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Countdown to Destruction – Let’s Play Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter is an RPG-Roguelike released for the Playstation 2 in 2003 as the fifth installment of Capcom’s Breath of Fire RPG series. In terms of chronology Dragon Quarter is like its predecessor, Breath of Fire IV, in that it floats in a strange void outside the established Breath of Fire continuity. Despite many fan theories about this game existing in the distant future of the franchise, the official word from Capcom is that Dragon Quarter is unrelated to the previous games except through its legacy characters, Ryu and Nina. The game itself is generally regarded as the black sheep of the Breath of Fire series, being a radical departure from its predecessors in terms of genre, setting and tone. The classic RPG elements are given a pseudo-Roguelike spin, and the traditional dragon transformation ability has been reworked into something that is in every sense apocalyptic. Instead of a colourful medieval fantasy world, Dragon Quarter takes place in a grim and gritty post apocalyptic future where mankind has been forced underground. In lieu of the fantastic and vibrant environments of the rest of the series, the entirety of Dragon Quarter takes place in the dirty, cramped confines of a subterranean shelter. These changes and others that I’ll get to later were sharply divisive, and Dragon Quarter has since been branded with the dreaded ‘love it or hate it’ label. Personally I respect the game for daring to be so different. It harkens back to a time when game companies weren’t afraid to experiment and try new things, and I applaud the Capcom of yesteryear for taking the risk even if it ruffled a few feathers. Spoiler Rule This game is ten years old and the story isn’t Shakespearean. That said, please use spoiler tags when discussing future plot points. Initial Playthrough: Update 01 - Humble Origins Update 02 - Freight Update 03 - Odjn Update 04 - Nina Update 05 - Lin Update 06 - Waste Shaft Update 07 - Awakening Update 08 - D-Diving and You Update 09 - The Long Way Home Update 10 - The Regents Update 11 - BioCorp Labs Update 12 - Experimental Unit Update 13 - Frozen Road Update 14 - Confrontation Update 15 - Industrial Sector Update 16 - The Dark Rangers Update 17 - Old Trade Sector Update 18 - The Trinity Pit Update 19 - Lifeline Update 20 - Power One, Part I Update 21 - Power One, Part II Update 22 - Centre: Cupid Update 23 - Centre: Yezuit Update 24 - Centre: Hortensia Update 25 - Centre: Vexacion Update 26 - Cemetery Update 27 - The Geofront Update 28 - The Surface New Game+ Playthrough Update 01 - A New Adventure Update 02 - Twisted Trinity Update 03 - The Dragon Blade Update 04 - Broken Wings Update 05 - Knocking on Sheldar's Doors Update 06 - Colonialism Update 07 - Ant Farming Update 08 - Toxic Personalities Update 09 - Silent Witness Update 10 - Wingless Update 11 - The Benefit of Experience Update 12 - Degradation Update 13 - Loco Parentis Update 14 - Misanthropy Update 15 - Nice Tail Update 16 - Holy Heart Update 17 - The Main Shaft Update 18 - A Friendly Wager Update 19 - Origin's End Update 20 - Kokon Horay Update 21 - The Final Challenge Other Breath of Fire LPs: Breath of Fire by Me Breath of Fire II by Me Breath of Fire III by Rabbi Raccoon Breath of Fire IV by Daeren Scintilla fucked around with this message at 15:35 on Jul 15, 2018 |
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Mar 26, 2017 18:45
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Fanart and Other Stuff: Nina Acquires Some More Modest Clothing, by blankd: 
Scintilla fucked around with this message at 11:11 on Apr 9, 2017 |
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Mar 26, 2017 18:46
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Update 01: Humble Origins Okay! I’ve put this thing off long enough! Let’s do this!  The game asks us to choose a language first. We will be playing in English because it is the best language.  I am playing the PAL version so I also get the chance to choose between 50HZ and 60HZ. We will be playing in 60HZ because it is the best HZ.  The Capcom logo flashes up next. I apologise for the minor graphical glitch. Dragon Quarter is somewhat tough to emulate. The intro plays immediately after the logo disappears. It contains a few semi-spoilery scenes, so I'll be skipping it for the time being.  Here it is. Again, I apologise for some of the text glitching out. Believe it or not, this is after I wonked the settings to make it look better.  Pressing Start gives us the usual options. There are no files to Continue with and the Options screen has nothing interesting, so let’s dive right in and start a new game.   The first thing that happens is that we are asked to name our hero.  