuff.
Thank you Kinokuniya and now I have 336 pages of amazing, beautiful toi8 art. I really wish I could just take pictures or scan and share now but I can't and I am not allowed to. The art in here phenomenal with so much concept art, key frames, eyecatches, the comments too.
I see the effort the team put into it and there is some art that could have been in the final game and in a potential sequel.
The Fire Emblem Mirage designs are outstanding too, Chrom and Kain look great.
I'm so happy with this game and I can only hope as a fan that I get more of it.
It includes scenario script and dialogue for the game, sadly there is only photoshoot section for 4 of the voice actors, so no Yoshino Nanjo.
They could have made some of the pieces full pages, but overall this is great stuff.
I, too, got my book as well as the vocal collection. Really glad most of the songs have full versions, really enjoyed them when they came up in the game. Now I just gotta get the lyrics copied somewhere so I can sing along (by myself, of course).
But yeah, the book is PHAT. A shame we didn't get to see the range of expressions drawn for each character in the game. All those angry faces.
Still need to do my write-up, just been, uh, busy. Ha ha.
Long overdue review, and I haven't bothered to play a new game on Lunatic yet. Will edit if I feel like changing stuff.
Story:
The story is pretty much your standard, generic save-the-world plot that kicks in towards the end of the game except with an entertainment industry theme twist. The writing isn't the greatest either, what with the shoe-horned cliches, suspension of belief, and the protagonist that everyone loves for whatever reason they can come up with.
I was a little disappointed that the story didn't tackle more things related to the industry. It felt like it barely scratched the surface and most of the story revolved around Tsubasa, so the other characters' felt a bit lacking as far as their contribution to the plot is concerned.
Characters:
I liked the characters a lot, especially Touma with Tsubasa as a runner-up.
Atlus did a pretty good job with the side stories as they delve into the motivations of every character in the agency and made me like them quite a bit. I just wish they were longer. On the other hand, the problems I had with them, which applies to the concept of social links in general ala Persona, are how they're pretty self-contained stories that don't affect the story in any way and how they're primarily one-to-one affairs. For a group of friends in an entertainment agency fending for their lives from otherworldly beings, you'd expect them to be more involved with each other instead of only the forced busybody of a protagonist.
Which brings me to Itsuki, who for all intents and purposes, is a complete blank state, mostly when it comes to his place among the cast in the entertainment industry. He does have a semblance of a personality, laidback and goes with the flow, but other than that, he's nobody special with no aspirations at all. Except of course for being the MC that everyone comes to love for one reason or another. Personally not a fan of this kind of JRPG protagonist in the slightest since I hate the concept of self-insertable MCs, but whatever. In retrospect, Itsuki would make for a good Producer.
As for the Fire Emblem characters, unfortunately, they were severely underutilized. They were just there. Barely any interactions between Mirages, either. They get some focus in the side stories, but that's typically second to the human characters.
Gameplay:
I had a blast with the battle system. There's quite a bit of strategy involved since every character and monster have weaknesses and strengths you have to take advantage of. There's also the weapon synthesis system which can alter said weaknesses and strengths. That said, the progression is fairly linear with the weapon upgrades, so the customization possibilities aren't really that deep.
Similar to Persona, you have a set amount of slots for skills and you have to decide whether to learn or overwrite a skill. If you already have the skill, you can plus it to make it a bit stronger or cost less to use. This helps with the strategy since you can focus different characters on different strengths to take advantage of weaknesses,
There's also class changes for each character's Mirage, but they're pretty limited (two different paths per Mirage, which you can switch between any time). The classes give you the impression that they're focused on a particular strength, but it's hard to imagine it mattered all that much. It doesn't help that stat distributions when leveling up are random.
The sessions, ad-lib arts, and the double arts were pretty fun. Sessions are consecutive attacks by the other party members (both the ones in use and in reserve) when you strike a weakness. Ad-lib arts and double arts are stuff you get in the middle of the game, but they're character specific moves that happen on chance depending on the skill you use. My only complaint is that the sessions can't be fast-forwarded since they're pretty repetitive after doing them for the 100th time. You also don't get to do full-cast sessions until way late in the game.
The dungeons were pretty varied and I liked that they had some weird gimmick to them (some of the stages were super annoying though). They also have warp points at different points in the dungeon, so that helps with back-tracking or going back to town to heal up and upgrade.
The "Topic" system was kind of a disappointing system. I felt like it could've been utilized more and it doesn't help that Itsuki barely says anything except for the occasional prompts you can select. I was hoping for more idle and group chat between the members of the talent agency, but there weren't too many which was a bummer. Each character has their own set of icons, so I found that pretty cute.
