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[Mejilan]

Probably gonna put this aside and take up Nostalgia, which I've been meaning to play since finishing Suiko Tierkreis not too long ago. Still looking forward to this, though!

 

[Volcynika]

What the hell?

I just attempted a boss fight for the second time

Spoiler

Naja, Rajiv, and a feral on the ship after the Botanical Gardens. The first time I almost won but just made some bad choices. Right on Rajiv's first turn he uses Voice of Chains (attack I didn't see at all the first bout), which deals heavy damage to my party and paralyzes all of them and they then wipe me out.

:/

 

[Freyjadour]

What the hell?

I just attempted a boss fight for the second time

Spoiler

Naja, Rajiv, and a feral on the ship after the Botanical Gardens. The first time I almost won but just made some bad choices. Right on Rajiv's first turn he uses Voice of Chains (attack I didn't see at all the first bout), which deals heavy damage to my party and paralyzes all of them and they then wipe me out.

:/

You are just getting started with that sort of thing. Every boss fight in the entire game is so horribly broken, imbalanced, and downright infuriating. Sometimes, you'll find a streak of luck and manage to sweep a boss before they do anything like that, but often that takes a few Game Overs.

I'm on what I assume is this last boss, and I'm probably not going to finish this. For starters, Agan does 7 damage per hit while Kyrie does 70-80 and Rhi'a does 150-200. Their stats are the same, their weapons are roughly the same, and each is using a Fire element on their weapon. Nothing in this game makes the slightest bit of sense. Then, the boss does around 200 damage per hit to my characters when they aren't Defense buffed, and I don't have the items to keep them so when it falls off. With Defense buff, it can rarely do above 5. Oh yeah, and it heals approximately 15-20% of its health per turn. And then there's the seemingly logicless number of attacks/spells a boss gets per Turn icon. I literally watched it do 12 actions on a single turn icon, without any sort of Delays. But wait! It has instant death moves in its 2nd form. I can't even begin to tell you how AWESOME those are when the boss has 3 Turn icons before my next character. Not to mention that the Turn Icon Display is almost entirely useless as it rarely ever shows what the real turn allocation will turn out to be.

So yeah, this game is bullshit.

Edit: Third attempt. Everything went fine until the last 10% or so of stage two. Boss kills Rhi'a and Agan, then slowly kills Kyrie over something like 8 delayed turns. Nothing I can do to prevent that, not a single thing. I'm done.

 

[jaundicejuice]

Wow, am I glad I held off buying this game.

 

[NeoZylom]

I don't get the second part of the last dungeon.

Spoiler

They told me to look around in the pink room, but I don't find anything. Also, when I try to go in other rooms, they are locked with doors :S WTH am I suposed to do?

Nevermind,

Spoiler

you have to go back in the first part ....

 

[Freyjadour]

I don't get the second part of the last dungeon.

Spoiler

They told me to look around in the pink room, but I don't find anything. Also, when I try to go in other rooms, they are locked with doors :S WTH am I suposed to do?

Nevermind,

Spoiler

you have to go back in the first part ....

Yep, three times!

 

[NeoZylom]

I don't understand anymore ...

Spoiler

I have the rectangular module 1,4 and 3. In the pink room they ask me for the block #4, isn't that the rectangular module #4?

Dunno you, but I would fire the guy who did the dungeon layers design in this game ...

 

[Freyjadour]

I don't understand anymore ...

Spoiler

I have the rectangular module 1,4 and 3. In the pink room they ask me for the block #4, isn't that the rectangular module #4?

Dunno you, but I would fire the guy who did the dungeon layers design in this game ...

Rectangle requires 4 total pieces, Diamond 4, and Triangle 3. Bad translation?

 

[NeoZylom]

I beat the last boss on my first try

 

[Freyjadour]

I beat the last boss on my first try

I am 100% positive you could go through that battle with few issues. But that is the inanity of the battle system.

 

[2DMention]

The Sands of Quirkiness
Full coverage on console, PC, MMO and tabletop RPGs.

by Kat Bailey | Jan 18, 2010 2:47PM PST
Tags: Nintendo DS Sands of Destruction (NintendoDS)

Sands of Destruction represents a bit of a conundrum for me. I can list out a dozen ways in which it's completely broken as an RPG. It tends to be one-dimensional, there are abilities and spells that are overpowered, and it laughs in the face of risk vs. reward. On a superficial level though, I'm enjoying myself, and I'm determined to figure out why.

