I got really far, then I got hit by an evil sequences of REALLY tough fights. I think most who encounter it will know what I mean. I ended up driving myself up to 98% before I restarted. BUT, I kept all my rocking equipment and used all the party exp I saved to pump my hero to level 18 at the start of the game. Getting back to where I was should be easy, and this time there will be asskicking done by me.
threadjacking: DC2
Josie and I sat around and played this all night. She was really getting frustrated with the combat and fishing segments, but I took over for a little while, and we figured out what a beautiful thing the block button is, and how to catch fish. :D
There’s so many cool little segments to explore- the weapon upgrade system, the photography system (trying to snap cool/dramatic pictures in first person mode while some monster is kicking your ass is way too much fun!), the invention system- the goals BDGE! mentioned, the robot tinkering, the georama- it’s all so damn fun.
Plus, you get to kill creepy clowns. Always a plus in my book.
As a bonus, I just found out that this is the same developer working on a MMORPG for the Xbox called ‘True Fantasy Live Online’, due out later this year. Little gameplay info has been released yet, but if it plays anything like this (it sure looks similar enough with the whole cel-shading thing), we’re in for a treat.
I’ve spent a couple hours playing so far and am pretty hooked.
The pacing is nice, and though my dexterity at handling traps is currently subpar(usually I still fumble around with the controls long enough that monsters eat the meat I toss at them long before I can manage to get that stick of dynamite into the fray. Funny because I used to be quite skilled at Silent Bomber and the Deception series…) I’ll get the hang of it.
Manageing inventory is exciting. I am a sucker for limitations such as this, (reminds me a lot of Capcom’s sister series Resident Evil), I really dig the tension you are faced with in the variety of choices and situations those titles put forth at you. (Do you take the red herb in hopes a mixeable green will appear sometime in your future? Or do you forgoe the opportunity to possibly have max healing in your stash to free up a space?) You get the idea… It’s a fabulous concept to merge into the console RPG world, although I do tend to appreciate the encumbrance systems many PC RPG’s have utilized in the past a bit more. Diablo’s tile based system has been a favorite inventory management setup of mine for awhile(especially when they patched in the auto-sort command in the expansion pack! :shock: )
Anyway, I realized that the camera can be re-centered quite easilly by clicking in the R3 button while exploring around. This has been a huge help in crushing my inital complaint. I also discovered that pushing the Select button will display a handy list of the battle order!
However my new teeny tiny problem involves the time limit set into motion when unleashing combos. Honestly WHY is it there? Artificially inflate difficulty through promoting the gamer to make the occasional superfulous decision just to beat the clock and continue the combo to cash in on slight offensive bonuses? (Did you get all that? :D )
There is quite a bit of options available to the gamer and how they approach attacking their foes. Why do combo strings have to be cancelled out so quickly if I am just sitting idle trying to decide if I should follow up my slash command with a Snakebite or a Side Slash or Kick? I’ve been learning to adapt, but damn it can be pretty infuriating when my tactical planning goes out of whack because I was just trying to get a handle on the use of R2 and trying to recall what button happens to perform the ability I wanted to continue next in succession.
Imagine playing Disciples with a timeframe limiter on how quickly you organize your party combat selections once you choose for the first charatcer. Otherwise, it’s all good…
The combo I use that works into a special combo is Slash/Rust Guard/Side Slash then I jump to Vertical Slash I believe its called. If the enemy is still alive long enough to get to vertical slash you do a Special Combo at 40% bonus damage. I restarted my 5th time last night after making it REALLY far into the game. I kept all my cool high level equipment and skills. I used the 6000k party exp I had built up and dumped it all into ryu so he’s level 18 at the start of the game now.
What forced me to restart? Chances are you’ll run into it sometime soon. Its a series of fights. I wasn’t at a super high level, had I used my built up party experience I MIGHT have been able to do it all without dragon, but these fights were very hard, and placed in succession. BUT right when I restarted a new cutscene was added explaining more of Nina’s origins/story, which rox.
Fun stuff.
Though my clock says I have played about 5 hours thus far, I think I am avbout to be forced to restart soon. I temp saved not too long after Lin joined my crew, and I am in some hallway facing multitudes of spiders with no leftover healing items and everyone’s health averaging in the 10 HP range. I can probably try to survive it all with some devious trap combos, but I have it temp saved before I try just in case.
I’m pretty much screwed, but am not quite sure how to go about restarting. Since I made a pretty strong run on my first try, and I have yet to experiement with the SOL system, is it more worthwhile to restart using the L2 Give up command in the status window? Or should I press on only to face death and reload the natural way? I have about 2000 Zenny and 500 or so Party Exp. The manual doesn’t seem to really offer any advice as to what choice will offer the most benefits when stuck in a rut like this. What happens to all that Zenny with a restart after death for example? What happens to the Zenny if I choose to Give up? Any advice?
I finally got to fight some monsters and one of the tutorial people noted that restarting before you die is often better than going til you bite it. I mean, hell, with the game designed around this idea, why not just give it a try instead of dying at the hands of the monsters?
