He already made a table top game. Is he gonna make another?

>>180727
I take it you would also recommend Vagrant Story. Final Fantasy Tactics was one of my favorite RPGs. I really didn't care for all the spin offs and sequels (storywise FFTA was interesting but otherwise it wasn't great). Same thing goes for all the crap surrounding FF7 (it was my first real introduction to RPGs but its not the best). I dropped the most of the Final Fantasy series when I heard 11 was an MMORPG. Is 13 even worth checking out?

Right now I'm playing the first few Phantasy Star games, Wild Arms and Xenogears on the PSN and FF Dissidia 012 if that counts.

Does anyone know if Agarest: Generations of War will be any good?

Its on special preorder on Steam
http://store.steampowered.com/app/237890/

>>180777
I heard it's very mediocre with excessive fanservice as its only feature that stands out in any way. The most convincing reason to buy it, that I've heard so far, is to make more niche Japanese publishers take notice of the PC market.

>>180777
This is a game that tried to sell itself in the west by marketing body pillows for the limited edition. Other than hoping a several year old console JRPG can be adequately ported to PC or what the last post said, I'm not sure if this worth 15 USD.

>>180775
I didn't start console games until the 6th gen so FFTA was actually the first FF I'd ever played. I like all three FFT games to different degrees.

FF7 I enjoyed a lot when i got around to it There's also a great LP on something awful right now which is teaching me to appreciate that game even more, as well as one for FF12 which I also like (well FF12 Zodiac edition is what the LP's actually of). Spinoffs are all bad except Crisis Core which rules and has a fantastic ending (CONFLICT RESOLVED).

13 and all attached games are bad, but Versus 13, the game we've been waiting for for fucking years, has been relabeled 15 and is going to be a killer app for the PS4 by all impressions.

Never been into Phantasy Star (I played some mediocre PS2 game at some point I think), I do have Wild Arms on PSN but only played a little because of PS1 Random Battle Load Times. Xenogears... is a weird game. Whether you can handle disk 2 or not will decide where you fall on that one.

As for Matsuno:
I've actually played very little of Vagrant Story. Grabbed a ROM once but only played a few minutes because I didn't feel like it was really giving me a clear idea of what to do.

>>180736
...Which brings me to Crimson Shroud, with which I had much the same issue. It was cute for awhile but the battles aren't great and I think I beat a dragon or something and then the game just gave me no indication of what I was supposed to do next.

>>180786
Body pillows. Holy shit.

>>180788
By itself FFTA was ok. But gameplay wise I don't think it was a good as the first. It was easy as hell and a lot of the classes felt redundant.

I'm not saying FF7 wasn't good. I just think a ton of people put it on a pedestal. It was better than 8 though. My favorite has to be 4 though. That 2 pack with Chrono Trigger was fantastic.

Wasn't there another spinoff of 13 involving a school and summons that killed the user. I liked some of the designs of 13 and what looks like an emphasis on summons but I've heard its extremely linear which is a dealbreaker.

The first couple of Phantasy Stars are included with the Sega Genesis Collection on the PSP. They're pretty solid with a nice combo of sci fi and fantasy elements. Wild Arms was always great because of the western influences, especially 3. So of course they dropped them. My friend showed me Xenosaga, I'm assuming it is the same weird shit.

I've just heard good things about Vagrant Story.

I miss the Saga series. Square needs to remember they have more IPs than Final Fantasy.

Vagrant Story can seem a bit impenetrable at first, because it doesn't explain its mechanics very well, if at all. But it all comes down to using buffs a lot, which a lot of people forget is a thing. Upgrading your weapons whenever possible. And switching weapon damage types (blunt, slashing, piercing), if you're still doing 1 damage. All of the other mechanics can give you an edge, but ultimately don't matter as much.

>>180788

>CONFLICT RESOLVED

That "conflict resolved" soundbyte is pretty fucking satisfying to hear, I'm actually okay with that replacing the victory theme in Crisis Core.

>>180791
What about FFT-0? From everything I know about it it sounds like the worst and most pretentious anime ever in vidya form.

>>180791
What about FFT-0? From everything I know about it it sounds like the worst and most pretentious anime ever in vidya form.

>>180822
No, I mean Type-0. I loved Tactics: WoTL, one of the best stories I've ever seen in a JRPG and the closest I'll ever get to a decent ASoIaF game..

