@RR529 Emulators and the like are perfectly ok to discuss here as long as you’re not openly telling you how to crack recent systems or pirate games. I’d say you’re in the clear. I’m playing FF5 Advance on my laptop even though I own the cart because I’ve patched the original soundtrack in. Sometimes there are benefits to playing on an emulator, sometimes it’s better to play on original hardware.
@RogerRoger Yes for Shantae (Half-Genie Hero is the first game in the series with any 3D elements), no for Kirby. In Kirby's case, it might have been due to the platform: a lot of Planet Robobot's level design was intended to showcase the stereoscopic 3D capabilities of the system. In this case, perhaps the circular semi-3D design of some of the boss encounters goes back to what looks good and performs well on the system.
Also, your experience with DMC closely matches my own: I downloaded the demo for the newest one on PS4, played it for a bit, hated the gameplay, and never went back. I also don't really enjoy the gameplay of Bayonetta, which I HAVE finished, and which is sort of spiritually similar to this series, so I doubt I'll ever get into DMC. I did receive the controversial reboot free with a humble bundle on PC, though, so maybe I'll play that one someday.
@RR529 You're quite the machine lately. Nice write-up on DMC2.
Even though you seem to have ended up enjoying DMC2 less than the original, you definitely don't seem to regard it as a disaster as many do. I think a lot of 'common consensus' around stuff goes back to people reflecting attitudes they were exposed to when they consumed a piece of media. And I think nearly everyone is susceptible to that, to some extent or another. So I always appreciate seeing dissenting viewpoints reflected here.
And yeah, emulated games are fine to discuss if you skip the bloody details of any less than legal procedures involved with the process. It's the only way to really experience some stuff.
@Ralizah@RR529 Devil May Cry 2’s an interesting one in that while it has a reputation for being awful, it’s not a bad game, it’s just incredibly boring. I think that the story just spread that it was to be avoided which morphed into it being a bad game. It’s not a game I’d replay but it’s not the worst thing I’ve played. It’s somehow almost worse for a game to feel like a bit of a waste of time.
Today I'd like to talk about a duology of JRPGs I recently completed: Ys I & II Chronicles Plus (2013), which is an upgraded port of a similar collection that has been released on the PSP some years before called Ys I & II Chronicles (2009). These are, of course, only the most recent collections of Ys I & II from veteran Japanese developer Nihon Falcom, which are some of the oldest games in the medium, with the first game in this collection (full title: Ys: Ancient Ys Vanished Omen) dating all the way back to 1987 on the PC-88 in Japan (the West wouldn't see a version of the game until a Sega Master System port, localized as Ys: The Vanished Omens, in 1989). While we're talking about the historical stuff, it's probably worth mentioning that the TurboGrafx-CD port of the Ys I & II collection was the first RPG ever committed to CD-ROM in North America. Yeah, there's a LOT of history here.
The Ys (pronounced "eese," like "geese," but without the g sound) series has grown more prominent recently with the 2017 PS4 release and 2018 Nintendo Switch release of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana worldwide. This was also my first exposure to the series, and I absolutely loved the game. Now, while I wait for the PS4 followup Ys IX: Monstrum Nox in 2021, I thought I'd go back and revisit older games in the series to get a sense of how it has evolved over the years, starting with the original two games.
I don't usually review two games at once (I'm going to do this with another set of games for one of my next reviews, actually!), but it's important to note that, unlike any other set of games in the Ys series, Ys I & II are essentially one game split into two parts. In Ys I, you first meet the now iconic Adol Christin, a 16 year old adventurer with flame-red hair and a burning passion for discovery and adventure in his heart. We open as Adol heads to Esteria, an island nation that has been isolated from the rest of the world by a "stormwall." Adol (wordlessly, like Link from The Legend of Zelda, even to this day in modern entries) eventually helps and befriends a young woman named Feena, slays demons, and discovers a vast supernatural mystery related to the Kingdom of Ys, which vanished from the earth previously. What follows is fairy tale-esque high fantasy involving ancient goddesses, magical books, prophecies, and people discovering their magical bloodlines as Adol faces off against increasingly difficult foes over the course of the game. Ys II begins with Adol having been teleported to what remains of the Kingdom of Ys, which we discover is actually floating above the Earth. I won't say more so as not limit the amount of spoilers, but it's all fairly impressively story-driven for such an old game (even if these extremely faithful remakes probably increased the amount of dialogue and introduced more cutscenes and whatnot to modernize the presentation a bit).
