Year End
Spectacular
|
| December 22nd, 2011 |
12/22- 12:00PM EST
Welcome to the final Q&A of 2011! It has
been a great year, with a ton of RPGs
released, so it should make voting for the
end of year awards quite interesting. I'm
also continuing to make my way through Dark Souls,
and have reached what sounds like the most
difficult portion of the game. Still, I'm
hoping to be able to get a review out there
in the very near future! Also, some great
guesses on my top five Zelda games
so far, but I will provide everyone who's
guessed so far with a minor hint: none of
you have guessed all five games, though your
order of the correct ones has been quite
close on many occasions. So take a stab at
which of your list may be incorrect and try
again! I will be taking guesses next week,
even though there is no Q&A and I will
let you know via e-mail if your guess is
incorrect.
Now then, on to the letters!
|
|
|
History Lesson Part Three
|
Gather around everyone, as I, Strawberry
Eggs continue to discuss a series of video
game I've barely touched. As promised, this
letter is on the Majin Tensei sub-series.
If you're familiar with the Devil Survivor
games, you may be surprised to hear that
they are not the first attempt by Atlus to
combine strategy RPG elements with their
flagship franchise. These games could be
considered more straight-forward SRPGs than
their spiritual descendants, for reasons I
will discuss next.
Wheels
This
is pretty surprising, it almost
seems like everything about the
series that seems "new" to us is
actually old hat for the series.
It is really a shame that it
took so long for the series to
make it over.
|
Majin
Tensei, or "Mahsin Tensei"
translates to "Demon God Resurrection"
(compare to the usual title, Megami Tensei,
meaning "Goddess Reincarnation"). Majin
Tensei greatly resembles the Fire Emblem
games on the Super Famicom graphically and
in gameplay. Like traditional MegaTen
games, players can recruits demons into
their ranks and fuse them to create more
powerful demons. There is also a moon phase
system, present in most other MegaTen
games. You move units across a map, then
engage in battle with enemy units. The story
seems simplistic, with your hero (presumably
of the silent, nameable variety, though
don't quote me on that) living in a city
overrun by demons. He must recruit demons to
fight back. He also apparently finds a woman
in hibernation that has some relevance to
the plot. One thing that differentiates this
game from Fire
Emblem is the use of magnetite. In
traditional MegaTen games, magnetite
is used up when summoning demons in battle
and while walking around in dungeons. It is
earned by defeating opponents, much like EXP
and money. In Majin Tensei, it has that
use as well, so too many demons cannot be
summoned at once, and battles need to be
finished quickly before the magnetite runs
out. The game also sports large and very
detailed battle scenes.
Wheels
This
game sounds amazing, especially
being a fan of the Fire
Emblem series.
Considering we didn't even get
that series until the Gameboy
Advance era, I'm not shocked we
never saw this game either.
Still quite disappointing, as
this sounds like a nice twist on
the classic SRPG gameplay
formula. The use of magnetite is
especially interesting,
reminding me a bit of Phantom
Brave, where your
phantoms were only around for a
limited number of turns.
|
Majin
Tensei II: Spiral Nemesis (as far
as I know, this game has no connection to
Gurren Laggan :P) is also for the Super
Famicom. It curiously uses an isometric view
(though it looks more like Front Mission
than Final
Fantasy Tactics or the Luminous Arc
games) rather than the top-down view of the
first game. The main character is
named Naoki Takauchi, and no matter
how hard I try, I keep reading his name as
"Naoko Takeuchi," the manga artist who
created Sailor
Moon. :P Like the first game, he
has to defend his city, in this case, Tokyo
from invading demons along with his friends.
However, they become separated after a shady
group attacks their base and Naoki has to
find them again . The story is apparently
more involving than this, though I can't
find very many details. Combat is almost
identical to the first game, but now terrain
can factor into the defense stat of your and
enemy units. Also, battles now sport scenes
with both your unit and your opponent
together side by side, though in much less
detail than the first game. This game seems
to be more popular among those who have
played both.
Wheels
Dang
it, now I can't picture this
game as anything but a Sailor
Moon SRPG! Sounds like
this game was a nice evolution
of the first. I'm surprised they
didn't remake this on the DS,
given how many isometric SRPGs
ended up on the system. I
suppose getting a new game was
better. Still, its yet another
awesome SMT
game that we may never
see in English.
|
The third game, Ronde for the Sega Saturn
(it's apparently part of the sub-series
despite not having the words "Majin Tensei"
in the title), is apparently worst out of
the three, at least according to many people
who've played it. The thing that really
sticks out about this game are the ugly,
bloby-looking 3D Saturn graphics, which if
you'd like, you can see for yourself here
and here.
The battles also take about 30 seconds to
load, though animations can be turned off.
