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HereComesEverybody posted:The fact that I've never finished Secret of Mana has occupied some mental space of mine for YEARS. I finally got out my SNES and have been working through it, and progress is slow, but steady. I just got the second mana seed and fire spells for my party members. You don't really need max proficiency with all the weapons on every character, and leveling up the magic is largely optional too. The ring system does kinda suck. I'd recommend picking 1-3 weapons per character to keep them maxxed out on. If you keep all weapons and magic grinded up to max all the time, you will in fact have a pretty easy time with the boss fights. For picking defensive gear, basically new areas/merchants are going to have "better" stuff; I never bothered minmaxing it more than just buying whatever the best stuff at each new merchant was and I went through SoM easily a half dozen times. On weapons it's worth remembering that at a given level axe/spear will do the most damage, followed by bow/sword, and then the other four weapons. Learn to use the AI grid to "program" your two party members to behave in a remotely sensible fashion for whatever you're doing (use charged hits on bosses, don't charge up to hit regular mooks, get in close if you've got a short-ranged weapon like sword or axe, hang back further for longer reach weapons.) Ninja edit: The boy should keep the sword maxxed throughout the game. It will eventually matter.
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Oct 22, 2014 16:46
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Levantine posted:Anyone familiar with Demon Gaze? I've gotten my fifth party member just shy of fighting Chronos and I chose an Assassin. I've been using him as a front-liner, dual wielding two Wind Daggers (+3 agi) and focusing on AGI/LUC. Is that a good way to handle it or should I be making a backliner with ranged weapons? The rest of my party is Paladin/Healer/Ranger (and Gazer, of course). Eventually, everyone except your Paladin should be in the back row and won't care what weapons they use. There's a skill that the Gazer gets as standard that lets you ignore distance on weapons, and you'll start finding it down the line. Everyone should get VIT, but then yes AGI and LUC should do okay.
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Oct 22, 2014 16:47
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HereComesEverybody posted:The fact that I've never finished Secret of Mana has occupied some mental space of mine for YEARS. I finally got out my SNES and have been working through it, and progress is slow, but steady. I just got the second mana seed and fire spells for my party members. It's grindy if you want to level everything up to max but you don't even need to get close just to finish the game. It's kinda crazy how the high level spells all have unique animations but you'll probably have finished with it before you even get to see them and, being a game from 1993, there's nothing in the way of optional bosses and post-game stuff.
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Oct 22, 2014 17:14
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Secret of Mana is one of the least grindy games I've ever played, you can max that poo poo if you want but it's completely unnecessary (grinding is pretty much the only "sidequest" since this game has little else). You don't even really need to have anybody use anything other than one weapon throughout the game, I was super lazy as a kid and just gave the girl the whip and the sprite the axe so I didn't even have to go into a menu when you come across something that needs them. If you stick to one attack spell the leveling will make it even more broken than attack magic already is. There's also no scaling for multiplayer so if you've got three people coordinating attacks you can waste bosses in less than 20 seconds.
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Oct 22, 2014 17:41
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NikkolasKing posted:Prospects of a Xenosaga HD Collection look slim Resident Evil is one of the absolute best selling Japanese-made games on the market. If you discount Nintendo stuff it's in the top 3. It absolutely doesn't need petitions because it will sell.
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Oct 22, 2014 17:54
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Stelas posted:Eventually, everyone except your Paladin should be in the back row and won't care what weapons they use. There's a skill that the Gazer gets as standard that lets you ignore distance on weapons, and you'll start finding it down the line. Interesting, I don't have a lot of options yet because I'm only around Level 8. The early-game seems overly balanced towards a small party so having a full party early on has totally removed the difficulty. I'm sure that'll come back and bite me in the rear end though. I've basically been using my Assassin as a Sneak Attack machine and it's worked out really well. I read that you need 25 AGI to negate the offhand penalty when dual-wielding. Is that accurate? I didn't see anything to that effect in-game.
