Soooooo what'cha playing?

[Armagon]

5 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

If I remember correctly from your summaries, Totori is the hardest due to being the strictest on the time limit and missing some QOL stuff, right?

Yep. If you don't commit to something in Atelier Totori, you're gonna get punished hard for it (which is what happened to me). Atelier Meruru is far more forgiving (but still fairly harder than Atelier Rorona) as the world map isn't as gigantic as it is in Totori and it helps that as you play through Atelier Meruru, you'll discover/create shortcut routes, significantly reducing the amount of time it takes to travel, especially if you have the traveling boots.

5 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

My favorite character is currently tied between Sterk and Cordelia.

Yeah, they're pretty great too.

Speaking of Cordelia, that reminds me, i was mildly upset when Atelier Lulua baited me into thinking Cordelia showed up.........just like........how the game also baited me into thinking Alanya would be visitable.......before Totori said outsiders were currently not allowed.

 

[DragonFlames]

34 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Yep. If you don't commit to something in Atelier Totori, you're gonna get punished hard for it (which is what happened to me). Atelier Meruru is far more forgiving (but still fairly harder than Atelier Rorona) as the world map isn't as gigantic as it is in Totori and it helps that as you play through Atelier Meruru, you'll discover/create shortcut routes, significantly reducing the amount of time it takes to travel, especially if you have the traveling boots.

I'm honestly dreading Totori a little, because I usually suck at micromanaging. Lord knows I wonder why I seem to be doing fine in Rorona so far.
Looking forward to Meruru, though. The soundtrack hyped me for it.

35 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Yeah, they're pretty great too.

Speaking of Cordelia, that reminds me, i was mildly upset when Atelier Lulua baited me into thinking Cordelia showed up.........just like........how the game also baited me into thinking Alanya would be visitable.......before Totori said outsiders were currently not allowed.

Yeah, it's a bit of a shame we didn't get to visit Totori's hometown in Lulua, but at least the excuse was kind of believable.
I did wonder why we never got to see Cordelia, either, and for the longest time, I was honestly convinced she was the same character from Sophie, because she was only ever referred to as "Cory", which also happens to be the nickname of a character in Atelier Sophie, who was from "a far-off land". Atelier Rorona quickly shattered that belief, of course. The two couldn't be any more different. Sophie's Cory is pretty great in her own right, though.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

So the reason for my recent NES kick is that I feel like I haven't gotten the most out of the collection of games on Switch and also I don't have the time to be jumping into full length modern games. This week I played Vice: Project Doom. The trailer Nintendo put out for the game looked awesome. Man look at that dislike ratio and those mean comments. Just a bunch of whiny babies expecting the NES library to be a Gamecube-style treasure trove of quality titles. But Vice is a treasure. Its core gameplay is starkly similar to Shinobi/Ninja Gaiden/Strider, with run and sword platforming. You can crouch while running to duck under bullets which feels awesome. And the characters and setting look ripped out of various 80s and 90s action dystopias like Escape from New York. It also has a generous continue system that never puts you back more than a few minutes of gameplay rather than stiffing you at the start of the game. You've also got a generous pool of health which is ideal because these enemy designs suck. They jump, swarm, and shoot at you with little regard for human reaction timing. And their respawn points refresh if you backtrack a single step and move forward again like in Ninja Gaiden. Thankfully the sword has a generous hitbox hitting behind and above you. There's some particularly nasty rooms with bottomless pits.

Even with its design flaws this is a stellar game. Honestly one of the best action games on the system. The story is nice and cheesy too, fitting the genre of films these developers were going for. Give it a decent soundtrack and it would potentially surpass the best of Mega Man 1-6. It's just so incredibly rare to find an NES game the player can be expected to finish in their first sitting without exploits. I'm going back on my rating for Double dragon 2 that's a 5.3, and this game is a 5.7 out of 10.

[Shrimpica]

btw @SireWere you able to get Generals - Zero hour to work on new PCs?

I have been trying since yesterday, to no success.

I will try to see if i can get Mental Omega to run today

 

Edit: Somehow, i got Mental Omega to Run, and played a Mission and a half..

FUN 😄

Remembering that rush feeling you got when plaiyng C&C was 👌

 

I love how the first Allied and Sovied Missions are the reverse of those in RA2

In Ra2 first Soviet Mission you were to destroy the Pentagon, in MOfirst allied mission you have to defend it from the Soviets invading. It felt like i was playing against my 12 year old self back then invading Murica xD.

In RA2 first allied Mission you played as Tanya destroying Sovied Forces that wanted to destroy the Statue of Liberity. Here in the first Sovied Mission you get to destroy it haha.

Edit 2: Dat First Yuri mission...

They made a Mission out of a cutscene, eh? I Love this

Edited September 12, 2019 by Shrimperor

[Sire]

1 hour ago, Shrimperor said:

btw @SireWere you able to get Generals - Zero hour to work on new PCs?

I have been trying since yesterday, to no success.

I will try to see if i can get Mental Omega to run today [Success!]

I never really played the Generals games or own them, so I can't help you there.

