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The Official DS RPG Ownage Thread
- Thread starter Ashodin
- Start date
Eroding_Era
Member
Contact rocks. Buy it. Now. Before you can't find this anymore, like it seems every good DS game does. Go. Now.
Why are you still here? I said GO.
And don't avoid this just because it doesn't say 'Mana,' 'Final Fantasy,' or 'Square-Enix' on it. I know you're all suckers for those even if you don't admit it.
Why are you still here? I said GO.
Pureauthor
Member
*comes into thread*
AWESOME!
*reads thread*
You all suck.
AWESOME!
*reads thread*
You all suck.
charlequin
Banned
You people are no fun!
After next week is over Luminous Arc will probably move to my most anticipated game slot -- SRPGs are awesome and this one looks gorgeous and promises to have an awesome soundtrack and (hopefully) fun gameplay.
I haven't been following Etrian Odyssey like basically at all. Can someone explain to me what's exciting and awesome about it? Everyone seems pumped, so if it's gonna be great I wanna know all about it!
Also, this is mildly off-topic but does anyone know if Yggdra Union is still coming out in the US?
After next week is over Luminous Arc will probably move to my most anticipated game slot -- SRPGs are awesome and this one looks gorgeous and promises to have an awesome soundtrack and (hopefully) fun gameplay.
I haven't been following Etrian Odyssey like basically at all. Can someone explain to me what's exciting and awesome about it? Everyone seems pumped, so if it's gonna be great I wanna know all about it!
Also, this is mildly off-topic but does anyone know if Yggdra Union is still coming out in the US?
Pureauthor
Member
charlequin said:
Isn't Etrian Odyssey the localized Yggdra Union?
And from what I can tell, it's like SMT.
charlequin
Banned
Pureauthor said:
It's the localized Yggdrasil Union. The similarity of the two names is what prompted me to ask about the other one.
I don't care to spend $1,000 on copies of the last few SMTs and the translation-patched original doesn't emulate right in ZSNES, so I think I'll need more words than that. (As in: sell it to me when I've never played an SMT.)
basically a 1st person dungeon crawl. SMT had the negotiation with demons and fusing demons aspects tho and the alignment system which basically puts it away from the rest of the rpg crowd.charlequin said:
the translation patched roms work on SNESx9 btw.
RevenantKioku
PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS oh god i am drowning in them
I've played both and I loves me FF3DS! Scarlet is just picky. ^_^Red Scarlet said:
Pureauthor
Member
TiVo said:
Sorry, I can't do that until the DS starts reaching the end of it's lifespan.
Suffice to say it'll be a lot more detailed and lengthy than my GBA one!
Look, it's easy. Play FFI, FFII, and FFIII.
If a mix between the three games don't seem to appeal to you, then don't bother with FF3DS. Myself, I'm picking it up as soon as I can find it.
Yes, yes. Good time to be a RPG lover (even though there ARE some games on that list that don't fit the bill, but are good games nontheless and are going to be purchased).
Wallets are going to cry this holiday. In NA we aren't getting qute a few of those games till after the new year though. The one two punch of FFXII and FFIII within two weeks is going to kill me.
Wallets are going to cry this holiday. In NA we aren't getting qute a few of those games till after the new year though. The one two punch of FFXII and FFIII within two weeks is going to kill me.
Chris Michael
Banned
I kind of wish Luminous Arc had 3D backgrounds.
Wait wtf am I saying, then it wouldn't be playable (shitty graphics lol).
Wait wtf am I saying, then it wouldn't be playable (shitty graphics lol).
Propagandhim
Banned
If Luminous Arc doesn't come out in North America, I'm going to go ****ing pineapples.
In any case, the website is live.
http://www.magicalstarsign.com/
I really like the art, especially the environments. The character design is a bit weird, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The in-game sprites are fantastic.
I'm hoping to read impressions about the story/NPCs/writing, especially pertaining to the localization.
http://www.magicalstarsign.com/
I really like the art, especially the environments. The character design is a bit weird, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The in-game sprites are fantastic.
I'm hoping to read impressions about the story/NPCs/writing, especially pertaining to the localization.
I'm 1:21 into Magical Starsign, and just beat the first boss (haven't gotten out of the dungeon, though), so let me organize my thoughts here... Keep in mind that I may be somewhat biased since this game has been in at worst the top 12 of my wishlist since the first scan of the giant scorpion--though that works both ways, of course, in that on the one hand I'm more inclined to forgive it, but on the other I do have raised expectations.
Short form:
Magical Starsign takes a lot of the things that past RPGs have succeeded with and tosses them into a salad bowl to see if they'll work in new combinations with each other. Generally, they do.
