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marurun
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Re: What RPG are you playing right now?

by marurun Fri Jul 02, 2021 10:03 am

Ack wrote:With Borderlands though, I ask: do you need the guns? If a simple swap to knives and swords was done, how would we feel about it? Are the guns really so integral, or are they just a window dressing means of interaction for the real core of the game? ... Conversely, if we took a definite FPS like Doom and removed the guns, we'd get...well, probably something more akin to Heretic and Hexen, which we still consider FPS. With Borderlands, I don't think we'd feel that way if the central means of proving player dominance in combat was a sword instead of a gun.


Heretic and Hexen removed the guns but just replaced them with "magic guns". It's still primarily ranged-weapon shooting, for the most part. Borderlands has already demonstrated it can do fantasy themed (Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep). And while you were still using guns, those could just as easily have been magic wands. Borderlands is fundamentally dependent upon the shooting, I think. If you removed the shooting it would end up being a completely different game. Whereas I can imagine a version of Borderlands without the character builds still feeling and playing like Borderlands. For me the shooting action and the random gun selection is the meat of the game. The character builds are important, but I don't think they were as central to my experience (short of the core differences between characters generally).

o.pwuaioc is right, though. Gatekeeping with genre purity tests is unhelpful to discussion (though I do like discussion ABOUT genres and why and how they work). I would say for a game like Borderlands that is a lot more genre-straddling and isn't a clear and easy example, it's helpful to discuss it in terms of the RPG elements (not simply write "I'm playin' it, yup"). To use REPO's post as an example, maybe some elaboration on what skill base or build he is pursuing to highlight the RPG case. That would even be helpful with a game like Skyrim which I think has crossed over as much into an action game.
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Re: What RPG are you playing right now?

by REPO Man Fri Jul 02, 2021 12:09 pm

I'm using a Zane build that emphasizes his Drone, which can use whatever grenade mod I have equipped along with rockets, and Digi-Clone, which can spawn with a copy of whatever gun I have equipped, usually an Infinity pistol which benefits from my various Kill Skills.
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Re: What RPG are you playing right now?

by Gucci Sat Jul 03, 2021 10:52 pm

Finished Trails in the Sky FC on the PSP.

42 hours. Had trouble with the last set of bosses. Grinded and strategized a bit and finished it. Jumped into Trails SC.
I was going to play a smaller RPG in between and I still might because SC is considerably longer the FC but I may just play other games like platformers and such in between sessions of SC.
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Re: What RPG are you playing right now?

by marurun Mon Sep 27, 2021 3:32 pm

Struggling a bit with FFIX. Not having a ton of time isn't helping, alas. It bothers me that a lot of parts of the game seem designed to have a crap low framerate, so even the remake on Switch is really chunky in places. Also, the backgrounds are poorly filtered, meaning playing on handheld is OK but on TV the backgrounds are mud. And those are just the technical issues. The game has a number of annoyances as well, but I'll probably reserve my thoughts until I'm further into the game.
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Re: What RPG are you playing right now?

by Raging Justice Fri Oct 01, 2021 2:23 pm

marurun wrote:Struggling a bit with FFIX. Not having a ton of time isn't helping, alas. It bothers me that a lot of parts of the game seem designed to have a crap low framerate, so even the remake on Switch is really chunky in places. Also, the backgrounds are poorly filtered, meaning playing on handheld is OK but on TV the backgrounds are mud. And those are just the technical issues. The game has a number of annoyances as well, but I'll probably reserve my thoughts until I'm further into the game.


I frequently see people cite FF IX as the best of the original Playstation entries even though VII is the most popular. I always thought it was a bit overrated. I think FF VII > FF VIII > FF IX

And then FF X came out and blew FF IX right out of the water
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Re: What RPG are you playing right now?

by marurun Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:55 pm

I'm no fan at all of VII and VIII, and I think IX is definitely better in some important ways than those games, but it still has a number of annoying issues. That said, I want to be able to get through a PS1-era FF game, and IX is my best change.
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Re: What RPG are you playing right now?

by Markies Fri Oct 01, 2021 5:13 pm

Raging Justice wrote:I frequently see people cite FF IX as the best of the original Playstation entries even though VII is the most popular.


Out of the PS1 versions, I would say IX is probably my favorite. I think VIII is great at being experimental and unique, but the game really falls apart near the end and the characters begin to become a bit much. VII is the most popular, but I never liked the story and I think the game doesn't ever reach the level of excitement after you leave Midgar. It just meanders and kind of falls apart. Besides the end, IX at least had a cohesive story, I like the characters in IX better and the system of learning your skills is very addicting.

I have heard that the Switch/modern ports of the classic FF games have been horrible. If possible, play the originals on a PS1 if you can and you would get the best out of the game. IX is also the most classic of the series, so it has many of the pros and cons of that, so it can be a bit antiquated in a way.
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Re: What RPG are you playing right now?

by marurun Mon Oct 11, 2021 11:16 am

Markies wrote:I have heard that the Switch/modern ports of the classic FF games have been horrible. If possible, play the originals on a PS1 if you can and you would get the best out of the game. IX is also the most classic of the series, so it has many of the pros and cons of that, so it can be a bit antiquated in a way.


I am playing it on Switch, mostly handheld, since on the big screen the backgrounds just look gross. I'm further into the game. I have wasted some time grinding, but overall, despite that fact that this game is long in gameplay, it's pretty short in terms of events, which is to say, thus far, the game feels smaller and shorter than the actual play time. Not sure how far into the game I am, however. If I'm still before the halfway point I might change my mind greatly.

The music is conflicting for me. In terms of being environmental, it's pretty good. It matches the tone of the areas quite well, but it's also not as independently listenable as, say, FFIV-VI. So I guess it's one of Uematsu's better game soundtracks, but not some of his better tunes. I may be an outlier, but I think FF1 actually has some of his catchiest tunes, and they remaster and remix with modern instrumentation super well.

Mechanically I like the game OK. Monsters and enemies feel appropriate to their environs and have some interesting gimmicks. And I do like the character customization. Each character has clearly delineated abilities, but you can equip new abilities that grand status immunity and so forth. It's pretty neat.
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Re: What RPG are you playing right now?

by o.pwuaioc Mon Oct 11, 2021 1:13 pm

marurun wrote:The music is conflicting for me. In terms of being environmental, it's pretty good. It matches the tone of the areas quite well, but it's also not as independently listenable as, say, FFIV-VI. So I guess it's one of Uematsu's better game soundtracks, but not some of his better tunes. I may be an outlier, but I think FF1 actually has some of his catchiest tunes, and they remaster and remix with modern instrumentation super well.

FFIV was always my favorite as a consistent album of tunes. No duds there, nothing that only works in-game.

I really enjoyed FFIX in-game music, but the only songs I would listen to outside the game are Place to Call Home, Eternal Harvest, and especially, my favorite, Freya's Theme. Hard to go wrong with a nice Baroque-sounding piece with a harpsichord in a minor key. I only wish it was slightly more developed.

Otherwise the era of good Uematsu tunes ended with FF6. (Caveat to that: haven't played/don't want to play much of anything beyond FF9.)
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Re: What RPG are you playing right now?

by marurun Mon Oct 11, 2021 1:41 pm

o.pwuaioc wrote:Otherwise the era of good Uematsu tunes ended with FF6. (Caveat to that: haven't played/don't want to play much of anything beyond FF9.)


I think it hurts that the most heard tunes like battle and boss themes often sound like they're trying to be both the same and also different than previous battle and boss themes.
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