As for running Mental Omega, congrats! Yeah, the Part One missions of Mental Omega will bring out a lot of happy memories as players connect events that happened from the original RA2 to MO. Oh, and as a warning, Mental Omega missions are apparently much harder than Red Alert 2 or Yuri's Revenge missions, so keep those saves handy!

... Now I want to try and see if I can get Mental Omega running on my Laptop. I tried once before but don't think I did everything properly.

* * * * * * * * * *

As for what I've been playing, I am continuing my pursuit of nostalgia with WoW: Classic. I tried logging into the modern retail servers and they changed basically everything, so it was straight back to Classic for me. While some of the new stuff they put in is cool (such as some new/expanded characters or skills), they do so much other stuff "wrong" that I can't bring myself to play Retail.

Also on the nostalgia train is Warcraft 3. I've mostly been playing skirmishes against the AI, but I may start going through the campaigns again on Hard Difficulty. I'm also thinking about restarting my Youtube Channel for kicks, so my Hard Playthrough will likely be the first content I put on there.

Lastly, Earth Defense Force 4.1. This is my first EDF game and while I want to pick up 5, I hear 5 removes the iconic 4.1 song and puts in an inferior version. Also, 4.1 has some VAs that I recognize from Fire Emblem while 5 has people I don't really know. Running around and blowing up giant insects is fun, and I'm also planning on an Inferno solo playthrough as well. I don't know if my Ranger is good enough to last the entirety of 4.1 doing Inferno without further grinding, but we'll see what happens.

[Shrimpica]

8 minutes ago, Sire said:

As for running Mental Omega, congrats!

Thanks 😄

8 minutes ago, Sire said:

... Now I want to try and see if I can get Mental Omega running on my Laptop. I tried once before but don't think I did everything properly.

Try to play with the renderer options

I had alot of lag before changing it 

it now works flawlessly. Apparently DDrawCompat is the best for Win 10

9 minutes ago, Sire said:

Oh, and as a warning, Mental Omega missions are apparently much harder than Red Alert 2 or Yuri's Revenge missions, so keep those saves handy!

I noticed. I mean, i had to go against Kirovs with only Guardian GIs, IFVs and the reinforcements the game gave me xD

I am also only playing on Normal because i forgot how to RTS. Although out of the few RTS games i have been trying the last few days, i've been having the most fun with MO so far haha 😄

[Sire]

Welp, I tried to get Mental Omega working on my computer. (I even tried to dust off my old 2004 Dell PC that has Windows XP, but for some reason we no longer have the monitor cable for it...)

Problem is, I'm using my old Retail CDs and trying to install it on Windows 10. I can play Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge just fine, but I get screwed when trying to run Mental Omega because I don't have the right gamemd.exe file as I have the XWIS workaround of gamemd-spawn.exe. The XWIS version is not compatible with ARES, which MO requires to function...

I sent a query in their Technical Support thread to see if there is any other workarounds, or if I'm simply screwed with my setup.

Edited September 13, 2019 by Sire

[Armagon]

So i've finally gotten around to playing Astral Chain. I've only completed the first chapter but i'm liking it so far. The game can control a bit odd but there's a training room. And by control odd, i mean there's just some odd commands. Like to sprint, you have to tap the left control stick. And exiting menus sometimes isn't the B button and that fucks up my muscle memory immensely.

But yeah, game's good so far. Combat feels satisfying. Avatar customization is also fantastic. Mine almost looks like I do in real life. I say almost because i forgot to change the eye color lmao.

Edited September 13, 2019 by Armagon

[Shrimpica]

8 hours ago, Sire said:

Problem is, I'm using my old Retail CDs and trying to install it on Windows 10. I can play Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge just fine, but I get screwed when trying to run Mental Omega because I don't have the right gamemd.exe file as I have the XWIS workaround of gamemd-spawn.exe. The XWIS version is not compatible with ARES, which MO requires to function...

shouldn't retail CDs install normal gamemd.exe?

 

Anyway, if you still have a problem, i might be able to help. Just say so and i will pm you with a solution 😉

[𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥]

i had to "pause" my God Eater 2 Rage Burst run due to Code Vein being almost around the corner along with other factors. wich means i'm currently in standby.

plus, Death Stranding will be coming out in a couple of months, so i guess the God Eater saga will be put on hold for a good while. at least i managed to fully complete once again the first title, so that's a start.

besides, there's also Daemon X Machina, Astral Chain, FE 3H...there's literally no end to the games i can play.