>>180819
Are you talking about the original FFT? Because if so, you should probably play it before you say that. It's not really all that pretentious for an RPG. It's certainly not pretentious on the level of Xenogears or Xenosaga (and I love Xenogears, by the way). Though if you do, I would recommend War of the Lions rather than the ORIGINAL original. The original translation is of pretty poor quality, even if it does have a little bit of campy charm to the goofiness of it all.

The original FFT is basically the War of the Roses with Final Fantasy trappings and some demons.

>>180820
If you are talking about the original tactics you couldn't be more wrong.

>>180823
It's funny--I've never read or watched GoT (beyond the first episode of the HBO series), but a friend was talking about the plot to it around me, and I jokingly suggested that it had the exact same plot as Final Fantasy Tactics, and he agreed that that's pretty much true.

FFT really does suffer for the Lucavi thing in my opinion but it's otherwise great. And yeah do get War of the Lions, the only thing better about the original is the ANIMALS HAVE NO GOD line. WotL on the other hand has those super cool cutscenes in the style of Yoshida's designs.

But if you want something that's a lot more purely political and Matsuno turning totally nuts, not to sound like a broken record or anything but play Let Us Cling Together. FFT is based on the War of the Roses yes. LUCT is also based on real world conflict. Specially the Yugoslavian wars. It's super fucked up!

>>180824
>>180825
See >>180823
I meant Type-0, as in the game that used to be known as Agito. What I've read of it sounds absolutely abysmal and yet again another case of Square-Enix focusing entirely on (already crappy-sounding) style over actually decent gameplay.

As I was saying, TA 1& 2 are, while still good games fucking trash compared to War of Lions.

And yeah I have played the Tactics Ogre games, I like them but they aren't quite scratching my itch.

I wish I could get War of Lions running easy on PC.

>>181045
A-2 is just so emblematic of things starting to go wrong in Final Fantasy though that it's nauseating.

>>181052
Could you expand on that? I don't think you're wrong, I just want to hear your analysis.

>>181051
>>181052
I can't understand the idea of WotL>LUCT. If you want a more serious story then LUCT is easily the winner there since the politics isn't hijacked by demons. At least not until the very, VERY end, which totally blows but at least it's brief.

A2 wasn't really the start of... anything at all really. I mean you post Luso so I assume you're complaining about overdesigned characters, but there were far worse long before him. Nooj is still king there.

>>181053
It's SO LAZY, it's a direct sequel reusing assets, the plot is non-existent if not stolen straight from the first.

It's one unique aspect, being a few thrown in job classes and two VERY lazy races are horribly designed, Luso's being on of the worst ever.

It's the 10-2 of Tactics except it's WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY lazier, 10-2 for all it's faults was trying to be something.

>>181054

>I can't understand the idea of WotL>LUCT

I never said that at all and am shocked that you'd construct such a thing.

I just said LUCT wasn't scratching my itch.

Though I do find WotL's characters a lot more charming.

And yes, A-2 is nothing, it says nothing, tells nothing and does nothing, it's so fucking lazy. it brings literally nothing to the table.

>>181058
>I never said that at all and am shocked that you'd construct such a thing.
I misunderstood, sorry.

As for Advance vs A-2 I really can't agree that A-2 is lazy. It is, for one, infinitely more balanced than Advance or Tactics. Still breakable but it takes faaaaaar more work. It still looks largely the same yes but you can't really take that look much further than it already is.

You're right that the plot is kind of nothing though, but after the disaster that was Advance I can see why they'd want to go with what is pretty much just "Here's a continent, HAVE ADVENTURES ON IT." Some of the sidestories are also considerably better than the main plot.

A2's system and sidequests are far better and more engaging than FFTA's. However, the main campaign is so lackluster and forgettable that it may as well not have existed.

>>181054
Nooj wasn't really overdesigned, just stupid as fuck. Extra doodads might've actually improved him as long as they replaced that goddamn bodysuit with proper pants and shirt.

ALRIGHT, Got Tactics Ogre and War of Lions up and running.

I can safely say that after 3 days of having played an hour of Ogre and 30 of War of Lions I like lions way more, nothing against Ogre I just get a LOT more fun out of Lions.

Goddamn, Mel is way more beast than I remember, Damn shame I don't have a spot for her.

Also I've started hacking Tactics which is SO MUCH FUN.

I'm enjoying Awakening so far, but the characters, both in manner and design (though moreso design) feel waaaay more like they're from Final Fantasy than a Fire Emblem game.

God the GAME part is fucking awesome though.

