Games Beaten 2017
Re: Games Beaten 2017
I still love Vectorman. The second one is grim as hell and has a strange atmosphere you don't see much of elsewhere even on the Genesis. Think I like 1 more, but 2 is cool as well.
Re: Games Beaten 2017
First 50:
51. Oniken - PC
52. Strife Veteran Edition - PC
53. The Mummy Demastered - Switch
54. Super Mario Odyssey - Switch
55. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - PC
56. Etrian Odyssey V - 3DS
57. The Legend of Zelda Four Swords Anniversary - 3DS
58. Vectorman - Genesis
59. Human Resource Machine - PC
Another programming game, Human Resource Machine is much more entry level compared to some of the other ones out there. The game never really goes into the territory of "here's some weird-ass output you need to generate"; everything is something you'd expect to see in a computer science class. The actual representation of the instruction set is a series of instructions to a little person; you. You act as the sole register, there's an input and output buffer, and there might be one or more memory tiles on the ground. The operations you get access to are pop from input, push onto output (which empties your register), jump, jump if register is zero, jump if register is negative, copy to memory, copy from memory, add memory plus register to register, subtract memory from register and store to register, increment memory and copy to register, decrement memory and copy to register, and all the instructions besides jumps addressable using the value in a memory location.
Puzzles start with basic memory movement and loops, then add in arithmetic. You'll move into multiplication, division, and manipulating strings. At the top levels you'll do some sorting and prime factorization. There's a main track and then a few side tracks that are harder; I'd recommend doing the side tracks as they become available because they teach skills you will need in the higher levels (e.g. division is a side track but it is needed for some of the end game main track puzzles). When you finish a puzzle you are graded on two metrics: number of instructions in the program and total instructions executed (loops are what makes the latter not equal to the former). The easier puzzles will have the two equal the best solution, but harder puzzles will require you to optimize one or the other. You get three slots for programs per puzzles, so you can work at both without having to undo your work. You don't actually have to optimize either side, it's just a bonus to shoot for.
There's also a very very very very basic story that you get glimpses of at various points on the track. It's not really anything interesting or even clever. If anything, I'd say the game would have been better off without it. Still, it only takes up maybe 1% of the time you spend with the game, so it's ok. If you've ever been interested in programming games this is a great one to start with, as the only limitation is in the instruction set and memory size; your program length can be as long as you want. And as I said, the puzzles never get into the "what fever dream is this?" territory.
51. Oniken - PC
52. Strife Veteran Edition - PC
53. The Mummy Demastered - Switch
54. Super Mario Odyssey - Switch
55. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - PC
56. Etrian Odyssey V - 3DS
57. The Legend of Zelda Four Swords Anniversary - 3DS
58. Vectorman - Genesis
59. Human Resource Machine - PC
Another programming game, Human Resource Machine is much more entry level compared to some of the other ones out there. The game never really goes into the territory of "here's some weird-ass output you need to generate"; everything is something you'd expect to see in a computer science class. The actual representation of the instruction set is a series of instructions to a little person; you. You act as the sole register, there's an input and output buffer, and there might be one or more memory tiles on the ground. The operations you get access to are pop from input, push onto output (which empties your register), jump, jump if register is zero, jump if register is negative, copy to memory, copy from memory, add memory plus register to register, subtract memory from register and store to register, increment memory and copy to register, decrement memory and copy to register, and all the instructions besides jumps addressable using the value in a memory location.
Puzzles start with basic memory movement and loops, then add in arithmetic. You'll move into multiplication, division, and manipulating strings. At the top levels you'll do some sorting and prime factorization. There's a main track and then a few side tracks that are harder; I'd recommend doing the side tracks as they become available because they teach skills you will need in the higher levels (e.g. division is a side track but it is needed for some of the end game main track puzzles). When you finish a puzzle you are graded on two metrics: number of instructions in the program and total instructions executed (loops are what makes the latter not equal to the former). The easier puzzles will have the two equal the best solution, but harder puzzles will require you to optimize one or the other. You get three slots for programs per puzzles, so you can work at both without having to undo your work. You don't actually have to optimize either side, it's just a bonus to shoot for.
