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I liked the Card system quite a bit, though it is just as exploitable as the systems in the other two (not as bad as Harmony's, which is so abusive it makes the game a cakewalk).
The last boss in CotM is pretty evil... and there's some nifty (and difficult) secret extras after you finish the game.
Hall of Fame +1
Pile of Shame -1
Completed Tales of Destiny. Really cool game. Fun, funny. Good dialogue, some hilarious characters (the bard in combat), and lots of fun with a friend (or three!). Great battle system.
Anyone have any opinions on Eternia?
Onward to VP or SO2...
If you enjoyed Tales of Destiny, you'll definitely like Eternia. There isn't much that was changed, so you can jump right in. The voice acting that some people say is horrible is more than passable, and the game is insanely long. It also has some of the toughest hidden bosses around.
Being the lamer that I am, I never re-evaluated my pile... but I have a question about this. The game is out of our pile of shame when we decide right? Like I have PN03 in my pile. I beat it on easy, but I will really not consider it complete until I get the Papallion, so should I not take it off of the pile until I consider it complete? But then if this is the case, perhaps I should put shmups on this list.
Are there any rulings on this topic?
It's a personal decision, essentially. On the full site, we'll try to track 100% completions, compared with 'just' finished, but ultimately, its up to you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Victrix
I don't know whether or not I'll join the pact this time around, but I will chime in here. ToD is faaar superior to Eternia, in my PoV; though it depends on what you go for. The battle system in Eternia a lot more fun than Destiny's, I'll give it that. However, the story just plods on with tons of goofy shit throughout (won't spoil it for you though..heh).
The voice acting, by the way, is godawful..some of the worst I've heard.. and I sure as hell want to stab that bitch Meredy to death because of it. :curse:
I dimly recall the voice acting from when Masaka was playing it, and if I'm remembering right, it was cringe worthy.
I really liked ToD's battle system though, and the only thing remotely similar to it is SO2... though VP is unique in its own way as well. Bit high on the random encounters, but the combats were quick.
I'm still wondering how both Omega and Strider got through Dragon Warrior 7 sane. I can only assume the combat becomes marginally more interesting later in the game or something.
Don't let Taloony put you off towards ToE. The little I've played of it so far (about 5 hours in), it's much better than ToD in virtually all aspects. The only thing ToD has over it is the smoothness of the battle system. While ToD runs at 60fps, with lots of super-smooth animations, ToE runs less than 30 (20-25, maybe :\) so it's a bit jerky, but the better combo system makes up for it.
The voice acting isn't THAT bad. I've heard much, much worse. If anything, the actress who plays Farah is really good. Everyone else I've heard so far isn't that great, though.
I dunno, man. I'm just a fan of the series. DQ7 offers some really great scenarios and treasure hunts. The Gameplay has remained unchanged since the 8-bit days, but that's alright with me for nostalgic reasons. And yes, once you open up the Job system, everything changes for the better. Just make sure you have a solid job plan for your party, assinging specific roles and whatnot, then choosing the appropriate jobs for them. A FAQ or strategy guide is a must in this case. The thing about the battles is if you know your stuff, they can be over very quickly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Victrix
Don't be afraid of using auto-battle sometimes, since it can take advantage of weaknesses that you may be unaware of. For instance, if a certain enemy is suceptible to instant-death spells, the CPU will have someone use KO Punch or cast Defeat. Using character AI also cuts down on battle time, since you don't have to stare at pagefuls of special skills and choose an appropriate one. I kept Gabo (the wolf-child thing) on AI pretty much the entire game since he had the most special skills. It's the spellcasters that suffer the most from auto-battle due to poor CPU decisions and limited MP.
Yes, DQ battles can be mind-numbing, but try not to dwell too much on that and focus instead on the task at hand. If Squenix ever does a remake (I bet they will), I hope they reduce the encounter rate by half and make the monsters give double the exp.
I have been weak... I've beat nothing but I've picked up Gradius III and IV for PS2 and Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town.
Shame +2
Weekend update, post your progress!
Not a lot of forward momentum this week, Ninja Gaiden took almost every free waking hour :D I beat it, but now I'm playing through it again on the higher difficulties.
I did manage to get in some time with Valkyrie Profile. Up to Chapter 6, so another hard session or two should see that one cleared out. I tried to find a decent story faq for it, to catch myself up on the plot, but I couldn't find anything outside a full transcript, so I'm sort of playing blind.
Not sure what I'll tackle once I knock off VP. Possibly Star Ocean 2.