I need more hours in the day and apparently we need a second PS2 in the house so I can play BoF while my wife plays Yu-Gi-Oh!
–Dave
So im cruising along on my 4th retry. I got really far. Learned a lot, saw a lot, gained LOTS of skills and high level equipment. Then Capcom throws 3 super tough fights in a row at me. Dragon gets me through, but at a terrible cost. 98% im running through areas, just hoping to find an appraisal so I could ident items then carry them with me. I had already been planning on a restart. But I wasn’t able to make it past the robot army that was blocking the door to my salvation. Restart.
New scene added to game start intro explaining Nina some more. I get into the game. Party Exp time! Level 18 in under a minute. All my high level equip is still on and I have all my l33t skills which lemme combo for HIGH damage! AWESOME!
Time to cruise through again, enjoying the new stuff. Hopefully ill beat it this time and get my d-rank up so I can check out the new areas!
I’m two hours in and I have yet to die. I’m really impressed. The combat is always strategic. Trying to get that leg up on the monsters and more importantly, getting a true bonus out of it when you do, is a big part of the appeal. It’s certainly a change of pace from the usual screen melts/battle scene.
It’s a beautiful game too. Graphics are very well done. I especially like the character and monster designs so far. I’m also super happy it’s a sci-fi/fantasy meld. I wish more companies would take the chance on sci-fi RPGs.
Anyway, I’ve only perma saved twice so far and I can’t wait to play more…but man, I’m beat. Tomorrow’s a new day. :)
–Dave
Based on the comments in this thread… I take it BoF is replayable? Meaning is it the consumate dungeon hack rogue like Diablo-PSO action console style game I’ve been waiting for? I mean, after I beat it will the game open up in replayable challenge?
BTW, I’ve played about 2 hours of Dark Cloud 2, the dungegon aspect in BoF sounds similar to DC2…
Also, DW Bradley’s Dungeon Lords looks cool. Its for PC first. PC games… its in the game.
etc
Every single one of you people on this forum must owe it to yourselves to try this game out in your lifetime.
Every one of you…
It’s that good.
I’m with BDGE! on that one. While Dark Cloud 2 is getting better reviews, I think that’s because it’s a lot more familiar to people. BoF:DQ is like one huge experiment in making a J-RPG. Once again, it’s got a combat system that would work well in PC strategy games, just like Grandia II did.
Do PC game makers look for new ideas from games like these? I mean, I’ve seen more innovation in turn-based combat from J-RPGs in the last five years than from PC strategy games in maybe ten years.
Anyway, don’t want to derail this thread which should stay on topic with this great new game. I hope people saved a couple bucks to get BoF:DQ because it’s worth it. If my wife weren’t playing Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duelists of the Roses every night (another game with excellent turn-based gameplay), I would be further along in BoF:DQ. As it stands, I think both games are worth owning, especially for turn-based fans.
–Dave
I picked up Dark Cloud 2 last night too. I have no clue why there are people who hate the ps2 and prefer ONLY the few really good Nintendo titles to the massive amount of kick ass titles on the PS2.
Well, I own a lot of Gamecube games, but there’s no reason for me not to own a PS2 as well. There are certain games I want to play on BOTH systems. Like I’ve said countless times on this board, there just isn’t enough on Xbox to make me want/need one. PS2 on the other hand has plenty of games and more importantly game types that I enjoy.
If there’s a “best of both worlds” scenario in this generation, for me it’s Gamecube, PS2 and PC. I can get all the types of games I enjoy and each has exclusives I can’t live without.
I can easily see where someone could live on one console though. If that console has the types of games you enjoy, then what more do you need, especially if you’re on a tight budget?
–Dave
Can someone explain exactly how the combat works?
I’d love a good tactical combat game. . .
Funny you should you mention the PC Dave. Though the games aren’t exactly related in any manner to each other, the quality of this title and its sensibilities heavilly remind me of strategy games such as Disciples II on the PC. To say the least if you enjoyed the thinking and mindsight that is required of games such as that, Dragon Quarter is a title that should seriously be a partr of your diet.
In all reality though, the game shares most of it’s elements in common with an older Squaresoft RPG for the Playstation, Vagrant Story. The progression, map completion, combo system, and even presentation have more than it’s share of similarities. Though the mechanics differ, and Breath of Fire strays quite a bit to create it’s own unique experience, it’s more than obvious the developers had spent a good deal of time with that game.
Essentially, combat plays out in a turn based fashion where movement and positioning as well as your abilities are all governed by an AP point gauge. Close in on a foe, create a devastating combo melee strike, build up more points for the next turn. Some members of your troupe can lay down traps in the middle of the combat field both as a defensive tactic or with a bit of ingenuity, as an offensive barrier that you can link other abilities that will push your foes into them for bonus damage awards. Even before battle gegins, youy can lay various traps down in a rela-time Zelda-esque manner which can severely put the advantage largely in your favor if planned out well.