At its heart, Sands of Destruction represents an attempt to streamline and modernize the ground combat found in Xenogears. The combat points are still there, but abilities are mapped right to "strong" and "weak" buttons rather than being activated by certain button combinations. It also loses some of the risk vs. reward by losing the ability to save up points and unleash a lengthy combo. Instead, more points are gained whenever 10 hits are strung together, culminating in a super attack.

Once it becomes possible to chain three attacks into a single combat point, those combos become more or less automatic, and every single battle begins to revolve around buffing the entire party with a spell that raises attack and going to town with combos. There are offensive spells, but they're only good for draining away valuable SP that could be better used for healing and buffs. The result is a system that has been called 'limited and boring' by people I respect, and it's hard for me to reasonably disagree except to say, "Nuh uh! It's fun!" I'm going to try though, so here goes.

In many ways, Sands of Destruction has a lot in common with Super Robot Taisen Original Generation: Endless Frontier (the dungeon crawler, not the game with the tactical robot action), and that ought to be a massive red flag. But while I found Endless Frontier's boss battles to be a pain, Sands of Destruction's fights are often tense and terrifying. That's exactly the feeling I want when I'm playing an RPG, and I think it's a good starting point for figuring out why I don't hate Sands of Destruction.

I think the biggest difference between Sands of Destruction and Endless Frontier is that the battles in the latter have a tendency to overstay their welcome. Barring some serious grinding, even lengthy combos will barely scratch the average boss. And grinding is a real chore in Endless Frontier thanks to a combination of powerful grunts, slow leveling and the very marginal improvement that generally comes with character growth.

Sands of Destruction speeds all of that up to great effect. Assuming you've properly distributed your points and purchased the right gear, it's possible to beat powerful enemies fairly quickly. However, bosses get combat points too, and they can string together some pretty nasty attacks. It wasn't uncommon for me to knock off more than half of a boss's HP with a single combo, only to find my party on the brink as well thanks to a withering barrage of debuffs, status effects and super attacks. Victory was dependent on maximizing my turns in such a way that my party could stay on their feet while dishing out the maximum possible damage.

That rule applies to pretty much any RPG, but Sands of Destruction has a very weird and interesting way of going about it. Since magic is tied to combat points, it's actually possible to cast a spell and attack in the same turn. Once chains are unlocked, it actually becomes possible to use a buff and launch an all-out attack with the same character. By allowing such a combination, Sands of Destruction seemingly throws away the question of whether to power-up, heal or attack, which is a bedrock of many an RPG battle system.

That's not entirely the case though. Since there's only one character who can improve attack and defense, the spell basically has to be cast when his turn comes around. However, there's a reasonable chance that your party has just been wrecked by the boss, which means you need to heal. You could heal and use a buff, but generally precludes attacking, and there's always the chance that another party member will die before they get the chance to use their new power. Not only that, the buff doesn't last very long, so it needs to be used while its available.

Now, none of this works quite as well as I just described. Unless your characters are really weak, bosses tend to have a hard time taking them down in a single round, so you're generally safe just healing and powering up. The point is that there are more variables at play in any given boss fight than it seems, and those fights move so quickly that you can barely catch your breath at times. I appreciate that in an RPG.

Having said that, I still think Sands of Destruction is broken. The 'quips' that you unlock throughout the course of the game are quite powerful, for instance, and there's no real limit on using them. Rather than making them specific to each character, it would been better if they had to be distributed amongst the entire party, with only a certain number of slots for each (admittedly, they would have to change the name at that point). It would have also been nice if Sands had taken a cue from Endless Frontier and made launching a super attack dependent on a power bar rather than how many hits are landed. It might have added more of a tactical dimension to the game, particularly if there were some reward for maxxing out the super bar for every character at once.

It always feels like it's teetering on the brink of becoming painfully one-dimensional, and I'm honestly still trying to figure out whether or not it ends up losing its footing and plunging into the abyss. I trust my instincts though, and my instincts generally say, "Hey, this is pretty fun!" Unless I'm completely crazy (possible), there must be some merit to these feelings. I guess I need to brood on it some more.

