2008-03-17 18:50:47

It is with trembling hands that I take Digital Devil Saga from its wrapping.

Stylistically, thematically, I think someone probed my little bum as a baby and bred these other people to form Atlus and 25 years later have something done that appeals to me like this.

It's time for me to dig in and find out why these people start eating eachother (not in the sexy way) and hopefully avoid being influenced enough to eat my friends.




See you on the other side of the junkyard. :D

2008-03-17 18:54:43 In reply to SimonM7 (2008-03-17 18:50:47)

wat


*looks at pic*

And this is why I stopped playing JRPGs. That pic disturbs me.

---
Hey, I'm just like you. I put my pants on one leg at a - dammit, I knew I forgot something today.

2008-03-18 13:24:45

And as I stick my head out of DDS to eat and sleep, I come across info on... wait for it... Persona 4! :O

It's for PS2 (cuddles my new PSTwo), meant to be about 1.5 of P3's length clocking something like 80 hours. It's got a weather system in place that determines certain events like murders on rainy nights which you are meant to prevent. The game takes place in the countryside as a contrast to the very sort of trendy pop environment in P3, and it's obviously got a brand new story and brand new cast. P3: FES is where it's at if you want to spend more time with Akihiko. And you do, let's be honest.

180+ personas, social links, similar to P3 but different in ways that I can't really determine since I haven't actually played much of P3 yet.

Same team working on it from director to sound composer (yaay!) and it's meant to come out in july in japan. That means we'll see it late 2008 at the freaking earliest and it'll prolly be ways into 2009 if we're realistic.

Which is perhaps a good thing because FES is meant to be pretty damn huge so it's nice to not have to stress through that.

Woo! :D

Anyway! Back to DDS.

Oh by the way, all of this was revealed in a 4 page feature in famitsu. There are pics aplenty of main characters and what have you, I just don't dare link to them here. Looks wise, it's P3 just even prettier. :D

2008-03-18 14:03:37

Personna 4 for PS2 ???? isnt it supposed to be on PS3 ??? Me confused!

---
NARUTO/AVATAR are the best anime EVER!!!
Bring on LOST ODYSSEY & CRY ON!

2008-03-18 14:16:45

Nope it's for PS2 and about 80% done. :)

Install base and low cost development for the win.

Keep in mind that Sony released a new model of the PS2 in japan as late as november last year. They aren't expecting it to stop selling anytime soon. When you're not making Final Fantasy kind of epics, it's a perfect platform to make games like this on.

2008-03-18 17:50:41 In reply to SimonM7 (2008-03-18 14:16:45)

---
Marumaro for the WIN !!

2008-03-18 19:35:16

To each his own, man. I love that it doesn't take them insane amounts of time to make it just to have HD textures take forever to load before fights. (WHY would you want better textures anyway, you couldn't make them out in the isometric perspective and at the distance the camera is at in P3!)

I think we'll see more and more devs pick platform by what kind of stuff they're making. P4 could've been on the Wii just aswell, but it really doesn't have to be. Just because the Wii is more *recent* doesn't make it a more suitable place to put it.

Kojima made a great - albeit semi flawed - analogy when he talked about channels to present stuff in. Somewhere in there was PS3 as the cinemas and something else as a DVD at home in your favourite sofa. He made this big deal out of how 360 and PS3 are different - marketing speak before anything else the Sony whipped little bastard - but I think he's halfway right.

P4 doesn't need Blu-Ray. It doesn't need HD textures. It sounds like you're in desperate need of component cables for your PS2 and a decent scaler in your telly, but other than that I reckon it's absolutely fine.

It's inevitable that you will get your wish eventually and Atlus will swallow the rediculous licensing costs of the PS3 to bring the series to you in a higher resolution though, I guess that could be somewhat consoling.

2008-03-18 19:41:22

I agree with Jollipop to be honest! after the seeing the brilliant special effects in combat in Lost Odyssey, I cant stand PS2 graphics now! wait till we get to see what FF13 will be like ................... PLEASE BE TURN BASED PLEAAASE!

---
NARUTO/AVATAR are the best anime EVER!!!
Bring on LOST ODYSSEY & CRY ON!

2008-03-18 20:02:02

Well I watch a lot of TV series, sci fi ones, and I never expect them to look like the newest Michael Bay blockbuster so I guess I just have a different mentality.

Personally, I can really tell in LO how much charm goes out of speaking to normal citizens, doing smaller quests because the difference between the UBER PRODUCED STORY BITS and the side quest bits gets to be SO jarring that you can barely muster any empathy with those generic zombie citizens.