 

i'm also playing the last chapters of FE Thracia 776, after that i'll probably move on to the GBA titles once more.

however, between fall and winter, there's probably more chances i'll be locked on my PS4 rather than playing with emulators on cellphone.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Played Super Mario Bros. 3 on the Switch. It's not the first time I've played the game, I'm really just refreshing my memory. Between SMB1 up to SMW this is the Mario game I played the least growing up despite many people claiming it to be the best or at least the best NES game overall. It's actually much less polished than I remember. Some taller enemies require perfect spacing to defeat with your jump. Level designs are also made more difficult due to the removal of checkpoints entirely which is surprising since I think SMB1 invented checkpoints for console games? But the game also vomits extra live opportunities onto you and you have unlimited continues unlike the previous two games, so perseverance can carry you through the game. I'm also reminded how annoying the Tanuki tail is. You want to press A just before bouncing off an enemy to gain more height, but pressing A is how you flutter. That small flutter often causes you to overshoot the enemy you want to bounce on and that typically means the difference between life and death. I also wish I could hold the button rather than mash over an extended period of time. And my biggest gripe, why didn't this game have a save feature? Or at least a password system like other nintendo games. I know this is a non issue for somebody playing on Switch with its save states, but Zelda could save, and that was released two years prior. This is a large enough game to warrant a save feature at about 5-6 hours for an average player. There are plenty of shortcuts and secrets to cut down on game length, but people playing this back then had to do it all in one sitting, which is rough to think about. Our parents need the tv to watch Cheers.

I also wish you could replay levels. Some of these are rife with shortcuts and alternate exits. And many fortresses are laid out like ghost house levels in later Mario games. Still though it's a remarkable game. The controls feel very good, and there's a larger concentration of secrets which I enjoy. The items on the world map let you pass over obstacles or levels, but since death takes you back to the last cleared level, only the most capable players can make the best use of the cloud which is very creative. And the world map stage selection concept is thrown into games of multiple genres even today. Is it the best NES game? Well, my generic answer to that question has always been Kirby's Adventure which I'm also itching to play again so that answer will have to wait. For now I rate it a 7.4 out of 10. It's very fun and feels tough but fair in my opinion. But it also reminds me how much SMW improved on almost everything, including the majority of gripes I mentioned.

Also played through Excitebike. Not something you really say you "beat" since all the levels are selectable at the start, there's no credits, and besides the cool level editor mode, all the game has is time attack challenges of the existing ten races. Each of the initial five tracks has a second track you can play if your time was good, but you don't "unlock" them to play later on your own time. 1A must be cleared anytime you want to play 1B. There's also Scenario B which has other racers on the track you can crash into, but it's only there to create more hazards and a false illusion of a race. If your time is low enough for a 1st place ranking, you'll still see racers ahead of you as you cross the finish line. The controls are pretty good though. The way your landing of each jump impacts your speed gives the game good depth that makes you want to master it. It feels like a tech demo concept that's waiting to be turned into a proper game. Definitely a one-and-done app but in a world where the Trials series exists there's not any reason to come back to it. I rate it a 4.0 out of 10. My only real issue with the game is that i'm sure they could have packed more than 10-15 minutes of tracks in the game itself, or a versus mode. That latter idea prompted them to make a second release of the game in the form of VS. Excitebike

[Shrimpica]

Mental Omega

Finally playing some RTS again and damn is it fun. Soviet & Allied campaign are bringing back memories, while Yuri missions are a bit annoying, especially since i always sucked with Yuri & the maps are filled with Attack Doggos while all you have are Yuri clones <.<

Up to Allied Mission 5, Sovied Mission 3 and Yuri Mission 3

 

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Started this yesterday as part of Xbox game pass. Pretty fun so far, although i wish it was a bit faster. Alsp, the Music. Oh my god, the Music :3

Finally a new Adventure to play through!

 

Crosscode

played the demo a few days ago, downloaded it yesterday as part of the game pass (that's alot of worth for 1€ tbh.). I did like the demo, so here's to another Adventure! (I love adventuring!)

 

Wargroove

Always wanted to try this, gamepass is giving me the chance. Played the first 2 levels. Let's see if i will like this or not
 

Renegade x

 Going on with my Command and Conquer craze, decided to try this as well and played some multiplayer matches. Fun, but i suck at FPS haha.
 

Tokyo Xanadu is currently on hold

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Borderlands 3, baby. It's a fantastic feeling to be playing this game, especially with the same buds from high school I played 2 over and over again with. For the most part, Borderlands 3 is a straight laced sequel. It doesn't try out many new mechanics, instead spending its focus on a new cast of guns - which is a very Borderlands philosophy for progression. Even if the gameplay loop of looting, shooting, and side questing hasn't changed, a new set of playable characters, guns, and planets make the whole experience feel fresh again for a series who's last entry was five years ago and was mostly ignored. I'm a little bummed at some missing features, such as the safe that allows you to pass down weapons to your other characters, or the grinder from Pre-Sequel. However, the game's much higher frequency of rare drops compared to previous games dilutes the call for such features. The new instanced loot system also makes co-op more streamlined as you can hastily pick up loot without first seeing if one of your friends could use it more. And if you'd prefer the old system of sharing, you can turn off that gameplay style which is appreciated.