The most immediately notable aspect of Ys I & II is the battle system. Ys games are "action-rpgs," so combat takes place in real time on the map, and success in battles is mostly down to reflex and player skill. Technology didn't allow for tremendously complex battle systems in games back in 1987, however, so the first two Ys games adopt was is now called the "bump system." Essentially, Adol has no attack command. Rather, any time he touches an enemy, they exchange blows automatically. Attacking an enemy head-on leaves Adol vulnerable and is a good way to get him killed. So the player has to bumrush enemies from unusual angles: diagonally, straight on from an angle, so that they're barely touching the enemy sprite, from behind, etc. It sounds like a supremely awkward system, and, admittedly, I'd never play this way over having an actual attack command (something that was actually added to the Nintendo DS port of the original Ys game, but I digress), but it works surprisingly well! Part of that is the speed of gameplay. Sort of like Doomguy, Adol seems to be in his element when he's mindlessly charging around the battlefield, rushing enemies and making them hilariously explode into clouds of gore (it sounds nasty, but the cutesy art style doesn't really allow for graphic detail at all).
This system worked less well for me when it came to bosses. In Ys I, bosses are generally simplistic in design to allow for this style of combat, and thus devolve into irritating spectacles where you spend most of the match running from attacks that follow you around the battlefield before desperately running at the enemy for the second or two he'll expose himself at a time. The nadir of this approach actually came with the final boss of the first game, Dark Fact. This jerk ping-pongs around the stage like a crack-addled chipmunk, shooting projectiles out of his body pretty much constantly. So he's hard to hit as is. Once you figure out how to predict his movements and hit him, you discover that, every time he takes damage, a floor tile disappears below him. Thus, over the course of the battle (which typically lasts ten seconds or less, because the battle itself is an embarrassingly unbalanced spectacle), it's easy for the player to accidentally pin themselves in by destroying too many of the floor tiles in a single area, but where the player ends up destroying the floor tiles feels mostly like chance, because so many projectiles are constantly assailing the player that they die if they stay still for more than a second or two, and are constantly taking damage. So it's a battle of attrition between the player and the boss until the player happens to get lucky enough not to destroy too much flooring in particular patterns. I've heard this boss isn't too bad in the PSP version, but, for some reason, the frequency of his attacks and speed of his movements is tied to the framerate the game runs at in the PC release. So, when the framerate is unlocked, he bounces around at near lightning speeds and fills the stage so full of projectiles that the player never really has a chance. I actually had to put a third party application on my PC to limit the game's framerate to 60 to make it playable, which seems supremely dumb oversight on the part of the developers.
Boss encounters in Ys II broadly work better thanks to the introduction of a new element: magic attacks. Adol, very early in the game, gains the ability to use magic. This has a variety of non-offensive uses (including disguising himself as a demon to sneak past certain enemies, freezing time, warping to previously visited locations, and so on), but he ALSO gains the ability to damage and kill enemies by shooting fireballs. This spell is also very easy on the MP meter, so it's clearly designed to be well-used by the player. Most of the bosses in Ys II are designed to be attacked with magic, so the fights can afford to be a bit more complex and creative.
Ys II, in general, is just a flat out better game than the original. The story is more fully realized, and it ties back to Ys I in some cool ways. The game has a larger number of distinct locations to explore, making it feel more like an adventure. Combat, as mentioned is better, including a far less frustrating (and maybe too easy, but whatever) final boss. There's more dialogue. And the final dungeon, while still confusing, doesn't make me want to rip the hair out of my head like the original game's final dungeon, Darm Tower.
Both games also suffer from drawbacks, however. Primarily stuff that's baked into how the story progresses. Anyone who plays really old video games that aren't level based knows they often tend to have infuriatingly cryptic puzzles and progression logic, and the first two Ys games are, while hardly the worst examples of this, no exception either. Receiving critical items and moving the plot forward often depends on engaging with NPCs in unique ways that require some guesswork. The player will also frequently have to return to old locations to do or find something, often with very little direction on the part of the games. None of it is unguessable, of course, but it's not signposted nearly as clearly as it would be in a modern game, and this could lead to hours of frustration on the part of the player. Just read a walkthrough if you end up feeling lost.
