Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Worst Final Boss of 2015

First things first, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (PMM) is a spin-off of the Pokémon games using Chun-soft's Shiren engine. Basically, a roguelike. The first PMM games were the Red/Blue Rescue Team, released on the GBA (Red) and on the DS (Blue), the only differences being some version exclusive "catchable" Pokémon. The games were very well received (mainly by the Pokémon fanbase), leading to further sequels in the PMM series. Explorers of Sky is the "remaster" of the second PMM games released on the DS: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, having the typical "update fixes" and also changed some gameplay mechanics, rebalanced the difficulty, added more dungeons, etc.

In a roguelike, you transverse randomly generated dungeons, obtain randomly generated loot and battle endless waves of enemies, forcing you to use those items as to avoid dying and get as quickly as possible to the stairs that take you to the next dungeon floor. If you die, say good bye to all those treasures and money you were carrying.

PMM mostly retains all these elements and adds some Pokémon specific features (like evolving) and while all this seems a little overwhelming, PMM is considerably easier than most roguelikes.

Now, unto the game itself. Explorers of Sky is very fun game, full of content and even has a solid story, full of surprising plot twists! You start the game by answering around 5~6 questions and afterwards you get a Pokémon (from a pool of 12 possible results) befitting your answers. Then you choose a partner (again, from a limited number of choices) that will accompany you during the story progression. The story unveils when you clear story specific dungeons although you can freely visit other dungeons to grind levels, clear quests or simply to get more party members or items.

So, here's the deal: I was enjoying immensely the game until I faced the final story boss. First, you can only use your Pokémon and your partner in the last story segment. As in, 15+8+15+11= 49 floors plus the Final Boss. And you can't restock your items between these floors, except for all the items you find during your way to the Final Boss.
While it seems like a lot of floors, they are rather short and the Pokémon there aren't any real threat. Except if you stumble on a Monster House (room that are filled with enemies) and you most certainly will, since the last 8 floors love having them.

My problem isn't exactly this exercise in patience but the horrible gameplay design of the Final Boss. It's completely full of fake difficulty.

Here's the Moves that it uses:
>A ranged special attack that deals immense damage to ALL Pokémon
>A physical damaging attack that may increases it's own attack stat
>A special damaging  attack that may increase ALL of the Final Boss's stats, including doubling its turns
>A Dragon type physical attack (that he rarely uses)

On top of this, thanks to its typing, it has NO weaknesses. AND it has a passive skill that randomly nullifies an attack made against it. If this isn't some complete bullshit tier difficulty, I don't know what is.

I managed to defeat it though.On my 4th attempt. I had 4 Reviver Seeds with me, used Sleep Seeds until it put him to sleep (it never sleeps for more than 2 turns though), used a Vile Seed on it and hoped the nullifying passive doesn't kick in more than 3 or 4 times.

The story stills continues though. After this "Final" Boss, there is still more to the story. But I'm too bitter after this to continue, so I'm done with the game for now. I loved the game until now though, the gameplay is fun, the game is colorful, the music is also cute but this Boss left me with a bitter taste. I will, however, pick it up again in the near future for sure, since I want to know what the game has more to offer.

Currently playing: 44 days since last update Edition

I should really try to update more frequently. I mean,a blog without posts isn't much of a blog, right? But alas, a busy life demands much of my free time.

[PS3] Final Fantasy X-2: Definitely shelved after nearly 67 hours. Had a great time with it and, all things considered, it is a good game. From a gameplay stand-point, it's probably better than Final Fantasy X. Also, the Last Mission epilogue is actually a Rogue-like. And a good one if I may add. But I'm already playing another Rogue-like, so yeah. I'll pick it up again some time later.

[PC] Touhou-A-Live: Haven't touched it again since the last update. Being a PC game really kills any intention I have of playing it. I loved the last chapter I played though, the "first" final chapter. It was a huge shout out to Tactics Ogre Let Us Cling Together and Final Fantasy Tactics, with a side dish of Shin Megami Tensei.

