Re: Victoly!

[DankPanties]

Glad you enjoyed it Garoth.  It's nice to see these older PS games getting some love around here.

Reading your gaming progress along with Vivify's was strange for me.  Strange in the sense that PSII seemed to be giving you guys such a hard time.  I honestly don't remember the game being that hard.  Granted, I beat it when I was 11 years old, and that was... holy shit 22 years ago... so my memory might be a tad fuzzy.  I do distinctly remember the experiencing of playing it for hours on end.  At that time I was in a hospital for two weeks straight, so I had nothing else to do but play the game.  I certainly don't remember being utterly frustrated with it, or needing to draw dungeon maps.  Also there was of course no GameFAQs back then, nor did I have access to any phone help line.  I had to beat it fair and square, no easy patches or whatever.  So I just don't remember the game being so hard.  I DEFINITELY want to replay PS2 and PS4 sometime in the nearish future.  Maybe I will change my mind about it's difficulty then.  There's simply a chance I grinded my way to victory when I was 11 since I had endless free time and nothing else to do while laid up in a sick bed.

I agree that Phantasy Star II (as well as the others also) made me feel more emotion than the retardedly overrated plot of Final Fantasy VII.

Big high five for beating it at any rate!

Now go play Nocturne and cry yourself to sleep.   

[Garoth Moulinoski]

Glad you enjoyed it Garoth.  It's nice to see these older PS games getting some love around here.

Reading your gaming progress along with Vivify's was strange for me.  Strange in the sense that PSII seemed to be giving you guys such a hard time.  I honestly don't remember the game being that hard.  Granted, I beat it when I was 11 years old, and that was... holy shit 22 years ago... so my memory might be a tad fuzzy.  I do distinctly remember the experiencing of playing it for hours on end.  At that time I was in a hospital for two weeks straight, so I had nothing else to do but play the game.  I certainly don't remember being utterly frustrated with it, or needing to draw dungeon maps.  Also there was of course no GameFAQs back then, nor did I have access to any phone help line.  I had to beat it fair and square, no easy patches or whatever.  So I just don't remember the game being so hard.  I DEFINITELY want to replay PS2 and PS4 sometime in the nearish future.  Maybe I will change my mind about it's difficulty then.  There's simply a chance I grinded my way to victory when I was 11 since I had endless free time and nothing else to do while laid up in a sick bed.

I agree that Phantasy Star II (as well as the others also) made me feel more emotion than the retardedly overrated plot of Final Fantasy VII.

Big high five for beating it at any rate!

Now go play Nocturne and cry yourself to sleep.   

Well, I only played PS2 in short bursts, while in... uh, downtime... so I didn't have the luxury of time. It wasn't hard, persay, if you got lost enough and gained levels like crazy. Also, it is my understanding that the game came with some guide or something; you might have had that guide. I didn't have that guide since I played the iOS port (rather, rom in packaged emulator). I only had a barebones intro and description of menu options.

I'm finding it hard to believe you didn't t least draw maps. There's a few dungeons that are just evil. Not hard, just badly made. Or badly thought up... I don't know. It does have that old school feel to it, though. A charm.

Thanks for the high five. Now it'll be Phantasy Star 4, so I can get t Vagrant Story.

Nocturne, I'll get to it eventually. I'd like to play Xenoblade first... I am, however, casually playing SMT on my iPod.

[DankPanties]

Also, it is my understanding that the game came with some guide or something; you might have had that guide.

Interesting, I didn't know it came with a guide.  But no, I didn't have that, I didn't even have a manual.  All I had was the cartridge itself.  I got the game from my crazy uncle who was a magnificent influence on me as a kid (gaming wise).  He also gave me Phantasy Star I, but again, only the cartridge.  I have no idea what he did with the cases and manuals.

I'm finding it hard to believe you didn't t least draw maps.

Not trolling you man, I just kept it all in my head.  I also beat Phantasy Star I without drawing maps.  I am really good at creating short term memorized 3D virtualized spaces mentally.  But I bet you can kick my ass at calculus.

I'd like to play Xenoblade first...

Yeah my copy is sitting on my Wii shelf right now... just staring at me every time I'm around it.

"Hey man, wtf?  You were all piss your pants excited to play me, and yet... here I sit, unmolested."

The reason being is that Xenoblade is considered my many to be the best MMORPG-ish JRPG, which relegates FFXII to being "second best" then.  So I figured if that was true, it'd be easier to go from FFXII to Xenoblade, then the reverse.  Hence I started playing FFXII first.  Of course I had no idea that FFXII would make a crack addled fiend out of me, and I'll probably put 80-100 hours into it.  Which means after that, I doubt I'll feel like immediately starting yet another epic JRPG directly afterwards... which means Xenoblade will have to wait even longer.  (Might do Earthbound and Cyber Knight before it.)