The story of this game takes place in the
near future, where the main characters are
visiting a demon museum. After being
attacked by a demon named Moluck, the main
character Asuka's younger brother is
kidnapped, so Asuka and his friends set out
to save him and beat back the demons.
Unlike the other two Majin
games, and indeed most MegaTen
games, you don't negotiate with demons to
recruit them. Instead, they might randomly
decide to join you after defeating them in
battle. It is also possible for human
characters to learn demon magic by making
contracts with the creatures. Interesting
mechanics to be sure, but Ronde
is apparently not a very good game. I guess
this is one Saturn RPG we shouldn't be upset
over not getting.
Wheels
Ahh,
good old Saturn 3D graphics.
Nothing involving the Saturn's
3D chip has aged very well, even
some of the system's best games!
Still I'm shocked by the length
of the loading times, as that
was not a major weakness for the
system. Anyway, sounds like this
was just a dud. As you said, not
a big loss!
|
Though there is a cellphone game called Majin Tensei:
Blind Thinker out there, Majin Tensei
has been laying dormant. It wouldn't be
another 11 years before Atlus would make
another tactical Megami Tensei
game in the form of Devil Survivor.
Even though Devil Survivor is
excellent, it would be cool to see
remakes of the first two games, or perhaps
some sort of modern entry. Though
considering how long this sub-series has
been left dormant, perhaps we should just be
happy we got the Devil Survivor games at
all. In my next letter, I shall discuss the
two Devil
Summoner games that don't have the
name "Raidou Kuzunoha" in their titles.
-Strawberry Eggs
Wheels
Sounds
like these games are a bit
different than Devil
Survivor, so I think
there could be a place for both.
Perhaps a nice little remake of
the first two games for Vita or
3DS? Could be a nice game to do
in between the inevitable Persona
5 and whatever new
title will follow that. Come on
Atlus!
Thanks for more history! I'm
looking forward to learning
about the Devil
Summoner games.
|
|
Back to the Future...of
RPGs
|
Yo Wheel-io,
So February and March are looking completely
ka-raaazy for RPGs. I'm particularly
looking forward to Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
and Ni No
Kuni. Both games look
amazingly fun, and I'm super jazzed to have
the chance to play a Studio Ghibli film come
to life on my PS3. I'll also be
picking up Tales of Graces F and Hakuoki: Demon
of the Fleeting Blossom (which
isn't an RPG, but it should be of interest
to a lot of RPG fans). I know Mass Effect 3
is coming out as well, but since I haven't
gotten around to the first two games yet (I
know, I know!) I'll be waiting a while
before I pick it up.
Wheels
You
haven't what? You haven't played
either Mass Effect?
You need to get on that! Anyway
you are spot on, there are a ton
of RPGs coming out early next
year. I can particularly vouch
for Graces F
having imported it and enjoyed
its fantastic battle system. You
really need to play those Mass
Effect games. Though
the first is a little rough
around the edges (on the Xbox),
the story is fantastic, and the
different variations on the way
things can play out is just
amazing.
|
What am I forgetting here? Which
Feb.-Mar. releases are at the top of your
priority list and why?
Cheers,
Ocelot
Wheels
You're
missing Tales
of the Abyss 3D but I
don't think that's a huge
release. Also I think Grand
Knights History is
coming out around then. The
releases I'm most looking
forward to in that period would
have to be Mass
Effect 3 and Graces
F. Though I have a
feeling Amalur
will be quite good, those two
are "known quantities" in that
I've played Graces
F and Mass
Effect 3 follows
closely to the style of 2. Ni
No Kuni looks
beautiful, but I'm going to wait
on that one. It should be a very
interesting release period,
especially for fans of Japanese
RPGs! Just imagine if Xenoblade
were shipping a month earlier!
|
|
Even More Chrono
Crossings
|
Hey Wheels,
I see that you are replaying Chrono Cross.
I'm replaying it myself, hopefully I will
finish it for the first time ever. Did you
like the game when it came out and are you
liking it more this time? This is how I feel
about it, I guess I wasn't in the right
mindset to enjoy it back in 2000.
Wheels
I
wouldn't say I disliked it back
in the day, I had a tough time
getting into it. I wasn't as
receptive to non-standard battle
systems at that time, so I was
pretty apathetic about the
elements system, and wished for
the original game's simple
style. After some time I
eventually grew fond of the
game, and have really come to
enjoy its battle system. There's
a lot to like about the game,
but I think Chrono
Trigger
fans needed to
go into the game with an open
mind, which I didn't do
initially.
|
What are your favourite characters to use in
your party? I've been using Harle most of
the time and switching off the third
character a bunch.