Anyway, no, Sands of Destruction is certainly not perfect. If anything, it's a B-grade 32-bit RPG, a "mutant echo of Xenogears" as Jeremy called it. But while the flaws are quite apparent, I think there's also something powerfully right in the emotions that come with the boss fights. If that feeling is the only thing that Sands of Destruction manages to nail, then I suppose it could do far worse.

Wow. Combat sounds broken. I may pass this up after all.

 

[ethelred]

Parish posted about it, too.

The discussion that cropped up in the wake of last week's Final Fantasy VIII musings have reinforced my awareness that polarizing game design can sometimes be great game design. The idea sounds fairly stupid on the face of it, I suppose: If half the people who play a game hate it, how could it be good? Yet in revisiting the decade-long debate over FFVIII, I find that the content of the arguments surrounding the game is interesting. While the "con" team has its share of people who simply don't like the game for perfectly good reasons, a significant percentage of people who criticize it don't quite seem to understand the game -- or, at the very least, they don't seem to be taking it on the terms its developers intended. They approach the combat system from the wrong direction, they get bogged down by habits carried over from other RPGs which prove ineffective here, they write off the cast based on surface appearances or on general Internet hive-mind perceptions. The "pro" team has its foibles, too; there are an awful lot of people who will admit no fault in the game, or who try desperately to come up with insane rationalizations for its failings out of some misguided sense of chivalry. On the whole, though, the game's fan base takes the game as it is, accepting its flaws while praising its strengths and reveling in its uniqueness.

So which side is right? Is FFVIII a ruinous mess of a game, or is it actually a commendable work? Obviously, my opinion falls into the latter camp, but not without justification. (Or so I'd like to think, anyway.) This seems a case where a game's polarizing nature speaks well for it: The creators did something unconventional in the name of their collective vision for the game. Their experimental efforts didn't always pan out for the best, but they were more successful than not. Gaming is a medium increasingly dominated by safe, complacent design in name of profitability. That Square would follow up its most successful work ever by something that broke so many accepted rules and practices was gutsy.

This is one of those things I have to keep in mind when I review games; I may not always like an off-the-wall or laterally designed game, but I think it's important to be able to recognize the intent behind it. God Hand, for instance, isn't necessarily something I think is fun. That's not because it's a lousy creation; it's because God Hand a loving homage to a genre and style I don't really enjoy. (See also: Bayonetta.) Just because a game bores to me to tears doesn't mean I think it's crappy... I just means I duck out of reviewing it.

On the other hand, you have Order of Ecclesia, a game in a genre and series I love -- it bores me to tears, which is probably a sign that something about it terribly wrong. In theory, I should like Ecclesia, but in practice I find the developers' decision to take the standard Metroidvania template and boost the difficulty to be poorly executed, since their attempt revolved around cranking up enemy stats rather than smarter level design or trickier AI. Being forced to chip away at the same stupid enemies I've been breezing through for two decades doesn't make them more interesting, it just slows the pace, which in turn causes me to look around and realize how stagnant the Castlevania series' design has become. It's like the Wizard pulled back the curtain before Toto even arrived in the scene.

But then, some people really love the game, so who's to say it's badly designed? I keep digging away at it, hoping to strike the nugget of goodness its fans swear exists somewhere inside, but so far I'm panning nothing but gravel and dirt.

Which brings me to my current review conundrum, Sands of Destruction. I ducked out of the Ecclesia review without even knowing how conflicted I'd be about the game, but I volunteered to review Sands out of sheer curiosity. It's like the mutant offspring of Xenogears, the very definition of a conflicted game. Despite my using Xenogears as a whipping boy for so long, I don't actually hate it -- I just found the flaws it possesses to be unusually infuriating. Still, I've always felt that the concepts laid down by the game could be revisited to create a genuine masterpiece. You know, with a little more polish and a lot less ambition that results in a rushed tumble through the second half of the story through a wall of static text. Maybe, I thought, Sands would be that masterpiece.

Turns out it's not. It's not even close, in fact! It is, however, a very bizarre piece of work that feels more like a distorted echo of Xenogears than an actual follow-up. At the same time, I've already had a debate with someone about the merits of its combat system, among other things. So, I suppose I need to keep all of this in mind as I enter the back half of the adventure. Is it a broken mess or a madly inventive work of genius that defies convention? I can't decide just yet.