There's also a very very very very basic story that you get glimpses of at various points on the track. It's not really anything interesting or even clever. If anything, I'd say the game would have been better off without it. Still, it only takes up maybe 1% of the time you spend with the game, so it's ok. If you've ever been interested in programming games this is a great one to start with, as the only limitation is in the instruction set and memory size; your program length can be as long as you want. And as I said, the puzzles never get into the "what fever dream is this?" territory.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
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prfsnl_gmr
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 12201
- Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:26 pm
- Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Good review. I really like Human Resource Machine, and I found some of the later problems and optional problems to be quite challenging. I also enjoyed taking the time to optimize some of my solutions.
I do not have a programming background (at all); so the challenge level was just about right for me. If I wanted to move on to something a little more advanced, however, what would you recommend?
I do not have a programming background (at all); so the challenge level was just about right for me. If I wanted to move on to something a little more advanced, however, what would you recommend?
Re: Games Beaten 2017
I forgot to comment on Batman Returns. I've always thought it was a little overrated, personally. It's good, plays smoothly, and has some great graphics, but it's also very repetitive, as is the wont of most Final Fight clones.
Re: Games Beaten 2017
prfsnl_gmr wrote:Good review. I really like Human Resource Machine, and I found some of the later problems and optional problems to be quite challenging. I also enjoyed taking the time to optimize some of my solutions.
I do not have a programming background (at all); so the challenge level was just about right for me. If I wanted to move on to something a little more advanced, however, what would you recommend?
Hmmm... unfortunately, the other two programming games I've invested time in are TIS-100 and Shenzhen I/O, both of which are pretty high on the difficulty scale, with TIS being pure programming on a complicated machine, so there's no abstraction, and Shenzhen requiring you to manage writing small programs that are hooked together by various electrical signals that run on human time scales. They're both great, but you might find them overwhelming.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Sarge wrote:I forgot to comment on Batman Returns. I've always thought it was a little overrated, personally. It's good, plays smoothly, and has some great graphics, but it's also very repetitive, as is the wont of most Final Fight clones.
I agree with this. And even though the SNES Batman Returns is technically superior in every way, I actually prefer the Genesis version.
Part of that is certainly that I grew up with it but the other reason is you feel more like the Michael Keaton Batman. You have a ton of gadgets and fighting people is slow and awkward
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Exhuminator
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 11573
- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2013 8:24 am
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2017
126. Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams... | Saturn | 1996 | 6/10
Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams... is a Saturn action adventure game developed by Sonic Team, and published by SEGA, in 1996. Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams... is a Christmas themed reworking of the first stage of NiGHTS into Dreams..., released as a sampler during the 1996 holiday season. It was introduced in Japan as part of a Christmas Sega Saturn bundle; elsewhere it was given away with the purchase of certain Saturn games such as Daytona USA Championship Circuit Edition (1996), and was also bundled in with issues of Sega Saturn Magazine, and Next Generation Magazine. In the United Kingdom, Christmas NiGHTS was not included with the Sega Saturn Magazine until December 1997. (One imagines the goal of this sampler was to entice folks into buying NiGHTS into Dreams... proper.) Since the single stage in this demo is just a re-skinned version of the original NiGHTS' first stage (and boss), with some Christmas music playing in the background, it might seem there's not many surprises here. However, Sonic Team put a plethora of Easter eggs into this demo. (Read all about it: http://nid.wikia.com/wiki/Christmas_Nights_into_Dreams )
If you've never played NiGHTS into Dreams... before, the goal is primarily to fly around tracks in a zone, collecting a certain amount of orbs by maneuvering acrobatically, and then return the orbs to a goal before a time limit expires. If the time limit expires, you must move on foot back to a certain point to re-activate the flying mode. While on foot, you must avoid a UFO-timeclock, if it catches you, that's it. After completing a few orb trials, the player faces a boss which requires careful flying, grabbing, and smashing to beat. If this all sounds weird, well, it is. There's a plot to the experience that explains the theme, involving dreams and kids and I don't know what else. Honestly folks, I've never been the biggest fan of NiGHTS into Dreams... The NiGHTS experience traded compelling game design and level variety for technical spectacle (of its day) and breezy play. As such, the game design's a bit too shallow for my tastes, but certainly not something I'd call "bad". I can understand why people enjoy NiGHTS into Dreams... . In that regard; Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams... is a fun little experience to play during the holidays, fitting as it is. Playing Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams... was a nostalgic trip. It took this player back to a very different era of gaming, when a far more fat and jolly SEGA once cheerfully gave gifts to its friends.