No crude joke names here, thank you very much! This is a Serious Let’s Play for Serious People.  Upon completing the registration the opening cutscene plays.  A deep, booming voice speaks in a strange language as words flash by on the screen.   The camera shifts to inside a locker, which is thrown open by our protagonist.   : Genic hunting again?  Ryu’s faceless companion slams his own locker door shut. Music: Kind Friends     : Right, Ryu?     Ryu’s partner walks off, leaving Ryu in the locker room.     Suddenly, the scene switches to an entirely different perspective - perhaps a memory, perhaps a premonition.     The scene fades back to the menu emblem, which then fades into gameplay.   A fully dressed Ryu shuts his locker, and we gain control.  The locker room we begin in is small, poky and utterly devoid of anything to do, so let’s leave. Music: Ranger HQ  We step out of the locker room and into the marginally more refreshing air of Ranger HQ.   There are a number of other Rangers scattered around the building who we can talk to. The Rangers are essentially a group of soldiers who keep the roads and towns clear of monsters, bandits and other nasties.   : With your D-Ratio, you’ll never move up the ranks anyway, so don’t push yourself.Remember in the opening scene there was some kind of weird barcode on the back of Ryu’s neck? There was a number underneath it, but the resolution isn’t good enough to actually read it.  Good thing it’s also noted on the main menu. That number is Ryu’s D-Ratio. In the world of Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter a person’s D-Ratio effectively determines their position in life. The higher the number, the better their prospects. Ryu has a D-Ratio of 1/8192, which is pretty much the lowest of the low and means he’s unlikely to ever rise above the level of a grunt.   There’s another locker room over here, and this one has someone to talk to inside.  : I’m a little tired. I just came back from a genic hunting mission. We can ask him for advice. : Pay attention to the points on the Navi when you’re outside the living areas. They indicate the presence of enemies. Even weak genics can be formidable foes if they attack en mass. : What’s a genic? : Genics are made as domesticated creatures, but some go feral. Our job as Rangers is to protect the people from rogue genics.Genics are genetically engineered beasties that serve as enemy encounters. Naturally we’ll be fighting a lot of them throughout the game.   There’s nothing else in this little section, so let’s climb the stairs into the HQ proper.   Ranger HQ is a pretty small area, but there are plenty of people to talk to.   : Captain Zeno is waiting for you in her office. : Low-Ds are nuts.  : Those drat rangers! Nothing more than government lapdogs!     : He’s on his way to the top. Maybe even past the brass!So, our partner’s name is Bosch, and his D-Ratio is much higher than Ryu’s.   : It’s full of bad air and rogue genics. I need to get better scores so I can get a post on a higher level…  : You’re doing well for a grunt…but a ride with the golden boy is gonna be rough!Everyone seems to hold Bosch in high regard. From what everyone is saying he appears to be destined for great things.  Although they might just be saying that because he’s standing well within earshot. : Hey, you ready? : Waiting makes the captain…grumpy. : Bosch 1/64 and…: Ryu 1/8192 reporting, ma’am!    : I’ve called you in to review the details of your mission. : You are to board the freight lift and guard its contents. An easy task for you two, no? Zeno allows us to ask some questions. : I’d like some more details about the mission…: Board the high-speed lift sent from the BioCorp Labs and guard its contents. : Where should we start?: Ask at the lift port if you can take the transporter lift down to the LowSector Labs. : What exactly are we guarding?: As I am sure you are aware, BioCorp handles top secret materials. You don’t need to know what you’re protecting in order to do your job. : Can we expect any resistance?: We’ve received a recent report of a surge in Trinity activity. They may target cargo from BioCorp, so be on your guard. : That’s all I wanted to ask, captain. : Might I speak with you briefly before the mission?: Of course… Ryu? Please wait outside. Ryu salutes and leaves.    :…get this over with, partner. Bosch walks off, and we regain control. What did he and Zeno talk about? Perhaps we’ll find out later.  We find that a new NPC has appeared in the office. Naturally, I’m going to talk to him. This is an RPG. We must talk to everyone!   : The air there is worse than ever. Visibility was so low a genic could have got me from anywhere. : Got any advice for me?: Be smart if you want to become a top Ranger. Fight on your own terms using bombs and bait. We call it ‘Positive Encounter and Tactics System’, or ‘PETS’. It’s a basic Ranger tactic. Essentially, the battle starts before the first blows are exchanged.This is basically a quick run-down on Dragon Quarter’s battle system. I’ll be going into it in more detail once we actually enter combat. : I’m going to BioCorp. Have to guard some cargo. : All sorts of strange experiments go on at BioCorp. I’m sure the cargo must be full of slimy, nasty stuff.  The NPC blocking the door to the lift area is gone, but two more have appeared nearby.  : Any advice?: You can lure most genics with bait. Use that to avoid unnecessary battles. Doesn’t sound too exciting? Let me tell you: all top Rangers do it. : Got any tips for me? : If you can’t run from a Genic, attack them before they touch you with the attack button. Getting the initiative is very important. Remember that.Again, we’ll be discussing bait and pre-emptive strikes later on. For now it’s time to head through the door to the lift area.    We emerge into LowSector Junction, a small intersection between Ranger HQ, the lift area and LowSector Borough.  In the corner here we see a man standing next to what looks like a pair of payphones.   :…lets you save using a coin called a Save Token. Make sure to use it before you venture out of the living areas.Yep, saving is limited in Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter. Don’t have any spare Save Tokens? Tough luck, your progress isn’t getting recorded. The NTSC version allows players to make a temporary save file called a Suspend Save that can be used anywhere and gets deleted when you load it, but for some bizarre reason this was stripped out in the PAL version. It compensates for this by giving the player nine Save Tokens to start with instead of the single one you get in the NTSC version.   :…stock up on weapons in town. It could save your life. If you need anything, head to LowSector over there. You know, that sounds like a good idea. Let’s do that. I’m sure Bosch won’t mind us keeping him waiting.  Music: LowSector Borough  I’m sure those who have played previous Breath of Fire games, but not this one, have noticed the rather obvious elephant in the living room.   : The ceiling’s painted blue to look like a thing called ‘the sky’. I’m not really sure what that is, though.Previous Breath of Fire games have all had a high fantasy setting, full of magic and castles and exotic locations.  I mentioned it in the opening post, but this game is not like the others. This Breath of Fire game is not high fantasy.  It’s post-apocalyptic science fiction.   : That’s where all the BioCorp genics and bio-machines are made. Gone are the kingdoms and empires of the previous titles. Instead the entire game takes place in Sheldar, an enormous subterranean bunker housing the last remnants of humanity.    : They say the air quality is fine, but… *Koff* *Koff*    :…the generators, the air scrubbers… Everything is broken these days, and I can’t keep up with it!Other games in the series maintained a mostly upbeat atmosphere. There were some dark moments, but on the whole the games were mostly cheerful and optimistic. By contrast the tone here is grim and foreboding. Everything is slowly decaying, right down to the very air that people breathe.    : But they’re sold out. There just isn’t enough to go around these days…Food shortages are common, and the only livestock are vat-bred genics that probably taste awful.   :…enter the lab after hours.It’s a radical departure from the formula, to say the least. And certainly not to everyone’s taste. The setting is one of the reasons this game was and continues to be so controversial. Personally I love the dystopian atmosphere, although I can understand why others might hate it. I hope that this Let’s Play will change some minds about that, or at least convince those who dislike it to give it a second chance.  But enough of that. Let’s have a look at what’s on sale here.   This is Arma, Dragon Quarter’s armour / weapons vendor.  She has a good selection of both, but we don’t have enough money to buy any of it.   :…unappraised. Bring them here, and I’ll appraise them for you! This Momo lookalike is Jaju, the appraiser and item / equipment storage girl.  Occasionally during our travels we will come across pieces of equipment that aren’t identified. We can bring these to Jaju and she will tell us what they are, allowing us to use them. We don’t have any unidentified items right now, but it won’t be long before we find some.   Jaju’s second function is item storage. Inventory space in Dragon Quarter is very limited, so this is a blessing.   :…life? Take a look! Today’s special is Heal Kit! Leo the item vendor is cleverly hidden behind this NPC we spoke to earlier.  