What it's doing right:
-The battle system. From the visual perspective to the cinematic camera zooms to the way the battles actually play out, it's basically a controllable rendition of Ogre Battle. The row system is in full force; back-row characters can't use or be hit by physical attacks, but have to stick to magic--their magic, though, hits all the enemies for less damage individually, whereas magic used by front-row characters does full damage to one enemy.
-Also, for all the sixteen or so battles I've been in (more on this in "what it's doing wrong"), I've seen a very nice number of attacks missing, mainly from the enemies' side. I hope this isn't just a symptom of it being the early game, because missed attacks tend to be underrated and underutilized in most RPGs (though there are exceptions like Fire Emblem). Besides, the dodge animations look cool--as do most of the animations, really.
-The difficulty. Again, I don't know if it's just early-game syndrome, but I actually lost a character on the second sub-boss, who had a two-turn three-hit attack that did 29-31 damage with each hit--and my characters had 159 and 136 HP.
I guess some of that difficulty might have been because I'm using Light magic (you choose between Light and Dark at the beginning) and I started off at night when its power was weakened... Yet still, ignoring my inability to do as much damage, the enemies in the first real dungeon were taking pretty solid chunks of HP out of my characters. Unless things get easier (and how often does that ever happen in an RPG?), this isn't a game where you can get by never using healing items.
-The dialogue. For about ten minutes I thought it was really mediocre, but that's because in the beginning they devote a bit too much time to a mediocre character. Once Miss Madeleine is out of the picture, though, everyone else is free to shine. I'm not spoiling anything, but basically think of Rocket Slime but much more subtle, Earthbound but just slightly more overt, Chrono Trigger but less cheesy, and Mario and Luigi but more subtle, and you should have the right general picture. Good characterization, good dialogue.
-The Repeat command. Oh, yes, the Repeat command. Basically it does what it says: the character repeats the last action they performed in battle. I don't know why it's not done more often in more games; it helps streamline the battle system so that instead of having to pick the Magic command, then the spell, then the target(s) every single turn, you just tap one button.
-The stylus use. This game has actually convinced me that maybe, just maybe, Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass can work with stylus-only controls. As compared to something like Animal Crossing: Wild World where you have to hold the stylus away to keep running, here you can just tap and the characters will run in that direction until you want them to change direction--or you can tap on an NPC and they'll go and talk to that NPC. This is less reminiscent of other RPGs than of real-time strategy games like Warcraft.
And for those wondering, you can move around perfectly fine with the D-pad/buttons (which always serve as a D-pad), holding L or R to run, and using L or R to talk to people. Goofy as it may sound, I actually like that both shoulder buttons can talk to people, just so that rather than feeling like I'm getting through dialogue by pressing the same button over and over again, I can switch between them when I feel like it.
And some little touches:
-I've already unlocked a warp point--and yes, I can use it. This bodes well for the future; even if backtracking exists, it won't be that though.
-A diary option in the menu that reminds you what you've done in the past.
-There are 255 enemies, according to the bestiary. That means either a long game or a short/medium game with a lot of diversity to its enemies. Win-win in either case.
-Because of the importance of day and night, when you stay at an inn, they ask if you're staying until morning or evening.
-Five-piece equipment system is fine by me. It also appears that you eventually get to have five spells equipped at once.
-There's some kind of egg system that I know nothing about yet except that it's in my "Team" menu. I'm guessing/hoping it'll be some kind of monster-raising feature similar to Lufia 2's capsule monsters.
-Japanese voices.
-The shop system borrows from Star Ocean and Tales in that you can set the number you want to buy of each item, then buy the whole shebang at once, as opposed to buying three of this, then one of that, then two of that, and so on.
What it's doing wrong:
-The text scrolls at a just average pace, and there's no way to speed it up. At least 0.4 should be knocked off of this game's score automatically because of the scrolling text, IMO... Though, again, it's somewhat redeemed because it's well-written. This might be a gain or a drawback, individualized by taste--I guess some might say that it's easier to not miss out on a silly line if you can't just skip right by the text.
-It's a bit of a slow start. Not much of a knock really, depending on how long the game is, but those looking to get right into the action should just be aware of that fact, much as they would in Star Ocean 2 or either of the Mario sports game on GBA. I mean, in that hour and twenty-one minutes, there were sixteen battles and four of those were tutorials. Speaking of...
-The tutorials should have been skippable. I actually do think they were necessary for the first time out, but on subsequent playthroughs it'll be a pain.
