[Nymeria]

I know these are three different games, but since they're the only 3 that I've heard of that have a similar play style to the Monster Hunter games (in terms of camera, fighting monsters, upgrading weapons/bullets/armor, character creation) I'm interested in them. I've never been a fan of First Person Shooter style gameplay, and the Monster Hunter combat style is the closest to a FPS that I care to get. So I've been trying to research into these games, because I'd like to try to find other games that I'll enjoy playing.

I would love to hear opinions on any of these three games from fellow Monster Hunter fans, or opinions/recommendations for any other games that might also compare to Monster Hunter in any way.

I can say that so far I've downloaded the demo for Phantasy Star Portable 2 the other day, and played through enough story mode to end up at the base. So far... the combat system feels a little clunky and ungraceful. I'm not sure if this is just because I'm so new at this game, or if that's just how this combat is. For example, after an attack when I try to roll off to the side there's a big enough lag on the dodge that I tend to take a hit unless I try to roll several seconds before I'd need to if it was Monster Hunter (and missing out on some attack opportunities in the process). Maybe I need to block more and try to roll less? It also doesn't seem that the creatures give much of a hint about what move they're about to make. Please let me know if any of these points sound familiar to your own experience, or if you have any helpful tips at all. I did enjoy the fairly extensive character creation process, and the fact that there are swords and various weapons and playstyles to choose from in this game. Another small nitpick is that the feet seem to slide around a lot when doing any of the emote animations. I'm guessing this could be a result of the game allowing you to change your character's height and proportions, so I'm going to try with a character at default size on my next character creation attempt. The main thing that concerns me is whether I can find a way to make the combat more fun and less frustrating, so any help is appreciated.

(For the record, in my first attempt at the PSP2 demo I made a female Beast, with a throaty voice and an evil laugh. I love the fact that you can even change the pitch of the voice. I had a lot of fun with the character creation.)

I also saw that there's a Lord of Arcana demo, and I'm going to try that one next. I didn't see a demo for Gods Eater Burst. Any descriptions or stories of your own impressions and playthroughs would be great.

Looking forward to hearing what this community has to say about these games and how they compare to the Monster Hunter games that we all enjoy so much!! Thanks for reading this, and I hope I get some replies!~♥


EDIT!~ Looking for opinions on any of these as well: Dragon Quest 9, Blue Dragon Awakened Shadow, Valkyria Chronicles(I or II), White Knight Chronicles - Origins (or any WKC game), Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology (1, 2, or 3)????? Basically, I really enjoy character creation and games that don't end when you beat the final boss. It's nice to have a non linear world where you can continue playing online through co-op or competitive play, even after the main story mode has been beaten. Please list any DS or PSP games that might be worth playing. I'm looking for something to play a lot during my Train commutes ........ I have a feeling I'll get strange html code here because that tends to happen when I edit one of my posts. O_o..... Thanks guys! ~♥

This post has been edited by Nymeria: 27 July 2011 - 07:54 PM

[IamEpicFailure]

Here's a short review per game :

Phantasy Star Portable 2 :

This is actually pretty fun and a nice game to play if you want to grind something for hours on end. The game starts off pretty easy, and as you already figured out, you're better off blocking (try to score a perfect block or something, completely negates damage) than dodging. If I remember correctly, the attack hint is probably something like a short taunt or something similar. In case of emergency, just block and hope for a perfect guard. (Even if you miss the timing you'll still cut the damage by some.) This gets even more important as you level up, as near end game pretty much everything is "LOL I 2HKO/OHKO YOU IF YOU DON'T BLOCK/EVADE ME".

