marurun wrote:Might and Magic I think has a Grimrock-ish gridded dungeon crawler, doesn't it? Or am I thinking Wizardry? Probably M&M.
Lesson time.
Sorry, I meant a recent title. Might and Magic X follows from the Heroes of M & M storyline but returns to grid-based, party-based, first-person play, but it's actually more recent than I recalled.
It's probably going to be another busy month for me and I'm probably not going to be able to play much (last 5 weeks of this quarter finally!), but I'll see what I can do.
First game I'm planning on trying is Madou Monogatari. Gotta get my cute anime game fix!
PresidentLeever wrote:I didn't like the lack of hotkeys and the stiff tile-based movement in grimrock (how if you hold down forward after having moved a tile the party will automatically move two more tiles forward, how you can't move back while halfway between tiles and how it could be annoying when trying to pick stuff up lying between two tiles).
samsonlonghair wrote:I need something more action-oriented. Is there such a thing as a fast-paced, arcade-style first person dungeon runner?
Sounds to me like both of you would enjoy non-node based FPDCs, with real time free movement (kinda FPS style). Plus combat that's not turn-based. Check out Arx Fatalis, or any King's Field game. Shadow Tower Abyss fits that bill. You can play it in English. Also Dark Messiah of Might & Magic. There are others, I just have to remember them. Maybe someone else will have some suggestions in this regard.
Heck, Bone says he was fine with folks playing fast and loose with this genre if it increased interest and inclusion, and he even mentioned something like The Super Spy, which means he'd probably be fine with the System Shocks and Deus Ex.
I don't think Witchaven, Heretic, or Hexen apply since there are no leveling systems (and I don't know about Strife), but if more modern is ok, Ziggurat is also a possibility.
Ack wrote:Heck, Bone says he was fine with folks playing fast and loose with this genre
I think some folks get hung up on FPDC, thinking soley of ye ol' hoary DOS based dungeon crawlers of an exclusive persuasion.
Truth is there's all sorts of first person dungeon crawlers out there, and some are even modern or sci-fi themed (SMT anyone?). Some are real time action, and some are turn-based. They exist on many platforms; PC, handhelds, consoles, you name it. If you need recommendations, ask us!
I've been eyeing a very obscure PS2 game that I may squeeze in at the end of the month. It will stretch the definition a tad, but I believe you all would find it worth reading about. That is if I'm not burned out by then.
For those looking to just test the waters first, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin has no saves or passwords, and is designed to be beaten in a single sitting. On the easiest setting you may beat it the first time you play it.
PresidentLeever wrote:Thanks, I'll have a look at those at some point. To be more specific and maybe find some more retro alternatives, I didn't like the lack of hotkeys and the stiff tile-based movement in grimrock (how if you hold down forward after having moved a tile the party will automatically move two more tiles forward, how you can't move back while halfway between tiles and how it could be annoying when trying to pick stuff up lying between two tiles).
Yeah, definitely sounds like you'd be better off with something like one of the Elder Scrolls games, or going back further to a non-real time game such as Wizardry et. al.
Sorry, I meant a recent title. Might and Magic X follows from the Heroes of M & M storyline but returns to grid-based, party-based, first-person play, but it's actually more recent than I recalled.
Yeah, Might and Magic X is in the same vein as III-V in terms of mechanics.
I don't think Witchaven, Heretic, or Hexen apply since there are no leveling systems (and I don't know about Strife), but if more modern is ok, Ziggurat is also a possibility.
Strife does not have a leveling system, as an FYI.
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I'm currently replaying Morrowind as it just came out on Xbox 1 and am looking to finally start and finish Shining The Holy Ark. If I have time I might try and finish Eternal Ring, even if it is lesser Fromsoft.
Forgotten how rough the opening few hours of Morrowind can be. Slow walking speed and getting abused by cliff racers is a far cry from the semi-invincible god you end up at the end of the game.
I got a head start playing The Dark Spire for Nintendo DS and already have many thoughts to share! I had started this game years ago and met with great frustration: you go into the tower and it's entirely likely that your first battle against the weakest enemies will kill you. You might equip a piece of armor on your thief that's incompatible with the class and then wonder why he's springing every trap he's supposed to disarm. There are traps, there are puzzles, the game doesn't tell you how much damage weapons deal, and even though there's an auto-map, to display your location on it requires a spell (even level one spells are a valuable commodity) so you need a good sense of direction. Of course there are also teleport-pads so that sense of direction isn't always enough!
I expected that I'd start playing this again and that it would be a total slog and I'd be lucky to beat it within a month even if it's as short as HowLongToBeat.com suggests (28 hours - a completely unreasonably fast time IMO). I remember struggling to find my way and level up during my first attempt at the game. My save file was only ~4 hours but I'm pretty sure I played closer to 6-8 what with all the deaths my party met with. Early on I was resistant to save in the tower (because any combat might wipe out a level 1 party) and foolishly only saved in one slot. But this helped me bypass the difficult beginning of the game and I was at a point where I could safely traverse the first floor. So this time around I WAS HOOKED INSTANTLY. This is good because I suspect that the game is pretty clearly going to take me the whole month anyway. I'm playing with 3 pre-generated characters and one I created. It doesn't make a huge difference because you can improve all their stats with experience points, though grinding for EP can get a bit tedious and having a vitality below 10 for any character is fairly serious handicap.
The game is an homage to Wizardry and its ilk, and while I've only ever fooled around in Wizardry for a little bit, this is making me want to take a serious stab at those games. The Dark Spire's schitck is that you can alternate between "modern" style (which has pretty good looking graphics and music) and "classic" with the labyrinth in wireframe, retro-looking combat characters (just standing there clinically) and 8-bit sounding music. Both modes are really excellent and I enjoy switching back and forth. Usually when I arrive on a floor, I'll go with modern to see more detail and get a feel for the floor (they all have very different characteristics). This game might only be a decade old, but it really captures the feel of something from the 1980s.
This game is really great once you get into it. It might seem sparse and minimal, but as you explore, you find different things to explore and different ways to strategize your trips into the tower. I still find myself looking at guides online because I find it frustrating that the game doesn't tell you things like how much damage weapons deal. I haven't yet experimented with different forms of attacking or spellcasting, but I'm sure I'll have to at some point. Every time you advance to a higher floor, the game seems to smack you and remind you that it's boss. You get confident on the first floor, and the second floor monsters are stronger. Then you need to explore in the dark. Then you need to cross a series of traps. Then you encounter enemies that are behind others and cannot be normally attacked but have ranged attacks or magic that can wipe out your weak party members. But it's constantly interesting and I'm enjoying every session. But as hard as the game is, it isn't as unfair as Wizardry in which I've read that some enemies can one-hit kill a party member regardless of level and the game auto-saves so you can't undo it.
I'm extremely glad to be picking this game up again! When FPDC first came up, I expected I'd go for something else because my memories of it were just of how brutal it is. And I didn't realize until this TR was picked that it became a super-expensive game over the years! I remember buying a complete copy for around $10 because it was pretty much the least desirable Atlus-published RPG.
If I somehow manage to complete the game within the month, I'd like to play Class of Heroes next. Because I love me some anime characters!
Maybe someone else will have some suggestions in this regard.
