This nice to hear about the length. I have yet to play any of these HD2D games. Is this the one to jump in on? Also was thinking about one of the SaGa re-releases but am afraid I won't finish what I start.
If you want short, SaGa Frontier Remastered is both the shortest per character (7-15 hours), and by far the highest quality of them until Minstrel Song comes. MS is a full-length RPG with some differences between main character rather than totally distinct short stories like SF.
If you want short, SaGa Frontier Remastered is both the shortest per character (7-15 hours), and by far the highest quality of them until Minstrel Song comes. MS is a full-length RPG with some differences between main character rather than totally distinct short stories like SF.
Actually the first character you use is the longest (7-9 hours) but if you use the carry over feature, the rest of the characters will become shorter and easier to the point they're all less than 5 hours.
Oh man, everyone was right about the music in the Near Future scenario. I'm only an hour in and enjoyed the jazzy sax tune in the first few loops (it is a fun arrangement), but I am already incredibly tired of it. They certainly went for an aggressive bgm choice there.
Actually the first character you use is the longest (7-9 hours) but if you use the carry over feature, the rest of the characters will become shorter and easier to the point they're all less than 5 hours.
Yeah, I agree, but I think the high end for a first run is well over 9 hours. The new QOL is great but the PSX version was pretty long for a first run.
I recommend against using carry over in SaGa games, because part of the fresh starts with new parties is a bunch of the appeal that the games were designed around. MS is going to be kind of a mess with carry over when there's already very specific things that carry over.
Finished the finale with the best ending. Thoughts on that chapter:
- It's very refreshing to have a more non-linear chapter, with the difficulty raised (at least initially). Definitely felt like I had to use most of what I had learned up to now, including even a few combos/interrupting charging attacks. This structure reminds me of Portal - most of the game is a tutorial/practice for a bigger final challenge, yet you wouldn't know that at first.
- A small hint as to where to go at the start would've been nice; it was just by coindence I feel I came across Sundown quite quickly. And then when I stumbled across a Trial Dungeon, I figured there was one per character...
- It's annoying that the map always points you towards The Archon's Roost, even if you're not interested in going there right away.
- Seeing an empty Lucrece is oddly unsettling. I normally dislike random-encounter games for feeling unintentionally empty, but here, it works quite well.
- Having 7 dungeons to clear for more gear to help prepare yourself for the fight against Odio is a great idea, and having them relate to the character at hand was an inspired choice. The only dungeon I disliked was the Trial of Time - if you ran out of time, you'll know what I mean..
- The Super Bosses are quite fun. Managed to defeat 3 of them.
- This is the longest chapter by far; it took me 7 hours to clear.
- Man, that ending - being able to use all 7 protagonists at once was very cool! I hear much of that is exclusive to this version, and it definitely helps the overall narrative pay-off feel that much better. Final boss wasn't too hard, but I had obtained a large chunk of end-game gear thanks to the Trial Dungeons...
Overall, spoiler-free thoughts on the game:
- This game pulls off the anthology structure infinitely better than its' contemporary, Octopath Traveller. That game, as well as having some very mediocre plotlines, enforced a rigid structure on all 8 of its stories, meaning not all narratives were delivered in a way that would've suited them, as well as making them feel repetitive. The overarching narrative is also poorly introduced (a postgame dungeon, really?) and felt, at least to me, rather contrived. Live A Live did not suffer from any of these issues.
- The game is shorter than most JRPGs - my playthrough clocked in at just over 24 hours (and while I didn't 100% the game, I did a lot, roughly 3/4, of the extra stuff/bosses). That's quite refreshing nowadays; it doesn't outstay its welcome.
- The game looks great on Switch, and shines on the OLED. It looks a bit less blurry that Octopath Traveller and Triangle Strategy. There are a handful of frame-rate drops here and there, but they are quite rare (notable points where drops occur includes Twilght of Edo Japan).
- The music is also great. Thank the gods for an incredible Megalomania cover!
In all, I would recommend this game if you're on the fence - it's really good! And I don't play that many RPGs because I tend not to enjoy them...
Man I wish I wasn't in the middle of buying a house right now and could spend a little extra. I want to play this so bad. This game was a big influence on me as a kid.
Oersted's story is so saaaad. ;_; Dude got fucked over so badly. Even when you do his route at the end, it just ends with him wandering the world he ended in solitude. Wish he didn't pick that route, but hey I guess he is one of those RPG villains who can be in one of those "Villains who won" threads since that's pretty much the set up for why your gang ends up in his time period.
Fantastic game, the team that did this HD-2D release did a great job. Best looking one to date.
When in the final chapter (having not selected Oersted, that leads to a false ending) you must:
- Recruit all protagonists by finding them in the world. You can only have 4 people in your team though (your lead character that you choose prior to starting the final chapter cannot be removed from the team, so pick wisely!) - a character is "recruited" so long as they're been in your team *at least* once.