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And that's the end of my Christmas game run:
Santa Claus no Takarabako (Famicom)
Sakura Santa (PC)
Santatlantean (TurboGrafx-16)
Daze Before Christmas (Mega Drive)
Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams... (SEGA Saturn)
I hope everyone has a great Christmas (or whichever holiday you celebrate this time of year).
PLAY KING'S FIELD.
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Markies
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 1414
- Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:29 pm
- Location: St. Louis, Missouri
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2017
1. Phantasy Star II (GEN)
2. Guitar Hero (PS2)
3. Adventures of Lolo (NES)
4. Animal Crossing (GCN)
5. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (NES)
6. Beyond The Beyond (PS1)
7. R.B.I. Baseball (NES)
8. Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (PS1)
9. GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (GCN)
10. Project Gotham Racing (XBOX)
11. Ristar (GEN)
12. Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64)
13. Crash Bandicoot (PS1)
14. Pikmin (GCN)
15. Syberia (XBOX)
16. Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht (PS2)
17. Tetris Plus (PS1)
18. Metropolis Street Racer (DC)
19. Darkwing Duck (NES)
20. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (PS2)
21. Ico (PS2)
22. Final Fantasy V (SNES)
23. Mega Man X (SNES)
24. Beyond Good & Evil (XBOX)
25. Beetle Adventure Racing! (N64)
26. Sonic Adventure (DC)
27. Giga Wing (DC)
28. Metal Arms: Glitch in the System (XBOX)
29. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN)
30. Landstalker: Treasure of King Nole (GEN)
31. Soul Calibur II (GCN)
32. Destruction Derby 64 (N64)
33. Faxanadu (NES)
34. Sudeki (XBOX)
35. Skies of Arcadia (DC)
36. Wild Arms 3 (PS2)
37. Tales of Destiny (PS1)
I beat Tales of Destiny on the Sony Playstation 1 this afternoon!
I was always very interested in the Tales series ever since my friend showed me the GameCube and the PS2 games. However, I never really knew where to start as it was a long and confusing series. The first one was on the Super Famicom and only released on the GameBoy Advance. So, I went looking for the next installment, Tales of Destiny on the PS1. Unfortunately, that game is incredibly rare and very expensive. A few years ago, I was walking around the Vendor area of MAGFest when I spotted Tales of Destiny. It wasn't exactly high on my list of games to buy, but that was the first time I had ever seen it in the wild. Realizing it was a decent price and I might not see it again, I decided to take a chance on my first Tales game.
The best part of the game, by far, are the graphics. These are some great Anime Cutscenes and the 2D sprite work are some of the best I have ever seen. And they have aged so gracefully that I am still blown away by them. The expressions and lush detail of the sprite work and colors are utterly amazing and worth checking out for yourself. The music is another high point as it is varied and some of them can be very catchy. Also, the characters all have unique personalities and some of the dialogue is genuinely funny. It's all in text and there is a ton of it, but it is very enjoyable.
The gameplay is fairly enjoyable, but incredibly repetitive. The battle system isn't very deep, so you kind of spam the same attacks over and over. And with heavy grinding and large encounter rate, it gets very old, very quickly. The story also takes way too many twists and turns and goes on much longer than it should. A more condensed version would have helped it more and cut out some of the 'shocking' turns.
