What are you playing?

[veris leta facies]

I beat FF2. I think that's a testament to how enjoyable I found the game, despite its faults.

Did you play the original NES version or some later release of the game? I have tried to get into FF 1-3, but haven't really managed to play any of them more than couple of hours per game. In FF1 you have to grind as fuck to get anywhere in the game, IIRC in FF2 it was really unclear where to even go, in FF3 the first dungeon is so terribly boring I never got out there, I also hated how it started with only one character (DS version). Also the archaic battle systems in these games were a major turn off. For example, if you target an enemy and it dies before the attack, the attack just misses rather than is directed to another enemy. I have very low tolerance for such excruciating injustice.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

Did Squeenix at least finished to properly implement the trade minigame for the PC port of RS3? I remember Thomas being useless as a main character because that was supposed to be a big part of his gameplay but it didn't work very well.

There is a capitalism mini-game, but I dunno whether it's more fleshed out than it was before.

What apparently hasn't been properly implemented is an actual quest for Tatyana (some recruitable chick who forces herself into your party without your consent, but gtfo as soon as you enter one specific city because she's the runaway daughter of the local rich bloke, but there's no way to actually resolve this sub-plot.).

[Le Redditeur]

Did Squeenix at least finished to properly implement the trade minigame for the PC port of RS3? I remember Thomas being useless as a main character because that was supposed to be a big part of his gameplay but it didn't work very well.

There is a capitalism mini-game, but I dunno whether it's more fleshed out than it was before.

What apparently hasn't been properly implemented is an actual quest for Tatyana (some recruitable chick who forces herself into your party without your consent, but gtfo as soon as you enter one specific city because she's the runaway daughter of the local rich bloke, but there's no way to actually resolve this sub-plot.).

It has been a long time since I played it, so I may be misremembering this bit, but I think that's by design - her plot isn't resolved so you can keep kicking her out of the party when you want to. I remember getting pissed at the Bard/Ministrel because he wouldn't leave before I killed at least one of the Abyss bosses, so I just let he die permanently by reducing his LP to 0.

I also remember getting lost on a chain of sidequests that started by trying to help the black dude (or was I playing him as MC? Cant' remember) and I somehow ended in the Far North recruiting the Lobsterman and Bigfoot. Man, that game was impossible to follow without a guide.

[rabidtictac]

I beat FF2. I think that's a testament to how enjoyable I found the game, despite its faults.

Did you play the original NES version or some later release of the game? I have tried to get into FF 1-3, but haven't really managed to play any of them more than couple of hours per game. In FF1 you have to grind as fuck to get anywhere in the game, IIRC in FF2 it was really unclear where to even go, in FF3 the first dungeon is so terribly boring I never got out there, I also hated how it started with only one character (DS version). Also the archaic battle systems in these games were a major turn off. For example, if you target an enemy and it dies before the attack, the attack just misses rather than is directed to another enemy. I have very low tolerance for such excruciating injustice.

I played the GBA version, which as far as I can tell, is a 1-1 translation or damn near it from the PS1 "Origins" remake. I didn't play the nes version. FF2 will punish you if you enter the wrong zone, as enemies can level up really fast. But the game is usually somewhat clear about where to go (at least in the first half of the game) so long as you talk to everyone. The NPC dialogue changes at every progression point and I think they were able to do that because there are almost no NPCs in the game. Very, very few when you take out shopkeepers and the one rebel town. Other towns have between 3 and 7 NPCs in them and there aren't many towns.

The main thing to remember with plot triggers is to always exhaust dialogue with everyone. Always collect all the keywords and use them all on every character you can think of, at least in the immediate area. If you get the word "Sunfire," or anything else about Kashuan Keep, make sure you go ask the king about it and not just Minwu (who is standing next to the king.)

The origins remake fixed the targeting issue, btw. You can just hold A the entire time and the combat is fast as fuck. Set memory cursor and get your tactics going, then watch in amazement as you hold A and body everything. It's faster than the ATB system, arguably, since you don't have to wait for your ATB to charge up.

FF3 is a pile of shit. They make you trudge through some abysmal dungeons, then collect one ally, then finally you get your whole party after a bunch of drudgery and guess what? Enjoy a mountain dungeon where the default enemy bird has a percent chance to stone any character with a normal attack. You can't cure stone except with expensive items your beginning party won't be able to afford. Enjoy save-resetting a lot.

[rabidtictac]

I decided to get Romancing Saga 3 hd. Might get RoSaga 2 as well, who knows. Only problem I'm having so far is it's insane figuring out how to do quests. A few are simple "go here do this," but a lot of them involve hitting story triggers with no indication of where the next trigger will be for the quest.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

I found the game's adventure log (press X in the party menu) quite handy in this case, since its entries usually have a few more infos than what you actually get in-game.

[rabidtictac]

I found the game's adventure log (press X in the party menu) quite handy in this case, since its entries usually have a few more infos than what you actually get in-game.

Holy shit bro. I'll have to remember to check that out. I know Minstrel Song has a quest log. Didn't know Romancing Saga 3 had one. I'm doubtful Romancing Saga 2 does though.

[Complicity]

Anybody here played Wolcen?

Tried a torrent recently and it sucks ass.
It's the same as Diablo 3 with a dumbed down POE passive skills tree, and many more bugs.
The story is a pile of shit: Empire paladins vs Chaos barbarians and Naga/Murloc hybrids, and the protagonist turns into a Super Sayan God in the beginning for some reason.
When it comes to customization, you can only be a gay mage, a gay archer, a Booty Wavvioh or something between those 3; i went for a rogue with dagger and pistol who can switch between melee and ranged attacks, but it's still boring as hell.
Flying enemies, like bats, have pixel sized hit boxes placed below them and never stand still, forcing you to waste aoe cooldowns just to get rid of 1.
If you save and quit in the middle of a map, be prepared to restart in town and replay all of it, and it takes ages to reach the next teleportation platform.

Imo the best Diablo 2 clone is still Grim Down Syndrome, followed by Poe but only because it's free to play and win, since everything in it dies and kills in 1 shot.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

Good to hear that I haven't missed out on anything important in the land of Diablo clones.

[Kugelfisch]

Since Bonerlord is starting Early Access at the end of the month I started a new Mount & Blade Warboner campaign.
Really looking forward to Bonerlord being an absolute buggy mess.