>>182860
Awakening is great because they managed to streamline a lot of FE's clunkier systems while not sacrificing the nut busting difficulty by kowtowing to the casuals. The ability to turn off permadeath is a dumb addition but you can ignore it so I guess that's a whatever thing.

Character design is a little too anime though.

Man I would totally preordered Tales of Symphonia PS3 if it didn't look like the laziest port ever and didn't come with that fan fiction tied on.

I'm gonna cry now.

>>182986
Look I wanted to do a playthrough where I messed around with random couples and see what their kids were like and turning off permadeath let me do that.

>>183068
>>182986
It should be like Deus Ex HR, and you pick between "Tell Me a Story" and "Give Me Fire Emblem."

Just want to pitch in here and say holy shit, FFT War Of The Lions has such an amazing story. "You take no pains to hide your wonderment."

>>183089
AHH YEAH and Goddamn it is Ramza ever a great protagonist.

"Please, I really don't wanna kill you, here is every reason this doesn't need to end with my group of knights both holy and unholy, a machine literally powered by The Universe, two highly trained marksman who use GUNS THAT SHOOT LIGHTING and a Knight possessed of the ability to inflict the most horrible malady you can possibility imagine and his Wife a dragon empowered murder monster from crushing you like an over ripe grape"

Can someone tell me why the Best Friends are so deeply disgusted by the leaked Lightning Returns ending? I haven't seen it and kind of can't be assed.

>>183194
Toriyama had his waifu create our planet and take a trip to France.

Lightning really is the worse

>>183197
I...

Are you making that up?

>>183199
Does it sound like it's made up after hearing the best friends?

>>183200
I DON'T WANT TO BELIEVE

>>183197
>>183198
Wait, did they said that on their latest podcast?
Is there a source link for this?

>>183197
Good God. I knew she had some Mary Sue tendencies, but that's just...totally insane.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x17hnmu_lightning-returns-final-fantasy-xiii-epilogue_videogames

For those of you who missed.

This entire game is literally Toriyama trying to perform some insane arcane ritual where he hopes he can make his Waifu manifested and real.

Next thing you know we'll be seeing him trying to create a Lightning Tulpa.

>>183197
>>183206
Okay I have like... seven questions.

>>183206
I'm not sure if Serah can be worse than her sister.
For me both are equally terrible.

>>183208
1. Toryama's success has gone to his head and when surrounded by yes men, you feel you can do whatever you like.
2-4. Don't even bother trying to make sense of the story. It's a pointless endeavor.
5.Because consumers are just as, if not even more shallow amd careless with the direction of the industry.
6. Because Japan really finds the french country terribly romantic.
7. It's a sort of imaginary friend you can have sex with.

>>183212
Wow you fucking nailed all of them.

>>181054
Haven't played LUCT, but I would say "hijacked by demons" is underselling the role politics plays in WotL's plot. The introduction of supernatural elements in WotL doesn't replace the themes of political influence, dogma, or people being people. Instead, it provides new ways to demonstrate all of the above (we see how the church leaders pursue the supernatural power, how a character is slow to realize his father's no longer human, etc.)

http://www.examiner.com/article/final-fantasy-x-x-2-hd-collector-s-edition-and-vita-date-revealed

I'm not really hyped for this game as everybody else, but my experience with X was short-lived. It's been forever since I rented it for the PS2, but I remembered not connecting at all with the story or characters. Going from a futuristic setting obsessed with underwater soccer to a slightly less futuristic setting still obsessed with underwater soccer was dumb. Tidus annoyed me with his voice, appearance, and lame daddy issues. Yuna. . . was just there.

I don't know. Someone convince me to give this game a second shot. Never played X-2, so feel free to sell me on that.

>>183967
X is rock solid in game play, the story is reasonably tolerable.

X-2 may be the worst thing to happen to the series.

>>183971
>X-2 may be the worst thing to happen to the series.
Get pooped on, turbonerd. Not like you've shown to have any semblance of taste.

>>183967
>>183971
Final Fantasy X is definitely one of my favorites in the series. The battle system is fantastic, though to be fair I suppose I always preferred turn-based as opposed to active. The story I thought was a fun ride with pretty good development in (most of) the characters. Though the dialog can be pretty damn cheesy at times, altogether it struck to having a charm that made it work with me.

I enjoyed Final Fantasy X-2 for the most part. Storywise it was kind of whatever, forgettable if anything, but the battle system was pretty cool with the Dresspheres turning out to be a pretty fun take on the class system. Definitely not one of my favorite Final Fantasy's, but no where near the worst one in my opinion. Though I suppose if you can't care much about Final Fantasy X, there's maybe little to no point in continuing the story in X-2 for you.

