Rondo of Swords (DS)

[PDorr3]

I am looking for impressions on this game as I am going out later and might pick it up. The combat seems refreshing for a SRPG, just wondering if any of you have picked this up yet and played it to give some impressions? If not I will probably just wait until The World Ends With You comes out.

[Nate Nanjo]

Honestly I couldn't get into the game at all. The thing different about this game is you move your characters and anyone in your path it has an effect (Gaining stats from allies or attacking enemies).

The art for the game is really good and the soundtrack from what I heard was good. The story seemed interesting, but not enough for me to keep playing.

[PDorr3]

I decided to pick the game up, here are my VERY EARLY initial impressions:

After getting my butt handed to me two times on the first stage (Seriously do the tutorial first because if you jump into the first stage from the bat you will die no doubt). I cleared the 3rd stage in the game and have vry mixed feelings. So far I am not sure if I like the way the route combat system works out, it seems like later on ALOT of pre planning will be needed and alot of random elements like blocking and countering come into play. Skipping the battle scene that happens seems like it will be needed, its overly slow and drawn out. I found myself skipping them in the first stage, not a good sign.

Sound wise the music is nice and visuals are meh. Character designs are nice but the feild you play on is quite bland. Honesly too with the graphics I think the game Yggdra Union on the GBA has better animations and visuals than this does, though that game was ahead of its time on GBA so its not too bad for Rondo.

I do like how passing through your allies grants you power ups like more chance to crit or health up, though it seems unless you watch the battle scenes you do not know what powers you get.

Like I said though these are very early impressions (only an hour into the game) so I am sure things will change, although so far first impressions are not too good...

[Xexyz]

I've given it about 5 good hours so far and am on the 12th or so mission now (stage full of magicians).

For me, this game is a welcomed breath of fresh air. My initial 2 hour impression was mixed, mainly because I got stuck for a good bit on the fourth mission. This game is challenging, it will not hold back, even from the get go. If you like your SRPG's to hold your hand (I.E. Luminous Arc), then this game is not for you.

With that out of the way, there is a lot of planning you have to do. because of the route system, most of your fighting tactics from other SRPG's will be thrown out the window. You really have to adapt with this game. Unfortunately, one set back is that some missions come off as almost impossible the first time around. You basically have to retry them once in awhile because you might not have the best party suited for the battle.

Graphically, the game is nothing special, although the battle scene sprites are nicely detailed. I can't complain too much though, because the battle maps & sprites give me a nostalgic throw back to the original Shining Force.

The music is pretty good, although there doesn't seem to be much variety (every battle I've fought so far has the same exact Player Phase and Enemy Phase BGM's).

So far the storyline isn't anything special. The dialog is well written/translated, and there's a cool plot twist right after the first battle cut scene, but for the most part it seems to be your typical SRPG fare, army nations struggling for power.

If you want a detailed explanation on the skill system and the extra jobs/quests you can send idle characters off on to improve their stats, I suggest checking out a professional review. My writing isn't the best, and I'm getting lazy already.

Overall though, if you like challenging games that make you think, this game just might be for you.

[FantasiaWHT]

I've been playing it for part of the last week.

Mixed really describes it. You really have to change your SRPG mindset. You tend to be better off actually putting your weaker players in the front, because having somebody behind your character can stop an attack (since the enemy has to go THROUGH your character, not just land on them, if you are in a narrow corridor, they can't attack you at all).

Two things that bug the SHIT out of me though

1) That you can't use items, skills, OR SPELLS and move on the same turn. You can shoot a bow after moving, but for some reason, you can't move and then use an item. Or a skill. Or cast a spell. It SUCKS. Items are almost worthless, because you often can't afford to not move a character one term. Mages are even more vulnerable in this game than most SRPGs, and not terribly powerful either. A mage's area spells will hit allies--since you can't move up to a group of enemies and then attack with the spell, you have to let the enemies get close to your mage, but not have your allies close enough to get caught in the blast. My healer is almost worthless - having two characters with the pass-through healing ability is much more useful.

2) The lack of numbers when you skip the "fight scenes". The fight scenes are ridiculously drawn out, but if you skip them you won't know what bonuses you got from your allies, how much damage you did, how much a heal spell healed, etc. It really wouldn't have been hard to have a quick dialogue flash up after you skip a fight scene.

I wish I had more than 6, too, especially with the amount of planning (you can NOT bumble through these) necessary. But that might change :)

Did anybody else have huge problems with the desert/castle map, where the thief joins? I had to replay it 5 times in a row to level up enough and understand perfectly what I had to do, not includnig the probably 5 more times I tried it and died :)

One really nice thing is that if you do quit a battle to retry it, you get all your EXP & skill points, but for some reason you get all the items you used back, too.

[Viraneth]

It looks awesome. Seems much easier than La Pucelle: Tactics, where if you mess up on one part of the mountain level, you're screwed in the ass.