The number of weapons and customization in the game is amazing though. That said, a few of the weapons of pretty much redundant and only there for show. (Extremely outclassed by other weapons.) Also, there is actually easy mode in this game.
(1) Pick beast/that mage thingy (newman or something) as race. These 2 have the highest evasion in the game endgame. Pretty much makes block useless since every 9 hits out of 10 misses you and does 0 damage. Recommended class is the mage one though, since you have a "special move" that can deal crazy damage, compared to Beast, where you'll probably just end up dead after going into beast mode. (Yes beast mode is that useless, disabling the ability to heal yourself while fixing the amount of damage you do is NOT cool.)
(2) Pick Vanguard as job. They're the only class that can use both EX traps.
(3) Spam traps. Traps are ridiculously OP in this game, and never miss.
(4) Download the gamega farming mission, it gives a ton of exp and class exp per mission.
(5) Rinse and repeat.

Check Youtube if you need reference.


God(s) Eater Burst :

Ah yes, Bullet Shooter Burst. Pretty much like Monster Hunter, except much faster paced. Like, really fast. The types of weapons available is pretty small compared to MonHun, but it's still a good change of pace. Let's see, we've got Short Sword (Speed, less power), Long Sword (Average Speed, average power) and Buster Sword (LOL IM KLOUD WATCH ME DO OMNISLASH STRUGGLE TO LIFT THIS SWORD).

Next you have the guns, if memory serves, Assault, Sniper and uhm...well it's sorta based after a cannon.
Aaaaanyway, Assault is the fast shooting one, I forgot about the other two. Pretty sure the cannon one shoots the slowest though.
You can't judge which one is the best properly either since they reduce the OP cost of using bullets if you use the correct type of bullets. (like laser for snipers.)

As for easy mode in this game, with the correct bullet you can more or less expect to plow through monsters, killing them sub 5 with the correct element. You'll still need the sword though, and I personally use the short sword to gather up OP fast in order to fire more bullets :3


Lord of Failing Arcana :

The ones who made this game should be shot. Probably the only thing this game has going for it is that "Square Enix" shows up at the beginning. Complete and utter shit, and a total waste of time. Believe me when I say you should just skip this game and go for something else.

[OTHERS]

The Legend of Heroes : Trails in the Sky.

Totally awesome RPG with amazing story, although it's not Monster Hunter style. Should keep you entertained for about 40-50 hours if you do all the quests. Will probably keep you entertained for 80 if you talk to every single NPC after a cut-scene (and believe me there are a LOT of cut-scenes.) If I remember correctly, the amount of English characters in the game goes over 1.5 million, so pretty much every NPC has their own story to tell.

If you have ever played the YS series before, I'd tell you that YS has enough gameplay to make up for it's story, and Trails has enough story to make up for it's gameplay. (Not like the gameplay is bad, it follows something like the Materia stuff of Final Fantasy VII.)

You also pretty much can't lose in the game if you enable the "make enemies weaker upon retry" setting, so you can even kill the final boss at absurdly low levels if you lose and retry enough.

This post has been edited by IamEpicFailure: 13 July 2011 - 03:45 PM

[Ashqul]

I played phantasy star, it was ok. But, I plan on getting god eater but I'm picking between that MGS PW, and KH Birth by sleep, not sure which one I should get.

[B@ttousai]

Peace Walker is a load of awesome, BBS, is BS unless you're a fanboy of the the disney/SE bastard child, the camera is ludicrous. GEB is fun, but very repetitive after you've been through the monsters. There are... like 10 actually different monsters, and the rest are re-skins and revamps of those ten.

OTHER: DISSIDIA 012. Because it's friggen DISSIDIA 012. First game was awesome, and now that I'm used to assists and gabranth isn't my only favorite character, duodecim is only more awesome.

OTHER OTHER: Ys 7. Because it has both an awe-inspiring soundtrack and a good plot (plus some danmaku style boss fights) It's a refreshing way to play an RPG, it feels much more nimble than the usual, clunky controls.

[Ashqul]

I was also thinking of 012. So GEB or MGS?

[B@ttousai]

...isn't this nym's thread? anyways, GEB is fun, and more fun if you have friends to play with, but MGS lasted much longer for me, and is more fun to play imo (I like sneaking, infiltrating, man vs. robot, silencing squads by myself, stuff like that.) And it does give you the ability to fight a Tigrex and Rathalos WITH MACHINE GUNS AND ROCKET LAUNCHERS

[Basukesu]

Other, PSP2 Infinity! That expo has both the original PSP2 and Infinity Content which is just as awesome!

