|
 Sands of Destruction is a JRPG released for the DS in 2008 for Japan, and 2010 for North America. It was developed by ImageEpoch, whose only other games worthy of note being the Luminous Arc games (a trilogy of pretty decent, if aggressively anime tactical RPGs). This was received fairly negatively, most ranking from poorly to mediocre at best. And as much as I enjoy this game, I can't really argue with that. This game has a potentially interesting battle system, but it's horribly balanced leading to you eventually only using one type of attack, the majority of enemies being no threat at all, and boss battles quickly devolving into a game of Calvinball. The plot is fairly stock JRPG, and while the characters are entertaining enough none of them manage to escape the second dimension. Still, I feel the game is interesting enough to warrant an LP. On the positive side of things, this game has an excellent soundtrack composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, who worked on Chrono Trigger's soundtrack and composed Chrono Cross and Xenogears. But despite the soundtrack being the one straight up good thing about the game, an OST has never been released. Fortunately some dude ripped most the music and put it on Youtube, so you'll be able to listen along. I should probably also mention that this game has an anime adaptation. It's fairly entertaining, although it departs from the game story-wise. Updates Update 1 Update 2 Genocyber fucked around with this message at 23:09 on Dec 31, 2014 |
#
?
Dec 31, 2014 06:23
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 15:42 |
|
|
reserved just in case
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2014 06:23
|
|
|
The game starts off with this cg cinematic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWkw96s0Ajo Not much I can do about a 256x192 pre-rendered video, I'm afraid. Something interesting I found out about while preparing to do this LP is that the intro song was actually changed into this orchestral track for the English localization. The original Japanese version has an anime opening style song, and I made an alternate version with that as the audio track.  Time's Arm (XenoPhobia)_38_2742900000.png) We're greeted with the title screen, which has a pretty nice vocalized song that isn't used anywhere else in the game (an instrumental version is used on the game over screen, however). Fun Choosing Options!(XenoPhobia)_38_2742900249.png) And here's the options screen, which also has a track not used anywhere else in the game. I'd also like to point out how it has separate options for voice, music, and sound effects, something that not enough games have. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk3gtcACyZM Any cutscene with voice acting I'll be posting a video of, in addition to posting images and transcribing dialogue. I think it's worth it since the voice acting is pretty decent. The VAs clearly put in actual effort, at the least. Unfortunately the track that plays during this cutscene does not seem to be uploaded anywhere. (XenoPhobia)_38_2742901139.png)  They mean to march on Viteau and bring down these very walls! We will teach them what becomes of such anarchists. They will learn who is master and who is servant!(XenoPhobia)_38_2742902691.png) They will see human defiance of ferals for the perversion it is!(XenoPhobia)_38_2742903513.png) So yeah, right away the game makes it clear this is a world where regular humans are subserviant to beastmen called ferals. (XenoPhobia)_38_2742904269.png)  If the humans would mind their place, we'd not have to put up with this. Ask me, we should wipe their filthy lot out and be done with it. Are they so blind they think all humans party to his anarchy?(XenoPhobia)_38_2742905645.png) Oh, forgive me! It was only you, Master Naja.Ferals are kind of dicks. (XenoPhobia)_38_2742906686.png) A suggestion: What say we split this force into local patrols? Poppycock! It takes a platoon this size to keep up appearances. Appearances won't get us very far against those anarchists. If we stationed lookouts throughout the city-- You forget who leads this command, Naja! ... I don't care if your father was Lupus Rex! He let a human tart seduce him. He brought disgrace on the title! Remember: My father is the sitting Lupus Rex now, half-breed.(XenoPhobia)_38_2742909354.png) Naja and Rajiv are the best of friends, clearly. ... I asked a question! Crystal clear, commander. (XenoPhobia)_38_2742910564.png) (XenoPhobia)_38_2742911003.png) The game cuts away to Naja and Rajiv at another location in the city. *KABOOM* Wh-What was that?! What's happened?! That rumbling in the ground... Explosives?! Commander Rajiv! The city is ablaze, and the fire spreads still! Take us!Another screen transition later (XenoPhobia)_38_2742913306.png)  Excuse you? Who's running? I mean, why bother? Up there!(XenoPhobia)_38_2742914281.png) The end of the world is long overdue, but it might as well go out in style. Morte--the Scarlet Plague! The one and only! Give the boy his prize! Meet Morte. She likes long walks on the beach and blowing people the gently caress up. (XenoPhobia)_38_2742916207.png) So you finally show yourself, anarchist scum! It's one thing to bite the hand of your feral masters, but this? Your spree of destruction ends now! When your head rots on a pike, all will know it was Rajiv who put it there! ... Finished? All out of your system? What?! You could hardly call them famous last words, but... they should do. Impudent wench! I'll tear you limb from flimsy human limb! Focus Rajiv. She'll not be taken easily. Heh. Looks like the Professor there knows his stuff. Let's try to keep this fun. I'll give you a death you'll never forget. Battle Theme(XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part204125.png) Don't let her get to you!(XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part204799.png) And so we have our first battle. We're controlling Naja, and Rajiv is controlled by the AI. For the most part we'll be using physical attacks, of which there are two types. (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part205106.png) Flurries which are multi-hit attacks. They do less damage overall but allow for longer chains of hits, which will become very important later in the game. (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part206453.png) Blows, which do a single, powerful attack and can cause additional effects such as knockout or turn delay. Speaking of, you've probably noticed the tiny row of portraits in the lower left corner. These show the turn order of everyone in the battle, allowing you to plan your moves in advance, at least in theory. In practice this turns out not to be the case in most instances, but we'll tackle that when we get there. (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part205965.png) And here Morte is using a Life Skill. These cost SP and are skills that target allies, providing buffs or healing.  You suck, Rajiv. Morte just used a Blood Skill. These also cost SP, and target enemies, doing damage or inflicting debuffs. (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part209434.png) All that said, this battle is just here to serve as a tutorial and is not really a battle. Once you get Morte's health low enough the battle ends. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w9IyD20ICY (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part209918.png) A shame you let that dead weight hold you back. Insolence! Hold your tongue! We have nothing to discuss with you. Well then, guess we should finish this. My thoughts exactly! Hey, what gives? We were just getting to the good part. What?! I can't believe it! Woo-HOO! Now we can FINALLY destroy this crummy old world! Explain yourself! No time, Professor. Places to blow up, people to kill.(XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part213518.png) Grr... She's gone! The note. Don't just stand there! She's getting away!*KABOOM* (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part214819.png) Then they really are out to annihilate the world... Lunacy! I will stop them, no matter the cost. I swear it on my life.And the scene ends. I was going to do a bit more, but this took longer than I thought so I'm just gonna post what's here now. The rest will be the next update, which will probably be tomorrow in the afternoon, or so.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2014 06:24
|
|
|
This was an interesting game, though the intro was a bit rough. Granted I never beat it... I made it towards the very end but would have had to do a lot of grinding to get some good gear. The battle system is so easy to break with the right characters.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2014 06:28
|
|
|
Genocyber posted:I should probably also mention that this game has an anime adaptation. It's fairly entertaining, although it departs from the game story-wise. Don't forget the ultra-violent manga version! Really, the only thing I don't like about this game is how easy it is to remove all of the challenge from it. Everything else is okay - nothing really interesting, but okay.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2014 06:57
|
|
|
Oh God, I've watched the anime mentioned in the OP. I had no idea it was connected to a videogame. I had basically forgotten about it until I saw that bear in the intro cinematic, kuma... and the phrase 'World Annihilation Front', though the anime uses 'World Destruction Committee' instead. Colour me intrigued. I'll have to hang around for this one. Yapping Eevee fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Dec 31, 2014 |
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2014 06:57
|
|
|
Never heard of this... the soundtrack is Mitsuda's without a doubt, you can hear it. Looks interesting so far, Morte's voice actor seems to be having a blast for sure!
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2014 06:57
|
|
|
I thought the story was interesting enough, and the characters and voice actors really sold me. I honestly had no problems with the plot, especially for a DS RPG. But that goddamn battle system. Ugh. You either embrace the cheese or the bosses pummel you into the ground.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2014 08:11
|
|
|
Barni Village(XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part3286.png) (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part3628.png) The scene starts off with a couple of panning shots of Barni, a remote farming village. (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part300939.png)  Thanks. They look great. My veggies always do! How's work over at the pub been? Good! I think I've got the hang of it, more or less. Glad to hear it. He's a good man, your uncle. Don't let him down!The game is nice enough to provide a little bio on each of the characters on their status page. (XenoPhobia)_24_32086_part509649.png) world beyond his village. He's a simple-minded teenage boy from a quaint village...Barni is not long for this world. (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part301898.png) (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part302407.png)  Thanks, Kyrie. Anything else I can do? Well, there is one more thing I needed, but it may be a bit much for you. What is it?(XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part302965.png) Think you're up to handling a scorpion or two? Just use those knives like I showed you, you'll be fine. Nothin' to it! Best take these with you, just in case.(XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part303585.png) (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part303833.png) We get the basic health health restorative item and some gold. (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part307038.png) I stop by the shop just to show it off, but there's nothing particularly worth purchasing at the moment. It has about what you'd expect from an item shop, such as health and status restoratives. Heading north out of Barni brings us to the cave, which is our tutorial dungeon. Illusion of Sand(XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part310371.png) Okay, those mushrooms should be growing in the back.(XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part310905.png) Heading to the left brings us to this group of barrels. Like a fair amount of RPGs you can search random objects for items. This game does one better and will put an exclamation mark above your head when next to an item, so you don't have to also mash confirm while rubbing up against everything in sight. (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part311722.png) Heading to the right we come across a boulder blocking the way.  Kyrie gives no fucks. (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part312927.png) Continuing on we come across a treasure chest with a couple basic SP restorative items. (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part314491.png) A bit further on and we come across our first encounter. It serves as the tutorial for Blood and Life Skills. Kyrie's has a Life Skill called Medicinal Soup that heals the entire party and cures Stun, and a Blood Skill called Toadstool Salad that inflicts damage (enough to oneshot any enemy in this cave) and that can potentially cause poison. Another aspect of the battle system is BP, or battle points. They're those little yellow circles under the character info on the top screen. Each BP lets you perform one action, and when you run out your turn ends. How many BPs a character has depends on their Morale, which I'll go into later. You can also gain BP by attacking; getting a critical hit or a combo with a multiple of 10 nets you another BP. (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part317717.png) (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part317832.png) After killing the two Larva we get the results screen, telling the Exp and CP gained as well as any enemy drops we got. Exp does what you'd expect, raising your level which in turn raises the core stats. CP are customization points, which are used to strengthen your attacks and skills and unlock new ones. I'll go over them in more depth later when it matters. (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part318555.png) (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part44432.png) Continuing on we find chests contains Stoneskin Potions and Waterstone Shards. The potions buff a party member's defense for a few turns when used, and the shards do water elemental damage do a single target.  (XenoPhobia)_38_27429_part48009.png) And then I die. Most of the enemies in this cave are no threat at all. The Giant Scorpion is the exception. It does a bit more damage (~10 per hit) and can potentially attack a couple of times per turn. It can be taken out with a single Toadstool Salad, but I tried to use regular attacks, which didn't take it out fast enough. I also didn't save so I got to play through the into again.  Especially dumb since the game lets you save any time you're not in a cutscene. (XenoPhobia)_24_3208604871.png) Continuing on we come across a healing point. These fully restore the HP and SP of your entire party. (XenoPhobia)_24_3208606015.png) It's huge.Further on we have our first boss battle, the Sand Whale. (XenoPhobia)_24_320867380.png) They're not supposed to like water... Wonder if I have anything like that.It serves as a tutorial on item use. Using an item requires 1 BP, but also ends the turn immediately. So if you use an item, you want it to be the last action a character takes on their turn. (XenoPhobia)_24_320868563.png) (XenoPhobia)_24_320869104.png) The game clearly wants us to use those waterstone shards, but Toadstool Salad does nearly as much damage, taking off about a third of the whale's health. It's not a very difficult boss. (XenoPhobia)_24_3208610060.png) (XenoPhobia)_24_3208610382.png) We get enough Exp to level up, and a piece of Yellow Ore. This is out first Material type item, which are used to enhance and upgrade weapons. More on that later, when it becomes more relevant. (XenoPhobia)_24_3208610827.png) Funny. I didn't think sandwhales were supposed to be so aggressive. Oh, right! The mushrooms! Can't exactly go back empty-handed.(XenoPhobia)_24_3208611759.png) But when we return back to town (XenoPhobia)_24_3208620099.png) (XenoPhobia)_24_3208620241.png) His power brings destruction unto us all! What glorious times! That can't be good. This one's even got a portrait. Hmph, doesn't even look like me. Ack, the mushrooms! Uncle Agni's probably startin' to worry.But Kyrie shurgs it off and goes to complete the delivery. (XenoPhobia)_24_32086_part502112.png) Kyrie... Ursa Rex wants to see you. On your way, Kyrie. Zetska Manor is just west of town. Now? But I still have work to do. I can manage here. You know the way, yes? Yeah, I've been to the manor a couple of times. Good, good. Take these in case you run into any trouble.(XenoPhobia)_24_32086_part503272.png) (XenoPhobia)_24_32086_part503358.png) These are just small upgrades to the gear we were currently wearing. (XenoPhobia)_24_32086_part504265.png) That is a terrible pun. The townspeople have new dialogue, but it's nothing particularly important. Just commenting on the strange letters from the sky. (XenoPhobia)_24_32086_part512511.png) Next time we're off to see the Bearon. Genocyber fucked around with this message at 23:18 on Dec 31, 2014 |
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2014 23:08
|
|
|
Will this be as memorable as Drakengard 2, another story starring a naive teenage boy and a mysterious woman who destroy the world?
|
|
#
?
Jan 1, 2015 01:04
|
|
|
I really can't get over the fact that your offensive ability is 'Toadstool Salad'. Like, really? I get the feeling there's going to be some time-travel shenanigans, I don't see any other reason why 'random boy joins Annihilation' would make any sense otherwise. Well, as much sense as time travel can.
|
|
#
?
Jan 1, 2015 01:16
|
|
|
Keldulas posted:I really can't get over the fact that your offensive ability is 'Toadstool Salad'. Like, really? All of his skills are  -related plays on words.
|
|
#
?
Jan 1, 2015 01:21
|
|
|
Keldulas posted:I really can't get over the fact that your offensive ability is 'Toadstool Salad'. Like, really? It's kind of a carry-over from his anime appearance, where he was basically the team mom. He didn't like fighting but he was a good cook. Man they really wanted people to like this series, huh?
|
|
#
?