She has a wide variety of useful items on sale, including both traps and restoratives. It’s always a good idea to stock up on Heal Kits (restore 50HP) and Aid Kits (Restore 100HP) because, barring a single skill, items are the only way to restore HP in this game.  Anyway, let’s stop beating around the bush and go meet up with Bosch already. Music: Ranger HQ  Some new NPCs have spawned in the junction.  :…that came in the other day? Thanks a lot, Mr. Ranger!It’s nice to be appreciated.    : Sure, if you try hard! : I will!Don’t let anything hold you back, kid.     As soon as we reach the bottom of the stairs we get a brief cutscene.   : The lift’s down. Typical… By ‘lift’ they actually mean train. Just as Bosch says, the tracks are empty.  :…to walk down the tracks all the way to the labs? Grr. Let’s go.  After all that time, Bosch finally joins the party! He’s automatically assigned as the party leader, but we can change that fairly simply. We’ll be covering that, and more, in the next update. -- Bonus Art: Ryu  Bonus Art: Rangers 
Scintilla fucked around with this message at 14:13 on Jul 8, 2018 |
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Mar 26, 2017 18:46
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I know most people are gonna disagree but I think this game has the best version of the dragon powers in the series, and ended up being my favorite game in the series as a result.
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Mar 26, 2017 19:10
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This was my favorite game of the series too. I'm of mixed opinion when it comes to the dragon powers.
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Mar 26, 2017 19:23
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Oh, sweet! I have re-read your BoF 1 & 2 LP's multiple times, and I can't wait to see you LP this. As for my opinion of this game: It's not my favorite BoF game (depending on my mood I'll say either 3 or 4 is my favorite), but I appreciate the effort Capcom gave this one.
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Mar 26, 2017 19:36
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The game I think also ended a sort of proto-Dark Souls in how it got a bad rap for being too "difficult" by people who ignored what the game was saying and just assumed it worked like every other RPG/Breath of Fire game. Which, I mean, it probably is harder, but if you make a hard save with zero healing items and no HP and start complaining about the boss that follows, it's really on you, I think. Speaking of: any reason you're going with PAL over NTSC given the removal of soft saves? I guess save states sort of obviate that need anyway, but was there some other patch or fix added to make up for it?
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Mar 26, 2017 19:53
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No temporary saves for the PAL version? It was the best feature to have in the game. I guess us North Americans aren't hardcore enough for the true roguelike experience. There was a minor exploit you could do with the temporary save feature, but not really recommended for reasons I'm not sure I want to spoil yet.
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Mar 26, 2017 19:55
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Nick Buntline posted:Speaking of: any reason you're going with PAL over NTSC given the removal of soft saves? I guess save states sort of obviate that need anyway, but was there some other patch or fix added to make up for it? I'm using the actual disk, which is PAL since I live in the UK.
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Mar 26, 2017 20:02
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Oh hey, I wanted to see what was up with this game. I just talked about how I wanted a modern remake for BoF 2 like 10 minutes ago on another LP. Thanks for Lping that game btw, I love its quirks and just wish it wasnt so dated. Edit: Wow, my least favorite setting. Thats a huge jump from fantasy, though my opinion is that the series got darker with each entry, so this isnt exactly the biggest jump. Bosch is gonna be a prick, I know it. MythosDragon fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Mar 26, 2017 |
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Mar 26, 2017 20:05
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Oddly enough, this was my first Breath of Fire. I played the heck out of it though. I've been looking forward to an LP of this. 
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Mar 26, 2017 21:16
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this game is real cool.
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Mar 26, 2017 21:31
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This game seems like a good game from what I've seen of it, just not a very good Breath of Fire.
