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Post by TidusandYuna1983 on Sept 12, 2018 14:39:14 GMT
I'm a little bit into Ray Gigant. It's characters seem charming and the story is interesting enough, a Neon Genesis Evangelion style story, except with Demons. Plus the visual novel segments give you the option to flirt with just about every girl. The game is very visual novel heavy, you go through a lot of character portrait scenes before you get the chance to visit a dungeon. So I hope the story holds up, because I've read the game is like 50% visual novel, and even though I like visual novels, I still need the characters/story to be likable. I can see why people say the game is easy, the health of your party members restores to full after every battle. And you get a chance to perform at least 5 commands before the enemies have a chance to do anything. I like how the battle screens show the characters moving with a very fluid motion when they're standing on the spot, while using anime-style visuals, and maintaining turn-based feel.
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Post by Uesugi-dono on Sept 12, 2018 15:54:08 GMT
They kind of look like vampires.
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Post by TidusandYuna1983 on Sept 13, 2018 14:02:00 GMT
It seems Ray Gigant's bosses can be hard or easy, depending on how well you manage your AP . The bosses do a lot of damage, but your characters don't need MP to use spells, they only require AP, which replenishes after every round, so you can keep healing constantly. The catch is, you also want to damage bosses, and use guard/evade commands to prevent characters being KOed, so you need to balance your AP usage every turn. To make things more interesting, the game also has a feature referred to as Parasite mode, which is after 10 rounds, the health of your characters will deplete after every action they do, until you defeat the enemies, or you active slash beast mode (which is like a high powered attack that's performed by completing a rhythm mini-game), the catch is, to active slash beast mode, you need to be attack a lot and defend less. In essence, the game reminds me somewhat of Final Fantasy 13, because battles feel choreographed, and if you are slow to defeat a boss, you'll need to deal with parasite mode ( Final Fantasy 13's bosses used Doom if you were slow to defeat them). Even though it's a turn-based RPG, it doesn't offer much tactical depth.
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Post by TidusandYuna1983 on Nov 3, 2018 11:04:40 GMT
And so , it begins...Finally I begin my Final Fantasy 15 journey.I'm up to chapter 3. Without giving much away, the story has been interesting so far, it goes for a Final Fantasy 12 style of presentation, where it keeps the cutscenes short and lets you figure out much of the story for youself. It's world setting is interesting, with a wilderness influence by the Southern United States, but the world also has monarchies, and nice seaside resorts. The battle system, it reminds me of the Ys style battle system, where it's fast and real time, and it's fluid. The party members do stupid things though, such as engaging enemies when I want to activate a quest that's nearby. The open world is to my liking, driving makes it quick to get around, but you can and will need to go onfoot when you travel off the roads. As for the characters, Ignis has a likable personality, where as Noctis' personality doesn't really appeal to me, but he has an interesting past. And something going on with a girl he's meant to marry, and whom he knew when he was a kid and still has vivid memories about it. It's been fun so far.,but I don't like the way the levelling system is done( so far) and silly little things like bad camera angles and stupid party members.
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Post by TidusandYuna1983 on Nov 4, 2018 10:58:33 GMT
Up to chapter 5 in FF15.
I don't know how I feel about the combat, at times it feels fast and fun, but at other times, it feels a bit messy and battles drag on a bit too long. I've played lots of action RPGs before and loved the combat in them, such as Ys, The Last Story, Tales of etc. , but the action combat in those games felt cleaner and the battles didn't drag on too long. It feels as if FF15 tries to force you to use teammate abilities, warp strikes and QTE in just about every battle to make the battle system feel like it has depth, but it doesn't equate to fun.
The world looks amazing, and has much detail, but most NPCs cannot talk to you, and it's disappointing since I enjoyed hearing the things NPCs said in the older FF games, and even though the game's world has many people, Shenmue has countless NPCs walking around everywhere whom have something unique or interesting to tell you, plus SE worked on FF15 for 10 years, and said they wanted to create a realistic world, but didn't add simple little things that make RPGs more fun to play.
Also, it's hard to take some things about the world and story seriously, such as the characters are afraid to drive around at night because demons (powerful enemies) come out at night, yet the diners and restaurants are full of people at night? And there's a mission where you need to rescue your car that's been impounded in a military base, yet there's many cars driving past on roads, so they couldn't steal a car? Morality shouldn't be an issue since the world is at war, and the party members kill lots of enemies, yet they won't steal a car in order to save the world?
