(no subject)
Some observations about Valkyrai Profile 2:
Way better storyline than Star Ocean 3
The battle system has been altered a bit from VP1, mainly in that it seems Purify Weird Soul (PWS) or Sould Crush as it is called in this game, dose not contribute that much do damage like it did in the first game. Frankly, I find that most of the damage comes from just doing your standard attack, with the soul crush just doing extra damage instead of most of the damage coming from them like in the first game.
Of the above mentioned system, Soul Crushes do have the benefit that they ignore the armor system, and deals "auto" damage to the enemy.
Though the new quasi tactical battle map system in interesting, the mechanics of it can be quite frustration at times. There are some very fidgity things about the system that I dislike, such as dashing forward where it looks like there is room for all four people, and then two get left behind.
Spell Casting has been severly Nerfed in this game, which is both good and bad. Though I will miss the good old days of walking through the entire dungeon and having Mistina cast Holy Cross on the first turn of combat and wipe out all the enemies; these new limitations make the game a bit more challenging.
Most of the spells have been altered to be single target now, so no more healing th entire party for 80% of their hp with a single casting. It also make buffing a bit ineffective if not completely worthless.
Speaking of Nerfing stuff, it annoys me that mages now have a set Soul Crush in this game. In VP1, their Great Magic was dependant upon which spell they were using, in my cast it was commonly towards the end Gravity Blessing.
As in the previous game, the monsters still have ridicously hp, which becomes most apparent when fighting a boss. However I did see genechildmewtwo in normal battles, have to do round after round of soul crushes from his entire party on Normal Enemies later on in the game.
The exp system is pretty standard as is gaining levels in this game. The wonderful days of complete character customisation (and Star Ocean 2 syndrome) have come to a end for a more standard system of learning skills at set levels. Though a bit dissappointing, there is little that can be done about it.
They introduced a "Seal Stone" aspect of the game, which I personally thing is a gimick that should have ever come to be. These stones are placed on a dias in the dungeon and cause a global effect to your party and the monsters. Such effects include, but are not limited to: Auto Inaitive, Fire resist (or absorb, I wasn't to clear), and X3 Money but 0 exp. This might seem nice when looking at it from a distance, however some of the orbs are preset before you enter the dungeon. I just completed a dungeon where the entire dungeon had the effect "Auto Iniative" which was a severe dissadvantage to me. Making it worse is that I could only acess the seal stone on the dias (and thus change the effect) upon reaching the very End of the dungeon before the boss. I fear that there is more horrible situations like this in my future.
Finally there is the crafting system. In VP1, you never really crafted items, you could use some alchemy and transmute items into other ones, but it wasn't that big of a deal even with the strongest alchemy skils in the game. This games system is more similar to that of Castlevania Curse of Darkness and Chrono Cross, where you have to collect items to make weapons, armor, and acessories. This is not required by any means, and the shops seem to sell good equipment for your level, so unlike in lets say Star Ocean 3 where you were completely dependant upon the crafting systm for better stuff, you can move along without dealing with it. There is one major flaw I see with this crafting system in this game though...
You see, the battle system has been altered into a tactical almost "gameboard" system. Now there are monsters and their leader. You get bonus exp and rewards for assulting the leader and ignoring the minnions. The faster you kill the leader, the more bonuses you get. This is fine, the problem that occurs is, a lot of the crafting items you need require items you get off of the minnions. What is worse about it, is you only have a chance of getting these items by breaking off creatures equipement, which makes the task very teadious. I forsee myself doing what genechildmewtwo and just bribing my party members with exp to get super awesome items.
As I progress more in the game, I am bound to write up more information on it, thanks for reading.
Way better storyline than Star Ocean 3
The battle system has been altered a bit from VP1, mainly in that it seems Purify Weird Soul (PWS) or Sould Crush as it is called in this game, dose not contribute that much do damage like it did in the first game. Frankly, I find that most of the damage comes from just doing your standard attack, with the soul crush just doing extra damage instead of most of the damage coming from them like in the first game.
Of the above mentioned system, Soul Crushes do have the benefit that they ignore the armor system, and deals "auto" damage to the enemy.
Though the new quasi tactical battle map system in interesting, the mechanics of it can be quite frustration at times. There are some very fidgity things about the system that I dislike, such as dashing forward where it looks like there is room for all four people, and then two get left behind.
Spell Casting has been severly Nerfed in this game, which is both good and bad. Though I will miss the good old days of walking through the entire dungeon and having Mistina cast Holy Cross on the first turn of combat and wipe out all the enemies; these new limitations make the game a bit more challenging.
Most of the spells have been altered to be single target now, so no more healing th entire party for 80% of their hp with a single casting. It also make buffing a bit ineffective if not completely worthless.
Speaking of Nerfing stuff, it annoys me that mages now have a set Soul Crush in this game. In VP1, their Great Magic was dependant upon which spell they were using, in my cast it was commonly towards the end Gravity Blessing.
As in the previous game, the monsters still have ridicously hp, which becomes most apparent when fighting a boss. However I did see genechildmewtwo in normal battles, have to do round after round of soul crushes from his entire party on Normal Enemies later on in the game.
The exp system is pretty standard as is gaining levels in this game. The wonderful days of complete character customisation (and Star Ocean 2 syndrome) have come to a end for a more standard system of learning skills at set levels. Though a bit dissappointing, there is little that can be done about it.
They introduced a "Seal Stone" aspect of the game, which I personally thing is a gimick that should have ever come to be. These stones are placed on a dias in the dungeon and cause a global effect to your party and the monsters. Such effects include, but are not limited to: Auto Inaitive, Fire resist (or absorb, I wasn't to clear), and X3 Money but 0 exp. This might seem nice when looking at it from a distance, however some of the orbs are preset before you enter the dungeon. I just completed a dungeon where the entire dungeon had the effect "Auto Iniative" which was a severe dissadvantage to me. Making it worse is that I could only acess the seal stone on the dias (and thus change the effect) upon reaching the very End of the dungeon before the boss. I fear that there is more horrible situations like this in my future.
Finally there is the crafting system. In VP1, you never really crafted items, you could use some alchemy and transmute items into other ones, but it wasn't that big of a deal even with the strongest alchemy skils in the game. This games system is more similar to that of Castlevania Curse of Darkness and Chrono Cross, where you have to collect items to make weapons, armor, and acessories. This is not required by any means, and the shops seem to sell good equipment for your level, so unlike in lets say Star Ocean 3 where you were completely dependant upon the crafting systm for better stuff, you can move along without dealing with it. There is one major flaw I see with this crafting system in this game though...
You see, the battle system has been altered into a tactical almost "gameboard" system. Now there are monsters and their leader. You get bonus exp and rewards for assulting the leader and ignoring the minnions. The faster you kill the leader, the more bonuses you get. This is fine, the problem that occurs is, a lot of the crafting items you need require items you get off of the minnions. What is worse about it, is you only have a chance of getting these items by breaking off creatures equipement, which makes the task very teadious. I forsee myself doing what genechildmewtwo and just bribing my party members with exp to get super awesome items.
As I progress more in the game, I am bound to write up more information on it, thanks for reading.