It's not all roses of course. The game seems to reject the idea of running at a stable frame rate no matter how much I fiddle with the settings. My computer is not what I'd call up to date, but a game that looks like this shouldn't really warrant high end PCs in the first place, it just seems unoptimized. Playing with people also randomly results in loading screens lasting as long as two minutes. And there was a point where a friend had to reset the game because when he joined his attacks dealt no damage. There was also a hilarious glitch where I fell through the game world after a certain cutscene concluded which is apparently common. Finally I experienced no fewer than eight game crashes, the majority of which were in solo play. This is the difficulty of rating some of today's games. A lot of what I mention here will probably get patched if the last five years of AAA games is anything to go by. When I return to this game some time in the future I won't remember these launch issues. And I will appreciate that all of the game will still be there because it's a video game and not a live service like Anthem or any of the other games invoking the fun of this particular franchise. 8.3 out of 10.

Edited September 22, 2019 by Glennstavos

[Interdimensional Observer]

I've been playing the Switch version of Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age.

I had long wanted to try the game, a good old Job system that let me customize my characters just had to be good. And, I had recalled comparisons to the first Xenoblade Chronicles back when XC1 was first released (XII preceded XC1 by 4 years FYI). I overheard FFXII had a weak plot, I didn't mind if the world looked nice, and above all else, the gameplay was good.

 

The game is fundamentally failing me.

I've reached the point where I can get a second License Board, and things are just not fun. The Zodiac Job System is a sham, nothing at all like the Job systems of FFV or Bravely Default/Second. It's closer to the Sphere Grid of FFX, but even that I'd want to argue is better than this. Heck, even Octopath Traveler has a better Job system. The vast majority of Licenses are just weapons and armor and accessories that I don't have access to yet, and it has very little in interesting customization. I haven't spent about 800-1000 LP on each character, but I can't see how much good that'd do me at the moment.

Severely hurting the ZJS is seeming dearth of skills physically-oriented characters can perform. Of all the Techniques that exist, very few seem actually useful and worth getting. Instead, a physically-oriented character is just spamming auto attacks, BORING!!! Call Xenoblade "Arts Spam!", not without some reason, but at least positional Arts and other conditionals and secondary effects add some nuance. How could Square not give physical attackers a better arsenal? Remember Sabin, Edgar and Cyan? How is an SNES game better off than this one? The fellow PS2 FFs of FFX and X-2 are better off. XI the immediate predecessor probably is too.

Mages with their MP pools just throw the usual FF spells at everything when I need them to, so they don't actually play much better than physical attacks. Decoy is about the only interesting new spell. Quickenings appear to be just powerful attacks I can rarely use, no strategy.

I'd also like to say that MP, even with gradual recharge, does feel a bit dated here. And it is annoying at this point when money for things like Echo Herbs and Eye Drops are still something that I, rather strapped for cash, need to buy. Silence and Blind could stand to wear off naturally after enough time passes, like the Slow and Sleep ailments.

I appreciate Gambits to remove tedium, and setting a couple of simple ones has allowed me to autobattle through most weaker enemies. When that isn't enough, a strong single foe or many weaker ones, I command some Darks, Aeroes, and Curas. If I win, good, if not, well I retreat. Fleeing isn't bad here, but not as good as XC has it.

 

So, the Zodiac Job System hasn't clicked, maybe it won't ever click. How is the world? Well Square hasn't failed in the presentation department, and the movie sequences are pretty. The PS2 Remastered graphics are straining with over a decade of age, but they're able to put up a strong fight and remain good enough outside of, say, armor detail. I'll add the flowery script is being appreciated. Balthier's character and VA are sublime too.

But, the world itself doesn't feel that creative. And the world itself is a bit flat, its pretty, but not my favorite to roam, no venue will forever remain with me so far. The absence of XC's Landmarks is inconvenient, the finite Teleport Stones to select Save Crystals is less ideal. This remaster's 2/4x Speed and autosave features are big helps with some QoL problems, and I'm thankful for them.

 

Again, FFXII preceded XC1 by four years, and boy, what a difference it made. XII is downright primitive compared to XC1. I'm going to keep playing XII in hopes it gets better, but this is not the XII I eagerly awaited. Not. At. All.😞

Edited September 25, 2019 by Interdimensional Observer

[Jingle Jangle]

I completed Borderlands 3, what a mixed bag.

What I like:

 Gameplay in 3 is 3 steps up from past games. With guns having more weight when shooting. Manufactures having better gimmicks to makes each one distinct from each other (Maliwan weapons suck hard, charge shots really?). Enemies flinch more often, being knocked down after a heavy hit is nice. Having for the first time being away from Pandora allows for more unique environments.The drop rate for rarer items is fairer here compared to other looter shooters. Eden 6 is my favorite section of the game. Boss fights while being bullet sponges are far better this time with unique strategies for fighting each one.  Having the same formula from the previous games is nice.

What I disliked:

The performance of the game is awful. In my experience, the game crashed 7 times for me, 2 times I lost my saves, 3 times  I had to exit in and out because the game script bugged out. With the frame rate in the 30s on average despite playing on a decent computer on moderate settings. The unskippable cutscene made replaying the game slower than it needs to be.  The overall balance between the vault hunters needs more to be desired. My first playthrough was with Zane, but I have up with him midway into the story because of how unimpressive he is. The guy needs to be at full investment just to be on the same level as the other characters. Amara treated me better. 

