I'm sure there will be a US website for it soon enough Suzerain. I dunno how I'm going to get it as things stand currently though :/

I wonder if it's going to be full price when it comes out. I seem to remember D3 being on $50.00 new. Or maybe I just got a deal on it.

I remember that too, I hope it's still the case.

So, out of curiosity, Serra, which of IF's games have you played? I know they have more out over here than I've gotten around to, but I don't keep up with the news enough to notice when they release something new, usually.

Mostly older stuff since I haven't bought anything new except Dragon Quest 6 in the past 6 months...so let's see.
Chaos Wars
Neverland Card Battles
Generations of Chaos
Aedis Eclipse: Generations of Chaos

Those are the ones I can remember being IF games, there might be some others that I don't remember. I know you talked about Hiro above, but I can't remember the name of the game she was from nor if it was IF >< But I did play one with her in it on the XBox 360 a long time ago.

Spectral Force 3? I think she was in that.

She's from Spectral Souls on the PSP, which is easily my favorite game from that company. It has slowdown issues, but damned if isn't the best SRPG I've ever played (I rank it higher than Final Fantasy Tactics, though only a bit).

Spectral Force 3. That was the one.

And now I want to play Spectral Souls, FFT is hard to top xD

I rank the recent remake of Tactics Ogre on the PSP above FFT, too, but granted, as it is now, that game is basically a sequel to FFT, seeing as it was made by the same team, so you'd expect it to be better.

Spectral Souls is just awesome, though. You control all three factions in the war and decide which side to fight as in each major battle, so the story shapes itself around your decisions. There are over 40 playable characters, making up for the lack of a class system (well, there is a class system, but it's like Fire Emblem's), and of course, it has IFs trademark in-depth combo and synthesis systems.

And, unlike a lot of their games, it has a *fantastic* story, in a similar vein to FFT, with a continent-wide war and lots of scheming, backstabbing, hidden plots, and ancient evils being resurrected.

The only downside is the frequent Disc Access that makes the game run really slow, but if you shut off movement and attack animations in combat, it's easily bearable. I got used to it within an hour of playing.

Oh yes, Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together, was a lovely game, but I got crazy with it by not letting anyone die. I THINK I got all the endings on the PSX version, but possibly not all the variations. I loved using Canopus as a cheap archer xD

I need to add Spectral Souls to the list that I haven't made yet D:

Oh, if you thought Canopus was overpowered in the original, he's an outright god in the remake.

And it really is a remake, by the way. The gameplay is completely different. They expanded the class system a lot and added skills a la FFT. And they fleshed out the postgame to almost Disgaea lengths. I spent 250 hours just on the postgame and I still hadn't finished it.

I highly, highly recommend that one, too. :)

-adds to the as of yet nonexistant list-

If they changed the gameplay like you say I will HAVE to get it ><

I'm trying to think of other SRPGs I really liked, but nothing else really comes to mind. Fire Emblem on the Wii was fun, but those games are a bit light on the RPG elements.

I have a hard time playing Fire Emblem because I don't want ANYONE to die D: So I tend to get stuck on the harder fights >>

*shifty eyes* I might save-scum at level ups in those games...

I'm just bad about it. Really I should try them again but my Wii vanished when I moved -cries-

Have you ever played any of the Shining Force games? The older tactical ones I mean.

No, I never did get the chance to play those. I'd say they were before my time, but I *was* playing RPGs then, despite being like 6 years old. I was just a Nintendo kid. Never had a Sega.

I think they were actually my first Genesis game, followed closely by Phantasy Star. I just remember it because like in Fire Emblem, in Shining Force 3 I hated letting people die. You didn't lose them permanently in that one but you DID lose the friendship bonds when someone died so I tried hard to not let it happen. I just wish that one would be remade, the entire 3 parts plus the post game took me about 120 hours to finish and I enjoyed it all.

Well, I'd played the original Tactics Ogre before I ever got into Fire Emblem, so I was used to perma-death. The FE on the Wii (Radiant Dawn?) was almost too easy, as it let you save mid-battle.

Though, one thing about those games I didn't like, especially in that one, was how easily your characters could become underpowered, thanks to the random leveling system.

Ugh, yes, random stats when you level is never a good idea >< On earlier ones I had capped characters that were weaker than some non-capped ones because of this :/

The other issue with those, at least the ones I played, is that, while for most of the game units like Pegasus Knights and such can contribute well enough, for the final battles, only the heaviest hitters are worth anything, especially when you start going up against hordes of feral dragons.

