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| Pollyanna 931th Post
 
Red Carpet Regular Member++
    
    
    
|  "Re(2):Phantom Kingdom?" , posted Fri 18 Mar 06:22
quote:
Prepare for disappointment, Polly. Makai Kingdom is basically Disgaea 2 with a new story (in Disgaea style), no playable unique characters (everyone has to be made, at least at the start), most of Disgaea's systems, and Phantom Brave's free movement. There are some new gimmicks thrown in, but for the most part it feels like Disgaea Plus, but not quite as interesting imo. I'm hoping it'll pick up when I unlock more of the game's options. I don't even have the ability to make dungeons yet.
None of these things bother me. Is the theme stupid? I don't want any "love" or "forgiveness" or irritating nonsense like that. If it's sappy, I want it to be funny at least. I also demand good music.
Gameplay isn't an issue to me, because I think Nippon-1 has that down just fine. If they don't make any advances in gameplay...so be it. My other demand (though I know I won't get it) is thatt hey switch to high resolution. Their games look really embarrassing on a huge, nice TV.
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| Pollyanna 945th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(5):Phantom Kingdom?" , posted Fri 25 Mar 06:25
I hate to reply to myself, but I got the game and put a few hours into it last night.
My verdict is that, even with the disappointments and irritations, it's totally TOTALLY worth it if you like Koyasu. I laughed more in the opening alone than I laughed in all of Disgaea. Absolutely brilliant.
As for the game...there are (only) minor graphical improvements from PB, so I have to take what I can get. I'm more frustrated with the graphics/gameplay ENGINE because it makes it so damned hard for me to do anything. I can't keep up with who has had their turn in the mess of crap on the screen. Furthermore, it's sometimes cumbersome to target things when there are things on top of things on top of people. This isn't anything new, but it's been my only irritation in the game. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I just don't see the advantage of doing things this way.
The music is, indeed good, but I don't know if it's a huge improvement over PB. The battle themes still get tiresome pretty fast and one of them (at least) is completely inappropriate.
I'm not impressed, but I actually look forward to the cinemas now. I hope it doesn't sour a few hours in (then get more and more sour) like Phantom Brave did.
Oh...well...and it's got Mickey.
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| Pollyanna 965th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Revive!" , posted Thu 31 Mar 19:10
OK...I just finished Phantom Kingdom...or rather, I won it. I'm not finished with it.
First of all, I take back what I said about the music. There are perhaps 3 good tracks...well...3 excellent ones a handful of good ones, but mostly forgettable mediocre stuff. The main theme/base theme makes the whole soundtrack worth it, though.
Second, the plot DOES have love in it..which PISSED ME OFF. At the same time, though...it's at the end of the game, and it doesn't ruin it. The (main) ending was still decent and the credit illustrations were GREAT, partially because they showed Micky's "job" that he mentioned earlier in the game. (as well as what happened to the にせもの
調停者). The game isn't nearly as funny as it is in the beginning, though and it's full of Nippon-1 trademark "talking in circles" where characters say the same stupid thing over and over again as if we either don't get it, or don't notice.
I -really- like the system, though I feel that it's too simple for hardcore Nippon-1 fans. Even I was able to figure out little tricks and (somewhat) master it. I won the game at a very low level, did very little level-building and beat most of the enemies in the game in one hit. My healer's Res was so high that the last boss did 0 damage on her and her normal heal did 3 times the amount of life that any character had. Of course, nearly every character on my team dies in one hit, so I guess there's SOME sort of balance there.
There are tons of little irritating things about the game, and I feel like they could have made it more user-friendly in many different ways, but altogether, it's my favorite Nippon-1 game.
殺せ ミッキー! 殺せ!
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| jmcc
21th Post
New Customer
| "Re(1):Revive!" , posted Fri 1 Apr 02:02
quote:
OK...I just finished Phantom Kingdom...or rather, I won it. I'm not finished with it.
First of all, I take back what I said about the music. There are perhaps 3 good tracks...well...3 excellent ones a handful of good ones, but mostly forgettable mediocre stuff. The main theme/base theme makes the whole soundtrack worth it, though.
Second, the plot DOES have love in it..which PISSED ME OFF. At the same time, though...it's at the end of the game, and it doesn't ruin it. The (main) ending was still decent and the credit illustrations were GREAT, partially because they showed Micky's "job" that he mentioned earlier in the game. (as well as what happened to the にせもの
調停者). The game isn't nearly as funny as it is in the beginning, though and it's full of Nippon-1 trademark "talking in circles" where characters say the same stupid thing over and over again as if we either don't get it, or don't notice.
