PSP's Last Hurrah: A JRPG/SRPG Bonanza

[xris]

I just saw the trailer for Gungnir, looked pretty decent. It's been quite some time sinse ive played a good srpg. I've only really enjoyed the Disgea series, but missed out on the third. Really didn't like the FF srpgs. Any body play this yet?

[professor ganson]

I haven't played it yet, but I'm guessing it's more strategy oriented than-- less grinding oriented than-- Disgaea. I think there's supposed to be a decent difficulty level for those who want it. I'm hoping my copy comes today!

Speaking of last hurrahs, anyone thinking about Pokemon Conquest for DS? I'm worried it will be too easy and have overly simple level design. I do love the idea of a Pokemon strat game, though.

[Op Intensify]

Detailed overview of Gungnir.

Still don't have the game yet, but I think this sounds very promising:

...levels have very little meaning. By leveling up, characters’ stats will increase very slightly, as will their carrying capacity—and their carrying capacity is all that really matters, because your party’s abilities will come mostly from their equipment. This is the first Dept. Heaven game that has traditional inventories for characters. They can equip up to five things—up to two weapons, one piece of armor per body part, and extraneous comestibles. Items have weight, and generally the heavier things are the stronger they are, so the only major advantage a level 50 soldier has over a level 1 soldier is that the former can carry a bit more, and can thus equip the cool things. Since most new units will arrive in your army at a pretty low level, this comes in handy—you can just have them run around with someone else’s hand-me-downs for a map or two, and then they’ll be all caught up and capable of handling heavy artillery.

I wouldn't expect this to be like the typical Nippon Ichi SRPG where you can just brute force your way through the entire game with a few overpowered story characters. It definitely seems like the element of strategy is very front and center, especially with the availability of higher difficulty settings (though, they unfortunately must be unlocked).

[Op Intensify]

Got my copy. Haven't played it though. This is the kind of game where you need a solid weekend's free time just to get started, and like KitN it's pretty much required that you pore over the manual beforehand.

[professor ganson]

Yeah, superficially it has a familiar sort of format, but then there are the unfamiliar-to-me elements that are not terribly intuitive. I can't tell whether the gameplay has real potential yet because the newer elements are still a bit mysterious to me.

Some minor gripes: The controls are just a bit clunky for me for some reason-- probably just need to get used to them. Not loving the look of the main characters so far. I didn't notice any way to save mid-battle, but I didn't look too hard. And the battles can get somewhat lengthy, I'm guessing. Finally, there's a bit too much useless dialogue that doesn't advance the plot. You can fast-forward but I didn't see a skip option.

Potential minor spoiler OR potential time saver: I wasted a fair amount of time restarting a certain stage, thinking I would eventually discover the way to beat the stage. But now I'm thinking you're not supposed to beat it. You're supposed to lose that stage. I don't know if it makes sense to get the treasure chests in the stage because I don't know if you get to keep items on a stage you ultimately lose! I suspect you get to keep your leveling, though I'm not sure leveling plays such a big role in the game.

[Friendly]

There are also three new Idolmaster games and another SD Gundam coming to PSP in Japan. Considering its current user base compared to 3DS (and Vita, hahah), I don't see PSP being abandoned quickly (at least in Japan).
For now, news of its death has been greatly exaggerated.

[Op Intensify]

I definitely understand that the PSP is very much alive in Japan and will continue to be so for some time. But in the US, it's at death's door, with most retailers having either eliminated or greatly downsized their PSP selection, and new releases being very scarce.

Can you believe they ported Blazblue CSE to the PSP after it was already on the Vita?! The only new feature is a quiz game!

[cj iwakura]

Well, the last must-own PSP game(very likely anyway) finally has English screens.










Font's inferior to


and



but I'll be okay.

[Blackbird]

Those Growlanser screens look seriously old school =D.

Finally got my copy of Gungnir today. Cue the usual "how the hell do I even play this game!?" acclimation period, because it's a Sting game. You had better read that manual a few times, too, or you're completely screwed. A few hours in, and I'm finally beginning to understand the metagame and how to play well. When I'm a little more confident in my strategy, I'll pass along what I know.

Now that I'm getting used to the flow of the game, I really like what I've played so far. The positioning requirements of Boost and Beat strongly remind me of Yggra's union formation system, but juxtaposed into a more traditional isometric Tactics Ogre-esque SRPG. This could be really good if I can make sense of the damn thing.

[cj iwakura]

One week!

Kratoscar from the Atlus MB was nice enough to do some videos of the JP version.

Shame Atlus USA hasn't given anyone who isn't a Growlanser fan much reason to care, but ah well. We'll make up the slack.

This is a video of a normal mission battle in WoT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kIltK6ZJD4 Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAklGteirSY Part 2

This is an explanation of commands available during battle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JLXldx484o

This is one about magic and the party command menu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpZEigdTeLo Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5maYU7mcdk Part 2

Just to clarify the Jp version has battle voices wich the US version probably wont have. I will make more soon.

There's no word on whether or not the US version will at least keep battle quips. I hope so.