The story is a whole can of bad by itself. With insulting killing off characters for the sakes of cheap drama. Cutscenes and the story where the main characters don't do anything. Previous having little impact or characters missing from the game to have them dlc I guess. Ava being a Scrappy-Doo type of character does zero favors for her.  Felt like it was a bunch of different separate writing teams than planned the story and just made bits up as they went along; sirens especially. 

 

Back to Three Houses and the Golden Deer.

Edited September 25, 2019 by Jingle Jangle

[DragonFlames]

Okay, I just finished Atelier Rorona DX earlier, so it's time for another little pseudo-review-that-isn't-really-a-review thingy.
I took a lot longer than expected to finish this game due to me being sick at the moment.

The story:
The story of Atelier Rorona is as simplistic as it gets, which is exactly what makes it great. You play as a young girl named Rorona who is the alchemy student of a rather lazy alchemy master named Astrid. The kingdom of Arland wants Astrid's workshop closed down, because of some kind of construction work, but they give you one last chance at saving it: by completing one assignment given to you by the kingdom every three months for three whole years. Fail to complete even one of them and -boom- your workshop is gone.
And that's it. That's the whole point of the game. There is no secret organization conspiring against you, you don't go out to save the world. Saving your workshop and helping the people of Arland with their everyday troubles is really all you do. And all this game needs to be enjoyable and relaxing. Hell, there isn't even a final boss or villain!

The characters:
Really the strength of every Atelier game I've played including this one is the colorful cast of enjoyable characters. There's of course Rorona herself, who comes across as little bit of an airhead with a hint of doormat-ness to her, something her master Astrid constantly uses against her (because of course she does), and it's hilarious to witness. Rorona is an all around adorable character that made me want to root for her, which is good, because the game is centered around her personal journey from bumbling student to fantastic alchemist. On your adventure, you are eventually joined by Rorona's Tsundere childhood friend Cordelia (nicknamed "Cory"). You can guess what happens when you put a Tsundere and an airheaded doormat into one room, right? Even so, their friendship is discussed during their character events and it's actually quite sweet.
Also joining you are the shy puppeteer Lionela, the mysterious old man Gio, who is quite a nice dude and a strong fighter, the happy-go-lucky cook Iksel, who is also one of Rorona's close friends, the gigolo-like Tantris, and the stoic knight Sterkenburg, nicknamed "Sterk", whom everybody is initially scared of due to his face, but as it turns out, he's a humble, upstanding guy. Voiced by Liam O'Brien no less.
I'll be honest: due to me almost exclusively having Sterk and Cory in my party throughout the game (because they were my personal favorites from the word "go"), I didn't get an opportunity to get to know the others much, but from what I've seen, they're all charming in their own way. As are the NPC characters, such as Esty and Pamela.

The gameplay:
The gameplay is about as simple as the story: you have a limited number of days to complete several main assignments, which range from defeating a certain type of monster to synthesizing certain items to gathering certain materials. For each assignment, you are given ~90 in-game days (which is honestly more than enough), leaving you to do what you want and work towards fulfilling the conditions listed.

The alchemy is pretty easy to understand and use. Once you get the recipe for an item, you select the materials from a menu and there you go: your item is done. Of course, it does get a little deeper than that, because depending on the quality of materials you use, the item you get may have different effects and traits. Of course, the better the material quality, the better the item will be. It's an enjoyable system that is really easy to get used to, though I'd argue it isn't as user-friendly as it is in Atelier Sophie or Atelier Lulua, because it is easier to make exactly the item you want in those two games as it is in Rorona. That's not to say it's impossible, it's just a little bit harder to do. Partway through the game, you get an assistant, who can either synthesize items you've already made before or gather materials in areas you've already been to for you, leaving you to focus on other things, which is very welcome, particularly if you plan on completing side objectives and side quests for additional rewards and to improve your workshop's reputation.

Exploration is done in so-called gathering areas, where you can - you guessed it - gather materials in addition to defeating monsters. Each gathering area has multiple zones and it takes one or more days to go from one to the other, which discourages grinding (which isn't really necessary in the first place).

Combat is entirely turn-based and it's similar to Final Fantasy X and Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth, in that the turn order of each combatant is displayed in a timeline on screen, so you can strategize around who gets to take a turn and when. This allows you to clear most battles unscathed if you keep attacking the enemy that would be up next. Of course, alchemy will help you out in battles and it's necessary to make use of it to get rid of some very tough monsters. You can make bombs, medicine, barrels, meteors, all kinds of things to spice things up a bit and make life easier for you. I used Cory, Sterk, and Rorona as my main party for the whole game and it worked out even if Cory's low HP did cause some problems at one or two points.

The music:
The music in Atelier Rorona is all around pleasant to listen to. It has everything from cheerful tracks to very relaxing ones. My personal favorite track is this one.
On a different note, this game lacks the "Heavy Metal" tracks newer Atelier games have, so if you expect something like "Cygnus", "Juno" or "Saturnus" you'll be sorely disappointed. While I personally really, REALLY like those tracks, I didn't mind that nothing like that was included on the game's soundtrack. Because nothing in the game calls for music like that.

