That's on my to-play someday list. By time I get to it the next one will be out probably. >_>; I actually don't like create-a-character games much because I feel the stories aren't as strong. I hear good things about Dragon Age, though. It helps that they have actual writers for the stories; most RPGs are actually written by the developers themselves, not writers. It shows. Yeah, I really felt bad for him, he ended up being useless for story purposes when he had more reason than pretty much anyone else to be involved. It couldn't have been that hard for him to catch up, considering we were so kindly cutting a path through all the tough stuff for him and his soldier friends. >_> I mean, during the Magi attack it's clear he's at least as good as Kara or Eldore, perhaps better because he's both trained and not old. Hell, he could probably have held his own against Dragias, if it had come to that. But noo, he gets stuck wandering around aimlessly for the entire game. Not impressed, Level 5. Wouldn't it be cool if you could randomly run into story characters while questing? Imagine getting stomped by those stupid Direspiders and having Eldore or Cyrus or someone randomly show up and be like hey, I'll save you! Boom, dead spiders. I'd gladly take a hit in GR just for the sheer awesome factor.
They don't make them like they used to, RPGs. Latest RPG I really enjoyed was Dragon Age, and I've not even finished it, which says a lot for WKC and other RPGs. I didn't think much of the graphics or builds, and it didn't go online, but it's miles better than most. It's this higher demand for online gaming and uber-amazing graphics which is killing stories - once developers start using time on those aspects of a game, they've run out of time for the story. >< I honestly thought they'd do more with Cyrus. I was expecting him to catch up with the party at some point, and save us from something. His character was in such a position where it'd make sense for him to do something. In the end, it was pretty pointless showing him following the party if it didn't lead to anything - it didn't do anything for the story at all. >>
At least. They had tons of material to work with and I feel like they used maybe a quarter of what they could have, if less even. I've never seen so many conveniently placed plot coupons in a game before. XD Not nearly enough setup or background, either. I buy games primarily for the story too and there's so few RPGs, it's disappointing when one doesn't put out properly. I'm pretty sure they forgot about Cyrus halfway through. I would have liked to run into him at least once after leaving Balandor. Have him be a guest character for a temporary mission or even make him an optional main party member. That would have been nice.
The story was incredibly rushed, no doubt about it. I think they could have easily put another ten hours on the story if they'd elaborated on the things they failed to explain properly, and even an extra dungeon/place to explore. I think the lack of foreshadowing really doesn't help - as a player, I did feel left in the dark in many areas. Haha, considering I was the avatar, I was really left in the dark too, in more ways than one. Apparently the avatar gets more notice in the second game, and I recall it being mentioned that they'll even get some lines. You also get your own customisable Knight, which is exciting. As much as I like online games, I don't buy games for online capabilities, and I'd really prefer the story to be worked on properly before the online comes into it.
Haha, more than a few. Remember Kara's sister Lena? Well, if Kara's really Grazel's sister, who was she then? I suppose she could have just been a random villager from Albana, but it was never mentioned in the story, even in passing. Like no one else wondered either. As soon as she was sacrificed it was like everyone forgot she existed. The Setti thing, well at least there was a bit of foreshadowing, if Caesar staring at his boots counts. But yeah, they did skip the planning part, which makes no sense. But then, neither did Setti being Grazel. It would have been better if Setti was actually Medius' son and Grazel just being the adopted one. Making them into one person was a big WTF for me. Unless they were separate people and Grazel took him over somehow...but that doesn't work that well either in context. And speaking of Caesar, that very first part where you see him doing something to the Ancient Dragon's body is never explained. I want to know what that green crystal was. And if they were 'friends', as he put it, wouldn't he then know about the Dragon Matriarch and the Knight's Ark? The Ancient Dragon clearly recognized Kara as it attacked her first and with that dragonsight if it saw Caesar it would have known he was a pactmaker. Unless the Matriarch is the only dragon who speaks...which makes no sense either. Unless the Ark allowed her to communicate, but the game never made that clear. So many little things with no answers, it really