Multiplat Sea of Stars

[Zazen]

I'm loving this game, it's hard for me to go back to anything else at the moment.

This studio also made the incredible Messenger game, I'm not sure if anyone has played it but if you have PS Plus it should be on there. I highly recommend it. Apparently they're set in the same universe too? I'll have to see if there is any connection once I beat Sea of Stars

 

[method115]

I'm loving this game, it's hard for me to go back to anything else at the moment.

This studio also made the incredible Messenger game, I'm not sure if anyone has played it but if you have PS Plus it should be on there. I highly recommend it. Apparently they're set in the same universe too? I'll have to see if there is any connection once I beat Sea of Stars

It's a prequel but the connection is very loose apparently. As in they are mentioned like one time briefly in The Messenger.

 

[Sycho Sid]

Finished the game. Was wonderful. Took a bit under 30 hours and this with finishing everything but the mini game you play at inns.. Wish it was longer, but that is just because I did not want it to end.

 

[Zazen]

Finished the game. Was wonderful. Took a bit under 30 hours and this with finishing everything but the mini game you play at inns.. Wish it was longer, but that is just because I did not want it to end.

Damn dude that was fast, I'm playing this along with Armored Core VI and between that and having a daughter to take care of I only put in about 2.5 hours. I am loving it though so far.

Did you find those ant enemies in the beginning of the game to be incredibly difficult? I found a trio of ants in a secret area underground and they keep multiplying like crazy. I fought them for 40 minutes and died. I think I will not go back there until I level up some, assuming that I can go back eventually.

You going to be playing Star Ocean R this year?

 

[Sycho Sid]

Damn dude that was fast, I'm playing this along with Armored Core VI and between that and having a daughter to take care of I only put in about 2.5 hours. I am loving it though so far.

Did you find those ant enemies in the beginning of the game to be incredibly difficult? I found a trio of ants in a secret area underground and they keep multiplying like crazy. I fought them for 40 minutes and died. I think I will not go back there until I level up some, assuming that I can go back eventually.

You going to be playing Star Ocean R this year?

Moonrang the shit out of them. Use magic and enhanced attacks liberally. And I have no family or life, so I just went through it.

Definitely getting Star Ocean R. Loved it back on PS1, but do not remember much about the story as it has been a lot of years, so it will be almost like new.

 

[Zazen]

Moonrang the shit out of them. Use magic and enhanced attacks liberally. And I have no family or life, so I just went through it.

Definitely getting Star Ocean R. Loved it back on PS1, but do not remember much about the story as it has been a lot of years, so it will be almost like new.

I can only get the boomerang to bounce like 8 times at most. I see there's a trophy to get it to 25. I feel like I'm pressing x correctly. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Sycho Sid]

I can only get the boomerang to bounce like 8 times at most. I see there's a trophy to get it to 25. I feel like I'm pressing x correctly. What am I doing wrong?

No idea, I am not great at it either, I got the trophy through dumb luck. The amount of times I messed up in the first few its is truly embarassing.

But if you find that your regular attacks are not doing much, use an ability, the two main characters have their elemental type attacks that typically help on physical resistant enemies.

Also if the enemy has that lock, try to break it because while the lock is active, the enemy also takes less damage.

 

[steeldragon]

Which one of you guys did this

 

[HereticBD]

Tried it out for a couple of hours. What do the young people say today? Oh' yeah, this game absolutely slaps.

It's easily the best looking of all the 16-bit retro inspired games I've played. The friggin' tree leaves sway in the wind. Every area(so far at least) is a visual wonder. Above all else, I think the visuals are it's biggest achievement. It just looks so damn good, from environmental details to the animations of sprites...there's nothing else that really compares. It's incredible to see just how much work went into the visuals, from such a limited plain.