[DS] Metal Max 3: 50 hours in, going to start the Liberate Erurusu (Elulusu? Erulus? Elulus? El Ruth) quest line. I'm nearly at the end of the game by the way. 50 hours sure are a lot, but anyone rushing it could probably shave off around 15 hours from this total. I'm simply playing slowly, digesting a game that isn't meant to be rushed.

Now, for the new games:

        

[PS2] Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga: aka Final Fantasy meets Shin Megami Tensei. 28 hours in, just eliminated all other tribes. Having a blast with this game. The only problem I have with it is the 3 member party. Although, a party consisting of four party members could easily become too overpowered thanks to being able to change and equip skills freely.

[PS] Final Fantasy IX: Picked up. Played 5~6 hours. Dropped. The farthest I got with IX was around half of the third disc. I simply cannot like Final Fantasy IX. The characters annoy me (except Vivi), the gameplay annoys me, the overall slowness of the game annoys me... I really wanted to give it another go since it's the only mainline Final Fantasy (barring the online ones) that I haven't finished but I guess I will never finish it at this pace.

[DS] Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: 15 hours in and nearing the end (I think). Absolutely loving it. I remember it playing years ago but, for some reason, my save corrupted back then. Oh well. My team consists of Piplup, Vulpix and a Electrike right now and probably won't change until the post game.

I also picked up Kirby Super Star Ultra for the DS and I've playing it occasionally to avoid "RPG fatigueness".

Either way, that's all for now. Hopefully I'll update sooner next time! Until then, feel free to leave a comment!

Phantom Brave: A Contrasting Experience

Nippon Ichi (NIS) is known for making stories full of comedy and parody, for their marvelous spritework, for their over-the-top skill animations and for making mainly strategy RPGs. Phantom Brave has all of these elements, except for the first: comedy. The story is as dark as the game is colorful.

The colorful and bright world is noticeable right on the title screen, it even has a very soothing background music, making the first couple of hours a complete shock for those who pick up the game without knowing anything about it or simply expecting a Disgaea-like story.

While you won't find much comedy in Phantom Brave's story, the drama is quite believable and wasn't made with the aim of provoking cheap emotions on the player. You'll feel attached to Marona and Ash as they try to solve their inner conflicts: Marona simply wants to live in peace with everyone and Ash is constantly tormented with thoughts of vengeance and if he's being overprotective of Marona. And there's also the other secondary characters, each with their own personal struggles.

One thing is for sure: expect an emotional ride. Not from the story itself, since it's a rather basic (but still nicely done) "ancient sealed evil is going to return to destroy the world and you must stop it" story but from the characters, both main and secondary, antagonistic or not.

With such a nice rooster of characters and a nice story, the gameplay can only also be good, right? Wrong.

NIS used the free roaming system (no square-based movement) of Makai Kingdom and the absurd levels of customization and grinding of Disgaea and then added some unique mechanics to make the game fresh. But these mechanics are very hit-or-miss.

First and foremost, we have the Confinement system. You always start the battle with just Marona and then she has to confine the spirits of your units into whatever objects exist on the map (trees, rocks, flowers, pots, crates, weapons, etc.) and that are in the range of confinement. However, this confinement is temporary: each unit has X turns to act and then disappears, blocking you from confining them again in that battle. These turns vary from 3 to 8, depending on the class or the unique character. Also, you have to be careful with what object you use for confinement for each character as they alter the confined character's stats (rocks, for instance, increase DEF by 130% but reduce INT to 80%).

Another mechanic added to Phantom Brave is the Fusion of characters and weapons. Initially, each character has the level cap of 100 which can be increased by fusing a character into that one. Let's say I fuse a Lv100 Marona with a Lv50 witch. Marona now has the level cap of 150 and, if Marona has the required Mana, learns the skills of the witch. There's no limit to this, you can even fuse your monster units into human units so the latter can learn the monster's skills and passives. However, this whole fusion thing is going to cost you useful characters and the game is really stingy with EXP gain, so fusing is also going to force you into grinding for hours.

