/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.5207924]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2cBE-TiwpU
FFVII lives in legend but Azel lives in myth.
- 4 Discs of epic story
- Full 3D active battles where you can tactically move on the field
- Every NPC is voiced, as well as the MC
- Non-grindy gameplay and leveling
- Fully realized lore with an in-game encyclopedia
feels really bad man.

[Anonymous No.5208045]

>4 discs of epic story
the game is actually rather short
>Full 3D active battles where you can tactically move on the field
battles suffered from being pseudo realtime, waiting for gauges to fill up isn't all that fun
>every NPC is voiced
but the game is sorely lacking memorable NPCs and dialogue
>non grindy gameplay and levelling
I'll give you this much, but at the end of the day it was a JRPG with fewer random battles and polygons, but still a JRPG with all the clichés that entails
>fully realised lore with an in game encyclopedia
the game has cool art but it was basically Nausicaa, there wasn't really all that much to it

I'm playing devils advocate to some extent, because PDS was an exceptionally ambitious and innovative RPG, but the experience of playing it doesn't really live up to the mystique around it. There aren't really that many places to go or things to do in the game, you're barred from visiting the imperial city, only a few settlements comprised of a few huts, you can walk round in full 3D but it's about as worthwhile as walking round in NiGHTS.

I'd sooner Sega spent the money they wasted on Shenmue (and don't lie to yourself, Shenmue was a colossal waste of money) to bring a better Panzer Dragoon Saga to the dreamcast, rather than deliver a gimped tech demo to the Saturn.

[Anonymous No.5208453]

>>5208045
Coming to bat for OP, I think a lot of what you've brought up are actually points to both its quality and lack of broad appeal. I don't really like JRPGs, but if more of them were lean and had a more involved battle system like this one, I'd play a lot more. I'd outright disagree about no interesting NPCs or lore, at least compared to its contemporaries, and as such that it's still stuck with all of the typical JRPG qualities.

This of course also explains why it was left to twist in the wind: if you design a game to be everything that the most popular ones of its kind are not, it's obviously not going to be popular. It's legacy today has more to do with trying to sell a 3D Saturn title in a genre hailed for its aesthetics to anyone who didn't grow up in that era.

[Anonymous No.5208531]

>>5207924
Get me a working Saturn emulator and I will readily shill that game for you

[Anonymous No.5209081]

>>5208045
I agree with most of this but
>>non grindy gameplay and levelling
>I'll give you this much, but at the end of the day it was a JRPG with fewer random battles and polygons
I definitely felt like there were way too many random battles and they were no fun to play because I knew exactly how to win in seconds yet each one took some time to complete.

[Anonymous No.5209153]

>>5209081
The limited variety of enemy formations does wear down on you, but at least there were moments where the game knew not to bombard you with random encounters.
I think the battle system is still the most enjoyable part of the game despite this, even though it can be trivialized in most cases just by sticking to the Power/Agility form.
I loved how Orta integrated it into its own boss fights.