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Well, I finished (pretty much) 3 games since last entry. You'll see why I added that pretty much here in a bit. I'm happy to be finishing games. It feels pretty darn good, to be honest. So, what did I get to check off my list?
Unchained Blades. This was a nice dungeon crawler. I think I really wanted to play one. I have it for the 3DS. The characters were neat. The chapter set up was nice and reminded me a little of Dragon Quest IV. Now, I did get a little upset at the end of the first chapter because I was really attached to my characters. Then, I got used to my characters in Chapter 2, but figured it would play out like DQ IV, and I'd meet some new peeps before everyone joined up in a later chapter. I will say that my OCD-ness did not enjoy the poison swamp section of the dungeon from Chapter 3. I really wanted to complete my map, but you could only step on 4 poison swamp tiles in a row. I think (never did try) stepping on a fifth one would result in death. Also, some of the item drop percentages were ridiculous. Maybe not quite pink tail drop level, but it was to the point where I'd save before a spawn point and soft reset if I didn't find what I needed.
The skill map was awesome. I really enjoyed looking around that thing. I'd have to pan around to figure out which pathway I wanted/needed to take to get certain things. Gaining a level made me happy since I got to pick my little skill/attribute circles. Maybe I like those a little too much. ^_^; Heck, my brother used to let me distribute his job points on Final Fantasy Tactics because getting to spend them brought me such joy. Skill points~
The characters were a pretty good mix of personalities. I renamed quite a few of them, and I didn't regret the renaming. See, sometimes I name characters after friends, family, or even my own story characters. That did not work out so well with Bahamut Lagoon. Yoyo (that was the default name in the translation I played, folks) did not wind up with the character I thought she would, and that really upset me because of what I had renamed her. Ever since then, I try to be more careful with naming. Even so, I had a pretty good feeling about the two main characters in this game. So, I named them after my beloved Pharah and Linnel. The personalities of the characters were nothing like those two, mind you, but (thankfully) they did seem to be the canon pairing. So... huzzah!
I beat the game and unlocked the infinite ark. I have not yet given this delightful bonus dungeon a try, but I hear it is a definite time sink. I'm sure I'll get around to it. It may be my first pick when that dungeon crawler itch strikes again. Granted, I still have a couple of Etrian Odyssey games and Class of Heroes to finish... as well as The Nightmare Of Druaga. Speaking of Druaga...
Tales of Destiny. Another Tales game off my list! I don't know why I want to beat all the previous Tales games before playing the (totally awesome looking) new ones (Graces F and Xillia), but I do. So... yeah. I did have to take a short break from ToD and play Unchained Blades. See, the controller scheme back in the day was not really as uniform as it is today. As such, I kept cancelling when I meant to confirm. That made starting a new game far harder than it ever should have been. Anyway, after the x vs o debacle, I got my gaming underway. I admit that I did start using a guide after I read that there were some no warnings given missables. However, being glued to a guide ruined the experience for me, so I said, "Screw it." Game was way more fun after that. Can't miss what I don't know about... right?
My brother commented that I got through ToD much faster than I did ToP. I said that it might be because ToP was on hard mode. Whether or not that's the actual reason, I'm not sure. I will say, though, that the random encounters could get rather tedious in this one.
I liked the Swordians. I remembered that they leveled up with you, so I never unequipped them. I also tried to stick with discs that matched the element of the Swordian. At the end of the game, though, I gave Stahn whatever gave him the best stats. He never cast spells anyway.
My thief being my healer surprised me. I actually expected my priestess to be the one with all the curing duties. Turns out, she had the elemental magic. Did anyone else have issues with Rutee just searching for gald all the time? All. The. Time. She was searching for gald during the final battle. I guess I could have turned that skill off, but I didn't. It was funny (usually) to see her sitting on the ground, looking for gald, as the rest of us wailed on the enemies. When it was imperative she heal or so, I'd just go to the menu and select what I wanted her to do.
I did have a slight issue with the levels of characters who'd leave and come back. I remember laughing when Garr rejoined my party only to find that he was still level 8 while the rest of the party had levels in the 30s. Granted, that wasn't as bad as Chelsea's 3. That was just... At least they gained experience when sitting in reserve. That was nice.
The story was pretty good. I really liked Mary's arc. I was glad she was able to have a happy ending. Leon's fate, though... Sure, the guy was a jerk at the start, but... yeah. Now, there was a point in the game where I turned to my husband and said, "Wow. This feels like FF IV." Such and such was being controlled by such and such who really wasn't this dood but was more or less being controlled by that dood.
I mentioned Druaga earlier. Well, it seems that there is a Tower of Druaga I can climb in ToD. So, I may go and give it a try later on. I also have all those warehouses that I never did the puzzles to and the rest of the arena. Clearly, there's a lot of extra stuff I could have fun with left in the game. I may or may not go for it. It might just be time to tackle Tales of Eternia (which we got as Tales of Destiny II).
Hakuoki Warriors of the Shinsengumi. I really enjoyed Hakuoki Demon of the Fleeting Blossom. I won't deny, there was squealing when I saw an anime existed. There was more squealing when I saw that Hakuoki Memories of the Shinsengumi was coming out. I may have squealed when I saw this game (and the cool handkerchief/bandana that came with it). So, how was this game?
I had read some reviews, so I went into it expecting a Dynasty Warriors-esque game. Indeed, there was much hacking and slashing. Pretty much, you'd see a scene, enter an area, be told to defeat x-many ronin/soldiers/furies/etc., continue onward, fight more, face mini-boss/boss, lather, rinse, repeat. You got to choose between seeing the action side of the story you got to know in Demon of the Fleeting Blossom or a new story with two totally new foes. I did all of the story modes for each of the available characters on normal difficulty (including the fellow you unlock after beating the game as someone). Even so, not all of the pictures in the extras menu have been revealed. I get the feeling I will have to replay the game as everyone on both easy and difficult modes to unlock everything. I might do that. I might not.
It was fun to get to go around as one of my favorite guys, beating up the baddies, collecting materials, and crafting equipment. That being said, there was none of the romance from the first game. Two of the characters you unlock can only be used in skirmish mode, where you just revisit a level you've already completed. I've only played one such level, but it seems to be an exact rehash of said level, but you get to play as the dood you selected instead of the original dood that had completed the level. So, instead of going through the level as Hijikata-san, I got to go through it as Sanan-san, but the pre-stage text, in-stage text, and post-stage text were just as you would see it had I still been Hijikata. Eh.
I think Memories of the Shinsengumi will be better. I am very excited to get to play it. It comes out in a few days. I might just have to hold off on starting ToE until I've finished it. My husband has been playing Harvest Moon on the 3DS, though, so... we'll see. I mean, there are plenty of games left on my to do list. Hopefully, I'll have some good news to report on whatever game I next tackle. Thanks for reading!
~Zels
Zelda-chan · Fri Sep 20, 2013 @ 07:07pm · 0 Comments |
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