Thankfully, you won't really need to use Fusion a whole lot, you can even finish the game with the initial cap of Lv100. Just get some decent weapons. Oh, right. Because you only have one equipment slot for weapons. No armor nor accessories, just weapons.

All in all, my only problem with Phantom Brave is the turn limit for the characters. A problem that made me quit the game more times than I wanted. In retrospect, I should have just used cheats to level the characters and enjoy the story without interruptions.

Oh, and the PSP exclusive content forces you into restarting from level 1. Needless to say, I gave up after the first cutscenes. Maybe I'll try finishing it another day. Or year.

By the way, I forgot to mention this but Phantom Brave is available for the PS2, for the Wii and for the PSP. The PS2 version being the original (with less content) and the PSP version being the most recent port (having more content).

Currently playing: One month interruption Edition

Whew, so after one month I finally have some time to write new stuff! I was away on a trip to Greece and also stayed a day in Italy and it was hard to find videogame stores in both countries! I did, however, ended up buying one game: Akiba's Trip. I played the first on the PSP and the game was pretty fun so the sequel can only be better, right? At least I hope so. I got the PS3 version even though I would prefer the Vita version but, guess what, I didn't find any Vita section in either country. Buying online is becoming the only way of getting games for this unlucky "legacy" handheld.

Regarding all the other games I've been playing:

[PS3] Final Fantasy X-2: Still haven't dropped this one. Currently grinding away for EXP and AP while tackling the 100 floor post-game dungeon. The layout for each floor is randomly selected from a grand total of 5, 6 or 7 depending on which floor you're on and you get to fight a boss every 20 floors. Needless to say, the floors are an absolute bore. But the boss battles are pretty hard and they are reason enough to make me soldier on. When, or rather, if I finish this dungeon I'll call it quits and shelve the game for good.

[PC] Touhou-A-Live: Finished the "Wild!" chapter and the first final chapter. Loving this game. Too bad it's on the PC because I loathe playing videogames on it, otherwise I would have finished it a long time ago! Also, the game doesn't even detect gamepads! Oh, well...

[DS] Metal Max 3: 35 hours in, I'm pretty much going around clearing sidequests and hunting down the "Wanted" monsters for some extra cash. Damn, money in this game disappears quickly. Also, I kept the Mechanic in my party and good thing I did: I forgot how the Mech is a must-have around the near end-game parts. Repairing tanks on the go is a life and time saver.

[PSP] Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle: Had this game on my waiting list for years. I've picked it up and dropped it more times than any other game on the PSP. Finally, though, I managed to finish it. The game's story and characters are charming, interesting and good. It's been a while since I've played a game where I enjoyed the story so much. The gameplay, however... I'll avoid spoiling details though and leave them for a future article.

[3DS] Shin Megami Tensei IV: I already finished it months ago but I picked it up again because I've missed it. Fans of the SMT games shunned the game because of the story and some questionable choices regarding the game mechanics, but I found it just as enjoyable as Nocturne or Strange Journey. Either way, I'm grinding away some levels and trying to fuse some decent demons so I can beat the Fiends and then maybe start a new game+ aiming for a Neutral ending.

[3DS] Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call: Also picked up this one again to grind some more levels and scrolls. After clocking around 100 hours in it, I couldn't possibly say this a bad game, right? Addicting, fun and, for the veteran Final Fantasy fans, a nostalgia trip. Anyone who loves rhythm games or Final Fantasy must play this game. Even RPG gamers that have never touched a rhythm should give it a try, since it's filled with RPG elements. By the way, the online for this one is still kicking even after almost an year!

And that's it for now! I'll probably publish an article about Phantom Brave sometime after this (busy) weekend. Until then, feel free to leave a comment!

Currently playing: Non-RPG Edition

Final Fantasy X-2 left me kind of burned out on RPGs due to its slow pacing, so I decided to play some other type of games.

One of the lucky chosen was Parodius Portable Collection on the PSP. First things first, if you don't know or haven't heard anything about Parodius, stop reading this and go play it. Any of them. If you have a PSP you can get Parodius Portable Collection which includes 5 games of the series.

