Board 8 > Strife Plays Tokyo Xanadu - Ys + Trails + Persona = Fun? *Spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

I finished up FFVIII the other day, spending a week watching a ton of anime. In the meantime, this popped into my mailbox from Gamefly. I read up on it, finding out it was made by the guys who made Ys (great sign) and Trails of Cold Steel (a series people seem to really like, but I never got into). Anyway, not knowing this, all I thought was, “Persona knock off.” Turns out I am liking it despite the crazy similarities. I think I’m going to stick with it. I’m only through the first dungeon, so I don’t have much to say just yet.

Good points so far
Action combat – I’m happy it follows the Ys engine. The last thing I need right now is more turn based stuff, since I’ve spent the last few months doing that constantly. It’s a nice breezy change to just mindlessly bash enemies.

The mystery girl, the childhood friend, the tomboy martial arts girl: ahh, familiarity. Can’t complain though. That’s par for the course for these things. I do like they have biographies for many of the other students. Makes NPCs actually interesting, which is something most games tend to ignore.

THE FAST TRAVEL BUTTON!
No game like this should be without it. It’s on the Vita, and you shouldn’t be wasting too much time wandering around if you got a place to go. The hub even tells you where people are located, so the guesswork is taken out.

Maybe it’s because I’m used to static cameras, but the way they frame cutscenes in a kind of “top/down meets isometric angle” sort of way is nice, compared to being straight on view. They even pull this trick when talking to teachers. Nice little add-on there.

Bad stuff
The bad thing right now is the camera during battles. I think it is tied to the start button (at least that is what the menu said anyway). I tend to get lost locking on enemies, and the boss was frustrating when I got turned around. Maybe it was initial gameplay nuance, and I’ll figure it out eventually.

The story is also nothing special. Spooky alternate dimension, enemies other people can’t see or fight, high schoolers with special weapons fighting them at night while doing social stuff after school. The calendar mechanic…gee, that’s original. There's no dub option, which kinda sucks. It's better to have a game translated in English than not localized at all, but local actors would have been nice. It was kind of funny seeing a cutscene with a Japanese actor reading English for a line or two. I guess that is a charming tradeoff.

But whatever. I’m sure this game is decent enough that while it won’t reach Persona level, I hope it isn’t garbage. Falcom usually makes good shit.
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Strife2 posted...

There's no dub option

sold
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I will wait for PS4 version in November
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The animations and graphics didn't bug me until I saw the MC try to pick up a card off the ground. Weird shading effects there. Either that or his hand and arm wrestled with jiggle physics...why that would happen, I dunno.

Also, you run into a girl, and she's kinda miffed throughout the conversation, and you ask what's wrong? Well you ran into her you idiot.

Oh hey, an idol. You know what that means!
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Boning
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Wow, that second boss was a joke. He didn't hit me once. All moves had easy tells, cause it was slow, and I just had to dodge roll.
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There's Chie...wait, she's got a light blue jacket instwad...goddammit. Stop playing with my emotions, and don't kick me in the balls or out into space.
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A GTO reference? Hot damn
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Interesting idea on this fortune telling app story in Chapter 3. I feel the nonchalance of the main character is coming across nicely in a, "Yeah, well fuck you. I have my problems" sort of way. He does care about people...just HIS friends and family. He doesn't brood or snark just cause.
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Chapter 3 done: boss was another joke. I'm getting used to the idea of selling off extra potions. I feel I am not needing them right now. No definite grinding either.
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Street thugs ain't got shit on yakuza. A karate girl is nice, but I want a dragon who beats people with bicycles and roadsigns.
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I don't like heavy fighters in action games. The 4th boss kept making mincemeat of the new guy, cause he swings a fucking Klingon weapon. Hitting hard is fine, but I'd rather not take damage.

I can only hope other new party members play it safe.
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Sheesh. It seems every sparring match with a girl ends with the MC losing. I wonder if the game is trying to tell me something. Anyway, it is late, and I better at least try to fall asleep.
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Idols...sheesh. that reminds me I still haven't played Tokyo Mirage Sessions.
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Looks like I got the ranged attacker I wanted. Busy days, so probably little gaming until Thursday.
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Easy tutorial difficulty dungeon there
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Chapter 5 done
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No game like this is complete without the obligatory Hot Springs episode.
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Well, the hot springs antics were tame. One boob joke and no peepage punishment...what's the point?
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Back to the good fighting action.
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Stuff costs too much money. Stupid accessories.
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Gotta say this game does a ton with idols. Slightly different than P4 and Rise...but a serious ass load of stuff. All that and a nice little plot twist in Chapter 6. This game is actually becoming good. It just took a while.
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Most of Chapter 7 done
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Later
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Damn this chapter (7) is long. It's not even the final one. With my schedule as booked as it is, I'm going to have a hard time beating this until the weekend.
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Final chapter started. I love the fact these dungeons are short. This game has long social life cutscene sections, and the last thing I needed was a 5-10 hour dungeon setup. 20-30 minutes and done. Some of the later ones take an hour.
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No more long work days. I may actually get somewhere in this final chapter.
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Bump
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Final dungeon later
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