The worst aspect of these games are the dungeon design and lack of maps. These games LOVE to throw the player into dingy, barely visible labyrinths filled with monsters, multiple floors, environmental puzzles, etc. So that makes them hard to navigate right off the bat. Now consider that these games don't support any form of in-game automapping of any kind. There aren't a tremendous number of locations in either game (they're shockingly small, actually; particularly the first game), but all of them are confusing and a pain to get around. Even the towns are large and dense enough that, even late in the game, I found myself wandering around them blindly, looking for plot-relevant NPCs or special locations.
I mentioned that I hated the final dungeon in Ys I, and it's primarily because of this. It's this hours long (seriously, half the game is spent climbing that %^&$#^* tower!) slog where everything looks the same, certain floors are filled with teleporter puzzles, and one particularly egregious bit of cryptic old-timey video game bullpucky is involved. I spent so much time lost in that dungeon.
The strongest point of this collection is the music. The original PC-88 OST, as basic as it was, was an early set of compositions by the legendary video game composer Yuzo Koshiro, who would compose the music for several of Falcom's early games. These tracks have been completely re-orchestrated a few times over the years for various re-releases (like, 5 or 6 times in Japan), but the soundtrack in this latest re-release is probably the best version of the music in these timeless games.
The forementioned fairy tale vibe of these games is immediately reinforced by the dreamy title theme for Ys I when you first boot it up:
The soundtrack is fairly diverse. You have your happy town themes:
More chilled out location themes:
The fantastic dungeon/region themes, which tend to be up-tempo and exciting:
And then the flat-out rock music, which often accompanies tough boss battles:
Also thought I'd link this very pretty track. The original composition was cut from the PC-88 version of the game, but they managed to squeeze the remade version into more recent versions of the collection, including the one I'm reviewing:
Impressively, Ys I + II Chronicles Plus supports alternative soundtracks and character designs - a set original to this version of the game, and a set that dates back to the earlier, non-localized PC re-release of the game in 2001 or so. You can mix and match these settings: I opted for the lush instrumentation of the Chronicles re-release, but the very charmingly retro character art found in the game's earlier PC re-release. You can even change the music to what was in the primitive PC-88 version (although, unfortunately, there's no accompanying graphical changes to go alongside that).
Here are a few screenshots to compare the differences:
vs
or
vs
As it stands, then, while the games can be a bit hard to get into from a modern perspective, I think they hold up marvelously well given their age and the relatively minimal changes brought to the remakes. This classic JRPG duology struggles to hold up to experiences originating from modern hardware, of course, even within the same series, but they compare favorably to other games from that area (I'll replay Ys I & II any day before I subject myself to the rough contours of the NES-era Zelda or Metroid games again, for example). Adol Christin, despite being rather little known to most people, has enjoyed a storied history of gaming adventures that go back to nearly the dawn of the medium, and I'm excited to continue on this journey with him through the various Ys games.
Fun fact: The opening for Ys II featured in this game was animated by Makoto Shinkai, who also directed other openings for certain Falcom games and would go on to become a sensation in the anime world with his masterful 2016 romantic-comedy-fantasy film Your Name
-
Fun fact: There was apparently a fairly decent anime adaptation of both of these games in the late 1980s. And they're watchable for free on youtube!
@Ralizah Great review, I played these two last year and did also enjoy them despite some truly dated mechanics and that puzzle in Ys 1’s tower. The 2nd game really is just better and feels like a sprawling adventure in comparison. I don’t mind the bump system but perhaps felt levels were slightly too far apart in terms of ability, 1 level could make the difference between dealing 0 damage and being able to beat a boss. The music is a proper highlight and especially Feena’s theme/title music which is incredible. Ys Origin is also really quite good and I’d recommend that after 1&2 because it ties so heavily into the story. I had no idea about Makoto Shinkai but it actually makes sense now I think about it. Another interesting tidbit is that Feena’s theme closely resembles my favourite piece from the Trails in the Sky trilogy, Continuation of the Dream, which also plays in my favourite sequence from the series. There’s just a certain charm with Falcom games that I haven’t found elsewhere!