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Mar 26, 2017 22:05
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Most of my problems with this game stem from the gameplay changes to BoF than the actual setting and plot, which I find neato. It's the only BoF I haven't managed to finish because of the gameplay alas 
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Mar 26, 2017 23:06
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I think the biggest issue I had with it as a kid wasn't the setting change so much as the mechanics change - I recall renting it once and just not being able to figure out how it all worked. Be interesting to see how it's meant to be played. Been meaning to play the series over again anyway.
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Mar 26, 2017 23:38
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I love this game's atmosphere. Some of the music is amazing.
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Mar 26, 2017 23:48
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FWIW, "strange language" appears to be an attempt at Russian. Same for some of the character names.
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Mar 27, 2017 01:25
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I genuinely love this game. Breath of Fire is hands down my favorite RPG series (although Legends of Heroes is giving it a run for it's money lately, and I'm eagerly awaiting the last Trails in the Sky). Yes, this game is a huge departure from the rest of the series, but a majority of that is on the surface (and the battle system which is definitely a step or two above the turn-based RPGs the rest of the series is, but I'll let Scintilla get into that). At it's core, this series has always been about character relationships, and they got better at that with each iteration. Whereas the first one has everyone pretty much become a generic once they join, they still have their moments. 2 adds a base where you can chat up everyone and there's very personal arcs (Daisy, oh god). 3 is 100% a personal journey for each and every party member. And 4, well, I think anyone whose played that game can vouch for how fantastic that game is at displaying it's characters (except for maybe Scias, who still gets a few awesome moments). And this game is no different. You get a small party (If that's a something you didn't want people to know yet I'll delete it) which allows a much more intimate and close-knit group than the previous games have. The group bonds, and by the end they're incredibly close and care deeply for each other. So uh, I guess what I'm saying is this game is every bit a Breath of Fire game, and a different setting doesn't change that. Breath of Fire has, as Scintilla said, always been a mostly lighthearted series, but it's never shied away from going dark (Sara, Mina, Teepo, and Elina come to mind). And it's an absolute shame that this game killed the series, at least outside of Japan. It's not a perfect game by any means, but it's still a drat good game. I'm looking forward to this.
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Mar 27, 2017 01:33
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I am super excited to see this game in full. Thanks for starting this!
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Mar 27, 2017 01:43
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Rabbi Raccoon posted:I genuinely love this game. Breath of Fire is hands down my favorite RPG series (although Legends of Heroes is giving it a run for it's money lately, and I'm eagerly awaiting the last Trails in the Sky). Yes, this game is a huge departure from the rest of the series, but a majority of that is on the surface (and the battle system which is definitely a step or two above the turn-based RPGs the rest of the series is, but I'll let Scintilla get into that). At it's core, this series has always been about character relationships, and they got better at that with each iteration. Whereas the first one has everyone pretty much become a generic once they join, they still have their moments. 2 adds a base where you can chat up everyone and there's very personal arcs (Daisy, oh god). 3 is 100% a personal journey for each and every party member. And 4, well, I think anyone whose played that game can vouch for how fantastic that game is at displaying it's characters (except for maybe Scias, who still gets a few awesome moments). That base aspect was one of the big reasons I thought 2 was so charming. 3 might actually beat out Radiata Stories on the subject of obviously incomplete games, I could see the potential but it just felt so short and the moment I started caring the endgame was happening. I dont actually thing I finished the 4 lp now that I think about it, I was too busy trying to play along for the 4th time and failed again. Anyway thanks for giving me a bit of hope regarding this game, my main issue with apocolyptic settings is that it tends to completely destroy the character aspect of story, so hopefully this proves different. Also fellow LoH buddy, its by far my favorite game series, I've always been an indecisive wishy washy when it comes to my favorite things, but LoH is just so far above everything else that I'll gladly proclaim that its the best game series in existence from the rooftops. It helps immensely that I'm as far into the target audience as you can possibly get as a 100% story gamer.
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Mar 27, 2017 01:59
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I have a very strong attachment to Breath of Fire IV as my favorite, but this game has always intrigued me, as well as (or because of) the fact nobody seems to be willing to pick it up. This setting though kinda feels like a darker and more suitable take on Mega Man Legends' ruin exploration from what little I've seen of the game, with entirely more of a survival bent opposed to exploring for fun and profit.
