For something trying so hard to be anti-LGBTQ, it sure is gay.
scribblemacher
joined 2 years ago
Putting DQ7 on here is almost a bit spicy, but I think it's one of the best representations of the series in terms of scope, pacing, gameplay, and storytelling. It's absolutely slow, but that was sort of the point.
Enjoy! I played DA:O around 2010 and loved it. It brought back all of the love of Infinity Engine games, but with modern stuff. I played it at least twice, and I remember the second time doing every single quest.
I had a Microsoft thumb trackball growing up and it was so good. There's a Logitech with a similar design, but it doesn't have the same feel. At work, I've been using a Kensington Expert and loving it. I don't know how people use regular mice.
I felt the same way, but caved when I saw the multilanguage physical edition had English. No regrets so far. The QoL stuff added makes a big difference; I'd probably pick these over the original DS versions, despite no stylus mapping.
Did you know that there is an EO Mystery Dungeon? If you like MD, that's probably a good starting place for you!
For tips:
- There are skill simulators online for each game, and they are valuable for not only planning your party but also telling you specifically what each skill does (in-game it might just say "attack up" but the skill sim will show "attack up +10%"). I use these for reference all the time.
- Don't ignore the map
- Try fighting FOEs when have full health and don't mind a party wipe; they have good rewards
- Don't waste skill points on gathering skills; just make a second party for gathering
- EO1: learn immunize quickly and max it; it's overpowered
- EO2: War Magus can be your main healer and is arguably better than a medic
- EO3: experiment with the classes; there's a lot of stuff you can do when multiclassing is unlocked halfway through the game
Depends on what you like about EO. EO makes party building and finding synergy a core part of it's gameplay. For something like that, Star crawlers, Paper Sorcerer, and Wizardry 8 are good choices (7th Dragon series also falls under this, though it's not first-person).
If the mapping is what you like, I don't think there are any other games that integrate it into the game itself, but a lot of games expect the player to map using graph paper. For those, Wizardry 1-3 are good to start with as they are challenging but always fit on a 20 x 20 grid. Later Wizardry 5-7 are also very good but have larger maps that will end up going off the edge of the paper sometimes (though they tend to have more interesting combat too). Might and Magic III would also be a good choice if you want to do more than dungeon crawl. If you do try classic Wizardry, I'd recommend one of the console ports. Robert Woodhead (programming of Wizardry on Apple II) has actually said the Famicom version is the "best". I'd say the GBC or SNES version are best.
For something more modern but still like Wizardry, there's Elminage. It's a modern take on Wizardry from a dev that actually made a lot of Wizardry spin-offs. It has more interesting classes that classic Wizardry. Experience also has some modern takes on the formula (Undernauts being the most recent) but I have trouble getting past the aesthetics of them.
Finally, if you want something more tactical and don't mind AD&D, take a look at some of the gold box games like Pool of Radiance. Dark Heart of Uukrul probably falls in here too (but is not D&D). They have first person mazes, but grid based combat, sort of like a proto version of Tactics Ogre.
And my final off-the-wall recommendation is Legend of Legacy. It's not first person, but it has the same explore, map, and push your limit loop as a good DRPG.
EO3 adds multiclassing and is much more like later games I'm the series, where building weird party combinations is part of the fun, so that's why it gets recommended over the others.
EO1 and 2 are still really good, especially now that some of the QoL stuff from EO3 (namely expanded bestiary and increased speed) iron out some rough edges, but they play more like Wizardry and classic games in the genre.
I fully expect and hope they go on sale soon so more people can play them.
Yeah, I found most reviews just talked about the series and glossed over improvements that were made. I play a lot of blobbers, and EO in general does a great job with the fundamentals that many games still get wrong. Character progression and difficulty stay pretty consistent and the maps are generally interesting. I think in this case people have nostalgia for it because it's a good game.
The price is definitely too high, I agree. I bought the physical release on PlayAsia, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the digital on sale for $30 USD by the end of the year.
PC games came with bananas manuals up until the 2000s. the manual for Neverwinter Nights was hundreds of pages; the manual for Alpha Centauri had a chapter for the developers commentary and inspiration.
Final Fantasy V
It's not the best game, and probably not the best in its series, but it was the best version of a specific type of FF. The job system is so well balanced that a thing like Four Job Fiesta not only exists but is actually fun. I would change nothing about this game, except make the intro skipable.
I can get behind the CC vs CT take. I finished CT first circa 1998 but found it pretty boring (I have a better appreciation for it now). CC was a lot more enjoyable to me--combat had a lot going on, and the music is an unmitigated masterpiece.