Yea if I recall you either had to have an insanely high dodge rate, or an almost perfect crit rate to kill the enemy before it countered. They are well thought games just not so well executed.

I don't think I ever finished Radiant Dawn, actually. I got to the final boss, but she was just so ridiculous that I gave up.

I don't think I made it to the end on any of them, even the GBA ones -.-

I wonder if we should make another thread since this has gone so far away from IF games xD

Yeah, it should just be titled SRPGs. :p

I don't much care, though, seeing as no one else has joined this thread anyway.

LOL

"Not so private nerd chat between Serra and Suzerain" xDD

It's kind of older but have you ever played Arc the Lad? Any of them, though End of Darkness isn't in the same vein as the other four.

That sounds really familiar, but I can't quite place it. I don't think I ever played any of them, though I probably wanted to at some point.

The first one was pretty simple, and fairly easy, with a level cap of 60 that you'd only reach if you either did extra battles or the BIG optional dungeon. The second, however, had a much higher level cap (200 or maybe more if I remember right) and was also quite a lot tougher. They aren't meant to be played seperately, the story drops unexpectly and picks right up in the second one, it even uses the save data to continue from. The third follows the story but several years later and with a different group of people, and a different leveling system. The fourth one, Twilight of the Spirits, almost seems like a different game as it moved from squares to a movement style similar to Phantom Brave, plus the sotry seemed to have no connection until the second half of the game. I loved the storyline of them, they are very dark and despite the challenge I can't say it had a very happy ending. But it fit very well with all the events :3

Hmm... okay, apparently I'm still not done with tutorials in Trinity Universe. I'm in chapter three now, and the game is still throwing new battle mechanics at me.

Wish they'd given them to me all at once, would have made those high-level dungeons I challenged to power level in a lot easier.

Oh, well, at least Etna's caught up to my main guys now in levels. She's awesome.

I so need a spear so I can do an Etna cosplay >< Much like Hanako I just idolize Etna >>

There are far too many new games I want, and old games I have and haven't played, and other games I want to RE-play... -sigh-

Honestly, if Etna wasn't in TU, I wouldn't have bought it. It's a shame Laharl isn't in, too, though I'd want him mostly because he tends to be overpowered in whatever game he shows up in. :p

I'm not sure which spear here would work best for Etna. She doesn't really have a canonical weapon, does she? In TU she wields this awesome black and purple bill-spear/halberd thing. I love watching her mutilate things with it. :D

No, I never see her in anything official with a weapon. Even in the Disgaea anime I'm pretty sure I didn't see her with something specific. She just happens to start with one in Disgaea 1. So MAYBEEE I could do a cosplay without a weapon, but I have to let this one stay here a while first ^^

Looking at it, the spear/staff thingy from Spirit of the Tribe might work for her.

The USB Sword has a spear-ish pose too.

Suzerain, you just want me to go broke making a cosplay like you did xD

Also come to think of it I think I need to start saving copies of my good avys. I just realized I've hardly saved any of the ones I've made >>

Hey, it was fun. :p

I haven't saved any of mine, yet. I should do that, while I still remember what they all look like.

I admit, looking back and forth from the reference pic and the shop was a great deal of fun :3 And yes you should do that, you make some really good avatars.

Your post in the Elder Scrolls thread reminded me of how long it took me to make my character in White Knight Chronicles. And then being so annoyed I couldn't somehow export pictures even though there's a camera function IN THE GAME. I want to show off my cutie ><

Oh, and Suzerain, if you want will you add me as a friend on PSN? Same name as I have here without the space.

I can add you, but... I'm literally almost never on my PS3. Might be something of a disappointment. :p

Well the same goes for me. But...if you're not on the PS3 how are you playing Trinity Universe? oO

An hour here, an hour there. And that's a lot for me lately. I never remember to log in to PSN, either, and even then, it likes to fight with my laptop for who gets net access (why they can't both be online simultaneously, I'll never know).

I'll add you, though. After I get some sleep. ;)

Oki ^^ I remember when I first got my PS3 it kept trying to kick my PC offline too. It's your router's fault, it's giving them the same IP address for some reason. At least that's the most common reason for things to fight over the internet. Anyways I better get to bed myself. I hope you sleep well Suzerain :3

I just turned on my PS3 to add you and realized I haven't updated it since a couple weeks before PSN crashed. Shows how much I use this system. :p