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Mar 27, 2017 04:25
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This was a bold direction to take a series in, and maybe in another world it would have been more appreciated and they could have iterated on some of the ideas here and smoothed off the rough edges. As it is, though, it's one of the most unique JRPGs you can find, but it's impossible to say it's not very love it or hate it. Personally I finished it once and enjoyed it, but right now I don't really relish the idea of playing it again for some reason. Little note, if you ain't clicking those music links you're missing out. The soundtrack to this game is superb!
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Mar 27, 2017 14:08
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I bounced off this game super-hard, but that's probably because I didn't get it when it came out like I was intending to and instead only got to it many years later when I had more games on which to spend my dwindling free time. I've always been interested in it (and the series, after picking up BoF4 on a whim at WH Smiths and falling deeply in love with it) but not had the motivational wherewithal to get down to it. So thanks in advance, Scintilla, for this LP!
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Mar 27, 2017 16:51
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geri_khan posted:Little note, if you ain't clicking those music links you're missing out. The soundtrack to this game is superb! Dragon Quarter's soundtrack was composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, who also composed the music for Final Fantasy Tactics and Odin Sphere. It's got some excellent tracks so yes, please listen to them as we progress through the game.
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Mar 27, 2017 17:04
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I just want to say that I still crack up a little every single time I see your avatar, even with it missing the "sup shitlords".  Following this one with interest!
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Mar 27, 2017 18:47
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Was I the only one who was caught by a stupid flaw with this game? Big spoiler, so look away: You can't beat the end boss if you've used up more than 40 seconds or so of your dragon power. Which was easy to do, if you tested it out early in the game, and then used it for any other boss. Also, the number of times you have to play the game to get all the dialogue is a bit crazy.
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Mar 28, 2017 02:23
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Oh, hey, probably the most ahead of its time thing Capcom released and I played. Definitely gonna follow this closely.Domus posted:Was I the only one who was caught by a stupid flaw with this game? Big spoiler, so look away: I'm pretty sure that you can beat the game as long as you have more than a few actions worth of time time left. Just need to work at combos and have good gear.
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Mar 28, 2017 02:57
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Commander Keene posted:This game seems like a good game from what I've seen of it, just not a very good Breath of Fire. This is the feeling I got from this game. When I think Breath of Fire I think vivid colors, a protagonist with radioactive blue hair, a world full of varied and diverse races with unique locations and music that upon later listening in a "Top 51 RPG Music" list immediately transports you to the location and situation in which it played. This game...is mostly lacking on most of those departments sans music, at least to the point I played which is not pretty far in. So I will follow this LP to see if my opinion changes and give this game a second chance.
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Mar 28, 2017 02:58
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Domus posted:Was I the only one who was caught by a stupid flaw with this game? Big spoiler, so look away: Nope, I got nailed too. It took a while to realize that it was by design that this could happen, but there'll be more talk about that later. After that I cracked the game wide open over my knee, but again, more on the abuses this game can suffer later in the LP 
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Mar 28, 2017 03:27
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I remember getting so much flak back in the day for saying that I ranked the BoF series in reverse order (this being my favourite, the first being least favourite). The series is solid as a whole, don't get me wrong, but there's just so much about this game that pushes it over for me. The setting, the atmosphere, the music especially - I don't think Sakimoto's ever been responsible for a bad soundtrack and his work is so distinct, you can pick it out immediately. DQ easily has some of his best work in it.
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Mar 28, 2017 15:08
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I remember playing this when it came out and dropping it after I died like a quarter of the way through on my first real attempt. I'm just poo poo at tactical RPGs, I guess.
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Mar 28, 2017 16:51
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I'm a huge BoF fan, but I've actually never played this one. It's sitting on a shelf somewhere gathering dust, untouched. I played 1, 2 and 3 for hours and hours, but by the time 4 and then DQ came around I had reached the age where making time for vidya became progressively harder. I know nothing about this one - following the LP intently!
