Final Fantasy Tactics Clones: Hoshigami Remix, Luminous Arc, and Jeanne D'Arc...

[heybtbm]

With the all the new games coming out recently, I've recently been letting new DS and PSP RPG releases pass me by. It's too much to keep up with and I simply don't have the time to play them all. However...my favorite genre, Strategy RPG's, are slowly trickling out in handheld form. Besides the eagerly awaited Disgaea Portable and Final Fantasy Tactics coming out this Fall for the PSP, the little DS has two excellent SRPG's that most people don't even know exist.

Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth - Remix was released two weeks ago and is superb. The name "Hoshigami" may strike fear into most SRPG fans, but the original (ridiculous) menu system and crushing difficulty have been fixed (but are still there as options). This game is so much better on a handheld. I've put about 5 hours into this game in the past few days and I'm really impressed. This game has a definite "Tactics Ogre" feel to it. Tactics Ogre: Knights of Lodis and FF Tactics Advance were my two favorite GBA games...so I may be a little biased.







On August 14th, Atlus is releasing Luminous Arc. Another SRPG for the DS. I've got it pre-ordered and paid for. Looking forward to this one too.

[courtesi96]

Are you sure Hoshigami is good? All I've seen so far are bad reviews

[FoxyGamer]

hey... I liked the original Hoshigami <3

[hezeuschrist]

Excellent, now I can get rid of the PSOne version of Hoshigami.

[PDorr3]

I almost bought hoshigami on ds but then I remember that I had a psx copy of the game at home that I bought a long time ago and never played. It didnt seem too bad, but to me the battles went on way too long for me to consider buying it on the ds. I also read that halfway through the game that melee attacks become interior to magic, and that if you wish to succeed later in the game you must build your characters around magic only, which infact sealed the deal off for me not buying the game on ds.

Luminous arc however looks interesting, I am always up for a good SRPG but I am gonna wait for peoples impressions first.

[Xexyz]

I bought Hoshigami Remix, and am kind of mixed on it. I'm a big SRPG nut, but this one's just not grabbing me. The EXTREMELY complex and annoying Coinfeigm level up system is just plain confusing, and since Coins are this games Magic system, I'm probably going to be S.O.L. soon when I reach Chapter 3. Also, the elemental relationship is confusing as well. Sure, the rock, paper, scissors strong/weak relationship is cut and dry, but there's supportive relationships in regards to the elements that sit side by side to them...

Also, if you want good equipment and coins, you're going to want to perform 5-6 hit Sessions, which are frustrating and almost impossible to pull off on maps that don't have wide flat open areas (pretty much no maps save some Tower floors are like this).

I tried reading the Coinfeigm FAQ for the PSX version on Gamefaqs but... it's just too confusing.

[heybtbm]

I bought Hoshigami Remix, and am kind of mixed on it. I'm a big SRPG nut, but this one's just not grabbing me. The EXTREMELY complex and annoying Coinfeigm level up system is just plain confusing, and since Coins are this games Magic system, I'm probably going to be S.O.L. soon when I reach Chapter 3. Also, the elemental relationship is confusing as well. Sure, the rock, paper, scissors strong/weak relationship is cut and dry, but there's supportive relationships in regards to the elements that sit side by side to them...

Also, if you want good equipment and coins, you're going to want to perform 5-6 hit Sessions, which are frustrating and almost impossible to pull off on maps that don't have wide flat open areas (pretty much no maps save some Tower floors are like this).

I tried reading the Coinfeigm FAQ for the PSX version on Gamefaqs but... it's just too confusing.

There's a helpful thread going on right now at Gamefaqs about leveling up coinfeigms. I was able to level up all of my level 1's to level 2's and even a few 3's. The only challenge is to find the proper seals that will level up your coinfeigms "AOE" stat. Going through the towers are great places to find them. You can level up everything to level 2 with just the seals found at the coin shops. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it...but I can see what they meant about steep learning curve. It's still the most fun I've had on my DS in a long time.

[pragmatic insanester]

the new art style looks TERRIBLE. it went from a charming FFT look to another KAWAII DESU NE ^_^ type of garbage.

[heybtbm]

I realize the gamer world is currently mesmerized by Bioshock, but did anyone pick up Luminous Arc last week or Jeanne D'Arc yesterday? I have both, but need to finish the last two battles in Hoshigami before I start either. I think I'll be digging into Jeanne D'Arc first. It looks pretty good...

[s1lence]

Jeanne D'Arc looks really good, but like you I've been playing Bioshock.

[Xexyz]

Luminous Arc is a bit... disappointing. As one would expect from a heavily story based SRPG, there's no customizable characters. That's fine and dandy with me, because you get a nice variety of units for your disposal. What I don't like is the cookie cutter storyline. Also, all battles take the same strategy. The enemies rush you on every turn, and since the maps are small, fights will be over quickly. The short length of battles is a good thing, but the ganging up aspect leaves for little strategy, and it's easy to abuse the enemy AI and make battles one sided.