The menu screen is pretty great, as you'd expect from Atlus. Very comfy. However, I hated how the skill list was a huge combined list that couldn't be filtered unless I missed the option somewhere.
Music:
Definitely the highlight of the game for me. As you progress through the story and the side stories, you're treated to some CG and animated videos of the characters either singing, acting, or something else. I would strongly recommend buying the vocal collection if you can, since every song has a full version except for the last song.
Others:
Load times for the physical disc are painful. If you don't care about anything physical, I would suggest getting the digital version.
Overall Thoughts:
I would recommend this game if you're not looking for a JRPG with a strong narrative. Like most Atlus games, they do a good job of making the characters likable. The only problem is the lack of equal screen-time for them all. The turned-based gameplay is very enjoyable, albeit repetitive. There definitely could have been some streamlining for parts of the game, especially the Bloom Palace stuff. Even worse when the physical load times are so long.
All in all, I would say give the game a try if you want something light-hearted and fun. Don't expect too much from the story or the Fire Emblem characters and just enjoy the colorful world Atlus built up for the next 30-50 hours of your life.
Also, I recommend keeping Tsubasa in the summer dress permanently, because she's extremely cute in that one.
Thank you for the read. I'm adverse to going digital because I've had a physical copy ordered for over a year at 30% off when the placeholder price was lower. Looking at the load times, I'll deal with it for the sake of what I'm saving.
Thank you for the read. I'm adverse to going digital because I've had a physical copy ordered for over a year at 30% off when the placeholder price was lower. Looking at the load times, I'll deal with it for the sake of what I'm saving.
load times disc vs digital https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS2Q6lNigyY
-Game startup 15 sec vs 9 sec
-Savefile load 13 sec vs 10 sec
-Map travel 13 sec vs 9 sec
-Opening start menu 2 sec vs 1 sec
-Entering building/store 5 sec vs 3 sec
-Exit building/store 9 sec vs 5 sec
-Battle transition start 9 sec vs 5 sec
-Battle transition end 5 sec vs 4 sec
Yeah that's what my price is. Too many games coming out for me to double dip, though I'd like to support the game like that if I could. I don't think they'll go back and improve the load times for physical with things like XenobladeX's data packs (in that case those came out with the game in Japan too).
The cd really is awesome! Was listening to it a lot yesterday. Really wish there was a longer version of the fire emblem theme. I wonder if they ever made one. I guess we will find out at the concert in May (can't wait for that). But I'm glad to have a nice version of the song from the game itself. Had that one on loop especially.
One thing I found annoying. Amazon Japan had two listings for the cd, same price but one came with a poster for first printings and the other didn't for some reason. I ended up getting the one that didn't come with the poster as I noticed too late. Very lame they did it that way.
If anyone wants to preorder the game, Gamestop is letting you do it now and you can choose pick up in store as an option. Then go check up the store later to check on your preorder. Mind as well do it now in the case issues come up later. Amazon preorder not up yet.
Stock doesn't seem super limited since there is 2 retailer selling at the moment, might be available at other American retail like Best Buy and Target later.
Preordered this from amazon when it went up. Was the original reason I was most excited to get a Wii U when it was announced. It didn't turn exactly like I thought it was or hoped but i've been hearing great things about it and like the anime macross type stuff. I'm going to get a couple of the new Nintendo selects like Pikmin 3 and I already ordered a TP amiibo edition with amazon discount in case it sells out. I don't have a Wii U yet but i'm going to get these games I want before they disappear and then get a Wii U for black friday or maybe a NX if its BC.
Hey folks, I'm new around the GAF but I just wanted to say this OT is amazing!
Love all the impressions I've read for the game and super psyched to get it this summer. Really great to have a place for both positivity and constructive critistim too.
Played a bit of a marathon session today (marathon being like 3 hours). Still in I think Chapter 3, but I went and did Eri's first side quest, Touma's second and Tsubasa's second.
Game is getting better as I continue playing it <3
After a whole three months i'm finally finishing the game. I've already made almost everything possible. Every side story, most of the carnages and radiants and all that, but damn, the last boss is though. Not even that though, but it's a fight that takes so much time that ends being a chore.
But now i get why some people said that Tiki rocked at the end. It really did.
Well, i just beat the game. To quote Barry "FINISHED, DESSS"
It's hard to make the post on par with the game, since i've played it for three months and forgot a lot of stuff, but i will try.