I can say with certainty that I don't hate it, though. Sands feels exactly like a second-tier 32-bit RPG that fell 12 years through a time warp to land in 2010. I didn't even realize I was nostalgic for that particular niche of gaming, but apparently I am!

Hopefully the second copy Amazon sent to me will arrive today.

 

[Gazel Ministry]

I picked this game up last week with Sky Crawlers: Innocent Ages. I've been playing it when I have been exhausted from Pure Platinum attempts in Bayonetta and grinding for the non existent Pure Bladestone in Demon's Souls. :lol I am about 4 hours in and I also have mixed feelings about the game.

Before bashing the quirks of the game, the soundtrack is INCREDIBLE! I could listen to the title screen music forever! So beautiful! The first village, Barni, completely struck a Xenogears Lahan Village chord and I loved it. Sands of Destruction and Xenogears also have such similar intro events it's not even funny. I think the story is definitely intriguing, but it's just a little too humorous sometimes for me.

As far as people complaining about the battle system so far, well, I haven't quite figured it out myself yet! I understand the basics, but I think I should read the manual. I don't understand how enemies are launched in the air and why some characters have arrows pointing in different directions on their AP bars. The encounter rate is completely unstable too. The game approaches Black Sigil annoyance at times, but then sometimes it's fairly paced. I don't really see the point of the Smithy options as the game hasn't been hard enough where you would be required to invest in such elemental weapons.

Also, for the perfectionist out there. I have noticed that bosses drop rare accessories. You can find the Cat's Paw very early in the game and this accessory increase item drops, but without spoiling anything, I am up to a boss fight that contains 3 enemies and 2 of them drop unique accessories as far as I can tell. First time I beat them I got Sage Glasses, I believe. The second time I reloaded my save file one of them dropped an Underdog's Belt, but not the Sage Glasses. I haven't moved on from this boss encounter yet because I want to get both drops, but I am always getting one or the other! :lol

 

[Kishgal]

As far as people complaining about the battle system so far, well, I haven't quite figured it out myself yet! I understand the basics, but I think I should read the manual. I don't understand how enemies are launched in the air and why some characters have arrows pointing in different directions on their AP bars.

First: the arrow on the BP bar is morale. If it's pointing right, the morale is neutral and you're starting the turn with 2 BP. If it's pointing up, you have high morale, and you'll start with 3 BP. If it's down, then you'll start with 1. You can influence your morale by equipping accessories with pink hearts, or broken hearts, which influence positively or negatively respectively.

As for launching enemies into the air, take a look at the customize screen for your characters. You'll notice that some skills have an associated effect listed at the bottom, like "KO 2" or "Toss 1." Toss is what launches enemies. Effects don't have a 100% chance of occuring, but you can improve the chances by leveling up the skill and choosing to fortify it when you're given the option at certain levels.

 

[Gazel Ministry]

First: the arrow on the BP bar is morale. If it's pointing right, the morale is neutral and you're starting the turn with 2 BP. If it's pointing up, you have high morale, and you'll start with 3 BP. If it's down, then you'll start with 1. You can influence your morale by equipping accessories with pink hearts, or broken hearts, which influence positively or negatively respectively.

As for launching enemies into the air, take a look at the customize screen for your characters. You'll notice that some skills have an associated effect listed at the bottom, like "KO 2" or "Toss 1." Toss is what launches enemies. Effects don't have a 100% chance of occuring, but you can improve the chances by leveling up the skill and choosing to fortify it when you're given the option at certain levels.

I knew about the accessories with the heart/broken heart morale, but I didn't know that they tied into a characters starting BP. All of this will definitely help. Thanks!

 

[Volcynika]

New blog entry http://blogs.sega.com/usa/2010/01/1...-live-new-info-character-bios-and-anime-ep-3/

Hey look, the website for the game went live http://sega.com/sod

Spoiler

a week after release, Sega's promoting as stellar as always.

 

[Schopenhauer]

The site is streaming an episode from the anime. I wonder if that is why it took so long for the site to go live.

Hopefully Sega wasn't counting on the anime tie-in to help sales.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

A little under 2 hours in. I don't know why, but I actually like Kyrie. Usually I hate the apologetic characters with self esteem issues, but there's just something about him. Maybe it's because every single other character is an asshole so far. Of course I'm only 2 hours in so that might change.