Jan 1, 2015 02:06
|
|
|
Hmm, I read about this game, so, let's see how it goes.
|
|
#
?
Jan 1, 2015 05:06
|
|
|
Not often you pick up a piece of paper that says you'll destroy the world. Hoo boy. I suppose I know what we're going to get talked to about.
|
|
#
?
Jan 1, 2015 10:53
|
|
|
A horrible pun like "Bearon" better be the start of the horrible puns and not the end. Wouldn't want to peak after the first dungeon, you know?Genocyber posted:All of his skills are I'm not going to be disappointed, am I.
|
|
#
?
Jan 2, 2015 01:09
|
|
|
The game isn't a pun-machine like Dragon Quest, unfortunately.
|
|
#
?
Jan 2, 2015 03:33
|
|
|
Lotish posted:Will this be as memorable as Drakengard 2, another story starring a naive teenage boy and a mysterious woman who destroy the world? It's not quite Drakengard levels of crazy. Though there is a decent deal of character development. The game kinds of reminds me of Glory of Hercules. A decent enough RPG with a potentially broken (as in the player can cheese it) battle system.
|
|
#
?
Jan 2, 2015 07:25
|
|
|
I remember trying to play this game and not getting very far. It wasn't bad, it just seemed to have tonal issues. Like it was trying to appeal to two different audiences at the same time. Explaining exactly what I mean would be spoilers at this point though so I guess I'll have some words when it comes up.
|
|
#
?
Jan 2, 2015 08:50
|
|
|
Oh man, this game. I liked it enough to I guess we'll call it 100%. Did all the sidequests and everything. Looking forward to seeing some of the crazy again. It's not as bad as Drakengard like someone above asked, but it sometimes jumped the rails a bit.
|
|
#
?
Jan 2, 2015 09:14
|
|
|
I almost beat the game but just couldn't get over how flat-out retarded some of the gameplay mechanics were. Sure, it doesn't compare to the utter overall incompetence and total making GBS threads on the franchise that is Lunar Dragon Song but it gets pretty close at times. Some of it might've just been me not understanding the gameplay mechanics but none of the FAQs really helped much in that regard and some of the mechanics really are that poorly thought out.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2015 13:23
|
|
|
While I did enjoy this game, I can understand why people would have problems with it. I absolutely loved how quips worked, even if they were cheesy as heck.
SaitoBatch fucked around with this message at 00:17 on Jan 18, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2015 00:44
|
|
|
I forgot that this game's battle system is broken from the outset. I mean I knew it was broken but it gets there pretty fast.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2015 17:39
|
|
|
I don't really understand why this game got such a bad rap. It is broken (in more ways than one) but I still found it to be genuinely fun throughout.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2015 21:19
|
|
|
Sorry for the delay with this update. I underestimated how much work it is to transcribe all the dialogue so I got kind of swamped. I'll try to do at least one update a week from now on, if not more. As an aside I downloaded the ripped music tracks from Youtube and will upload them to Tindeck, and will replace the older links with the appropriate ones at some point. Anyway here's the update proper.  Last time, Kyrie was summoned to speak with Ursa Rex, the ruling lord of the region.    When visiting a location for the first time, the game likes to do these panning shots of the area.  For whatever reason they decided to put a healing point here. It doesn't really come in handy so I'm not sure why they bothered.  Looting the Bearon's house doesn't seem like the smartest thing to do, but Kyrie is a JRPG protagonist so it's probably expected. Secret Remedies are the revival items.  Strength Potions boost the offense of a character for a few turns in battle.    Ah, Kyrie. Good of you to come. This the boy, sir? Yes, this is the one. Not exactly what I'd pictured. Well, so long as he comes quietly. I... I don't understand. Yes, sir, I have. I figured they were some kind of prank. And I agree. Still, the Salvation Committee wants to hold an inquiry. But rest easy, Kyrie. I'm sure they'll see this for the mistake it is. But, my uncle-- I'll explain everything to Agni, don't worry. These gentlemen will escort you to the inquiry. Come along, human.I'm sure this will work out just fine. Just need to explain the situation to the  What was that? Who said that?! C'mon that's enough out of you! Not right in the head, this one. Acta est fabula. I gotta get out of here. Well this isn't looking too good.  Metal Gear Kyrie  Our job's lookin' after Ursa Rex, not hoppin' off after runaways. Not sure as he's lost, seein' as we know where he went, but back we go.Luckily for Kyrie these guards don't seem to give a poo poo.  It's like my feet had a mind of their own.  The guards aren't any more dangerous than the trash mobs in the cave dungeon.  One of them tries to defend. Defending greatly reduces all damage taken, but enough hits will break and nullify it. It's not really ever worth using, though.  Kyrie continues to be pursued  And is eventually cornered at the manor's entrance. He probably should have tried escaping through a window. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TISy_UyvrxU  This track plays anytime something, well, dramatic happens. I'm trapped! Not another step! Did you think you could outrun us, human? That's like telling the police officer you didn't mean to be drunk while driving. Kyrie, only a guilty man would attempt to flee. It's difficult to believe, but you've joined them, haven't you? Ursa Rex, please! You have to listen to me! No doubt you'll have quite a story for the Committee. No need to make this hard on yourself, boy. All right, I'm through running. Huh?It is time. That voice again. Who are you?!*church bell ringing The bell... Can't you hear the bell? Now it's bells, is it? You hear anything? Not a sound. He's mad as a hatter. I don't understand! What purpose?!Awaken! Destruct. Destruct?  Wh-What's happening?! Being disintegrated cannot be a pleasant way to go.   And the game fades to white.   Kyrie really did a number on the surrounding area.  Where am I? I remember going to see Ursa Rex, and then-- That's right, the voice! But this can't be Zetska Manor... can it? I have to find Ursa Rex.It seems Kyrie is in denial.  Kyrie is oblivious in more ways than one.   I should kill you right where you stand for what you've done!That would probably be the smart thing to do, seeing as how he wiped out an entire manor. Rajiv! Rushing in headlong before sizing up your opponent will get you killed! I prefer to strike first, and ask questions later. Even so-- Hah! What do we have to fear from this child? Put him down! Look around you! This is no common destruction, Rajiv. Until we learn what happened here, we had best tread lightly. You'd have me fear my own shadow. What's he going to do, throw sand at me? Fine. You clean up this mess, Naja. Could that boy truly be responsible for all this? Not a pretty sight, sir. Nothing left of it but this blasted sand.Scratch that. Kyrie didn't just take out the mansion, he took out the entire nearby region.   And so we cut away to our new location, the Sky Gaol.   I'm sure things'll work out just fine. Genocyber fucked around with this message at 01:38 on Jan 23, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2015 21:45
|
|
|
I found the opening of this game to actually be pretty strong, with the stuff that just happened. It brings up some big questions, and gets you wondering what exactly it all means. On the music, I found the tracks composed by Mitsuda to be good (as usual), but the rest didn't really make an impression.
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2015 22:37
|
|
|
Well, now. That's not common, for the hero to wipe out such a large area so quickly. And who was it talking in our head? I don't think that it was Morte, perhaps her Professor? Or someone else.
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2015 22:46
|
|
|
Just a few typos I noticed:Genocyber posted:I underestimated how much work it is to transcribe all the diglogue so I got kind of swamped. Genocyber posted:
Genocyber posted:And so we cut away to our new location, the Sky Goal.
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2015 23:56
|
|
|
NAME REDACTED posted:Just a few typos I noticed: Whoops, thanks for those. I wanted to get the update out so I may have rushed a tad. Speaking of, next update will be out sometime tomorrow, exactly when depending on when I bother to finish it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2015 01:39
|
|
|
grandalt posted:And who was it talking in our head? I don't think that it was Morte, perhaps her Professor? Or someone else. IIRC it's a deep growly male voice. We won't meet them for a while.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2015 03:27
|
|
|
Rajiv's only got his position through nepotism, right? I mean, we're less than an hour into the game and we've established that his soldiers call him a blowhard behind his back, he has no grasp of basic strategy, he sucks in combat with any real opponent, and has to be told not to antagonize the person that apparently reduced a small region to sand. If not for Naja babysitting him, he'd be dead twice over.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2015 04:09
|
|
|
He got his position through nepotism, he kept it through racism. Didn't he mention Naja's a halfbreed or something? If not for that he'd probably have taken Rajiv's job ages ago, or maybe gotten promoted above him.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2015 04:26
|
|
|
Ursa Rex did not seem to be a bad guy. Shame he was turned to dust.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2015 05:22
|
|
|
Raitzeno posted:He got his position through nepotism, he kept it through racism. Didn't he mention Naja's a halfbreed or something? If not for that he'd probably have taken Rajiv's job ages ago, or maybe gotten promoted above him. Yeah. Rajiv says straight up that Naja's father "let a human tart seduce him.' And a few others in the opening talk about him stinking like a human. Also the little detail that Naja's dad was in charge before hooking up with a human, and now Rajiv's dad is. Rajiv is pretty much King Dickhead, and only has the job because of his dad's position (and Naja being half-human).
