Now playing...

[Cless]

I dunno if I'm gonna finish Izuna. It was fun, but the final dungeon seems like it needs a hell of an item grind I'm not really willing to put up with to get through. So I'm moving on for now...

Continuing with my love for ATLUS, who just announced a US release for the PSP version of Sting's Yggdra Union, I'm playing the PSP version of Sting's Riviera: The Promised Land in celebration.

A long, long time ago I really wanted to play the game almost entirely because of the drop-dead gorgeous character design. But at the time the game was Wonderswan Color only, so the chances of it being translated were effectively zero. It was nice to know that the game was ported to the GBA a couple years later, and excited to hear that ATLUS would be publishing a US version in some months after it came out. I bought the game at launch (mid-2005). But the predictable happened... I threw it on the backburner with everything else.

So another port for PSP then came in 2006, which ATLUS brought over in mid-2007. 2008 rolled around and my GBA  was still unplayed. I had gotten a PSP at the tail end of 2007. I figured I may as well get the latest version of Riviera if I was to play it. Most people have said to just skip the PSP version if you already had the GBA version, but I said screw that... it was said to have full voice acting and a superior soundtrack. Good music in games really enhances my experience, so it was nobrainer for me to get it. And it was another chance to give ATLUS the money they damn well deserve for bringing good niche titles over.

So here I am playing it. I actually knew very little about it before going into it and didn't really know what to expect. I tend to keep myself on media/info blackouts on tons of games these days, so that shouldn't really be a surprise.

Anyway, it's pretty different yet has an old school charm to it. There's a lot of randomness, situations where you need to input buttons in a timed sequence to obtain items/avoid traps, and what seems to be highly limited backtracking. If you're OCD about missing items and such in RPGs, stay the hell away! The game'll surely drive you nuts. The game does things that would be unthinkable in other games like only allow you to bring 4 items into a battle, including the weapons your party will fight with. The weapons also have limited uses. There are a lot of little rules, so you gotta be careful with your selections because it's quite strategic like this. It's definitely not for you if you don't like thinking outside the box.

I'm finding myself enjoying most of the differences this game has with traditional RPGs. The only major complaint I have so far is the speed at which the game runs at. It's -VERY- slow. A typical battle can last several minutes. The game could really use a fast-forward button, but it seems intentionally coded like this to artificially extend the game length.

The character art is pretty, the soundtrack is nice, and despite the slowness of the gameplay, it's kinda addicting. If you have weak point for cute anime girls, the game's definitely a guilty pleasure. Anyway, I'm less than an hour post-prologue, so I still got a long ways to go I'm sure.

And just because I can say so, ATLUS is the best game company ever!

[Kogahazan]

And just because I can say so, ATLUS is the best game company ever!

I would find it funny if from this point on, "best game company ever" gets wordfiltered to ATLUS

[Kajitani-Eizan]

JACK ATLUS
“天の光は全てモンスターカード”
“俺のトラップは天を突くトラップだぁ！”

[ForceCube]

I would find it funny if from this point on, "best game company ever" gets wordfiltered to ATLUS

Or even better, filter the word "best". Seriously, ATLUS deserves it. :3

[Catriona]

The PSP version of Riviera looks great though I've only played the GBA version. Similarly the PSP port of  Yggdra Union is exciting news but I don't really like the look of the stats line on the battle screen. The yellow stars are kind of ugly. My favourite improvement is probably the sprite re-design; Yggdra especially needed one. In the GBA her sprite was ridiculous... she looked more like a hobo than a princess.

Right now I'm playing Etrian Odyssey for GBA. I picked it up a month ago and set it aside until after spring exams. It's really addictive but sometimes frustrating when my characters die and I'm not high-enough leveled to get the revive skill yet, and no revive items are available for purchase yet. The battle set-up reminds me of Paladin's Quest, an old SNES RPG I'm fond of, otherwise there are very few similarities to other RPGs I've played so it's very refreshing. Unfortunately I don't have as much time as I'd like to devote to this game, which I think demands a lot of it.

[Goshi]

Right now I'm playing Etrian Odyssey for GBA.[/u]

O_O;

cute anime girls

Anime is always about the cute girls. An anime without cute girls is a failure in my book

>_>;




Anyway Final Fantasy XII, in anticipation for the English release of FFTA2. Post-game seems to be more fun fun than the main scenario for some reason =/

Also, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. Beaten it recently, now I'm going for the S-Ranks. That final battle is a painful one though. Only battle I got a rank lower than an A =(

[Catriona]

LOL my bad, I meant DS. I play GBA games on my DS so after a while I don't differentiate between the two. Even though DS games use both screens... =|

[Goshi]

[Rhapsody]

Currently, nothing. I've just got myself a new PC (named Shizuku under my current PC naming scheme) and I've been putting most of my time into getting her working properly. I'm mostly there. I may be tempted back onto Final Fantasy X-2 if I start gaming again before my inevitable purchase of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I also hear mod chips have now been ruled to be legal in the UK, so I may finally mod chip my PS2 and start playing various games that were never released in this region.