The story does have some emotional moments and it seems a heart warming romance could be building, but I must say even though I like this game, it doesn't feel like Final Fantasy, it feels like an action game. Especially since you don't encounter enemies very often , much of the gameplay appeal comes from doing sidequests such as taking photos or fetch quests.
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Post by TidusandYuna1983 on Nov 6, 2018 4:51:48 GMT
Up to chapter 8 now (roughly half way through), after 22 hours of playing time, and my characters are arond level 36. Sometimes it feels like a Metal Gear Solid game, because it wants you to use stealth, and turrets found around bases are more effective against mechs than melee weapons.
I agree with people who say they can see influences from The Last Story's battle system in FF15,because The Last story applied stealth mechanics years ago, as well as having fluid battle mechanics, allowing you to give commands to your party members mid-battle in real time, and allowing you to roll away from enemy attakcs.
I spend much of my play time driving around and taking pictures for side quests. There is nice scenery to see, and I like exploring the open world, such as being able to trek to places which are away off the main path, and walk along side a river or through the desert or forests or up mountains. The environments have much detail, i like how when I walked along side a river, I saw lots of fine little details such as pebbles and intricate rock layouts.
I must say, even though I like the story because it's emotional and interesting at times, the story does feel rushed in some parts, because certain characters go from being an enemy to a friend very quickly without much explantion why, and some chapters are very short, and I still remember a nonsensical main story quest where your goal is to retrieve your car from a heavily guarded military base even though there's many other cars being driven around that you could use.
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Post by TidusandYuna1983 on Nov 6, 2018 16:32:24 GMT
Now up to chapter 12 in F15. I can see why people say some of the chapters feel very rushed, because you can plow through them very quickly, plus some of them just involve walking through linear passageways.
During chapter 8, I was level 36, hence I thought I would easily be over level 70 by the end, because the game has 14 chapters , so I made the assumption I was half way through, but I didn't know the chapters near the end of the game would be so short, and they take your characters far away from the city to linear environments, so you can't pace your journey by doing some exploration or sidequests.
The story has had some very emotional moments, but it has pacing issues, and I've already mentioned how the characters behave in nonsensical ways and get themselves in trouble, such as when they entered a heavily guarded military base just to retrieve their car, well another such incident occured when Noctis demanded the leader of some nation allow him to speak to Luna(the woman he wanted to marry).and I won't go into detail because it would be a spoiler, but the way Noctis, a future king, does negotiation very poorly, especially when he's trying to secure the safety of the woman he loves just gives me a headache.
In essence, even though Noctis is supposed to be a future King, he is very quiet and passive , to the point I think it goes overboard. Many people said they don't like Tidus from FFX, but Tidus showed determination to rescue Yuna on a few occasions, even if it meant doing dangerous and daring things, and Tidus tried hard to find a way to get Yuna out of having to sacrifice herself.
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Post by endorbr on Nov 6, 2018 17:35:53 GMT
Now up to chapter 12 in F15. I can see why people say some of the chapters feel very rushed, because you can plow through them very quickly, plus some of them just involve walking through linear passageways. During chapter 8, I was level 36, hence I thought I would easily be over level 70 by the end, because the game has 14 chapters , so I made the assumption I was half way through, but I didn't know the chapters near the end of the game would be so short, and they take your characters far away from the city to linear environments, so you can't pace your journey by doing some exploration or sidequests. The story has had some very emotional moments, but it has pacing issues, and I've already mentioned how the characters behave in nonsensical ways and get themselves in trouble, such as when they entered a heavily guarded military base just to retrieve their car, well another such incident occured when Noctis demanded the leader of some nation allow him to speak to Luna(the woman he wanted to marry).and I won't go into detail because it would be a spoiler, but the way Noctis, a future king, does negotiation very poorly, especially when he's trying to secure the safety of the woman he loves just gives me a headache. In essence, even though Noctis is supposed to be a future King, he is very quiet and passive , to the point I think it goes overboard. Many people said they don't like Tidus from FFX, but Tidus showed determination to rescue Yuna on a few occasions, even if it meant doing dangerous and daring things, and Tidus tried hard to find a way to get Yuna out of having to sacrifice herself. So now you're getting into the problems I've seen others talk about with Final Fantasy: Emo Boy Band edition.