@Ralizah I hear wildly diverse things about that DmC reboot. Some loathe it, but others say it got a tough break, and reckon it's pretty fun. That probably doesn't help you but hey, at least you got it free!
Superb double feature on the Ys games (and thank you for correcting my inner monologue; whenever I've seen it written around these parts, I've read it as "wise"). I love the soundtrack samples you've chosen to accompany your piece, for obvious reasons. I also applaud their decision to retain the characters' original visual style as an option, as I do for any remaster or remake worth its salt. Makes the whole thing feel a bit more historical, and hurrah for player choice, as always.
You've made the games sound really engaging, even to somebody like me, a gamer who'd usually just add an F to the protagonist's name and make a few wisecracks at his expense. The unique pinball combat gameplay sounds pretty decent to me (crack-addled chipmunks notwithstanding) and I liked your effective comparison to DOOM. I also took one look at your screencaps and thought "this looks like it'll be one of those tough retro games" so yeah, no shame in using a walkthrough if you did, because I certainly would. I've gotten far too comfortable with modern signposting!
Hope you continue to enjoy the series, and that the new game lives up to its promise next year!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@nessisonett LOL The harmonica version of Feena's theme IMMEDIATELY made me think of Trails in the Sky. I'm sure the same composers who worked on the re-orchestrated music for these games probably also worked on Trails.
Origin and IX will be my next two games in the series. Does Origin have maps, or is it at least more intuitively laid out than Darm Tower is in Ys I? It's seriously one of the most annoying dungeons I've ever trudged through in a video game.
One interesting thing I noticed: in Ys I, I hit the level cap extremely early in the game, but I'm not even sure I hit the cap in Ys II. The level cap was very artificially low in the first game. It's just another way in which the sequel is flat out a better experience.
And yeah, the Shinkai connection surprised me as well. But the animation really does look similar to his other work.
@Ralizah Origin doesn’t have a map but it’s a lot easier to navigate as the areas are both distinct and linear. You get a feel for it and by the third playthrough with the final character, you’ll know the tower like the back of your hand. There are loads of callbacks to Ys 1&2 in the tower so it’s a bit like if Darm Tower was dragged into the 21st century.
@RogerRoger No worries. I initially pronounced it that same way as well. I think everyone who sees the admittedly bizarre series name probably does. I have to wonder how much more successful this series would have become if the series name wasn't "Ys."
And yeah, I was really happy with how customizable this experience was. I'm halfway tempted to play through the games again with the PC-88 soundtrack, although I have other stuff to play in the near future, so that won't be happening.
The games really were engaging, although I'd probably recommend someone play a newer game in the series first, as there is a certain, inescapable level of jank associated with RPGs this old. Still, for a faithful remake of something from the dawn of console gaming? Not bad at all.
@mookysam@Ralizah Ok yeah, I forgot about the bat boss. That’s an absolute car crash of a boss. I hate it, hate it, hate it. Ys 2 loses to the first game just because of that boss 😂😂
This links to a number of Shinkai's Falcom openings. Rather cool.
Oh, and I just stumbled across this: the english opening to the Turbografx version. Unironically one of the most charming openings I've ever seen to a video game. Wish there was an option to enable it in Chronicles Plus.
@mookysam Like Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, Ys I & II feel genuinely ahead of their time. I do enjoy remakes like these that polish up the presentation a bit while leaving the broad game design alone, even if it means some frustration on my part.
Zava ("bat boss") was definitely the hardest boss in Ys II. Honestly, she gives the wimpy final boss a run for his money. Dark Fact is still worse, though, even with the framerate limiter in place. Holy moly, what a jerk.
@Ralizah Yeah, as depressingly generic as these sound, calling the series something like "Magical Quest" or "The Amulet of Destiny" would've probably helped the games' marketing penetration. I'm seeing them talked about more and more, though, and in positive terms, so they obviously do something right (especially considering that they're still making sequels). Here's to their continued success!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
A wonderfully written review there @Ralizah of Ys I & II (And thank you for the pronunciation as I'd not been clear on how to say it's title either).