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Oct 22, 2014 18:43
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ImpAtom posted:Natural Doctrine is a weird game. It's got a dumb plot, unnecessarily obtuse mechanics and it is ugly as sin. Yet it's honestly really fun if you're looking for what amounts to fantasy XCOM. The only real sticking point is the "any party death = game over" thing for like 90% of the game. Sucks that Natural Doctrine isn't a great game. I was really looking forward to it but if it is honestly fantasy X-Com I'll check it out. I've put up with more obtuse RPGs, I'm sure.
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Oct 22, 2014 19:12
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Levantine posted:Interesting, I don't have a lot of options yet because I'm only around Level 8. The early-game seems overly balanced towards a small party so having a full party early on has totally removed the difficulty. I'm sure that'll come back and bite me in the rear end though. I've basically been using my Assassin as a Sneak Attack machine and it's worked out really well. I read that you need 25 AGI to negate the offhand penalty when dual-wielding. Is that accurate? I didn't see anything to that effect in-game. Demon Gaze is pretty opaque about its mechanics, but 25 AGI seems to be people's consensus. Honestly, my experience was that most player characters just aren't that strong early on compared to your demons: Mars can just about let you sail through the early/midgame on her own. Your PCs do eventually catch up, but don't get too worried if some of them feel underpowered right now.
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Oct 22, 2014 19:13
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HereComesEverybody posted:Is the game as grind-y as I feel like it's going to be? Getting everyone proficient with all of the weapons and spamming spells to make sure my magic is as strong as possible for boss fights (which feels necessary given how hard they can hit) seems like it's going to take a while. There are a couple bosses who are crazy hard to hit anyway because their hitboxes are weird or because they teleport a lot, so keep in mind that Fire and Dark magic are both important to level if you don't wanna to deal with that. As far as armor and poo poo goes, that was probably a screen real estate decision. Chances are the developers thought it would be cool because they included all the armor stats in the manual 
Fur20 fucked around with this message at 19:19 on Oct 22, 2014 |
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Oct 22, 2014 19:16
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Thuryl posted:Demon Gaze is pretty opaque about its mechanics, but 25 AGI seems to be people's consensus. Honestly, my experience was that most player characters just aren't that strong early on compared to your demons: Mars can just about let you sail through the early/midgame on her own. Your PCs do eventually catch up, but don't get too worried if some of them feel underpowered right now. Mars is absurd when you first get her. She hits multiple times for the sub 100 damage range, per hit! And that's when my best guy might break 75 with a +3 or +4 weapon. Granted, it's early but Mars was such a step up from Comet, it was a bit of a surprise.
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Oct 22, 2014 19:23
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Demon Gaze gets very easy eventually so don't sweat it too much.
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Oct 22, 2014 19:26
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i always hit a wall (heh) in som as a child/teen on that loving wall boss
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Oct 22, 2014 21:09
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Now that the translation patch is out, who can tell me about Lagrange Point?
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Oct 23, 2014 09:04
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HereComesEverybody posted:The fact that I've never finished Secret of Mana has occupied some mental space of mine for YEARS. You never have to use a weapon offensively again after you get Gnome. Just use a leveled up Gem Missile on everything important until you get Salamando and use a leveled up Fireball. Let the AI flail around with the rotten melee combat and concentrate on that hot pausing action.
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Oct 23, 2014 13:58
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Authorman posted:You never have to use a weapon offensively again after you get Gnome. Just use a leveled up Gem Missile on everything important until you get Salamando and use a leveled up Fireball. Let the AI flail around with the rotten melee combat and concentrate on that hot pausing action. That's what I'm talking about. Doing the most overpowered stuff in retro games is thoroughly enjoyable to me.
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Oct 23, 2014 14:07
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HereComesEverybody posted:The fact that I've never finished Secret of Mana has occupied some mental space of mine for YEARS. I'm the same way with some RPGs. That includes Baten Kaitos, Baten Kaitos Origins, Rogue Galaxy, and Legend of Mana. I especially do want to playthrough Legend of Mana, but I have no idea where to even loving begin with that one outside of having my head in a FAQ completely.