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Post by TidusandYuna1983 on Nov 7, 2018 7:19:52 GMT
I beat Final Fantasy 15. People weren't kidding when they said the 2nd half of the game is very short. The 2nd half of the game goes from being an open world RPG to an linear action game. The story went in all sorts of weird directions near the end, I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but I'll say it goes from being about a world at war to a story that feels a little bit like Dragon Age (no, really), and with a bit of the Korean movie Snowpiercer (literally). Then, it took another twist , and I can't say what happens, but it kinda makes for a happy and emotional ending. It's kinda like I have a love/hate relationship with this game, it's great and annoying in many different ways, I don't even know what score I can give it. Next, I'll try to platinum it, but the lack of quest variety will make it feel like a grind. I think Square Enix should take a lesson from CD Projeckt Red and Bethesda when it comes to open world, by either making the sidequests have some sort of impact on the world, or make them have an interesting story behind them.
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Post by endorbr on Nov 7, 2018 14:16:41 GMT
I beat Final Fantasy 15. People weren't kidding when they said the 2nd half of the game is very short. The 2nd half of the game goes from being an open world RPG to an linear action game. The story went in all sorts of weird directions near the end, I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but I'll say it goes from being about a world at war to a story that feels a little bit like Dragon Age (no, really), and with a bit of the Korean movie Snowpiercer (literally). Then, it took another twist , and I can't say what happens, but it kinda makes for a happy and emotional ending. It's kinda like I have a love/hate relationship with this game, it's great and annoying in many different ways, I don't even know what score I can give it. Next, I'll try to platinum it, but the lack of quest variety will make it feel like a grind. I think Square Enix should take a lesson from CD Projeckt Red and Bethesda when it comes to open world, by either making the sidequests have some sort of impact on the world, or make them have an interesting story behind them. You're describing the reasons why I'm still on the fence about buying this one, despite it actually being fairly cheap now. I've been off of Final Fantasy since XIII because of the focus on action rather than strategy, the linear paths instead of open world, and the just general weirdness of the stories.
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Post by TidusandYuna1983 on Nov 10, 2018 9:34:52 GMT
I'm closing in on the plat for FF15. The only trophies left that involve actually fighting enemies are defeating adamantoise, costlemark tower and unlocking 50 ability nodes. I managed to do 80 side quests, and it was so tedious, such boring side quests, like I said before, Square Enix needs to take a look at how Witcher 3 and Skyrim do side quests and give them some interesting story .
I beat Ifirit on normal difficulty, and I was worried at first because I kept dying so many times, even after I beat the game, but after getting the royal shield and grinding up some upgrades to greatly increase HP, armor and spirit, he was quite easy to beat.
An obstacle that could get in my way are FF15's trophy glitches, such as one that doesn't give you the trophy for unlocking 50 ability nodes (hence people are recommended to save when you unlock 49 nodes, and redo the 50th one if you experience the glitch). There is a glitch where sometime after doing 80 side quests you don't get a trophy, and it would be really frustrating since it took me so long to do those very boring side quests. Luckily I dodged that glitch, but some people didn.t
And there's even a glitch in costlemark tower, that prevents you progressing further in it.
I've read the ruby light doesn't revivie Noctis in the battle with adamantose, but I've read it's not a hard battle, but it's just a long battle, unless you do certain side quests which I don't wanna do since I'm sick of side quests.
The non-battle related trophies I still need are for fishing, cooking and walking. Yes. I need to do a LOT of fishing still... I've nearly got the trophies for cooking and walking, but it's kinda annoying that after I've cooked many different meals hundreds of times and have been exploring the world (often on foot) for over 50 hours, yet I still need make gladiolus walk even more.
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Post by TidusandYuna1983 on Nov 10, 2018 15:57:04 GMT
I managed to get the royal weapon from costlemark tower, even on easy the battles lasted a long time because it makes you fight numerous heavily armored enemies at once,and since you have little control over your party, they do stupid things and get themselves killed.
