So, any RPG fans here?

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 2:39 pm

Popcorn would know, too. Listen to 'im.

Neo Yi · Post by **Neo Yi** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 3:35 pm

But, I thought Vivi was in the ending? Didn't he find some woman Vivi and had a bunch of little Vivi's? Or something like that?

All those Vivis you saw in the ending were his sons (although some say Vivi is with them). No one knows how he created it. I go by the theory that he used the remaing mist to somehow produce them. While there is no given timeline between the ending and Zidane's supposed death, it doesn't look too far as the characters remain the same in appearance and looks. Perhaps maybe a year or so.
Since the ending has someone speaking, I'd like to think it is Vivi. It best fits more then anyone. After all, Vivi is a prototype said to live longer then the average black mage. As far as I'm concerned, it's been long enough between the ending and Zidane's "death" to see that Vivi has indeed died. at least, that's how I like to think, even if I lurve Vivi to death. It adds a lot of drama and stuff.
~Neo

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 12:11 am

I grabbed Symphonia, and I'm only 5 hours in, but it's been a sweet 5 hours. Combat is a bit less cluttered now that there's the added benefit of a third dimension, even though the gameplay itself is still on a 2D plane.

So far, all the old-school bases have been covered, in a good way. I guess I should be sick of the conventions by now, but there's something about being a country boy leaving home to go on his big coming-of-age adventure that I guess fulfills some kind of forbidden boyhood dream. The older I get, the more I like this stuff.

One way or another, this is definitely the best Tales game I've played, at least so far. Hopefully it'll maintain the momentum.

I only got $10 credit for Front Mission 4, which I guess makes it a $40 mistake.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 12:20 am

One other thing, the acting, for the most part, is also really good. The older I get the more anal I get about this sort of thing, and I don't think a Japanese game should be dubbed at all, regardless of whether or not the game itself carries any cultural relevance (which it certainly does not in the case of Symphonia). However, even though I'm compromising my principles mostly because I don't have a choice, at least it isn't an utter pain on my ears as is usually the case.

The voice of Lloyd was Max in Dark Chronicle / Dark Cloud 2 (which also had some pretty good acting). I can't believe I neglected to mention it before in a thread about RPG's, but Dark Cloud 2 is amazing. It's like Disgaea, impossible to beat unless you're too young to work or retired, but it's a freaking beautiful game that anyone who's going to claim to know anything about RPG's needs to play.

Post by **Esrever** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 1:11 am

So here's my question... do you think someone like me would like this game? That is to say, someone who likes the stories but not so much the turn based combat. I heard the game's combat was real time in some fashion, but I'm fuzzy on the details.

plasticwingsband · Post by **plasticwingsband** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 7:22 am

Esrever wrote:So here's my question... do you think someone like me would like this game? That is to say, someone who likes the stories but not so much the turn based combat. I heard the game's combat was real time in some fashion, but I'm fuzzy on the details.

I think you would. I guess the best way to explain the battle system is that it's real-time. You basically only control one character, while the computer (or up to 3 friends, if you have 'em) controls the other three in your party. You basically have free reign to run back and forth across the field. The A button is your basic attack button, although depending on what way you hold the analog stick, it can have different results, such as an upward slash that brings the enemy up into the air. The B button (by itself or in any of the cardinal directions on the analog stick) activates your special attacks techs, which can be use as many times as you want, provided you have the TP.

You also still have access over the other characters spells and such, but I usually find it better just to let the AI do its job, which it does surprisingly well.

Anyway, I suggest you give it a try if it's possible. It's probably got the most fun battle system I've ever played in any RPG.

Oh, and I'm glad that you're enjoying it, Gibbon. My advice is try to get as much GRADE as possible.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 12:06 pm

I'm not clear on the grade thing yet, what is that?

The combat isn't really that different from any of the other Tales games. It's semi realtime, but if you're looking for a hack and slash, look elsewhere. You still only really control one character, and though you can choose any one at any time, the rest of the crew just perform AI combat based on general strategies that you set (ie, "everyone attack the same enemy as me", "attack aerial enemies first", "do whatever you want", etc.). It works fairly well, but I personally perfer to have control over everything. It may be possible to plug in some extra controllers and have buddies play the other characters, but to me an RPG like this is tailored to be a 1-player experience.

It's alot easier to keep track of what's going on now that there are 3 dimensions for the action to transpire on. (The older Tales games were on on a single 2D plane.) I certainly wouldn't call it the best RPG combat system ever. Still an excellent game though, at least so far.

Post by **Squirrelknight** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 12:48 pm

Wyvernlord wrote: I bet if Tifa died, people would be whining that she shouldn't of died.

Begin whining.

Eh, you didn't like FM4, GG!? Maybe it's just because I've never played FM3 so I have nothing to compare it against, but I still enjoyed it.

Also, I've gotten a little farther into Okage... It's definetly an aquired taste, but I'm enjoying it for the most part. The battle system is sort of plain, and the load times are a little long, but the characters, setting, and dialogue make it worthwhile. The closest thing I can compare it to is Earthbound, but with an added anime-ified-Tim Burton-esque aesthetic.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 7:58 pm

I really want to play Shining Force CD. Has anyone found an ISO of that yet?

