![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Conversation/Game Tip/Lego Crafting
Dec. 8th, 2012 09:55 amCorrection for yesterday:
When I spoke of Peppita and said to use her to make the Potion of Youth (Fake), I was mistaken. You need her for the Philospher's Stone to recruit another inventor. Someone on deviantArt asked me about that today, and I realized my error on the item but not the area of item creation.
Also, when inventing something, if you can, look at how much a given person affects the cost and time for item creation. Peppita affects inventing costs by an additional ten percent. Some have negative costs, meaning it takes less fol, and others affect the time. This includes the inventors.
Thank you.
***************************************************
Conversation Topic - Why Releasing Star Ocean: The Last Hope was a Good Idea
Several months ago, I wrote my thoughts on why I thought releasing Star Ocean: The Last Hope wasn't such a good idea. There were some plot holes in the storyline, the game play didn't last quite as long as I'd like, and it didn't have my favorite characters from Till the End of Time in it. I was really looking forward to seeing Fayt again.
In retrospect, I didn't cover every aspect of The Last Hope's release. I wrote about the bad. Now it's time to write about the good.
First up on the reasons why it's a good thing it was released: Symbology. The Last Hope covers how humans were introduced to the concept of symbology. It gives us the foundation for Robert Leingod's research seven hundred years into the future and how he is able to turn his son into a lethal weapon of destruction. While I've not played the first two games, in going over walk throughs and the Star Ocean wikia, I've discovered that symbology can be passed on to the human characters - according to Star Ocean wikia, Millie teaches Ronyx symbology, which, if I interpret events from Till the End of Time and The Last Hope correctly, the latent ability must be there, or the character just can't cast (case in point - Reimi). Edge is the first human in Star Ocean history to have that ability, and this is after he and Reimi see Faize use it against the first boss of the game.
I like the different spells in The Last Hope. I wish Symbolic Weapon was available to me in Till the End of Time or something very similar to it and the vile goop with the same effect. It would make it much easier to keep certain people from dying all the time from loss of magic points.
Second, I like that I can go harvesting and mining for materials. It adds to the experience earned for all of the teammates available at the time of harvesting or mining, and it helps to increase the fol. It makes shopping for items like blueberries, blackberries, and fresh sage rather obsolete (unless you're making things like the resurrection elixir and mist . . . then you buy and make until you have enough of both to take down whichever boss you're gearing up to battle).
The second good thing about The Last Hope is more of a bonus for me. So are the simplicity of item creation, the four member battle party, not being incapacitated when magic points hit zero, and being able to switch a dead person out for someone in reserve to keep the battle. Tri-Ace changed up the game play to make it more interesting, more engaging.
Third, the storyline connects the dots for the Star Ocean fans, and there is a sense of familiarity with it. Roak is a familiar name. The Calnus is a familiar name. While there are some differences between the games, there's still plenty to connect them to still make it Star Ocean, and the cast of The Last Hope is fun, entertaining, interesting, and annoying all at once. Releasing this game has kept the flames alive for many Star Ocean fans, and it is my sincerest wish that Tri-Ace and Square Enix continue to release games for this series. (And it is my sincerest wish to see more of Edge and Fayt, maybe even in a game or two together. Ah, the fangirl in me just sighs in happiness at such a thought . . .)
*************************************************************************
Gaming Tips - The Best Way to Utilize Spellcasters and Leveling Up
Today, I'm going to write two different gaming tips, only because one is really short.
I mentioned this in my very first gaming tip for the Star Ocean games, and that's utilizing the main characters, or the heroes, wisely. It's a rule that applies to all AI controlled players in the battle party on the field. In the games where magic hitting zero means incapacitation, don't let your characters waste time and restorative items doing stupid stuff. If you have two characters out, both of whom have attac and healing spells, set one for healing (and shut OFF the attack spells) and the other for attacking.
Also, pay attention to which spells can do what and which ones are the most useful. If the enemies are not casting buffing spells - increase intelligence, attack, defense, etc . . . - then characters like Myuria, Lymle, and Sarah shouldn't be casting void. They're wasting their magic and their time. Shutting the spells off isn't hard. Just head into use skills or use symbology and use whichever button on the controller is needed to shut the spell off. If you have the battle trophies option turned on, you get battle trophies for long or how quickly a battle ends. Keep that in mind.
Second tip - leveling up.
Leveling up can be the pain in the butt of game play. A player can spend hours and hours just doing this alone. I rather like leveling up in the games. I like heading into the next area, able to take on the enemies and not die within one or two hits from my opponents.
In games like Star Ocean, leveling up is quite necessary and sometimes still not enough. It's a matter of what you want to do when it comes time to fight certain bosses. If the player goes up against a boss that is either taking way too long to defeat and ultimately kills the entire battle party or that kills the characters off within a matter of a minute, it's time to walk away from those fights and level up. Don't be afraid to take the time to increase experience points to the necessary levels. Increasing levels means an increase in a character's base attack, hit points, magic points, defense, intelligence, agility, etc . . . The more those are increased, the better chances the characters have of surviving the more difficult fights.
If you're at max level and the boss is still defeating you rather soundly, that's an equipment and accessory issue. I will write about that next Saturday.
That does it for today. I now leave everyone with a link to pictures of a Lego Level 255 Robo Gunner from Till the End of Time as done by rougeshell on deviantArt.
http://rougeshell.deviantart.com/gallery/40851395
The upload feature - not working. Not happy about it, either. But please head to that gallery and check out those photos. That is some serious Star Ocean geekery to be appreciated!