-Okay, the main character is silent. I have no problem with that, because theoretically it lets the player develop their own responses (even if those responses are limited to Yes/No, quite in the vein of Camelot's four GBA titles). In fact, I can think of at least one instance where the dialogue even plays off of another character knowing that you don't speak, which is amusing. But then why have a silent main character if that diary option in the menu has the character going over her/his thoughts on past events? They might as well just speak, unless they happen to be a mute and writing is their only outlet.
-The stylus use. Yeah, a positive and a negative. I have no complaint about it when it comes to battles, which is odd since I'm quite a traditionalist, but outside battles... The thing is, as I said, you can move around and talk to people just like normal on the map screen, but that's the extent of it. To get into your menu, you do have to tap an icon in the lower-left corner; to use the menu options, you do have to use the touch screen; to switch the top screen between a map, status, or the alignment of the planets, you do have to tap an icon in the upper-right corner; and most oddly, whenever you're presented with a Yes/No option, you have to tap your answer. Now, again, I actually don't take issue with the stylus use at all, even outside of battle, but rather I take issue with the fact that it's forced. Why allow some D-pad and L/R controls at all if you can't get through the game with only those? It doesn't make sense.
-It should have kept the name Magical Vacation. The intro FMV screams Vacation even while it displays "Magical Starsign" on the screen, and so does the story; the "Starsign" aspect is only really incidental to the battles.
What it's doing adequately:
-The music. There's not much to say about it other than that it's pretty much what you'd tend to expect of an RPG. Neither good nor bad.
-Each of the characters has one ability that can be used on the map screen to do different things, somewhat like Golden Sun except shallow. So far it's been mostly really basic stuff--just demonstrate your power to get past the obstacle--but I'll be waiting to see if they make anything of it later on, with perhaps some puzzle elements.
Overall:
I say buy; the battles alone would lead me to say that, and the dialogue puts it over the top. Unless you're really opposed to the stylus, or demand your RPGs feature a stellar soundtrack (understandable), give Magical Starsign some consideration.
Short form:
Magical Starsign takes a lot of the things that past RPGs have succeeded with and tosses them into a salad bowl to see if they'll work in new combinations with each other. Generally, they do.
What it's doing right:
-The battle system. From the visual perspective to the cinematic camera zooms to the way the battles actually play out, it's basically a controllable rendition of Ogre Battle. The row system is in full force; back-row characters can't use or be hit by physical attacks, but have to stick to magic--their magic, though, hits all the enemies for less damage individually, whereas magic used by front-row characters does full damage to one enemy.
-Also, for all the sixteen or so battles I've been in (more on this in "what it's doing wrong"), I've seen a very nice number of attacks missing, mainly from the enemies' side. I hope this isn't just a symptom of it being the early game, because missed attacks tend to be underrated and underutilized in most RPGs (though there are exceptions like Fire Emblem). Besides, the dodge animations look cool--as do most of the animations, really.
-The difficulty. Again, I don't know if it's just early-game syndrome, but I actually lost a character on the second sub-boss, who had a two-turn three-hit attack that did 29-31 damage with each hit--and my characters had 159 and 136 HP.
I guess some of that difficulty might have been because I'm using Light magic (you choose between Light and Dark at the beginning) and I started off at night when its power was weakened... Yet still, ignoring my inability to do as much damage, the enemies in the first real dungeon were taking pretty solid chunks of HP out of my characters. Unless things get easier (and how often does that ever happen in an RPG?), this isn't a game where you can get by never using healing items.
-The dialogue. For about ten minutes I thought it was really mediocre, but that's because in the beginning they devote a bit too much time to a mediocre character. Once Miss Madeleine is out of the picture, though, everyone else is free to shine. I'm not spoiling anything, but basically think of Rocket Slime but much more subtle, Earthbound but just slightly more overt, Chrono Trigger but less cheesy, and Mario and Luigi but more subtle, and you should have the right general picture. Good characterization, good dialogue.
-The Repeat command. Oh, yes, the Repeat command. Basically it does what it says: the character repeats the last action they performed in battle. I don't know why it's not done more often in more games; it helps streamline the battle system so that instead of having to pick the Magic command, then the spell, then the target(s) every single turn, you just tap one button.
-The stylus use. This game has actually convinced me that maybe, just maybe, Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass can work with stylus-only controls. As compared to something like Animal Crossing: Wild World where you have to hold the stylus away to keep running, here you can just tap and the characters will run in that direction until you want them to change direction--or you can tap on an NPC and they'll go and talk to that NPC. This is less reminiscent of other RPGs than of real-time strategy games like Warcraft.
And for those wondering, you can move around perfectly fine with the D-pad/buttons (which always serve as a D-pad), holding L or R to run, and using L or R to talk to people. Goofy as it may sound, I actually like that both shoulder buttons can talk to people, just so that rather than feeling like I'm getting through dialogue by pressing the same button over and over again, I can switch between them when I feel like it.