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2015 06:20
|
|
|
MonsterEnvy posted:Ursa Rex did not seem to be a bad guy. Shame he was turned to dust. Apparently, it wasn't just Ursa Rex and the guards, but everyone in the entire region. Including Kyrie's old village and uncle. So to recap, in the past day or so, Kyrie: 1) Was attacked by a strangely aggressive sand cetacean. 2) Was arrested for supposedly joining a terrorist group, 3) Involuntarily ran away, implicating himself for reasons he can't understand. 4) At the behest of a strange voice in his head, unleashed a power that killed everyone he ever knew. 5) Run into King Dickhead, Rajiv and been tossed into a dungeon. All and all, not the best start to an adventure's career.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2015 02:21
|
|
|
poorlywrittennovel posted:I remember trying to play this game and not getting very far. It wasn't bad, it just seemed to have tonal issues. Like it was trying to appeal to two different audiences at the same time. Explaining exactly what I mean would be spoilers at this point though so I guess I'll have some words when it comes up. Missed this post earlier, but I can say without spoiling anything that this is pretty much exactly what happened with this game (trying to appeal to more than one audience). You had the writer with one idea, and the producers with another, and it ends up creating those tonal issues.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2015 02:35
|
|
|
AngryRobotsInc posted:Missed this post earlier, but I can say without spoiling anything that this is pretty much exactly what happened with this game (trying to appeal to more than one audience). You had the writer with one idea, and the producers with another, and it ends up creating those tonal issues. Yeah, apparently there was a fair bit of executive meddling involved to market the game to younger kids or something. In addition to that, apparently while the story was originally drafted by Masato Kato, who worked on Chrono Trigger and Xenogears among others, but was then edited by ImageEpoch's writers. And having played some of their other games, I can safely say they don't exactly have the best writers on the planet. So there's that too, if true. Anyway here's the update. Took a bit longer than I expected but oh well.  The Sky Gaol has a pretty oppressive theme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGKan5bOJJE Last time Kyrie destroyed his hometown and was captured and put in the Sky Gaol as a result.  Goodbye Sky Gaol theme! This is the track that plays the most often in this update. The game changes tracks whenever there's some sort of tonal shift, and that happens a lot. Enough that I'm not going to link a track whenever it changes to it.   Morte? Aye, they say she gave the Committee in Viteau a good thrashing. I never heard of anyone called the Scarlet Plague. Get a load of him! Never heard of the Beastslayer! Ha! Wanted for bombings, arson--and that's just what she does for fun! My ears are burning. Well, if she goes too long without blowin' something up, she gets the shakes. You've got it all wrong! She's a feral-skinner, the way I hear it. Peels back your skin and drinks your blood--more beast than woman, her.Kind of an odd comment coming from a beast-man. Not the sort you'd want to run into in a dark, dank dungeon. You got that right. They don't call her Lady Death for nothin'. Lady Death? Is that the best they could come up with? What are you complaining' for?  Morte is great.   Hmm. I guess we'll have to do this the hard way. Hard way? Might want to stand back. Right--the hard way. I'm Morte, though you probably already knew that. You must be Kyrie. Uh, yeah. You don't know how long I've waited for this. I've been dying to meet you! But enough about me! Show me what you've got! You lost me back wat the hard way. Playing hard to get, eh? Want me to spell it out for you? Whaddayou mean destroy the world? Whaddayou mean whaddayou mean? Flash of light, cloud of dust--done! No need to keep it to just one village this time. Don't hold back! If you're talking about what happened to Barni, I don't know what I did. Don't know? How can you not know! I blacked out. When I woke up, it was over. Waugh-agh-agh! I don't like the hard way! Now what am I supposed to do? It's not like I had any plans after this. Sorry, I guess. But I really don't remember how it happened. One minute they were chasing me, the next I was cornered and--boom. So you panicked. Maybe this won't be so hard after all. Morte has one way of solving problems; violence. I d-d-on't think this is g-g-going to w-w-ork! The fool may still be here, but her luck's run out. She doesn't look too happy. Never happier! I had a little stress I needed to beat out of someone. Bah! We out number her four to one! More than a match for this girl.  I'll explain what Quips are in a bit. For now, we have a battle.  Isn't it obvious? We annihilate them! Here we have a fight with three Gaolers. They're not that tough, and go down with one Molotov Cocktail. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzUZumb-Ck8 Wow, we did it. *sigh* The power to destroy the world, and four ferals leave you panting? Hey, I'm new to this. We can't all be wanted criminals. You were the one behind bars last time I looked. So, remember anything? Remember what? Uhm... I dunno, maybe the rush of battle jogged your memory? There was one thing. Yeah? Well?! I remember being scared. Look, fine. For now, let's just get out of here. They won't be happy when they find this empty cell. As destroyers of worlds go, I think you worry a bit too much. Yeah, but, they're our masters. All right, I'm coming. Then we're off! So now we have enough CP to actually purchase some skill upgrades. Every character has physical skills (i.e. regular attacks) and Blood/Life skills. Physical Skills are divided into Flurries (quick multi hit attacks) and Blows (strong single hit that can knockdown/up or stun an opponent). If you manage to knock an opponent into the other screen with a Blow, you can perform a Followup or an Air Followup, depending on which screen they are on. For the most part this isn't something we'll be using, but it will come into play in a few fights. You can upgrade either the damage or the accuracy of each attack. If you increase the attack you'll reduce the accuracy by a tiny bit, and vice versa. Additionally, the next increase costs more CP, so it's generally better to upgrade both the attack and the accuracy a bit. After getting the level of the skill high enough, you can unlock the next skill (e.g. leveling up Flurry 1 to level 5 will unlock Flurry 2). Special attacks are similar. Instead of attack/accuracy they have power/sp cost. Despite all these skills being available, you usually want to funnel most of your points into Flurries, because they get ridiculously good really fast.  her work with the World Annihilation Front. She is fearless, and fond of charging headlong into battle. 