The graphics:
The game looks pretty and the artstyle fits the overall relaxing tone really well, though if you've played Sophie or Lulua first like me, you'll notice that Rorona is an older game. I played the Switch version and I found the graphics more fitting in handheld mode, which is what I played the game in almost exclusively.

Gripes:
Of course, no game is perfect and Atelier Rorona does have its frustrations that were thankfully addressed in future titles like Lulua. First of all, the time limit thing. I was constantly panicking about not having enough time or screwing something up; having multiple save slots is a definite must. Another, perhaps bigger gripe is that I couldn't make use of about 1/3rd of my recipe list, because throughout the whole game, I couldn't find the materials to synthesize those items. I also noticed a constant shortage of materials, especially if you want to get the best evaluation on your main assignments on top of completing sidequests and side objectives. I also had multiple instances where the game asked me to fully explore a gathering area I hadn't unlocked or to synthesize an item I didn't have the recipe for until much later. Both of these were luckily part of the side objectives, but it's still a bit of a shame to miss out on good rewards because of something like that. There is also a really jarring difficulty spike in the last quarter or so: if you don't upgrade your equipment the forge, more enemies than I am comfortable with will kick your butt to next Sunday.

Conclusion:
If you can't tell from the wall of text I've written here (apologies for that), I very much enjoyed my time playing Atelier Rorona, even with all my little gripes. It's a relaxing game that I can greatly recommend to anyone who wants a JRPG that isn't about saving the world, destroying some ultimate evil, an epic quest with drama alert flags everywhere or having to kill you best friends and family to get rid of a dimension destroying entity after the game started out as a humorous parody of otaku culture... (yes, I'm still not over it).
Atelier Rorona doesn't try to be any of those things and it's better for it, in my opinion. It, like all the other (two) Atelier games I've played, is a game that you play when you can just relax and immerse yourself in a cute story and a beautiful world.
And while I did enjoy Atelier Lulua more, I'd still call Atelier Rorona a fantastic experience worth sinking time into.

[Armagon]

30 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

Okay, I just finished Atelier Rorona DX earlier, so it's time for another little pseudo-review-that-isn't-really-a-review thingy.
I took a lot longer than expected to finish this game due to me being sick at the moment.

The story:
The story of Atelier Rorona is as simplistic as it gets, which is exactly what makes it great. You play as a young girl named Rorona who is the alchemy student of a rather lazy alchemy master named Astrid. The kingdom of Arland wants Astrid's workshop closed down, because of some kind of construction work, but they give you one last chance at saving it: by completing one assignment given to you by the kingdom every three months for three whole years. Fail to complete even one of them and -boom- your workshop is gone.
And that's it. That's the whole point of the game. There is no secret organization conspiring against you, you don't go out to save the world. Saving your workshop and helping the people of Arland with their everyday troubles is really all you do. And all this game needs to be enjoyable and relaxing. Hell, there isn't even a final boss or villain!

The characters:
Really the strength of every Atelier game I've played including this one is the colorful cast of enjoyable characters. There's of course Rorona herself, who comes across as little bit of an airhead with a hint of doormat-ness to her, something her master Astrid constantly uses against her (because of course she does), and it's hilarious to witness. Rorona is an all around adorable character that made me want to root for her, which is good, because the game is centered around her personal journey from bumbling student to fantastic alchemist. On your adventure, you are eventually joined by Rorona's Tsundere childhood friend Cordelia (nicknamed "Cory"). You can guess what happens when you put a Tsundere and an airheaded doormat into one room, right? Even so, their friendship is discussed during their character events and it's actually quite sweet.
Also joining you are the shy puppeteer Lionela, the mysterious old man Gio, who is quite a nice dude and a strong fighter, the happy-go-lucky cook Iksel, who is also one of Rorona's close friends, the gigolo-like Tantris, and the stoic knight Sterkenburg, nicknamed "Sterk", whom everybody is initially scared of due to his face, but as it turns out, he's a humble, upstanding guy. Voiced by Liam O'Brien no less.
I'll be honest: due to me almost exclusively having Sterk and Cory in my party throughout the game (because they were my personal favorites from the word "go"), I didn't get an opportunity to get to know the others much, but from what I've seen, they're all charming in their own way. As are the NPC characters, such as Esty and Pamela.

The gameplay:
The gameplay is about as simple as the story: you have a limited number of days to complete several main assignments, which range from defeating a certain type of monster to synthesizing certain items to gathering certain materials. For each assignment, you are given ~90 in-game days (which is honestly more than enough), leaving you to do what you want and work towards fulfilling the conditions listed.