As usual your screenshots and music show off the titles rather well indeed and I love the little extra information such as the anime and other openings.
Even at the beginning Falcom has had a tendency for interconnected and fairly engaging storytelling huh? I really should get back onto finishing Trails Of Cold Steel 2 (As that's part of a Falcom double bill review from me as well 😅)
I have been keeping my eye on Ys VIII too (Which you already previously recommended to me) and I assume if I said I've seen some new (PS4) physical copies of it going for £18 I should jump at it huh?
Oh and I know there's plenty of other reviews I missed whilst I was away including a review of Shadow The Hedgehog from RogerRoger.... I'll get on reading those soon!
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Definitely. Ys VIII is one of the best JRPGs I've played this generation, and even in a series filled with worldbuilding and references to previous titles, there's very little connection to other games in the series, making it pretty much the perfect game to start with.
Most of the games work well as independent experiences, but they also reference previous titles in the series, and, as Falcom has remade these games, it has been consistent with how it has developed the series' lore.
Thankfully, unlike with Trails, pretty much all the major games in the series (apart from Ys V, which still needs to be remade) are easily available in English on PC.
Version played: PS4 Also available on: PC, Switch (At least at some point supposedly), Android & IOS Time Played: 30 hours? (I'm really not sure thanks to playing the majority of it it at very weird times whilst off ill)
An adventure awaits just past that door
You remember my Let It Die review don't you?
The first free to play game I tried where I actively enjoyed the game and had played it for a solid 80+ hours til the gross difficulty increase in the final stretch (Which I presume was designed to hoover up cash unless you grinded for ages) that made it such a slog I never got round to beating it?
The one where I would've given it a good score if I wasn't so unamused by said shenanagins?
Well... Spoiler warning.
But let's not talk about that just yet.
Genshin Impact is a free to play open world RPG. You play as The Traveler whom is either the brother or sister of an opposite gendered twin.
Whilst traveling through worlds (For sh*ts and giggles or something I dunno... it's never explained why (or how) in game) the Twin Travelers end up in an incredibly anime cutscene against one of the many gods whom resides in the world of Tevyat.
Both have pretty neat designs
After selecting which of the twins you'd like to play as your other half is quickly captured by said god and defeated, drained of their power and destroyed before the god then bestows a similar fate to you, banishing you or something? (Again not fully explained what happens to either of you to be honest but it's not that important either beyond sh&t happens and you're seperated)
Your chosen twin and playable protagonist is then seen looking out on a beach several years later and your new Pixie/Fairy friend Paimon encourages you to get a move on so you can resume your journey to find the god that took your brother/sister from you.
Quickly the pair end up in the city of Mondstadt, dealing with the guardian dragon of anemo (wind) whom has become corrupted somehow and it's up to you and your new found allies in the Knights Of Favonius to sort that out and save the day.
At least that's the first part of the overarching main storyline. It's not finished in the slightest.
Some lovely storybook like cutscenes/flashbacks are sprinkled throughout
There's some decent variety during the main questline quests here with there being a flying shooter segment Well two actually and a stealth section that stood out in particular.
They weren't amazing or anything (The shooter segment in particular was rather easy to get through) but they were pretty memorable events and set pieces compared to some games (The terribly mediocre Days Gone for example) where I can barely remember half the quests I've done throughout it.
Hell the bigger side quests were pretty decent too with Kaeya and his grandfather's pirate treasure & the light puzzles/riddles that enschewed. Amber and the gliding test and ring challenges. Lisa and the restricted section in the library, Xiangling and her cooking contest... All of them were pretty nice diversions that were rather fun to go through.
And that'll lead me to the characters.
Barbara the Hydro (Water) alligned mage
They're pretty generic anime characters to be perfectly honest and they're still enjoyable enough when they get a moment to shine in the story I found (Though Paimon's english voice -shivers-). The designs are rather nice but again quite anime so obviously your taste may vary.
It's the battle mechanics where the characters honestly shine brightest.
There's 7 elements in game of Anemo (wind), Cryo (Ice), Pyro (Fire), Electro, Geo (Rock), Hydro & Dendro (Nature. Though there isn't a character yet whom has that element I believe) and characters will be alligned to one to of them permenantely (The main character however can switch to the Geo element once you get to Liyue (And can switch back and forth between anemo and geo via the statues of the seven in each region) as they're a special being not from this world).