I managed to defeat Adamatoise, it took over 3 hours, because I didn't know the ring I had could do so much damage, the guides mentioned a ring that could kill him quickly, but I was sure the ring in the guide had a different name to the ring in my inventory. I spent the first 2 hours and 40 minutes bringing the health of adamantoise down below 50% , but his attacks became faster and more powerful to the extent he kept instant KOing me when I got near him, thus I used up nearly all of my revival items. Then I decided to stand a far distance from him and shot him with the ring I had and it depleted the other 50% of his health in less than 20 minutes, and luckily I had lots of items that could restore my MP.
All that is left is trophies for unlocking 50 nodes and some silly fishing,cooking and walking trophies. If the 50 nodes trophy doesn't glitch, then I'm guaranteed the platinum. I think I will load a much earlier save when I didn't spend my AP on expensive upgrades and will just unlock lots of cheap upgrades to unlock the 50 required.
Even though I've beaten the story, done all the optional dungeons and bosses, the game says I haven't made Gladiolus walk enough... Same goes for me cooking hundreds of meals but I still haven't cooked enough. I'm nearly done with those trophies though, it's just their requirements are silly. The fishing trophy will be a bore, because I have much fishing to do before I earn that trophy.
P.S Damn FF15 is glitchy as hell. When I fought adamantoise, Noctis got stuck against adamantoise, and it caused me to get KOed twice because I couldn't run away from him. Also, sometimes I couldn't see where adamantoise was because it made him invisible, but it wasn't some sort of invisibility ability from adamantoise, it was just another glitch, this happened when I got close to him. I couldn't see him and had to guess where to strike my weapon. And the camera is terrible often Noctis would face the wrong way, not just in the battle against adamantoise, but against many enemies. It was just more annoying against adamantoise because the battle lasted so long, and I didn't want to have to redo hours worth of work because of glitches.
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Post by TidusandYuna1983 on Nov 12, 2018 13:16:25 GMT
I finally platinumed FF15. After 86 hours of game time, minus 6 hours or so when I was charging my controller , and one dungeon I spent hours in for a sidequest before I gave up on it. It's my first PS4 plat, for the first PS4 game I've played Also, it's the 4th Final Fantasy game I've platinumed, along with Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy 13 and 13-2. There's still lots more side quests in FF15 that I haven't done (although I've done over 100 of them already if I count the hunts). I'm hoping to play some of the DLCs to learn more about the story, and to get more trophies, since even though I've platinumed the game, I have only 50% trophy completion for it. I must say, Final Fantasy X was so much more fun to plat, not just because it's my favorite game, but because Blitzball is so much fun, and it even has league and knockout tournaments. Tomorrow, I will give Rainbow Six Seige a try. It has no single player campaign, just some single player missions, but I got the game for free, so it can't hurt to give it a try.
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Post by TidusandYuna1983 on Nov 13, 2018 3:53:45 GMT
I've purchased Final Fantasy Type 0 and inFAMOUS Second Son. Both games are fairly cheap now. The thing is, I opted for a physical copy of Type 0 because I like to collect box arts for JRPGs, hence I need to wait for it to arrive in the mail. I opted for a digital version of Second Son, but need to deal with Australia's slow internet speed. However, Second Son is only around 24 GB, which is around the same size as some big PS3 games. Makes me laugh how Activision made it so people had to download 40 GB for the Spyro Trilogy on Xbox One lol.
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Post by TidusandYuna1983 on Nov 13, 2018 12:24:41 GMT
Even though Second Son is still downloading, it's allowing me to play it?
Anyhow, it's a fun game. It's controls are a lot more fluid and faster than the first inFAMOUS game. However, so far it's mission designs haven't been as fun as in the first inFAMOUS, and Delsin and his brother are really annoying. They act very stupidly and cause the big problems they later need to deal with. And then, when they're in a race against time to save people in their tribe whom are dying, Delsin's brother will be focusing on how to remove Delsin's power, when it's obvious Delsins ability is the only chance of saving the people in their tribe?
I must say, I prefer the first inFAMOUS game, because Cole is a likable character, and it's story presentation is great, and it's gameplay was quite good although it's mechanics aren't as fluid, IMO it's mission designs are more fun.
However, I like how the graphics in Second Son look realistic and crisp. The graphics for the first inFAMOUS game looked a bit ugly, even for PS3 standards.
I also like how the game makes the controller make sounds to make it sound like stuff is happening right next to you. The Wii Controller had this feature, and it's nice it's been brought back again.
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