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Oct 24, 2014 13:35
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So I'm trucking through Demon Gaze and it's actually a pretty fun dungeon crawler! It feels like an odd, pervy hybrid between Etrian Odyssey and Wizardry. I was kind of shocked at the story when Lancelorna was graphically killed off so suddenly. It seemed pretty lighthearted and fun until that moment. Definitely sets the tone for the next section of the game. I hope Experience's next game comes out in the West. It looks a bit more Wizardry-like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLyH4hDdDf4
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Oct 24, 2014 14:01
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Ar No Surge is way better than I expected. The shoddy translation and design mars the early game, but then you start getting lots of dumb Chats and item crafting conversations and a ton of characterization with it. Then you hit the third chapter and the game actually goes in hard with the fourth wall / meta element in a way that isn't obnoxious and is actually pretty cool.
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Oct 24, 2014 23:51
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Demon Gaze - is the Forest supposed to be a steep increase in difficulty or am I doing something wrong? Enemies hit really hard, can instant kill and have group attacks. Worst are the ones that change your formation. I can use Whistle but that's expensive MP-wise. I had a hell of a time in the proto-Hermes battle and actual Hermes is on the map waiting for me. I think I might have to spend some time at the summoning circles getting gear before I take him on.
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Oct 25, 2014 23:56
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Hermes requires a lot of effort to deal with him. Remember you can stack both HIT Up and EVA Down multiple times. And yeah, the forest is pretty hefty. If you come across a ~suspicious chest~ consider leaving it for a while - the boss in question is supposed to be taken on later.
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Oct 26, 2014 00:18
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Stelas posted:Hermes requires a lot of effort to deal with him. Remember you can stack both HIT Up and EVA Down multiple times. I figured it was the Mimic since it was a floating icon with a unique symbol. I got so into exploring I decided to leave it for later, sounds like it's good I did! Thanks for the tip on stacking EVA-UP/Down. I was not aware that was a thing. Comet casts EVA-down, right? I don't have anyone in the party who can. In the first battle, the only person who could land hits was my hidden Assassin. Sneak attacks seem to have a much, much higher hit-rate than normal attacks.
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Oct 26, 2014 00:20
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Yeah, I think it can, though I'm kind of surprised if you're not running around with a Wizard. You'll start finding notably better gear in circles around the forest point, as well - stock up on Nameless Gems or weapon-specific ones and you'll probably find a few useful upgrades after a bit. I think it's around there you'll get the ability to forge weapons up too, which shouldn't be overlooked, especially on rare items which can go to a much higher +x.
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Oct 26, 2014 00:26
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Stelas posted:Yeah, I think it can, though I'm kind of surprised if you're not running around with a Wizard. My current party is Gazer/Paladin/Assasin/Healer/Hunter. My Gazer is dual wielding the strongest stuff he can find, my Paladin mostly Defends or Devotions, my Assassin Sneak Attacks or Mirages if the battle is tough. My Healer is pretty much on perma-Holy Shield duty and my Hunter has a really powerful longbow (like +9 or something) that has carried him since I got him. I thought about a Wizard but I like the Holy Weapon/Shield of the Healer.
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Oct 26, 2014 00:32
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I'm about to start playing Breath of Fire IV. I remember the franchise not being the most user-friendly sort, so should I just get a guide ready for obscure poo poo or is this a game I can easily figure out on my own?
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Oct 27, 2014 21:56
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Amppelix posted:I'm about to start playing Breath of Fire IV. I remember the franchise not being the most user-friendly sort, so should I just get a guide ready for obscure poo poo or is this a game I can easily figure out on my own? Its pretty easy to figure out on your own, but there's a couple of points where the game will drag and you might want to pull out a guide just to speed things along though. Just remember if an enemy uses an ability and the text is in blue, then you can learn that skill.
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Oct 27, 2014 22:05
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I don't remember BoF IV being especially obtuse but some of the mechanics would benefit from some outside explanation. You don't need to play it with Gamefaqs open but you might want to glance through a guide.
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Oct 27, 2014 22:09
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Apparently Valkyria Chronicles is being ported to PC: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=919975 which is super cool if true
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Oct 27, 2014 22:21
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Cake Attack posted:Apparently Valkyria Chronicles is being ported to PC: I hope it hits Steam and someone can mod out the 20 turn limit. That's the only thing I didn't really care for.
