Last edited by Natty Bumppo; 08-23-2019 at 05:46 AM.
When I come home from a long day in Hell, there's nothing I'd rather reach for than a fire-brewed bottle of Styx Beer. Made from the filthiest waters from our own River Styx. Styx Beer is a third more toxic than any other regular beer. The worst beer - the filthiest beer - the deadliest beer. It's Styx Beer!
I will always recommend playing Lufia II before the first Lufia (or you can skip the first one altogether). The first game does nothing for Lufia II besides spoil the story, turning scenes that could be surprising and have great impact into scenes you're just waiting for the game to get to. On top of that, the first game is such a slog that it could put someone off from even wanting to start Lufia II. I'm generally all about playing series in release order, but this is one exception where it really benefits to start with the second release.
I've only played through it a couple times so I actually couldn't tell you who I like best or anything actually other than how the game generally plays. I've just enjoyed the game enough to praise it whenever TRPGs come up. I don't own a Sega CD but I do own Dark Wizard, Lunar, and Lunar 2. Since I've only borrowed a Sega CD or have played games through emulation, it's always been awhile since I've touched these games.
I do however play through Brigandine quite often, so I could go into detail about everything in that game. Vaynard is my favorite ruler and you wouldn't believe it but Ector is my favorite knight. The samurai class is my favorite melee class in Brigandine and Ector is the only character in Norgard who can become a samurai. He's also a great character to cross class into a champion. That being said, I usually try to finish the game within the year, so I almst never have a game going long enough to bother with any sort of cross classing.
https://youtu.be/W1MiDVvX4Lg?t=1378
https://gematsu.com/2019/08/brigandi...ncement-leaked
Here's the announcement for Brigandine, now it's only known to be for Switch at this time because a Switch logo comes up when getting an error, hopefully it's not Switch exclusive, I'd rather own my favorite games on the PS4, but I will purchase this for the Switch if it doesn't come to another console. Let's all hope it's as good as the original, or better.
Dark Wizard has amazing depth to it - there are some tricks that you can do to make the game really fun - for example you can switch alignments on your healers and magic casters so they learn all of the spells for both the lawful and chaos alignments. And it is possible to equip anyone with that awesome ghost scythe.
I am really fond of Iscalio and that madcap Dryst with his cast of goofy knights. I tend to like the archers - get them to a higher level and load them up with high centaurs and a fairy (for a react spell or two) and they are incredibly effective.
When I come home from a long day in Hell, there's nothing I'd rather reach for than a fire-brewed bottle of Styx Beer. Made from the filthiest waters from our own River Styx. Styx Beer is a third more toxic than any other regular beer. The worst beer - the filthiest beer - the deadliest beer. It's Styx Beer!
Centaurs and high centaurs are great. Not too much damage but they can whittle an enemy down while staying behind more powerful characters and you could easily pick off a weakened ruler. The lizard man class though is amazing(they added Lizard King in Grand Edition which is the best monster in the game/imo atleast.) So the lizard man only costs 30 rune power, lizard guard costs 45 and these two monsters have some of the highest defense in the game. The base dragon has high attack, not as high as the tiamat, but the dragon also costs 75 rune power. You can have a lizard man and a lizard guard for the cost of a dragon and both together could take out a dragon easy. Hellhound is another great class as well though, hit and away is a great skill because you can have many more characters attack then duck out for another to go in for another attack once again. They also have flame breath. Dragons and all of their upgrades are obviously the easiest of the classes to go towards because they have near perfect stats in every area. They're technically the best monster because the lack of work you have to put into them compared to all the rest, but centaurs, lizard guard, and hellhounds, all of them can be considered the best monsters in the game.
Such an amazing game though. Doesn't matter which monsters you go for all of them have their usefulness. Ghouls and vampires level up incredibly quickly and turn out to be one of the most powerful monsters in the game. Phoenix has more health, more attack power, and they can also destroy blue opponents, but the roc class can place stone on the enemies and stun them, and if you get lucky or unlucky enough the roc can turn everyone to stone and the effect can't be removed without cure. Even Golems and Giants are good units, you just have to pick your target wisely. Attack dragons, hydras, etc, slower enemies that you can actually hit, as long as you don't miss they're actually great cost efficient classes. Mermen and Triton are excellent in the water, unfortunately, outside of the water they're rather pathetic. Tiamat's on the other hand are good outside of water and unstoppable in water. Angels and demons are glass cannon monsters, high rune power requirements but they've got both good physical damage and very high magic damage. The only monster I've actually never given a chance is the mandrake. Or well, I have, but their defense is so low their high HP doesn't matter, I've never got one to seem like it's ever been worth using. Their stun effect is good, but you may as well use the roc instead.
One day I'll make a party of three knights with 18 lizard guards on level 30, keep attacking and backing away to level up.
If I am not trying to fight a pitched battle but just want the territory I like to send an archer in with centaurs and take out a weak enemy knight with the enemy usually retreating right afterwards. Set it up right and this can occur on the first turn you attack.