So, what is Parodius? Is easier to show rather to explain:

Yup, it's a shoot'em up game. And a very weird one at that. Regardless, every time I play these games I completely crack up at the madness they could fit in one screen. Ballerina panda? Dancing penguins? Giant space moai statues? Pirate cats? You name it.

The series is compromised of 6 games, 5 of them conveniently put together on the PSP collection: Parodius, Parodius da!, Gokujyou Parodius, Jikkiou Oshaberi Parodius Forever With Me and Sexy Parodius.

Even if you suck at shoot'em ups or don't care about the genre, I recommend you try it/them even if only to see how nonsensical these games are.

Another one I've been playing is NiGHTS Into Dreams, recently bought from the PSN. NiGHTS is a cult classic from the Saturn era and, to this day, still retains both its quality and its magic. It's a game that everyone should play. Bright, colorful world, arcade-like gameplay, excellent music and atmosphere... Everything about the game just oozes inspiration and magnificence.

Well then, don't mind me, I'll be over there playing these games for now and resume my RPG games tomorrow! Like a wise man once said: "Don't leave for today what you can do tomorrow."

Final Fantasy X-2: "Well... that certainly wasn't dull."

After nearly 34 hours, I've finally finished it! I swear, the pacing nearly made me drop it but, at the same time, the combat and the characters gave me the strength I needed to make that final push and clear the game.

Originally released on the PlayStation 2 in 2003 (JP/NA) and 2004 (EU) but later released on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita in 2014 and on the PlayStation 4 last May, Final Fantasy X-2 is the sequel to the critically acclaimed and fan-favorite Final Fantasy X, released 2 years before it.

Now, if you ask a Final Fantasy fan what he/she thinks about Final Fantasy X-2, you'll get an answer along the lines of "the combat system was wasted on that thing". And they're not completely wrong.

Final Fantasy X-2 follows the adventures of Yuna, Rikku and Lulu MkII Paine in a now (seemingly) peaceful Spira, free of the looming danger of Sin and the machinations of the Yu Yevon religion. They travel together with Brother, Buddy and Shinra in an airship by the name of Celsius, hunting down rare spheres and solving problems that arose with the appearance of two antagonistic factions: the Youth League and the New Yevon.

And that's pretty much what I'm going to say about the story. It only goes down-hill from here, really. While the premise seems rather interesting, the story ends up being nonsensical while trying to be somewhat serious.

The characters, however, were the main attraction of the story, at least for me. Yuna becomes an up-beat person, Rikku... is still Rikku, Paine actually develops into an interesting character, and Buddy and Brother are pretty comical. I admit that the general "up-beatness" of the game can get annoying and that Buddy's and Brother's jokes are not for everyone but even if you, like me, start hating the characters right off the bat, there's still a chance you end up liking them.

Gameplay-wise, Square brought back the Active Time Battle system of previous Final Fantasies (strangely absent in Final Fantasy X) while refining it and introducing the option of changing jobs dresspheres in the heat of battle. Three nuances stand out in X-2's itineration of the ATB system: the first is that characters move "freely" in the battlefield, the second is the introduction of a "Chain" mechanic and the third is the "Garment Grid".

Why is "freely" in quotes, you ask? Because characters don't move freely in the true sense of the word, they simply approach the target (if using melee weapons of course, otherwise they stay in place), whack it and then make a small jump backwards. You don't really control any movement directly.

The Chain mechanic is exactly what you expect it to be: chaining attacks to slightly increase the damage done to the enemy. Nothing groundbreaking, but still an interesting idea.

Example of a Garment Grid

Garment Grids are basically the dresspheres available during battle. Each Garment Grid has X slots (ranging from 2 to 6 or more) where you set the dresspheres and then the character that has that specific Garment Grid equipped can only change between those during battle. They also offer passive bonuses in the vein of "Strength +15", "Immunity to Poison" or bestowing magic and skills, so there's plenty of room for customization.