- Spare the final boss after defeating it, then walk back the way you came.
It's quite simple; most will likely get this ending by default.
When in the final chapter (having not selected Oersted, that leads to a false ending) you must:
- Recruit all protagonists by finding them in the world. You can only have 4 people in your team though (your lead character that you choose prior to starting the final chapter cannot be removed from the team, so pick wisely!) - a character is "recruited" so long as they're been in your team *at least* once.
- Spare the final boss after defeating it, then walk back the way you came.
It's quite simple; most will likely get this ending by default.
Is there a way to exit the Path of Shuttered Lanterns after entering the hidden room if I'm not strong enough for that boss? It just leads out to a dead end hallway with a jar asking for coins (I don't have any coins)
I'm only down with Edo Japan and Ancient China so far but I like it a lot more. Think what Octopath Traveller had much more distinct locations and stories for each character and only did them once instead of splitting them into 4 long-ass chapters for everyone.
Game is a lot simpler in some aspects (battle system, writing...) but it's not necessarily a minus to me.
Nothing remotely similar and trying to compare them does a disservice to both. Octopath is an open world game with lots of customization, and like 3x-4x as long as LaL.
Someone who's beaten the remake, spoilertext me. What content is new compared to the SNES version? How much has been changed? Did they update Akira's skillset to be less terrible?
Just finished the Ancient China chapter (my first chapter) and I loved it! The story beats were cool, felt like I was watching an old kung fu movie. and the pay off at the end felt good.
Started Prehistory tonight. Was pretty underpowered at the first boss, had to spam Gori's ranged attacks from outside his counterattack range for a good while. Gonna grind up in the desert for a while.
Someone who's beaten the remake, spoilertext me. What content is new compared to the SNES version? How much has been changed? Did they update Akira's skillset to be less terrible?
Akira has been buffed yes to the point where he's actually great to start as now for the final chapter (though likely still not since recruiting him is super easy so still best to start as Sundown)
They have added a new final final bossfight with True Odio when you do the true ending (though I don't think it is as difficult as the original final boss who is still as tough as before).
Also they made it easier to see the Watanabe Easter egg in the modern day chapter. No longer a 1/50 chance I think like before.
It was a joke they couldn't very well translate to English, basically Pogo uttered the first word at the end of the story.
On top of the story being done by Japanese voice actors (since its kind of a waste to hire english actors just to salvage one joke), english is basically a frankenstein language so its difficult to write a joke based on simple sounds that are also complete words.
Edo is confusing the fuck out of me because I can't tell whether the game expects me to fight things or run. Like half the enemies one-shot me but I need to kill to stand a chance.
I know that's the gimmick of the chapter that you can do it either way... It's just that neither way is particularly fun.
There's a storage room with infinite enemy spawns that don't count as kills, as they are ghost. DO NOT touch the ghost woman in the top left of the room, she basically keeps the ghost spawning. You go out and in the shed to respawn them. Use them to grind levels.
There was a detail I wasn't aware of when playing the original.
So the tribe that worships the dinosaur apparently do it because when they feed him it allows them to pass through the cave and enter that grassy paradise?
Akira is more the support type, so even overleveled he was pretty fragile to attacks. Unfortunately it is one of the longer story bits. I hated that too. His teleportation move is also not so helpful and more headache inducing.
is there any explanation (whether in-game or through supplemental materials/interviews) for why Akira seems to be the only orphan that aged? Like, I figured either it'd turn out he's a government experiment or something that ages faster, or his psychic abilities change how he appears to himself (which would explain why some characters treat him younger than he looks/sounds). But as a far as I could tell, no explanation was ever offered.
is there any explanation (whether in-game or through supplemental materials/interviews) for why Akira seems to be the only orphan that aged? Like, I figured either it'd turn out he's a government experiment or something that ages faster, or his psychic abilities change how he appears to himself (which would explain why some characters treat him younger than he looks/sounds). But as a far as I could tell, no explanation was ever offered.
I would also like to know this unless it's because the "flashback" at the start actually was an unreliable narrator situation and he just felt like a kid despite not being as young as the others
is there any explanation (whether in-game or through supplemental materials/interviews) for why Akira seems to be the only orphan that aged? Like, I figured either it'd turn out he's a government experiment or something that ages faster, or his psychic abilities change how he appears to himself (which would explain why some characters treat him younger than he looks/sounds). But as a far as I could tell, no explanation was ever offered.
Akira is more the support type, so even overleveled he was pretty fragile to attacks. Unfortunately it is one of the longer story bits. I hated that too. His teleportation move is also not so helpful and more headache inducing.
Interesting to know that this was intended to be so long and paying homage to the 70s/80s animes. But regarding the intro it was somehow showing it was going into that direction.