Each character has one elemental ability that can be used fairly often and a special ability that needs to be charged up with elemental energy orbs before you can use it.
Electric arrows ahoy!
I have three sets of characters with the same element. Amber and Xiangling being Pyro characters, Fischl and Lisa are Electro characters and then there's the protagonist and Venti whom are Anemo alligned. The pairs however aren't alike at all.
Amber being a bow user is able to fire a volly of fire arrows, use a decoy of herself that explodes or she can charge up and shoot off a simgle fire arrow whereas Xiangling is a spear user who can summon her panda Boaba whom belches flames after nibbling on a chilli pepper at the closest enemy towards him or Xiangling can throw a flaming spear that arcs around her for a good 10-15 seconds.
Same with Lisa and Fischl or The Traveler and Venti. Despite being the same element the 5 different weapon types and the character specific abilities make them generally feel rather unique to play as and there's some neat little animations for each of them too (Which is fairly charming in some cases).
Not to mention with the character switching and all the elements having unique interactions and effects with one another it really does make the combat (which otherwise would be somewhat simple) feel rather fresh and engaging to play.
The four party member limit (mapped to the D-Pad) encouraging you to make parties (You can make up to 4 preset parties) that synergise well together.
"Shall I play you a song?"
The music in the game is rather lovely too.
With the two countries/regions in the game of Liyue and Mondstadt they both have very different musical styles to reflect that.
Mondstadt being based around Hyrule europe(I think?) where Liyue's obviously an expy of China and the music for Liyue in particular has a lovely oriental sound to it. In fact all the music changes when going to a different region, even the battle music in Liyue sounds completely different Mondstadt's battle music.
This is a very good choice into giving each area a VERY distinct feel (besides the notable change in scenery) and both the London Philharmonic Orchestra & the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra really knock it out the park in my opinion with their performances!
The 4 Mondstadt (The actual city) themesLiyue's main battle themeMondstadt's battle theme
And of course the exploration in the title is rather good too.
There are some nice little enviromental puzzles to find goodies hidden all over the place such as pillars that need to be activated using different elements of your characters, using your bow and arrow characters to shoot down floating slimes to uncover a chest, little wind spirits that send you yourself aloft with your glider to reach places you couldn't get normally, spirits you need to follow to their resting place, various challenge statues and a bunch of other things.
The climbing mechanic (Pretty much lifted from Breath Of The Wild from what I can tell (Although there doesn't seem to be any penalty for climbing in rain)) and the wing glider along with the lovely scenery, absolutely ginormous map and the various knick knacks hidden everywhere does make Teyvat a rather enjoyable place to explore without a doubt and one of the few games that really did make me just pick a direction and go explore.
Alright... That's all the positives out the way.
Let's get on with the main problem and what rots this experience to the core
Monetisation and the grind
"Uh oh"
I'd argue that this is NOT a Open World RPG releasing on consoles or pc in the eyes of the developer.
This is a mobile game first and foremost. A "Live Service" one at that. Always has been and always will be.
Let's start off with Currencies shall we?
There's Genesis Crystals that you purchase with real money that you then convert into Primo Gems. I'm really not sure if there's any use for them as Crystals and frankly I'll never know personally.
Primo gems are used to purchase "Wishes" via the two Fate currencies "Acquaint Fate" and "Intertwined Fate". Primo gems are also used to replenish your "Resin".
The Fate currencies are used in wishes are how you roll new characters. Or rather how you get loaded with a crap ton of useless weapons you don't want and maybe a character if you're lucky.
Resin being what you use recieve the rewards from the repeatable quests, domains and some of the bosses you can find on the overworld. You have 120 (Though apparently it is getting graciously patched to 160! OoOooOh so generous!) and it costs either 20 or 40 resin used up to get your rewards and slowly replenishes at a rate of 1 per every 8 minutes! Horray for Timers!
There's also Masterless Star dust and Masterless Star Glitter that can be used for various upgrade items, characters (Only for the rarer Star Glitter) and you guessed it the wish currency too (Where it's typically obtained from too).
And there's Mora. Ya know... gold that's used in pretty much everything you do from upgrading weapons, ascending characters and leveling them up.