I -really- like the system, though I feel that it's too simple for hardcore Nippon-1 fans. Even I was able to figure out little tricks and (somewhat) master it. I won the game at a very low level, did very little level-building and beat most of the enemies in the game in one hit. My healer's Res was so high that the last boss did 0 damage on her and her normal heal did 3 times the amount of life that any character had. Of course, nearly every character on my team dies in one hit, so I guess there's SOME sort of balance there.
There are tons of little irritating things about the game, and I feel like they could have made it more user-friendly in many different ways, but altogether, it's my favorite Nippon-1 game.
殺せ ミッキー! 殺せ!
Out of curiousity, is there a new game plus option?
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| Pollyanna 966th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(2):Revive!" , posted Fri 1 Apr 07:22
First of all, there is (of course) new game +. You keep everything, but the stages start over, so you can't access anything but early levels or random dungeons, which your characters have to create with mana. I haven't played with this much yet.
Several of the characters that you can get on your team require you to win the game multiple times. Like you can get the "character 1 ending" and get them on your team, but then make a different decision and get the "character 2" ending next time. It's cumulative, so you can have everyone at once if you stick with it.
As for the system...there's a lot to say. It's just like Phantom Brave in execution, in that you move your characters/attack in the same way. You don't confine in the stages, though you confine your characters when you create them. This allows for character customization to a degree, since each item that you can confine them in has different stat percentages. So you might have something like...
Pumpkin Pie
HP %5
SP120%
ATK 75%
Or whatever. Some "rare" items let you transmigrate your character if you confine them in it. Honestly, I wouldn't consider NOT doing this, especially since these items tend to have better stats as well.
Transmigration gives you an easier power fix than it did in Disgaea (but it has the same upgraded class system). When your party is level 25-35 or so, you can transmigrate a character that can do as much damage as anyone else at level one. You can't upgrade equipment like in Phantom Brave, but you have more slots for it, andi f you focus on a specific stat, you can make offensively devestating characters. (characters that can kill the last boss in 2 hits and any enemy in the game in 1). Ah...but keep in mind that I'm not talking as much about extra stuff as I am talking about the confines of the 9 chapter game.
I don't know how long it took me to win it, because I tend to leave my system on when I eat or shower or whatever, but it's rather short (30 hours?). The extras are easily accessible after winning and there are multiple endings, so even someone who doesn't normally go for extras will probably squeeze quite a few more hours out of the game. The system is fun enough that I had to tell myself to hurry up and win the game, instead of screwing around.
Hmm...what else? Oh...well, there are vehicles you can ride in that can be upgraded and give you sort of "free hits" since they blow up with no HP loss to the rider when they run out of HP. I don't use them much.
There are also "buildings" that you place your characters in that give them different effects such as "Attack+40%" or "EXP+50%". You create these by "killing" a party member of yours and using their mana to turn them into a building (higher mana=better buildings). Their soul can be transmigrated afterwards, though...so that's nice. Using an attack +40% building on a (multiple) transmigrated samurai with ATK boosted can be absolutely devestating.
Whew...I hope that answered your questions, but if you're more specific, I can explain whatever.
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| Pollyanna 967th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(4):Revive!" , posted Fri 1 Apr 10:35
quote:
You're the coolest Polly. I think I put you through the same thing with Stella Deus actually.
I think I might give it a shot, it sounds a lot less labor intensive than I'd thought.
If you ever think I can help you with anything, let me know.
It's not labor intensive at all. It's relatively easy, especially in comparison to Phantom Brave. I don't remember...did you like Phantom Brave? I can't recommend it to someone who hated it, even though it's quite different and (in my opinion) the better game. I enjoyed PB a lot, but I hated the characters and plot. Also...dealing with some of the systems was a pain.
All of the systems in PK are fun and relatively easy, though. The only problem is that the menus tend to be less user-friendly than they could be. For example, by the end of the game, you have LOTS of equipment and it's poorly organized. I found myself selling things just because I wanted to make space.
I also had a few irritations from buildings, because if someone dies, they are no longer in the building (you have to open a menu to put them back in)...and if the building is destroyed, then you have to put everyone back in. This isn't so bad, but...I forgot many times and had to rest. Thankfully it has an easily acessible soft-reset option. Nothing makes me more angry than the lack of one of those.
I may make the systems sound too simple, but they're really fun and engrossing. If Nippon-1 could have kept focus in the plot (they always seem to suck at that) and improved the interface a little bit, then they'd have a real classic on their hands.
Oh, and I don't mind talking about games that I'm enthusiastic about, so it's no big deal.
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