I also REALLY like the town music. Definitely doesn't compare to the iconic stuff Mitsuda did but it's still a nice track.

 

[RubyEclipse]

New blog entry http://blogs.sega.com/usa/2010/01/1...-live-new-info-character-bios-and-anime-ep-3/

Hey look, the website for the game went live http://sega.com/sod

Spoiler

a week after release, Sega's promoting as stellar as always.

Thanks for cross-posting the blog, was going to mention that if it hadn't been already.

We were hoping to get the website up (a lot) earlier, but it ended up having to go out then. Still, I do think it came out really well, and the music choice was good. The entire soundtrack is pretty much full of win.

Anyone who thinks that the Anime and Game do not cross-promote each other is also quite possibly crazy. (Not that being crazy is a bad thing.) Both work to raise awareness of the other.

For those who find the boss fights challenging - many of them are. That said, if you read up on all the tips and tricks to the combat system, you can really make things easier in a heated fight. I went through the first 4-5 bosses (many months ago) without figuring out how to heavily chain attacks or upgrade my abilities, and doing so made a massive difference.

 

[Mejilan]

Alas. I did my part with the timely purchase of the game, but I don't know WHEN I'll have to play this. Or Glory of Heracles. Le sigh.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

Just beat

Spoiler

Porcus Rex. I like how you just kill one of the presumably most important characters in the world and just go back to walking around town with nice music as if nothing happened.

Of course I'm sure something big will happen once I actually get to where I need to go, but it just seems odd to me and kind of funny.

 

[Lard]

I looked for this yesterday in both Eb Games and an indie store (in Canada) and wasn't able to find it in either place.

Is it out in Canada yet?

 

[Freyjadour]

Thanks for cross-posting the blog, was going to mention that if it hadn't been already.

We were hoping to get the website up (a lot) earlier, but it ended up having to go out then. Still, I do think it came out really well, and the music choice was good. The entire soundtrack is pretty much full of win.

Anyone who thinks that the Anime and Game do not cross-promote each other is also quite possibly crazy. (Not that being crazy is a bad thing.) Both work to raise awareness of the other.

For those who find the boss fights challenging - many of them are. That said, if you read up on all the tips and tricks to the combat system, you can really make things easier in a heated fight. I went through the first 4-5 bosses (many months ago) without figuring out how to heavily chain attacks or upgrade my abilities, and doing so made a massive difference.

I have to ask, and excuse my directness, but was there any significant changes made to the game other than a translation into English? I haven't played Heracles, but I at least respect that the translation unit fixed (in what appears to be a pretty much perfect way) the complaints from the Japanese release.

Also, it really isn't that the boss fights are challenging, it is that the gameplay is downright broken. I understand that this is a more of a problem with the source material than the translation team, but nevertheless. Neither are there really any tips or tricks to the game. You buff, you attack, and you heal. Well, I did figure out that the (entirely useless) Special Attacks delay your turn, and that low morale is actually better as you are given more turns. That's not really a tip or trick though, that's just terrible, backwards design.

 

[Lucentto]

So what's the final verdict? is this game worth a buy?

 

[Median]

I looked for this yesterday in both Eb Games and an indie store (in Canada) and wasn't able to find it in either place.

Is it out in Canada yet?

Absolutely, although the EB I work at only got two copies. Try your local Future Shop/Best Buy, they should both be carrying it as well.

 

[MidnightScott]

Absolutely, although the EB I work at only got two copies. Try your local Future Shop/Best Buy, they should both be carrying it as well.

I don't know about Canada but in the US they don't have Sands of Destruction in stores, only on BestBuy.com -_-;

 

[Lard]

Absolutely, although the EB I work at only got two copies. Try your local Future Shop/Best Buy, they should both be carrying it as well.

Hmmm hadn't thought about BB, will give it a look tomorrow.

 

[Brannon]

I beat this game, and I'm sure it was deliberately screwing with me the entire time. The number battles were excessive beyond belief, the dungeons were all meandering maze-like structures, the battles themselves had no challenge because I was overlevelled because of the excessive number of battles, the cutscenes had this annoying pause after every statement, and puzzles?

