RPG - Fantasy Chronicle (by Kemco)

[bigred447uk]

A heavy work schedule means I have 'Fall of Angels', 'Chronotrigger', 'The Bards Tale', 'Symphony of Eternity', and now 'Ash II' all backed up. But Square and Vovins impressions make this an instabuy !

How rich we are wallowing in RPG goodness ! I remember the bleak days when 'Vay' was the only barely viable alternative back in the days of yore !

Edit : I'm more a game collector than a game player these days. I collect good titles obsessively and never get the time to complete the games. Instead I appraise them like an antiques collector ! It's kind of sad that my work has destroyed my gaming time. Any break or missed work through illness is gaming 24/7 though ! Last year I slipped a disk and re-explored 'Frontier Elite II', and two years ago when I had polyps on my bowel I got a good few weeks of 'Final Fantasy XI online' in which I continued playing for a good couple of years !

(Confessions of a 40 year gamer!)

Edit no. 2 : Sorry for rambling off topic. I'll try post impressions later when I've had chance to have a go (when my wife is asleep ;-)

[iJet]

Does this game have any character customization? The class system was one of my favorite features in SOE.

[squarezero]

Originally Posted by iJet

Does this game have any character customization? The class system was one of my favorite features in SOE.

Not really. The inspiration here is more Golden Sun than Final Fantasy, with the focus being more on your tactical relationship with your Guardian Beast than on class systems. That said, after 2+ hours I am still traveling by my lonesome (except for my guardian dragon), so I'm not sure I'd classes will come into play later on.

As Vovin put it, the other differences between this and SoE are that 1)Fantasy Chronicle feels much more "finished"; and 2) FC is much, much less generic in everything that matters -- story, characters, creature design, gameplay and combat mechanic, etc. It's not perfect by any means, but I'm finding it thoroughly engrossing.

[L.Lawliet]

I played a bit and the only thing i really really dislike is the menu. that scroll bar is just not my thing.. whos idea was that?? and it's really hard to tell if you clicked on something on the bar until you notice you can't click on anything else until you hit back :S

but the game's dialogue was very entertaining. this is the first time i've played this kind of rpg where you only see the enemy so i'm still feeling it out.. i'm gonna have to give it some more time!

[chubbypillow]

don't like the way the character moves on the map/overworld. makes me dizzy.

[Rokrdude]

Looks pretty good
Just 2 questions before I press the buy button
How does it look on the iPad on 2x as it is my primary gaming device and how does the battle system works(can't seem to find that by sanuku's video)
Is it like Ash 2?

[squarezero]

Originally Posted by L.Lawliet

I played a bit and the only thing i really really dislike is the menu. that scroll bar is just not my thing.. whos idea was that?? and it's really hard to tell if you clicked on something on the bar until you notice you can't click on anything else until you hit back :S

but the game's dialogue was very entertaining. this is the first time i've played this kind of rpg where you only see the enemy so i'm still feeling it out.. i'm gonna have to give it some more time!

That menu bar is definitely the game's biggest flaw. I think the idea was to clear up enough space for future members of your party, but it certainly could have been made easier to use. After 3+ hours all I can say is that it's kind of annoying.

I should note that there is a long history of JRPGs where "you only see the enemy," including the Dragon Quest, Shin Megami Tensei, and Golden Sun series.

[MystikSun]

Decided to get this. Been quite a while since I got an RPG for the iDevice.

[squarezero]

Originally Posted by Rokrdude

Looks pretty good
Just 2 questions before I press the buy button
How does it look on the iPad on 2x as it is my primary gaming device and how does the battle system works(can't seem to find that by sanuku's video)
Is it like Ash 2?

Just tried it on my iPad2. Looks pixelated (obviously), but not bad -- similar to emulated SNES games. It helps that the character portrait are much higher resolution than the standard game screen.

The combat system is kind of like Ash's, but with a lot more depth, especially once you have multiple party members with Guardian Beasts. You have the standard attacks and special skills, but you also have to set tactics for your guardian, and you can combine abilities with another party member to create more powerful attacks. You can also switch party members, exchange guardians, set how many party members can attack, etc. One neat feature is that certain abilities become more powerful the more you use them.

Another difference from Ash is that the enemies are actually animated in the attack screen (the take swipes at you, grow tentacles, etc). The monster design is actually a highlight of the game.

[Vovin]

Originally Posted by bigred447uk

A heavy work schedule means I have 'Fall of Angels', 'Chronotrigger', 'The Bards Tale', 'Symphony of Eternity', and now 'Ash II' all backed up. But Square and Vovins impressions make this an instabuy !

How rich we are wallowing in RPG goodness ! I remember the bleak days when 'Vay' was the only barely viable alternative back in the days of yore !

Edit : I'm more a game collector than a game player these days. I collect good titles obsessively and never get the time to complete the games. Instead I appraise them like an antiques collector ! It's kind of sad that my work has destroyed my gaming time. Any break or missed work through illness is gaming 24/7 though ! Last year I slipped a disk and re-explored 'Frontier Elite II', and two years ago when I had polyps on my bowel I got a good few weeks of 'Final Fantasy XI online' in which I continued playing for a good couple of years !

(Confessions of a 40 year gamer!)

Edit no. 2 : Sorry for rambling off topic. I'll try post impressions later when I've had chance to have a go (when my wife is asleep ;-)

You are not alone, bro. Same here in most things. Work, family life - yep, that are time killer. But I still find my time to play. Everything is manageable.
Try playing asynchronous games like Carcassonne and Ascension with other people. Short bursts of gameplay, but very satisfying.
But I am the same collector type as you.