Overall, Tales of Destiny is not exactly a fantastic game, but it's not a bad one either. It kind of falls in the middle or a bit to the better side of the large pile of PS1 RPG's. It is highly recommended to anybody that enjoys PS1 RPG's, especially more 2D ones, but for the rest, it is pretty much standard fare. The price and rarity make it hard to suggest for everybody, so only the diehards of the genre and the series should seek out this one. However, it has gotten me excited to play the rest of the series. I have a few 2D versions that I can get and then it is off to the 3D ones, which I'm very excited to play!
And that will be my final Beat of 2017!
2. Guitar Hero (PS2)
3. Adventures of Lolo (NES)
4. Animal Crossing (GCN)
5. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (NES)
6. Beyond The Beyond (PS1)
7. R.B.I. Baseball (NES)
8. Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (PS1)
9. GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (GCN)
10. Project Gotham Racing (XBOX)
11. Ristar (GEN)
12. Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64)
13. Crash Bandicoot (PS1)
14. Pikmin (GCN)
15. Syberia (XBOX)
16. Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht (PS2)
17. Tetris Plus (PS1)
18. Metropolis Street Racer (DC)
19. Darkwing Duck (NES)
20. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (PS2)
21. Ico (PS2)
22. Final Fantasy V (SNES)
23. Mega Man X (SNES)
24. Beyond Good & Evil (XBOX)
25. Beetle Adventure Racing! (N64)
26. Sonic Adventure (DC)
27. Giga Wing (DC)
28. Metal Arms: Glitch in the System (XBOX)
29. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN)
30. Landstalker: Treasure of King Nole (GEN)
31. Soul Calibur II (GCN)
32. Destruction Derby 64 (N64)
33. Faxanadu (NES)
34. Sudeki (XBOX)
35. Skies of Arcadia (DC)
36. Wild Arms 3 (PS2)
37. Tales of Destiny (PS1)
I beat Tales of Destiny on the Sony Playstation 1 this afternoon!
I was always very interested in the Tales series ever since my friend showed me the GameCube and the PS2 games. However, I never really knew where to start as it was a long and confusing series. The first one was on the Super Famicom and only released on the GameBoy Advance. So, I went looking for the next installment, Tales of Destiny on the PS1. Unfortunately, that game is incredibly rare and very expensive. A few years ago, I was walking around the Vendor area of MAGFest when I spotted Tales of Destiny. It wasn't exactly high on my list of games to buy, but that was the first time I had ever seen it in the wild. Realizing it was a decent price and I might not see it again, I decided to take a chance on my first Tales game.
The best part of the game, by far, are the graphics. These are some great Anime Cutscenes and the 2D sprite work are some of the best I have ever seen. And they have aged so gracefully that I am still blown away by them. The expressions and lush detail of the sprite work and colors are utterly amazing and worth checking out for yourself. The music is another high point as it is varied and some of them can be very catchy. Also, the characters all have unique personalities and some of the dialogue is genuinely funny. It's all in text and there is a ton of it, but it is very enjoyable.
The gameplay is fairly enjoyable, but incredibly repetitive. The battle system isn't very deep, so you kind of spam the same attacks over and over. And with heavy grinding and large encounter rate, it gets very old, very quickly. The story also takes way too many twists and turns and goes on much longer than it should. A more condensed version would have helped it more and cut out some of the 'shocking' turns.
Overall, Tales of Destiny is not exactly a fantastic game, but it's not a bad one either. It kind of falls in the middle or a bit to the better side of the large pile of PS1 RPG's. It is highly recommended to anybody that enjoys PS1 RPG's, especially more 2D ones, but for the rest, it is pretty much standard fare. The price and rarity make it hard to suggest for everybody, so only the diehards of the genre and the series should seek out this one. However, it has gotten me excited to play the rest of the series. I have a few 2D versions that I can get and then it is off to the 3D ones, which I'm very excited to play!
And that will be my final Beat of 2017!