And some little touches:
-I've already unlocked a warp point--and yes, I can use it. This bodes well for the future; even if backtracking exists, it won't be that though.
-A diary option in the menu that reminds you what you've done in the past.
-There are 255 enemies, according to the bestiary. That means either a long game or a short/medium game with a lot of diversity to its enemies. Win-win in either case.
-Because of the importance of day and night, when you stay at an inn, they ask if you're staying until morning or evening.
-Five-piece equipment system is fine by me. It also appears that you eventually get to have five spells equipped at once.
-There's some kind of egg system that I know nothing about yet except that it's in my "Team" menu. I'm guessing/hoping it'll be some kind of monster-raising feature similar to Lufia 2's capsule monsters.
-Japanese voices.
-The shop system borrows from Star Ocean and Tales in that you can set the number you want to buy of each item, then buy the whole shebang at once, as opposed to buying three of this, then one of that, then two of that, and so on.
What it's doing wrong:
-The text scrolls at a just average pace, and there's no way to speed it up. At least 0.4 should be knocked off of this game's score automatically because of the scrolling text, IMO... Though, again, it's somewhat redeemed because it's well-written. This might be a gain or a drawback, individualized by taste--I guess some might say that it's easier to not miss out on a silly line if you can't just skip right by the text.
-It's a bit of a slow start. Not much of a knock really, depending on how long the game is, but those looking to get right into the action should just be aware of that fact, much as they would in Star Ocean 2 or either of the Mario sports game on GBA. I mean, in that hour and twenty-one minutes, there were sixteen battles and four of those were tutorials. Speaking of...
-The tutorials should have been skippable. I actually do think they were necessary for the first time out, but on subsequent playthroughs it'll be a pain.
-Okay, the main character is silent. I have no problem with that, because theoretically it lets the player develop their own responses (even if those responses are limited to Yes/No, quite in the vein of Camelot's four GBA titles). In fact, I can think of at least one instance where the dialogue even plays off of another character knowing that you don't speak, which is amusing. But then why have a silent main character if that diary option in the menu has the character going over her/his thoughts on past events? They might as well just speak, unless they happen to be a mute and writing is their only outlet.
-The stylus use. Yeah, a positive and a negative. I have no complaint about it when it comes to battles, which is odd since I'm quite a traditionalist, but outside battles... The thing is, as I said, you can move around and talk to people just like normal on the map screen, but that's the extent of it. To get into your menu, you do have to tap an icon in the lower-left corner; to use the menu options, you do have to use the touch screen; to switch the top screen between a map, status, or the alignment of the planets, you do have to tap an icon in the upper-right corner; and most oddly, whenever you're presented with a Yes/No option, you have to tap your answer. Now, again, I actually don't take issue with the stylus use at all, even outside of battle, but rather I take issue with the fact that it's forced. Why allow some D-pad and L/R controls at all if you can't get through the game with only those? It doesn't make sense.
-It should have kept the name Magical Vacation. The intro FMV screams Vacation even while it displays "Magical Starsign" on the screen, and so does the story; the "Starsign" aspect is only really incidental to the battles.
What it's doing adequately:
-The music. There's not much to say about it other than that it's pretty much what you'd tend to expect of an RPG. Neither good nor bad.
-Each of the characters has one ability that can be used on the map screen to do different things, somewhat like Golden Sun except shallow. So far it's been mostly really basic stuff--just demonstrate your power to get past the obstacle--but I'll be waiting to see if they make anything of it later on, with perhaps some puzzle elements.
Overall:
I say buy; the battles alone would lead me to say that, and the dialogue puts it over the top. Unless you're really opposed to the stylus, or demand your RPGs feature a stellar soundtrack (understandable), give Magical Starsign some consideration.
plank
Member
--------------------------
ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat
"It's said that people who are burnt by the ancient flame, sealed away long ago, turn to ash and are then revived. However, while the body changes to ash, the person's heart and memories remain.
Created by Final Fantasy father Hironobu Sakaguchi, ASH is about an ancient flame that was sealed away long ago. The game focuses on Queen Aisha, who is on a quest to understand the flame because her people who were burnt by the flame are in the process of being revived."
It's done by the Gooch, but I have no idea about the game and how it plays, except how it looks. And even THAT could just be a bullshot.
[/QUOTE]
Nice thread, but I'm not to particular for RPGs. That said this game hasn't been mentioned in quite sometime, supposedly that screenshot was taken in realtime on the DS.
ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat
"It's said that people who are burnt by the ancient flame, sealed away long ago, turn to ash and are then revived. However, while the body changes to ash, the person's heart and memories remain.
Created by Final Fantasy father Hironobu Sakaguchi, ASH is about an ancient flame that was sealed away long ago. The game focuses on Queen Aisha, who is on a quest to understand the flame because her people who were burnt by the flame are in the process of being revived."
It's done by the Gooch, but I have no idea about the game and how it plays, except how it looks. And even THAT could just be a bullshot.
[/QUOTE]
Nice thread, but I'm not to particular for RPGs. That said this game hasn't been mentioned in quite sometime, supposedly that screenshot was taken in realtime on the DS.
charlequin
Banned
Hmmm, that little preview makes Magical Starsign sound pretty good. It's gonna fall through the cracks for me for a while certainly but maybe when my huge console stash is depleted in January I'll pick it up.
youngblood000
Member
Thanks for the thread, but at the same time, WHY did you have to make this...? Was it to taunt me!? My list of "DS Games I Will Buy" is now up to 27, with about 30 more "DS Games I Might Buy (but probably won't)." After owning a DS for 6 months, I only own 12 games (being a full-time student doesn't leave much time for money-making), which means that it'll take me forever to buy all these games and play them all, and in the meantime, more games will be released and announced. ...And I haven't even mentioned consoles yet... Heaven help me.
Magical Starsign IGN review, 7.5 http://ds.ign.com/articles/742/742116p1.html
Essentially, very traditional SNES-like RPG. Whether that's a good thing or a bad one depends on the player. Hmm, I'm tempted to pick this up, particular due to some praise re: writing/dialogue.
Essentially, very traditional SNES-like RPG. Whether that's a good thing or a bad one depends on the player. Hmm, I'm tempted to pick this up, particular due to some praise re: writing/dialogue.
Now 7:53 into the game, I have to stress this more than ever before. Back when I wrote this, I didn't realize that the battle system was going to bring in timed attacks/defense reminiscent of the three types of Mario RPGs, that the cast of characters would remind me as much as it does of Breath of Fire (except with personality), and I also just reached a boss who speaks quite a bit like a slightly more sane Fawful from M&L1, or less sane Koal from Advance Wars DS. His dialogue:Jiggy37 said:
Boss: You came, just as Master Kale said you would. You are like strung-up marionettes being controlled by puppets within a puppet show INSIDE a puppet show!
Party: *confusion*
Boss: You will never take the aquarino! Your flimsy little plan is as transparent as soggy rice paper! And I am the crazed sumo wrestler crashing through the wet paper bag that is your pathetic scheme!
Party: *confusion*
Boss: You will never take the aquarino! Your flimsy little plan is as transparent as soggy rice paper! And I am the crazed sumo wrestler crashing through the wet paper bag that is your pathetic scheme!
So, yeah. Putting that aside, it's the dialogue that seriously carries this game--not just the above, but also the dialogue of the main faction of enemies, a great sequence of detours satirizing governments, the speech styles of every different species I've run into, and the most entertainingly blunt set of signposts since, well, probably ever. And the encounter rate is kept to a pretty minimal level, almost to the point of not interfering, which is cool. For those who liked the humor in Earthbound, Mario and Luigi, etc., this should be right up your alley.
On the downside, the difficulty isn't as high as I'd like it to be anymore--once I got the third character it's been pretty smooth sailing, except when fighting bosses. (I almost wonder if it was supposed to be smooth sailing from the beginning and I just didn't know because I was a Light character fighting predominantly at night.) The battles are mostly still kept interesting by the timed actions and also by what I just said: the fact that they're not that common, so you're not going to be fighting the same enemies over and over again. I can't say I've seen any enemies get old yet, which is rare in even some of the best RPGs.
Also, not sure whether I'll ultimately agree with IGN, but the game hasn't seemed too linear to me at least so far. I already had one diverging path, and ended up going through a dungeon meant for four characters at higher levels with three characters at lower levels. We'll see.
Pureauthor
Member
Jiggy37 said:
STOP GIVING POSITIVE IMPRESSIONS! I CAN'T AFFORD TO BUY THIS GAME!
*weeps*
Magical Starsign is a quality game. I'm enjoying it more than any other DS RPG. I know that's not saying very much yet, but it's solid - fun, charming and I love the 2D graphics. I also really like how they used both screens for visual effects during battles.
Contact is great for its quirkiness, but I think MS is more "fun." Then again I'm not very far into either game yet, and have almost no free time to play these days... <_<
Contact is great for its quirkiness, but I think MS is more "fun." Then again I'm not very far into either game yet, and have almost no free time to play these days... <_<