[lonerurouni187]

Tales of Symphonia (GC): My friend accidently erased all my data when we were trying to hack all the chars back into SuperSmash....X(
I had at least 5~7 runthroughs, and each major boss saved on mania mode....so yeah, needless to say, I was pretty angry.XD

Valkyrie Profile 2 Silmeria: First runthrough of this game was half done; missed a lot of valuable things and was so underleveled at the last boss it took at least an hour to beat him.....the optional dungeon was not even a choice.XD So now starting over and looking to get everything this game has to offer....very beautiful game throughout, deserves a second runthrough anyway=P

Grandia 3: Im afraid to finish the game due to the lack of replayability; its so great down to gameplay, graphics, music and even that (semi) cheesy storyline.....right now, somewhere near the end of the game.....I plan to finish it when I feel like cryingXDD

Suikoden V: Same reason as VP 2, didn't complete it nearly at all(missed so many recruitable characters) and was just too underleveled to finish the last boss. Besides, this was one of my favorite rpgs of all time(next to FF 9 and 7), with that great storyline and passage of time through the game. Really loved the variety of characters you meet each with their own story.

Rogue Galaxy: Almost done with it, but I love the way the story progresses so much, Im trying to procastinate on playing it. The battle system is really addicting and along with the options to combine weapons and the many sidequests there are, I really don't want this game to ever end. Goes on my list as my favorite rpgs of all timeX3

Tales of Legendia: Okay, yeah, Im fully aware of its many flaws, but that epic music and fun battle system makes me wanna continue my second runthrough......it wasn't really a horrible game anyway, just when you compare it to the other tales, imo.

Star Ocean 3: Till the End of Time: Those Battle Trophies are hard to get!!!Won't be done with this until after SO4 comes out, probably!!X3

Final Fantasy 7: Meh, data got deleted a while back, and I had miraculously beaten Ruby weapon. Should finish it up again; besides I was a total nubcake at rpgs back then........wanna see what I can do now!=D
And finally.......
Tales of Destiny: Director's Cut: Title should explain itself, really. To me this game is epic, especially since I wasn't able to afford the first remake and was grateful this one was much cheaper......so this is my first experience with the remake. Great game....only downside? Its not in english. =_=;

Hmm, my summer isnt too busy, is it? X3

[Kevassa]

WARNING! WARNING ToL fan!! :D:D:D

[lonerurouni187]

WARNING! WARNING ToL fan!! :D:D:D

Right here!!!! 

[Cless]

Begun a replay of Tales of Symphonia on GameCube. I haven't played it in four years and I need to refresh my memory and take notes on a lot of things. For the ToP project as well as preparation for Dawn of the New World.  It's been a breeze, but I'm doing this from a new game+.

Since I got so busy with the projects, I had to put Riviera on hold awhile ago. Despite all the stress that game puts you through, I still like it quite a bit. But I've been needing to do this ToS replay for a very long time, so that's gained priority.

[Cless]

ToS is such a long, long game. Just finished the Meltokio sewers, and there's still a lot more left. The dialogue is far, far cheesier than I thought it was four years ago. Especially when it comes to Lloyd and Colette. Oh, and freaking Magnius, but you don't see him for long. How the team managed to do a massive turn-around with Abyss as far as characters after this is kind of amazing.

But the game continues to have my favorite atmosphere of any game in the series. I don't know what it is about it, but there's just something about the feel of this game that I really like. PS2 version ruins it a bit with its awful framerate, lower graphic quality and dreadful load times (minus HDLoader).

Battle system still feels pretty solid, it's like Eternia, but with an experimental 3D element added to it. But, I do find myself missing free run now and then. Enemies getting in their cheap shots by walking into you from the side and you can't avoid them. I still like it better than any Star Ocean battle system to date.

[Cless Aileron]

ToS is such a long, long game. Just finished the Meltokio sewers, and there's still a lot more left. The dialogue is far, far cheesier than I thought it was four years ago. Especially when it comes to Lloyd and Colette. Oh, and freaking Magnius, but you don't see him for long. How the team managed to do a massive turn-around with Abyss as far as characters after this is kind of amazing.

I just found that comment interesting.  He makes cheesy dialogues yet he hates how cheesy Dwarven Vow #7 is (most likely on the same level as the dialogue).  Yeah...let's move on.

As a measure to make sure I do not play the Tales of Vesperia demo too much (I'm actually trying to limit playing it once a day), I'm back playing Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology.  I'm making progress on my game after putting it off for so long and even access to the ninja class to go with my named character.

Also, I ended up playing Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (GCN).  Well, it was one of those, "I felt like playing it."  Well, I better dig out those multiplayer requirements I haven't used since Zelda: Four Swords Adventure.

[jajaswipo]

havent been on here in months. after finals i finally ot into my copy of tales of destiny directors cut. I got up to my first playthrough in the ex dungeon then my friend corrupted my data by turning off the ps2 while it was saving to hurry up and play resident evil 4 for wii. now i know a  lot of people like resident evil 4, but that pissed me off. y? because the idiot beat it twice on gamecube. beat it once on pc. beat it twice on pc. and he just had to hurry up and play it on wii. That said my tod experience has been put on hold because of all the work i put into it. collectors book, nakiriri dolls, 5 star artes etc.

METAL GEAR ONLINE OWNS!!!!!!! I NEED CQC


well yeah im back in summer school soo i cant play as much as i would like.


However i think ive found my favorite game.

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
i play this on my laptop. the main game owns but the mods give unlimited hrs of gameplay. Right now im using the midas magic mod and im drawn in to how immersive the game has become.

man this is a long rant.
i did play riviera back in the day on gameboy.
i recall hating the freaking chest puzzles.

anyway i think oblivion will hold me over back till august when i go back to school.
unless i find a copy of tales of symphonia and start on my 8th playthrough ..

my dream tales engine would be cc based real time unison attacks(eternia) extensions(todc) elemental extensions(fof toa).
man i forgot how much i use to love playing videogames. college takes its toll on you.