16 may seem a bit young, but remember this is a JRPG, so that's like 35 in real world years.  And here we have the Quips screen. Quips are specific lines if dialogue characters will spout as the story progresses/as a result of doing certain sidequests.  When equipped, the character will say the line in battle inresponse to a certain stimulus, and this will grant some sort of buff. In this case, Morte will use this Quip at the start of battle and this will raise the entire part's Morale. On that note, I should explain Morale.  On the top screen during battle, which I haven't bothered to show much so far, you'll notice a green "->" next to each character's battle points. This indicates their morale, which determines how much BP they have at the beginning of each turn. A sideways green arrow means they start with 2, a red down arrow means they start with 1, and a blue up arrows means they start with three. As for what affects Morale, aside from certain Quips;  Notice the red heart under Kyrie's Hiking Boots? If an accessory has a red heart when equipped to a character, it means it will improve their Morale. This does not happen instantly, and takes a few battles in order to take effect. Additionally, accessories can also show a black broken heart when equipped to certain characters, and this means equipping it will lower Morale. Generally speaking, most accessories are meant to be used by a specific character. If used by them it will boost their Morale, if used by anyone else it will reduce theirs. Some accessories are entirely neutral, and there are some others that behave differently. Additionally, notice the bit of text under the Hiking Boots? That's a special effect, which any piece of equipment can potentially have. If you look at the item in the inventory proper then it provides an explanation as to what the effect is. Guidance accessories boost Morale if equipped to the proper character, and make special attacks easier to perform. I'll explain this when we can actually do special attacks (which won't be for a fair bit). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrqh5D7mR5c  What now? My legs are killing me. How 'bout a break? Any idea where we are?  What now? Ignore the boy! The girl's the real threat. Bring her down first! It's tough being popular. Just who do you think you are? Ha ha ha. I was hoping you'd ask. I am the Golden Lions' second, ally of humanity, at your service. He's green all right, but who is he? Any of you ever hear of him? Nary a word. The Golden Lions must be desparate if this is their second. Mangy curs... You are something of a joke, Agan. The truth is sometimes cruel, Agan. Sounds like you two know each other. Unfortunately so. Good to know the feeling is still mutual. Three instead of two. The odds are still with us!Four, actually. The fourth being Molotov Cocktail. We'll see about that. Now, Mort! You got it!  The tables have turned! Time to clean up!This fight is just another three Gaolers. Nothing special.  So how's a nice girl like you end up in a dreary place like this, Mort? Don't tell me you let yourself get caught. Who do you think I am? One of your Golden Lion flunkies? Not likely. They're housebroken enough to be grateful for help. Y'know, you were a Golden Lion yourself once, as I recall. Was I? I'd forgotten. So, what do we have here? Come all this way for him? Nice to meecha. What's his story? This is Kyrie, and he's going to help me destroy the world! He doesn't look much like the world-destroying type. He's sooner keep a fly as a pet than hurt it, if you ask me. I'm not much for bugs. I'm more of a cat person. That's about the size of it. Now that you're all caught up... shall we? "We?" I may have pulled your feet out of the fire, but there's no "we." Well "we" all need to get topside if "we" want off this rock, right? C'mon! That's what I get for sticking my nose where it doesn't belong.Insert "wah-wah" trombone here.   On you, the stench is hardly noticeable. Just be glad we're out. Not so fast, humans. You didn't actually think you could escape, did you? Prepare to feel the claws of the heir apparent to the title of Lupus Rex!  Huh? Yeah, same ol' ship, only I'm her captain now. Captain, eh? You really shot up in the ranks. Don't look so surprised. I am the second, you know. I, uh, hate to interrupt, but whoever that is, he's looking pretty upset. Just ignore him, kid. That's what kills me about wolves: contant howling. See? I will not stand for this slander! I'll drown you in your own tears!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIeK9F613Uw  And so we have our first real boss (hence the video above). Despite that, it still uses the regular battle theme which I can't remember if I've linked before so here it is.   The guards are pretty easily taken out with two casts of Molotov Cocktail once Morte gets her turn. Once they're gone it's easy to finish off Rajiv with physical attacks.  Agan's pretty strong, being able to take out most of Rajiv's remaining health. But then  The reason Rajiv is the first real boss is because he's the first boss to throw a hissy fit when he starts to lose. From this point on, most bosses will buff themselves whenever they get to low HP (or just whenever, really). Speed boost boosts his Agi, making him much more evasive.  