Speaking of customization, there are NO weapons or armors in the game, unlike Final Fantasy X. You can only equip a Garment Grid and 2 accessories. 

Exploration in Final Fantasy X-2 is rather unorthodox. You start the game with an airship (that functions as a hub) and choose from a menu your destination. ANY destination. Yes, you can explore every corner of Spira right away, although you need to be careful with the local monsters's levels. In each destination there's a mission per chapter and where you have a "Hot Spot" notice means that the mission in that area needs to be cleared for the story to progress.

Honestly, this system, while fun at first, gets tiring after a while. You'll be visiting the same places over and over again. Good thing the game is rather short, unless you want to complete all missions and attain a 100% clear rating that is, in which case it can take beyond 40 hours.

If you're playing the HD remaster, there's also the Creature Creator and the Last Mission, both features previously Japan-only. Creature Creator is basically a monster collector while also letting you use monsters in battle instead of Yuna, Rikku or Paine. You can't control the monsters directly, just toggle their aggressiveness between 0 (do nothing) and 5 (always attack). Last Mission is a 80 floor tower where the trio fight monsters, obtain loot and talk about some of the events that transpired during the course of the main game.

...And that's enough about Final Fantasy X-2. I liked it, mind you, otherwise I wouldn't be thinking about tackling one or both of the post game dungeons. Still, it wasn't the follow up to Final Fantasy X that many (like me) were waiting for and it is sort of a slog to play, specially considering the weak sense of exploration, only aggravated by 90% of the game being reused assets from X and the terrible camera that only hinders the player.

Currently playing...

So, a quick rundown of all the games I'm currently playing:

[PS3] Final Fantasy X-2 HD - I'm at chapter 4, with around 30 hours in and with a 67% completion rate. Not sure what to feel about this one.
On one hand, the combat system is really addictive, on the other hand, the game has terrible pacing, an idiotic story and the characters are hit-or-miss. Whoever thought that this completion mechanic was good needs to be fired. Still, I'm having fun with it and I'm actually enjoying the cheesiness of the story (and I'm curious to see how this train wreck of a story develops) so I'm not gonna drop it. At least for now.


[DS] Metal Max 3 - 15 hours in and I'm at the Evil Estate, helping out the poor traders clean up the place. Thinking about switching my Mechanic for a Nurse but then I'd have to grind her to the party's level and that would take a while. I already finished the game a couple of years ago but got the urge to replay it since it's one of my favorite games.





[PS] Parasite Eve - aka Vagrant Story meets survival horror. I dislike horror games so I never touched PE until last week when I found out that the game is more like 80% RPG and 20% horror. Just finished the game yesterday and got the normal/bad ending at around 10 hours. Now I have to do an EX game run and clear the Chrysler Building to get the good/canon ending... Or I could simply go to Youtube and save myself from the slow walking and the tedious battles. The story is pretty nice and unexpectedly grabs you but the actual gameplay is "meh", so don't blame if I don't wanna slog through a 77 floor dungeon.



[PC] Touhou-A-Live - The SNES masterpiece Live-A-Live with a Touhou Project coating. Finished all chapters except for the "Wild!" and the final chapters. As soon as I found out that it was made with RPG Maker 2003 I thought I was in for a terrible game but, against all odds, the game is good. No, scratch that, it's great. I don't know how the creator did it but he actually successfully mimicked Live-A-Live's battle system in RPG Maker 2003! That alone is worth some serious praise.




[GBA] Summon Night Craft Sword Monogatari Hajimari no Ishi - (Re)Playing it on and off for the last months on my cellphone. The last game of the Swordcraft Story games (spin-offs of the Summon Night games) on the GBA that never left Japan and as excellent as the other two.
I choose Rufeel as my Guardian Beast for the first time and I'm quite satisfied with her. She's quick and a jack-of-all-trades skill-wise so I can adapt her magic to the enemies's weaknesses easily.

Well, that's all for now! I'll (hopefully) end up doing a more detailed article on each once I finish them.
Feel free to leave a comment!