What are you playing right now?

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

Secret of Mana is still fun to play if you play it with a friend. SMRPG is still great. I never played the paper mario games though. I've always wanted to play Star Ocean 1 but never did.

[DougClayton4231]

I just started playing Lufia 1 and Final Fantasy 4 again. I forgot how much fun these old rpgs were.

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

The thing that was really annoying about Lufia 1 was the targetting system during a battle. Example: You are fighting 4 goblins and you select all 4 of your party members to attack the same goblin. The goblin dies after the 2nd party member attacks him. The remaining 2 party members will still attack the blank space where the goblin was instead of attacking the 3 other alive goblins.

During regular battles this isn't so bad but I've spent a long time on a boss battle where you fight the 4 goblins in question. So you would spend a good amount of time trying to kill one of the 4 goblins. Then after attacking the 1st goblin for 6 turns you might kill it on the 1st party members attack sequence and the remaining 3 party members attacks would be useless.

[DougClayton4231]

Yeah, that's true. I don't think I've ever played an RPG like that other than Lufia. The story is kinda cool though. Playing Assassin's Creed 2 and it actually is much less annoying in French than in English. If I spoke Italian, I'd probably play it in that though.

[Fathom Zero]

There are a couple other RPGs like that, not that I can name one at the moment.

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

I've always wanted to play the Wild Arms games because they looked like a spiritual sucessor to the Lufia games.

I played through a good amount of Secret of Mana 2(maybe 3....Seiken Densetsu 3 maybe) on an emulator and it wasn't that great. Would have been fun with more than one person.

[kahljorn]

someone told me one time that mystic quest was supposed to be the secret of mana 1 or 2 or something ;(

the thing i hated most about lufia 1 is when you get to that place where you have to do some shit with fucking towers or something. I couldn't figure it out
The first star ocean is hella awesome though.

[Zomboid]

I looooove Final Fantasy 6. Such an awesome game.

[Phoenix Gamma]

Engineer update for TF2 is live! I didn't expect it so soon! The new upgrades look fantastic, especially the Gunslinger.

[darkvare]

i was playing tf 2 and it froze :c

[OxBlood]

Originally Posted by Phoenix Gamma

FES had better AI, then P4 had the best AI and manual control. Portable is straight up P4's core engine with some of the stuff from the original game, and a few changes. So it's kind of a mix of everything:

-Manual control (P4)
-awesome AI (P4)
-Getting up from being knocked down doesn't end your turn, but getting Dizzy while knocked down is a threat. (P4)
-Additional commands like helping someone up, follow-up attack (P4)
-Navigator tells you enemy weaknesses, not the weaknesses you've already found (P3)
-Three types of physical attacks (P3)
-The best cast of characters (P3 <3)

They change a few other core mechanics. Fusion spells are gone completely; now you get Spell cards ala more traditional SMT games. Getting tired also works differently; you can fight as long as you want, but it seems you won't get tired until you go home. To balance that out, returning to the entrance won't fully heal you anymore (it costs money). Combined spells from the first game are gone like in P4 (Cadenza, the best starting heal spell from Asparas+Orpheus, is now an ITEM, so you can't abuse it anymore). Personally I left the AI on for P4 and P3P because it adds to the role playing aspect of the games, and it makes battles more streamlined. It hasn't let me down yet.

Some other changes were implemented from FES to Portable, like the social links, and donating money at the shrine taking up time now (but now you can WORK at shops now, which ups 1-3 of your personal stats and gets you some cash). Managing equipment is done through the main menu instead of talking to people, and the weapons store doesn't frustrate anymore.

The tweaks definitely make it the best version of the game, even if the presentation took a hit, and the changes to both the original story and the female story give an added incentive to play again.

Downloaded it from the US-PSN this morning (bless Sony for their foreign-fake-account-policy of not giving a shit)

Oh man, does that mean, I can´t abuse...whatever the name of the ultra Fusion spell was that lucifer+? had to oneshot the final boss? That was fucking awesome back then!
That bugs me a litte, the fusion spells were really cool and I absolutely LOVE abusable things like that in RPGs it´s not like P3 was the easiest RPG in the first place, it was freaking brutal at certain spots if I remember correctly...sounds like, it´s even harder now...AND your playing on a timer AND you have to know exactly what to do on each day to maximise your results...man.

Good thing I still have my 300+ Pages of Guides around here somewhere...the things you do for your favorite modern JRPG...

Oh, one question, Episode Aigis is not part of Portable, right?