For instance, you may notice a group of vile bats huddled in the middle of the next room, before they can catch a glimpse of your party you can chuck a piece of meat near their proximity which in Zelda 1 fashion coaxes all monsters into feeding off the free meal, Distracted and open for a chance opportunity to strike, you can toss a bomb near the feeding area and the foes will be none the wiser. Run in, initate combat which will give your party an initiative to attack, and on that inital turn, you can detonate that bomb sitting right next to the group, unleashing a radius of massive damage to all feeding creatures possibily resulting in an end to combat without even vrandishing any of your combat weapons or abilities and a slew of battle bonuses and Experience rewards.
It’s quite novel. Of course the farther you play, the more devious tricks and skills you accumulate and learn, it just gets deeper and deeper. Customizing equipment and abilities becomes a rather important part of the expeirence, and manageing what skills and equipment work best under different situations is the key to survival.
And survival is truly the theme of the game here. This title goes out of it’s way to lay waste to your party. From a scarcity of healing items, to an outpouring of aggressive enemy encounters, and even a gauge that continually racks up points with your movement and actions throughout the gauge only to kill you once if reaches 100%(it very slowly builds throughout the game in and out of battle, but drains more quickly depending on what abilities you choose to use) the tension is constantly turned on. Even when hope seems lost, restoring your game or restarting even from the beginning, nets new opportunities to further power up your team, as well as new brancghes to the overarching plot and map data appears available. Almost everything carries over with progress. Play 10 hours in and hit a brick wall only to be forced a restart will maintain all your abilities and equipment, so you can more efficiently replay from the introduction to your last point of progress with all the powerful wepaonry and armor and skills you had before. Some aspects remain permananet and you constantly grow.
Oh, and Angryface, the PS2 seems to be handling itself quite well that I doubt Sony needs to concern itself with the contingent of fans that dedicate themselves to Nintendo’s console. While games such as this are truly wonderful and unique experiences that speak well for the exclusivity of titles on the console. Nintendo’s system largely has game experiences that are certainly well worth a look despite. It’s truly a mixed market, there is something for everybody across the multiple platforms, I’d argue that it just takes more research on behalf of the consumer to come to a decision as to which of them may actively benefit their particular tastes.
Obviously this forum is filled with an abundant amount of PC gurus whom appear more averse to playing a title such as this just as they would Age of Wonders or Master of Magic to say…Pikmin or Smash Bros. on Cube(well Smash Bros. is bloody worth anyone’s time I’d wager) So it’s obviously worth spreading the info about a unique gem such as this here than on Ain’t it Cool Games!
Can someone please tell me the difference between SOL Restart and SOL Restore. Also, what stats are kept from each. I thought I understood until I realized that I was missing something.
I though when you choose SOL Restart you kept all XP (in Party XP) you had up until you died, while SOL Restore was the experience you had when you reached the save token machine for the first time.
Turns out when I was collecting “bags” of XP lying around, I didn’t distribute them, and when I died and kept like 500 XP in Party XP to divide out, putting my about a level below where I was when I died or used the L2 Emergency.
Then, when I realized I had all this XP in mid-mission, I distributed it. Then I used the L2 Emergency, and was shocked to find that I only had 15 XP in my Party XP.
So, based on which SOL, is there a time I shouldn’t give out some of the Party XP and keep it for the next life?
SOL Restore and SOL Restart are exactly the same, except that Restart resets your D-Ratio. And of course, you start the game over.
You retain a percentage (most) of your party XP when you restart or restore, but individual experience depends on the save. So only distribute party XP just before you save. And obviously not just before you Restart, because that experience will be lost.
You loved the hell out of that game, Bob. Did you ever replay it to unlock more stuff?
I did start a second playthrough in which I was going to kick the game’s ass. I managed to make it through about a third of the game in just a couple of hours before I saved for the first time. For a while after that, I never got a big block of time available to play and so I didn’t. And after a while, I realized that I had kind of forgotten the good paths and all that. Thus I realized that loading my save would mean a fumbling period of adjustment as I relearned the game, thus ruining my immaculate second playthrough. So no, I haven’t touched the game since.
Although I have since accepted the fact that my “perfect” second playthrough is lost forever and have decided to pick up the game and play just because it’s fun, I still haven’t had that big block of time. Also I splurged on GameFAQs and so there aren’t any surprises left in the game. I still love the game though and the next title in the series will be a must-buy, even if it returns to the style of the earlier games.
Did you ever play the last five minutes and finish the game?
In the beginning of the game you will be screwed Zennywise. You will finally
get enough Zenny after Lift: LowSector, and the return to LowSector Borough.
A good trick to get a lot of healing items though:You start the game with 300 Zenny. You can buy 5 Heal Kits. If you purposely
die in the first dungeon (store ALL of your Healing Kits before dying, and
when you choose to restart, you will have those Kits in storage, so you can
have them. Restart the game multiple times and you can make it much easier.
You also wont have to use your starting money if you have enough of them. Try
to get at least 15 Heal Kits.
Good advice! But where the hell do I store the kits?
Also, many FAQs talk about how you can’t lower your D-Ratio or D-Counter, but that by SoL, you can bring it back down to the original level. Why would you want to do this?