Challenge is there, so long as you don't go back to the old battles to level up. Enemies will be at a much higher level than you should you decide to play this way, offering a fair bit of challenge.

Jeanne D'Arc looks to be the real winner of these three.

P.S.- I got the hang of the Coingfeim system... so long and tedious. I pretty much gave up halfway into Chapter 4. Sure, at first it's fun to blast enemies with maxed out Lvl. 4 elemental spells with an AOE of 25, but soon you'll come to realize that even these spells will do very little damage to the enemy units, especially the magic biased ones.

[heybtbm]

P.S. - I got the hang of the Coingfeim system... such a long and tedious system. I pretty much gave up halfway into Chapter 4. Sure, it's fun at first to blast enemies with maxed out Lvl. 4 elemental spells with an AOE of 25, but soon you'll come to realize that even these spells will do very little damage to the enemy units, especially the magic biased ones.

Yeah, Hoshigami battles can be slow, plodding, tedious work (and very little fun). Especially when the enemies have 20 solid turns in a row before your team gets one. The enemies have so many hit points by Chapter 6 that it takes several turns (of your whole team) to kill just one. Even so, my team is leveled up enough as to hardly take any damage...but what good is it when a battle takes 1 1/2 hours to finish?

[Daria]

You know it's kind of funny that this thread is called "Final Fantasy Tactics" clones when FFT is a clone of Ogre Tactics.

That said I'm kinda bored of all the Tactics games available now. When Disgaea first came out I was loving all the attention the genre was suddenly receiving, but now it seems every other game published by NISA or Atlus is a SRPG. And then there were all the spin-offs jumping on the bandwagon. Suikoden Tatics, Onimusha Tactics... give me a break.

Anyway if you check out the Jean D'Arc website you can sign up for a free demo disk.

[misfits859]

I've played the first few battles of Jeanne D'Arc and, story-wise and graphically, it appears that a nice effort has been put forth. Can't tell so much about the fun factor yet but it looks like it's gonna be a winner.

[Nate Nanjo]

You know it's kind of funny that this thread is called "Final Fantasy Tactics" clones when FFT is a clone of Ogre Tactics.

But, at least you get a chance to revive your characters. I mean Denim dies in Ogre Tactics thats it.

I really enjoyed Luminous Arc, however it wasn't that long. Although chapter 14 was not fun.

Want to play Jeanne D'Arc, it looks good. However, I sold my PSP towards a 360.

[WanganRunner]

Simply from a collecting standpoint, all three of these will likely be rare to semi-rare in the future.

In terms of just buying them to play, I think I'd go for Jeanne first.

[Xexyz]

I really enjoyed Luminous Arc, however it wasn't that long. Although chapter 14 was not fun.

Yeah, Chapter 14 is where I'm stuck at right now. It's the first time I've been forced to level grind on previous battles. The thing that really irritates me about this game, is the lack of strategy. High ground means nothing in this game, and you'll never be able to flank an enemy with archers. You can shoot right through your allies and it wont hurt them, because there's no arrows, just an animation of your unit shooting, and then a magical hit on the enemy you targeted. Also, the lack of attack range for archers and attack/healing spells is pretty disappointing too.

[Nate Nanjo]

Yeah, Chapter 14 is where I'm stuck at right now. It's the first time I've been forced to level grind on previous battles. The thing that really irritates me about this game, is the lack of strategy. High ground means nothing in this game, and you'll never be able to flank an enemy with archers. You can shoot right through your allies and it wont hurt them, because there's no arrows, just an animation of your unit shooting, and then a magical hit on the enemy you targeted. Also, the lack of attack range for archers and attack/healing spells is pretty disappointing too.

It came down to Lucia vs Vanessa for me. I got lucky and got pass the battle.

Aside from that, you get through most of the game without problems. Also, having your HP/MP restored every level up, helps a lot.

[meancode]

Jeanne D'Arc is absolutely stunning. I am really amazed. It is a definite buy for an RPG fan.

[heybtbm]

Jeanne D'Arc is absolutely stunning. I am really amazed. It is a definite buy for an RPG fan.

Nice. I plan on starting it today.

I finally finished Hoshigami Remix last night. Most of the battles in Chapter 6 (the final chapter) require level 4 coinfeigms just to keep the battles down to under two hours. Some of the enemies have 9999 hit points and when my characters (all ~ level 60-70) only do 100 points of damage per turn...you know it's going to be a long battle. Fortunately, a few level 4 coinfeigms will make short work of the 9999 hit point enemies in 3 turns. Anyway, I'm glad it's done. On to Jeanne D'Arc.