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Mar 28, 2017 18:34
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bbcisdabomb posted:I remember playing this when it came out and dropping it after I died like a quarter of the way through on my first real attempt. I'm just poo poo at tactical RPGs, I guess. Nah, this game definitely is a step up in difficulty, especially after III and IV, which were chock-full of delicious ways to break the game over your knee. Not that you can't do that here but on the whole it's much more limited. MythosDragon posted:That base aspect was one of the big reasons I thought 2 was so charming. 3 might actually beat out Radiata Stories on the subject of obviously incomplete games, I could see the potential but it just felt so short and the moment I started caring the endgame was happening. I dont actually thing I finished the 4 lp now that I think about it, I was too busy trying to play along for the 4th time and failed again. Anyway thanks for giving me a bit of hope regarding this game, my main issue with apocolyptic settings is that it tends to completely destroy the character aspect of story, so hopefully this proves different. I don't think III is incomplete. I definitely think they could have done more, but it's not supposed to be some kind of epic journey anyways. More than any RPG I've played, it's a personal journey, so if you don't care by the time you hit Angel Tower, you probably won't at all. I've only played the Trails in the Sky games so far. Due to an increasingly sitcom-esque series of circumstances over the past couple years, my budget has unfortunately had to be diverted from things like videogames. I fully plan on starting Cold Steel the moment I get a chance though. Unless 3rd chapter comes out first, in which case Erebonia can wait.
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Mar 28, 2017 18:48
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I'm glad I found this thread before it got too far. I think I'm going to enjoy this ride.
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Mar 29, 2017 00:25
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I prefer IV for plot and character beats, but this version has the fewest 'I want to throttle the game designer who suggested this' moments of any game in the series. Godspeed, Scintilla.
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Mar 29, 2017 01:29
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I enjoyed the previous Breath of Fire II LP and enjoyed that (especially how Highfort was finally defeated), and I'm especially looking forward to this game! So far I think the grunge future setting of the game is very interesting, and I'm looking forward to how the dragon transformation aspect will fit in with a dystopia where social darwinism is at large. Can I also say that the art style is actually pretty cool too? quote:
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Mar 29, 2017 02:03
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Oh, I'm looking forward to this one. A lot of critics insisted that Dragon Quarter was secretly one of the most interesting JRPGs of the era, but I bounced off it, like, immediately - the graphics were dark and muddy on my crappy TV, the opening is slow, my copy froze up during the first combat and I was like 'welp, I tried.' Excited to see what I missed.
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Mar 29, 2017 02:18
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bbcisdabomb posted:I remember playing this when it came out and dropping it after I died like a quarter of the way through on my first real attempt. I'm just poo poo at tactical RPGs, I guess. Does how to play the game properly count as a spoiler? This game, from what I've read, was like Dead Rising in that you were expected to die and restart repeatedly. In fact, certain plot points don't appear on your 'first' playthrough. I also seem to recall that one of the reasons the game did poorly was because players weren't absorbing this wisdom or thought it was a pity mechanic or something and just thought the game was too hard.
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Mar 29, 2017 03:00
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Rabbi Raccoon posted:I don't think III is incomplete. I definitely think they could have done more, but it's not supposed to be some kind of epic journey anyways. More than any RPG I've played, it's a personal journey, so if you don't care by the time you hit Angel Tower, you probably won't at all. I could go into  about this, but after trying 3 times resulted in incoherent messes, I'll just say that the main offender is how horrifically short the game feels, and no matter what type of story an RPG has, short is never a positive. Btw, I just realized you were the LPer while trying to actually articulate this. I'm planning on doing a replay for 3rd as soon as I can myself.
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Mar 29, 2017 03:19
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FredMSloniker posted:Does how to play the game properly count as a spoiler? This game, from what I've read, was like Dead Rising in that you were expected to die and restart repeatedly. In fact, certain plot points don't appear on your 'first' playthrough. I also seem to recall that one of the reasons the game did poorly was because players weren't absorbing this wisdom or thought it was a pity mechanic or something and just thought the game was too hard. From what I've seen of the game the purpose of the mechanic was not something that was communicated well within the game itself, which is probably why it got that reputation. Which is a pity, because it's an interesting mechanic.
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Mar 29, 2017 07:07
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