[MightySlacker]

Not impressed at all with the game. When someone screams NEW INNOVATIVE BATTLE SYSTEM, I think to myself "Well, why exactly is it that no one has done this before?" In this case, because its not very good. You can have your strategy mapped to a T (and you need to unless you want your ass kicked) and still get screwed over by something random.

The graphics are cookie cutter at best, and the music is very bland as well. I'm hoping Drone Tactics is a better effort.

Dave

[Xexyz]

Drone Tactics is pretty meh, and screams of mediocrity much like Luminous Arc. It does seem more challenging though.

Anyway, I've gone through Rondo twice, Path A's bad ending and Path B's good ending. My biggest gripe about the game is not being able to see an enemy archer or mages attack range. It gets ridiculous later in the game, especially when some spells have a casting range of 10 and 11...

But on the plus side, the game actually gets easy, almost ridiculously so, especially with new game plus. If you recruit Cotton, who's AOE spells won't hit your allies, you're pretty much set. Her spells cost a lot, but here level 3 OB (which you can fill up completely if you kill 2 or more enemies with here AOE spell) refills here magic meter. Teaching Margus and Serdic (if you're on path B) ZOC and lining Cotton up behind them pretty much guarantees victory. And Ansom is a beast for most of the game. He makes for a great 1 hit K.O. sniper against enemy mages for most of the game.

I still like the route maneuvering system, although it needs some work if Success tries to use it again. It made you think twice about who you attacked and where you moved, but became a bit gimmicky and pointless once you had a tank like Margus with ZOC stop EVERY enemy dead in their tracks and still survive with HP to spare.

[FantasiaWHT]

Archer >>>>>>> mage

Is the thief good for anything? Er, "backpacker" or whatever they called her. She does pitifully small damage, so I'm not exactly sure how to level her up - just been having her train for the last two fights.

[Xexyz]

No, she's pretty much useless in combat. She does, however, make a for a good Quest hunter. I always had her go on Quests to pick up the Proofs needed to change my characters classes.

[MightySlacker]

Drone Tactics is pretty meh, and screams of mediocrity much like Luminous Arc. It does seem more challenging though.

Anyway, I've gone through Rondo twice, Path A's bad ending and Path B's good ending. My biggest gripe about the game is not being able to see an enemy archer or mages attack range. It gets ridiculous later in the game, especially when some spells have a casting range of 10 and 11...

But on the plus side, the game actually gets easy, almost ridiculously so, especially with new game plus. If you recruit Cotton, who's AOE spells won't hit your allies, you're pretty much set. Her spells cost a lot, but here level 3 OB (which you can fill up completely if you kill 2 or more enemies with here AOE spell) refills here magic meter. Teaching Margus and Serdic (if you're on path B) ZOC and lining Cotton up behind them pretty much guarantees victory. And Ansom is a beast for most of the game. He makes for a great 1 hit K.O. sniper against enemy mages for most of the game.

I still like the route maneuvering system, although it needs some work if Success tries to use it again. It made you think twice about who you attacked and where you moved, but became a bit gimmicky and pointless once you had a tank like Margus with ZOC stop EVERY enemy dead in their tracks and still survive with HP to spare.

Eh, at least Luminous Arc had some big titty witches, if otherwise it was an solid but unspectacular strat game.

Anywho, I tried to give Rondo more time, but after spending most of the weekend with The World Ends With You, I just wasn't getting into it :-/

Dave

[FantasiaWHT]

Anywho, I tried to give Rondo more time, but after spending most of the weekend with The World Ends With You, I just wasn't getting into it :-/

Dave

Haha, I bought the two games at the same time, myself :)

What level does the backpacker get charisma? I am kind of sick of sending out either of my best two characters on those high level quests (archer & beast-girl)

[Kamisama]

Rondo of Swords looks very interesting.. another title to add to the DS Watch List, too bad I don't have one yet.

at least I made some sprites out of screenshots:
http://www.vrc7.de/68kchan/src/Rondo_of_Sword-1.gifhttp://www.vrc7.de/68kchan/src/Rondo_of_Sword-2.gifhttp://www.vrc7.de/68kchan/src/Rondo_of_Sword-3.gifhttp://www.vrc7.de/68kchan/src/Rondo_of_Sword-4.gifhttp://www.vrc7.de/68kchan/src/Rondo_of_Sword-5.gifhttp://www.vrc7.de/68kchan/src/Rondo_of_Sword-6.gifhttp://www.vrc7.de/68kchan/src/Rondo_of_Sword-7.gifhttp://www.vrc7.de/68kchan/src/Rondo_of_Sword-8.gifhttp://www.vrc7.de/68kchan/src/Rondo_of_Sword-9.gifhttp://www.vrc7.de/68kchan/src/Rondo_of_Sword-0.gif

[Xexyz]

If you want a new sealed copy at MSRP, you better pick it up soon. You know, Atlus title and all.