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Oct 27, 2014 22:23
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Whoa what the hell. That would be fantastic.
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Oct 27, 2014 22:23
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I'm in The Last Story I've finally reached the (apparent) Final Boss the traitor. After a very long and drawn-out fight, using Mirania's Revive Spirit Skill more than half-a-dozen times just to keep me hanging on by my fingernails, I finally put it down... only for the fight's THIRD stage to begin. ... I just had nothing left in the tank. It didn't help that I didn't realize for a long time that it was possible to climb the floating blocks, which would have possibly let me jump onto the boss when it was doing it's hover-and-cast-spells stage. I'm also level 55 (some party members are lower) and the boss is like level 60. I've never needed to go grind levels before, but I don't know how big a deal 5 levels difference makes in the game. Should I go use a Summon circles to grind a couple levels up?
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Oct 27, 2014 22:24
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:I'm also level 55 (some party members are lower) and the boss is like level 60. I've never needed to go grind levels before, but I don't know how big a deal 5 levels difference makes in the game. Should I go use a Summon circles to grind a couple levels up? yes the summon circles scale exp super hard to get you to the ideal level for the area, it'll literally take 5 minutes to get 5 levels
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Oct 27, 2014 22:27
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https://twitter.com/SEGA/status/526884918677471232 Hell yeah!!
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Oct 28, 2014 01:06
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Is that the Sega of America account? This is one of those weird moments where I don't really have any desire to actually replay Valkyria Chronicles, having already dumped an ungodly number of hours into it, but I feel like I'd have to buy it just to remind Sega that yes people in the west do in fact like these games.
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Oct 28, 2014 01:16
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drat, and I just bought Valkyria for my PS3, too.
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Oct 28, 2014 01:18
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Taran_Wanderer posted:drat, and I just bought Valkyria for my PS3, too. I'm just about to buy one and this is one game I've been wanting to play for years. My PC isn't good enough to play it though so it makes little difference, other than that I'll be annoyed as they'll probably improve it when it's ported
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Oct 28, 2014 01:33
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:I'm in The Last Story I've finally reached the (apparent) Final Boss the traitor. After a very long and drawn-out fight, using Mirania's Revive Spirit Skill more than half-a-dozen times just to keep me hanging on by my fingernails, I finally put it down... only for the fight's THIRD stage to begin. ... I just had nothing left in the tank. Had the same problem. Final battle was long and drawn out, used Revive just as much and still lost. Then I grinded and suddenly the boss was easier, the battle was faster, and I only died once. The difference those 5 levels make is insane. Also set attack to manual at least for the first phase because that counterattack is annoying.
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Oct 28, 2014 01:34
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That rules. now port the various Kiseki games to PC so they have a chance of being localized and I'll be satisfied I hope they include the DLC though, it'd be dumb if they didn't
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Oct 28, 2014 01:35
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Cake Attack posted:yes Thanks. Actually, it seems like ALL battles in the game scale XP super-hard. For most of the game I remember gaining a level what seemed like every 1-2 fights. I'm surprised that I'm only level 55, earlier I figured at the rate I was gaining levels that the end game would be in the 80-90 range. Electric Phantasm posted:Had the same problem. Final battle was long and drawn out, used Revive just as much and still lost. Then I grinded and suddenly the boss was easier, the battle was faster, and I only died once. Good to know. I've never really paid attention to my stats much all game, so I wasn't sure how much the level difference mattered. My damage output definitely seemed off in the later stages of the boss as I was doing 150 at most with my normal attacks. I've had attack set to manual all game long.
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Oct 28, 2014 01:51
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Cake Attack posted:Apparently Valkyria Chronicles is being ported to PC: Oh yes... It's a great game, and hopefully mods can resolve some of the idiosyncrasies in gameplay. Support Sega PC, who knows what we get next! Yakuza 1 - 4 on PC would be amazing, Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia...
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Oct 28, 2014 04:06
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Cake Attack posted:That rules. now port the various Kiseki games to PC so they have a chance of being localized and I'll be satisfied They have localized it ... in Mandarin and not on PC. All other games are on the PC... once again in China.
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Oct 28, 2014 04:07
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