[Phoenix Gamma]

From what I hear, no, but I saw the Doors of Sands in a trailer, but the male was being played. Which is kinda, you know...impossible. So there's some new content with that that isn't Answer related specifically. And I clarified a few things: spells ARE passed on still, but combo spells between two personas are items now because they were all too amazing. Like Cadenza and stuff. You CAN fuse Personas with specific weapons now, which I don't remember, but haven't tried.

The game's easier now that you don't get tired until the next day. Means you can basically grind forever, which is what being tired was supposed to prevent. Now they charge for healing, but it's not a ripoff like in P4, so you can dungeon crawl for a long time.

EDIT: Oh and I won Destructoid's P3P contest. I'm getting Junpei's hat in the mail :D Second Persona-related contest I won!

[Phoenix Gamma]

Also I got two of the three Engineer updates! Still need 3 or 4 more achievements for the last one, which is the most interesting I think (Wrangler. Lets you manually aim sentries, though they do jack shit by themselves. Replaces pistol.)

The miniturret is pretty interesting, and a few times I found it useful. Like if I need to escape, I'll drop it behind a corner I'm running down and it'll at least slow down the other guy. Plus there were a few times where I ran to a point, dropped an Exit, picked up some scrap, then dropped a minigun and went on my way in seconds flat. That's pretty empowering. But since you can't repair them, it makes their role totally different. I can't figure out how to use them effectively beyond quickly setting up base or shaking off people while I haul ass.

The new shotgun is worth having right now, because everyone's either an Engineer or a spy or demo. So shit explodes. Having those revenge bullets is handy when your sentry's having a hard time staying up (or is a minigun. In which case you'll lose them a LOT and save up revenge bullets).

Moving buildings is pretty fucking ridiculous though. That's a game changer, and the fact that he can do it by default now really opens up strategies that are a little too effective. Like upgrading a sentry in your base, packing it up, teleporting, and planting it someplace way further off without having to camp and wait for an upgrade. If only the Minigun could do it, I'd understand, but regular sentries, dispensers, and teleports can all float around? Matches are really gonna flip flop now.

Also, I'm pissed the guitar is ONLY a taunt, and not an actual weapon. As cool as a mechanical arm is.

The new maps are awesome though. Really fun.

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

Originally Posted by kahljorn

someone told me one time that mystic quest was supposed to be the secret of mana 1 or 2 or something ;(

the thing i hated most about lufia 1 is when you get to that place where you have to do some shit with fucking towers or something. I couldn't figure it out
The first star ocean is hella awesome though.

Final Fantasy Adventure for the gameboy is like secret of mana 1.

[Zhukov]

I gotMario Galaxy 2, but it's just like the first one. I don't know why I buy these games. I don't know why I expected different.


Uh, the first one was good, but I don't want to buy it and play it again.

[timrpgland]

Final Fantasy Adventure for the gameboy is like secret of mana 1.

Yeah. Seiken Densetsu series. FFA is considered the first, SoM the second. I like the 3rd the best. Some of the best music too.

Mystic Quest was called Final Fantasy US cause we were considered "inferior" at the time and didn't get #5.

[Dimnos]

I beat FFA while hiking through the grand canyon.

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

take that nature. Seiken Densetsu 3 just seemed kinda disjointed.

[Dimnos]

I couldnt put it down. I took it mostly for the car ride but once we got there I had to take it with me.

[Esuohlim]

So FF6 Japan = FF3 USA?

Because I've (barely) played FF3 on DS, which I'm guessing is FF3 Japan

[Phoenix Gamma]

FF1 = FF1
FF2 = Only released in America later
FF3 = Only released in America on the DS
FF4 = FF2
FF5 = Also released later
FF6 = FF3

The rest are all properly named, and all the first 6 are properly named now thanks to countless remakes.

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

Final Fantasy V was pretty good too. I have it on PSX, not sure if they remade it on the GBA as well.

[darkvare]

i got a key for the medal of honor beta

[kahljorn]

Oh :O i guess final fantasy adventure was called MYSTIC QUESt in europe but it has no relation to final fantasy mystic quest ;/

Seiken Dentsu 3 does seem kind of disjointed at first but i think that's because you get to choose your 3 characters and depending on which characters you choose the scenarios are similar/different. i think its a pretty cool game though, especially once you start changing jobs and such :O

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

It prob would be better with a controller. I was using WASD and the numpad

I did play as the thief guy, got to his 2nd job as a ninja I think and started cleaning house.