[Op Intensify]

I remember reading that there is no voice acting outside of FMVs, but don't quote me on that.

I think I can skip Ragnarok Tactics (the new "last US UMD release"). Looks utterly forgettable, and I've got a thick enough backlog of SRPGs.

There's a one-episode OVA based on Growlanser IV. I've got the fansubbed version right here, any idea if it's worth watching as an introduction, or overly spoilery?

[cj iwakura]

Spoilers. Beat the game first.

[LtC]

I finished playing Growlanser IV a while ago. Here's my thoughts after finishing the game (spoiler free):

First playthrough 45~50 hours (Improved route), Second playthrough ~35 hours (NG+ route & Improved route with different characters). The playtime on the first playthrough would be approximately 10 hours higher if I didn't have to restart the game once from beginning because I lost my saves.

I have played II, III and V but haven't put nearly as much time on them as I did on IV on PSP.

There are 3 routes and depending on certain actions the last part of the game will mostly change (maybe around 1/5th of the game). The PS2 version's route is still in the game left intact (as far as I know) as well as a grealtly improved version of that route where the new characters added in the game change the story. Last route is somewhat different and only available in NG+ and it's definitely something you do not want to play on your first playthrough so it makes sense you can only get it in NG+.

If you've played other Growlanser games you should already have a little clue what the story and characters are like. The game does a really good job on story and characters and in my opinion better than other Growlanser games I have played do. Politics and war are strongly present in the game, to the point where I almost felt like this game was the fantasy RPG version of Legend of the Galactic heroes (There's even a character that's basically Yang Wenli). The story does a good job with pacing and keeps up the steam from beginning to the end. The characters are the game's strong point and are very far the usual cliches you see in JRPG (I remember I was actually surprised when the bad guy with glasses did not have a gesture of fixing his glasses every 5 seconds like every other JRPG has). Pretty much every single character is likable in some way (Even portraitless enemy commander that appears few times during the game is more awesome than the more awesome characters you see in lots of games).
Also pretty much every character gets their time to shine at some point. I should also warn that the game can be very depressing. The game has a lot of characters and I have a really hard time thinking characters that can not die during some part of the game. You can also save almost everyone by your actions which adds a lot of replay value to the game. It's absolutely worth it replaying the game and see what happened if you let the character die that you let live last time and vice versa.
The protagonist is silent like in III and V. What you say generally changes everyone's opinion of you and your personality but a lot of the time choices don't make any difference. I did have couple times where I lost a party member because I was being too much of an as*hole though so be warned.

The game does a really good job at using music and the OST is generally good. There are some tracks I really liked but I found there weren't as memorable tracks as II's battle theme or Zion's theme from III.

There are 46 endings. 25 are character endings from the improved route, 1 bad ending. 14 endings are character endings from the old route. The rest 6 are almost unique endings from the "NG+" route. The NG+ route is very different from the routes you can access on your first play so it makes NG+ definitely worth playing along with seeing different fates of characters from your first play. I did few of the character endings and to be honest the only difference was few lines of dialogue in the same place spoken by a different person. The sidequests and events that lead into each character's ending have a lot more material in them though and it's not like you can finish them all at once considering how many characters there are.
Which character ending you can get depend on how you progress on character sidequests. Character sidequests are a big part of the game and they mainly progress by interacting with the characters during holidays which is somewhat similar to Persona 3, although done a lot better and are generally a lot more interesting.

The game fits and plays well on the PSP. I don't remember having any frame rate hiccups or long load times. At times I was wishing the could be playing with a little higher resolution but it's not really that big of a deal.

Having no voices for the localized version is a quite big loss. Without the voices there will be at least few times where you don't know who is talking since that person will not be shown on screen. Of course also all of the emotion that was played very well in the Japanese voices will be gone as well. The Japanese voices did have some issues though such as some characters voices were very hard to hear at times even with headphones on and you couldn't up the voice volume. Once you beat the game there was a section where you could listen to around 50 minutes of voice actor comments about their roles and what it felt like coming back to working on Growlanser IV after 7 years. A very cool thing for beating a game, I wish more games did that. Of course this feature will be removed from the localized version.

I really enjoyed the game and it has become my favorite SRPG and I consider it very highly along all the JRPG I've played. Like classy artwork with classy characters and classy story? Have patience for some menu navigation, learning the game and strategy during combat and patience for getting a game over when you fail an escort mission? Haven't played a growlanser game before? Try Growlanser generations (Growlanser II&III) and you'll get an idea what to expect from IV although IV is best in the series and the PSP version made the game even better.

And if you're a Valkyria Chronicles fan this might interest you (Best game in the series, in my opinion):
http://vc3translationproject.wordpress.com/

[Op Intensify]

And if you're a Valkyria Chronicles fan this might interest you (Best game in the series, in my opinion):

I heard VC3 had some game-breakingly bad balance issues. Were they fixed in the Extra Edition rerelease? I assume that's why they made it so quickly.

[MR_Soren]

I'm on Scene 20 in Gungnir (out of 26?), and I just wanted to say that it's a pretty good game. There are a lot of complex subtleties in the game system that I didn't realize until about halfway through, so I hope to do a better playthrough when I know what I'm doing.