I found it in a torrent with a bunch of other Sega CD games. Go to http://www.emuparadise.org, swim through the barrage of voracious pop-ups, and click on the torrent section. The torrent pages are divided by system, and I think the only one on the Sega CD page is one called Sega CD Collection or something. It's a 2+ gig download, but it's got two dozen Sega CD iso's in it, among them all three versions of Shining Force CD. I'm still downloading it myself.

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 8:08 pm

Damn. Cloud looks like even more of a pansy in Advent Children then he did in the original series.

Too bad they didn't use the character design from Kingdom Hearts. That Cloud actually looked halfway decent.

Post by **Segaholic2** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 8:14 pm

Green Gibbon! wrote:I found it in a torrent with a bunch of other Sega CD games. Go to http://www.emuparadise.org, swim through the barrage of voracious pop-ups, and click on the torrent section. The torrent pages are divided by system, and I think the only one on the Sega CD page is one called Sega CD Collection or something. It's a 2+ gig download, but it's got two dozen Sega CD iso's in it, among them all three versions of Shining Force CD. I'm still downloading it myself.

Couldn't you just find us the link for the torrent file and post it here? Geez, be considerate.

Ngangbius · Post by **Ngangbius** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 10:14 pm

Zeta wrote:Damn. Cloud looks like even more of a pansy in Advent Children then he did in the original series.

They probably wanted to appeal to FF's largest demo(in Japan)--teenage girls.

Post by **Squirrelknight** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 11:13 pm

Ngangbius wrote:
Zeta wrote:Damn. Cloud looks like even more of a pansy in Advent Children then he did in the original series.
They probably wanted to appeal to FF's largest demo(in Japan)--teenage girls.

Damn, I should move to Japan. I like FF. I like teenage Japanese girls. The very thought of a mass of teenage girls interested in FF is enough to give me a boner.

Then again, most thoughts give me a boner.

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 1:52 pm

They probably wanted to appeal to FF's largest demo(in Japan)--teenage girls.

What is up with that, anyways? Why do teenage girls get themselves wet over guys who look like chicks? Latent lesbianism? If I liked dudes who looked like women, I'd just start going out with women.

Neo Yi · Post by **Neo Yi** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:13 pm

I hate that when a show's dubbed, they cut off lots of interesting bits and try to make it kid-friendly. Screw that, what did they think Cartoon Network is for!?

Pah. I'm more into rugged dark haired men like Viggo Mortensen or Tom Cruise.
~Neo

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:45 pm

Why do teenage girls get themselves wet over guys who look like chicks?

I remember reading a while back about some experiment that was conducted where women were shown drawings of two men: one with masculine features and one with feminine features. Apparently most women, during menstruation, for whatever reason, preferred the masculine drawing. At all other times, they preferred the feminine.

None of that makes any sense whatsoever to me, but most things pertaining to women don't.

Post by **Popcorn** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 4:21 pm

I think it gets to be a problem when the anime characters some of my online female chums obsess over initially appear, to me, to be rather attractive women.

j-man · Post by **j-man** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 5:13 pm

None of that makes any sense whatsoever to me

Having an actual girlfriend who isn't animated or imaginary, I can explain. Girls actually do dig sensitive, sweet and caring guys, symbolised in society by a more effeminate male figure. However, when they're on, they get horny, and when they get horny, they couldn't give a shit about sweetness and they just want to get fucked by buff 'n' tough guys, hence the result. All girls like to get fucked by buff 'n' tough guys at all times, it just get overruled by that feminine carin'-sharin' attitude 75% of the time. When they're menstruating their body wants them to get to makin' those babies, and thus the fucking is needed and to hell with presents and poems. This means it's good for guys 'cause they don't need to waste millions on diamond rings and bouquets of endangered mountain flowers, but on the reverse it means you're either gonna end up with a child or just a really, really disgusting memory.

To summarise, girls just don't know what the fuck they want, and guys are screwed either way.

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 5:37 pm

Ah, thank you for the explanation, j-man. I couldn't really see it from a female perspective. I mean sure, I like sensitive guys. But I don't like them to look like Halle Barry sans boobs.

I think the whole femme/yaoi thing is something that only women can appreciate.

You show bishounen pictures to a room full of guys and 90% of them are going to be disturbed that they're attracted to the "men", and the other 10% are going to be creeped out that those things are supposed to be "men". Either way, nobody's going to be turned on without feeling disturbed.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 8:13 pm

To summarise, girls just don't know what the fuck they want, and guys are screwed either way.

Now that makes sense.

Neo Yi · Post by **Neo Yi** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 1:44 pm

To summarise, girls just don't know what the fuck they want, and guys are screwed either way.

It's a girl thing, you guys wouldn't understand....*waltzes off*
~Neo

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 3:03 pm

In other news, Tales of Symphonia fucking kicks ass. I've always been lukewarm to the Tales series, but Namco's finally struck gold with this one.

plasticwingsband · Post by **plasticwingsband** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 8:07 pm

Green Gibbon! wrote:In other news, Tales of Symphonia fucking kicks ass. I've always been lukewarm to the Tales series, but Namco's finally struck gold with this one.

Told you so.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 11:04 pm

plasticwingsband · Post by **plasticwingsband** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 11:44 pm

Yeah man, Sheena's a hottie. Have you gotten any of her alternative costumes yet?