Anyway, while we're on the subject.  I read some excellent Iwata Asks interviews concerning the creation of Xenoblade, you guys should if you haven't yet:


http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/xenoblade/0/0

There's 3 volumes of interviews concerning the OST creation, the plot creation, and the actual gameplay creation.  Truly fantastic reads for getting into Takahashi's head, as well as Monolith's design structure.  Iwata always impresses me with his attention to detail and quick wit.

[vivify93]

Strange in the sense that PSII seemed to be giving you guys such a hard time.

The hardest thing about PSII for me was how many times I had to reset to make sure a change I made to the ROM worked. I will admit that I used walkthroughs and maps, though.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

Interesting, I didn't know it came with a guide.  But no, I didn't have that, I didn't even have a manual.  All I had was the cartridge itself.  I got the game from my crazy uncle who was a magnificent influence on me as a kid (gaming wise).  He also gave me Phantasy Star I, but again, only the cartridge.  I have no idea what he did with the cases and manuals.

Not trolling you man, I just kept it all in my head.  I also beat Phantasy Star I without drawing maps.  I am really good at creating short term memorized 3D virtualized spaces mentally.  But I bet you can kick my ass at calculus.

Yeah my copy is sitting on my Wii shelf right now... just staring at me every time I'm around it.

"Hey man, wtf?  You were all piss your pants excited to play me, and yet... here I sit, unmolested."

The reason being is that Xenoblade is considered my many to be the best MMORPG-ish JRPG, which relegates FFXII to being "second best" then.  So I figured if that was true, it'd be easier to go from FFXII to Xenoblade, then the reverse.  Hence I started playing FFXII first.  Of course I had no idea that FFXII would make a crack addled fiend out of me, and I'll probably put 80-100 hours into it.  Which means after that, I doubt I'll feel like immediately starting yet another epic JRPG directly afterwards... which means Xenoblade will have to wait even longer.  (Might do Earthbound and Cyber Knight before it.)

I guess if I had all the time in the world, I wouldn't have needed maps either... but I don't have the luxury of time I'm not so good at Calculus, so I don't know about me being better than you in it.

Anyhow, I think I have a good ability to look at things according to their time period- like Phantasy Star 2, which is dated by today's standards, but I still tried to look at it through the lens of someone playing it when it first came out. Same with Okami. So, I think I can play Xenoblade and then Final Fantasy XII

But.... is it taking you that long because the game itself is long, or because the story is that long? Seems daunting!

[SargeSmash]

Hey, wait a sec.  Okami is still good, even by today's standards.    (You can make a legitimate argument for it being drawn out, but it certainly compares favorably with games of its ilk that have come out since.)

And holy cow, you've got everybody on the FFXII kick, Dank.  We'll see how long it lasts, I didn't play it last night.  Instead, in my short time I played Escape Goat.  Fine game, that.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

Well... Okami isn't dated... I just meant that I wasn't playing it and thinking "pfft, Skyward Sword did this like this" or anything like that (instead, it was more like "so, this is where Skyward Sword took some of its ideas"). Does that make any sense...?

[DankPanties]

But.... is it taking you that long because the game itself is long, or because the story is that long? Seems daunting!

Let's see... I have put about 42 hours in so far, and I just took a quick glance at a walkthrough's table of contents.  According to that, I'm halfway through the listings (just reached Golmore Jungle).  So does that mean this is an 84 hour game?  Well, maybe, if I keep playing it the way I have been.  But it might be possible to beat the game's main story in 40 hours, I don't know.  With this game, I don't just rush headlong through the plot points.   Rather, I take time to fully explore all of the maps, I talk to every NPC I meet (over and over as their banter changes throughout the game), I hunt down Marks and do the side quests they offer up, and sometimes grind for gil or license points.  Thus I'm taking the scenic route through the game, smelling the roses as it were.  I figure I only get to experience a JRPG this badass maybe a handful of times in my life, so I might as well enjoy it to the fullest.  I understand some people got burn out with the game after a while, but I only get to play it about 2 hours a night, so I'm doing it in bite sized doses.  That might help keep things feeling fresh in the gameplay.  I want to say that this FF has my favorite plot ever for the series thus far though, and I am playing largely to find out what happens next as well.  I watched a cutscene last night in Jahara between Vaan and Ashe that was truly touching.  I actually like Vaan now, and feel proud of him for growing up and leaving his childish ideals behind.  These characters feel far more believably human to me, than any previous FF I've played.  The game's just pure aught gold so far.

And holy cow, you've got everybody on the FFXII kick, Dank.