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prfsnl_gmr
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 12201
- Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:26 pm
- Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Re: Games Beaten 2017
1. Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero (Wii U)
2. Blek (iOS)
3. Bloo Kid 2 (3DS)
4. HarmoKnight (3DS)
5. 3D Fantasy Zone II W (3DS)
6. Fantasy Zone (SMS/3DS)
7. 3D Fantasy Zone Opa Opa Bros. (ARC/3DS)
8. Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa Opa (SMS/3DS)
9. 3D Classics Twinbee (NES/3DS)
10. Rainbow Bell a/k/a Twinbee (ARC/DS)
11. The Legend of Zelda:Breath of the Wild (Wii U)
12. The Guardian Legend (NES)
13. The Clash at Demonhead (NES)
14. The Goonies II (NES)
15. Day of the Tentacle Remastered (iOS)
16. Mario Kart 64 (N64/Wii U)
17. Drancia Saga (3DS)
18. Chain Blaster (3DS)
19. Color Commando (DS)
20. Ace Mathician (DS)
21. Jump Trials Supreme (3DS)
22. Dragon Quest VII (3DS)
23. Fairune II (3DS)
24. RBI Baseball (NES)
25. River City Tokyo Rumble (3DS)
26. Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara (Wii U)
27. Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders (iOS)
28. Device 6 (iOS)
29. Transformers: Human Alliance (ARC)
30. Metroid Samus Returns (3DS)
31. A Ride Into the Mountains (iOS)
32. Super Mario Run (iOS)
33. Legend of Kusakari (3DS)
34. Banjo Kazooie (N64/360)
35. Go! Go! Commander Video (iOS)
36. River City Knights of Justice (3DS)
37. Super Little Acorns 3D Turbo (3DS)
38. Tomb Raider Go (iOS)
39. Lume (iOS)
40. To The Moon (iOS)
41. The Executive (iOS)
42. Gorogoa (iOS)
43. Old Man’s Journey (iOS)
In my continuing quest to beat all of the very short games taking up almost all of the storage space on my iPad, I played through Old Man’s Journey. It is a relaxing puzzle game with delightful art and sound direction, and almost non-existent gameplay. The “puzzles” consist of connecting various sections of a parallax background so that the titular old man can navigate across the screen. Even the game’s most challenging puzzles are extremely easy, however, and the game only lasts for a little over an hour. The game does not make up for its unchallenging puzzles wth a compelling storyline, and despite its great art direction, I find it very hard to recommend (especially after just finishing up the equally-priced but drastically superior Gorogoa).
2. Blek (iOS)
3. Bloo Kid 2 (3DS)
4. HarmoKnight (3DS)
5. 3D Fantasy Zone II W (3DS)
6. Fantasy Zone (SMS/3DS)
7. 3D Fantasy Zone Opa Opa Bros. (ARC/3DS)
8. Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa Opa (SMS/3DS)
9. 3D Classics Twinbee (NES/3DS)
10. Rainbow Bell a/k/a Twinbee (ARC/DS)
11. The Legend of Zelda:Breath of the Wild (Wii U)
12. The Guardian Legend (NES)
13. The Clash at Demonhead (NES)
14. The Goonies II (NES)
15. Day of the Tentacle Remastered (iOS)
16. Mario Kart 64 (N64/Wii U)
17. Drancia Saga (3DS)
18. Chain Blaster (3DS)
19. Color Commando (DS)
20. Ace Mathician (DS)
21. Jump Trials Supreme (3DS)
22. Dragon Quest VII (3DS)
23. Fairune II (3DS)
24. RBI Baseball (NES)
25. River City Tokyo Rumble (3DS)
26. Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara (Wii U)
27. Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders (iOS)
28. Device 6 (iOS)
29. Transformers: Human Alliance (ARC)
30. Metroid Samus Returns (3DS)
31. A Ride Into the Mountains (iOS)
32. Super Mario Run (iOS)
33. Legend of Kusakari (3DS)
34. Banjo Kazooie (N64/360)
35. Go! Go! Commander Video (iOS)
36. River City Knights of Justice (3DS)
37. Super Little Acorns 3D Turbo (3DS)
38. Tomb Raider Go (iOS)
39. Lume (iOS)
40. To The Moon (iOS)
41. The Executive (iOS)
42. Gorogoa (iOS)
43. Old Man’s Journey (iOS)
In my continuing quest to beat all of the very short games taking up almost all of the storage space on my iPad, I played through Old Man’s Journey. It is a relaxing puzzle game with delightful art and sound direction, and almost non-existent gameplay. The “puzzles” consist of connecting various sections of a parallax background so that the titular old man can navigate across the screen. Even the game’s most challenging puzzles are extremely easy, however, and the game only lasts for a little over an hour. The game does not make up for its unchallenging puzzles wth a compelling storyline, and despite its great art direction, I find it very hard to recommend (especially after just finishing up the equally-priced but drastically superior Gorogoa).
