[rant] I dislike turn-based, FF-esque RPGs. That's the truth. I don't like grinding. But what I really REALLY don't like is unavoidable random battles. [/rant]
Luckily this has none of the latter.
Sadly, grinding is still a must. Perhaps I'm just lazy? Perhaps I just haven't played Pokemon enough recently to remind myself of how grinding is a necessity.
Anyway.
Ah, an almost fully voice-acted RPG on my Wii. And a different battle system too. The forced-widescreen isn't so great on my 4:3 TV though. I'll forgive them when I get a nice new TV soon. The music is pretty (and the bonus soundtrack CD is good too).
The story:
Larc is a mercenary. While attacking a giant swarm of dragons with other soldiers, he ends up falling off the skyship he was on and landing in a forest.
Just before the dragon that fell with him explodes, a young woman appears and sings to it. Strange rain starts to fall and the dragon's explosive end is gently released.
This is where he meets Lyphia. Lyphia is a Diva from a hostile land who has business at a local town. Together they set off, one to re-join his comrades, the other to recent her destination.
The battle system:
As I mentioned previously, the system is a little different to other games.
Each character has 2 Attack Points (AP) per turn which can be used when attacking, defending, using magic, using items or moving. When you have more than 1 character, you can use those points for anyone.
For example, 2 characters = 4 AP. If you wanted to, you could move Larc to the other side of the enemy (using 1 AP) and then have him attack from there (using 2 AP).
When you have no more usable AP, or decide that's all you want to do that turn, press Z to execute your commands.
Rinse and repeat.
The atttack/magic system is straightforward, and the game breaks you in gently.
Until you reach the first boss, who is stupidly tougher than any enemy you've met so far.
Grind, grind, grind.
Try again.
I beat him (her?) on my third attempt. Yes, I suck.
What else?
Magic.
Every character can use it but they have to have it equiped first. There are 4 levels of magic and you have to pay to increase what your characters can use. The magicks also have elemental associations, like earth, fire, etc. Characters seem to only be able to use one element per level. To start you can only use two different kinds, one is a standard attack, and the other strengthens your defense against a particular elemental attack.
There is also a customizable element to the weapons as well. As you progress and your characters get stronger, their weapons produce special crystals. These crystals can be interchanged however you like to attach different properties to weapons (think Children of Mana on the DS). I'm sure in time this will be important but I don't think I've played that far quite yet.
Problems?
Apart from being widescreen-only and having such a tough first boss, the only thing I don't like is the post-fight comments. When they animated the sequence, they decided not to do different lip-syncing for different lines. The result is one standard goldfish impression per character which looks a little lazy. Still, you can always close your eyes or reach down for your coffee.
All in all, I'm liking it and I'm quite happy to have bought it. Unlike Ougon no Kizuna...<mutter mutter>
Luckily this has none of the latter.
Sadly, grinding is still a must. Perhaps I'm just lazy? Perhaps I just haven't played Pokemon enough recently to remind myself of how grinding is a necessity.
Anyway.
Ah, an almost fully voice-acted RPG on my Wii. And a different battle system too. The forced-widescreen isn't so great on my 4:3 TV though. I'll forgive them when I get a nice new TV soon. The music is pretty (and the bonus soundtrack CD is good too).
The story:
Larc is a mercenary. While attacking a giant swarm of dragons with other soldiers, he ends up falling off the skyship he was on and landing in a forest.
Just before the dragon that fell with him explodes, a young woman appears and sings to it. Strange rain starts to fall and the dragon's explosive end is gently released.
This is where he meets Lyphia. Lyphia is a Diva from a hostile land who has business at a local town. Together they set off, one to re-join his comrades, the other to recent her destination.
The battle system:
As I mentioned previously, the system is a little different to other games.
Each character has 2 Attack Points (AP) per turn which can be used when attacking, defending, using magic, using items or moving. When you have more than 1 character, you can use those points for anyone.
For example, 2 characters = 4 AP. If you wanted to, you could move Larc to the other side of the enemy (using 1 AP) and then have him attack from there (using 2 AP).
When you have no more usable AP, or decide that's all you want to do that turn, press Z to execute your commands.
Rinse and repeat.
The atttack/magic system is straightforward, and the game breaks you in gently.
Until you reach the first boss, who is stupidly tougher than any enemy you've met so far.
Grind, grind, grind.
Try again.
I beat him (her?) on my third attempt. Yes, I suck.
What else?
Magic.
Every character can use it but they have to have it equiped first. There are 4 levels of magic and you have to pay to increase what your characters can use. The magicks also have elemental associations, like earth, fire, etc. Characters seem to only be able to use one element per level. To start you can only use two different kinds, one is a standard attack, and the other strengthens your defense against a particular elemental attack.
There is also a customizable element to the weapons as well. As you progress and your characters get stronger, their weapons produce special crystals. These crystals can be interchanged however you like to attach different properties to weapons (think Children of Mana on the DS). I'm sure in time this will be important but I don't think I've played that far quite yet.
Problems?
Apart from being widescreen-only and having such a tough first boss, the only thing I don't like is the post-fight comments. When they animated the sequence, they decided not to do different lip-syncing for different lines. The result is one standard goldfish impression per character which looks a little lazy. Still, you can always close your eyes or reach down for your coffee.
All in all, I'm liking it and I'm quite happy to have bought it. Unlike Ougon no Kizuna...<mutter mutter>
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