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Post by hedron on Nov 5, 2012 19:16:44 GMT -5
Is there any game that is like this? I know Sega will never ever do such a thing, but maybe there is a sort of cyber-fantasy style game with an Ys-AoN/OiF-like engine.
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Post by schlagwerk on Nov 6, 2012 1:41:06 GMT -5
Nothing so fast-paced and actiony as Ys (and few games are), but Phantasy Star Portable 2 (or preferably Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity if you can Japanese) is an amazing action RPG game for the PSP. I've put several hundred hours into just a single character in PSP2(i).. that's impressive for a portable game.
Also there is Phantasy Star Online 2 for PC that is free to play in Japan right now and is slated for a 2013 Q1 release in the West. The action is even more in depth than PSP2i, but right now still is going through balancing issues. It's so grindy at the moment that even Japanese players are complaining. Hunter would be more like what you are looking for, but I enjoy the Ranger class because it feels like an over-the-shoulder fps.
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Post by hedron on Nov 7, 2012 2:20:56 GMT -5
What's Hunter? Google only comes up with Spy Hunter and Deer Hunter.
I looked at the recent PS games and I'm not really much for the FF style jRPG.
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Post by hedron on Nov 7, 2012 2:33:07 GMT -5
Hmm... I guess I'll look into it again... Of course, I don't have a psp...
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Nov 7, 2012 3:13:35 GMT -5
Just avoid the first Phantasy Star Portable. It's no more than a tedious grind fest as far as I can tell. I got mine in a bundle of free games (including the far superior Monster Hunter Freedom) so I can't really complain. I can't say I know of any other series in the style you're looking for, however, so I'll blindly second shlagwerk.
As for games with an AoN/OiF engine, however, there was one such game for the 360. Even its UI aesthetic mimics AoN/OiF to a tee. Its name escapes me, however, and my inferior googling skills turn up nil as usual. It was mentioned here at one point, with links to a YouTube video. Many Japanese games (including that of which I speak) are available for purchase and download on XBL without any end user fidgeting, as well.
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Post by schlagwerk on Nov 7, 2012 12:53:01 GMT -5
I don't agree with Wyrd. Phantasy Star Universe (PSU) tried to be an action RPG and failed miserably at it. Plus the offline mode is weak and all the online servers have been shut down (it had a monthly fee anyhow). Phantasy Star Portable 2 is the result of tweaking the gameplay mechanics of PSU and it actually turned out well.
Do note that all Phantasy Star games after/including Phantasy Star Online are dungeon crawlers instead of straight up RPGs. That means that while there is a story to all the games, the primary drive is to keep running areas to get the best drops, the biggest swords, and the shiniest shinies.
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Post by schlagwerk on Nov 8, 2012 12:59:10 GMT -5
And the thing is that PSU ep.1 was the lamest story out of all of PSU ('cept maybe Portable 1). Ep.2 from the Ambitions of the Illuminous introduced Howzer.. and lots of genocide. Ep.3 (playable online only) was freaking awesome, including the final boss battle. Then there were a series of story missions that you could replay to do things differently. The final mission would play out slightly different each time until finally you get The emergent AI Magashi and Vivianne from PSPo joining up with you to fight Dark Falz.. only to have loli power save the day thanks to Ethan's sister Lumia. Only good thing to come out of the loli power ending was Lumia reading Magashi's mind and telling you that he likes you. My character's reaction shot: ...then clarifies no, not that way Phantasy Star Portable 2 ep.1 & 2 were a little better story-wise. But ep.2 is only in Japanese and the US version of ep.1 is severely neutered due to Karmharl's voice being removed. Man, hearing the pure scenery chewing cheese of his Japanese voice every time he talked was a highlight, even if I didn't fully understand what he was saying. Though I guess this did come from PSU ep.1
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Nov 9, 2012 1:35:52 GMT -5
It's not just the story, the mere dialogue in itself in PSP 1 makes me cringe. Basically, you have this Pepe Le Peu wannabe (complete with that weird "Mmmm, yeees, I'm a rich guy, vain, eccentric, and a bit of a cowboy if you know what I mean" voice -- like Elecman in Megaman Powered Up) hitting on EVERY android he comes across -- none of which remotely sound intelligent, due to the terrible blend of dialogue and poor VA (Is that a poorly acted impediment, or are the VAs just reading? I really can't tell!), one of which happens to be your partner who clearly has no knowledge of anything that's going on without anyone explaining it to her every scene!
The gameplay isn't... it isn't that great, but it isn't that bad, either. After playing Anonymous Notes From The Abyss, (along with 3 other DSi/3DS Shop titles) I feel like I'm a little closer to having actual fun. I can't tell at this point. I'm honestly ransacking my collection just to find some entertainment.
// Then there's Mana, the Guardians receptionist of Moatoob (Wasn't that originally Moltov, and then Moltovia? Why, Sega, can't you just stick with one name for a planet?!) -- she smiles all the time, but her manner of speaking is more like Ryoko from every Tenchi series. As far as I know, though, Petrea Burchard didn't voice any VG characters, so whoever did Mana nailed the impersonation. Even then, nailing an impersonation, especially when your character says everything with such an awkward smile, doesn't necessarily mean you did a good job -- not that I can pretend to know what circumstances any of these VAs were under. (The Lunar ones, for instance, could watch their characters in a scene and act it out to match flawlessly. For all I know, these people didn't even have the character stills to base their acting on.) You're the best of the bad, and I mean that in a good way.
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Post by schlagwerk on Nov 9, 2012 14:55:00 GMT -5
Sega put no budget into the localization of PSPo/PSP 1.. or PSU for that matter. It says a lot for Ambition of the Illuminus, ep.3, and PSP2 that they chose to pull the voices from story quests entirely. PSP2 they actually had decent actors (well, Emilia is annoying but she's supposed to be), but they pulled all talking other than in-combat speech and cutscenes. That and Shizuru didn't use a different voice when talking as Karmharl as I've mentioned above. Surprisingly thanks to their laziness there were 2 big reveals that involve someone's voice changing that are lost in the US version.
Looking back on it, the voice quality wasn't so bad in PSU ep.1...other than Ethan. It was like the original Tenchi OVA dubs where Tenchi's VA was the worst out of everyone. Ethan always sounds like he is trying to deliver his lines as fast as possible while out of breath.
Man.. all this talk makes me wanna play PSP2i and PSO2 again. Good thing I'll actually have time this weekend for PSO2 now that La Mulana is out of the way.
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Nov 9, 2012 19:53:01 GMT -5
Maya Shidow gets the best lines. Didn't Nunuu record some on YouTube?
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