|
|
Post by shokushuko on Dec 28, 2011 22:11:26 GMT -5
I think all sub forums could do with a thread like this. Something for small talk discussion about a game until you have particularly direct topics about the game.
So I guess we ought to start with opinions about the game and characters. How much have you played? What did you like about it. We all know that most people call this the best SNES RPG.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kalisiin Kumaki on Dec 28, 2011 22:26:09 GMT -5
It's an idea.
I'm still playing around with the format and sub-boards and so on. Remember I'm very new at running a board like this...so all suggestions will be taken into consideration. Will have to look at it.
I may end up hiding the sub-boards, adding a general board to each board, like this one...and then move posts and un-hide certain sub-forums as needed.
Like I said, I have to play with things a bit and see what really works best.
|
|
|
|
Post by shokushuko on Dec 31, 2011 12:37:33 GMT -5
Soo then... Did you not play Chrono Trigger, Strider? This was an awesome game. We need discussion in here
|
|
|
|
Post by Warlock on Dec 31, 2011 13:21:09 GMT -5
I did play Chrono Trigger, but I've never been a gigantic fan of the game- I think Final Fantasy 6 was significantly better. I do really enjoy Chrono Cross, though.
I do kind of like the dual tech/triple tech concepts- it makes picking your party a little more complicated than "what role does X character fill?"- what combination of characters you pick is important too.
- HC
|
|
|
|
Post by Vireo Gilvus on Dec 31, 2011 14:22:22 GMT -5
CT is my #2 SNES RPG, behind FF6. The dual/triple techs were a nice idea, as was New Game +. And the soundtrack was simply unforgettable.
|
|
|
|
Post by shokushuko on Jan 1, 2012 8:08:57 GMT -5
You like Chrono Cross better??
That makes for a decent discussion then. While Chrono Cross had a decent story, I found it annoying to play. Too many characters (interchangable drones), the battle system was weird and wasn't fun, Dual/Triple Techs were kind of useless, and none of the loot felt worth taking most of the time.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kalisiin Kumaki on Jan 1, 2012 8:14:52 GMT -5
You like Chrono Cross better?? That makes for a decent discussion then. While Chrono Cross had a decent story, I found it annoying to play. Too many characters (interchangable drones), the battle system was weird and wasn't fun, Dual/Triple Techs were kind of useless, and none of the loot felt worth taking most of the time. Hmmmmmm...not liking a particular battle system, eh?? Care to explain yourself?? |
|
|
|
Post by Warlock on Jan 1, 2012 9:50:38 GMT -5
Well, Chrono Cross does have it's pros and cons, but on the whole I enjoyed it tremendously.
Personally, I really enjoyed the story. I also really enjoyed the 'element grid'- I felt like it was a better implementation of what Square was aiming for with Final Fantasy 8's draw/cast magic system. There were parts of the game where I felt that it worked quite well; the game's better battles were fun exercises in resource management. I also liked the way they handled experience/etc- the number of bosses you've beaten is the primary determinant of your stats and is shared across all your characters, so if you decide to stick that character you haven't used since the beginning of the game in your party, they're not totally useless until you grind them up.
I swear that a lot of the game's character designs were made by pulling words out of a hat or a blindfolded man throwing darts ("Let's see, how about a *thunk* psychedelic... *thunk* baby... *thunk* dragon?"). I consider this a neutral thing, though, personally... It gave the game some personality, if nothing else... Note that most of the really wacky characters are bonuses, not people you will actually meet on your way through the game.
On the con side, I'd list the game's difficulty (or lack thereof) as the biggest issue for me; for a significant portion of the game, it feels like the bosses are at the level that normal enemies should be. I don't object in theory to the lack of double and triple techs, but they were kind of a Chrono Trigger trademark and it would have been good to see them retained as more than a bonus thing (Also, I don't know what you're talking about with them being 'too weak'- X-strike was pretty badass!).
As for the number of characters- I'd personally categorize that as a neutral thing rather than a negative, but there were definitely games and series that handled having a lot of characters better. Suikoden's schtick was that there were 108 characters that could join your army (there were more in the sequels), but not only did you have a party of six, there was a castle where your unused characters hung out and a number of 'event battles' which your entire army participated in. Even if members weren't in your active party, they still did stuff- gathering characters in Suikoden populated your castle and helped in large-scale battles, whereas gathering characters in Chrono Cross was by and large just a matter of adding names to a roster. It kind of felt like a missed opportunity, and reduced what could have been an interesting gameplay element to a gimmick.
I really enjoyed the game's storyline, in spite of the series of "Oh, by the way, here's a whole bunch of backstory" infodumps they drop on you at the end. The game also had a lot of really excellent music, for what that's worth. I liked the battle system in spite of the ease of the beginning portion of the game and the lack of dual and triple techs didn't bother me- so I guess, really, I consider a lot of the things you count as negatives as neutrals.
- HC
|
|
|
|
Post by shokushuko on Jan 1, 2012 12:05:47 GMT -5
I honestly prefer FF8's Drawing. It's not so much that the element grid was bad, it was just the fact that Elements were nothing but an un-unique higher damage attack that anyone can use.
Chrono Trigger characters were kind of random too, just on a smaller scale. I don't actually care about how random the characters are, the problem is that you had lots and lots of characters that were barely given a personality and barely had an effect on the storyline.
|
|
|
|
Post by Warlock on Jan 1, 2012 13:26:55 GMT -5
I would have liked to see the ability to buy spells in FF8- my big complaint was that, especially combined with the Junctions, it just felt like there was a certain amount of "This boss has a new spell? Okay, time to spend 10 minutes drawing 100 of it for all my characters..." that went on.
(And yes, I realize that you can refine most spells earlier than you can draw them; I'm just saying)
Regarding character designs- I don't really see where you're coming from on that. On a basic level, Chrono Trigger has Silent Hero, Cursed Knight, Spunky Princess, Nerdy Girl, Prehistoric Girl, Robot, and Evil Wizard. Chrono Cross' main cast was about the same level (Silent Hero, Spunky Thief, Evil Panther, Jester Girl, etc etc...) but the bonus characters seemed to be an effort on the developers' part to out-wacky themselves with their roster of onion swordsmen, giant voodoo dolls, psychedelic dragons, aliens, humanoid mushrooms, gigantic pink dogs, and... uhh... whatever Pip was supposed to be.
- HC
|
|
|
|
Post by shokushuko on Jan 1, 2012 20:51:31 GMT -5
Well yeah, Final Fantasy 8 could of done with spell shops. Obviously it would still make sense to spend a while drawing new spells from bosses though. I mean, collecting more powerful stuff earlier if you put in the effort is always a good feature.
And yeah, making random characters can be fun, but if they aren't given enough story and reason to be there, you kind of have no reason to even use them. Some character seem especially useless. Some had plot limited to "Oh Hai, I'm joining you for some reason" and never heard from again. Usually the weirdest characters who don't even seem appealing to put in your party.
|
|
