Kolzig

Nintendo 3DS

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However, i always felt there was a lack of tactical options there.

 

I feel like DQ, unlike Final Fantasy (which Bravely Default is in all but name), has a broader tactical range because it's a game where buffs and debuffs not only work most of the time, but are necessary for even regular enemies. FFXIII tried to fix this but the end-game of that game breaks down a little because it's balanced around a few great builds. I don't think I'm ever going to use Poison; the only enemies I want to poison are bosses, and you can't poison bosses unless you get really lucky.

 

One minor point in its favour: I have access to several techniques that put turn-limited buffs and debuffs on, but they don't appear to fall off until the start of the next turn. The Chapter 1 bosses appear to have brave/default patterns, which does mean you have to default and brave at specific times but I was hoping for something a little more fluid.

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Well I finally got round to finishing ALBW. Other than being the best Zelda since Wind Waker I can't agree with other people's criticisms, well, the most common ones.

The art style I really enjoyed. The game looks good. The 2D wall painting Link looks great. The game works well with the low pixel count of the 3ds.

The difficulty is what I wanted. I died more than most people (thanks to being lazy with restoring hearts before bosses) but I don't want Zelda: Dark Souls edition. In a handheld I want a fun, bite sized game that won't leave me shouting out in frustration on the bus or while I'm next to my partner in bed.

I really like the street pass link battles too. Great way to introduce a pseudo-multiplayer aspect to the game.

I'm sure this game doesn't need any more recommendations, but it has mine. If you have a 3ds and don't have ALBW: for shame!

Now on to Mario 3d land...

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Bravely Default looks really good, and I'd love to play it, but saying "30 hours in" has made me reconsider.

I don't get much time go game any more, with life and job taking over. I love my 3ds because I can play in bite sizes chunks. Would this game be for me? Is it too in depth to be played in 20-40 minute sessions every now and again? Or does this require a serious time investment to be good?

 

No, not really. Be aware that it is long (about 45 hours from what I've heard if you do the side stuff) but apart from a couple of five hour sessions the majority of my play is on the train, half an hour each way, it's very suited to picking up when you have a minute. The story is fluff, save points are numerous and there are no lengthy cutscenes so it works quite well.

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Thanks both Merus and Yasawas for your points in bravely default. I think I have to pick it up. I doubt I'll finish it though. Seems like something else will grab me before the 45 hours are up.

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The one thing I dislike about Bravely Default is the whole SP micro-transactions. Sure it's a tiny tiny part of the game that I forget exists, and never use as even on hard the bosses are pretty easy, but grrr greedy greedy Squenix.

 

I do like how the game is seemingly designed for short play sessions, as there are bonuses to XP for finishing a fight in the first turn. Also the Street pass build a town thing is strangely addictive, and the time wait on that also suggests they expect you to play it for a bit and close it and put it in your pocket

 

Also Chibi Robo doesn't come out for the UK yet :( I hope it's as good as the Gamecube version I never got to play.

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Also Chibi Robo doesn't come out for the UK yet :( I hope it's as good as the Gamecube version I never got to play.

I ebayed it last year and it really holds up.

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I also recently replayed the original Chibi-Robo, it definitely still holds up. You should play it if that option is available.

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I hope I'm wrong but I don't think Chibi-Robo has been announced for Europe at all, it wasn't in the last Direct. I think there's a new StreetPass puzzle for it in North America too but we didn't get that which I take as a poor omen.

 

I too loved the GameCube version. I should never have given all that lot away, the PAL version is pretty rare now and I'd never pay what it goes for.

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There was a PAL version? I got a boot disc just for Chibi-Robo.

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There was. It was a very late release and while the import version was readily available and cheap I only ever saw one PAl copy in a shop, optimistically priced at £49.99. A few years later when the Wii came out I knew a guy who'd bought a US one and we traded a bunch of GC games - my US stuff for his PAL - and I got Chibo Robo which I eventually sold like a chump along with Twin Snakes, Twilight Princess and Ikaruga and it still hurts man.

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On ebay, a PAL version of Chibi-Robo is priced at £50 ($82) (reduced from £60 - what a bargain!). Congrats Yasa on selling probably the rarest PAL games for the Gamecube XD. Throw in Doshin the Giant and it would be a complete set XD

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I once passed up the chance to buy Doshin the Giant in favour of Capcom vs SNK 2 :) I'm not cut out to be a collector but one thing I have learned is never, ever sell Nintendo stuff. It's not worth it.

 

Back in 3DS town does anyone have anything nice to say about Inazuma Eleven? I'd dismissed it as an anime thing for children but a football RPG sounds interesting and Level 5 make some fine products.

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I just got the new Zelda game. Probably going to have a lie in a play it (unless my parents stay over after their visit).

Exciting!

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Hey after you guys play Chibi Robo! Photo Finder post your opinions, I thought the original Chibi Robo was a little rough around the edges and un-engaging so I never finished it but I'm interested in this one....