In something lower key like this, where every character has a drawn portrait, where graphics get to be on this level of "intimacy" at least I personally get *closer* to the characters. No longer does the game remind me whenever a conversation is less important by not having an elaborate CG sequence.

I like that too of course, but I'd go out of my mind if I couldn't return to this kind of production. I just don't see that "bar" anymore that everything has to be above. I just ask that everything is produced with a format's strengths in mind and I can play any game virtually anywhere.

But indeed, to each his own. :)

2008-03-18 20:18:01 In reply to alimokrane (2008-03-18 19:41:22)

---
By Crom!

2008-03-18 20:32:46 In reply to SimonM7 (2008-03-18 19:35:16)

---
Marumaro for the WIN !!

2008-03-18 20:45:03

I'm about 10 hours into DDS now and I love it. GrimThorne, you said earlier that your philosophy proffessor got you into the SMT/Persona/Digital Devil games and I can TOTALLY see why now.

There are so many religious/existential undertones here that I see now why they put a disclaimer at the beginning of the game. The dialogue has my eyes glued to the screen, and it's with great relief that I note that the voice acting really does keep up.

I could round up a ton of quotes that I love but I don't wanna spoil ANY story details for anyone because this is really all about a huge WHAT THE FUCK and moving from there.

Gale rocks though. "I do not comprehend." :)

The game is SUPER heavy on the encounter rate, it's a real hardcore dungeon crawl, but the fights load so fast and you can skip all the celebration after fights and be in and out of them in notime. (That's something that bothered me after a while in LO, how fights had these elaborate introductions to cover up loading in textures and models)

The combat itself is fairly traditional but you can combine characters to attack with combos, and you can also revert back to human form to combine demons and humans for additional combos. I thought it was a bit clunky at first, but soon enough it clicks into a groove the way it's supposed to and I think it's a ton of fun.

It also has bucketloads of characters, and I love me some characters. The art style, like I've alluded to time and again, is so far up my alley it's essentially out in the street on the other side getting hit by cars, and that means I pretty much love EVERY character in the game by just seeing a glimpse of his or her face. So, uh, I guess I'm a bit biased.

I'm so happy that there are two volumes of this, because at this point I'm definitely going to want to return to this world and these characters at a later point after taking a breather with SO3 or FFX.


@ Jolli:

Sure PS2 games are jaggy, I notice it right away but I get over it in 15 minutes or so and the art style and the game grabs hold of me.

I just can't justify having the same game cost more and be on a way more expensive platform people will need to buy to play it, just to have it be sharper. It's in my mind just unfair and unnecessary. We agree on a lot but I'll have to disagree here.

2008-03-19 11:06:42

Now I am playing "AZEL - Panzer Dragoon Saga" and it is incredibly admirable
So happy playing it
I am on Disk 2 now

---
Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne (c)

Most Wanted: Ninja Gaiden 2 - Too Human - Deus EX 3 - Mass Effect 2 - Tomb Raider Underworld - Final Fantasy XIII - Final Fantasy Versus XIII

2008-03-19 12:09:24 In reply to ACEfromRussia (2008-03-19 11:06:42)

Woah! That's awesome to hear!

I loved that game sooo much, and it's so weird and unconventional that I could play it even long before I got into jRPGs. Please do report back what you think of it in appropriate spoiler tags if you're being spoilery. I finished it back in the Saturn days and I'd love to hear your reaction to.. *certain events*.. :D

2008-03-19 12:28:41

ok ^_____^
Game is reaaly awesome. I never seen so unusual type of jRPG
Did U see this "GENOS - Panzer Dragoon RPG"? Some fan made this. too sad it is fake((((
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29P1RAmx2gc

I know that almost all Sega team Andromeda/smilebite people now working with Sakaguchi on Cry oN))) Very excited about it

---
Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne (c)

Most Wanted: Ninja Gaiden 2 - Too Human - Deus EX 3 - Mass Effect 2 - Tomb Raider Underworld - Final Fantasy XIII - Final Fantasy Versus XIII

2008-03-21 03:25:03 In reply to Phaethon360 (2008-03-17 18:54:43)

---
The Dark Knight

2008-03-21 19:53:51 In reply to alimokrane (2008-03-18 19:41:22)

---
Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

October 20th 2007 (A good day)

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of the greatest books ever.

pssh! more like electronic gay-ming monthly! amirite

2008-03-31 19:09:52

I finished Digital Devil Saga Volume 1 yesterday.

I have to say, in response to my feelings about LO Phaethon was on about how RPG stories are usually simple, clichéd and predictable and I - with my limited experience in the matter - was starting to feel that maybe I've overestimated the stories in RPGs in general. Let's just say I think DDS - at least for me - makes a damn good case AGAINST Phae's assertion.