The alchemy is pretty easy to understand and use. Once you get the recipe for an item, you select the materials from a menu and there you go: your item is done. Of course, it does get a little deeper than that, because depending on the quality of materials you use, the item you get may have different effects and traits. Of course, the better the material quality, the better the item will be. It's an enjoyable system that is really easy to get used to, though I'd argue it isn't as user-friendly as it is in Atelier Sophie or Atelier Lulua, because it is easier to make exactly the item you want in those two games as it is in Rorona. That's not to say it's impossible, it's just a little bit harder to do. Partway through the game, you get an assistant, who can either synthesize items you've already made before or gather materials in areas you've already been to for you, leaving you to focus on other things, which is very welcome, particularly if you plan on completing side objectives and side quests for additional rewards and to improve your workshop's reputation.

Exploration is done in so-called gathering areas, where you can - you guessed it - gather materials in addition to defeating monsters. Each gathering area has multiple zones and it takes one or more days to go from one to the other, which discourages grinding (which isn't really necessary in the first place).

Combat is entirely turn-based and it's similar to Final Fantasy X and Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth, in that the turn order of each combatant is displayed in a timeline on screen, so you can strategize around who gets to take a turn and when. This allows you to clear most battles unscathed if you keep attacking the enemy that would be up next. Of course, alchemy will help you out in battles and it's necessary to make use of it to get rid of some very tough monsters. You can make bombs, medicine, barrels, meteors, all kinds of things to spice things up a bit and make life easier for you. I used Cory, Sterk, and Rorona as my main party for the whole game and it worked out even if Cory's low HP did cause some problems at one or two points.

The music:
The music in Atelier Rorona is all around pleasant to listen to. It has everything from cheerful tracks to very relaxing ones. My personal favorite track is this one.
On a different note, this game lacks the "Heavy Metal" tracks newer Atelier games have, so if you expect something like "Cygnus", "Juno" or "Saturnus" you'll be sorely disappointed. While I personally really, REALLY like those tracks, I didn't mind that nothing like that was included on the game's soundtrack. Because nothing in the game calls for music like that.

The graphics:
The game looks pretty and the artstyle fits the overall relaxing tone really well, though if you've played Sophie or Lulua first like me, you'll notice that Rorona is an older game. I played the Switch version and I found the graphics more fitting in handheld mode, which is what I played the game in almost exclusively.

Gripes:
Of course, no game is perfect and Atelier Rorona does have its frustrations that were thankfully addressed in future titles like Lulua. First of all, the time limit thing. I was constantly panicking about not having enough time or screwing something up; having multiple save slots is a definite must. Another, perhaps bigger gripe is that I couldn't make use of about 1/3rd of my recipe list, because throughout the whole game, I couldn't find the materials to synthesize those items. I also noticed a constant shortage of materials, especially if you want to get the best evaluation on your main assignments on top of completing sidequests and side objectives. I also had multiple instances where the game asked me to fully explore a gathering area I hadn't unlocked or to synthesize an item I didn't have the recipe for until much later. Both of these were luckily part of the side objectives, but it's still a bit of a shame to miss out on good rewards because of something like that. There is also a really jarring difficulty spike in the last quarter or so: if you don't upgrade your equipment the forge, more enemies than I am comfortable with will kick your butt to next Sunday.

Conclusion:
If you can't tell from the wall of text I've written here (apologies for that), I very much enjoyed my time playing Atelier Rorona, even with all my little gripes. It's a relaxing game that I can greatly recommend to anyone who wants a JRPG that isn't about saving the world, destroying some ultimate evil, an epic quest with drama alert flags everywhere or having to kill you best friends and family to get rid of a dimension destroying entity after the game started out as a humorous parody of otaku culture... (yes, I'm still not over it).
Atelier Rorona doesn't try to be any of those things and it's better for it, in my opinion. It, like all the other (two) Atelier games I've played, is a game that you play when you can just relax and immerse yourself in a cute story and a beautiful world.
And while I did enjoy Atelier Lulua more, I'd still call Atelier Rorona a fantastic experience worth sinking time into.

Nice, congrats on finishing the game. I imagine you'll be moving on to Atelier Totori next? Good luck on that one, you'll need it.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And since it has been a while since i've posted here, let me talk more about Astral Chain. I've made quite a hefty bit of progress. I now have four of the five legions and they all control well. Gameplay is smooth and satisfying now that i'm fully used to the controls. I've also been getting higher ranks on my missions though i still occasionally get D-ranks.

I also upgraded my Legions for the first time because i honestly forgot you could do that. The game's pretty fair even without the need to upgrade your Legions. The game itself isn't too hard but similar to the Azure Striker Gunvolt series, the challenge in Astral Chain comes more from trying to get the highest rank.

[DragonFlames]

Just now, Armagon said:

Nice, congrats on finishing the game. I imagine you'll be moving on to Atelier Totori next? Good luck on that one, you'll need it.

Thank you!
I'll probably start Totori tomorrow. It's already pretty late today and once I start a new game, it's hard for me to... you know, stop.

1 minute ago, Armagon said:

And since it has been a while since i've posted here, let me talk more about Astral Chain. I've made quite a hefty bit of progress. I now have four of the five legions and they all control well. Gameplay is smooth and satisfying now that i'm fully used to the controls. I've also been getting higher ranks on my missions though i still occasionally get D-ranks.