There are no puzzles. Unless the only solution to everything in the game is to take the long way around. That's it, right there. Example; There are two portals. Do you (A)take the portal that's a few feet away from you, or do you (B) take the one that's separated by a gap and requires you to run around the entire floor to access it?

It's B. It's always B. IT'S ALWAYS B. And enemies continue to fight you during 'puzzle solvin' time. Oh my god. The Key Block area. OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD.

You think I'm being dramatic. YOU play that area.

And the story of the game is that the humans are oppressed by the ferals, and I have to wonder how? How is that possible? You're always leveled over your enemies because of the excessive number of battles; THESE guys are oppressing the human race? I died once in the entire game, only because of something involving

Spoiler

snakes and hypnotism and all-encompassing special moves

.

Yes. The only thing that could kill me in this game was

Spoiler

myself.

And no, I did not grind in any way, on purpose; I started running from many battles because it just became too much. THEY DON'T STOP. THEY DON'T.

So why did I keep playing if I felt this way? Because I suck and thought that maybe that was just the first half of the game and that maybe there was twist; that this couldn't be the entirety of the game.

Great music, though.

 

[duckroll]

I'm really kinda puzzled as to how the game turned out this way. The Japanese release was well over a year ago, and Mikage seemed to be pretty sincere about how he was taking feedback on the Japanese release and honestly going to improve the game for western audiences. He mentioned new content, as well as focusing on rebalancing the game and fixing the obvious problems. That was back in 2008 and 2009. Now the game is out in 2010, and it has all the same goddamn problems from the JP version? Everything I complained about when I put 60 bucks down to play his game over a year ago is still broken? I've been following Image Epoch as a developer for years now, and this is really pretty disappointing. I guess I'm never buying another Mikage-directed Image Epoch game again. I'll stick the ones directed by the guys he hired from other companies, because the guy himself seems to be a talentless hack. Hopefully he's better at business than at game design, otherwise those other guys he hired are going to be out of jobs eventually too.

 

[Mudo]

This game is an abortion. No nicer way for me to put it. It's pretty, I love the soundtrack, but:
A. The encounter rate is FAR too high
B. There is no freaking rhyme or reason to the turn order in battles, it constantly changes and you can build no strategy at all by using it.
C. Most enemies do 1 damage to you all the time. Sometimes though, you get crit hit for like half you life, they get extra turns, and then you get pummeled....random as hell.
D. Bosses get anywhere from 14 to 8123484534958 turns to your team's 1. WHY? THIS IS NOT FUN. AT ALL.
E. Stupid labyrinth dungeons. That combined with the encounter rate is just enough to want to suicide, or build a damn altar to the demon lord Xyyxxx in the backyard, place the game on top, and TORCH THE FUCKER.

I don't trade games in very often.

I am trading this POS in this weekend toward Mass Effect 2. What an utter disappointment :/

 

[Ledsen]

From this thread, I guess I should consider myself lucky that I only payed 680 yen for the game...

 

[Tomodachi]

Can I ask a stupid question? If you had to, what would you pick between World/Sands of Destruction and Soma Bringer (the latter via the fanlation)?

And I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but I guessed more people can answer now that SOD is out in the USA too

 

[Shirokun]

I've only put in about 3 hours so far, but I must say I'm relatively happy with it. There's something stupidly charming about the characters, and the music is fantastic. The graphics look nice sometimes and like a pixelated mess at others. And even though the encounter rate is FUBARed, I can't bring myself to entirely hate the battle system. Granted I only paid about $5 for the game(JP version), but I'm actually really enjoying it so far.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

Beat it last night. Last boss was a pain. I still thought it was a pretty good game. Kind of interesting how

Spoiler

the group's goal was to do something that usually ends up as the villain's goal.

This doesn't make me love Image Epoch but it at least tells me they can make a decent turn based JRPG. I'm hoping Arc Rise Fantasia is better.

 

[donny2112]

Amazon's Deal of the Day for $21:
NDS Sands of Destruction

 

[GitarooMan]

Amazon's Deal of the Day for $21:
NDS Sands of Destruction

Yeah, I noticed that and was thinking about it, but this thread is making me steer clear.

 

[Gazel Ministry]

I just picked this game up after shelving it for months. Back in January when I first played this game, I had mixed feelings about it. Well, I was in the mood to play my DS more recently so since I was in the middle of this game, I figured I would give it another shot. Well, I finished it this morning after playing it non stop for 3 days and I ended up thoroughly enjoying it!