Wheels
I
very much enjoy Harle, along
with some of the other oddball
characters! One of my favorites
so far has been Fargo, since
he's got great attacks and his
innate element is blue,
providing access to many great
healing spells. Lately I've been
mainly sticking to those with
innate elements white, blue, and
green, that way I have the
strongest healing magic. This is
one of the great things about
this game, that you can make so
many different kinds of parties!
|
And do you prefer Chrono Trigger or Chrono Cross?
~Cid
Wheels
I
would have to say Chrono
Trigger. It has such a
great story, and a fun battle
system. It is one of my all time
favorite games of all time. Now
Chrono Cross is
a fine game, and does some
things better than its
predecessor, but there is no
doubt Trigger is the
stronger game. Anyway, good to
hear from you! I'd like to hear
back more of your thoughts on
the two games.
|
|
Dear Wheels,
WHEELS TOP 5 ZELDA GAMES: (part deux)
I'd thought I'd try again, you did say 1
entry a week right?) it is the 16th excatly
1 week since my last:)
*LIST
OMITTED*
I am an avid game collector as viewed from
the list I sent you long ago, (thanks for Tomb raider 2:)
BTW, and I love all things Zelda,
I got almost all the us releases except for
minish cap
(dang it) lol anywho, how do you find the
time to play all those awsome rpg's??? for
me, its hard with life, work, family ect
gettin in the dang way (I kid, I love my
wifey) any advice to help balance this
issue, thanks...play well, play, hard, play
games...
Gameremporium
Wheels
Close, but no cigar! I can tell you
easily how I find the time to play
so many games (and you're welcome
for Tomb Raider), I
don't sleep that much! Seriously, I
find I function better on less
sleep, which gives me plenty of time
to stay up later and play lots of
games. I'm sure once I have kids
that time will decrease, but at the
moment, late night gaming is where
it's at. If time is your enemy, I
recommend really focusing on one
game at a time, that way you save
money and will be less tempted to
buy a bunch of games! Hope you get a
copy of Minish Cap at some
point, that is a fine Zelda
game!
Keeping on this topic, do you find
that RPGs are too long nowadays?
Good to hear from you!
|
Dear Wheels,
I'd be willing to bet your top five favorite
Zelda
games are as follows:
*LIST
OMITTED*
Anyway, this question might come out of
nowhere, but I was wondering if you ever
played much of the Etrian Odyssey series? As
I continue to devote all my gaming time to Mario Kart
(dang new job - have no time!), I
occasionally want some slow-paced dungeon
crawling goodness to break up the action. I
look back fondly on Etrian Odyssey
III, and
hope the 3DS title announced by Atlus like
forever ago isn't the rumored remake and is
instead Etrian
4. I also hope it allows us to
subclass again. With the poor showing of
RPGs on the 3DS (Devil Survivor
Overclocked notwithstanding), I
think EO
would be perfect right about now...
-Bucktwenty
Wheels
Oh Mario Kart 7, that
game is so fun (even though I'm
terrible). I have actually been
playing so much multiplayer when I
do play it, that I haven't even
gotten around to unlocking all the
courses! Great entry in that series,
even though there isn't much new.
Now, on to Etrian Odyssey. I
am actually very much a fan of the
series, so much so that it is what
got me into the Shin
Megami Tensei games, since
Strange
Journey looked similar to Etrian
Odyssey! I finished the
first game and have played the third
title on and off since then (they
are massive so I find breaks
useful). I've yet to play the second
game, but I have it for when I
finish three. Anyway, the series is
a great throwback to old first
person dungeon crawlers, and yet at
the same time has a lot of modern
niceties to make it much more user
friendly, such as the map tools. I
think a remake of the first EO
would be sad, given it isn't even
that old. So I'm really hoping they
make a new entry. The 3D effect will
be a great touch for the series'
stylish dungeons. Regardless, more EO is
not a bad thing, so I hope we hear
more about the next entry soon.
|
That's it for this week, and this year! As
always, thank you all for the support this
year, I couldn't do this without so many
fantastic readers.
See you in two weeks!
P.S. Delaying those connection challenges
another week (well two)
-Wheels
|
|
Most Recent
November
18th: Wheels
December
2nd: Wheels
December
8th: Wheels
December
15th: Wheels
Links
About the Host
Quote Archives
What I can't wait for:
1. Mass Effect 3
2. Tales of Graces F
3. Final Fantasy XIII-2
4. Grand Knights History
5. Tales of the Abyss 3D
On my Playlist:
1. Homestuck music
2. Etrian Odyssey 3 soundtrack
3. Zelda music
Hot Topics:
1. Will Dark Souls continue to raise FROM
Software's profile, or will it fade back to
niche status?
2. How do you think XSEED was able to succeed
with Falcom games where others failed?
3. What franchise needs an RPG?
4. What RPGs do you want to see get an HD
update?
5. Will Western developers ever return to first
person dungeon crawlers?
|
RSS feed
iTunes