On top of that, it plays great. The combat system, which is clearly lifted from the "Mario RPG" blueprint, is amazing(and what all JRPG style games should be implementing), and it has a few neat strategic twists on the formula. It's probably the best implementation of that "real time/turn based" system. The story is engaging so far, and I've heard it just gets better and better, with lots of twists and whatnot, so if that holds true, this is gonna be one hell of a game.

The only complaint I have, are the frequent load times. For a game as minimal as this, I think they could've tightened that up. Very minor issue, though. Everything else is...

I didn't expect too much, but this one could be something special.

 

[Zazen]

It's a prequel but the connection is very loose apparently. As in they are mentioned like one time briefly in The Messenger.

Well, they just announced DLC that is going to have some tie between the two games so I'm interested to see what they will do with it. About 7 hours into the game so far and I might complete it in a couple of weeks at a rate of an hour a day. I think it gets better after the opening hours.

 

[HereticBD]

Been splitting my time between this and "Starfield", but I think I'm gonna give this game the respect it deserves, and finish it up before truly diving into "Starfield" and its endlessness.

It's just such a tight game. The story is great. The dungeons are great. The general flow of the game is very satisfying. Only complaint, would be that it's a bit too linear. You get some options when leveling up, but for the most part, the game just naturally flows in a way that you never feel threatened by anything. The combat, while fun, is very user friendly and forgiving to the point where it's very hard to actually die. That said, it doesn't play itself, and has just enough strategy involved, to not make you feel like you're just going through the motions and getting bored. The difficulty is just right, but I wouldn't mind a spike here and there, to keep you on your toes and think outside the box. It's the only fault I can find with it, though, and I'm reaching a bit to find it, LOL.

 

[Zazen]

I think this game might have been overrated. It's gorgeous but it's very shallow. The story is very simple and kind of boring that I find myself not caring so much anymore and reading only half the dialogue. I think the worst offender is the combat, I'm 12 hours in so I assume that's about half way but the gameplay has barely changed. Each character has about 3 attacks and I've been spamming the same ones all game. People bitched about FFXVI and how barebones it was in terms of RPG mechanics but I think Sea of Stars is even worse in this regard. FFXVI at least had dozens of combinations depending how you chose your eikon ability layout. It's bizarre that this game didn't receive similar criticisms. I think a lot of people just fell in love with the gorgeous art but that's not enough to carry this game for me. Right now I'd give it a 7 out of 10. Still a decent little game but nothing that warrants game of the year talk imo. I'm honestly way more excited for Star Ocean Second Story R. At least I know that's an amazing JRPG that delivers on both story and combat. Amazing characters as well, highly recommend that to people.

 

[HereticBD]

No idea, I am not great at it either, I got the trophy through dumb luck. The amount of times I messed up in the first few its is truly embarassing.

Yeah, you get used to the timing. The early hits can be a bit tough to time, because you're waiting for the right moment to hit it back(I still let it go too long sometimes), but once it gets going fast, you can pretty much time it for when it hits the enemy. I got the achievement in the second big dungeon, and have probably hit 40 a bunch of times since.

That said, it's such an OP attack to lean on, that I'm a bit sick of using it. Every battle starts with that attack, unless I'm short on magic.

 

[JayPettryMMA]

100%ed this one recently. It was good fun, definitely scratched that SNES JRPG itch, but its combat was extremely basic and didn't develop much through mid- and end-game. Even knocked out the artful gambit, because why not.

 

[HereticBD]

Been bombing along. I'm at the underwater world at about 15 hours in. Still pretty damn good, but I will admit that the limited combat is getting to me, and making dungeons feel a bit tedious. Most JRPG's are repetitive in this regard, but the simplicity of the combat needs a few more powers to mess around with. It started off great, but the strategy hasn't evolved much past the whole "slot machine" mechanic, where you have to pick the right attacks to cancel out a big attack. That's about all it's got.

Thankfully, it still impresses with each new zone, and the story is still interesting enough to keep going.

Unless it blows me away with some crazy plot twist, or takes a big shit, I've got it sitting at an 8/10.