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Well, i love the original game to death, i think it's one of the GC's best games. As for this, I'm feeling a little mixed on this one so far.

It does feel like they tried to hit on all the elements of that original game, but everything's kind of shuffled off into its own separate little corner of the game. Instead of a huge and mostly seamless environment to explore, you load into and out of all these disparate little pieces. Quests are engaged from a central hub and not from the areas they occur in, all while none of the main areas connect to eachother, but again to that central hub, and there also appear to be invisible walls preventing you from ever reaching the floor in any of these main areas. It feels very constrained.

I mean, but it's also a ten dollar download game and not a retail product, and what it's doing for that price point is fairly impressive. It's certainly one of the largest eShop exclusives in terms of scope, but taken as a sequel to a beloved cult game, it's a tiny bit disappointing. (It doesn't help that we didn't get the real sequel to Chibi-Robo, the one that stayed in Japan.)

If you already didn't like the original, i honestly can't see anything here that would make you change your mind. If you do like the original, this is an alright excuse to give Skip some cash, just go in with expectations in check.

Also, all the stuff with the photo collection is mostly just an end goal and a gimmick, and it's a neat gimmick, but it's not "the game" proper. You spend the happy points you earn on acquiring film so you can take pictures to progress in a collection quest.

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Ah I see, I think I will get it eventually-- because I really did like the mechanics of the Gamecube original but just wasn't compelled to progress, I just liked poking around.

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Bringing the topic back to Bravely Default:

I'm liking it so far, but I am finding the combat mechanics rather boring. A little more depth would be great, but I'm sure it'll come soon. I'm only just out of the intro chapter.

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I'm in Chapter 2; it's real slow going, but it starts getting more difficult mid-way through Chapter 1 and it starts getting hard to fit all the jobs into your party (which makes a huge difference because you start hampering your combat effectiveness to make sure your JP isn't going to waste).

 

I also found that there's a bonus for killing every enemy with the same attack, which keeps the regular fights more interesting.

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I had a glorious moment with Bravely Default on Friday where I got to the boss at the end of chapter 3 and got completely decimated three times in succession. I was fairly raging and thinking of quitting then I changed a couple of jobs around and ruined him. Once you get a good number of jobs opened up, start to see the later abilities they offer and get your head around the combinations you can cook up it gets really interesting I think.

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I started the new Zelda game over the weekend. After apathy bordering on dislike of A Link To The Past I was a bit wary. I am, however, loving it. The two dungeons I've done so far were awesome - the verticality of the dungeons is especially awesome. I love looking down at where I was previously, or seeing glimpses of where I'm going to go. I also love when you step outside the town and the wind whistles by. I can see why people dislike the design, but I'm happy to ignore it's shortcomings for the rollicking adventure that has been promised by the opening levels.

The new wall mechanic is great as well. i've been stumped a few times by puzzles before remembering that I can meld into the walls to sneak around a boulder, or travel around the outside of a tower to that seemingly impossible chest.

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For anyone who likes bravely default I would highly recommend 4 heroes of light, the ds predecessor-- awesome art and a nicely balanced challenge.

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So is there a faster way to level up jobs other than grinding? I'm still finding jobs, but it's like a huge reset when you find a new one that you want to use.The special abilities seem to push you to choose mostly magic or mostly physical attacks for the best effects, so combination swapping of jobs seems quite important...

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So is there a faster way to level up jobs other than grinding? I'm still finding jobs, but it's like a huge reset when you find a new one that you want to use.The special abilities seem to push you to choose mostly magic or mostly physical attacks for the best effects, so combination swapping of jobs seems quite important...

 

Not in the early game - you're going to be finding jobs throughout the game, the JP required curve is much steeper than the JP earned curve, and some of those jobs end up being pretty useful. Apparently the amount of JP available goes up much later on, and there's a later (much later) Freelancer ability that boosts JP, but in general the idea is that you're constantly resetting the party to try and gain access to new abilities.

 

Part of building a good party is understanding which jobs have good synergies - for instance, black mages can cast white mage spells fairly effectively, but merchants can cast black mage spells much better than white mage spells. It's no great tragedy if you have to train up a job on multiple party members, and if you've really screwed the pooch Abilink gets you least the first couple of levels in a job for free.

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Freelancer ability that boosts JP, but in general the idea is that you're constantly resetting the party to try and gain access to new abilities.

 

I saw this and considered grinding to it but level 11 job takes a long time to get to in chapter 1. Maybe I should stop being too concerned about this stuff and just play. 

I just feel that the classes are vastly different in strength for example my Thief with daggers barely does any damage (although with a bow it's passable), whereas the Black Mage can pump out almost as much as the other 3 on his own. I hope it's just early game stuff, but I don't like having one member of the party effectively carrying the rest in damage. 

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