Re: Games Beaten 2017
First 50:
51. Oniken - PC
52. Strife Veteran Edition - PC
53. The Mummy Demastered - Switch
54. Super Mario Odyssey - Switch
55. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - PC
56. Etrian Odyssey V - 3DS
57. The Legend of Zelda Four Swords Anniversary - 3DS
58. Vectorman - Genesis
59. Human Resources Machine - PC
60. The Legend of Legacy - 3DS
A runner up in the "silly game names" contest, The Legend of Legacy is a SaGa clone on the 3DS. However, it focuses 100% on gameplay with only the barest amount of story, and those bits are put together piecemeal, Dark Souls style. The gameplay does have a fair amount of depth to it, though like any SaGa game it can put you deep into RNG hell.
You start by picking one of seven characters, which gives you an intro cutscene unique to that character. This, and the post credits cutscene, make up 95% of the unique story amongst the characters. The more important part is the various affinities these characters have. See, like the SaGa games (especially Romancing SaGa), this is a game where you grow by doing. And different characters have an affinity for growing in particular areas. While you can teach everyone everything with enough patience, you're better off focusing on the areas your characters specialize in. Of course, you don't actually learn what those are in game.
So here's how all the growth works. First, you start by putting each character in one of three kinds of stances; attack, defense, or support. Attack stance increases your combat power, defense increases your defense and allows defensive moves to cover your party, and support stance tends to increase your speed and healing ability. There are various sub-stances in each of these three categories for additional customization. You can prebuild up to six formations of these stances and can freely choose a formation at the start of each turn. In addition to these benefits, these formations correspond to your three primary stats. At the end of combat you can have your Attack, Defense, or Support level increase by one point if you were in that stance. These increase your damage, defense, and speed.
But that's not all. Your attack skills and magic also have independent levels in Attack, Defense, and Support. These can level up every time you use that skill in that stance, and it increases that skills effectiveness in that stance. So a skill with 10 attack, 5 defense, and 1 support will do the best in attack stance and terrible in support stance. These increases happen immediately in battle, so you can grow multiple levels in one battle. You can also learn new skills mid battle Romancing SaGa style, where you will randomly use another skill instead of the selected one and will have learned it permanently. Climbing up this ladder is necessary for doing damage late game.
But that's still not all. We now get to the most complicated system, the magic system. There are three kinds of magic, Water, Wind, and Fire. In order to use magic you need to first have forged a contract with the spirits of that element. This is done through equipping an accessory which gives you the ability to forge the contract mid battle. When you have a contract you can both cast magic of that element and you get a post-turn bonus; water restores party HP, wind restores party SP, and fire increases the party's ability to inflict statuses. What complicates things is that only one side of the battle can have a contract with a particular element at any one time. So enemies can forge a contract before you cast a spell, which will cause yours to fizzle. And they get the same post-turn benefits. To actually gain spells you equip another accessory that can cast that spell, and you can learn it permanently by getting lucky and learning it the same way you learn new weapon skills. Finally, you can only cast spells of a given element if you have a piece of gear attuned to that element; the accessories that forge contracts and teach spells are attuned, as well as certain weapons. All in all, it's a very complicated system that makes magic mostly more trouble than it's worth. In random battles you will be lucky to use any magic at all, while in boss fights it tends to be restricted to keeping up the right benefits (passive healing is awesome) and keeping up an elemental shield.