I know the battle system is not the most praised thing out there, but once I reached level 20 and was able to link flurry attacks together, the game became much, much more enjoyable. I actually like the skill system in this game. You can't just rely on flurry attacks or blow attacks because some bosses later on stay up in the air so an equal skill distribution is required. It's also very cool that all skills can be reset and your skill points are refunded so you can try out different builds if you made some poor decisions.

I know the damage calculation can feel a bit random at times, but linking flurry attacks and then pulling off the special moves at max BP feels extremely satisfying! I think the battle system is really interesting and thought out, but whoever programmed the stats kind of messed it all up :lol The dungeons, on the other hand, are a mixed bag. They range from "ok" to "wtf". I could see lots of people calling it quits around the Depths of Memory because I had to put the game down for a break when I got to that mess of doorways. Although, most dungeons the characters will hint at the solution and talk about how to solve some of the more complicated puzzles. I have also noticed that some characters will comment on how ridiculously designed some dungeons are, which almost makes up for the odd design decisions. Maybe they were meant to be designed the way they were?

I know this game had a prestigious "dream team" working on it and people were expecting this game to be a "portable Xenogears", but I still think the cast had well thought out pasts and a lot of personality. Did anyone here even bother with the optional character quests that become available when the final dungeon appears? They shed a lot of cool information on each party member and for me the cast became way more likeable. While the story wasn't the greatest of anything, I think for what it was worth, the dynamics between the ferals and humans were interesting enough and the game was well written. I think this game would have made a more bad ass PSone era RPG if it had a bigger budget and maybe given more time.

And holy shit is the soundtrack great in this game! Tanner Plateau...I don't care what anyone says, this IS a lost Chrono Cross track. Agi Wharfs, Meonne are two great town tracks that sound completely ripped from Xenogears! And let's not forget the awesome title screen vocal track and the credits music.

I know it sounds like I am gushing over this game, but it's just a hate fest in here! I know the game still has its problems that can't be argued (unstable encounter rate, some questionable dungeon design, inconsistent damage calculation), but I still think this game stands out as one of the more refreshing RPGs on the DS. I am just hoping some other people give it another shot because I am glad I did.

 

[Shirokun]

I liked this when I first started playing it, but in the end, this game is a huge disappointment. The broken battle system makes everything very not fun, and the level design was mind-numbingly bad. This added to the fact that the story is really awful

Spoiler

i.e. the whole destroy the world thing was never given any real justification(even though it ended up 'saving' the world in the end), and the whole message of tolerance for other races was completely lost by the end.

The characters, while they seemed mildy interesting at first, turned out to be complete retards

Spoiler

with no one ever really questioning why it was a good idea to destroy the world in the first place. IIRC, Morte basically gives a speech near the beginning about how the world sucks, and Kyrie ends up going through with it just cause he has the hots for her, while the rest of the characters(even the awesome teddy bear thing) basically just say, "fuck it, why the hell not?". The memory dungeon thing was also one of the worst last-minute attempts to develop the characters of a game since the Orphanage scene in FFVIII, and even then, just when you actually think they're going to give some explanation of why Morte wants to destroy the world, she can't remember a thing. Apparently the developers think it's funny to troll the player after investing 18 hours in their shitty game :lol

. This game was a disaster, and it's a real shame with some of the talent that was behind it. The music was pretty good though.

If I didn't pay $5 for it, I would have felt horribly cheated.

Sorry to continue the hate fest, BTW

 

[Gazel Ministry]

Well if you put it that way...the story is sort of a mess :lol Seriously though, I think the characters were charming enough that everything kind of just "worked" by the end of it, for me anyway. Maybe I am just easily pleased, I don't know. It's a shame the game and story didn't meet most expectations, but I still think the game had a lot of the right ideas and some scenes, especially with the music, just worked in a really dumb way I guess.

I guess I just don't expect a lot from portable games/RPGs. I never expect anyone to top RPGs from the PSone/SNES era so my expectations with most RPGs from this generation are low. This game just hit the right amount of notes for me to enjoy it I suppose for what it was worth. Plus, Taupy and his backstory is just way too cool to hate on!