annoys me lol. And yeah, Kara as Dragias. That was really stretching it. Her being Ebonwings, fine, but being a notorious general at the same time? Not so much. Shapur would have been better as Dragias from the start. I really feel like, by the time they reach the end of Frass Chasm, Kara should have defected from the Magi. That would have been more in character, I think. The only reason it works at all is because the game doesn't focus much on character development in the story context. Caesar's crush on Kara seems random until the end when he remembers the flower thing. He should have been shown remembering it when he first sees her, or maybe when he first gets his dragonsight and sees her for who and what she really is. The game really fails at effective use of foreshadowing and it's leaving too many pieces of plot out. =/ I think they rushed it too much and left the story by the wayside in favor of the online play. That really sucks. What annoys me more than poor storytelling is when I can see the places where they could have and should have added critical details, but didn't. Could have been a five star story but it ends up as about a two, in my book anyways. At least all the characters are likable enough, what little you see of them besides Leonard and CISNAAAAAAAAAAAA! -_- Caesar and Kara had good writing but not enough development. Eldore was just kind of there. So was Yulie, after the wine. And of course, the good old silent avatar. They could have at least added more than two lines where the avatar is actually addressed. Maybe gender-based lines. Bah. I've never been tempted to rewrite a game before but if any game needs it, it's this one. >.<
I'm very tired of Big Red as well. I'm slowly getting tired of Boot Camp II, but for me it's a better solo quest - there's no bosses. When you're strong enough to tackle that one alone, it gets better - for the exp and gilda too (depending on your level). I think the first play through is a good time to experiment with the stats, so don't worry about how you've allocated them. I was in the same boat, and decided to make a new character... oh well. xD; I totally agree! There were countless times when I just stared at my screen thinking "What. The. Eff." It's confusing. I sat up trying to figure it out one night, and there's always something which destroys the idea I formed. Like the dark knight - there's two right at the beginning. One is Dragias and the other is Kara (as you find out later). Then Kara claims that's she's Dragias... so where'd the other knight go? Don't get me started with Eldore... that "plan" with Leonard to catch out Setti was stupid - when did a plan form? >>; It feels like there's a few missing pages.
True, it's just boring alone heh. I'm tired of Big Red. >_> And these higher GR quests pretty much universally suck for soloing. Or the few I've ventured into do, anyways. I might end up grinding the last few levels so I can rebirth, my stats are effed up right now cause I didn't have a skill tree list when I was first allocating my points. =/ Only problem being if I do that, we won't have a tank...eh. Things to ponder, I suppose. Though speaking of pondering, once I played the story through entire without a long break in the middle, I realized how little of it makes any sense at all. =/ I find myself more irritated the more I think about it. So many dropped subplots that could have added tons and tons of depth instead of all the pointless grinding. Bah, I say!
Yeah, I've seen the figures. @_@ But trust me, it's not as bad as it seems. Me and Vicky got 320k+ in a week (keep in mind the time difference and other things that lessen time). I guess it's possible to do it over a weekend/three/four days if you have nothing better to do than grind. xD; I'm not looking forward to binding. That's going to be painful... =( I know it was short, but it was fun playing with you and Andro tonight. I had to run and get some chores done (probably looks like I left you guys for The Sims 3, but I left it on while I did the chores... I need money. ;-; ). But yeah. Next weekend, I'll have the story finished for good - we can do some more quests. xD
Yeah, I like playing co-op, tis fun. ^^ Looks like we will be doing a lot of it too, you won't believe how much GR it takes to get to GR9. -_- Plus the abysmal drop rates for the good binding stuff. Bah. If you want to GR grind or farm for materials during the week I won't mind helping.
Actually, I think NG+ will be okay as long as you're happy with quest solos. ^^; But yeah, I thought I'd wasted my time... but going by the last VM Andro left me, things aren't really bad. xD Also, it was good playing online with you. I had a lot of fun. ^^
It wouldn't disturb me, though there might be a delayed response if I'm in the midst of running away from the guards. Or stabbing them all in the throat if I don't feel like running haha. >_>
I'd have rawr'ed you on psn, but I didn't want to disturb you playing Assassin's Creed. ;P
lol
Rawr! =D
Thanks! =D