I also upgraded my Legions for the first time because i honestly forgot you could do that. The game's pretty fair even without the need to upgrade your Legions. The game itself isn't too hard but similar to the Azure Striker Gunvolt series, the challenge in Astral Chain comes more from trying to get the highest rank.

I have heard good things about Astral Chain, but I have no inkling what kind of game it even is.
Sounds like something I might want to try out.

[Sire]

Mostly still messing around with Warcraft 3 skirmish maps. A part of me wants to go through the campaign again, but I'm trying to save it for the channel if I ever get around to recording. (Same applies to Mental Omega's campaign - I want to play it, but am saving it for recording sessions...)

Otherwise, I'm still casually playing WOW Classic and working on Tears of Serenia.

[Armagon]

13 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

I have heard good things about Astral Chain, but I have no inkling what kind of game it even is.
Sounds like something I might want to try out.

It's an action game by Platinum (the folks behind Bayonetta and NeiR Automata). The premise can essentially be summed up as "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure but cops". The Legion are basically Stands (right down to "normal people can't see them" rule) and the combat mainly revolves around using them effectively to fight an inter-dimensional threat. But you can use them outside of battle too for sidequests and some pretty basic puzzle solving.

The controls do take a bit getting used to but once you do get used to it, it's smooth sailing from there. As for how long that'll take, i think it depends on the person but there is a training room you can use at the start of each chapter for as long as you want. 

Story's alright. This isn't really a game you'd play for it's story though. If you like action games, you'll probably like Astral Chain.

Edited September 25, 2019 by Armagon

[DragonFlames]

3 minutes ago, Armagon said:

It's an action game by Platinum (the folks behind Bayonetta and NeiR Automata). The premise can essentially be summed up as "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure but cops". The Legion are basically Stands (right down to "normal people can't see them" rule) and the combat mainly revolves around using them effectively to fight an inter-dimensional threat. But you can use them outside of battle too for sidequests and some pretty basic puzzle solving.

The controls do take a bit getting used to but once you do get used to it, it's smooth sailing from there. As for how long that'll take, i think it depends on the person but there is a training room you can use at the start of each chapter for as long as you want. 

Story's alright. This isn't really a game you'd play for it's story though. If you like action games, you'll probably like Astral Chain.

That does sound pretty interesting. I haven't played any Platinum games so far (as I'm usually terrible at action games not named Nights of Azure - and even then it's debatable). If there is a demo, I think I'll give it a shot someday.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

18 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I've been playing the Switch version of Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age.

I had long wanted to try the game,

Basch lives!

Quote

XII is downright primitive compared to XC1. I'm going to keep playing XII in hopes it gets better, but this is not the XII I eagerly awaited. Not. At. All.😞

Don't believe Ondore's lies!

It's a shame that game did not click. I remember it being pretty fun in 2010 ish. I never beat it though. I got lost in a whirlwind of rare hunts and other side quests. I've never played XC1, but having played XC2, the more apt comparison in Final Fantasy terms would definitely be FF13. Characters in roles, mechanics that encourage you to switch between roles, a stagger gauge.

Edited September 25, 2019 by Glennstavos

[Armagon]

4 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

That does sound pretty interesting. I haven't played any Platinum games so far (as I'm usually terrible at action games not named Nights of Azure - and even then it's debatable). If there is a demo, I think I'll give it a shot someday.

Unfortunately, there is no demo so even though the game is worth the full price, i'd say maybe wait for a sale in your case. Or maybe buy the game and return it if you end up not liking it. 

I do wanna mention though that even though the main challenge comes from getting a desired rank, there is a "casual" mode where you aren't graded for your performance in missions. In addition, you get six revives before a game over instead of the normal two. So if you aren't that good at action games, that option is there. 

 

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, Glennstavos said:

Basch lives!

Don't believe Ondore's lies!

It's a shame that game did not click. I remember it being pretty fun in 2010 ish. I never beat it though. I got lost in a whirlwind of rare hunts and other side quests. I've never played XC1, but having played XC2, the more apt comparison in Final Fantasy terms would definitely be FF13. Characters in roles, mechanics that encourage you to switch between roles, a stagger gauge.

1. It took me a moment to realize what you were referring to. I think since VII weird start of game little thingies you have to do have existed. Then, for a moment, I considered slapping you, since that particular moment was awkward.

Getting past that, I actually have XIII unplayed as well. I got it used for $5, I have to try this supposed trainwreck for myself, and one can rarely have regrets over something so cheap.

And third, I just had to voice my frustrations. It'll make getting through the rest a bit easier.

[Shrimpica]

13 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

That does sound pretty interesting. I haven't played any Platinum games so far (as I'm usually terrible at action games not named Nights of Azure - and even then it's debatable). If there is a demo, I think I'll give it a shot someday.

try to play Bayonetta or Metal Gear Rising. These are older Platinum games that are usually pretty cheap. You can try them to get a taste of Platinum's gameplay^^

 

Btw, Atelier Ryza's Steam Page is up!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1121560/Atelier_Ryza_Ever_Darkness__the_Secret_Hideout/