Exhausted after all that? Confused?
That's probably the whole damn point of it all.
There's also a battlepass that sneakily unlocks after reaching adventure rank level 20 that of course whilst having a free tier has exclusive and better rewards locked behind the higher tier and even better has the option to purchase levels with Primo gems or you can even get everything from the battlepass all at once for a cool £18.
Ya gotta love that terribly priced digital tat
Those wishes I previously mentioned by the way? The drop rates for a 5 star character are a measly 1%. Yes the game has a pity drop every 90 wishes for specific banners where you have a 50% of getting the advertised Five star character. If you get the other one worst case scenario you're doing another 90 wishes matey!
You know how much that'd cost by the way? Worst case scenario and you had to splurge out using cash to get that sweet sweet anime character?
£263.97
I probably wouldn't pay for these characters even if Genshin was a traditional experience...
Not even the highest crystal "micro"transaction for £88 would give you enough Crystals to net you your first 90 wishes. And the "bonus" crystals you get is a one time deal! You'd have to buy it 3 times (For your first attempt) and you'd be left with a piddly 320 of the currency left over after spending all that.
Of course that's an extreme circumstance.
You should get yourself a decent amount of characters and you can get very lucky indeed. I ended up getting one 5 star character and a bunch of 4 star ones (... A lot of bloody repeats though that the game already gave me... )
You know enemies barely give you any exp by the way? You have to use these paper items, in which I honestly can't be bothered to look the name of them up, to level your characters in any normal fashion and of course you either get them from the various rewards you're given from missions and stuff or (more likely) by using Resin to grind for them from the various repeatable quests.
Characters initially can only get to level twenty and you have to "ascend" them to unlock higher levels.
Guess what you need for ascending? Materials!
You get most of those from the various domains and bosses. Not only do these typically change daily... But it also means you have to use Resin to get those rewards. Oh how I loooooooooove timers.
There's also daily tasks that grant you primo gems and of course be sure log in every day to get some juicy rewards too!
Not to mention a bunch of other things I've either not seen since I put it down or that'll come with the update on the 11th or whatever.
I said I'd tag you @Johnnyshoulder & I figured I'd tag you @Th3solution as you also expressed interest in the game in the articles.
If you can look past the godawful mobile sh*te and gross monetisation... There's honestly a VERY enjoyable game here. In fact I'd say without them it'd be one of the best games i've played this year.
It's charming, the visuals are great, the music is divine, the gameplay's really nice and exploration is actually quite fun ... But to me those absolutely scummy practices bring the entire thing to it's knees. You can't ignore them. You'll soon hit a wall with the grind getting beyond tedious. They taint the entire thing.
So much so I'm not even going to score this. It's not finished for a start and frankly it doesn't deserve it.
Thanks to remember to tag me in @Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy! Yeesh, the monetisation does seem to be OTT. I will probably still try it out as it is free, probably on ps5 at this point, until I either get bored of it or feel I need to pay to progress.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
It'll be a while til I bust out the ToCS 1+ 2 review as not only do I apparently have a bit to go in Cold Steel 2 but I might add in my impressions based on the Trails Of Cold Steel III demo to see how it leads in from the previous two @Ralizah.
Hopefully the Genshin Impact review above will tide you over for now if you've been itching for some reviewing content from yours truly
Thanks to remember to tag me in Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy! Yeesh, the monetisation does seem to be OTT. I will probably still try it out as it is free, probably on ps5 at this point, until I either get bored of it or feel I need to pay to progress.
No worries @JohnnyShoulder. It's apparently already made 250million from it's 100million budget within the first month of it's release so there's no way they're gonna stop that monetisation method anytime soon (And it might only get worse).
I did have an additional bit saying maybe give it a go at least and get out after the main storyline (so far at least) is done but even then I felt a little skeezy saying that 😅
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Thanks for the tag and the very informative review!
I’m a little torn since the game seems to be right up my alley gameplay and gameworld-wise, but the F2P and microT stuff is off-putting. Like Johnny says, maybe a trial of it on PS5 would be more likely for me since there will be fewer games competing for my attention on there.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Forums
Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread
Posts 1,281 to 1,300 of 3,148
Please login or sign up to reply to this topic