>>183973
It began the awful trend of asset reuse games and numbered sequel numbered sequels.

The tone is ALL OVER THE PLACE.

If I have anything positive to say about it it is that it was fun to see the Job system in a modern FF game.

X and X-2 are both bad games.

>>183286
And it's all ultimately made meaningless because the crux of the story isn't the throne or whatever, it's bringing back a dead angel thing. It's still a fun game and has some great moments, but this is a thing Matsuno does in a lot of his games which I'd otherwise endorse without any caveats, he builds up this complex, multifaceted conflict for most of the story (or in the case of Tactics, the first act), and then chucks it out the window for world ending bullshit. Of the complaints I have about FF12, it at least avoids that particular fate.

X-2 is great. It's like Charlie's Angels mixed with Final Fantasy V. Don't listen to the haters.

>>183979
That sounds terrible actually.

>>183987
Yes, it does, but it's a VERY accurate description.

>>183987
>>183988
Well then clearly this just comes down to a matter of differing tastes. And how mine is amazing and yours is apparently not as amazing.

>>184017
I've actually thought about this since yesterday and if x-2 made any other good choices, it kept Blitzball and that was a great idea, cuz I care more about Blitzball than anything in X or X-2.

>>184018
I didn't like how they had changed the mechanics of the blitzball minigame

Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remas…
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=741166
High chances of FFX-3 confirmed

>>184397
These are dark and troubled days we live in.

>>184397
I'd like X-3, especially if we get dat job system.

It's just...we're talking about 2014 Square, and not the Square from 10 years ago.

I was just going to go ahead and unsubscribe from XIV, but then they gave me this little shit.

"And nothing of value was lost!" - The Critic

See ya FF chumps, I'll be chillin' over here with Bravely Default.

Speaking of which:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/130865-Bravely-Default-Producer-Wants-to-Make-Bravely-an-Annual-Series

>>184427
>See ya FF chumps, I'll be chillin' over here with Bravely Default.
This is a dumb thing to say since BD is still a SE title and is in many ways just FF with a different name. It was even originally marked as a successor to 4 Heroes of Light.

Also annualization is one of the worst ongoing trends in video games.

>>184427
>Have to wait 2 months because they need to make bras less revealing for the NA version.

>>184428
>Also annualization is one of the worst ongoing trends in video games.
Also this.
Fastest way to kill a series.

>>184428
I'm making fun of /v/

>>184430
Fuck is that actually the reason?

>>184445
There's probably more to it, but that's just the most obvious thing.

>>184455

A theory I like better (and saw on Neogaf) is that Nintendo didn't want to overload 2013 with games in the NA region. Let's be honest. NA got a TON of shit this year. EU got a little less.

Also, maybe something about fiscal years or whatever, idk.

I will pay you infinity fucking dollars to just make a goddamn PC port Enix, fucking come on.

>>184400
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=741166
Oh god it's horrible.

SUPER ROBOT WARS Z2: SAISEI HE…

Every time I remember that we will never see the real SRW in english, I die a little inside.

>>184568
The worst part about Z2-2 is that Vita's not region-locked, and the game's digital-only, but you still have to go through a lot of hurdles to play the game on a US Vita.

NA Bravely Default Demo drops today.

>>184595
This game is a dick to mages. It's like every other enemy knows silence and casts it the first turn they get.

Man, looking back on Let Us Cling Together I really soured on that game after my first run.

It was all going SO WELL, and then I hit the Hanging Gardens. It was a long, slow, agonizing slog of a dungeon which can only be shortened with a weird hidden door mechanic that isn't explained, and it leads up to a godawful final boss battle which indulges in Matsuno's typical "hey I made this nuanced, interesting political story oh wait no demons" flaw in arguably the worst way. And then post game content and going back to do different branches is ruined by two things.
1. The much touted Chariot World system doesn't actually take you back wherever you want, or even to specific choices, it takes you to the start of discreet parts of the game, so you have to replay several old maps at least to get to a choice or sidequest.

2. And the true sin of the game EVERYTHING SCALES. ALL OF IT. It makes doing any kind of replay or side stuff a complete slog. So much so that I just ended up settling for my single Law playthrough in which I didn't realize you could spare and recruit Ravness, and also fucked up and had Catiua kill herself. Which was fine and dandy I guess, aside from the bullshit that was the hanging gardens and THAT I GET FUCKING SHOT IN THE ENDING WHAT THE HELL GAME.