Lord of Arcana Seriously?

I think I put a review of that game here on the forums somewhere.

PSP2 Infinity > GEB

Paint Drying > Lord of Arcana.

[IamEpicFailure]

^

PSP2I isn't out in English yet so... :/

Totally agree with the paint drying part though.

[HayzenTZ]

I liked how character customization and variety works on Phantasy Star series. but I'm not the type that could handle 1000 hours+ of pressing X for hardcore-leveling up. so PsP is kinda okay-ish to me. the multiplayer also doesn't appeal that much, I even got super laggy sessions before with 4 people.

Lord of Arcana is interesting at first but the grinding system is way more boring than PsP. and once you know how to exploit boss moves, it's no brainer.

White Knight Chronicles Origins are interesting as well, but it got the worst costume designs ever. and sorta repetitive dungeons.

God Eater (and Burst) is probably the best of all those I've mentioned before. it got solid story, good amount of monsters and costumes, and great paced gameplay. gameplay length maybe won't be as hardcore as PsP/MH series but at least it's more than just button mashing.

[Nymeria]

Thanks so much for the awesome replies so far!! I'm still looking into all of the games that have been recommended, but I'm also curious about any of the following titles as well:

Dragon Quest 9, Blue Dragon Awakened Shadow, Valkyria Chronicles(I or II), White Knight Chronicles - Origins (or any WKC game), Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology (1, 2, or 3)

I'm looking for a game to play on the PSP or DS (since my gameplay hours mostly come from my train commutes) which doesn't end when the final boss from story mode is beaten and has either a lot of room for customization or just really fun gameplay (like Pokemon or Monster Hunter games, where you're still free to try out different teams/weapons, and play online through co-op or competitive multiplayer). Strategy, RPG, or Combat types of games are all fine as long as there's some sort of customization to be played with. I really love character creation too so that would be a bonus. I'm really keeping my eyes open for any gem of a game that might normally be overlooked and has some of these elements.

Thanks again guys!! All advice has been really helpful so far! I'm just so picky with games, and since the Minegarde community obviously has an eye for good gameplay (Monster Hunter ftw) I figure this is the place to ask. ♥

[Basukesu]

Nymeria, on 28 July 2011 - 05:09 AM, said:

Thanks so much for the awesome replies so far!! I'm still looking into all of the games that have been recommended, but I'm also curious about any of the following titles as well:

Dragon Quest 9, Blue Dragon Awakened Shadow, Valkyria Chronicles(I or II), White Knight Chronicles - Origins (or any WKC game), Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology (1, 2, or 3)

I'm looking for a game to play on the PSP or DS (since my gameplay hours mostly come from my train commutes) which doesn't end when the final boss from story mode is beaten and has either a lot of room for customization or just really fun gameplay (like Pokemon or Monster Hunter games, where you're still free to try out different teams/weapons, and play online through co-op or competitive multiplayer). Strategy, RPG, or Combat types of games are all fine as long as there's some sort of customization to be played with. I really love character creation too so that would be a bonus. I'm really keeping my eyes open for any gem of a game that might normally be overlooked and has some of these elements.

Thanks again guys!! All advice has been really helpful so far! I'm just so picky with games, and since the Minegarde community obviously has an eye for good gameplay (Monster Hunter ftw) I figure this is the place to ask. ♥

Valkyria Chronicles 2 is AWESOME SAUCE! I love that game sooo much!!!!

WKC is blah!! Most disappointing RPG I ever bought, mostly cause it had all the elements for epicness and it failed so hard!

Don't know about the others though....

[SemajChaos]

Demons Souls

[Ashqul]

Since I just finished the first 25 main ops, it's not much but I still recommend it.
Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker.

[doom25]

GEB was very nice....

[pyr4m1dh34d]

SemajChaos, on 30 July 2011 - 02:06 AM, said:

Demons Souls

Ah, i see another tortured soul
If you are in for the pain, demon soul is teh crack