It's not the best rpg i've played, but it certainly is a really, really great one and one of the bests. Ever since it's reveal i was waiting anxiously to play (unlike a lot of people, seeing it become something completely different from Fire emblem was good to me, since i wasn't that fond of the project initally, but i really liked what i saw after the re-reveal) and i wasn't disappointed at all. In fact, it even surpassed my expectations.
The story is completely shameless in it's crazyness and that's lovely. I think maybe half of the game is more of a monster of the week than the actual plot of the game and there is no problem with it, since it gives more time to spend with the characters and boy, what a treat they are. If there is something that makes the game truly magical, it's them. It's hard as hell to play without falling in love with everyone. Such a great cast.
It's hard to say much without going into the spoiler land, but Tsubasa is such a great girl. Her whole plot in the game is really well made and it's impossible not to cheer for her after her side stories, ALTHOUGH
i was surprised she didn't confess to Itsuki at the end of the game, since she is his biggest fan. I was really expecting it
. You don't even need the side stories to see more of Tsubasa (sometimes it even looks like the game is her story), but the other characters really shine on them. Touma is an awesome guy that just everyone to be happy, Kiria just wants to be herself in a world where everyone pressures her (i think Kiria and Yashiro are my personal favorite characters in the game), Eleonora wants to be the best actress possible, but got a lot of insecurities, Yashiro got a lot of problems that need to be resolved with his past and his inabilities to work with people... They are really great.
The only characters that i didn't care much were Barry and Mamori. They are not my type of chars.
And Itsuki... I think he's a good main character. I understand how people come to love him, since he is quite nice and heroic
i just don't know why every girl in the game wants to get into his pants. Yashiro is much cooler
.
The music is quite good, although i don't think there is a memorable battle song in the game (not even on the final boss. What a shame) the songs are quite competent and some of them are quite great and set the tone of the game quite nicely.
The gameplay is quite intense and deep. I started to play the game again on lunatic and going back to the scheme "Attack one time. Get attacked" is quite strange after doing 15+ combos at the end of the game. The system is really well designed as an rpg, since even if you grind, there might be an unlucky moment where an enemy just gets the right attack on the right character and everyone bangs on you. It feels unfair at times, but also keeps the challenge alive. The final boss at the end is a master at doing this, which sucks, since the battle takes an hour or so, but also gives much more pleasure when you win.
Also, i liked how the game gets harder to grind after a while. At the end, most of my characters were at similar levels, even if i haven't used them much (my prefered team were Itsuki, Tsubasa and Kiria, but also used Eleonora and Touma some times. At the final boss, i used everyone with no problem).
The lore of the game and it's connections with fire emblem are deeper than i thought they were going to be when i started playing. I never was a fire emblem guy, but i know some stuff and i liked seeing that on the game. The world is small, but also quite alive with lot of stuff to do and it's a blast to see the stories you just saw translated into ads and gossips.
I really like rpgs and it's a shame that i don't have much time to play them these days. The game needs to be really good or i end dropping it just because of the lack of time. It took me a lot of time to beat this, but it was worth it. I can't compare with the rpgs of these days, but for a guy that played a lot of those back in the PS1/PS2 days, this one is really one of the greatests and i'm jealous of the western people that will have the chance to play this game for the first time in a couple of months. You are not going to be disappointed.
I'm not entertaining esuteru and 2ch rumors. If something comes out of it that would be great. It's great to see people audition and work their way into the voice acting industry.
I love the game and I would like to see more. I just rather not get burnt out thinking something might happen that won't. Especially when CD sales are there to recuperate costs associated with funding such a big project.
The fact that the series is still getting things from cads and such is leading me to believe that it might be having some invisible legs in japan, I cant really accept that it would sell only 30,000+ in japan especially with it being called such a good game by everyone.
Just started playing this game and I'm getting Persona vibes from the menus and fonts, etc. Actually makes me excited to see how Persona 5 has further evolved from this and Catherine. Haven't played any Fire Emblem, but I think Atlus has captured the Atlus part lol.
Got the Wii U Bundle version and installed the DLCs. Is it game breaking in any way to use the DLC costumes and quests on a first play through?
I'm liking everything so far from the battle system, art style, world, etc. Tsubasa makes some strange faces, but she's charmingly weird.
Probably the only thing I'm not liking is how wonky the Wii U is about everything versus say a PS4 in regards to loads, screenshots, etc.
The fact that the series is still getting things from cads and such is leading me to believe that it might be having some invisible legs in japan, I cant really accept that it would sell only 30,000+ in japan especially with it being called such a good game by everyone.