When I spoke of Peppita and said to use her to make the Potion of Youth (Fake), I was mistaken. You need her for the Philospher's Stone to recruit another inventor. Someone on deviantArt asked me about that today, and I realized my error on the item but not the area of item creation.
Also, when inventing something, if you can, look at how much a given person affects the cost and time for item creation. Peppita affects inventing costs by an additional ten percent. Some have negative costs, meaning it takes less fol, and others affect the time. This includes the inventors.
Thank you.
***************************************************
Conversation Topic - Why Releasing Star Ocean: The Last Hope was a Good Idea
Several months ago, I wrote my thoughts on why I thought releasing Star Ocean: The Last Hope wasn't such a good idea. There were some plot holes in the storyline, the game play didn't last quite as long as I'd like, and it didn't have my favorite characters from Till the End of Time in it. I was really looking forward to seeing Fayt again.
In retrospect, I didn't cover every aspect of The Last Hope's release. I wrote about the bad. Now it's time to write about the good.
First up on the reasons why it's a good thing it was released: Symbology. The Last Hope covers how humans were introduced to the concept of symbology. It gives us the foundation for Robert Leingod's research seven hundred years into the future and how he is able to turn his son into a lethal weapon of destruction. While I've not played the first two games, in going over walk throughs and the Star Ocean wikia, I've discovered that symbology can be passed on to the human characters - according to Star Ocean wikia, Millie teaches Ronyx symbology, which, if I interpret events from Till the End of Time and The Last Hope correctly, the latent ability must be there, or the character just can't cast (case in point - Reimi). Edge is the first human in Star Ocean history to have that ability, and this is after he and Reimi see Faize use it against the first boss of the game.
I like the different spells in The Last Hope. I wish Symbolic Weapon was available to me in Till the End of Time or something very similar to it and the vile goop with the same effect. It would make it much easier to keep certain people from dying all the time from loss of magic points.
Second, I like that I can go harvesting and mining for materials. It adds to the experience earned for all of the teammates available at the time of harvesting or mining, and it helps to increase the fol. It makes shopping for items like blueberries, blackberries, and fresh sage rather obsolete (unless you're making things like the resurrection elixir and mist . . . then you buy and make until you have enough of both to take down whichever boss you're gearing up to battle).
The second good thing about The Last Hope is more of a bonus for me. So are the simplicity of item creation, the four member battle party, not being incapacitated when magic points hit zero, and being able to switch a dead person out for someone in reserve to keep the battle. Tri-Ace changed up the game play to make it more interesting, more engaging.
Third, the storyline connects the dots for the Star Ocean fans, and there is a sense of familiarity with it. Roak is a familiar name. The Calnus is a familiar name. While there are some differences between the games, there's still plenty to connect them to still make it Star Ocean, and the cast of The Last Hope is fun, entertaining, interesting, and annoying all at once. Releasing this game has kept the flames alive for many Star Ocean fans, and it is my sincerest wish that Tri-Ace and Square Enix continue to release games for this series. (And it is my sincerest wish to see more of Edge and Fayt, maybe even in a game or two together. Ah, the fangirl in me just sighs in happiness at such a thought . . .)
*************************************************************************
Gaming Tips - The Best Way to Utilize Spellcasters and Leveling Up
Today, I'm going to write two different gaming tips, only because one is really short.
I mentioned this in my very first gaming tip for the Star Ocean games, and that's utilizing the main characters, or the heroes, wisely. It's a rule that applies to all AI controlled players in the battle party on the field. In the games where magic hitting zero means incapacitation, don't let your characters waste time and restorative items doing stupid stuff. If you have two characters out, both of whom have attac and healing spells, set one for healing (and shut OFF the attack spells) and the other for attacking.
Also, pay attention to which spells can do what and which ones are the most useful. If the enemies are not casting buffing spells - increase intelligence, attack, defense, etc . . . - then characters like Myuria, Lymle, and Sarah shouldn't be casting void. They're wasting their magic and their time. Shutting the spells off isn't hard. Just head into use skills or use symbology and use whichever button on the controller is needed to shut the spell off. If you have the battle trophies option turned on, you get battle trophies for long or how quickly a battle ends. Keep that in mind.
Second tip - leveling up.
Leveling up can be the pain in the butt of game play. A player can spend hours and hours just doing this alone. I rather like leveling up in the games. I like heading into the next area, able to take on the enemies and not die within one or two hits from my opponents.
In games like Star Ocean, leveling up is quite necessary and sometimes still not enough. It's a matter of what you want to do when it comes time to fight certain bosses. If the player goes up against a boss that is either taking way too long to defeat and ultimately kills the entire battle party or that kills the characters off within a matter of a minute, it's time to walk away from those fights and level up. Don't be afraid to take the time to increase experience points to the necessary levels. Increasing levels means an increase in a character's base attack, hit points, magic points, defense, intelligence, agility, etc . . . The more those are increased, the better chances the characters have of surviving the more difficult fights.
If you're at max level and the boss is still defeating you rather soundly, that's an equipment and accessory issue. I will write about that next Saturday.
That does it for today. I now leave everyone with a link to pictures of a Lego Level 255 Robo Gunner from Till the End of Time as done by rougeshell on deviantArt.
http://rougeshell.deviantart.com/gallery/40851395
The upload feature - not working. Not happy about it, either. But please head to that gallery and check out those photos. That is some serious Star Ocean geekery to be appreciated!