I really like high centaurs because they are also strong enough to put on the front lines. Just takes awhile to get them.
I also like bahamuts a lot - but it is hard to raise them. One of the reasons I like Dryst is because of the fact he starts with a bahamut and since Dryst has a power spell the two of them can put a world of hurt on the enemy. He also starts with a gigas which is handy if you are lucky enough to find a wisdom seed early in the game.
jectives
I think the neatest thing about Brigandine is the many ways you can play it. A lot of times I don't even really focus on taking territories but rather on having several groups of knights rampaging across the map.
When I come home from a long day in Hell, there's nothing I'd rather reach for than a fire-brewed bottle of Styx Beer. Made from the filthiest waters from our own River Styx. Styx Beer is a third more toxic than any other regular beer. The worst beer - the filthiest beer - the deadliest beer. It's Styx Beer!
So, was offline due to a thunderstorm (again) but during that period I worked on some projects and played some Master of Monsters....
Also decided to write a list of what games in the purview of this topic I own. Wound up reminding me a lot of "oh yeah, I have to play this... again, in some cases."
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing
Obviously my original plan was to copy-paste but decided just linking to it would make more sense, but if you have trouble accessing Google Drive documents I may just copypaste anyway.
And like I say in the doc, there were a few cases where I wondered if a game was in the purview of this topic... namely RTS games like Dune II or Warlocked. I dunno what it is but Real-Time Strategy doesn't feel the same as turn-based, even when it sometimes is.
When it comes to strategy, it does seem like I tend to like games like Master of Monsters, where you can summon new units, over games like Military Madness or Advance Wars where what's already on the field is all you're ever going to get... that restriction makes the latter feel somewhat like a puzzle game.
[I now imagine Lolo trapping a bunch of military jets in a white ball and kicking them off.]
I've never played any of the Japanese exclusive Advance Wars games, but when they first released on the GBA you don't get just what's on the field of battle. Each turn you make money from each city that you own and you can then create more units at bases, docks, and airports.
A few games that I'd really like to play, but I've never got around to purchasing them is Gihren's Greed and Vantage Master(that and they're JP only.) Now, one that I have played, only through the latest released 3DS game, is Culdcept Revolt, which is a bit RNG board game mixed with card game, but there's A LOT of strategy to that game and I'd really recommend it. Really good game. There's a ton of ways that you can build your decks of 50 cards and while there's RNG, the better player is going to win exceedingly more often than they lose. Infact, bad RNG being the cause of a loss is not very likely.
*edit*
Gihren's Greed is also super text heavy so that's also one thing that's holding me back. What with Namco Bandai publishing Engrish in nearly everything they release ever since they finally realized that westerners will import them by doing so, I'm hoping there's another rerelease one day.
Truth be told I haven't gotten far in Advance Wars mostly because the "tutorial" itself (which you need to complete to do the main game) is like 30 scenarios long. Now that you mention it though I think I do recall buying units being brought up in a level.
I should play some Dark Wizard. Main thing keeping me off is I'm not ready for what looks like it has a bit of a learning curve and will require a long commitment, and lately I'm bad about committing to longer games. Master of Monsters has a campaign mode but it can also be played in a "well I just wanna load up a map and beat some heads in" kind of mindset.
If you decide to take it up I can give you some pointers that will make the gameplay smoother - one of the big drawbacks to the game is that the first playthrough is rough since you have no idea how your units develop. And getting lots of money is important - there are ways to keep yourself in funds but they aren't obvious.
When I come home from a long day in Hell, there's nothing I'd rather reach for than a fire-brewed bottle of Styx Beer. Made from the filthiest waters from our own River Styx. Styx Beer is a third more toxic than any other regular beer. The worst beer - the filthiest beer - the deadliest beer. It's Styx Beer!
I remember getting to a town and wondering things like: "Does it matter which unit explores the town and talks to people?" and like "are there things that can trigger super-special units joining me?" and such. I think most of it I could just man up and learn the game probably.... sometimes its best to make mistakes the first time.
There are actually a few towns and places where it does matter who you send in - most of them not though. There are even a few towns/places it depends on what time of day (there are 4 periods per day in the game) you go. And a lot of events are triggered by chains of conversations in separate towns. And some special items you need to track down to trigger events.
When I come home from a long day in Hell, there's nothing I'd rather reach for than a fire-brewed bottle of Styx Beer. Made from the filthiest waters from our own River Styx. Styx Beer is a third more toxic than any other regular beer. The worst beer - the filthiest beer - the deadliest beer. It's Styx Beer!
When I come home from a long day in Hell, there's nothing I'd rather reach for than a fire-brewed bottle of Styx Beer. Made from the filthiest waters from our own River Styx. Styx Beer is a third more toxic than any other regular beer. The worst beer - the filthiest beer - the deadliest beer. It's Styx Beer!
Hmmmm a strategy game thread and Natty Bumpo didn't tell me about it? He is the Dark Wizard master! I liked War2410. Plays similar to Military Madness IMO.