Also my initial reaction to the whole thing where characters don't have levels, only classes do, was interest but in the end the result is you never get to really use your new toys without a bunch of grinding.

But man, when it was good, it was REALLY good. That first major path split was one of the few times in games I've been truly stuck on a choice, I can't believe this was originally a fucking SNES game. And from what I'm told (again, never did and probably never will do Chaos), the choice at the end of Chaos Act 2 which lets you pick between Chaos and Neutral Act 3 is an even crazier one (though I've heard the plot of the Chaos route is inferior to Law overall). Great for one playthrough I'd say (I'm certainly not mad over the 20 bucks it cost), though you need a guide to get as much good stuff as possible before the game's problems catch up to you.

>>184605
Really? I had quite the opposite experience. It was my melee guys who were getting totally trashed by the end, while the ladies used Black Mage to rip through the enemy with ease.

>>184605
Probably because you can brave four times and then kill everything that turn. I like old RPGs but I don't know the demo is boring. Not sure I'm going to pick it up.

>>185026
I've actually heard from people with review copies that the demo doesn't do the game justice.

>>185026
>Probably because you can brave four times and then kill everything that turn.

Doesn't work in the full game, and it certainly doesn't work on the bosses in the demo.

>>184595
I've never liked any final fantasy games, and I've only ever played...2? other JRPGs to my knowledge, but I love this demo. Love the art, love the music, love that you can mix and match jobs and abilities. Lots of fun

The only thing I don't like is the fact that because I live in bumfuck nowhere I can never streetpass other people so building up shops takes forever

>>185063
There's a little exploit in the demo that lets you get more villagers. Bear in mind the max you can transfer to the main game is 20. Anyway, save after the first boss as one of the NPCs will send you a villager after speaking with him; exit without saving; repeat. Apparently the town data is saved separately, so you can see how this works.

If you saved past that point already (turn autosave off) and don't want to start over, the main game lets you download villagers without having to use Streetpass.

Latest 8-4 Play podcast guest stars Alexander Smith, translator of, among other things, many a Matsuno game (Vagrant Story, Tactics Ogre, FF12), who is also tied into Unsung Story.

http://www.giantbomb.com/podcasts/8-4-play-1-24-2014-candy-has-a-crush-on-saga/1600-738/
He talks about all these cool localization stories and some about Unsung Story itself, among other things.

Goddamn it why do all my favorite games involve an inane about of fuckery? First emulating FFT and now Jeanne D'arc.

LORD AS MY WITNESS I WILL GET THIS RUNNING!

>>185066
I actually only found out about that exploit after I beat the dragon, but before I beat the robot and it still worked.

http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/quick-look-bravely-default/2300-8474/

>Tales of Symphonia HD is available separately on PSN.

Well this changes everything!

Except me still not buying it.

So, how about that XIII-3?
Is the Lightning pandering finally over with this?

>>185991
God I hope so.

I'm sure she'll be a major character in whatever crossover games they'll have down the line, but I am so very done with her and would be more than happy if I never have to see another waifu insert obsession ever again.
That goes for Elizabeth too, who I'm sure is going to turn out to be the most important character in Bioshock by the end of the last DLC.

Here's a much better FF heroine who is woefully underappreciated.

If 15 turns out well, we might be able to at last be free of the myth of Nomura killing FF/Square in general.

>>185994
Wait, what Nomura myth?

>>185995
Nomura is basically the scapegoat for all of the decisions Square keeps making when it's really the fault of the higher ups and he has barely any input in the creative process these days. People like to blame him for shit like FFXIII, Lightning, the obsession with pretty boy designs, yada yada yada when he barely has anything to do with it, aside from doing some of the art for it he barely even contributed to the character designs like he normally does. Kingdom Hearts is probably the series he has the most control over, and for all the problems that series has at least the games are still fairly playable.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=744184 has more on the story.

>>185994
Oh I know FF13 was written and directed than people other than Nomura.
However, I still don't like his dumb designs and stories.

>>185997
Proof enough of that is that TWEWY was almost entirely his baby, and is one of the best things Squenix has released in decades.

How do you make a "hard" JRPG boss fight without the fight descending into utter tedium?

>>186001
Honestly, I didn't think much of it.
>>186039
puzzle and complex strategy elements.

>>186039
The Last Remnant had some fucking ridiculous fights, but none of them were really that tedious. It was more of a matter of RNG bullshit and dealing with dudes getting wiped out constantly while still trying to hold up a decent damage output.