A Game Journal Reborn

[Klutz64]

I think Magna Carta 2 is the game someone was mentioning that there was a boss fight that you're supposed to lose but it's actually fairly easy to win or something?

[Annubis]

I know Suikoden 2 has that.

[Aeolus]

I know Suikoden 2 has that.

You may be thinking about Suikoden 3 (or Suki 1, but S3 has them all beat by a country mile due to the sheer number of them).

That said, Gensou Suikoden 2 has a shitload of unwinnable strategy battles (even the ones that you're supposed to win because the mechanics are jank-and-a-half).

[Annubis]

I know Suikoden 2 has that.

You may be thinking about Suikoden 3 (or Suki 1, but S3 has them all beat by a country mile due to the sheer number of them).

That said, Gensou Suikoden 2 has a shitload of unwinnable strategy battles (even the ones that you're supposed to win because the mechanics are jank-and-a-half).

Maybe, early Suikodens are a blur by now in my mind...

[Frostillicus]

Forgive my shitty recollection as well... I haven't played Suikoden 1 since it was new-ish, like 20-some years ago.
But I remember the seemingly unwinnable duel between some guy on your side with a bandanna, and some important bad guy. I thought bandanna dude was supposed to die the first time I played. Then I found out on a very young interwebs (remember d*b*u*h*r*.com, porn fans?) that it was actually winnable. BARELY beat him the second time I played.

[Starmongoose]

Yeah, the Pahn vs *Spoiler* fight.

[Aeolus]

Yeah, the Pahn vs *Spoiler* fight.

I don't think you need to spoiler who you have to fight since the game literally starts out by telling you that he's a high ranking general within the Empire you're inevitably going to topple. Now subjects like whether he joins, dies, ends up as a rival who becomes King while you're fighting the monsters would qualify, or even discussing the various outcomes of whichever fight you have with him, be it one or multiple, would more likely constitute as spoilers.

Meanwhile, Suki 2's only unwinnable boss fights are with Neclord because humans are apparently a miserable pile of secrets, and you need like the entire cast of a Castlevania game to bring him down for good.

As for Suki 3, Yuber and Serah. 'Nuff said.

[Klutz64]

Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online

Best game in the franchise. The gamplay loop is very satisfying for a quick 20 minutes or an extended 2 hour grind, and each dungeon is a perfect balance of not being too long, but also having plenty of nooks and crannies to explore (and some treasures are really cleverly hidden). Plus each one has three or four check points to return to town from in case you don't want to go all the way to the boss. And this whole form a party > explore a dungeon > defeat a boss > repeat really nails the MMO feeling, The music is also some of the best the series has to offer. Nothing mind-blowing, but fairly catchy and memorable. The writing is on par with other modern titles, but manages to keep the fanservice to a tolerable minimum.

There are a few minor technical issues, mostly regarding the AI. Allies will sometimes get caught in a strafing loop due to the odd swaying nature of the pathfinding, and if an enemy is above the group on a cliff, allies will just start attacking the cliff face instead of jumping up.

Also the OP is spectacular!

[Arvis]

Trolls in the Sky 3

"After that 30-minute-long unskippable cutscene, here's the final dungeon where you are forced to use all 16 characters!  Bet you wish you had taken that one, subtle suggestion about leveling up your characters, eh?"

Honestly, I'm excited to be able to use everyone in one epic final dungeon.  I actually LOVE it when RPGs do this.  What I don't love is when there are 30-minute-long unskippable cutscenes before finding that out, so now I have to mash Circle through that long freaking scene again when I go back later.  On top of that, the way character builds work in Trails means that equipping everyone well enough to make them serviceable in combat is not going to be easy.  It will be quite a rough task, in fact.

But I love the characters, and I love character-building in Trails, so I truly am stoked to get back to it.  Any suggestions from the experts here?

[Der Jermeister]

In said final dungeon of Trails 3rd, can you at least buy new equipment for them and grind before the actual final boss? Because I don't like unwinnable situations in RPGs...

[ScottC]

Trolls in the Sky 3
But I love the characters, and I love character-building in Trails, so I truly am stoked to get back to it.  Any suggestions from the experts here?

Do all the Star doors especially the one at the end of the pretty easy optional dungeon.  That one, in particular, is very worth your time seeing.  Also using the fast-forward button you can skip just about any cutscene by holding down your confirm button and it.  It helps a ton when skipping things you have seen before.

In said final dungeon of Trails 3rd, can you at least buy new equipment for them and grind before the actual final boss? Because I don't like unwinnable situations in RPGs...

EXP is scaled in Trails(and almost every Falcom game) so that when your low level and kill something high level you gain a ton of exp.  So everyone catches up and gets the required level for that part of the game very fast.  Also, they give you almost all their best equipment for every character in the last dungeon.

[Arvis]

There's a fast forward button?!  Seriously??

Also, re: unwinnable scenarios, Trails 3 on Steam has a very kind autosave, so you can always take convenient steps backwards if you've gone too far in the story.

[ScottC]

Yep all 3 games on Steam have a button you can set to fast foward in the configuration, R2 by default.  You can even set how fast it moves out of battle and in battle.

[Rook]

Stuck on the boss fight with

Code: [Select]

Noel in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, so I'm exploring other available areas to power up by completing quests.

Making decent progress on the main storyline of Horizon Zero Dawn after doing tons of sidequests, and I've only died from long falls, not from enemies themselves.

Keeping up with the story quests of Kingdom Hearts Union Cross, and can take on even high-level enemies with my medals.

have a new jerb so not as much time for marathon gaming sessions + its college football season.

RE: LR. I think you are supposed to stop before said boss, do a bunch of fetch quests and come back and beat him, then run out of time and do the whole game over again. I dropped soon after that boss and just watched the story on the youtubes. The game would have been OK enough for 1 playthrough but 2 lol no.

On hour 60 of Tales of Beseria. Getting ready for the final dungeon. Story got stronger as the game progressed but I think as I did for Xillia that the game is needlessly padded for length. It would be a much stronger game if about 15-20 hours of fat are trimmed.

pre-ordered .hack. Currently debating what game to start next: FF12, restart FF15, .hack, Trails 2, or metroid 2 DS. It will probably be .hack which I was thinking of saving until college football season ended however I'll have XBC 2, Ni No Kuni and maybe a Cold Steel game for that.

[Ranadiel]

Been playing Gundam Versus. I'm enjoying myself, but I'm honestly not that good. XP Mostly just passing time at this point while I wait for Chaos;Child to show up. I though it was supposed to come today, but apparently I was misreading the Fedex tracking, so it might not make it till Monday.

pre-ordered .hack. Currently debating what game to start next: FF12, restart FF15, .hack, Trails 2, or metroid 2 DS. It will probably be .hack which I was thinking of saving until college football season ended however I'll have XBC 2, Ni No Kuni and maybe a Cold Steel game for that.

I vote go for .hack! Trails 2 is probably a close second, but while I love Trails, I love .hack even more!