KaiTenSatsuma
02-06-2006, 08:54 AM
This is one for all of the Final Fantasy Tactics fans out there
This stratagy RPG game is one for all to get, You are Marona, Young Chroma, Chroma are basically Mercenaries in the world of Ivorie taking jobs.
But Marona is Unique.
She is "The Possessed", always being watched by a Phantom named Ash.
The battle system of this game is superb, it takes place on a large battle map, where Marona starts by herself, she may summon phantoms she keeps on her island, through objects found on the battle map, including weapons, plants and even boxes, this is an ability called "Confine" only held by Marona.
Confining has two limits : Items may reduce stats you want such as speed and add to strength, and your phantom only remains confined for so many turns before being removed.
Depending on what you confine a phantom to it will take stat decreases or increases, and even sometimes special "protection", if you can call some of those that. Protection ranges from additional stat increases on the + side, and damage over time on the - side, some items are non confineable, or even give invincibility.
depending on your level, you may retain items you confined on the battlefeild when your phantom is removed and a special character has usually 100% chance of doing so!
though there is a catch, another item or enemy provides the protection given to another item, which means you may need to destroy one to remove a negetive effect from one of your phantoms, or protect it from enemies.
Back to the Battle map, Scattered through it are the said objects and weapons, Marona or her Phantoms may pick up those objects and use them as weapons, weapons give stat bonuses and reductions just like confinable items, except it isnt increased by % but definate amounts.
*hint*
at the beginning of the game you will want to collect as many items as you possibly can, so you have somthing to sell so you can get better weapons or characters.
The movement system in the game isnt like Final Fantasy Tactics would be, instead it is free movement only limited by your character's statistics, you are given a set amount of movement per character type to use to your disposal, you can always decide you didnt want to move to a certain location, at which point you can cancel and try again, at least usually. This is only nullified after your character falls out of bounds, but i will detail that in a bit. The geography depends on your movement, if you are moving down a slippery hill, you will overshoot your mark, use this to your advantage by moving less than you need to untill you slide to your mark.
A new addition to this game is the ability to lift your characters and use them to do combo attacks, keep your characters from being removed by keeping them from having their turns, or throwing them! you may do the same to enemies and throw them OB, that is Out of Bounds, this eliminates the need to fight a parcticularly annoying enemy, but there is a price. if you throw an enemy out of bounds all of the other enemies level up! and you cannot throw the final enemy out of bounds, so choose carefully!
Job characters are hireable, and their services include as they level, so make sure you keep your merchant's level up along with your own battle characters!
The story is captivating and not as straight forward as one would think at first glance, which makes me give it another thumbs up.
oh and never forget the ability to change from English spoken word to Japanese, i suggest switching to Jap since it goes better with the game, more feeling.
Graphics = 2D on 3D battlefeild, Character expressions in story events
Graphic Score = 8/10
Sound = Battle cries, japanese voices, clashing, good Battle music
Sound Score = 9/10
Control = Easy to get used to after playing for a bit, short learning curve
Control = 10/10
Replayability = Random dungeons, extra maps!
Replayability Score = 10/10
Overall = Good story combined with decent learning curve and much to do!
Overall Score = 37/40 ***Must Buy!***
This stratagy RPG game is one for all to get, You are Marona, Young Chroma, Chroma are basically Mercenaries in the world of Ivorie taking jobs.
But Marona is Unique.
She is "The Possessed", always being watched by a Phantom named Ash.
The battle system of this game is superb, it takes place on a large battle map, where Marona starts by herself, she may summon phantoms she keeps on her island, through objects found on the battle map, including weapons, plants and even boxes, this is an ability called "Confine" only held by Marona.
Confining has two limits : Items may reduce stats you want such as speed and add to strength, and your phantom only remains confined for so many turns before being removed.
Depending on what you confine a phantom to it will take stat decreases or increases, and even sometimes special "protection", if you can call some of those that. Protection ranges from additional stat increases on the + side, and damage over time on the - side, some items are non confineable, or even give invincibility.
depending on your level, you may retain items you confined on the battlefeild when your phantom is removed and a special character has usually 100% chance of doing so!
though there is a catch, another item or enemy provides the protection given to another item, which means you may need to destroy one to remove a negetive effect from one of your phantoms, or protect it from enemies.
Back to the Battle map, Scattered through it are the said objects and weapons, Marona or her Phantoms may pick up those objects and use them as weapons, weapons give stat bonuses and reductions just like confinable items, except it isnt increased by % but definate amounts.
*hint*
at the beginning of the game you will want to collect as many items as you possibly can, so you have somthing to sell so you can get better weapons or characters.
The movement system in the game isnt like Final Fantasy Tactics would be, instead it is free movement only limited by your character's statistics, you are given a set amount of movement per character type to use to your disposal, you can always decide you didnt want to move to a certain location, at which point you can cancel and try again, at least usually. This is only nullified after your character falls out of bounds, but i will detail that in a bit. The geography depends on your movement, if you are moving down a slippery hill, you will overshoot your mark, use this to your advantage by moving less than you need to untill you slide to your mark.
A new addition to this game is the ability to lift your characters and use them to do combo attacks, keep your characters from being removed by keeping them from having their turns, or throwing them! you may do the same to enemies and throw them OB, that is Out of Bounds, this eliminates the need to fight a parcticularly annoying enemy, but there is a price. if you throw an enemy out of bounds all of the other enemies level up! and you cannot throw the final enemy out of bounds, so choose carefully!
Job characters are hireable, and their services include as they level, so make sure you keep your merchant's level up along with your own battle characters!
The story is captivating and not as straight forward as one would think at first glance, which makes me give it another thumbs up.
oh and never forget the ability to change from English spoken word to Japanese, i suggest switching to Jap since it goes better with the game, more feeling.
Graphics = 2D on 3D battlefeild, Character expressions in story events
Graphic Score = 8/10
Sound = Battle cries, japanese voices, clashing, good Battle music
Sound Score = 9/10
Control = Easy to get used to after playing for a bit, short learning curve
Control = 10/10
Replayability = Random dungeons, extra maps!
Replayability Score = 10/10
Overall = Good story combined with decent learning curve and much to do!
Overall Score = 37/40 ***Must Buy!***