Some favs that haven't been mentioned
Sega Genesis Centurion Defender of Rome : Old PC port in the early Genesis days. Start out with a small legion and only Rome and expand your empire. Fairly easy game. Fun to see you cavalry cohorts outflank the enemy on the battlefield and go to town. Quick game that can be beat in 2-3 hours. Cheap too.
Sega Genesis Herzog Zwei :Awesome action/strategy game with you piloting a transformable Jet/Mech. Two player split screen is a bonus. Issuing commands to your units to either patrol, stay put or attack the enemy base.
Snes Metal Marines : You build your base and defend it with gun turrets, missile launchers and Metal Marines. Send your Metal Marines(Mechs) on the enemies base to destroy it. Great game
Nes Genghis Khan : fell in love when I first saw this on my friend's Dad's IBM 286 back in the day(yes I'm old) Develop your country and army. Customize your army with 3 unit types(I usually just go with one huge Cavalry unit) Negotiate, conquer and expand. Sometimes you'll have to marry your daughter's off to gain a powerful General's loyalty. Can't do that in modern games
My trade list http://gametz.com/user/Bighab.html
Natty Bumppo (08-31-2019)
I alway get a perverse pleasure of watching my elephants (when you have them) squishing the enemy infantry.
A couple of other games:
Third World War (Sega CD) - this one really slipped under the radar - if there was ever a hidden gem this is it.
King's Bounty (Genesis) - kinda odd gameplay but once you get the hang of it is a lot of fun.
THe Dune games for Sega CD and the Genesis are also worth a look - the genesis one is probalby the better of the two.
Rebelstar Tactical Command (GBA) is pretty fun - but because of the mechanics doesn't hold up for replay (basically you wind up doing the same things on replays).
Last edited by Natty Bumppo; 08-30-2019 at 09:46 AM.
When I come home from a long day in Hell, there's nothing I'd rather reach for than a fire-brewed bottle of Styx Beer. Made from the filthiest waters from our own River Styx. Styx Beer is a third more toxic than any other regular beer. The worst beer - the filthiest beer - the deadliest beer. It's Styx Beer!
Unicorn Overlord is worth checking out - normally I don't like RTS games but this one really struck a chord with me. Massive world map and lots of things to do on it - this game sucked over 200 hours out of my life.
When I come home from a long day in Hell, there's nothing I'd rather reach for than a fire-brewed bottle of Styx Beer. Made from the filthiest waters from our own River Styx. Styx Beer is a third more toxic than any other regular beer. The worst beer - the filthiest beer - the deadliest beer. It's Styx Beer!
Nowadays I want something different I search youtube for specific terms. "Metroidvania" is one of them. Game like MarioRPG, or Game like Golden Axe. It gets kind of hard to find stuff because sometimes they show you stuff but do not mention the names ( like with MetalJesusRock ). Even actiony rpg I look for. When I do I feel like I am in a long pause.
What I found enjoyable when I was purchasing Super Famicom games ( or SNES ) is when I find a save game. Like your playing something with all the dungeons and levels done, just roaming the world, only to find the ending appear before you, or the last boss approaches you. It is like a magical experience to turn that cart on.
If you like hunting RPG games you should checkout the sattelite view games. As with SIM-city where a player created content. These games will have flash-cards installed, where you could play somebodies creation. It all might be in Japanese but some of these user creations are actually enjoyable.
Imagine finding a FF3 game, where Leo has been saved, the items that was not featured are there and the dark dragon is actually fightable and there is a missing summon.
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Somebody said Robotrek ?
I remember I purchased that SNES game, and played the living daylights out of it. Personally I believe the SNES conversion is better then "Slapstick". That being said
Not "Wildguns" but "Evolution" and "Grandia" is the closest things asides many other PSX RPG games
that seemed to do what it did. It was all alien to me at the time.
Robotrek needs to have a Anime or Manga or something, to go with it. It literally did "Pokemon" thing before Pokemon ( maybe after ) . I love the dialog and the game. Part of the reason why I love this game is partly my love for Japanese media that does not hide itimacy between the opposite sex. This game actually takes place via generations, using time-travel. While you are the same character from the same year, the enemies actually evolve.
They go from low-ranking Team-Rocket grunts ( grunts a military term for the lowest of low that does not carry guns ). To upper tier monsters, finally the doctor, to eventually taking on the decendent of one of those lesser ranks. It is funny that way. Following the begining or hindsight of FFIV basically, where you are a decendent of the enemy ( some family branch ) of some sort.
I miss Hong Kong styled comedic games of that time. Blazes I miss media from that time. Now we just have wanna-be garbage.
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Addams Family - PCE is a must play. It has actual voices, and you a-typical Addams Family jokes ( without the laugh track ). Only problem is the game is too realistic, as it ends too short but if your able to finish the game it is actually decent challenge. It is like if the actor from "Monk" ( TV detective series that was ruined when the actor from "Howard the Duck" ( Monks boss/police chief ) came out as a homosexual teen boy sex maniac, reinacting his role from HTD ). But you get to tour the house and deal with all the family members.
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