It wasn't intentional!  Just when a game is truly good I can't help but talk about it.  Maybe I'll do a big fat review for it when I'm done.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

Well, as long as it's not padding (I'm looking at you, Okami), and it feels like there's a purpose to it then I'm alright with it.

[LostTemplar]

FFXII's story itself isn't that long, I think I finished it in about 30~40 hours on my first playthrough. There's just a lot of other stuff to do, which is a good thing.

[Darkmoon]

Let's see... I have put about 42 hours in so far, and I just took a quick glance at a walkthrough's table of contents.  According to that, I'm halfway through the listings (just reached Golmore Jungle).  So does that mean this is an 84 hour game? 

I'd have to look at my save file to say for sure, but yeah, pretty much.  I think I spent roughly 100 hours on it, doing most of the marks and exploring everything thoroughly.  Definitely can be rushed through faster though.  I can't quite remember how many marks I had left, I know I didn't do Yiazmat, but can't remember if I unlocked it, so I'd say between 1 and 5. 

[DankPanties]

Glad you did so many.  Yes the marks are certainly rewarding to take out, not just for the prestige and the elite gear, but also for the side quests that some petitioners offer after assassination completion.  On top of that, some marks require tricks to find them or make them appear, it's not always a matter of simply running up to them and fighting.  (I know you know this, just saying for the board.)  I can certainly do 80-100 hours with this game.  That would be a new record game time for me, and create a whole new perspective to scale things with personally.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

I can certainly do 80-100 hours with this game.  That would be a new record game time for me, and create a whole new perspective to scale things with personally.

Heh, I guess I'm right to assume you never touched Dragon Quest VII. That game is around 100 hours, on its own. It was a good game to play in short bursts though, and I remember plenty of stories from it.

[Panzer88]

Dragon Quest VIII was way better, and has ridiculous hours of content, especially if you invest in the stadium, but even if you dont there are post end game quests.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

Well, if we're including end game content, then isn't IX the king of that? Or X, considering it's an MMO (for the WII though, wtf)

[SargeSmash]

I dunno, I really liked Dragon Warrior VII.  And it's a legitimate 100 hours.  Doing everything in Dragon Quest VIII takes...  75-ish, probably.

The thing about DWVII is that it starts very, very slowly.  Like molasses.  On a cold winter's day.  Seriously, it took me three hours to hit my first battle.  But once it gets rolling, it's seriously addictive.  Is there an epic overarching storyline?  Not really.  Not one that matters, anyway.  But the individual vignettes, done almost in the same style as Terranigma, are quite touching at times.  I loved revisiting areas to see what had occurred after the land was restored.

(No knock on DQVIII, though!  Seriously awesome game, just in a slightly different way.)

[KaioShin]

The challenge in DQVII is not overcoming the enemies but trying to stay awake.

[SargeSmash]

Whatever, man.  Whatever. 

(It is slowly paced for a substantial portion of the game, though.)

[DankPanties]

The challenge in DQVII is not overcoming the enemies but trying to stay awake.

In all seriousness, the most I've ever fallen asleep playing a game was during the 45 hours I put into DQIV.  I fell asleep playing that game at least a dozen times, no joke.  However, it was a good game, despite the narcolepsy inducing grinds.

I actually would like to play DQVII partly because it's a series of mini quests strung together.  I just wish it was officially available on DS or PSP, for me it'd be better as a portable title!  I know there's the ability to play it on PSP using the special plugins and all, but I haven't read of anyone making it all the way through both discs successfully.  Regardless even if I have to play it on ePSXe, I want to give the game a go someday.  I have to admit to wanting to play V and VIII first though.

-

Well I won't get to play much FFXII this weekend, too many family obligations to take care of (examples; I will be gone all Saturday at a dance convention in Panama City... Sunday is Father's Day so I need to go visit my dad... I spent this evening working on my gf's car, etc.).  MAYBE sunday night I'll get a couple hours in.  Sometimes it sucks being a responsible grown up... but being alone sucks worse for sure. 

[KaioShin]

I'm not sure VII would work as a pick up and play portable title at all. The reason being the tablet pieces you need to find for the story. Even playing 50 hours in a week, I once got completely lost since I missed one of those tablet pieces. Then going back and finding it again was an utter needle in a haystack nightmare, even with a guide at hand. If you play the game once a week or so in small doses, I can only imagine it would be hell remebering where you have been already and where you weren't. You gotta love those tablet pieces. Essentiel to progress with the game, and some of them are lying around in total unimportant locations in the middle of a dungeon for example. Think the nice artifact hunt from Terranigma in 20 times the size with 10 times less logic.

Seriously fuck DQVII.