He ends up taking out Kyrie, but I just revive him and then finish Rajiv off. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gII3F9oGLDw  Throwing in the towel? Any other day, and you'd be long dead by now! He says as he runs away. Rajiv is pretty pathetic. I'm actually shaking. There! See it? Ah, well, there'll be time to joke later. The Seal Gale awaits! Yes? Explain to me why you're getting on MY ship? Oh, don't be like that. We're all friends here. What's wrong with your own ship? It's wrecked. You wrecked it, more like! *sigh* But I'm much too nice to leave you here. Very well. On you go. It's Kyrie, right? Tell me again why I risked my neck for her? I really couldn't say. Kyrie, what are you waiting for? All aboard! That's my line!  Was that Lupus Rex's son we saw running with his tail between his legs? Nothing to it, really. Well, to be fair, I had some help. About that. Why exactly are they on our ship? I couldn't very well leave them here, could I? I know she's an old friend of yours, but that woman is trouble! What trouble? She was a Lion same as all of us? That was a long time ago. She's with the World Annihilation Front now. C'mon, Kyrie. Where are we going? Oh, I get it. Right, let's go. What are these? Sand riders! Never seen one before? They skim right across the surface of the sandsea, no problem. Not bad. We're going to say bye to Agan first, right? He's busy--wouldn't want to bother him now, would we? No, but-- Good! Hop on! What he doesn't know won't hurt him.  I doubt I've see the last of her--for better or worse. Now, how am I going to explain two missing sand riders?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Bnc-I2ZGc *metal grinding noises*   Guess they don't make sand riders like they used to. Redline them once or twice and they go to pieces! Once or twice? You've been flooring it since we left the ship. Oh? And here I thought I was holding back. Well, this is as good a time for a break as any. *sigh* I was supposed to be laughing my way to the apocalypse by now. Instead I'm stuck in the middle of the sandsea. Got anything to say for yourself, Kyrie? You're about the furthest thing from the harbinger of doom I could imagine. *yawn* The sunshine feels good, at least. I could go for a nap. Hey, Morte? Mmm-hmm? Aren't you worried, being out here in the middle of nowhere? Sand Tribe? Is there anything you HAVE heard of? The Sand Tribe wanders the sandsea. People actually live out here? Yeah, you do have a sort of "naive simpleton" aura to you. I guess I've led a pretty sheltered life, huh? A babe in the woods. Do you realize how bad the world has gotten? Bad? How?Definitely couldn't be the horribly racist and nepotistic beatmen, nah.  I had no idea. And the worst part of all is the ferals and their beastlords. What do you mean? The beastlords are just glorified slave drivers. Was Barni different? I never knew my parents, but he made sure I was looked after growing up. I guess there are all kinds--even among ferals. Humans, too. Some submit to feral control. Others simply choose death. Others rise up and fight, but they end up dead just the same. When I realized how bad things were, it hit me. The only way to fix this world is to destroy it. So I joined the Front... When you see how bad it is, you'll be ready to blow it up, too! And then maybe that power inside you will find a way out! I don't know, Morte... Well, Kyrie, whaddaya say? Let me show you the world? The world? Once you get to know it, I guarantee you'll want to end it! I don't know about ending anything, but... But, what?! But I want to go with you. I never met anyone like you bac in Barni... I know I'm not what you were hoping for, but will you have me? I wouldn't make this offer to anyone else! Looks like Kyrie's in love. No way something bad will ever come of this. You're the one, Kyrie! You're my harbinger of doom! So that's the only reason... All right. Where you're going, I'm going with you. That's a promise. Hah! You and me, until the end of the world! Now that that's settlied, let's get out of here! So, uh, what now? If we sit tight, I'm sure a ship'll be by before too long. You think so? But the sandsea's supposed to be huge. Whoa! What's that? It's a loving ship sandwhich is what it is. Right on schedule! Good call, Morte. But a ship that size, they'll never see us. How do we get their attention?Probably not a good idea to let them see you with a wanted terrorist, Kyrie. Assuming he's not wanted already for what he did to Barni. We don't. Why would we want to get noticed? So we're stowaways. Exactly! Now let's get out of here! What are we doing to say? "We're the stowaways, nice to meet you"? I was thinking more, "hand over your ship and we let you live." I probably should have seen that coming. Next time we explore the Zifnir.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2015 06:35
|
|
|
Oh, Morte . She really is the best character in this game.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2015 07:29
|
|
|
Morte was pretty much my second favorite character in the game. She's a distant second to my absolutely favorite though.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2015 07:47
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 15:42 |
|
|
AngryRobotsInc posted:Morte was pretty much my second favorite character in the game. She's a distant second to my absolutely favorite though. Morte is third/fourth for me, which says something about how good the characters are int his game. quote:Yeah, apparently there was a fair bit of executive meddling involved to market the game to younger kids or something. In addition to that, apparently while the story was originally drafted by Masato Kato, who worked on Chrono Trigger and Xenogears among others, but was then edited by ImageEpoch's writers. And having played some of their other games, I can safely say they don't exactly have the best writers on the planet. Oh poo poo the Time and Eternity guys? This explains soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2015 08:01
|
|