Elvandia Story – A poor man’s Fire Emblem

elvandia01Elvandia Story is an SRPG developed and published by Spike for the PS2 in 2007. Most descriptions you read of it will mention the game system’s striking similarity to Fire Emblem‘s. I have FE7 in mind because I watched my brother play it recently (between my brothers and I, we’ve finished that game at least 15 times) but the resemblance applies just as well to most of the other FE games. Game design is a conscious and deliberate act that can take years, so there’s no doubt that Spike set out to copy FE as much as possible. In my book that’s not a bad thing. It’s a good thing.

After all, I love SRPGs in general and Fire Emblem in particular. If anything the world needs more FE clones and fewer clunky, slow 3D isometric FF Tactics/Tactics Ogre-inspired copies. In fact, where Elvandia goes wrong isn’t in ripping Fire Emblem off but rather in trying to diverge from the standard FE formula in several places, with less than optimum results. This is not to say that all rip-offs should be perfect clones, if that were even legally possible. I’m just pointing out that a lot of thought and care needs to be exercised whenever you adopt a tried-and-tested template and then try to add new elements. A few examples from Elvandia Story must suffice. Do please go on, this is most interesting →

Glory of Heracles – I like the characters, but that’s about it

Glory-Of-Heracles_US_ESRBboxart_160wLuckily the story isn’t too terrible either, and likeable characters can take me a long, long way. Glory of Heracles still has sluggish battles (although they’re better than in the Japanese version) but if the game doesn’t drag on too long, I think I can finish it.

Having said that, it’s still not a game I can recommend. I tried it when it first came out in Japanese and gave up really quickly because the battles were slow, the story wasn’t going anywhere and the characters were dull and lifeless. I forget who did the localization this time… hold on, I’ll check… 8-4 Ltd? Never heard of them. Anyway, they did their very best to inject some life into what was formerly a very straightforward and pedestrian JRPG script, and their efforts help to lift this sub-par JRPG into almost-playable territory. Having said that, if silly character and NPC banter doesn’t float your boat or isn’t enough for you to overlook lackluster gameplay then you really shouldn’t bother with Glory of Heracles. Do please go on, this is most interesting →

Atelier Lilie Plus – Not satisfying at all.

atelier lilieI started Atelier Lilie all over from scratch. I played and played and played. Killed lots of enemies, made lots of money, synthesized lots of items, maxed the affections of several townspeople. Fame 99, Popularity 1000. By year 5 I was level 50 in both alchemy and battle. I’m bound to get a much better ending than last time, right? Wrong! I passed the king’s final trial and got royal support for the academy. Result: Lilie leaves Salburg and becomes a teacher in some backwater somewhere.

All right, I’ll try again. I’ll ignore the king’s contest and fund the academy myself. Result: Lilie leaves Salburg and becomes a teacher in some backwater somewhere. It’s better than the ‘regular’ ending in that I at least got a 5-second animation to go with it, but it’s still so bleh. Do please go on, this is most interesting →

Soma Bringer – Couldn’t bring myself to keep playing.

Somabringer_boxartI usually have a hard time dropping games, even when they obviously suck. On the other hand, sometimes I  drop “good” games quickly and play “bad” ones for 60 hours, so I wouldn’t exactly paint myself as a paragon of good taste.

That being the case, therefore, it is impossible to draw any concrete conclusions from the fact that I tried Soma Bringer, dropped it, picked it up again, played for about 6 hours, dropped it again and have absolutely no desire to ever try it again. Maybe it sucks, maybe it’s a masterpiece. Try it for yourself and find out. For my part I found it dull, stressful and unrewarding.

Basically Soma Bringer was a let down on the two main RPG fronts: story and combat. Since this is an action RPG, and since the developers are on record as saying they came up with the system first and then wrote a story to match, I wasn’t expecting too much storywise. Even so I think they hit the cliche book a little too hard. Do please go on, this is most interesting →

Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits (3) – Ending spoilers

atlt-volkAlas, the long break did me in. I finally got Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits to work again (sometimes) only to find that I didn’t care any more how the story ended. I still played on anyway, since I was quite close to the end. And so I pressed on and finished it after 32 hours and 41 minutes. There’s a long sequence of cutscenes and at least two battles between the final save and the final battle, meaning if you lose you have to watch everything all over again. I therefore advise any potential players to do like I did and FAQ the last boss before taking him on. Heck, I’ll just go ahead and share the way I did it.

My final party was Kharg, Darc, Bebedora, Volk, Camellia and Maru with an average level of 28. If I had to do it again, and luckily I don’t, I would fill the party with long-range attackers like Paulette and Tatjana instead. The last boss has a shield around him that absorbs any damage. Early on he’ll spit out brain cells, which are mini-bosses. After you defeat a number of them, the boss’s shield vanishes.

Here’s the trick: as long as you hug the walls and stay out of the path directly in front of him, he will never regenerate his shield. And not just that, but he will almost never directly attack your party. Once in a long while he’ll absorb some HP from those standing close to him, which is why it’s best to have as few close-range attackers as possible. Basically stay close to the walls, stay away from the area in front of him (I can’t stress this enough. The Return to Darkness attack hits for an average of 275. I know because I tried to tank it), pack lots of Luminous Mosses because he’s weak to Light and then go to town on his ugly eyeball. Do please go on, this is most interesting →