The game definitely puts an emphasis on strategy and tactics over grinding until your numbers are bigger like in Disgaea and friends. The strategic depth and scenario design is pretty good, and I prefer it over more popular games such as Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics.

In addition to the selectable difficulties, the game applies a multiplier to the enemy HP and damage values. This number increases when you earn stars at the end of a stage and decreases when you use the "retry" option. Makes me think of Rank in an STG.

Overall, I'd recommend this to anybody who likes or wants to try a tactical RPG unless you are intimidated by a complex set of rules. I only wish we could also see Gloria Union and Blaze Union localized. Ah well.

[cj iwakura]

I bought Unchained Blades to keep me going until Growlanser, and it's a real great dungeon crawler. Gorgeous graphics, too.



It doesn't reinvent the wheel much, but I'm okay with that.

[Op Intensify]

Gorgeous graphics, too.

I think the idea of having every character drawn by a different artist is really, really dumb.

Is it anything more than just another tiresome JPN Wizardry clone riding Etrian Odyssey's coattails? Don't think so.

[cj iwakura]

Gorgeous graphics, too.

I think the idea of having every character drawn by a different artist is really, really dumb.

Is it anything more than just another tiresome JPN Wizardry clone riding Etrian Odyssey's coattails? Don't think so.

Sometimes that's enough. I do love me some JPN Wizardry clones.

Shame we never got Elminage.

[Macho De Luxe]

I too bought a game from PSN for before Growlanser IV gets released.

edit: [it was a cho aniki picture with naked muscle guys in it]

[LtC]

And if you're a Valkyria Chronicles fan this might interest you (Best game in the series, in my opinion):

I heard VC3 had some game-breakingly bad balance issues. Were they fixed in the Extra Edition rerelease? I assume that's why they made it so quickly.

I'm quite sure that's VC2. VC3 was very well balanced compared to the previous games.

[cj iwakura]

Growlanser IV is confirmed Vita compatible out the box!
(Via PS3 transfer)

Go go!

[Op Intensify]

Growlanser IV is confirmed Vita compatible out the box!

It's also now out in the States!

I got the free shipping, so my copy will be some time coming.

[Op Intensify]

Got a hold of GLIV a few days ago, though I'm not going to start tearing into it until I've gotten further along with Gungnir. There's no reverse printing on the cover insert! Cheapskates.

I know I talked shit about Ragnarok Tactics before, but it turns out it's not actually a GungHo production. It's from the new studio Apollo Soft, whose only other game to date is the Nippon Ichi-published SRPG Blue Roses: Yousei to Aoi Hitomi no Senshitachi. I don't know anything about that game, so if anyone can direct me to a positive review, I'm willing to give their new game a chance. It is almost certainly going to be the final non-sports UMD release in the States, after all.

[cj iwakura]

This is really one of Atlus USA's best localizations ever, and it's a damn shame it's getting no attention.

Every character feels unique and well-written, and I genuinely care about the cast.


Sure the original script's to thank, but it takes a bang-up translation team to do it justice.


Also, the trope continues: anyone named Christopher in a game? Still awesome.

[trap15]

I too bought a game from PSN for before Growlanser IV gets released.

img

This image is setting off google chrome. Wanna edit your post to use a different source of the pic? >_>

[evil_ash_xero]

And if you're a Valkyria Chronicles fan this might interest you (Best game in the series, in my opinion):

I heard VC3 had some game-breakingly bad balance issues. Were they fixed in the Extra Edition rerelease? I assume that's why they made it so quickly.

I'm quite sure that's VC2. VC3 was very well balanced compared to the previous games.

VC2 was such a huge step down from 1. I bought part 3, and am awaiting the patch, before I play it. It looks a lot better. I just hope it's comparable to 1, because part 2 is just...it's not worth it. It reminds me of how Temple Of Doom compares to Raiders. But worse. If you get my meaning.

[Macho De Luxe]

I too bought a game from PSN for before Growlanser IV gets released.

img

This image is setting off google chrome. Wanna edit your post to use a different source of the pic? >_>

Whoops, I didn't realize it was marked as a site with megaviruses on it or whatever.

[shmuppyLove]

If anyone's interested, Future Shop has Gungnir on clearance for $9.97

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/ ... 98971.aspx

[MR_Soren]

If anyone's interested, Future Shop has Gungnir on clearance for $9.97

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/ ... 98971.aspx

Now there's a game that was truly under-appreciated. I wonder how Ragnarok Tactics will fare?

[Op Intensify]

Not at all surprised that Gungnir was a failure here, though it seems to have had some popularity with the Japanese Pixiv crowd. I think Sting is going to become a smartphone developer rather than make the transition to 3DS/Vita, which will be a shame. They already released a heavily downgraded port of the Baroque remake on iOS.

If I was Aksys I would probably want to do an ultra-limited UMD print run for Ragnarok Tactics, like 1500 copies. That's all it's going to sell non-digitally at this point, and unlike Microsoft, Sony is okay with such releases. DJ Max Portable 3's LE only got 300 copies in the US.