The game also tends to have very uneven difficulty. The intentional part seems to be that there are sizeable jumps between areas in the enemy difficulty. What magnifies this is the RNG nature of getting the necessary upgrades. You will really start to feel the pain late game if you haven't been properly building a tank (someone to sit in defense stance all the time) and haven't learned at least one AOE weapon skill, as enemy packs get larger and more dangerous as the game goes on. However, all these systems put together make for a pretty active final boss fight, as you have to juggle a lot of things to make it through effectively.
51. Oniken - PC
52. Strife Veteran Edition - PC
53. The Mummy Demastered - Switch
54. Super Mario Odyssey - Switch
55. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - PC
56. Etrian Odyssey V - 3DS
57. The Legend of Zelda Four Swords Anniversary - 3DS
58. Vectorman - Genesis
59. Human Resources Machine - PC
60. The Legend of Legacy - 3DS
A runner up in the "silly game names" contest, The Legend of Legacy is a SaGa clone on the 3DS. However, it focuses 100% on gameplay with only the barest amount of story, and those bits are put together piecemeal, Dark Souls style. The gameplay does have a fair amount of depth to it, though like any SaGa game it can put you deep into RNG hell.
You start by picking one of seven characters, which gives you an intro cutscene unique to that character. This, and the post credits cutscene, make up 95% of the unique story amongst the characters. The more important part is the various affinities these characters have. See, like the SaGa games (especially Romancing SaGa), this is a game where you grow by doing. And different characters have an affinity for growing in particular areas. While you can teach everyone everything with enough patience, you're better off focusing on the areas your characters specialize in. Of course, you don't actually learn what those are in game.
So here's how all the growth works. First, you start by putting each character in one of three kinds of stances; attack, defense, or support. Attack stance increases your combat power, defense increases your defense and allows defensive moves to cover your party, and support stance tends to increase your speed and healing ability. There are various sub-stances in each of these three categories for additional customization. You can prebuild up to six formations of these stances and can freely choose a formation at the start of each turn. In addition to these benefits, these formations correspond to your three primary stats. At the end of combat you can have your Attack, Defense, or Support level increase by one point if you were in that stance. These increase your damage, defense, and speed.
But that's not all. Your attack skills and magic also have independent levels in Attack, Defense, and Support. These can level up every time you use that skill in that stance, and it increases that skills effectiveness in that stance. So a skill with 10 attack, 5 defense, and 1 support will do the best in attack stance and terrible in support stance. These increases happen immediately in battle, so you can grow multiple levels in one battle. You can also learn new skills mid battle Romancing SaGa style, where you will randomly use another skill instead of the selected one and will have learned it permanently. Climbing up this ladder is necessary for doing damage late game.
But that's still not all. We now get to the most complicated system, the magic system. There are three kinds of magic, Water, Wind, and Fire. In order to use magic you need to first have forged a contract with the spirits of that element. This is done through equipping an accessory which gives you the ability to forge the contract mid battle. When you have a contract you can both cast magic of that element and you get a post-turn bonus; water restores party HP, wind restores party SP, and fire increases the party's ability to inflict statuses. What complicates things is that only one side of the battle can have a contract with a particular element at any one time. So enemies can forge a contract before you cast a spell, which will cause yours to fizzle. And they get the same post-turn benefits. To actually gain spells you equip another accessory that can cast that spell, and you can learn it permanently by getting lucky and learning it the same way you learn new weapon skills. Finally, you can only cast spells of a given element if you have a piece of gear attuned to that element; the accessories that forge contracts and teach spells are attuned, as well as certain weapons. All in all, it's a very complicated system that makes magic mostly more trouble than it's worth. In random battles you will be lucky to use any magic at all, while in boss fights it tends to be restricted to keeping up the right benefits (passive healing is awesome) and keeping up an elemental shield.
The game also tends to have very uneven difficulty. The intentional part seems to be that there are sizeable jumps between areas in the enemy difficulty. What magnifies this is the RNG nature of getting the necessary upgrades. You will really start to feel the pain late game if you haven't been properly building a tank (someone to sit in defense stance all the time) and haven't learned at least one AOE weapon skill, as enemy packs get larger and more dangerous as the game goes on. However, all these systems put together make for a pretty active final boss fight, as you have to juggle a lot of things to make it through effectively.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.