I'm not gonna reveal ANYTHING because the greatness comes from knowing fuck all about what's going on. The journey is wonderfully mind boggling (but makes sense!), and people who played DDS2 before this, thus

1. Know even less what's going on and feel no attachment to the characters, and

2. Spoil DDS1 to the point where they ruined it completely,

have my sincerest empathy.

Gameplay wise it was the trial by fire that my RPG devotion needed, too. Absolutely packed with encounters and grid shaped locations easily memorized, it's utterly old school, hardcore dungeon crawling. POISON to Old Simon in other words.. but to New Simon something of immense pleasure. Encounters are fucking hard too, so no slacking off, and the bosses are just short of impossible feeling from time to time. Brill!

This was to me what the first RPG you play should be like, and for all intents and purposes it feels like my first RPG where all my horns are blowing at once. I've basically ordered every Shin Megami Tensei game translated into english now, because their shared themes of demons, alter egos and existentialism are things I feel confident that I'll keep thoroughly enjoying.

BUT. DDS Vol 2 - despite an awesome ending to 1 making the decision incredibly difficult - is not something I wanna jump into straight away. I wanna make this story last, because not being able to spend more time with these characters will leave a huge black hole in my heart.

So, I'm going to play some stuff in between. I brought this up earlier and I got some great suggestions from Alimo and Jolli in particular.

So I'm basically looking at Final Fantasy 8 or Star Ocean 3 here. (Got a new order coming from VGP with Shadow Hearts: From the new world, Star Ocean 3: Till the end of time, and Chrono Cross)

FF8 is Final Fantasy, which is really sort of confidence inspiring enough, a few FF haters nonwithstanding.

Star Ocean 3 I'm a bit more puzzled by though. The combat system I've read some about and that seems freaking awesome and a great change of pace from DDS, but what about the story? I've looked at the intro and I'm getting sort of a Phantasy Star Online vibe from it, is that somewhat accurate?

Are Star Ocean games related in any way? Is there anything I should know before heading into this one? Shared characters, anything like that?


Also; how do you RPG people have time for other kinds of games? :O

2008-04-02 10:46:27

Star Ocean 3... go on you know you want to.

It's not really like PSO at all really, only similarity is that its set in space, the battle engine is quite hard to get your head around to begin with and starts off like a quite boring hack and slash game only in random encounter situations, but if you stick with it you can learn different moves and combos and the magic spells can be pretty damn awesome.

Later on you get to make items, armor and weapons and the customization is pretty fun, its almost like a mini game to see what you can make :D, I had loads of fun with this part of the game.

---
Marumaro for the WIN !!

2008-04-02 10:58:20

I need a piece of advice here. Any of you played Spectral Force on the xbox 360 ? its' a strategy RPG and there's a trailer of the game here:

http://www.jeux-france.com/news25704_video-spectra...

After seeing it, I sort of want to know if it's worth getting or not. nothing has been announced for europe yet but I am sure the US version will be region free. Is it worth getting ?

---
NARUTO/AVATAR are the best anime EVER!!!
Bring on LOST ODYSSEY & CRY ON!

2008-04-02 18:35:41

Star Ocean really does sound fantastic when you describe it Jolli. I think there's a big chance I'll go with that. :D

I did nibble a bit at FF8 just to sort of get a feel for it and.. maaaaaaan it's pretty. My jaw dropped to the floor when it seamlessly went from rendered backgrounds into a rendered cinematic! I was worried that PSX era graphics would be pushing the limits of my confessed flexibility for this type of thing, but.. nope! :D

However, after DDS and LO, both very traditional type of turn based affairs, I would like something more immediate as a change of pace and SO3 sounds to be it!

2008-04-03 00:30:20 In reply to alimokrane (2008-04-02 10:58:20)

---
Marumaro for the WIN !!

2008-04-12 01:10:48

I got Star Ocean 3 (and tons of other stuff aswell) !

So yeah I threw it in the drive and booted it up. The intro had some strange audio glitches, like short scratching noises, that I noticed but sort of dismissed as something random.

I played a bit and liked what I saw but then when another pre-rendered cutscene played I had the same issue again.

You guys who've played it, did you have anything like that? It's a SUPER hassle if I need to return it aaall the way back to Canana and Videogamesplus, but I will if I need to.

2008-04-12 08:20:39

Didn't get any problems with video playback myself :(

---
Marumaro for the WIN !!

2008-04-12 08:29:39 In reply to SimonM7 (2008-03-31 19:09:52)

---
I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you, stranger.